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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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‘You can’t give up on yourself’

This was Keith’s arc. And it was spectacular. He spent his whole life giving up on himself because he felt others always gave up on him. The directors couldn’t have done this arc any better. It finally put him in the right spot to act as leader; he acts out of his own will now instead of seeking Shiro’s. He’s gained confidence, clarity, family and independence. He has the tools to lead, and now Shiro can finally step-down, confident in his successor. It’s just so satisfying. So yummy! It’s exciting, because now that he’s basically fully developed, it allows room for other less prevalent characters to shine through in following seasons. This is why it’s important to trust the directors. You saw how beautifully they delivered this season.

If the next part plays out on earth it’ll be a good opportunity to see characters like Lance, Hunk and Pidge alongside their families, and whether that will play a role in their own arcs. Of course characters can have multiple arcs, but in a show like this there is always one main fundamental one. Here’s my notes on their progress:

Keith: Complete – is now fit for assuming leadership as he is able to seperate himself from Shiro and act independently. (Symbolised by the moment he severs Shiro’s arm in order to save himself and in retaliation of being told his team is dead)

Allura: Complete – is able to finally move on from her old life/culture so it can not be used against her anymore (it was her main weakness, and Lotor exploited it so viciously I was heartbroken. (Symbolised by the castle-ship’s destruction and her amazing defeat of Lotor)

Shiro: Ongoing – I suspect it will deal with this next phase of his role. I think he’s finished as a Paladin (I believe), so I’d like to see if he works with the Garrison when they return to Earth. It’s a long and laborious arc. Poor baby.

Pidge: Complete (but I have reservations, because finding her family may seem like an arc, but it’s really not because it doesn’t change her at all (she ultimately gets what she wants). The character must change in some fundamental way in order for it to be classed an arc. In that case I’d say her arc was really at the start where she learned to accept the team and her role as a Paladin instead of abandoning them to find her family. Also trusting them to reveal her true gender. So I’m not too sure what could be next actually.) – is able to rely on her team and learn that different priorities exist in war. Her own biases are laid aside. (Symbolised in her saving the castle-ship in season 1)

Lance: Ongoing – will be able to seperate himself from his ideal (Shiro-like) version of himself and slip into his true reality. It has farther to go, of course. But a lot of it is about him accepting his shortcomings and quit overcompensating for them. He must accept he is flawed (which he actually admitted this season) but that it doesn’t make him useless. Part of this is symbolised in him realising that bragging to Allura is not going to form a lasting connection. It’s not real. He must show vulnerability, and receive it, too. It’s also symbolised in when he openly broke down with guilt over not realising Shiro wasn’t okay earlier. He is in the long process of a fundamental change.

Hunk: Ongoing – it’s complex because in order for a character to arc they must be pushed to their absolute limits. They must suffer, sadly. (This why everyone is obsessed with the concept of langst. Not so much bc his suffering is fun for people, but because of the promise of a transformation.) The above characters have all suffered greatly in varying forms. We haven’t seen Hunk suffer to the same extent, apart from his arc on the Balmera (which was important but I don’t think will be his big arc). That’s why I’m thinking (and hoping) it will play out in this next stage while they’re on earth. It’s literally how the ‘Lotor Nanny’ put it: he needs to break before he can become stronger. So though I’m not too sure what exactly the next arc will be for him, but I’m hopeful that there will be a significant one.

(Quick note on ships: I refuse to explicitly mention them usually as I don’t believe they are relevant. But I will not ignore or pretend that Allura and Lance’s relationship isn’t important. It’s there, it’s real, and I think it’s being handled beautifully and has been integral for their arcs.)

#voltron #voltron season 6 #vld 6 #vld 6 spoilers #voltron spoilers #voltron season 6 spoilers #analysis #back from the depths with another analysis #I will fight you on arcs #I spent a whole semester being drilled on them #I know my shit #voltron analysis #keith kogane #lance mclain #takashi shirogane #hunk garrett #pidge gunderson #Allura

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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How that scene continued probably

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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Shiro:

Me:

#voltron season 5 #vld #vld5 #vld5 spoilers #voltron season 5 spoilers #voltron spoilers #shiro #kuron #lance mcclain #takashi shirogane #voltron #voltron legendary defender

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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Friend?

I think the fuck not

#voltron #voltron season 5 #vld5 #vld5 spoilers #lotor #voltron spoilers #voltron legendary defender #vld

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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If Voltron insists on making Lance and Allura a couple they need to stop comparing Lance to her father before I start screaming oedipal nonsense. My brain is not right.

#voltron #allurance #i hate myself

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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What is your opinion? - "Lance being a ‘stability’ factor for Keith"... what about it's not mean - Lance stop Keith from action... but means - Lance good performer, Keith's right hand man, whoo will be support Keith? Support! not stops!? Because it's like Keith leads voltron and Lance always unhappy?

