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cclaudias · 7 years

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So ngl, this might be a huge reach but

I STILL DON’T THINK THAT’S OUR SHIRO.

Now before any of you judge or make any comment claiming this is a reach and I should stop, hear me out. I’ve thought about this a lot, and send a lot of time on this to make you people understand why I feel this way. And I’m normally not very good at that, no thanks to my brain and adhd. I’ve even explained how I think Shiro disappeared and what really happened.

To begin with, we didn’t really get a proper insight into anyone’s character this season and there was very little character growth. I’m so salty about that, but the season wasn’t that bad, so imma just not mention that again. Now about the Clone Shiro theories. There were a lot of them, and some of them stated that Kuron may not even know that he’s a clone. And I feel that this is what’s happening with Kuron here. I’m sure that Kuron himself thinks he’s Shiro.

But while memories make up an important part of your personality, it’s not everything. There’s a lot we learn from our own thoughts on certain things, the way we make observations which might be linked with our memories, but are not a part of our memories. That’s what’s going on with Kuron here. He has Shiro’s memories, he knows how Shiro behaves, he knows how he’s supposed to behave (since he believes he’s Shiro), but that’s the thing - he’s not Shiro.

With many memories, we tend to have feelings associated with them. Feelings are an abstract thing, so I’m not sure they were copied when Shiro’s memories were implanted in Kuron. But Kuron still knows how he’s supposed to be, because he’s living in Shiro’s life, in Shiro’s memories, with Shiro’s memories, so even if he doesn’t have feelings, thoughts or opinions associated with those memories, he still knows.

It’s kind of like with kids (and occasionally teens too). They tend to look up to certain people - parents, siblings, role models, classmates, celebrities, etc - and imitate them (knowingly or unknowingly). And they do it so well, when they don’t even have memories of this person, just the ones they’ve seen and the memories they were in. But Kuron here, has 25 years of Shiro’s experience and life and he might not even know he’s a clone. That’s actually really sad, because when all’s said and done, in the end he’s not Shiro. Even if they’ve “led” the same life. He cannot be Shiro.

This is gonna be kinda long, and I might be wrong but I wanted to put this out there.

So first let’s start with the scene where Black responds to Kuron:

While saying this Kuron sounded so much like our Shiro. Like Black’s Shiro. Not only that, like Shiro points out, people’s lives were at stake. Black forms the head of Voltron, she wouldn’t let people die because she wasn’t sure this person who claims to be her paladin, is her paladin.

When Black first found Shiro (Kuron), she was so exhilarated. You could tell that, even Keith was so happy, I think he must have felt her energy flow in, and I feel that must have been the only time he really “bonded” with Black, so after Black rejects Shiro (Kuron), he still keeps insisting that Shiro should take the lead. Because he knows. He knows how much Shiro means to Black.

Black found Shiro (Kuron), because of his memories. But then when Shiro actually tried to pilot her, she shut him out. This is what she was like when she found him:

[She looks so cute and pure and happy here wtf??!!]

Even Keith here has a slight smile on his face. AND HE HAS NO FRIGGIN’ CLUE WHAT’S GOING ON?? Can you imagine?! Black was so happy and excited, her feelings must have been surging through Keith and even though he had no idea what the eff was going on, he’s faintly smiling.

I don’t really think Keith and Black ever really connected, you know. Because if they did, we would have been shown that scene, it was important. They showed us the scene where Blue and Allura bonded (I don’t really think Lance and Red have properly bonded either). It was just the first time she chose him, and then now. So Keith can tell how important Shiro is to Black. That’s why he was so confused when she rejected Shiro. But then the others needed him so he doesn’t say anything, but later on despite Black’s rejection, he keeps insisting that Shiro should lead. It’s not only because he knows Shiro’s a good leader, but because he knows that Shiro’s the only paladin who earned Black’s love and respect (there was Zarkon… when he was alive. Black: zombies don’t interact.)

I also think Black chose Keith because of Shiro. She didn’t chose any of the other paladins because, 1. She didn’t find any of them fit to be a leader (there was Lance, but atm, he was only thinking about this being “his moment” and that must be why Black rejected him. He was mostly leader material, but that notion was selfish and not leader-like at all. But if I’m right about Kuron, then we might actually see Black Paladin Lance. (I’m going to cling on to this hope with all my life.) and 2. Keith was the only one who hadn’t given up on finding Shiro. The fact Shiro thought Keith could take his place may have also influenced her decision.

