#ozar voltron

[nesonkin]

HENLO :> i also feel like voltron did the coalition, rebel fighters and everyone in general dirty ;/ I WANNA HEAR YOUR REBEL FIGHTERS HEADCANONS SINCE CANON GAVE US NOTHING :D_ _

Emergency edit: So, my idiot ass accidentally posted this before I actually had the chance to finish the draft so think of it as part 1. So sorry about this...

[Second part]

WARNING: Long post

First of all, I am incredibly sorry about how long it took me to reply to you. The day I recieved this question I was very happy and excited that someone asked me about it and you truly made my day.

Although, I realized that my own headcanon lore wasn't exactly polished or properly thought out and I decided to delay with the answer to give you one that would be satisfying. In the process I lost my interest so the post would remain in my drafts for god knows how long.

But suddenly my interest came back to me so here I am.

It's going to be interesting answering this question given how little content we have of the rebels. So, when I try to think of headcanons it just becomes its own alternative universe exactly because I would have to fill the giant gaps in the Voltron Coalition lore.

Before I begin, I should probably clarify what my stances on canon and fanon are.

For one, while I see the appeal of Shiro x Matt it does not interest me as a romantic ship. I see and prefer them as shitty best friends, therefore if anyone expects romantic Shiro x Matt in this post they'd probably be dissappointed. (Same with Matt x Keith)

I also won't try to alter the canon events and only modify certain parts that were never elaborated on in canon. That's just how I prefer to handle these things.

This will incorporate the off-screen explanations and backstories for specific characters (Olia, N-7) both of which come from the Word of God.

Last but not the least, I am not particularly interested in the Voltron side of things (despite the series being literally named after it) so don't expect me talking about the paladins. But I will be talking about the impact that the Voltron has on the rebel fighters because it is pretty fucking huge.

More under the cut

I should clarify that this post is half me breaking down the canon lore and half me theorizing, headcanoning. I believe it helps provide context for some of my headcanons that I have.

Most of my headcanon lore relies on the timeline thing I made a year ago.

Unfortunately, it's still too vague to have any coherent story with this group. But on the bright sight, it just means that I can do whatever I want with the content that we do have!

First thing to consider is that Galra has been ruling over the galaxy for over 10,000 years. 10,000 years in human terms would be from the Middle of Stone age to the current era. And that is without the alien intervention. It is more likely that the Galra Empire would try to stop any kind of development of the species whose planets they've colonized. To prevent any chance of any of them becoming strong/smart enough to fight back.

One planet in particular could be Kythra. It's a planet inhabited by desert tribes from which Te-Osh supposedly originates from.

The point I want to make whilst talking about the Galra Empire is how much of a cultural and technological impact they have on the galaxy. While it's true that they also steal and appropriate creations of other species (Olkarion), it would be naive to think they wouldn't force their ways and culture onto every planet they colonize.

This is why Space Mall is kind of ridiculous... and just overall confusing. It doesn't seem to be properly owned by the Galra even though Varkon works as security. But it's no longer the Unilu owned place either. One of the unilu traders notes that his shop existed long before the empire was created meaning that the empire does have influence over the Space Mall. But it's just... a casual place where every species can just hang out and shop? What on Earth even is this place? Because it's not governed by the Galra Empire as evident by the fact that the paladins were able to freely show their presentation about Voltron with no one going after them. It's like a giant bubble where everyone forgets that the Galra fucking enslaved everyone. Such a weird place. Imagine a clearly popular hang out place in the Star Wars universe where everyone can just shop for whatever they want and there's never going to be any conflict and the Empire isn't going to attack it either. This is the Space Mall.

Well, enough with this nonsense and let's just move on.

The Space Mall episode did make me think of something interesting though. So, you'd think every race would have their own measurement system, right? Like how we have the Imperial measurement system and the normal one. Yet, they use the altean (or whatever it's called) one. It's likely that in the old days when the alliance still existed they had a universal measurement system. So, it only makes sense that the Galra Empire would impose the system on every planet they colonize. Which is why every species we see in the show uses it instead of something else.