Precursor: I don’t engage with ships in any analysis’ of mine. Please don’t take this as proof or diminishment of your ship.

Hmm, I think it’s more about Lance getting Keith to pause and re-evaluate the situation and his surroundings. Keith has an extremely one-track mind and when his decision is made up, he’ll go down that path swords out, guns blazing, mind blank and keep running with it even if the odds are extremely out of his favour. He has good instincts, of course, but he lacks awareness. Lance supplies that. It’s represented in their weapon speciality and through their interactions.

1. Return to the Balmera: When Keith is about to barge into the hanger without hesitation to take down the sentries, Lance stops him and suggests he re-evaluate the situation and presents a much cleaner idea. I think from then on it’s very much been alluded to that Lance will fall into that ‘right hand man’ category for Keith. We see Keith looking for Lance’s guidance later in the episode when they’re being pinned down by sentries, and Keith responds to Lance’s idea without hesitation.

2. Collection and Extraction: Keith outright ignores Lance’s advice of ‘how about we lay low and don’t break our cover’ and the situation falls largely to shit for him.

3. Changing of the Guard: Keith isn’t seeing the situation as it is. He isn’t seeing the bigger picture, and the importance of moving on from Shiro and rebuilding the team. He’s caught in his head, and much like when he’s in a fight, he just kinda spirals, going deeper and deeper inside himself, and he can’t really claw himself out by himself. Lance kinda acts like the hook that draws him out again, He gets Keith moving in the right direction. A friendly kick up the bum. Has him thinking productively now.

4. Red Paladin: When Keith convinces himself that he’s not suitable to fall into the Black Paladin position, Lance again introduces the ‘bigger picture’, the stuff Keith isn’t himself able to see at the time. He points out there is a reason he was chosen, lays down his own respect (a big deal for Lance, let’s be real), and asks Keith to do the same. He lays the situation out in a more digestible way for Keith to swallow at the time. It’s another nudge.

5. The Hunted: It all really culminates in this episode because Keith swings down his ‘fighting spiral’ again, but being the leader this time he, quite literally, drags the entire team down with him. He latches onto Lotor, and the idea that he MUST beat him in order to prove he can do this (lead etc). He doesn’t see the mistakes he’s making. Lance, as I’ve pointed out, has a talent for assessing the broader situation and locating problems. Again, when he pulls Keith out of chasing Lotor when Allura crashed, it’s a voice of reason. He just wants Keith the re-evaluate their priorities, unfortunately that involved quite a bit of yelling on his part. So when he later has that ‘heart to heart’ with Keith after they were split up, he isn’t shy about agreeing with how bad Keith stuffed up, and where he did. It’s important though that Keith came to that realisation by himself. Lance doesn’t hang it over his head, only firmly agrees and once again points Keith in the right direction.

So, I don’t think it’s about stopping Keith from taking action, but encouraging him to pause and re-evaluate his surroundings and situations. You can see Lance never really stops him, only opens his eyes to another approach or priority. The problem for Keith I think really was when Shiro ‘returned’ and started cutting of Keith’s actions and sending him into another spiral of uncertainty, which I believe largely influenced his decision to join the BOM.

Also, unpopular opinion, but I strongly disagree with any notion of Black Paladin Lance. It puts a fork in any of his development and would throw off any point of Keith having been accepted by the Black Lion. Lance is growing into the position of ‘the right hand man’. He’s not an initiator of action and leadership, he’s the one that tugs on the leader’s shoulder and says, “Hey look, great idea, but I think you could do this better if you do it this way.” He’s the one to see through the cracks and catch any bad ideas. This is only my interpretation, might be slightly biased, but I’m super objective with characters at times and try to step back from it all and read the lines of the plot.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #voltron analysis #lance mcclain #keith kogane #voltron season 5

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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Tessa Thompson and stunt double Tara Macken on the set of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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“Thanks, Red.”

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 6 years

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Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!

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cityofsexyshadowhunters · 7 years

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The Power of Words: Lance edition

Warning: Looong post. Maybe worth it though?

Something I’ve noticed about Lance since the beginning of the show is how influenced he is by the words people say to him. I think it explains the way his character shifts so much between three different stages. I’m going to label them as three main responses.

Gloating/pride.

Defensiveness/self-preservation

Insecurity/realisation.

They vary between each category.

(Please note: This is a shipless post. No shipping lenses here. Safe for anyone.)

The first instances I noticed this with could actually, potentially, allude to his entire arc. It is this comparison between the way Iverson treated him compared to Shiro in episode 1. From Lance’s perspective, both these men are above him in age, experience and rank. What they say to him matters. I noticed this because of the way the shots would hone in on his expression after, 1. Iverson’s scolding, naturally throwing Lance’s deficiencies around in his face, 2. Shiro acknowledging Lance by name and regarding him with thanks and an open palm, and 3. when Shiro asked Lance to complete his first mission.

