Okay, now that the Dreamworks company has sent me rocketing off the edge with that cliffhangar of a season, let’s talk Voltron theories.
Now, I know everyone is talking ‘Clone Shiro’ as the most popular theory now, but I however, would like to present my own theory.
Given what we saw in episode 5, The Journey, we see Shiro escape the ship unhindered (for the most part) and that his hair had grown out massively. We see that he retains his memories of the battle with Zarkon, and that his time aboard the battle cruiser was muddled, just as it was before Shiro came to earth.
Then, as Shiro is floating in space near death, the Black Lion senses him, and immediately goes to rescue him. However, when Shiro tries to board the Black Lion, the lion rejects him, not responding to his calls.
Now, here’s where things get weird.
Through out the season, I noticed a lot of inconsistences that kind of punch a hole in the Shiro’s a clone theory.
Shiro’s memories. As far as the series is concerned, only Alteans seem to have the capabilities to take and restore memories. The Galra seem to only use torture and Haggar’s magic to gain information, rather than extracting memories and personalities. The fact that Shiro remembers and acts (mostly) like himself is something to be noted throughout the show.
For one, Lotor and Haggar were both unaware of Shiro being captured after the battle with Zarkon. For example, Lotor tries to bring out the Black Lion while Keith is bonding to it, after realizing that the Black Lion had not made an appearance since Zarkon’s defeat. But if Shiro had been captured to be cloned, wouldn’t he have known from the beginning that Shiro was the black paladin, and that the black lion was without its pilot. Not to mention the Galra commander looking on as Shiro escapes all but says “The Galra Command Center has approved this. Project Kuron is a go.” So, there is a project Kuron, that neither Lotor nor Haggar know about or have spoken of, that involves the black paladin’s clone in a catch and release project?
Then, there is the arm. If Shiro was truly a clone, why does he have the Galra tech arm? Wouldn’t he have been fully formed if he were to be cloned? Wouldn’t they have had to cut off the clone’s arm to install the prosthetic? Not to mention Shiro’s arm is a one of a kind piece made by Haggar and her druids. It’s not a spare prosthetic handed out to just anyone. If so, why hasn’t Haggar mentioned this, and where would she have found the time, having been at Zarkon’s bedside?
The next, and (in my opinion) the biggest clincher, is the experiment. Shiro wakes up, unstrapped to a table. He makes his way out, and seeing a surgical room, looks in, he remembers them injecting him, placing him in a capsule, and filing it with water. After striking the guards who atttack him, Shiro clutches his head, as if in pain. Later on, after reuniting with the Paladins, Shiro comments that he has a lingering headache after being rescued.
Not to mention, the Black Lion recognizes him immediately, and I don’t think a clone would be enough for the Black Lion to mistake their bond. They have a mental/spiritual bond, and I think that the Black Lion realized that although it was in fact Shiro, there’s something wrong.
What I believe, is that we have a Winter Soldier situation going on here. Or to put it simply, I think that Shiro’s a sleeper agent.
Shiro was found/captured after the battle with Zarkon, he is experimented on, and then released. Shiro, none the wiser, returns to the paladins, unaware that he has become a mole within the group. The Black Lion, while coming to her pilot’s aid, is able to sense the traps laying in wait within Shiro’s mind, and refuses to let him pilot (or at least, until his mind has been cleared). All the while, Shiro may be silently waiting for a trigger word to set off Project Kuron, and unknowingly destroy Voltron’s mission from within.
Now, you must all realize that this a theory, and feel free to disagree with it.
After all, we only have until October to see if this theory holds true.