The reason I'm bringing up the Galra influence at all is that I've developed this headcanon that is a sort of a workaround for the "All aliens speak English" trope. Because naturally you wouldn't understand another species due to the language barrier. I imagine Galra scientists would develop a translator chip for every prisoner, slave, citizen of a colonized planet etc. They'd implant those in others but make sure they configure it in a way that only translates Galra language. To make it impossible for prisoners/slaves of different species to communicate potentially leading to uprising.

To counter that I imagine rebel fighters repurpose it as international translators. With time they learn how to create some themselves. Which is how such a diverse group of people can understand each other. With N-7 being the exception because she's an AI and doesn't need one.

It's one idea I've come up with but admittedly it does contradict the canon lore. Because the trope of aliens speaking English is just there with no explanation. Still, I like my idea regardless.

Getting the actual timeline of the rebel fighters is difficult. There's no clear evidence to pinpoint the exact time the faction was created or even began to assemble. Rolo in S1 refers to them as the lucky few who haven't been enslaved yet. Signaling that they had a very minor presence in the galaxy. Or that Rolo was ignorant. Or lying. Hard to rely on his words. They've definitely existed before the Kerberos crew was captured. Moreover, Remdax and Vakala have been stationed on the Icy planet for 5 years and judging by the fact that their resources were soon to be depleted it wasn't their first year.

Rebels were likely formed after a long period of time starting out as small rebellion groups on planets conquered by the Galra Empire as it was expanding. With Galra officers taking prisoners across the galaxy an effort was made to communicate with other groups hence the diversity.

I like to imagine Unilu people would be exceptionally helpful for that considering they're one of the few races from the old days that still exist and thrive. They traversed the galaxy for many years and probably knew many languages. Which solves the problem of a language barrier. I'd say they're the second most populated race in this show.

One of them is actually a member of the rebel forces.

Remember this fella? Who never talked once in the series at all? Or ever been referred to? Well, I named them Gus. For no particular reason, I just look at them and go "Hmm, yes, this is Gus." VLD never named them so I have to do it myself. I HC them as agender and mute. They seem to make good use of the gestures, emotions and body language and considering we've never heard them speak this headcanon generated on its own. With 4 hands I imagine Unilu Sign Language to be very rich and extensive.

I like to think they were Matt's cellmate when he was a galra prisoner. In their spare time Gus was teaching Matt the unilu sign language so they could communicate somehow. And them being cellmated is partly why Matt was rescued by the rebels. Because Gus was already a rebel fighter and their goal was simply sabotaging the prisoner ship to set the stage for the rebels (Note: Matt was not with the rest of the prisoners from the Arena because he was sent to the working camps due to his injury).

Eventually Matt and Gus would become very good friends. Matt, being a fast learner, would learn Unilu Sign language and use the simplified version of it in case he ever needed to communicate with Gus without vocalizing anything.

As for less story important headcanons I like to imagine that Gus likes to draw with pastels and chalks. They're a little mischievous and generally optimistic which is why they it doesn't take a lot of time for them to get along with Matt. They have absolutely no regard for authority but loyal to those who prove themselves to be competent and fair. Which doesn't happen often. They are very expressive with facial expressions and body language.

For more references on Gus see this post.

That's as much as I've got on Gus so far. I like thinking of the kind of friendship that they would have with Matt. But let's move to another character important to Matt.

Te-Osh is a character that we see saving Matt from his prison cell and later get to meet her in Season 4 where she gives up her life to make sure she can deliver the medical supplies. It's implied that she was very close to Matt.

The term that was used to describe society on her home-planet is interesting. "Tribe" is an anthropological term that has long been assosiated with "savagery" and "primitiveness". There are a lot of harmful connotations related to this term which this article explains better than I could ever do. Besides all of that the term is simply confusing and barely represents what kind of society Kythra people have on their planet. I'm not sure if the writers were aware of all of this or if the "primitiveness" was the intended purpose. My best guess is that their society was still on the developing stage which the Galra Empire took advantage of and decided to interfere (just like certain countries did back in the days).

But let's move on.