Compare the expressions:

Humiliated and crushed.

Unsure, but honoured.

Completely certain of himself.

All these expression were provoked through words by those who rank above him. And you can visually see the way Shiro’s trust and kindness instantly lifts him. It’s like a switch.

Words are a switch for Lance.

Now let’s look into some other instances in each category I mentioned above:

1. Gloating/pride.

The entire situation with Nyma reflected Lance’s easy influence to deception through endearment and words that bolster his pride. He loves to gloat, especially in front of girls. It’s what boys like to do. This, of course, carries connotations of him trying uphold this ideal image of himself he has inside his head, which, unsurprisingly, would likely look a lot like Shiro.

And Nyma spurs this on. She’s obviously done this before, and the words she uses easily deceived Lance into doing what she wants. They’re little compliments that make him feel good, a bit of goading, some endearments and feigned interest around the sides. It’s everything Lance has ever dreamed of. He’s easily influenced by everything she says and it leads him straight into a trap. He willingly gave her his hand as he trusted her completely because she told him everything he wanted to hear.

It becomes clear that Lance values the words of those around him, even complete strangers.

Now, hopefully, Lance has learnt from that mistake.

Other examples of how words really bolster and lift his pride, and thus, his ego include these:

A theme that squeezes it’s way out here is the type of people that really influence Lance. Girls and heroes. Not exactly the most realistic and ideal things to be influenced by, but what it does is illustrates him as what he is. A teenage boy. Teenage boys love girls and they love their heroes. Who is he gloating to here? Allura. A beautiful girl. Why is he gloating? Because Shiro, his hero (lol) complimented him. He’s feeling on top of the world. You compare that to how he was feeling before with the Yupper, and it’s a stark contrast. So, he’s very sensitive to words. He’s also a drama queen.

In this case with Shiro, compared to Nyma, it’s a positive thing. Mostly because Shiro isn’t deceiving Lance into anything, he’s paying him a well-deserved compliment. It bolsters Lance’s own idea of where he fits on the team and, yeah, he gloats. Because he’s proud and thrilled about his hero/leader saying these things about him. If the Queen of England called me a great sharpshooter, you know what, I’d believe it, and I’d gloat for the rest of my life. (Hint: I am not a great sharpshooter.) Shiro is obviously a heavy influence over Lance and his perception of himself. His words mean a lot. So I found it interesting when Lance channelled that kind of encouragement of Shiro’s in season 3 + 4 towards both Keith and Allura. (More on that later.) I also think it’s interesting to compare Lance seeking approval from Shiro to Lance seeking either validation or confirmation from Keith in season 3. Shiro was there at that point, but was not the ‘leader’. The dynamics had changed and Lance was in the process of accepting that. So he sought out Keith. If we look at this without a shipping lens it looks a lot like Lance, having accepted Keith as the leader, is seeking Keith’s opinion like he would Shiro’s. You can see his perception of Keith has shifted and matured a lot here. Good growth.

So now we see how his pride affects him, and who provokes it–let’s get into point 2.

2. Defensiveness/self-preservation.

Lance has an idea of himself he wants to uphold. When someone threatens that idea he can become prickly. Three parts of his idea include: His sharpshooting, intelligence and piloting. These are threatened by mainly Pidge and Keith. Examples:

What I’d like to focus on here is his face in the last frame. It’s a very quick transition between that and him grinning again. But he definitely was unhappy with Pidge’s words. And we’ve seen how influenced he is by words and opinions of him. It really shows in this episode. He didn’t say anything to retort her, but from that expression he looks offended–and potentially already starting to question himself. He had already felt the need to defend his skills when Pidge reminded him he only had a single shot. Pidge has a tendency to push. And her words are very–very sharp and honest. Most of the time. Remember, she also likes to kid around a lot. However, she’s also the ‘brains’ so her words can become tangled up in someone’s mind when she’s joking. What actually might have been a good natured tease, might become something doubt-inducing instead. Because people believe her. She’s an origin of facts and reasoning. Even Keith doubted himself based on her words after she called him a ‘loner’. So why wouldn’t Lance begin to question his skills when someone as smart as Pidge doubted them right in front of his face? It leads to later self-doubt that continued throughout the episode and into season 3.

Something to note is that Lance first reacts against Pidge’s words, but later convinces himself through circumstances and time that they are true.

And we all know how this escalates later into another spiral of self-doubt after Blue rejects him.

Compare this to Keith and Lance’s interactions, which a much more intense and instantaneous.

