the shitposter in me loves the idea of kolivan knowing all about krolia’s time on earth and trolling keith when he shows up at bom hq but then i think about what would have been going through krolia’s head when she went back into space and back into her deep cover.
krolia is fiercely protective seen in how she fights and how she talks about those she loves. she would keep everything about her time on earth shrouded in mystery- for her cover, for the good of the universe, and for her family.
returning to her deep cover in the empire she certainly wouldn’t let on that she had found the blue lion on the sad little back water planet. i suspect she sold them a story of earth that would be similar to how we perceived arus- simple, limited, filled with superstitious beings with nothing advanced to offer.
as for the bom, she may have told kolivan the blue lion’s location, but given the blades never made a play for the lion there’s a good chance she withheld that information even from them. which means she certainly didn’t tell them about her new family.
anyway krolia is the universe’s best momma bear and we love her for that
what do you head canon as the origins for the blade of marmora ? like all of the lore n stuff. im curious to know your thoughts on all of this :)
In s7 with Macidus, Krolia has some very interesting lines circling around safe houses and old secret communication codes that make me think she and Kolivan are founding members or, at most, second generation leadership. I tend towards them being og because with Keith taking over after them it ties in thematically with other leadership transitions in the show.
In s2, there’s a line from Ulaz while introducing the Blade of Marmora about how their members are Galra who became disillusioned with the empire. Meaning they were at some point on board with Zarkon and his expansion.. probably before the casual, regular decimation of planets- something we know Zarkon started doing early on based on Lotor’s story about colonizing a planet in the name of the Galra Empire.
And in s3 during Lotor’s introduction scene Throk says, “We’ve fought be Zarkon’s side forever, and now we are passed over by this exiled brat.” So 1. Lotor, who is approx. 10,000 years old, is relatively young compared to Throk and most high ranking officers and 2. said officers have been doing Zarkon’s work for a long,, long time.. since before Lotor.. since before the rift. Hell, when Honerva jumps realities + back in time to young!Lotor and Zarkon, we see a version of Sendak that supports this. I.e. many of the key Galra we encounter are old, older than this war. And served under Zarkon at some point.
These are the main points that lead me to believe the Blade of Marmora is not that old relative to the Galra Empire or even Zarkon’s reign.
Furthermore, it is interesting that one of the first planets conquered by the Galra Empire, Planet Feyiv, home to the Kral Zera, is shown as kept intact (read: not decimated) and sparse of intelligent life-forms. It reminds me of sayings like “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “Evil isn’t born, it’s made.”
There’s hints across canon and specifically within Coran’s story about the paladins of old that leads me to believe both Alteans and the Galra were spreading their culture before the destruction of Daibazaal, but after Alfor tried to destroy the rift, the Galra had to be more earnest in their conquest because they needed a new home.
So what’s likely is that as the Galra Empire rose from the ashes and grew beyond expectations and various acceptable limits, blade!Galra hit epiphany moments where they realized how unsustainable Zarkon’s methods/actions were, gained perspective, and felt a call to action to correct things.
And it’s unlikely these epiphanies happened at the same time. What are the chances scores of Galra just woke up one day and said “this must stop” and all set out to find each other?
So for headcanons, I see the Blade of Marmora as having formed quite organically and informally before finally accumulating enough members and independence to pull together in person and establish protocols, bases, chain of command, bitchin’ uniforms, etc.
Going more into personal headcanons:
I would wager the BoM started more as a “we need to course correct” movement before hitting the “oh. oh, no. we gotta stop this shit full tilt” realization and forming a proper organization.
Galra, as a species, are opportunistic as fuck. It’s not unique to empire-loyal, “evil” Galra. Lotor didn’t get all that shit from Honerva. Kolivan and other Galra probably started out as individuals lying in wait, gathering information, maybe making small sabotages, and keeping their ears open for others sympathetic to stopping the empire for the good of the universe (as opposed to Galra who were interested in sabotage in the name of taking control for themselves.)
Basically, there have always been mutinous, self-serving, power-hungry Galra who did not agree with Zarkon’s version of the Galra Empire and felt they could do it better. Just look at how they all behaved at the Kral Zera ffs.
But Zarkon had the respect, fear, and/or admiration of his people despite being a HIGHLY liberal Galra: in the early days he worked with rather than over non-Galra, he allowed Alteans onto Daibazaal and gave them a foothold to do dumbass science on what was destroying their planet. He married a non-Galra for crying out loud.
But Zarkon also ended an endless war that spanned generations (think about how long Galra live), he made peace with their planetary system, he unlocked the secrets of Altean technology in order to advance Galra tech faster than they could have on their own. Zarkon kept his people alive, carved them out home in the universe, lifted and expanded their empire at a time when they were at their lowest. Under Zarkon, the Galra Empire not only survived, but thrived.
