i still think making allura a permanent paladin was a mistake and a downgrade for her character, specifically as a leader, in this essay i will-
so in season 1 it was essentially set up in allura’s first appearance she’d be having a leadership arc. the paladins look to her, she has the big breakdown then talk with a mentor (the former leader of altea, her own father who died for the cause), who encouraged her to take up the mantle. except not to follow in his footsteps, but to follow in her own path, because her father admitted allura was right in her decision to fight against zarkon before her father forcibly put her to sleep. it’d seem like her arc was to be a leader in her own right from the very first moment she’s shown on screen.
allura controlled the castle ship, and even though shiro was the black paladin, leader of the lions, he looked up to allura for confirmation on whether to go ahead with plans. he was an in battle strategist to allura’s overall plan to undergo a mission and to see how that’d played out. it’s rare as hell to see a grown man respect the leadership of a teenager, but that’s what i loved about their dynamic. there was mutual respect between the two, and they realized each others strengths.
jump ahead to season 3. shiro’s gone, so you’d think the only other person to take his spot would be allura, right? WRONG. keith, the most temperamental, the most stubborn, and the most lone wolf out of the entire team is chosen despite allura’s obvious leadership abilities which is dumb. because instead of spending the arc focusing on keith fucking up with leading, we could’ve focused on allura’s frustration with piloting the black lion, it’s differences from piloting the castle, and how piloting zarkon’s lion—the man who killed her father and planet— would be on her emotional toll. shiro and allura are the only ones who has a connection to zarkon that’d make piloting the black lion interesting. keith… has none.
(allura being in the red lion would be shitty for her ‘supposed’ arc about her being her own leader, because she’s still following her father’s footsteps. i would’ve still kept the rejection of the red lion in for her though to cement this, but i am still anti red paladin allura for that reason.)
many people say she’s better off in a paladin position, and i think having her as a paladin for a season or two would allow her to bond in a way with the paladins she couldn’t before. one of her flaws in season ½ was pushing the paladins too hard, which is understandable, but it’s still a flaw. having her be put in that role and becoming frustrated and understanding why they acted that way would have improved her leadership for when she went back to the castle, but that wasn’t the case.
with allura being in blue and keith in black and shiro no longer here, she no longer has any leadership to stand on. she’s regressed as a character from taking charge and knowing what needs to be done, to following keith’s lead, and when shiro comes back, only supporting shiro. after the castleship is destroyed, she has nothing to fall back on. she’s literally stuck in a position that caused her to regress as a character.
