#but imperial powers coming in and stealing shit is fairly simply a bad thing

[larathia]

Lotor’s Plotting

Before we begin, just look at the title again please. This post covers only what we can observe as having been said or done up through Season Five. Lotor plays his cards fairly close to his chest, so on the whole I'm going to be focusing on what he does, and where his words back up/reinforce his actions.

That is to say - I absolutely think Lotor is a lying liar that lies. But I also know that the best lies, the hardest lies to unravel, have elements of truth to them. So I give Lotor's words weight where his actions back them up, regardless of how he himself presents those words.

We do not know the whole of Lotor's plan, as of S5. We do not know why he's doing what he's doing, or whether he is in any way correct in his beliefs regarding the outcome of his actions.

But we can, with I feel reasonable levels of certainty, say that:

His goals are not as he has presented them to the Voltron Paladins, and

The Paladins are honestly not too likely to be thrilled about it when they find that out.

P.S. If you ship Lotor/Allura, you should probably stop right now, and go read something else, because my views on what Lotor's doing with Allura are neither romantic nor flattering.

Unraveling Lotor's Plotting: Stage One (Method and Means)

Lotor's opening scene in S3 is, I feel, a case of Lotor presenting the truth in a way that he knows damn well few people will believe until much, much later.

In the gladiatorial arena scene, we see several of Zarkon's generals cheering on the fights, and generally plotting. We learn that Lotor's not highly regarded, and that among the highest ranking Galra, bloodlines are hugely important. To be a 'half breed' is a bad thing, disqualifying in and of itself, an indication of unfitness for any kind of rank or command. We see the generals forming factions and plotting for control, and we see this being treated as, if not normal, then at least expected.

And into this comes Lotor, disguised as a gladiator. He humiliates a general before the crowd, and declares that the real path forward is by discarding this apparently long-held racist philosophy and by encouraging the loyalty of those lower in the heirarchy, rather than commanding it or forcing it.

Later, Lotor will discount these words before his generals. And while he has little reason to lie to them, I think he is in fact lying. This was Lotor at his most truthful and honest, and from what we see of him, the only way he can defend himself is by making sure nobody really pays attention when the truth is spoken. The reality is, this is very much the core of Lotor's approach - not just to the worlds of the Empire but to other people he deals with. Lotor is much more interested in making his allies loyal to him than he is in forcing their cooperation.

On the face of it, especially if you're used to/expecting Zarkon, Lotor's methods may seem like a breath of fresh air. I feel the reality is simply that Lotor has internalized Imperial race issues but flipped them on their head; he's as ruthless as any galra, but employing altean means to achieve his ends. (Start thinking about what would have happened if Lotor had met the alt-universe Alteans. Would he have seen anything wrong with their means or methods, or would he have proposed an alliance?)

Now, in S3, what we mainly know is that Lotor knows going in that this bout on the throne is going to be temporary, and that his father will very probably boot him back to the hinterlands once he's feeling better. So what we see in S3 is Lotor avoiding using the power of the throne, but rather continuing a plan he's apparently had for a long, long time and mainly using his new status to make sure he can get the trickier parts done without getting caught. He's very clear that he doesn't want Haggar or Zarkon aware of what he's doing. That means no record, no official orders.

What we should take away from this is that any time something comes up later that was clearly Not Usual - some ship that's not where it should be, some cargo that doesn't seem properly documented - Lotor should at least be considered a viable suspect in the "who's behind it" box. Haggar's stuff tends to just be classified. Zarkon's will be bureaucratically documented to official hell and back. Lotor's stuff will be off the books, and possibly a little out of the ordinary.

Stage Two: Testing the Waters, Gathering Materials

What Lotor does with his power in S3 is test the waters, and see if he can get some of his trickier materials without setting off any alarms. To this end, his first big thing is 'test the Paladins'. A lot of fans will be focusing on the shakeup the Paladins have suffered at this point in time; this is where Keith is backed into the Black Lion, Lance is getting the hang of Red, and Allura is learning lions from scratch in Blue. That isn't where Lotor wants the Paladins to be, and he even says so. (I count this as true as it's backed up by his actions, as you'll see.) He uses his generals to draw the lions out, making sure firstly that there are still five in action, and then goading them to form Voltron. Voltron is what Lotor wants.