Black obviously cared A WHOLE FUCKING LOT about Shiro. She chose him over Zarkon, protected him against Zarkon, gave him an insight about her past life. They were the ones with the strongest bond (because Shiro was an adult, more mature and they spend a lot of time together when Zarkon was tracking them through her).

And I know she accepted him now, but why reject him in the first place? Why did she cut him off in the beginning??

This was Black when they found Shiro (Kuron). She looks so animated and happy. The way she leans in towards where Shiro is...?? I don’t know if you’ve ever had a pet (I don’t have one either, I just watch thousands of cat videos on youtube), but this is exactly how they behave towards an owner they love so much.

In the beginning, Kuron was almost passed out and in an almost unconscious state, she probably couldn’t tell the difference. That he wasn’t her Shiro. But then when he’s conscious, she immediately knows he’s not her paladin. He’s not Shiro. So she cuts him off. But then the more Kuron interacts with the paladins, the more he starts behaving like the real Shiro, so Black may have started to doubt her initial observation.

He sounds so much like Shiro here. Because that’s who he’s supposed to be: Shiro. He might be someone else, but his whole life is painted in Shiro’s memories, and he might not be Shiro, but he’s a lot like him anyways. In this scene, Kuron doesn’t say this because he’s supposed to be like Shiro, he says this because, he genuinely cares. And that’s the saddest part.

I think Haggar (Honerva?? I don’t know what to call her) knew this would be most effective if the clone themselves didn’t know they were a clone. That was there would be closer to no chance of their identity being exposed, because they themselves think they’re real. But with someone’s memories alone, you cannot become them. And neither can Kuron. Do you ever just remember that Honerva is so fucking smart but so sick and omfg I hate her.

Kuron knows what to do in this situation because Shiro’s been here (sort of) when Zarkon was tracking them through Black, and even though they’re objective and situation was different, they both requested Black’s help in somewhat the same manner. Though when this happened with Shiro, they formed a bond, with Kuron she accepted him.

Either Black knows this isn’t her Shiro, but accepted Kuron because she must have realized he himself didn’t know he was a clone and because they were in a situation where they were needed. Or she might have begin to think that maybe her first (second, really) impression of Kuron might be wrong.

Another thing I noticed is that Kuron does have Shiro’s bayard, but he didn’t use it, once. In the season 2 finale, we see Shiro use the bayard, so by now shouldn’t he have used it at least once?? But he doesn’t. This is what a bayard is:

When Keith and Hunk used their bayards to form weapons for Voltron itself, their bayards manifest themselves in the form of their regular weapons: a sword and a shoulder cannon. So while it may be different (I might be wrong thou) but when Shiro’s bayard took the form of a sword during the fight against Zarkon, it should have at least an initial form by then. But, in season 4, Shiro (Kuron) doesn’t use it. Once.

This probably happened because Kuron is not Shiro, and even if he has Shiro’s memories, the bayard takes the form based on its paladin’s whole personality. Not just memories.

Not only that, just because Kuron started acting more like Shiro this season, it doesn’t mean what he did last season doesn’t matter anymore. If anything, Kuron’s growing. But I don’t know how much his behavior changed really. Especially the way he behaved with Keith.

Shiro behaved so differently with Keith. Like both a big brother and leader. He didn’t force Keith to make decisions, but instead explained to Keith why he thought he should make said decisions. He let Keith make the choice.

So why was Shiro (Kuron) pushing Keith into taking the role of Voltron’s leader. Telling Keith that he had to do it. Remember that time in season 1 when Pidge had decided to leave. Shiro told Keith that he can’t force her to stay. So why was he forcing Keith to?

Not only that, Shiro is the one who wanted Keith to lead. So in season 3 when Keith was doing just that, why was he revoking Keith’s orders, and calling him out in front of the team? Invalidating a leader in front of their team. The orders Keith were giving were acceptable and not Keith being hot-headed or putting the team at risk. But Shiro still opposed them. When he had no proper reason. I don’t know who that sounds like to you but to me, that man did not seem like my Shiro.

A lot of you picked on Shiro’s behavior in season 4 too. He was being a sort of shitty leader, even endangering the team’s life once. Wasn’t that the same reason he called Keith out for? And Keith hadn’t even really been jeopardizing the team’s safety. But Shiro was. It was very unlike Shiro.

He was acting like a shitty leader. Jeopardizing the team’s safety. Brushing off a team member’s suggestion(like an ass):

Like oh my god, the last screenshot SCREAMS: NOT SHIRO. Keith had pointed out something so important. But he just brushed it off. I don’t remember Shiro doing this in the first two seasons. So why now?