Te-Osh gives me big mom vibes. I headcanon that she was a mother figure to Matt before he was transfered to a listening outpost. In my "lore" she's also a very competent fighter who's been training Matt and teaching him the survival tactics, and just taking care of him in general. Talking to him about complicated matters of war and making sure he's not going to do something stupid out of naivety and inexperience. She feels strongly about the rebellion which in combination with her somewhat short temper can result in lots of heated conversations with others. Especially with one sort of original character. But more on that later. She's an important memeber of her respective rebel cell being a local mom and all. I imagine her death took a big toll on many of her fellow officers and, of course, Matt. It's a little weird how they hinted her and Matt being close but we never see Matt's on screen reaction to learning of her passing. But oh well.

Wiki also mentions how she is a skilled pilot so there you have it.

And speaking of moms, it's about time I mention Captain Olia.

A member of the canine-like species and a competent rebel pilot. What is there not to love? She actually does have a backstory which you can read more about here.

Ha! Another confirmation that the rebellion didn't just start with the appearance of Voltron. Although, this still leaves some questions. Like, what were Olia and her husband doing exactly before starting a family? Humanitarian aid? Combat? Mechanic services? One of them has to be correct. My bets are on the mechanic services like fixing up ships and such. While Olia's duties could be transportation. Hence the flying skills.

Tbh this article did save me some mental energy. Because I don't have to think of everything myself. She was given a backstory via the Word of God and I'm more than thankful. But I'm still wondering if Omegaverse is considered a default for fictional works on her home planet.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen any proper interactions between her and Matt so it's harder to tell what kind of relationship they have but what we do know is that Matt does respect her authority. And that Olia cares about him enough to be present during his reunion with the family.

I believe it's safe to say their rebel party is a proper found family for Matt when he was separated from his biological one.

As a person Olia seems to be very laid-back and confident but not falling behind in profanity department lol

Her quick thinking during battle has saved the coalition more than once and it's a shame she had no speaking role in S8.

Being a mother she has an unique perspective on the rebellion. She understands more than anyone what it feels like having to leave your loved ones to fulfill your duty. And that understanding gives her sympathy towards those who do not want to join the fight against the Galra even if they can. Unlike Te-Osh, she is not concerned with ideals or bigger picture and prefers to stay focused on what she can do to contribute to the rebellion without losing touch with her family.

I think her and Matt met for the first time in S4 on Olkari after visiting the Castle of Lions. Making Matt a part of her crew and having Matt reunite with other rebels he knew from Kraydah Moon (but to be honest I doubt they've always been stationed there as it's more likely they've moved between different bases to remain hidden from the Galra Empire). Including his good buddy Gus, big man Ozar and N-7.

If you don't remember who Ozar is it's the big blue guy with a spiky hat. He also fucking died in S8 but the only part of S8 that exists is Hunk and Keith's carnival date so we're just gonna ignore that.

He seems to have the highest rank amongst the rebel fighters as evidenced by his commanding attitude. He is described to be the link between Voltron and the rebel fighters. He actually reminds me of the Miran race from DaiRugger/Vehicle Voltron (which we know are now canon to vld universe because of the epilogue) because of his blue skin and pointy ears. Now if only he lacked eyebrows...

There's not a lot of info on Ozar at all but because his VA also voiced Jake from Adventure Time my brain couldn't stop associating the two making them similar in personality. Except Ozar doesn't have ADHD.

I believe his age and experience gives him a lot of authority which most officers seem to respect. He would take the role of organizing important missions and managing diplomatic relations. Something Te-Osh usually stays away from because of the overall frustration that comes with it. Therefore, if you ever needed a permission to do something Ozar would be the guy to ask for it.

Ozar is pretty chill and likes to make jokes to brighten the mood during his off duty hours. And he wouldn't mind telling a story or two about his time with the rebellion. He keeps his chill even during the most extreme situations as he needs his cool head to command his squad in battle. Doesn't take risks he knows to be futile and would rather fail the mission than to lose more people to this war.

Of the relatives he has a granddaughter whom he keeps safe with the people he trusts because she lost her parents to the Galra Empire.

You can see him as the space grandpa.