This exchange with Keith highlights similarly his self-preservative tendencies when his piloting is brought into question. The way Keith says ‘cargo pilot’ is clearly derogative, which alludes to the idea of it being a very much undesired and looked down upon position in the Garrison. He immediately places Lance on a lower level to him, and Lance…doesn’t appreciate that. He reacts violently and defensively with his own insult on his tongue just for Keith. Now, Lance is a naturally good natured person, but many of his interactions at the beginning with Keith have a heavy undertone of real bitterness. 1. Keith is a psychological threat to his reputation. And 2. Keith literally verbally degraded his reputation. The way they interact very much reflects the rivalry Lance mentioned, however one sided. The point is, Lance rejects, deflects and repels anything Keith says to him near the beginning with intense dislike. Keith’s words were like being burned with a hot poker and then flinching away from it only to smack it out of the person’s hands. Keith’s words spur out a defensive Lance.

Now, it’s important to understand Keith isn’t the villain here, as Lance doesn’t respond very maturely, and for the most part, Keith isn’t serious about what he says. What’s interesting is that Lance spurs out Keith’s humour, but Keith isn’t the best at translating that verbally as humour. It comes out instead as an attack in Lance’s mind. So, when I say Keith threatens Lance’s skills, I don’t mean literally. I mean he threatens Lance’s idea of his skills.

Keith threatens Lance’s idealised version of himself. One, as I mentioned, that is very likely carved out of how he perceives Shiro.

Keith also threatens Lance’s idea of his intelligence.

Here, naturally, Lance reacts with intense defensiveness, going straight for another insult directed at Keith. It’s instant–like a switch–the way Keith’s words drive Lance straight up the wall. The warning bells are going, ‘threat, threat, threat’, and he’s reacting faster than he can even come up with a decent insult. In this case, he has Hunk to back him up. And look how pleased with himself he is. His insult was honestly terrible, Keith get’s all the points for creativity there.

Again. The dialogue is snappy between them. There’s barely even a gap between one before the other is starting.

But you get the picture. Lance has an image to protect. And people like Pidge and Keith, with cutting words, challenge it. Hunk backs it up. Shiro bolsters it. And pretty girls encourage it.

Now let’s get to what you all love most: some soul crushing angst.

3. Insecurity/realisation.

What we’ve touched on before was how Pidge’s words tease out Lance’s doubt at times. And it’s not her fault, it’s just the way Lance clings and reacts to words in relation to how he views himself.

What struck me here was the way he even listened to the Yupper. He’s on self-doubt spiral and if you’ve ever been through one of those, you know that sometimes the only thing you can take in is more negatives. The Yupper ‘agreeing’ with Lance, and then Lance agreeing with it says a lot about how words can affect him when he’s in that kind of spiralling mood. More so, the phrase, ‘I thought’ suggests that he doesn’t think that any longer. He did at the start of the episode, but not by this point, as a result of Pidge bringing up something that conflicted his own image.

Then again here: All he’s seeing, once again, is the negatives. Pidge’s words stick. In comparison, Keith’s past insults don’t. Not to the same extent. Lance doesn’t cling to those like he does to Pidge’s. But what I liked about here is this part (and look, I’m getting way into symbolism, sue me, I like it):

Now, the ‘lion roaring’ here, for me, is going to be translated into something equal to a ‘voice’. It’s words that constantly throw Lance around for a loop. Words that tell him he’s great, words that tell him he’s not, and words that say one thing only to mean another. I find it significant that the Red Lion ‘roars’ for him, and Lance hears it. It becomes confirmation that he does belong there as a Paladin. Verbally, almost, in a sense.

He seeks verbal confirmation of his place later on with Keith as well, as I mentioned before as he settles in with Keith’s new position. Lance has to hear it to believe it. Which is why I think his expression was still so dull when he said thanks to Keith just before leaving. He didn’t quite get what he came for. So I’m hoping the writers touch on that again. I found that scene ironic since Lance was taking on that specific side of Shiro for the others previously, but he still needed it returned.

Finally, okay I’m near the end, I promise. Here’s the finale.

Lance is learning how words are not only important to him, but how he can use them as tools to lift his teammates. He seems to be very much aware how much encouragements and advice can help and lift his friends in season 3 + 4 especially. Specifically for Allura and Keith, who both displayed similar doubts about themselves as Lance has before, and continues to. Lance understands it. He understands doubt.

Examples: (I know you know what they are, but I love pictures)

So, in its essence, what I’m trying to say is Lance is finding his own ‘voice’.

With all these other voices around him telling him who he is and isn’t, Lance is learning that the one voice that really matters is his. And not in accordance to himself, but in the way he can use it for others. He’s spent a lot of time listening to the voices around him, but it’s about time he began using his own.

And the others listen.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #voltron analysis #lance mcclain #lance analysis #voltron season 4 #vld s4 #voltron spoilers #voltron theory #vld s4 spoilers #keith kogane #allura #pidge gunderson #hunk garrett #takashi shirogane

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