Voltron: Legendary Defender Hinted at Things We Didn’t Know We Needed in “Razor’s Edge”

Season six opened with a punch to the gut, but episode two was the sucker punch no one saw coming in Voltron: Legendary Defender. I mean, sure, we were all curious about what would happen between Keith and Krolia this season, but did anyone expect to get their stories through flashback sequences while they floated through a rift in space on the back of a mysterious interstellar whale?

Like every episode of season six, this one had some moments that nearly shredded my heart. Here are the things I think are most important from “Razor’s Edge.”

Keith and Krolia’s Flashbacks to Earth

We don’t see much of from Keith’s mind in this episode, but we certainly get a lot of information from Krolia. And although we don’t know his name, we see Keith’s father discover, fall in love with and support Krolia like no other. And, uh…how ‘bout that accent?

Looking at these flashbacks, it’s obvious which parts of Keith’s personality come from Krolia and which come from his father. His father was a kind, trusting man who devoted himself to Krolia without a second thought; Keith’s impeccably loyal personality no doubt gained influence from this man. On the flip side, Krolia has a determination and a need to protect her family that is unrivaled. In fact, something about this scene is going to haunt me for quite a while:

“I left to protect the person I most love. You.”

Call me crazy, but whenever there is emphasis put on a moment like this something is bound to go wrong. I believe there is a possibility that Krolia may end up protecting Keith in the most sacrificial way next season, and I’m not okay with it. But if that’s true, we’ll also see Keith make a statement mirroring this line, which will be even more heartbreaking, so…get ready, I guess.

Another detail we learned from these flashbacks is Krolia’s original choice for her child’s name: Yorak. This revelation was interesting and humorous to say the least, but it stuck with me and I couldn’t figure out why for a few days. Tumblr user @galraart was a huge help because of their discovery that “Yurak” was the name of Sendak’s character in Voltron: Defender of the Universe. While this could be another coincidence, this discovery leads me to question why the name choice seems so similar. After all, Keith already has Galra family he didn’t know about until this point, so who’s to say that he and Krolia might not be related to Sendak in some way? It would explain the similarity between “Yorak” and “Yurak”… I’m just saying.

Finally, the one thing absolutely no one can get over: Keith’s father’s clothing. Since the series premiered in 2016, I’ve seen posts floating around questioning how he just magically happened to have Shiro’s clothes stored away in his little desert gremlin shack. But now we know those clothes actually belonged to Keith’s father and EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.

It’s been no secret that Keith and Shiro have had a strong bond, but this moment solidified the notion that they’re like family. Not only does Shiro fitting into those clothes literally fulfill the trope of “filling someone’s shoes,” but it also demonstrates the amount of trust held between him and Keith. It appears that Keith was a child when his father passed away, so he had to have held onto those clothes as the last connection to his father. Giving them to Shiro would have displayed the utmost respect and trust. And I will never get over that.

Not to mention the fact that Keith’s father was injured on the same arm as Shiro. There was some serious foreshadowing that went into this writing to allude to the strong bond between Shiro and Keith through Krolia’s flashbacks.

Allura and Lotor’s Growing Relationship

If you don’t follow me on Tumblr, you might not know this about me: I am a Lotor and Lotura stan through and through. But, y’all, let me just say that it was so taxing to watch Lotor and Allura build a relationship during this episode. The moment they almost kissed had me conflicted because, on one hand, I wanted to see them be happy. But on the other, I already had a feeling that Lotor was a snake in the grass using Allura for her alchemic knowledge. And his actions in this episode only helped support that.

As they’re building the ship, Allura collapses from exhaustion. Lotor dutifully helps her to her feet and offers words of encouragement, but he also uses the moment to make things more intimate between himself and Allura (at least until Hunk, Pidge and Lance interrupt them). While my fangirl heart was nearly thumping out of my chest, my logic was screaming about manipulation tactics. Taking advantage of a woman’s mental and physical exhaustion to toy with her emotions? That’s right up the alley of a morally grey character like Lotor. I was pulling out my hair at this point because I could just sense the betrayal behind those beautiful blue eyes.

Lance’s Expression of Emotion

But, when you see the bad, you also see the good. And in this case, Lance expressing his feelings for Allura delivered on that. Seeing Lance so obviously depressed about his situation with Allura was heartbreaking, but it also set up an interesting dynamic between him, Allura and Lotor.

Lance talks to the mice and states that he’s “just a boy from Cuba” who can’t offer everything that a Space Prince can. But still, he sees Allura as a smart and courageous woman who makes him want to “be a better person.” Anyone who has been in love can tell you that this feeling is paramount in a relationship, and the fact that Lance is coming to this conclusion shows how much he has matured since season one. Queue everyone’s hearts shattering into a thousand pieces, right?

And then we see Allura’s reaction to this when the mice transmit the message to her later in the evening. Not only has Lance cared for her pets without having been asked, it’s also clear now that he is biting his own tongue to preserve Allura’s happiness. He may not have the fiery tenacity that Keith has, but this moment makes it clear that Lance is just as self-sacrificing in his own way. And call me crazy, but Allura seems sad to hear about it.

During Emerald City Comic Con, Joaquim Dos Santos made it clear that they wanted the relationships in this show to happen organically and didn’t try to force anything into the writing. From what we’ve seen so far, it appears that Lotor’s affections for Allura have been carefully crafted. Lance’s feelings, however, have developed and solidified over time. I’m not saying Allurance will become canon, but I am sensing a possibility for it in the future.

---

This was only episode two. I keep having to remind myself of that because so much happened all at once. The lot has become so much more intricate since the first season! If you feel that I missed something during this episode or have thoughts on anything here, don’t hesitate to drop a comment or reach out to me on Twitter! I’d love to hear some of your theories!

Season six of Voltron: Legendary Defender is now streaming on Netflix.