Where I discuss what happened to Shiro and what’s up with Kuron.
The last time we saw Shiro was in Blackout, when Zarkon was trying to overpower him, “He’s trying to control my lion, I can feel him in my mind.” As Zarkon’s Armour shatters, the Black Lion is the only one not in shot. After the explosion, the Black Lion is shown to be offline. It’s implied that the explosion caused it, but not confirmed. In Tailing a Comet, Keith speculates that, “You just unlocked the Black Lion’s ability to teleport. Could it have teleported you? … Maybe Zarkon forced it to? I mean, he was trying to control the Black Lion up until the very last moment, right?”
Seems to be a pretty solid theory, Keith.
Although… what else happened in Blackout?
Allura unlocks her ability to use magic and destroys the Komar Experiment, arguably the Galra’s greatest weapon. After this happens, Haggar teleports out of the room. The next time we see her, some time has passed and she is at Zarkon’s bedside. So where did she go in between?
I believe that she teleported into the, now conveniently close, Black Lion.
I believe that she left to start Plan B. AKA Operation Kuron.
What is Operation Kuron? Operation Kuron is the new and improved Robeast.
Yeah, you heard me. Robot beast.
With this season’s switching of main antagonists from Zarkon to Lotor, it makes thematic sense for the battles to switch from overt to covert as well.
We know from the unnamed rebel in The Journey that the Galra have been testing their experiments on the ice planet for a while. While on the ice planet, Kuron makes shelter within the skeleton of a slain beast and wonders aloud, “What killed you?” The rebels also carry exactly one clamp that, “keeps his arm from turning into a weapon.” This further proves that they have dealt with Haggar’s enhanced soldiers before.
An excerpt from The Paladin’s Handbook reveals that ‘The Robeasts are created by Haggar to serve the Galra Empire. They are not quite robot and not quite beast. They are made from Zarkon’s traitors, transformed by Quintessence and weaponised with Galra tech, like the former commander Prorok.’ Following this, Shiro writes, “I wonder if this is what Haggar had in mind for me, before I escaped.” It is worth noting that in The Black Paladin, Haggar tells Shiro, “You could’ve been our greatest weapon!” Furthermore, before Shiro escaped, he was taken into Haggar’s Lab again where he asked, “you took my hand. What more do you want?” So we know that Haggar had bigger and better plans for Shiro, or as he was known then, Champion.
Circumstantial, but also note that in Escape From Beta Traz, Slav tells Shiro, “That robot arm is fantastic! Now imagine if you had two. Our chances of survival would go up 300% from totally doomed to highly unlikely.” A gag that was played straight within the episode, but could have had further significance.
In The Journey, the unnamed rebel asks Kuron, “Now they send you to infiltrate us?” Which is some pretty blatant foreshadowing if you ask me. In the very same episode, Haggar also sends a spy after Prince Lotor. Note that when Kuron’s eyes dilate and contract in his flashback, you can hear a camera focusing.
Foreshadowing for Kuron’s infiltration was set up In Shiro’s Escape when Pidge points out, “Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head.” Hunk elaborates further by saying that Shiro’s Galra hand has a, “molecular level storage unit,” as well as, “a direct pathway to his brain.” Kuron is also shown to suffer from “weird headaches” specifically after he attacks Galra sentries and boards the Castle of Lions. It’s almost like it’s against his programming.
So Kuron is spying on Voltron?
While for the time being, Kuron is being used as an unwitting spy, Haggar probably has other plans for him.
Throughout The Journey, Kuron’s singular goal was to find Voltron and the lions. Not to meet up with his ‘friends’. Once Kuron found Voltron, he began dividing and breaking the paladins. In Tailing a Comet, Kuron usurps the leadership position Shiro gave to Keith, despite Keith still being the Black Paladin. Kuron also keeps the team as far away from Lotor as possible, and when they do come to a confrontation he tells the paladins not to destroy his reality hopping ship, but to stop him from stealing the teludav. He does however, direct Voltron into a position where all the paladins get hurt. This lines up pretty neatly with Haggar’s wishes.