Why does he want it? Because he wants something that's at least like it. He knows where there's a rift, with a trans-reality comet, and that he can't get it himself. It's Lotor that sets the fake Altean distress beacon that draws the Paladins to the rift where they meet Sven and the alt-Alteans. (He does admit as much in S5.) Lotor wants that comet, and as far as he knows only Voltron can get it for him. Which, ultimately, is exactly what happens, and Lotor makes off with it.

***** The Paladins weren't meant to know he was also after the teludav. He'd set that plan up almost the moment he took the throne, making sure he could steal the thing and that no credible report would exist blaming him for its loss. I'm going to admit that I don't know why he wanted the teludav, but given his attitude to All Things Altean in S5, I'm going to guess he wanted to study it, and see if he could figure out how to use it or make something like it, since the castleship's wormholing ability is a huge tactical asset and only Allura can make wormholes with a teludav.

What's worth noting in Stage Two is that we see he's serious about his approach as stated in the gladiatorial arena. Lotor isn't always out to make friends, but he takes steps to avoid making enemies he doesn't have to make. He does taunt and harry the paladins, but he never takes it farther than he needs to for the goal at hand. He doesn't gloat, he doesn't build himself up by knocking others down. And what's most clear as of S3 is that he is not your typical Galran general.

Stage Three: Get What You Can, While You Can

In S4 ...let's face it, we're all probably busy or at least distracted with Keith leaving the paladins and Shiro being strange and Pidge going off to find her brother. But Lotor's not twiddling his thumbs here, and S4 starts what S5 continues - Lotor is up to something and so far Keith's the only one to have seen even parts of it.

In S4, right out of the gate, we see the Blades discover a new, ultra-powerful form of quintessence. It's not at some shiny new well-developed facility, either, but somewhere well off the beaten track. The Blades manage to map out part of the supply route, but not all of it, and we find out pretty damn quick that whoever's running this show is watching and is paranoid, setting out a decoy ship full of explosives just to discourage further investigation.

S4E1, the Blades still think Lotor's somewhere behind this, and Keith tries to tell Shiro as much, but we aren't told why they think that - just that they do.

S5E5, we find out that one of those ships, probably fairly early on, entered Warlord Ranveig's territory, was intercepted, and Ranveig used the ultra-powerful quintessence to conduct experiments. So...it may well have been intel sent by Krolia that put the Blades on the trail of this new quintessence. What we learned in S5 is that this stuff isn't just rocket fuel; it has powerful and unpredictable effects on living beings. This shit ain't biodiesel. It's dangerous. And whoever's running the supply lines for it noticed a shipment going missing; Ranveig only ever got the one vessel. The supply line was rerouted afterward.

What we see Lotor doing in S4 is building his Sincline ships, and dealing with Haggar's attempts to spy on him. He doesn't get his full set of three, but only two of three. And Haggar, and Zarkon, being the paranoid people they are, immediately see "trans reality comet ships" and think "threat to the empire". It's possible they're right to think so, but it's also entirely possible that Lotor's plans for the Sincline ships are only a small part of his overall scheme.

We do, however, get confirmation that it is Lotor behind the ultra powerful quintessence - because he's the ONLY person we see who not only knows the shit exists, but making use of it. It's loaded into the Sincline ships, and used to infuse those ships for travel between realities.

Sadly for him, he just goes from Point A to Point Z. There's no 'layer of pure unlimited quintessence' for him to harvest. (I'd love to know why he thought there would be, I think it would reveal a lot.) And his generals betray him, which puts him on the run for the rest of the season, until he can intervene at a dramatic moment to save the Paladins, and thus buy enough goodwill for a chat.