He was asked to watch over N-7 by Mary Ann (the sort of OC I mentioned earlier).

Now, here's where I'm taking some liberty with the universe by creating a new race. Which are the descendants of the same race that Trigel was a member of. Because just like some Alteans managed to escape Zarkon's genocide it's not baseless to say that Trigel's people also managed to stay hidden from the Galra Empire and also further evolve into a race I'm about to introduce.

Caspians. They populated the planet Caspia. Over the years they've made some significant technological advancements which resulted in the destruction of the local environment. They've tried to take steps to reduce the effects before eventually leaving the planet. Still, many decided to stay and preserve what was left and continue their effort to restore the environment. Those who left eventually became who are now known as Olkarion people. Those who stayed focused on developing terraforming technologies and preserving their last bits of the lost culture.

One person in particular grew up to become a robot science genius. That being a woman named Mary Ann. She was originally a DotU II character which is why I wouldn't call her a fully original character. She appears in the episode "Take a Robot to Lunch" and gives the paladins a new perspective on war. She is a stubborn pacifist who has strong opinions about war and violence. Mary Ann used to contribute to the war effort by building robots until her creations began to be used as a weapon against innocent people. Which cemented her decision to leave and give up science for good. She scolds the paladins for how they just use more violence to solve problems but learns that combat is not all they do by the end of the episode. That's a quick summary of her character in DotU.

I decided to incorporate her into vld universe because she interested me. And because if someone created N-7 it had to be her.

In my lore Caspians had little to no interactions with the Galra Empire due to their beneficial location away from the Empire's grasp. Mary Ann, being a promising robot scientist, decided to leave the planet to pursue her curiosity about the galaxy and find resources which she can use to build even better machines. That way she ends up learning about the state of the galaxy and joining the rebel fighters providing them with technologies to help the war effort. It's how she eventually meets Te-Osh and Ozar. As a side project she begins the development of a software to help with automation of certain tedious tasks and data analysis. It's later being used to help analyze the radio chatter and collect all the necessary data. For convenience she would later develop a proper user interface which laid down roots for the development of an AI in the image of her people who was meant to develop their own identity. This is N-7 (get it? Ann seven?). It ended up being something personal to Mary Ann while she began to notice how her creations are being used to cause more harm than good. For example when the Galra troops steal devices of her design and repurpose it into weapons of destruction. And if that wasn't enough her own allies would use the same devices to cause destruction in the name of justice and goodness. Mary Ann would develop distaste for the methods her allies used to achieve their goals which put her at odds with Te-Osh. Because for Te-Osh not fighting back meant allowing the oppression to happen. So, when you put two headstrong individuals with opposing values against each other it rarely results in anything good. Mary Ann wouldn't put up with being used like that and decided to leave the rebellion. N-7, now learning more about the world around her, refused to come with because she "felt" the responsibility to stay and help as that was the whole reason she was created in the first place. Understanding of the decision Mary Ann parted ways with her "daughter".

I wanted Mary Ann and Te-Osh to develop a strong and close relationship (a romantic one maybe?) before Mary Ann's departure. To make things more frustrating for both of them when they eventually come to a point where their beliefs can no longer coexist without causing any more drama and conflicts (their beliefs CAN coexist but by this point they're too stubborn to realize it).

I also decided to use her character to explain Matt's behavior in S05E01 when he found something or someone in a prison cell which made him late AND extremely pissed off. So, imagine after leaving the rebellion she gets captured by the Galra and put into Lotor's prison for scientists (a plot from the DotU episode where Haggar tried to capture Marry Ann to make her build robots for their army). I don't see her willingly doing anything for the Galra so instead she would try to sabotage the research admittedly making it worse for every other prisoner because they have to receive punishment because of something she did. So, you can say no one likes her.

And here comes Matt. My poor son just trying to rescue his father. Opening up the last cell in the facility. His last hope. Only to find an unfriendly woman who not only refuses Matt's rescue attempts but scolds him when she recognizes the uniform he's wearing. Matt being late could be explained as him simply arguing with Mary Ann who refuses to go with him. And his unexplained uncharacteristic anger could be the result of the argument that took place where she openly expresses her distaste for his new found family and maybe even name-drops Matt's deceased mother figure (albeit unaware of her status). And here we go! It ties to Matt's own off-screen story and provides a possible explanation for what the hell did he see in that stupid cell.

