#Option for closure 1: Shiro gets to fly the Black Lion again (even for a short time)

[cushfuddled]

ahh your meta on shiro and the writers is so on point with my feelings! like we spent all this buildup s1 and s2 with shiro and him struggling with his self-worth and honestly i'm so scared at this point that something Bad will happen to him. I absolutely love leader keith and paladin allura, but... shiro, and his connection with black and his trauma... i'm like legit terrified haha he seems to be the "mentor who will die tragically" and ahh words are failing mee;;;

1. THANK YOU DUDE that means so much!

2. DUDE I WORRY THAT HE’LL DIE TOO BUT LIKE…I don’t think they’ll kill Shiro. Or, the REAL Shiro. It would feel like such a cheap move after everything he’s been through—after all the progress he’s made! And I don’t think his story’s over. Right now I feel like Shiro bases his value on his ability to lead/maintain control—and I’m hoping Keith will help change that perception, since he knows Shiro as a person first and a hero/leader second. That’s an emotional arc that needs to come to fruition, both for Keith and Shiro’s benefit. 

The problem here for me is that Black was a key factor in Shiro’s recovery, and he’s not fully healed yet. He still suffers from self-doubt. Up until the very end of season two Shiro was unsure of his place as the leader of the team.

When Shiro gets the Black Bayard in the finale, he calls it Zarkon’s. Keith takes time out to correct him. That moment acts as a confirmation that Shiro is still not sold on his capacity for leadership. And then we got season three, with him and Keith talking over each other and essentially dueling it out for the leadership position and…yeah. That’s unresolved conflict, because Shiro still needs to learn that (while his worth doesn’t hinge on his “usefulness”) he’s worthy of a leadership role.

If Shiro had fulfilled his arc and become self-assured and was content with his place as a part of the family then like……..sure. That boy’s ready to leave the leader’s chair because he knows what he’s capable of. Shoot him off into deep space with Matt on a quest to aid the rebel fighters. But NO! SHIRO HASN’T FOUND HIS SELF-WORTH YET. His arc with Black wasn’t finished! He’d JUST unlocked their wing capabilities. You gonna’ drop that freedom metaphor like a hot potato, Dreamworks? WHY

So like….how….do you fix that? How do you give Shiro’s character closure without the Black Lion? I guess he’s gotta’…go be a leader somewhere else?

??? 

Sigh. I mean, we might not get an answer for a while. With the clone plot looming, the team will probably have other concerns. Maybe Shiro can’t pilot the Black Lion because he’s Kuron, or because his arm’s been corrupted, and the writers do actually plan to give him back his lion at some point. Who knows.

SIGHHHHH.