Voltron Theory: Romelle and Shiro…will there will be a royal wedding
So if you have to twist my arm to ask me what pairing I want in Voltron, I’ll be frank, I really really want to have it be Shiro and Romelle, and this isn’t nostalgia talking here. Sven (or Takashi/Ryou Shirogane) and Princess Romelle have a very interesting story when it comes to their romance and growth as a pair.
Romelle is the daughter of King Cobra, a distant relation to Princess Allura as her cousin, and who at first was friendly with Prince Lotor and okay with her family having connections to the Galra Empire. Romelle winds up being taken hostage along with her ladies in waiting after her brother willingly becomes a Robeast and ends up being defeated by Voltron. She tries more than once to escape and tries to help Voltron when she is held prisoner. Among other things that she survives is Lotor’s constant abuse to her, (which I’m hoping won’t exist in the newest incarnation), as well as the death of many of her people who they have been capturing. After a rather bitter defeat Lotor gives her a final chance to marry him, when she refuses, he tosses her into the pit of skulls in the hopes she dies down there. However she manages to escape from under the skulls and runs into Sven who himself escaped and was slowly going mad from guilt for failing and being on Planet doom once more.
Romelle, in her calm and serious way, eventually convinces Sven to help her, and through several attempts the two, along with a small group of men, escape from the planet. Voltron is called into action and Romelle, again using her calm and serious nature, manages to convince Sven to help her attack a large mecha that Lotor and Zarkon have sent to defeat Voltron. The pair manage to ram into the robot and break Voltron out of being trapped by the creature, allowing the team to destroy it and for Romelle and Sven to escape back to Pollux where Bandar (Bandor) has been pronounced King. Sven stays with Romelle on Pollux to help the two young members rebuild their kingdom.
Later still the duo go back to Planet doom to sneak in and discover a device that Lotor is building to wreck the Galaxy Alliance. Though out this adventure the two seem to get on rather well to the point where Romelle is genuinely worried about Sven and teases him when he gets back about not being worried. Further still we see the two of them leading the Pollux rebel forces in a fight against Lotor and the Galra Empire, along with Voltron, and Romelle actively taking part in the battles being a sharp shooter. During a later episode we find out that the two are engaged to be married, and eventually the two have a baby which we meet in a way later series called Voltron Force.
But why would this romance and ship be something that could potentially be a good story telling element in Voltron. Well for a few reasons.
First let’s look at Voltron’s Shiro. As a character he’s, for the most part, taken on the role of leader of the Paladins, and has taught them well to act as a team. Shiro as a person likes to hide his own failures and feels guilt under the surface of his more strict personality. While he can be a goof at times, that is covering some pretty serious issues that are going on in the boy’s head.
Not only is he suffering from PTSD, but he’s also got issues with leaving Matt and Sam Holt behind and being there for Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge. These issues came up during the time Sendek was sent out into space and Shiro was thrown into the question of him being more Galra then he wanted to be.
We’ve seen he’s the patience sort, and one that is kind and understanding, even compassionate to others, as well as direct and honest about everything. He tries his best to protect everyone and wants them to be the best they can be. Haggar’s commentary scared him to the point where he lost control of his emotions, something that we’ve only seen early on in the series and this could play a part in what happens to him after his little transportation.
Anyone like Slav seem to give him headaches and it’s clear that Shiro can, and does, have a breaking point in his keeping things cool. We’ve also seen that he’s sensitive and can feel guilt over his perceived failure.
Now we’ve seen with Allura that she’s taken on a few of Romelle’s more spirited personality quarks in that she’s more commanding as a person and that she’s not willing to be left behind. However I do think that the new Romelle would have to be as different from Allura as possible to make her stand out.
Voltron Romelle can take a lot from her Voltron Defender of the Universe counter-part, and also be something wholely different then what we’ve seen so far in the series. Whereas Allura is a lady and sees herself as a princess, noble and speaking in a dignified manner, Romelle could be more direct and that could play into her role in her family. Being the middle child and only daughter of King Cobra would have to be something of a hard role, and no doubt that Pollux’s connection to the Galra would probably still be in play in Voltron.