Stage Four: Quintessential Quintessence

Season Five is...not about Lotor having a redemption arc. It really isn't. Lotor is absolutely continuing his plans, that he's had from the getgo, but using the Paladins instead of his own generals. Part of that is necessity (since his generals betrayed him) and part of it is simply new information. He's actually traveled between realities now, he's tested his Sincline ships. His initial plan for 'unlimited quintessence' is a bust.

He very clearly hasn't given up on the idea though, because he sells that exact idea to the paladins as his path to universal peace. Give the Galra unlimited quintessence, and there's no more reason (he says) for them to go rampaging and conquering and draining planets of life. And the paladins are, at least for now, mostly buying that theory.

I would like to point out at this stage that we see a LOT of Galra generals in S4 and S5. Not fricking one of them even mentions quintessence, or harvesting quintessence. Not. One. They're in this for power. Not just 'fuel' type power, but power-over-others, power to enslave, power to conquer. There is, based on what we've seen of the Galra High Command, no path that does not at some point involve taking out at least 90 percent of the current Imperial leadership. They're corrupt, power-mad, and frankly sadistic even among themselves. Lotor. Is. Lying. It's a lie the paladins would very much like to believe (and no wonder!) but it is a lie. Whatever Lotor wants that quintessence for, it is _not_about bringing peace.

Lotor is clearly capable of creating ultra-pure quintessence. We see his supply lines, and his use of it, in S4. But his stores of it are provably hugely limited. And for whatever reason, he is flat out driven to acquire a lot more of it.

Season Five is Lotor trying to maneuver Allura into getting him that quintessence, getting him access. It's fairly clear he never considered he himself (as a half breed) might also be a Mystic Altean; he's stunned as hell when the Mark of the Chosen appears on his cheeks. It's Allura he focuses on from the getgo, and specifically Allura as Alfor's daughter, Allura as Mystic Altean.

This is where I'm flat out shooting down any Lotor/Allura romance ideas. Lotor has zero interest in Allura as a person. He doesn't talk to her about her feelings, or who she is as a person, or what she likes or dislikes. He is very invested in having her like him, however, and every conversation they have comes back around to either getting her to like him, or sympathize with him, or a discussion of how wonderful it must be to be Altean and have magic and oh yes, quintessence. He's interested in learning Altean magic from her, and he's entirely fine if he has to first make sure she knows about Altean magic herself. Everything he does with Allura in season Five is about getting into her good graces, setting himself up as a benefactor and potential ally - and yes, at one point he does even offhandedly suggest a political marriage. (One cannot help but draw parallels between Zarkon/Honerva and Lotor's designs on Allura here; he'd clearly LOVE to have a magic witch of his very own.)

It's not about her. It's never been about her. It's about that storehouse of quintessence he badly, badly wants, and that (now that he realizes his initial plan of using the Sincline ships won't work) he thinks she can get for him. That ultra-powerful quintessence that creates monsters that eat seasoned Galra generals and their entourages in seconds. _That_stuff.

He's willing to let the other Paladins run roughshod over his home base, making messes, freaking guards out, launching robeast coffins, oh by the way Shiro here's where all our troops are, all of it, because what he wants hasn't changed and none of what the other Paladins are doing impacts that. It's only Allura, her magic, her powers, that interest him. The others? His only interest is that they not be against him.

What Isn't Yet Known

This is the frustrating bit. We don't know what Lotor's after. I mean yes, clearly he very much wants unlimited stores of his ultra powerful quintessence, but we don't know why. Army of monsters? Fuel for some new kind of ship? Rip holes in all the realities? It's anyone's guess why he wants this stuff, but it's pretty clear that it is what he's after at this stage.

We don't know for sure why he was after the teludav either. Since it's gone, there's no way to know if he just wanted to study it, or if he needed it for something (and therefore might have a lab make a new one?) or what.

