paladinquen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paladinquen) wrote2018-12-18 02:20 pm
paladinquen) wrote2018-12-18 02:20 pm
Entry tags:
Voltron Season 8 - The Grudge - Some Thoughts
There's a scene in here that's been argued over in Season 8 (among others) and it mostly has to do with Shiro and Keith.
Avoiding spoilers, so under a cut:
As someone who started out in this fandom as a Sheith shipper, Shiro's actions during the "Keith is a hostage" situation in "The Grude" disappointed me. Even as a brother, I thought Shiro failed here. But thinking about it deeper I mistook several things:
1) Shiro is not Keith;
2) This whole Grudge wasn't about Keith at all, but Acxa - Zethrid was going to kill Acxa.
---
1) Shiro is not Keith:
We wanted to see Shiro lose his head because Keith was in danger. We wanted to see him go ballistic, run in and save the day (a la Keith saving Shiro from Sendak, and from basically everything). Yeah...but...he kinda did, just not overtly. The reason why Shiro didn't lose it was because there was a plan, and until Zethrid turned the gun at Acxa, everything had been going to plan.
We've gotten used to seeing Keith and the Paladins come up with things on the fly because they've had n choice, it's just been the few of them. But Keith and the Paladins didn't graduate from the Garrison. Shiro is an officer and now he's surrounded by other officers. They're military. Now that I've rewatched that scene several times it looks like the plan was:
James drops off Acxa, Shiro, and Veronica. While Zethrid is focused on Acxa, James hovers as this giant decoy to keep her eyes on the immediate threat of the plane, and Acxa and Shiro, giving Veronica the cover to hide and get a shot.
This type of strategizing is more in line with who Shiro is, and the fact that he was there at all indicated how important Keith is to him. He's the head of the entire damn Garrison, he's the Captain of the Atlas - and he's put his own boots on the ground of a poisonous planet to save Keith. Shiro has never left the Atlas at any other time, and that's because without him there is no Atlas. He's the only one who can transform it. If anything had happened to him it would have been a disaster, but that was the risk that he had decided to take. Once they realized that Zethrid was the warlord, the plan could have just been to drop off Acxa to speak to her.
The other thing is we've actually not had as much time with Shiro as we think. We spent more time getting to know "Shiro" when he was actually his clone - who was his own person, distinct from Shiro. I'll call him Kuron for simplicity, but Kuron was also a hothead, like Keith. It's probably because all the things he does was supposed to be Keith originally (Keith was going to trust Lotor, etc etc). But then we got a new script that brought "Shiro" back and so, we have Kuron. It would be interesting if getting Shiro back meant getting Kuron back, but that isn't what happened.
--
2) The Grudge was about Acxa
The only reason why poor Keith and the paladins got dragged in here is because Zethrid is convinced that Acxa is in love with Keith. She may be, but hilariously that's twice now that Acxa's feelings for Keith have been mentioned in front of him and he has had a "I really don't think that's important" reaction to it. The fight is always more important. He's probably more pissed off that his whole team has been ensnared in this trap, but he gets how Galran rage works, so he's being patient about it.
Veronica didn't save Keith, she saved Acxa. Zethrid turned her gun from Keith to kill Acxa in her rage, and that's the only moment when Veronica took the shot - that she clearly HAD THE WHOLE TIME (which James would have been willing to take immediately before Acxa even started talking btw). This is a Veracxa moment, kinda overshadowed because we've been treated to so much Sheith in previous seasons that we've become hardwired to expect it. In a subtle way, it's also a one-sided Jeith moment.
This part about Acxa was pointed out to me on DIscord by Kuron (user, not the character haha) - thanks!
--
So yeah, I'm less disappointed in Shiro, I'm still disappointed overall at how the bond between him and Keith seemed to change overnight, but I love that the payoff for having less Keith and Shiro was more for everyone else. When people say there's no character development in Season 8, they're choosing to ignore Zethrid, Acxa, Ezor, Allura, Lance, Veronica, Kinkade, Rizavi, Honerva (omg Honerva), and basically...EVERYONE ELSE. The issue was uneven narrative form the outset.