Of course his people, blade!Galra included, would learn to look past Zarkon’s liberal oddities, his murderous tendencies, would make him the exception to their prejudices while shaming half-breeds, would find ways to justify his imperialism.
And speaking of half-breeds, let’s talk about a part of the Blade of Marmora’s foundation: recruiting. Yes, the Galra love the fuck out of their pure-bloods. And the BoM had to be in keeping with that culture if they wanted to successfully infiltrate the highest parts of the command chain (see: Thace, Krolia). But Keith is also brought into the mix. Goes on missions with Regris who has a prehensile tail. Kolivan’s right-hand man, Antok, is of atypical, stocky build also with a tail. Clearly the blades did a lot of recruiting within marginalized Galra communities.
Back to origins, I can see a story where the original gambit was to identify the Galra who agreed the empire could be doing things better than straight up destroying planets, enslaving populations, casually committing genocide.. and started spreading doubt and raising concerns through Zarkon’s ranks, found the ones close to Zarkon who could try to sway him with reason. Only for that mission to end with Zarkon condemning those advisors and Haggar creating her first robeasts out of them. Leaving Kolivan, Krolia, and crew to firmly break away and formally gather, creating the Blade of Marmora.
Ultimately, I kind of like that the Blade of Marmora remains shrouded in mystery; it lends to their aesthetic. But I also crave their backstory, even if it were just a comic series or whatever. I want to know who/what “Marmora” was to the Galra; that name has to be tied up in symbolism in a similar manner as “vrepit sa” and “palen bo.” I want to know how Kolivan and Krolia met. See interactions between Krolia, Ulaz, and Thace. How did the BoM operate before they found Slav? How did Kolivan become their leader? What did he do to earn that respect over others? If the empire values strength (Victory or Death) and that’s how they choose their leaders, what does Kolivan know (Knowledge or Death) that put him in the top echelon?
Whenever the team has their huddles / meeting / group-is-all-together-in-private moments, Keith generally likes to stand next to Shiro. This fact predates Kerberos. But after Shiro returned to Earth, Keith started doing a Thing where he still stands next to Shiro but now he also likes to hold Shiro’s midsection on his side on the dip above his hip.
Shiro never says anything about it. At first because Shiro found the contact comforting like an anchor reminding him this is all real and he is safe. But Keith never stopped doing this and Shiro is so used to it he doesn’t notice anymore.
All of the other Earth Paladins have noticed but by the time they summoned the courage to ask about it too much time had passed to ask and it not be weird(er). But one day at dinner Allura finally notices, “Is this an Earth custom? I’m not familiar with this.”
Shiro looks down to where Keith’s hand is hugging his side and a small blush spills across his face.
Pidge chimes in because not knowing has been driving her insane. “It’s not an Earth thing, Princess. It’s a Shiro and Keith thing. And it’s HIGH TIME we get some answers.”
Lance, “YEA!”
Hunk, “But seriously guys, what’s the deal?”
Keith glances down at his hand and back up at the room, “I keep losing him, so this is my way of making sure he’s actually here. That he isn’t going anywhere. It soothes me.”
Concept- In space, last names don’t matter. Most planets are unified under one banner so it’s more important to identify yourself in that way. ie- Hunk of Planet Earth, Paladin of Voltron.
Shiro and Keith aren’t aware of their size kink. Yea they know Shiro is bigger and Keith is smaller but they’re oblivious to how substantial that size difference is.
Shiro probably has a hand shaped burn scar on his thigh from cauterizing his wound on the ice planet. And Shiro finally returns to the team, to Keith.
Keith sets Shiro up in his room and they spend a few days alone allowing Shiro time to adjust and heal. It’s a time filled with a lot of tension and trauma. How do you communicate to someone what you went through to return to them? How do you communicate that you spent every waking hour searching for them, barely able to sleep lost in fear for the one you love?
Somewhere in this time, Shiro was laid raw and bare. On display. And Keith sees that hand shaped wound. He questions it with a gesture to which Shiro responds by raising his prosthetic. Wordlessly, Keith moves to place his own hand over the scar. Trying to communicate his concern and sorrow.
With his hand placed over the mark, Keith’s eyes go big(ger) and a breathless “woah” escapes his lips.
To which Shiro responds, “so small.”
Keith looks back up to Shiro and their eyes connect. Shiro’s face cracks into a small grin letting out a chuckle and before either of them know it, they’re collapsed into one another’s embrace crying and laughing and the tension slowly starts to melt away.