Mostly, the paladins don't know this stuff. I mean yes, they were told by the Blades that Lotor was probably behind the new quintessence supply lines, but a lot's happened since then. The Paladins definitely don't know about Ranveig's beast, or that the ultra powerful quintessence is used in Sincline ships, or that Lotor has traversed realities. (Allura, and only she, might know of that last one. But only her.) They don't have the pieces of this particular puzzle. But they're there, and I think clues as to what Lotor might want all this quintessence for should be watched for when S6 comes out.

#voltron legendary defender #vld

[ladytrollfishes]

Heist. Pt 1

It takes you ages to plan. You're agitated constantly; your attention skips and jumps, you zone out, you get frustrated, you give up. But you have to get back on it, so you do. It's hard to concentrate with the imps around. You don't know them, not really. You don't trust them even half as much as Herlyn and Mysmus. They have the advantage in case it came to combat. It would not be all that difficult for them to tear you apart and you have a some difficulties controlling your imagination when you think about how easy it would be for any one of them to kill you. Tomie isn't so bad at least. He's an open book and his psi isn't offensive. You could probably pre-empt an attack and disappear. Nanako bounces around cheerily, but you're fairly certain she could crush your skull with a punch, much faster than you could run or even turn invisible. Vadaya's the worst. He's unreadable, and the ways he could kill you are basically only limited by imagination, which you have a lot of. You wouldn't have a chance as long as you were inside his range, which you were going to be. A lot. You don't exactly sleep the first day out of the base, and it takes about a week for you to finally trust they weren't planning on turning around and slitting your throat. And while you get why they're following you, you're not entirely sure why they don't bolt once they have Vadaya out of the base, and make their own way out. You know you're competent, most of the time, but you'd think highbloods would have a hard time taking orders from a younger, flinchy, hemoanon. You miss Mysmus. His absence was a serious ache. You missed his quiet humor, his steady presence, even the Heyfel sayings you were pretty certain he was just making up at this point to watch your nose wrinkle. You missed being able to reach out and grab onto that coat of his and tuck yourself into it when you were panicking, or afraid or really just because you felt like it. Between him and Herlyn, you actually felt safe.

But you don't exactly have room to complain. You did this to yourself, after all. You just didn't really expect it to turn out like this, when you burst in to rescue Vadaya. You didn't think it through and you have no one to blame but yourself. You just... panicked, really, at the idea that your side was doing something that terrible, insisted you do something about it and as they usually did, Herlyn and Mysmus followed. They were coming more frequently now, the panic attacks. When you're traveling, there's fewer places to escape to, when you feel the panic coming, and it's a whole new set of people you don't trust trying to learn your triggers. You don't explain why you can't bring yourself to eat rice or white fish, or drink soup. Nanako caught you once, when you tripped, which resulted in an immediate panic attack, and Herlyn had to get you somewhere quiet and tucked away from what you were sure prying eyes. It doesn't start an immediate coup, like you expected. Tomie insists on helping, up until Vadaya tells him to stop bothering you. Nanako doesn't say much about it, just puts herself between you and everyone else and makes sure you can get peace and quiet when you need it. After that it gets easier to trust them. You told Vadaya what happened to you, when you were trying to make him believe you wouldn't hurt Tomie. You're not sure if he told the others, and you're not sure if you should be grateful if he did. It's not exactly a walk in the park for him either. He's stopped taking care of his appearance. When you had found him he still had his hair trimmed and his beard shaved. He's got scruff now, and you don't think he's touched a hairbrush except when Nanako fusses at him.