Avoiding spoilers, so under a cut:
As someone who started out in this fandom as a Sheith shipper, Shiro's actions during the "Keith is a hostage" situation in "The Grude" disappointed me. Even as a brother, I thought Shiro failed here. But thinking about it deeper I mistook several things:
1) Shiro is not Keith;
2) This whole Grudge wasn't about Keith at all, but Acxa - Zethrid was going to kill Acxa.
---
1) Shiro is not Keith:
We wanted to see Shiro lose his head because Keith was in danger. We wanted to see him go ballistic, run in and save the day (a la Keith saving Shiro from Sendak, and from basically everything). Yeah...but...he kinda did, just not overtly. The reason why Shiro didn't lose it was because there was a plan, and until Zethrid turned the gun at Acxa, everything had been going to plan.
We've gotten used to seeing Keith and the Paladins come up with things on the fly because they've had n choice, it's just been the few of them. But Keith and the Paladins didn't graduate from the Garrison. Shiro is an officer and now he's surrounded by other officers. They're military. Now that I've rewatched that scene several times it looks like the plan was:
James drops off Acxa, Shiro, and Veronica. While Zethrid is focused on Acxa, James hovers as this giant decoy to keep her eyes on the immediate threat of the plane, and Acxa and Shiro, giving Veronica the cover to hide and get a shot.
This type of strategizing is more in line with who Shiro is, and the fact that he was there at all indicated how important Keith is to him. He's the head of the entire damn Garrison, he's the Captain of the Atlas - and he's put his own boots on the ground of a poisonous planet to save Keith. Shiro has never left the Atlas at any other time, and that's because without him there is no Atlas. He's the only one who can transform it. If anything had happened to him it would have been a disaster, but that was the risk that he had decided to take. Once they realized that Zethrid was the warlord, the plan could have just been to drop off Acxa to speak to her.
The other thing is we've actually not had as much time with Shiro as we think. We spent more time getting to know "Shiro" when he was actually his clone - who was his own person, distinct from Shiro. I'll call him Kuron for simplicity, but Kuron was also a hothead, like Keith. It's probably because all the things he does was supposed to be Keith originally (Keith was going to trust Lotor, etc etc). But then we got a new script that brought "Shiro" back and so, we have Kuron. It would be interesting if getting Shiro back meant getting Kuron back, but that isn't what happened.
--
2) The Grudge was about Acxa
The only reason why poor Keith and the paladins got dragged in here is because Zethrid is convinced that Acxa is in love with Keith. She may be, but hilariously that's twice now that Acxa's feelings for Keith have been mentioned in front of him and he has had a "I really don't think that's important" reaction to it. The fight is always more important. He's probably more pissed off that his whole team has been ensnared in this trap, but he gets how Galran rage works, so he's being patient about it.
Veronica didn't save Keith, she saved Acxa. Zethrid turned her gun from Keith to kill Acxa in her rage, and that's the only moment when Veronica took the shot - that she clearly HAD THE WHOLE TIME (which James would have been willing to take immediately before Acxa even started talking btw). This is a Veracxa moment, kinda overshadowed because we've been treated to so much Sheith in previous seasons that we've become hardwired to expect it. In a subtle way, it's also a one-sided Jeith moment.
This part about Acxa was pointed out to me on DIscord by Kuron (user, not the character haha) - thanks!
--
So yeah, I'm less disappointed in Shiro, I'm still disappointed overall at how the bond between him and Keith seemed to change overnight, but I love that the payoff for having less Keith and Shiro was more for everyone else. When people say there's no character development in Season 8, they're choosing to ignore Zethrid, Acxa, Ezor, Allura, Lance, Veronica, Kinkade, Rizavi, Honerva (omg Honerva), and basically...EVERYONE ELSE. The issue was uneven narrative form the outset.