Lotor wanted to make the Alteans immortal?
Come end of season 8, we are still left to theorize on what exactly Lotor was doing in his second colony. This excellent post pointed out how, despite the common belief that the Alteans were drained, they actually look more like Honerva and Lotor do when overexposed to quintessence. Season 8 gives some new facts that can fit along with and expand on this theory.
1. Lotor had Honerva’s research from early in his adult life.
Lotor had been digging and he does nothing if not thoroughly. He didn’t just find out who his mother was, but about the ways of her people, and likely her own ways as well. Before he was ever banished, likely before he began to search for the scattered Alteans, he already had access to her research from the final years of her life.
2. Lotor had and likely knew the origins of Kova.
Kova was one of the first remnants of his mother that Lotor was able to acquire. If even Acxa knew of Kova’s immortality, Lotor not only was well acquainted with the fact but had likely dug into why. Kova might have been with Haggar at the time, but with access to Honerva’s research, he could have found out that it first belonged to her and that it was through her experimentation that her cat gained unending life.
3. Allura herself says that she is sure Lotor, as he said, only wanted to preserve life.
People who worked on the show have said time and time again that Lotor was coming from a genuine place, and Allura has confirmed it even in show. He wanted to save the Altean people and culture. Whatever he did to the Alteans, had to be for the Alteans.
So Lotor wants to continue his mother’s work and wants to preserve the Altean life and culture. He also has an immortal cat and most likely the documents telling how this cat became immortal. What better way to save a dying race than to stop them from dying at all? A few who would have died at some point anyway are worthy sacrifices if the rest of their people can live eternally because of them. Unfortunately, his process was imperfect. Either because intelligent life is harder to preserve than that of a cat or because he could not perfectly replicate Honerva’s work, the Alteans instead suffered from the quintessence just like Honerva did and were thus tragically lost.
