So I made friends with another VF fan today, and they gave me the best goddamn idea
@cxrsedboo I know you're seeing this ilysm you're so great for this lol
Taking place during Five Forged (episode 19), I'm focusing on Pidge (as always) being electrocuted and what comes from it
Specifics under the cut because I can't not rant about my favorite boy ever <3
I've never really paid attention to Pidge getting electrocuted, mostly because I thought of it as the writers nerfing Pidge to prove the cadets were actually important, HOWEVER it was pointed out that Pidge shouldn't have recovered so quickly and from there everything spiraled
My idea is that this is when Pidge's transition to not being a lion pilot anymore starts
Being electrocuted to the point of UNCONSCIOUSNESS isn't fucking good and in researching he'd be so fucked up
Unconsciousness is already a symptom of electrocution, but other things could happen like burns, seizures, an irregular heartbeat, breathing problems, and muscle spasms to name a few
Even if Pidge woke up as fast as he did canonically, he'd be unfocused and weak, so he probably doesn't hit as many or any of the weird disk things that are shooting him after he gets back up
Not to mention the next room is the room that blocks their voltcoms and if he was unfocused before then the team can't rely on him to figure out the tech at all
It'd make them figure out that they gotta get through it by pure will power faster than in canon (fuck the humanity aspect, 3 of them aren't human and another 2 are half human out of a team of 8)
The team would have to take care of Pidge the entire time they were in the death temple and since that energy was mystical in general it'd probably react with the ghost mechanic they meet outside, making Pidge seize
Before he just drops to the floor, Keith grabs him by the collar and soon some healers on Arial care for him before the team rushes him back to Arus
This is where my idea starts kicking off, med bay won't let Pidge fly, especially since he has muscle weakness and has seized before meaning he runs the chance of having epilepsy or seizing again which isn't good either
So he's going to be monitored for a while and now the team is thinking Oh Great, Who's Gonna Fly Green?
In comes the cadets to check in on Pidge, and he tosses his key to Larmina, telling her that he hates not being in the fight but hates thinking green would be mistreated if he wasn't there
Pidge trained Larmina himself, as they're both ninjas, so he trusts her A LOT and knows she can put up a good fight with the team out there while taking care of herself and green, he specifically tells her that she's the only one he trusts to do well in his lion since he can't be there himself (which may or may not hurt Vince)
After that he's relegated to castle control, which he isn't fond of, but he can watch Larmina become a better pilot and still give her advice since she's going to be in real fights with a lion instead of a sim which she doesn't try at much anyway
At the end of the show, we get told that Pidge has a hobby with upgrading the castle controls, so being kept on castle arrest is where it would start
Feeling useless, he decides to upgrade anything he can get his hands on, including castle defenses, eventually becoming a hobby like in the show, and before he knows it he's back in green
Though he will step down, and he knows it, so as he thinks about who'd take over, it's only Larmina who comes into mind for being the best replacement for him, he just hopes she'll still be available to take up his mantle as green lion when the time comes
This takes place during Brains (ep 16) as I still haven't finished the official podcast episode review for it and just listening to them talk is making me want to rant <3
It's a long one again, rant under the cut
TLDR: This could've and should've been a development episode for Vince, but instead it was skirted for a vague Halloween episode >:/
Since I'm adding Anya here, there are a few changes to the episode, mainly the way Pidge is reacting to the events happening and also an extra scene
Anya is silently reassuring him every time he tells Vince that the Balton's aren't zombies and is part of Vince and Pidge's group after they get separated
During the scene where Pidge uses his smart stars, Pidge takes Vince's comment harder than we see in show
Vince has constantly triggered Pidge's PTSD, and then he has the nerve to insult him TWICE* by not believing Pidge knew what he was doing
*The first time happened at the start of the episode when Pidge literally begged the team not to fight the Baltons and them doing so anyway (to protect Pidge and Vince) Vince comments that he'd rather have Lance and Larmina (the most aggressive fighters) protect him than Pidge
After they escape the mall, there's an extra scene where a small group of infected attack them, except this time they're out in the open where Pidge can't pin them down
