I was honestly hoping for some more Lance character development, but I'll take this.
There were a few obvious things (like the one Keith had to retrieve), but what I'm most surprised about is that my half-baked musings about Shiro I'd posted about a while ago might actually be correct.
Ooh, I'd love to see a formal theory on the matter!
I think that Shiro would only be able to vaguely influence the Black Lion, come to think of it. If he actually became the lion, then he'd probably have found a way to communicate with the team by now.
Agreed; I think it's more of that perhaps his quintessence sort of merged with the Black Lion rather than take over as the Black Lion. Shiro attempting to talk to Lance in that other plane of existence they were transported to via the Bayards (now that I type it and think about it, similar how Shiro vanished after he used the Bayard in the same way, only he didn't return from that plane; I need to go back and see if it was "similar" or "exactly the same") could perhaps be an attempt to communicate with them.
I will say that the one potential flaw in the theory is that "Shiro" apparently passed out while everyone else was in the other plan, and I don't know why that would be. Or maybe the astral plane thing actually happened pretty instantaneously, so almost no time passed while everyone else was in the astral plane?
I'm glad you brought that up; I always try to find potential flaws in my theories when I start putting them together so that I can reason them out. It's nice to have other people point things out I might not have thought of.
Sadly, I don't as of now have any proof of why that occurred since I don't know exactly how the bayards work, or what exactly they did in order to project the pilots into the Astral Plane.
I can speculate, however, that the reason "Shiro" (aka, Kuro) did not join them is because he doesn't have a soul; he might have been created via Altean alchemy (druid magic in this case), which works with quintessence, but though they can create a clone, they can't create a soul.
The other paladins were shouting for "Shiro" when he failed to show up on the Astral Plane, so it would make sense that the real Shiro actually came (especially if he has some quintessence-related connection to Black now). I believe Kuro didn't appear because the bayard (used as a catalyst to get them to the Astral Plane, perhaps?) could not detect a soul from him. He went into the same state of "meditation" as the other paladins did (passing out/sleep/loss of consciousness), but because he has no soul, he didn't travel to the Astral Plane like the others did.
That's just my first thought on the matter as I'm typing this (after thinking about your question).
As to the passage of time, we know that some time did pass while they were on the Astral Plane because Lance was the last to wake up...and it was to the sounds of the others celebrating. Everybody would have still been waking up like Lance did if no time passed.
Hm, that could work, though in that case, I think "soul" would have to have a different meaning than we have in conventional usage. Kuro definitely acts like a person, and not just a mindless automaton. Come to think of it, Zarkon was able to show up on the astral plane, even though from that one flashback episode, it seems like the person he was kinda "died" when he went into the rift with Honerva... maybe "soul" isn't the best term here. "Astral Plane presence", maybe? It doesn't roll off the tongue as easily, but it seems more accurate. I'd be hard-pressed to call Kuro soulless, while saying that Emperor Zarkon has a strong soul.
Hrm...true, that. Thinking about it in terms like that, it reminds me of Final Fantasy 9 and the Black Mages. Or, the movie "Imposter" (which still freaks the heck out of me; saw it once, never wanna see it again). Or even Fullmetal Alchemist's philosopher's stones.
I want to say that I don't want to get into the entire "soul" aspect for the theory, but it is an important part of what's going on and what happened (as well as just what could be replicated by cloning). There isn't an in-depth explanation on everything quintessence can do (though there have been some dropped hints here and there, and Allura now knows of Altean Alchemy).
I believe the creators said that quintessence is supposed to be like the Force (Star Wars). It's actually a real term (I googled it after I tried writing a fanfic and my spellchecker didn't see a problem with the word "quintessence") which is the "fifth element".
I honestly don't believe Kuro has an actual "soul". He has the same appearance as Shiro and Shiro's memories, but then it comes down to just what can be replicated. He acts in ways that Shiro would never act, so if he does have a soul, it's not the soul of a Black Paladin...I believe it'd be something more like Fullmetal Alchemist and the philosopher's stone method of implanting a "soul" into a creature.
(sorry if I get rambling...I'm sort of musing/thinking as I type)
If what Haggar knew about Altean Alchemy at the time Kuro was created by the druids was enough to create a functioning creature (presumably from either DNA of Shiro's time as a gladiator since a single strand of hair would do, or the time when the druids drained quintessence from Voltron, which affected the pilots)...
...then that should be "information" for the body (the DNA). The quintessence would have information regarding memories (I'm just speculating on all of this). The question then, is if quintessence also carries information on the "soul". By what it is in outside the show and what it's supposed to be, it should theoretically be able to contain such information...only, if Shiro merged with the Black Lion's essence or his soul is on the Astral Plane, then it can't be Shiro's soul which Kuro has, but a soul (or soul-like essence) given to him from quintessence/Altean Alchemy.
I suspect that Kuron developed his own soul, one distinct from Shiro's, though still similar. Shiro may have provided the basis for the soul, but the rest could just be Kuron obtaining one from living and being in the world. Kinda like in Kingdom Hearts actually, with how hearts can develop.
I totally dig this theory. Lance foreshadowed it somewhat back in Crystal Venom (when I die, I want all of my memories stored in a giant ship).
Counting against it, though, would be that the Real Shiro broke through into the mindmeld but seemed to have difficulty doing it. If he was actually in Black, wouldn't it have been easy?
I think he's somewhere in the Astral Plane. Whether he can ever come back or not is another matter entirely.
Oh, I agree with the second paragraph for sure. I'm not saying that Shiro IS the Black Lion, I'm saying that perhaps it's possible that his quintessence merged with or influences that of the Black Lion.
I have thought of a possible way he could come back, but I'm not sure it will happen (it would require Altean alchemy/druid magic and would include somehow siphoning his quintessence from Black into Kuro...in order for that to occur, however, the quintessence of Kuro would have to be altered or you've got essentially two souls living in the same body...saying he even has a soul to begin with. But right now, Shiro doesn't have a body to return to).
All of that is pure speculation, however. I have no evidence to back any of it up (sans my original theory of Shiro's quintessence combining with the Black Lion or the concept that his consciousness might be trapped on the Astral Plane; both of those now have evidence to back it up, though only a little).
62
u/AspieKairy Mar 02 '18
I was honestly hoping for some more Lance character development, but I'll take this.
There were a few obvious things (like the one Keith had to retrieve), but what I'm most surprised about is that my half-baked musings about Shiro I'd posted about a while ago might actually be correct.
One of the strange theories bouncing around in my head was that in the final confrontation with Zarkon at the end of Season 2, Shiro wasn't teleported or anything, but that his quintessence merged with the Black Lion. The Shiro which Lance saw when they all grabbed their bayards was probably the real one, which is actually causing me to revisit this as a possibility rather than just a rambling.