He also gets about as much sleep as you do, you're pretty sure. You can't afford to sleep one to a room, not on your dwindling funds. The second Herlyn snores, or Tomie rolls over, you're awake. Sometimes you'll hear Vadaya sit up, after you both jerk awake, and you'll hear Vadaya shuffle quietly into the hall. Coffee is an investment, for the both of you. You settle into a schedule. You rarely stay in one place for more than a night. You separate and walk somewhat apart from each other so you don't look like one big group. Too many adults in one place draws attention, especially when none of them are in imperial dress. They look like draft dodgers than anything else. You keep to big cities where adults aren't uncommon, and you go out quite often with just Herlyn for company. You think you're boring the imps. When you do need them, it's a lot of standing watch thirty feet away from you as you talk to your various contacts. You have them handle some of the transactions- it'd look to weird for the child of a group to be making the decisions, but otherwise, there's not so much to do. You think Nanako is at least getting very antsy. But despite your doubts, you'll have something to do for them soon. You're pulling together a plan but first you're going to need some funds. You're running low. You clear your throat when you enter the hotel room you've rented out, and you see four pairs of eyes turn towards you. "I have a plan," you say quietly. "And I'm going to need help. You take a deep breath to try and ease away the nerves. "You're all okay with assisting me in the field, right?" you ask. "Of course, lah!" Nanako exclaims, her leg bobbling as she leans back in her chair. "We here for a reason, yes? Let us off the leash!" She gives an excited clap and grins at you. Tomie nods eagerly, and when you glance at Vadaya, he nods, impassive as ever. You really wish you knew what was going on inside his head sometimes. Herlyn just gives you a thumbs up and a grin. "Alright," you say, taking a seat yourself. "Our target is Gastra Hilben. She's the CEO of a security company that specializes in storage. She's got a couple private vaults in just about every major city. But she's got her headquarters here."

Tomie grins widely at the mention of vaults. "Never met a safe I couldn't crack! We're gonna steal all her stuff then yeah? Looking for something in particular?" You shake your head. "We're going to take her reputation," you say. "We don't have enough time to worry about fencing stuff." "Time? We're running out of time?" Tomie asks, looking mildly alarmed. "We've got enough money to stay here for a little less than a week," you say. "Then its sleeping on the streets for all of us." You really don't want that to happen. You and Vadaya wouldn't be sleeping at all, if that was the case. "Oh," Tomie says, deflating. "The goal here is primarily money," you say quietly. "But we're looking at an excellent opportunity for blackmail. Hilben has a lot of different clients who use her services to hide their secrets. Discretion is a big part of her business model." "Double pronged blackmail," Herlyn says, nodding approvingly. "You blackmail Hilben with her own clients." "They won't be very happy with her, for letting their secrets escape," you say quietly. Nanako shakes her head, clicking her tongue. "Scary, lah," she says. "Security will not be easy! How we getting in?" "We need recon first," you say. "First she had to let us in. Vadaya, can you make something that weighs and feels like a gold coin?" You look at him, and his brow furrows just slightly, pausing a moment, before he says, "I have not attempted such a thing." "Can you try?" You're not surprised. His constructs are all purple, there's been no point in trying to figure out if he can mimic something else. He focuses for a moment before he forms a large purple coin in his hand, his flesh one. He frowns, and it disappears before he tries again. This time, he seems satisfied and holds it out to you. You take the coin and consider it in your hand, nodding. You turn the coin over in your fingers and take a deep breath, then take the leap of faith. With a flourish of your own psi, you paint its purple color over with gold. Metallics and their shine are a little harder than just a color change, but it's nothing you can't handle. "Oh shit!" Tomie exclaims. "Was that psi? What did you do? Can I see?" You toss the coin over to him, keeping focus on it, and he ooos and aaahs and hands it over to Nanako, who bites it, then squints. "I have illusion psi," you say. "It's not actually gold. But whatever Vadaya can construct, I can make look real." You watch their faces as they nod. Tomie looks excited, Nanako a little more pensive, and Vadaya, who simply nods. "I'm asking you guys to keep this a secret," you say. "There aren't too many people outside this room who know about my power." "Not even the other rebels?" Tomie asks, and you shake your head. "Sipara knows I have psi," you say. "She just doesn't know what it does." "Secret illusions stay secret when no one thinks, ah! Little one makes illusions, lah," Nanako says, nodding. "We keep your secret." She looks to the others, who nod in turn. You take a shaky breath and try to believe they'll actually do it.

"Okay," you say. "So here's the plan."

#Daginy drabbles #reverse bad End au #heist pt 1