So, Matt leaves her to fend for herself and they separate. And Matt is understandably pissed but refrains from talking about it because it’s of no one’s concern. But Mary Ann’s story doesn’t end here. Because I was planning to bring her back later after Voltron disappears and the timeline enters its 3 years time skip period. To have her apologize to Matt for what she said and realize she may have been wrong about the rebel fighters after all. And to have a proper reunion with N-7 who has developed beyond Mary Ann’s imaginations. She joins the coalition to help out her own way not with violence but with means of protection.

And that’s pretty much it for her.

And now we get to a character, whom I admittedly thought about more than others. Welp, not my fault I’m so into robot/AI characters.

It's a rebel fighter who was theorized to be Romelle, Keith’s mom, a druid and even Merla? All of which turned out to be wrong. Because she’s just an AI and not really as important as we thought she would be. As with Olia, this character has some off-screen explanation by the Word of God and can you see more in this article.

It's something, but it's merely a confirmation that she was an AI and that what we saw of Matt and her in S7 and S8 wasn’t just us hallucinating. The rest is for us to think of.

So, as mentioned above she's an AI developed by Mary Ann who over the course of the development started to consider N-7 her daughter. N-7 is constantly learning new things about the world as she's getting more hardware upgrades thanks to all new resources Mary Ann was able to get her hands on. To properly articulate her thoughts N-7 would also learn to use body language (often by mimicking Mary Ann, Te-Osh and Ozar to some extent, eventually developing her own system).

Her early work for the rebels mostly consists of data analysis and assisting comm specialists, but would later extend to supply/vehicle/inventory management and some occasional medical assistance whenever a doctor needed additional help. She would also pick up combat as having self-defense skills is important for any rebel officer. Most importantly, sometime after Mary Ann's departure N-7 would provide her assistance for the radio listening team. Because she was able to make the job easier there was no longer a need for a team of people on that job. It wasn't taken positively because all it meant was that those who were left without a job likely had to join the offensive forces which most couldn't do due to their physical or otherwise psychological limitations. This in turn would lead to the development of a system of listening outposts that N-7 could operate. Keeping track of every agent, their designated location and information recorded in their respective area. The more complicated the system was getting the more operators were required. Especially with how fast the coalition would grow in s4. So, eventually the system wouldn't need N-7 as the head operator anymore allowing her to join Olia's crew.

I still can't quite figure out what her role is in Olia's ship but I'm assuming it's something like keeping the ship in tact and making sure all systems are taken care of. I do like to think her contribution to the rebellion begins to take more proactive turn after joining Olia. Like taking part in ground missions and such. Which also opens her to new connections and perspectives.

As for determining her personality it's a little tricky. Because it always downs on me that I'm just creating another EDI (why must one fictional AI lady be so good) whenever I approach the subject of AI characters. But here I go.

She's cold and rational as you would expect. And can get into trouble with other people because of her acting out of logic and what makes sense while that isn't necessarily something that someone needs or wants. So you can get the occasional breaking of boundaries. But she also tries to understand human (or alien) psychology to make sense of the interactions happening around her (well I guess we do be entering the autistic thinking territory). It's how she understands that Matt openly freaking out the first time they meet is not a sign of a personal attack but simply his post traumatic brain acting up when he's faced with someone who reminds him of the Galra droids. Her speech patterns are descriptive and straight to the point and her body language is pretty nonchalant and distinguished. N-7 may be an AI, but she does "feel" things in her own way. Through a complicated system of priorities and signals meant to recreate chemicals in our brains. And while it's not something organics can truly relate to is it fair to deem her perceptions less "real" than that of organics? And it's that way she evaluates her viewpoint of the rebellion and decides that she has the responsibility to help people because she can and because her abilities can save lives in the long run. It simply makes sense for her to stay and help.

