Something that pains me to think about: what was honerva planning to do with Shiro after he took out Voltron? Keith following them through the wormhole and subsequently having to use Shiro to take him out wasn’t expected. Her plan was for Keith to go back to the Castle after they escaped like everyone else and get blown up by the virus, leaving her Shiro to do with what she pleased. What do you think she might have done with him?
oh what a good (and horrible in a good way) question! All those poor clones did nothing wrong. So much potential. Its hurts to think about if even the single one we did get to know was such a heartbreak to lose.
As for Honerva/Haggar and her plans for the activated Shiro clone? That’s really anyone’s guess but we can make some really horrifying ones pretty easily. First off, Honerva/Haggar doesn’t seem very careful with her tools. The robeasts are all one shots. The magic that drained a planet was a one shot per planet. The Altean terriforming orb she re-engineered was definitely a one shot. She doesn’t seem to make things with an intention of caring for them well enough to keep them around. It didn’t upset her when Narti was killed for Narti or even loss of a tool so much as at the inconvenience of not having a spy anymore. So I don’t think she had plans for Kuron after the point that she’d used him to. Don’t get me wrong. I think Haggar is an opportunist of the most extraordinary variety and she certainly has a tact for waiting patiently on something she’s put into place for as long as it takes for it to come into effect. And its been confirmed what we suspected all along, that Kuron wasn’t the first clone she let loose, he was just the first one to survive. When Keith managed to follow them, she didn’t hesitate to send Kuron off to deal with him and there was no ‘and then come back’ at the end of that message. Whether she meant him to destroy the clone base is debatable but I doubt she would have been more than mildly inconvenienced if he hadn’t come back. But - opportunist. So, in the confines of the story I know so far I could see her using Kuron for a couple of things. 1. As one of Lotor’s jailers. First the betrayal would just rub salt in Lotor’s wounds and whether she’s going the ‘mother’ route or not I don’t think that Haggar would be above that. It also shows Lotor the kind of power she wields. Even the Black Paladin he trusted belongs to her. And lastly - Kuron could probably go toe to toe with him in a fight. Kuron without Shiro’s inhibition is, as we saw, a completely terrifying fighter. He fights smart, which is the way Lotor fights, so a physical match up wouldn’t be something that would end quickly. 2. If the Castle and Voltron is destroyed and they didn’t get a message out beforehand - which they didn’t seem to attempt either because they didn’t think or it or the virus made sure they couldn’t - no one is ever going to know how they were killed. Which means Shiro/Kuron is still in the clear and he can tell the Rebel Coalition anything he wants to about it happening and be believed. And just like that, she has a spy and leader right back in place in the very heart of her enemies. Even if word did somehow get out 3. Kuron is still terrifying. He has Shiro’s ability to lead troops, inspire people, strategize and predict his opponents, be as utterly ruthless as it takes in a fight, and handle a fighter pilot like an ace. How much of that would remain under a Kuron controlled by Haggar is dubious but he did pretty effectively against Keith when given orders and then left on his own. Even if the rebels recognized what had happened and labeled him an enemy, they might hesitate to attack out of hope to win him back - and even if they didn’t, they’d still have their hands full if Kuron was leading an attack against them. Lastly 4. she could attempt to retrieve the Black lion with him. Given the fact he took a shuttle instead of the Black lion when he escaped with Lotor its probably pretty easy to figure Black wouldn’t let him pilot it anymore. But - Zarkon was still able to track the Black lion even after being rejected by it (and dying *cough*snapped bond link my ass*cough*). He was in fact able to force it to reject its chosen pilot with a helping of Haggar’s magic. Kuron was a paladin of the Black lion before she broke him. Its quite possible that she could use that one time link between them to manipulate or at least capture the Black lion again. And if the Black lion is on ice, even if its not in use, there’s no Voltron to get in the way of any of her plans either (stop it, fic idea, of an Au universe where the bond with the Black lion is what finally saves and frees Kuron from Haggar’s control). And all the while, Kuron trapped somewhere inside himself, knowing what he’d become.
Even if she lost this Kuron - if things hadn’t gone down the way they had, it would have simply been a matter of cracking open another vat and pulling out another clone to take the spot. No matter how you look at it, there was no future for Kuron at Haggar’s hands.
