Ummm… yeah, about that, Allura… read the captions
So. It seems that the Galra Empire not only did not get crippled by the loss of its leader, it became stronger, more effective, more ruthless under Lotor’s reign.
Sure, Zarkon’s gone. The King is Dead.
But, Lotor is here. Long Live the King!
Which means, that the Paladins only made things worse for the galaxy as a whole, while trying to make them better.
Which, again, means one thing: Shiro’s sacrifice was for nothing.
…
OK, let’s back up.
There are many interesting things to say about Lotor right now from the sneak peak of him we had yesterday (cowface included). Many hints about what he’s like as a character and most importantly, as a leader.
Mainly his speech:
“My father built our empire on the backs of resemblance. The universe can no longer doubt our strength. Each ally gained only makes us stronger. All those who continue to stand against us… will be crushed.”
The most interesting and the most important thing to take from this speech is that Lotor is the Empire’s Shiro.
Look what he preaches: “our empire”, “resemblance”, “ally”, “stronger”, “strength”… not only what Zarkon himself used to preach is there, “strength”, but something new, something Zarkon never counted on and even spat at:
Unity.
Lotor literally says that the more allies the Galra have, the stronger they get. He introduces strength in numbers, in unity. FiveMany becoming one in order to crush their opponents. That united, the Garla Empire is strong. That working together is the key to strength and success.
Remind you of anyone?
(there it is)
Yeah…
(There are more examples in S1&2, so go ahead and rewatch. They’re EVERYWHERE.)
And the most baffling of all in this speech, maybe:
It implies that races other than the Galra are important to the Galra Empire as well.
Try and wrap your mind around this: Lotor basically supports acceptance of anyone who wants to join the Galra Empire as an ally who gives the most important virtue said Galra Empire holds dear: Strength.
“United, we are stong against our enemies.”
That’s Lotor’s speech in a nutsell.
Which is what Shiro has been preaching since day one in the Paladin duty. And indeed, was what made the Paladins indeed strong enough to beat Zarkon:
…yup.
Hey, it’s a reboot of a shounen series. What did you expect?
And now, we see that the enemy brings in this virtue along, unifying whoever is an ally to the Galra and welcoming them.
Check this out:
“My father built our empire on the backs of resemblance.”
Wait, “resemblance”? Between who and what?
Taking into consideration his line about “allies”, it’s easy to see who and what: between the Galra and others.
Lotor has the gall (and the brilliance) to call the conquering dictatorship of the Galra a way to unify the galaxy under one flag, to find resemblance amongst different kinds of myriads of races with miryads of differences and even appreciate said differences, since they aid into becoming a stronger unit.
Lotor preaches union, cooperation, and working together as a team empire to defeat enemies.
It’s basically, “Either you’re with us, or against us.”
Going away from all the real life history for a while and back to the idea of unity Lotor preaches, yes, you understood correctly:
The Galra Empire just found its Shiro. Its inspirational, motivational, charismatic, good leader… in Lotor.
Keith isn’t Lotor’s mirror. Neither is Lance. It’s Shiro.
And how fitting, according to the Rule of Drama (things will become worse the worst possible time for our heroes), that the Empire’s Shiro appears…
…when the Paladins’ Shiro goes AWOL.
Oh, and another nifty parallel:
Shiro made a name for himself in the Galra Empire by being a “Champion” gladiator in the arena…
…a very familiar-looking arena.
…where Lotor firstly appears to the public and earns its favour by beating his opponent:
So, a fighter as good as the Legendary Champion gladiator, who reveals himself as the son of their fallen Emperor, who preaches that unity is the key to strength?
You can bet your butt the crippled and in dire need of leadership Galra Empire will believe and latch onto him.
In the 80s cartoon, Lotor was a joke of a villain.
Here?
He’s absolutely terrifying and realistic. And effective.
So, our own heroes, with their own lynch taken away God knows where and why, they’re absolutely vulnerable towards this kind of opponent.
But hey, we’re only in the 3rd season in September, meaning that at least, even if it means they’ll go in hiding, they WILL face him at some point and they WILL survive (hopefully). It means that someone WILL rise to the occasion and at least TRY to be Shiro’s shadow and unify the Paladins once again.
(there are MUCH more…)
BIG No.
Hey, how about…?
(there are more…)
Good brains for teamwork and strategy, but…
…those self-confidence issues cripple him too much.
Next?
Much warmer.
Too bad the creators said that she won’t pilot a lion.
So, what happens? Who will face Lotor?
Keith.
WAIT.
Yes, Keith is the least equipped to face such an opponent and be a leader of… anything.
Yes, Keith will face Lotor.
Exactly because he’s the least suitable for the job.
You see, season 3 is the first part of the middle of the series (6 in total). And what happens in the middle of a story?
The darker sequel.
The Empire Strikes Back (literally, in our case).
Keith wil try to be the Black Paladin, the leader, Lotor’s opponent… and he will fail.
The heroes will be damaged, left weak and defeated. In the Hero’s Journey, this will lead to their Lowest Point, to their Darkest Time.
After all, Lotor needs to prove himself an effective villain. To become so, he needs a win against our heroes and the best way for Lotor to win, is for Keith to be the leader.
Also, this:
The irony is that Lotor (it’s him, jfc) has already shown to Keith that “working together bares better results/success”.
And Keith is gonna fail this one.
Because he’s part Galra, and he’ll feel torn (the opposite of the union Lotor and Shiro preached). I’m fully expecting Lotor to offer Keith an alliance, paralleling the Weblrum adventure.
(And no, sorry, it makes little sense for Lotor’s focus to be Lance. The creators have said that they keep elements of the original intact, so a Keith-Lotor rivalry is to be expected. Only, instead of “Who gets Allura” this will be an ideology and identity battle. Both Keith and Lotor are of mixed race; their connection is already there, Allura or no Allura).
And then, we can wait for seasons 5 and 6 to come, for Keith to FINALLY get proper Character Development (I actually do expect Lance to play a big role in this one; he unified the paladins first, he’ll do it again), stop being coddled by the narrative and rise up to the occasion.
And when he does beat Lotor (or redeems him, who knows), Zarkon and Shiro return for the final battle and the series ends.
In the meantime, Allura sorts out her feelings towards a possible future with possibly innocent Galra existing in the so-called coalition her father had made, Pidge gets her family back, Lance gets confidence, Shiro finds self-value, Keith matures, and Hunk continues to get braver and wiser.
Coran keeps being gorgeous.
Season 2 was… sub-par, to say the least. Let’s hope for a better continuation.
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