I will conclude the first part here, but I hope all of that wasn't a bit too much to deal with (;ŏ﹏ŏ) especially with how abrupt the ending is...

[Second part]

[nesonkin]

So, this is the second part to my embarassment of a post. I will be assuming you've read it before reading this one and if you didn't you should check it out first. With that out of the way, let's just continue.

Again, there's this big problem I'm facing when writing AI characters because I'm trying to stay grounded to what actually makes sense. And I'm afraid that because of that I'm either creating something that's been done (EDI) or simply making them autistic-coded (well, I suppose it's a reason why I relate to AI characters so much). Or worse I can make them straight up bland and boring. Which is something I don't want to do. So, if you feel like telling me my version of N-7's character is meh I get it. Perhaps, I can do something better for her if I'll ever write anything for this.

But I do think connections are a better way to define a character so let's get on with it. I've talked about Mary Ann and N-7, and briefly mentioned Ozar taking care of her in Mary Ann's stead. I see N-7 working with Ozar as sort of a secretary. They'd have a mentor-mentee relationship where Ozar's experience helps N-7 form her own values and understanding of the world. And in turn Ozar could revaluate some of his life choices according to feedback N-7 would give to him. Obviously, this shouldn't be exclusive to these characters only, but given the context of them having a deeper bond I thought I'd mention it. And I see this bond as important because in my headcanon lore N-7 would be mostly isolated from others (until S4) just working and rarely making an effort to try and define herself outside of being helpful. To Te-Osh she will be the part of her old friend. Te-Osh was there to oversee the progress during N-7's development and was just as proud of the result as Mary Ann was. They didn't up growing as close as N-7 and Ozar would but they still respected each other. Te-Osh trusted N-7 enough to let her train Matt in her stead while she had an injury. So, you could say Te-Osh and Ozar were the few proper connections N-7 had prior to joining Olia's cew. As before that no one really made any effort to try and relate to her on a personal level. Mostly due to isolation and the way she holds herself. And because she's a robot, yes.

So, it's really good when she puts herself out there and gets more involved with other rebel officers. From what we've seen, which isn't a lot or anything to begin with, Olia and N-7's relationship is that of mutual respect and I imagine Olia just trusts N-7 wholeheartedly to do her best job. Olia likes to figure people out no matter what they're made of. She's a good judge of character. This gets challenged by N-7's usual upbringing but they make it work. It may get to a point where their beliefs clash but it's alright. Olia has a large collection of books from her homeworld that N-7 reads in her spare time. Sometimes Olia has to step in to clarify that what the books depict may not always be the accurate portrayal of how something works in real life. Like, when it comes to romance books. Especially when it comes to romance books.

And now we finally get to Matt. Because this whole thing has always been Matt-centric in my head. Kinda like SW Rebels is Ezra-centric. Oh, god, why do I have to justify this being Matt-centric. Anyway.

Matt is kind of a mess. A panicked, lost, traumatized and withdrawn kind of mess. He gets abducted by aliens (which in other circumstances would be quite exciting), gets separated from his father, almost has to fight the beastman (which we know would get him killed) before Shiro injures him and fights in his stead, then gets sent to another prisoner ship for workers. He's isolated from the only people he knew. And even they can be as good as dead for all Matt knows. That's a lot to handle for someone his age and experience. Then he gains a new cellmate. The only person who seems to understand what he's saying. It's his first real bond with someone in what feels like an eternity. It's what makes their friendship special to him. Gus gave Matt support and hope that he can make it through. And save his dad, and potentially Shiro, given the latter's not dead. And this hope is paid off by the appearance of the rebel squad that later comes to their rescue.

Matt is rescued by the rebel fighters and taken under Te-Osh's wing until he is able to stand his own ground. His injury is generally taken care of and Matt can begin to receive his combat training. Soon enough he is able to participate in some of the ground missions like raids and scouting. It's not without occasional mishaps but nothing fatal.