With that in mind, I figured she’d be a more serious minded young woman who recognizes both the benefits of the Galra and the issues that they created. If they are allied with the Galra that means that they have some clue as to what sort of person Zarkon is and maybe the opposing sides of him. This could be easily manifested in how Romelle sees Shiro at first. After all, he’s part of the enemy, yet he doesn’t act like one to her or her brother Bandar (Bandor). Because of this I can see her being a compassionate person that has a kind heart, but not a person to trifle with as far as dealing with politics.
This could be another aspect of her personality as well, Allura is just learning about the political world of her role now that her father has passed, Romelle probably has been dealing with that since she was a child and probably understands it better than anyone as one of her traits is that she’s a very diplomatic person in general. This on top of being calm and rational as well as a planner would certainly help out in regard to dealing with someone like Shiro who doesn’t seem to do well when people are acting crazy nor does he like to be pushed back against, as we’ve seen with Lance from time to time.
So for personality for Voltron Legendary Defender Romelle: A calm and positive attitude as she is willing to give people a chance before passing judgement. She would have to be an honest and polite person, who probably has a good heart and has a kindness to her. A compassionate person who also is sensitive about other’s lives, but also someone who is brave and determined, even at seeing loss around her. She’d probably keep her more serious side, and that would do well with showing her as being more politically minded and diplomatic in how she views things. She would have to be a spirited person to be dealing with all the craziness that gets thrown about in Voltron and willing to protect the people she loves.
A clever person who can formulate plans as well as someone who can lead others on her own, showing her to be more matured then Allura would allow for her to be different then the princess, and put her on the level playing field as Shiro. Making her be good at planning and cunning would help and having her be a bit on the stern side would also allow Shiro to pull her goofier side out when they work together after a really serious situation.
I could easily see her as being cool under pressure and not letting a lot rattle her allowing her to get to Shiro’s issues and be there to comfort him as she probably could make him feel less fear about what Haggar did to him and help him come to terms with him. From what I’ve seen within the past incarnations I’m pretty sure they’ll keep her smart and a quick thinker.
So could someone like Shiro fall for someone like Romelle? I would think yes.
Shiro as a person has been shown to be someone who can see the best in people. He’s able to get others to have confidence in themselves, and this is something Romelle seems to share within the idea that she’s able to draw from Sven in the original the confidence to help her escape. For Romelle, Shiro would be someone that she could see having a kindness and a strength to himself that would help her handle situations where they could rely on one another. I’m also pretty sure that given how determined Romelle is and her bravery, along with her compassion and kindness towards him would melt Shiro very quickly.
We’ve seen that Shiro can be a goof with the laser fire,
and Romelle was shown to have her own goofy moments when she was teasing Sven during events in the original, so this wouldn’t be too hard to see her doing the same here. Romelle also seems to inspire the will to fight in other people, something that Shiro does for his team.
by Zejan the Wonder Monkey:
Romantically the two could meet on various levels, not only on the physical, both are good looking people but also on the mental as they both have shown tenderness and kindness. I can certainly see them laughing over some of the goofier acts of not only lance but also Bandar (Bandor), and Romelle wanting to help Shiro locate Matt or get back to the team. I also think that Shiro would find Romelle’s intelligence attractive as well as her determination and her spirit. As for Romelle, she would see his compassion and kindness as something attractive as well as look up to him for having a level head and being willing to stand up to others and not back down when faced with dilemmas.
It wouldn’t also be that hard to believe that Shiro, after everything has been said and done, would be the most likely member to agree to stay on Pollux rather than return to earth and help Romelle fix up Pollux as well as act as the Earth Representative to the Galaxy Alliance.
Honestly I can only hope that the Pollux plot line comes to fruition in order to see this pairing come about. I know a number of people right now ship Allura and Shiro, but I hope that those that enjoy that pairing can learn to like the Romelle and Shiro pairing as well.
As for a pairing name, I’m suggesting possible Shirelle, or maybe Shomelle. Whichever sounds better?