He acted like an ass to the team the whole season. Almost getting them killed, brushing off their suggestions. That does not seem very leader-like to me. And definitely not Shiro-like.

He’s definitely not the Shiro from season 1 and 2.

I also wanted to link this point made by @lanceskincare. She’s made an excellent point and I wanted to add it.

See, I don’t see the point in the creators changing Shiro’s character design, tbh. Why would they change it for no reason? There must have been a reason they changed his character designs so drastically and argh that ugly ass haircut.

Also, Shiro’s mental illness was a huge part of his character plot. So what happened to it in this season? In the previous season, in the episode where Shiro escapes, he had a lot of time alone. And we’ve seen what our Shiro is like when he’s left all alone, especially with triggers. Shiro had literally just escaped the place from where his PTSD stems, and he didn’t have a single panic attack or flashback. Again, Kuron only had Shiro’s memories, not his feelings. Not the feelings of terror and horror from Shiro’s time with the Galra. None of the fear associated with those memories. Nothing.

So with all this, the real question is how Shiro disappeared in the first place? Especially despite the close bond him and Black had. Shiro even had a flashback and panic attack when he was piloting Black once, so Black would know how much being in a Galra ship terrifies him. Yet, it was from inside Black’s cockpit, that Shiro vanished. Black wouldn’t do this to Shiro, ever. She was happier with Shiro, and obviously cared for him. So if it wasn’t Black then who? And how?

It was Haggar. I don’t know what you think about this but hear me out.

First let’s just go over the events of his disappearance. They were fighting with Zarkon, and they were overpowered for one moment. But then Shiro used his bayard, which was connected to the lion, which formed a sword and they managed to beat Zarkon. But right after they land the blow, there’s a huge purple explosion:

(This screen cap is after the explosion because everything went white after the attack and anime visuals)

And then all the lions are scattered:

Black flies back on her own back to the castle after that, and Shiro goes missing here.

Now in these course of events, did you notice anything odd? One, the lions are scattered, with shouldn’t really happen because we’ve seen Voltron land huge blows without this happening. Which means there was an internal damage. The head goes missing, the one who forms Voltron. Shiro.

Two, you realize after what this happened, right? After Shiro used the bayard. I know there was an interval where they attacked but I’ll explain everything eventually.

So sidetracking a little: Honerva. We know that she was always an inquisitive person. Someone who was always eager to, and strived hard to learn more. The quintessence she was working with made her lose control over this curiosity. She became hungry to learn more. Thirsty for any information, any knowledge about anything - but particularly about quintessence.

We also know that Zarkon had the Black Paladin’s bayard for 10,000 years. And the Red Lion.

Now I know that the Red Lion had his particle barrier up all the time, but this is Honerva we’re talking about. We know what she’s capable of. If I’m right about the clone thing, this probably wasn’t a big thing for her. She’s pretty well-versed with quintessence.

I just think it’d be more suspicious that Honerva had the bayard for 10,000 years, and didn’t mess with it once. That doesn’t seem very much like her to me. If she can meddle with the dead, she’s ready to do anything imo.

So this is what I think must have happened (I’m not sure about the timelines but I’ll mention that too):

Honerva found a way to bug the Black Paladin’s bayard in such a way, that if it was used from within the lion, it could teleport or carry it’s user to where ever she had planned for it to. She had Red, and he had the particle barrier up so she must have found a way past both the particle barrier and the lions’ inner walls. I mean, this is Haggar and 10,000 years, so I wouldn’t really call it a reach.

Now, about when she might have done this. I’m not sure if Haggar was doing this with Zarkon’s permission. He had only one lion and I don’t think he would have let her mess with it. But yea, like that’s gonna stop her.

But in the beginning, I think she must have started it with Zarkon’s acknowledgement and permission. This project must have started right after the fall of Altea. While Altea was what they had considered their greatest threat, this was the beginning of the Galra Empire, and they did not have any allies. Without allies and a hell lot of opposition, I’m sure Honerva must have considered something like our paladins, she isn’t stupid. But I don’t think she expected it to take 10,000 years. Whatever opposition they were expecting was in the beginning, so that must have been when Zarkon let her mess with the bayard and experiment on Red. I’m sure this is where she bugged the bayard.

Or, this must have been where she had planned to bug the bayard. The way the Galra Empire rose, I don’t think they must have faced heavy opposition. At least not anything they considered a threat. So she must have laid off these plans. But then the paladins showed up. And Allura.

