Red and Blue make Purple

Season 2 speculations

heero-yuy

Trying to answer:

Who ends up piloting the Black and Red lions
Why is Shiro crying

So as we’ve seen in the last episode of season 1, the Red lion was badly damaged because of Keith’s reckless decision to go against Zarkon all by himself.

It’s probably still damaged, and this is why we see the Black lion lifting it here. (wherever it is they end up together..)

Also here, when it gets sucked into a wormhole, it looks pretty immobile like a piece of junk.

And as mentioned by @darkspellmaster in their very good season 2 trailer observation post, the Red lion is missing from alot of shots. (Just like a certain paladin…)

So basically thanks to Keith, they lose the Red lion. And thanks to Keith they probably can’t even form Voltron anymore (once they eventually meet, and if that happens before the Red lion gets fixed that is..)

This is ofcourse something that’s probably going to play a big role in Keith’s development into the great leader he will eventually become.

And I think it’s pretty clear by now that Keith is the black paladin, and was always supposed to be the leader. (That’s why he could also sense all the lions.. Or why he and Zarkon (The original Black paladin) fight over the Black lion in season 1 finale..) He just has to grow into the part.

Now, since Shiro tells Keith to lead Voltron, obviously something happens that makes Shiro unable to pilot the Black lion again.

Maybe it was because he was protecting immobile Keith again in that shot where he lifts the Red lion, I dunno, But whatever happens to Shiro (my guess being injured and then maybe captured) is probably gonna be seen by Keith as his fault either way. Which will serve as a good incentive for him to lead Voltron and the eventual rescue mission. (that I don’t really think will happen in season 2 btw) And I’m saying this just because I think if Shiro wasn’t captured or actually died or something, Keith might have just gone “fuck it” on the whole leadership thing. But I might be wrong.

Now..

Where did the Red lion go and who is going to pilot it?

Well, seems like it gets sucked in into a blue energy wormhole, which means it will probably end up in Allura’s hands, and after they fix it, she will pilot it for awhile. (Because they don’t have a pilot for it anymore.)

But not forever.

Because Shiro is actually the red paladin.

“The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. It’s pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone.”

This really doesn’t seem like a match for the Shiro we know from his Voltron days…

But what about his Galra days?

The Red lion doesn’t respond to Keith, it only responds when he’s in REAL danger.

Why? Because Keith proved himself to it in some way?

Nope.

Who else is there on the ship who probably really cares about Keith and wants him to be safe, who coincidentally has his right arm activated for the first time at about the same time the Red lion activates for the first time?

Red lion saved Keith because it was activated by Shiro, not by Keith.

Now..

Since Galra had both the Red lion and Shiro at the same time..

What if during his Galra days Shiro used it to do horrible things for the Galra empire? (Shiro’s right arm is Galra made, the Red lion is Voltron’s right arm…)

And that’s why he’s crying in this shot,

Because he remembers it.

The army we see here, might be the army he himself once led.

So I think Shiro will eventually come back as the Red paladin, but it will not happen in season 2, and will probably be after him really developing as a character and coming to terms with himself about all the horrible things he has done..

Either way I feel like there won’t be a happy reunion between him and the rest of the gang anytime soon.