#some positive reinforcement about who he is and his values after being so utterly defeated

[controlaltdelete-my-existence]

king piccolo arc is weird because it’s obviously the blueprint for many of the arcs to follow as well as one of my favorites, but narratively this is also the arc where some of db’s writing decisions start getting a little questionable. It starts off pretty strong: Goku’s impulsivity gets the better of him and he pays for it with Tambourine. This is soon followed by a truly memorable (and lowkey satisfying?) beat down by king piccolo (that rock to the back and elbow to the stomach look genuinely painful). Goku’s reduced to quite literally biting piccolo to try and stay in the fight. All of his arrogance that’s been building up since red ribbon is immediately knocked out of him and he’s left unable to move, forced to rely on someone else for the first time in a long time (the beginnings of an idea his character struggles with throughout Z).

Meanwhile king piccolo’s minions force a team split in Kame house, giving us three teams to follow as the dragon balls are collected. King Piccolo has a (what should be) iconic moment of literally kill Shenron. So now he’s young, he’s back, and he’s more overwhelming than any other opponent in the series to date. I don’t think Tao’s attempted murder of Goku hits quite the same highs as King Piccolo’s first assault; imo it hits differently because it’s not just that goku failed to beat him, it’s that all the characters we know and care about are genuinely at risk and even dropping like flies.

I guess in terms of story structure that would now put us at like, the second act low point? And ofc the question is ‘how is goku gonna come back from this?’ Which is how we get to what is imo a somewhat poor plot device: the ultra divine water. I definitely feel like this was something that could have been handled much better, though I don’t necessarily blame the author due to the pressure of having to write a serialized story. Still, at least a little foreshadowing with Korin in red ribbon might have helped the ultra divine water feel like less of a shortcut and more like unlocking a secret goal. The entire philosophy of DB is ‘work hard to improve yourself’. imo the way it should’ve been handled was goku realizing he already has the skills he needs, he just needs to continue honing them, maybe unlock a new technique or two through training, until he stands a chance. Goku’s whole fighting style is letting himself take a beating for awhile to figure out his opponents move set and then coming up with a creative counter-strategy. He’d already fought piccolo once, so it would’ve been a good way to keep the story thematically consistent.

Another way it could have felt less jarring is for him to at least have to overcome himself. Korin remarks in the actual story that Goku is too emotional (after losing Krillen and Roshi), which hurts him as a fighter. Needing to quell his rage when facing piccolo again could have been The Thing for him to overcome. Visiting Korin should have reminded him of his training there and instead of Korin saying he has nothing left to teach Goku he could have said, ‘hey, you know the skills, but you’re not using them properly. your anger and your arrogance is getting in your own way’. Essentially, learning meditation and tranquility, etc. (I know that idea is addressed in his later training with Kami, but it might have been valuable to have Goku meet Kami here instead and start the groundwork of those skills, perhaps set it up as him getting back in tune with himself after his losses until he’s ready to help Tien. Just spitballing here).

If the ultra divine water had maybe been some way of measuring goku’s overall progress since he initially started his journey rather than a mini adventure arc, it might have felt less jarring in a story all about self-improvement. I like the ultra divine water in terms of what it does for the oozaru, with the oozaru as being representative of goku’s inner strength, but personally that’s not enough to completely justify it to me. Imo the same symbolism could have been achieved a better way. As it is I don’t hate the UDW but I do think its general existence and relatively simple method of attainment weakens what is overall a very strong arc.

[douxie-casperan]

Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development

I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.

Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.

~

If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:

Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out

Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced

While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not

Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life

A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people

Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone

Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style

The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.

It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.

With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.

There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart 

That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.

A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.

(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)

On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.

When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.

Then Rise of the Titans happens.

At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.

Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.

Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.

The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.

The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.

The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.

The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.

Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.

And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.

[ganymedesclock]

The only problem I have with a Lotor redemption arc is that redemption arcs only work if the character realizes what they’ve done is wrong is actively seeking atonement for their wrongdoings. Lotor does not seem to be seeking any kind of atonement for what he’s done to the Paladins and to Narti. Unless he has a huge turnaround this season, I don’t know how the writers will try to pull of a Lotor redemption arc.

Really? Because the problem I have with a redemption arc for Lotor is I think that with the words “redemption arc” people often do kind of a great disservice to the complexity of writing, the importance of context, and I feel like you’re failing to take into account numerous factors in the writing here!

However you personally feel about Lotor’s actions, that’s not up for me to dictate, but it’s pretty unmistakable that Lotor is presented as an antihero, not a villain. By which I mean, the writers have very obviously attached to Lotor all of the same symbols and gestures that they attached to the heroes: Lotor is young, visually he resembles the protagonists far more than any of the other villains we’ve seen, he’s associated- in fact, nearly drowning in the color blue, which, while we do have blue-tone villains (Hira and her associates in the alternate universe) they’re the only exception, and Lotor exists in the default universe in which blue is the color associated with all of our benevolent parties.

Value wise it is repeated and demonstrated that Lotor, whether or not his actions unfailingly align with them, values mercy, values compassion, values honesty. It is also pretty unmistakable, given Lotor’s tenure as emperor pro tem shows us his utterly failing to enforce his father’s empire and freely acquiescing, for no reason or gain, the only coalition planet he ever took (Puig) he’s also pretty clearly sabotaging the empire. His only interest in expanding it is soliciting the Puigians to “the new empire”- he’s pulling people away from Zarkon.

Lotor is, and from the start, unapologetically the head of his own faction. He and his allies were trying to live off the empire like a parasite until they were in the place to actually dispose of them- that didn’t work out.

