My entry for Day 2/8 of @haggarweek!
One element of vld that I lowkey find interesting is how overall in the show, the majority of the heroes seem to either ignore or otherwise forget bout Haggar? Even Shiro, who by all means should be focusing on Haggar and what damage she can do considering that not only did she take his arm but also his autonomy? And yet, for the majority of the series, it just, never happens.
A part of the reason is it’s cause of Haggar’s own nature to plot behind a puppet or in the shadows. She’s content with letting people like Zarkon or Sendak get the glory just as long as she’s able to do her thing. And when she does that, that’s when she’s at her most dangerous. Think back to s2ep13, it wasn’t Zarkon who was the most dangerous in that battle. No, it was Haggar with the Komar. Cause even if Voltron managed to defeat Zarkon, without Allura destroying the komar then they would’ve been fucked. Cause literally, Haggar nearly killed them not once, but twice.
And that’s the thing, Haggar let Zarkon get front and center, but really, she’s the one pulling the strings. She was the one making all the robeasts in the first arc too, and yet no one on team Voltron really made a big deal bout that.
We see this too, in the second arc. Lotor is only able to succeed at what he set out to do cause of Haggar’s manipulations. Had she not made the clone give him the bayard for example, he would of been wrecked by Zarkon early on in the fight. Or how she took him out of the castle ship by activating the clone and sending the generals to pick him and the ships up.
That was all her doing. She’s the mastermind behind the throne. And yet, none of the male protagonists seem concerned bout it. Even Keith, with all his screaming bout not trusting Lotor, never once considers that it all is Haggar’s doing in the end.
The only hero, and I mean only, that ever brings up Haggar as a possible threat is Allura. She fought Haggar at the komar, so she knows what she’s talking bout. But really, every time any one points out the suspicion bout something Altean, it was always her that suggested Haggar. Think back to Lotor’s plan with the teleduv piece in s3ep6. I know it was cause then, she didn’t know Lotor was half-Altean, but I think it’s interesting to see how she immediately jumped to “Oh it’s Haggar.”
Or how in s6ep5, while everyone was shocked at the wormhole, Allura already knew it had to be Haggar, no one else. She knew not how Haggar got the powers, but she understood Haggar’s expertise in magic enough to connect that it couldn’t be anyone else but her.
This carries over into arc 3 as well, when everyone is questioning Macidus bout the events of the past 3 years, Allura is the only one to bring up Haggar.
It’s not just Allura either. Haggar is also fully aware of Allura and how much of a threat she is. We see this in s2, where Haggar tried to convince Zarkon to attack Allura instead of attempting for the Black Lion. Haggar understood that Allura was the bigger threat, even if she did not fully comprehend the depths of Allura’s actual power.
All of these things are interesting nods in of themselves but ultimately play into how Allura and Haggar are each others’ rivals. VLD overall is very big on the rival archetype, as i’ve explained before with Acxa and Keith, and Haggar and Allura are no different. They’ve always been matched against each other - two Altean magic alchemists dating from the ancient Altea with strong ties to magic and knowledge. It makes sense that the show’s building up to that final battle being one where Allura and Haggar face off. Which, by the way, is what all these little moments where Allura and Haggar are aware of one another are meant to represent. It’s all buildup to when they meet face to face again in s8, a rematch of s2. And I honestly can’t wait for it.
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