I imagine because of his help to Gus while on the prisoner ship he got the attention of the rebel officers who would invite him to join their forces. And while hesitantly Matt decides to take the offer. Because he understands they're his only way to find dad and Shiro and go back home. He sees it as an opportunity. So, that's his priority at the time. It's only after spending time with the rebels and learning more about the Galra and what they've been doing to everyone his priorities begin to shift from his needs to the greater picture. And then a bigger mishap happens. And Matt allows himself to be seen without a mask while also pissing someone off so bad they put a bounty on his head. Tbh I haven't exactly thought out the way it happens. Only that it was mostly because of Matt's carelessness or trusting nature. I will have to think about that some more. So, for him it's only logical he is to be transferred to a remote location hidden from everyone and contributing to the cause by listening in on the Galra radio chatter. There begins another period of isolation for him.

Until his location is compromised by Pidge. Damn, bro, it's like the Paladins can't do anything without compromising Coalition bases. But, yeah, Matt takes care of the equipment and leaves with Pidge. As for his time in isolation I can't say anything interesting happens. Matt collects the data and reflects on his life. It's not a very great time for him. Isolation can do a number on one's mental health. Especially if it wasn't that great in the first place. Tbf there are barely any signs of this when Pidge finds him in canon. But canon who? It's at this point when Matt finally gets to meet people he was separated from for Bob knows how long. And in addition to that he also gets to learn that Shiro did survive the arena and is doing well (even though that wasn't the real Shiro but okay). Only thing left to do is find their dad. Except now Matt knows not to put his wishes before the mission/the needs of others. That's why he wouldn't come back to Earth given the opportunity.

But I went ahead of myself. Prior to Lotor joining the party Matt has to regroup with his former rebel squad. He joins Olia's crew and reunites with some of the familiar faces. Except for Te-Osh. Who is dead. But I'm not going to get into that here. He also gets to meet some of the new people like Meloi (the alien rebel with long ponytail looking ears? or whatever it is? the name is original), Slav, and the trouble trio - Nyma, Rolo and Beezer. They're Spare Pirates and they haven't fully joined the Coalition but they're willing to lend their help in the upcoming attack if it means getting back at the Galra and because extra credits are extra credits.

This is also that time period when the Paladins were making fools of themselves during the Voltron show. It gets the attention, sure. But I can't help but think of how tone deaf it all seemed to the rebel fighters. Who at the time were busy doing the dirty work.

The cooperation between the rebels and the BoM is another thing I should think more about. So far it's unclear how involved they are with each other. And I wonder if they ever crossed each other's path before Voltron. It's important because it's very unclear what Matt and Keith's relationship is like in the show. They clearly care about one another but have they had interactions off-screen? Joint missions or something? Unclear. I like to imagine that they did.

And Matt continues to learn as much as he can about the alien tech while living out his Mass Effect dreams. Which becomes even easier when Lotor joins the party. Because his knowledge has been a great help for the Coalition. That is until he becomes the Emperor and Shiro decides it would be a great idea to sync the Galra map with the one from the Castle of Lions. Which in hindsight was a pretty bad idea (I mean, yeah, that was the clone Shiro, but no one objected either). I can't even begin to imagine the Coalition's reaction to learning that all of their secret bases were now revealed to the Galra Empire. It's especially fucked up for the Blades for how much they relied on secrecy. Damn, they didn't deserve this crap. It still bothers me how no one talks about that.

So, the disappearance of Voltron. Another event that left a huge impact on the state of the Coalition. It still pains me that they decided to pull the time-space-skip to force the plot to take place on Earth. I mean, you know how the beginning of S6 had this whole thing going on about the Galra Civil War and how Lotor needed the Quintessence field to stop it. And then they just... dropped it. Like they never even wanted to deal with that and skipped right to the end. It's just sad because to me it seemed like a very interesting plot point. We were given some basic info on the Civil War and how it affected the Coalition. For one many rebel fighters have been wiped out. How that happened is a whole other story that I would have to think about some more later. But, damn, that's 3 whole years that they just skipped and it's the most interesting time period too, because we know so little about it. I mean it surely boosted Matt's character development as evidenced by the second glow up. He must have been devastated to learn that his little sister disappeared along with the rest of the Voltron - their symbol of hope.

