“shiro disappeared by the end of S2 but dw keith finds him and gets him back in S3! :)” was such a bald-faced lie. what they did here was a cop-out, they didn’t want to deal with backlash, with fans getting angry for killing off shiro. additionally, they wanted the execs appeased bc shiro is popular and they need his face to remain the show to continue to capitalize off him in merchandise.
j keat.on can attest how much a physically disabled moc with ptsd meant a lot to fans, esp fans of color, esp disabled foc, esp disabled foc with ptsd with all the testaments he received. shiro didn’t deserve to die, but since he did, he deserved to be mourned over, to be appreciated for what he did to/for the people in his life, and be mourned over by his fans and whatever clamor to bring him back and all testaments of how meaningful shiro was to us foc.
instead, shiro, after
- getting kidnapped by the galra and made to participate in sick ‘games’
- losing his arm
- getting traumatized and continued to get psychological torture from the galra yet still fought for the good fight
- getting CLONED bc of some sick obsession of the galra towards him
died so young, and while he kicked around as a ghost, he got to watch his little bro unable to move on from him, and was fooled by a clone. so were all the people he cared about. he had to watch a clone wearing his face make the people he love feel small, put them all in danger, not once, not twice, but countless times. he couldn’t be there for anyone or help anyone which i imagine must’ve frustrated him to no end.
and no one was there for him. gosh there was no one there for him. he’s just all alone in the astral plane, just him and his thoughts, and he doesn’t even know why is he around. is this what afterlife is for a paladin? just watching things unfold, completely powerless?
and he had to see. someone with his face. with a hand that looks like his. betray his team and attack them, esp his brother. someone with his face is trying to kill his brother by a hand that looks like his and his brother is just all confused and hurt! keith really came in clutch there not letting him or the clone die (the clone can perish for all shiro cares since keith’s back to pilot black) but i don’t find it improbable for shiro to just be screaming in the astral plane as this all unfolded
and he had to see lance cry as if he failed him, but he knows lance didn’t. he knows lance did everything he could to keep the team intact without him around, and he’s so grateful for that. he wished so badly he could assure him.
honestly i think shiro had whiplash being back from the dead kicking around as a ghost for so long. but i know the first thing he’d do is give his team the BIGGEST hug, maybe cry a lil bc he didn’t think he would ever be back with them again.
i think shiro was done dirty bc they could’ve easily made his arc a path of recovery while fighting the good fight (because it so clearly means a lot to him that he does that) instead they killed him off. and when they retconned his death, they just made him suffer.
i’m happy he’s back now, and i hope he gets to do all the things he wanted to do but couldn’t bc he was a ghost, and that he gets a break from the white bullshit. he’s such a hero, and he deserves writing with care and empathy for him.
lesbow
ruinedchildhood