Kuron also says that, “Something strange is going on here and we need to figure it out,” in regards to Prince Lotor. So his spying may not be limited to the paladins. Some have already pointed out that the Galra spy Haggar sent after him was too obvious.
We’ve only had one episode of Kuron interacting with the paladins so I may be jumping the gun. Regardless, here are some thoughts on Kuron’s purpose:
· Depending on how evil Kuron is meant to become, his goal could be anything from sending Haggar information (a la Thace) about the paladins’ weaknesses, and stealing and delivering the Black Lion to Central Command, to being possessed by Haggar/Zarkon, and taking down the paladins from the inside.
· In Crystal Venom, Sendak managed to corrupt the Castle of Lions and nearly kill all the occupants. This shows how effective an inside job could be. Sidenote: Sendak’s fate was ambiguous. He might become relevant again.
· In Hole in the Sky, we see Alternate Alteans use a hoktril, “our civilisation’s most advanced technological achievement … it saps the fighting force from our enemies. Their ‘will’ you might say.” Gentle reminder that Haggar is an Altean with advanced technology too.
· In Tailing a Comet, Narti reminds us that mind control is a very real thing that’s currently being used by Galra. It’s implied in The Legend Begins that Haggar can also use mind control. Additionally, Haggar taking over Kuron’s body could be a callback to the ‘Kuro’ illusion from The Black Paladin.
· In Tailing a Comet Keith tells Kuron that, “The rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and around again. They need you, you know?” Leading some to believe that a ransom situation is in the works. As we all know, Keith, the current Black Paladin, is particularly weak when it comes to Shiro.
It wouldn’t make sense to release a clone if you didn’t have a tight hold on the original.
I believe that in The Journey, First Person POV has been used to leave Shiro’s fate ambiguous. I will argue that Shiro remembers being injected with a sedative and standing in a tank full of liquid Quintessence*. The Galra scientists are head saying, “Operation Kuron Stage One successful, begin Stage Two.” Later on, Kuron remembers a handheld light shining into his eyes. The Galra scientists are heard saying, “Subject Y0XT39 has normal response to optic stimuli. Approved for use in Operation Kuron.”
*Who else have we seen in tanks of Quintessence? Pre-Robeasts.
In The Journey, Kuron sees another lab with another Shiro surrounded by Galra scientists. This Shiro does not appear to suffer from age acceleration. However, this Shiro has his eyes open and isn’t responding. This contrasts with the flashbacks from Shiro’s Escape, where he was struggling against his restraints and slipping into unconsciousness.
It’s possible that he’s a dud Robeast.
It’s also possible that he’s the real Shiro drained of his Quintessence.
The head officer (red armour) on the Galra battlecruiser watches Kuron’s escape and says, “Notify Command Headquarters; Operation Kuron Stage Three is under way.” The Central Command System is located in the heart of the Galra Empire. It serves as Zarkon’s headquarters and home to the majority of the Empire’s fleet. It has proven to be more secure than the Galra Empire’s highest security prison, Beta Traz. It consists of a superstation, four Niven Rings, and three colonised planets, all protected by a solar barrier. Plenty of places to hold Haggar’s greatest weapon.
Also, Sven’s appearance in Hole in the Sky might be more than just a reference to the original series. His character arc in Defenders of the Universe involves being recaptured by the Galra and imprisoned on Planet Doom. Note, Defender of the Universe’s Planet Doom resembles the smallest planet in Legendary Defender’s Central Command System. A possible contender? He also helps ‘Princess Romelle’ (Allura’s doppelganger) escape from Planet Doom. Although a clone of Allura might be too much to hope for.
This is so cool. Teach us about Galra culture and society, damn it.
It wasn’t Zarkon who took Shiro, but Haggar. Haggar has been finessing the perfect Robeast for years and Shiro was her most successful work yet. She created Kuron to infiltrate the Castle of Lions and spy for her. He will probably become evil and fight them, like all the other Robeasts, in an attempt to destroy Voltron. The real Shiro is once again imprisoned by the Galra back in Command Headquarters. He’s currently too valuable to kill.