He tries to figure out the best way to immobilize them, and Vince is freaking out, telling Pidge he needs actually fight them this time, making him Big Mad
Before Pidge can do anything though, Anya uses her voltcom weapon (strings) to help knock the Baltons out
Now Pidge is mad at her, saying she could've used less force in dealing with them, especially since they're obviously not in their right mind
Vince butts in and in not so smart wording tells Pidge that at least Anya did something instead of stand there worried about the wellbeing of their own attackers (not word for word)
This is where shit gets real, Pidge finally snaps and starts yelling at Vince how the entire time he has done nothing but bitch about his fears and stand there criticizing someone who's actually thinking through their fucked up situation instead of bulldozing through innocent people who have no reason to be attacking Voltron* or the team at all
*When they first get to Balto, Keith explicitly states that it's a Voltron friendly planet, which makes their attack and initial stealth mode super weird
Pidge doesn't get to threaten Vince for his cowardice before Anya yanks him back by the arm, threatening Pidge instead that she'd become a bigger threat to their mission than their brainwashed race currently are if he even thinks about finishing his sentence
He glares at her before stalking off near a light post where the two can still see him
Vince is obviously stunned from getting verbally torn apart by his hero and tries apologizing to Anya before she stops him
This next part is going to be dialogue (and some action) just because it's easier for me to type out lol
---
"I'm so sor-"
"Vince," Anya cuts in, "do you know why the force takes you cadets out on missions?"
"For first-hand experience?"
"And to teach you guys lessons, yes. Right now, Pidge isn't in it to teach you one. Luckily for you, you've got a survivor to do it instead."
She looks over to Pidge, who's less tense but has curled into himself some as he keeps glancing at the unconscious Baltons nearby
"How much do you know about Balto?"
"Well... It's one of the planets that stayed loyal to Voltron after Wade. It's your home, it's Pidge and his twin brother's home. You guys grew-"
He stops abruptly, realizing a crucial mistake in his statement,
"This isn't the real Balto. You guys watched it explode.. He watched it explode. The surviving Baltons built this metal planet in spite of what happened."
Anya sighed, remembering her own memories of the evacuation and eventually the blinding light her parents couldn't shield her from fast enough as their home was erased without a second thought. She looked back at him,
"Vince I'm not going to tell you Pidge's outburst wasn't your fault, because it absolutely was, but you also didn't mean any harm and that's what I want to talk about"
Vince looks away and almost shrinks in front of her gaze, her pitying and disappointed gaze. He should've shut his mouth when he had the chance.
"No matter where you go or who you talk to, as long as you're on the force you're going to be fighting wars and interacting with victims from all over. You're allowed to be scared, but don't start spiraling, especially if it makes you say stupid shit like you've been saying all day today."
He grimaced, he wasn't that insensitive, was he? No, he definitely was. He literally set off Pidge's PTSD and got burned because he was too busy feeding the fire.
"Voltron may be a weapon for war, don't tell the princess I said that," she adds quickly, "but the pilots instead are diplomats, the more you travel the universe the more you'll see people just like Pidge who will never stop feeling pain even if time heals their wounds."
Checking up on Pidge again, he tried to hide the tired look on his face by rubbing his eyes and messing with his visor, but he'd known she'd caught it.
"One last thing kid, be conscious of what other people have gone through. Pidge gave you multiple warnings earlier, and they were borderline explicitly telling you to back off. Not many will be blunt and list the topics they're sensitive to, they won't talk about it at all."
He nodded, grateful she'd finally stopped lecturing him. He had enough of getting in trouble for today. The only thing to do now was apologize, and hope Pidge would forgive him for being an idiot on the field this entire time.
---
I'm not going to make Vince the only person with fault here, Pidge didn't have to tear into the kid and basically beat him down for being a coward, but he did.
I added Anya into this bc I want her to be a grounding opinion for the team. Sure, they differ between themselves, but more often than not they all agree on the same course of action. Anya is a way for more outside opinions to get heard, especially because she's watching the fights instead of being in them. She's not the voice of reason, but she's the damage control while the others focus on fighting