It is at this point I am also struggling with what I want to write down in this point and what I want to omit for the sake of any of my future works. But to keep it brief it's a very bad time period for the Coalition. They're forced to adapt to changes brought by Lotor and Voltron which is extremely difficult when they also have to navigate Galra's Civil War and avoid being hunted. Some rebel officers ended up joining Galra warlords to escape their fate in exchange for the information on the Coalition. Rebel forces have been divided which made them easier targets for space pirates. And at this point Matt and the gang are just trying to stay alive and lay low. Matt's skills at keeping himself hidden come in handy. They also are constantly on the move, making sure they leave no trails. With how unstable the state of the galaxy is there's really no telling what will happen the very next minute. And then they're also struggling for resources all the time. Now more than ever. There is a need to regroup and rebuild the alliances which becomes nearly impossible when the Galra's craft is simply superior to anything the rebel fighters have. It almost feels like they have to start from the ground up. Fortunately, some of the rebel officers managed to stay low for as long as they could thanks to being stationed on various listening outposts. You know, like Wakala and Remdax. It's really helpful to have all these "sleeper agents'' when it's time to assemble. So, it takes 3 years for the state of the galaxy to stabilize a little. And for the rebels to regroup. Galra beating the hell out of each other meaning there's less warlords potentially coming after their asses. And the Fire of Purification basically built their own Empire. Rebel fighters take every opportunity they can get from this nonsense and rebuild their support system. They take it step by step and help who they can.

When the Fire of Purification moves to Earth it's an opportunity because that leaves the biggest enemy out of the picture (to be completely honest with you I cannot find anything that suggests the possible time of when they attacked Earth. I am probably missing something but all I can find is that it happened during the time-skip. No sign of when exactly that is except maybe for the confirmed "not earlier than 6 months after Voltron disappeared". This obscutiry gives me anxiety because I feel like it was mentioned somewhere and I'm just too stupid to find it.). Okay, so obviously those are not good news for Matt especially when they receive Sam's transmission. Thankfully, soon comes Krolia who is there to tell the rebels about everything that happened. And later they arrive on Earth. That's basically it for the general history of events.

I know I haven't exactly discovered America with this post but writing it has been both fun and exhausting. I'm glad I got to put my thoughts out there and I hope others will enjoy it as well. For the rest of the post I'll just write some of the headcanons... like I was supposed to from the beginning... instead of writing some stupid essay. Well, anyway.

Matt is good with kids, so Olia's pups love him. They call him Uncle Matt.

Olia has this no nonsense attitude. Slav finds it especially intimidating because of her fangs.

Speaking of Slav, my man has been a great addition to the coalition thanks to his brains. Matt enjoys spending time with him. There's a lot of interesting theories Slav talks about that Matt is intrigued by.

Rolo didn't die. He found the few remaining members of his species including some very old friends and stayed with them to help. He still has ways to contact his rebel friends, so it's all good.

Nyma became a proper rebel officer. For the most part because she had nowhere else to go and the coalition needed every help they could get. And she does care for Matt and the gang too. Her charisma proves to be helpful when the situation calls for it. I also like to think she's got some medical training as well. And that area she grew up in specialized in medicine. Weed too.

Beezer is hard to headcanon because I have to also make sure I'm not treating him as an astromech from Star Wars. He was likely stolen from the Space Mall as we've seen a similar looking model at Vrepit Sal's cafeteria. Both Rolo and Nyma understand what Beezer's saying perfectly and they use it to their advantage quite often. Matt would learn the droid language soon too.

Being Space Pirates Rolo, Nyma and Beezer would often get bored with nothing to do. So they have Beezer broadcast the closest TV channel they can connect to. They become quite knowledgeable in the lore of that one Bii-Boh-Bi sitcom. And they've watched so many trash shows like this they have to restrain themselves from making a reference in random situations. It makes them insufferable when they decide to tease someone. Like Matt.

N-7 accidentally jumpscares people. She also uses a longsword as her weapon of choice.

Olia rarely fights, she's more of a pilot, but when she does she usually just uses a pistol.

At this point it's getting a little tiring, so I'll just end it there. Maybe I'll write some more for the gang. Just not now.