If Haggar could craft such powerful monsters in such a limited time, she had plenty of time, even after the paladins’ first appearance to mess with the bayard. And that’s what she did.

That’s how Shiro disappeared.

Black wasn’t responsible from the beginning. She must have been so confused herself. There was a huge explosion of quintessence when Shiro attacked Zarkon. But it wasn’t all from Shiro’s attack alone. It was Haggar’s magic too. The magic she had bugged the bayard with, and the magic she kidnapped Shiro with.

But I could be totally wrong about this, you know. I just don’t think it makes sense. Haggar had the bayard for 10,000 years, and she does nothing? That doesn’t seem like her at all. And I’m positive Black had nothing to do with Shiro’s disappearance.

Another thing (this is may definitely be a stretch but): they removed Keith from this season entirely. We know that Keith and Shiro were very close. So I think Keith would have eventually been able to figure out that this is not his big brother. I can tell when my siblings are acting fishy, but if they act completely different, yet not so much, I think I’d be able to tell they were a clone(this will probably never happen in real life lol, thou just in case, I know I’d be able to tell). It’s the same thing with Keith, if he was there longer, I think he’d have figured out that this Shiro is not the one who taught him so much. Who didn’t give up on him. Who made Keith realize that family wasn’t formed only from blood relations, but also through bonds.

And then Lance. I feel Lance might figure this out (with or without Keith). He’s come from a big family, he’ll know. He might already feel something’s off, but Shiro’s Lance’s hero. He means a lot to him. He looks up to Shiro. So maybe that’s why he’s shrugging off Shiro’s odd behavior.

Maybe they stalled off the Clone Shiro arc, because it would be coincidental with Lance’s character arc. Because Lance standing up to his role model, his hero, will be a huge step for him. I feel Keith going to be there a lot for Lance next season. Especially after all their development in season 3. Maybe after they both figure this out, one of them will try to subtly bring this up, and the other will pick up on this and realize they weren’t alone. This might also simply be wishful thinking, so yea... But I’m clinging on to Black Paladin Lance with every last bit of my soul.

I don’t know, but I strongly feel Lance’s character arc’s gonna be with the Clone Shiro arc. And then we might even get Black Paladin Lance (and co-leadership Klance).

These are just what I felt and me putting it out there. It’s okay if you disagree, it’s just observations I made about Shiro and where they were going with it. I just don’t feel that this Shiro is our Shiro. Everything about him seems off.

Also, let’s not forget ALL those metas and observations made about Shiro and Kuron when the previous season came out. Those, imo, are still valid.

Because why make Shiro disappear and then never talk about it or what happened?

Remember when Shiro first came from the Galra? He lost his memories from that time, and there were so many instances where the creators kept emphasizing on Shiro trying to remember them. So why doesn’t he care anymore all of a sudden.

Not only that, Shiro hasn’t had one flashback or panic attack since he’s come back. I’m not saying he should; mental illnesses are painful and terrible, if anything I know that. But I don’t see how someone can be transported to their source of trauma and come back magically healed. He’d been transported back to the Galra, from inside Black’s cockpit, to his source of trauma, and he’s never once thought about it? If it was the real Shiro, the Shiro who had PTSD, he would have been justifiably terrified to even go near Black, let alone into her cockpit.

Or are the creators just going to pretend Shiro suddenly became a terrible leader, developed a terrible fashion sense and had his mental illness miraculously cured? That’d be terrible plot line, and I believe in them, I know this isn’t something they’d do. In fact, in a whole, this season (besides the first two and the last episodes), seemed more like a filler. Or something they did to reduce how heavy the previous episodes were, since you know, season 3 and season 4 were supposed to be one season.

There’s this thread on twitter by @koganya on s3/4 Shiro that I totally agree with.

tl;dr: We’re going to get a proper Clone Shiro Arc (and possibly Lance’s Character Arc and Black Paladin Lance) next season, where they might even deal with Shiro’s mental illness.

On another note: if anyone has any ideas or thoughts about this, ones that you’d like me to know or add here, feel free to message me. I’d love to hear others opinions on this.

Edit: So I was thinking about why they would possibly drag this Clone Shiro thing, and I realized that they weren’t. Season 3 and 4 were originally meant to be one season. This whole thing was set up in such a way, that in the beginning when they found Shiro we’d feel he wasn’t our Shiro but then the later half was supposed to make us dubious. But since the season was split, we got the first half much earlier, and had a lot of time to over-analyze the shit out of this.

Honestly this was such the stupid observation wtf am I doing??!! Lmao, I’m sorry, my brain compelled me to put this here.

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