As far as atonement: Your proposal here is that the only, only way a non-heroic character can become a hero is if they 1. outline everything they have ever done wrong, 2. regret everything, and 3. beg forgiveness from the heroes or some other form of higher power.

In which case, yeah, I really don’t think Lotor’s ever going to do that. In fact, I can think of numerous “redemptions” that looked absolutely nothing like that. That feels like a very rigid and suffocating framework that would, unless written very carefully and for a very specific narrow kind of character, be very out-of-character for exactly the sort of character who would, y’know, actually warrant one of those arcs.

Let’s talk about Lotor and his actions, shall we? You mention against the paladins, and against Narti, so, I’ll talk about those.

Lotor and the Generals attack the paladins several times- s3e2, s3e3, and s3e4. I will omit s3e6, because in this case, it was premeditated on the paladins’ part, and the generals were acting in self-defense. (I also wonder if you hold these same actions against the generals, as they were obviously aware and willing collaborators the entire time)

In s3e4, we are revealed to Lotor’s master plan at this point: he’s aspiring to get his hands on the Sincline comet, but only Voltron can enter the dimensionally becalmed ship carrying it. Zethrid states they tried to have other pilots get it out before, which... ended badly.

She also is a little sad remembering they (presumably) got people vaporized. Oops!

Why does Lotor want the comet? Again, because Lotor’s attempting to gain massive advantages that will allow him and his comparatively tiny group of conspirators, especially his inner circle, to challenge the empire and win. Personally, I think Lotor’s also keenly aware of the symbol Voltron represents to the universe- and is fully aware that constructing something on part with Voltron itself, out of the same materials, will allow him to challenge them on a grand level and command the attention of the universe- but that’s pretty much just an aside.

So Lotor wants the comet to use it against Zarkon. Considering that as soon as Lotor’s revealed to be building any significant forces, Zarkon drops a “kill on sight” order for Lotor to the entire empire, this tells us that simply, being able to fight Zarkon is a matter of life and death for Lotor. He will either be killed by his father, or he will gain the means to defeat, and thus, escape Zarkon.

I would like to reiterate that. From Lotor’s perspective, if he does not get this comet, he will be murdered by his abusive father.

With that in mind, Lotor looks at the comet.

He needs Voltron for the comet- well, now, he doesn’t have Voltron on speed dial. Obvious choice? Attack a coalition planet. Because Voltron’s trying to make allies, they’ll thus try to defend these allies. Voltron can either show up to defend them, giving him what he wants, or be a no-show, which denies him access to Voltron, but makes them look very bad in the coalitions’ eyes, which Lotor can then make his own offer to Puig, hop to the next planet, and repeat until Voltron makes an appearance.

During this occupation, Puig is merely a pawn on the board. We notice that Lotor, again, with his policy of mercy, leaves the occupation in the hands of Acxa, his right hand, who explicitly orders the rest of the generals to kill no one. This reinforces Lotor’s values, that while mercy is considered a shame worthy of execution to the empire, among Lotor’s generals, the most obviously merciful and inclined to restraint is the one offered the highest position.

So, Lotor takes Puig, makes his offer, and Voltron shows up to defend the planet, springing his trap.

Here, Lotor wants to confirm first and foremost that Voltron is intact. That established, he leaves, content, and pulls all of his forces out of Puig. Lotor stops fighting and attacking the paladins as soon as he’s seen what he wants, all five Lions.

Casualties of this incident: no lasting damage to the Lions, scared paladins, several injured Puigians, no fatalities except if any of the destroyed galra fighters had living occupants rather than drones- which is on the paladins, not Lotor.

Our heroes, who are unambiguously heroes, are more likely to have killed someone in that altercation than Lotor and his generals were.

Keith hangs a tracker on Lotor’s flagship, and, thus, chooses to pursue him, which leads to the next encounter, s3e3. Realizing the paladins are pursuing them, Lotor makes a decision to test them a second time- using his own personal fighter. After a few altercations- no lasting damage to the Lions, and all paladins summarily shook up but unharmed- Lotor is displeased- jeez, he can’t risk these people getting his comet for him, they’re suspiciously incompetent. They can’t even combine into Voltron, which means they wouldn’t get into the rift.

Because of that, he chooses to set the trap at Thayserix. It’s worth noting this trap hinges entirely on Keith’s willingness to keep chasing Lotor- unlike at Puig, he has no hostage, and his only bait is himself. He works to keep the paladins’ attention on him, and thus, off the cruiser and away from his generals. Again, we see Lotor actually does consider the losses of his subordinates as significant, unlike Zarkon, and more like the paladins.

Lotor has his game of merry chase, scares the hell out of the paladins, and again, chases them around/sets them up in explosions. Again, we see no lasting damage to the Lions, and no real damage to the paladins except emotionally. Allura freeze rays him, and, conceding defeat verbally, Lotor limps off- and the generals call in two imperial fleets as a smokescreen to cover their escape. Voltron is formed, and makes short work of them.

Casualties of this incident: Scared paladins, Lotor’s pride, no fatalities or injuries on heroes’ side. Two imperial fleets destroyed.

Again, our heroes did more damage than Lotor did. You could make an argue here that Lotor and the Generals were both quite callous at the losses caused by throwing those two commanders, likely not conspirators to Lotor’s “new empire”, to Voltron like a juicy bone to a guard dog, but if they weren’t conspirators, that’d imply as imperial commanders they were in the general business of attacking and subjugating other sentient races throughout the universe, so, it’s really up to you how that pans out morally.

So, this works out, as Lotor says himself: this is the very opportunity he’s been waiting for. The paladins can form Voltron, and they have a modicum of competence between them. While he’s prepared to profit from them potentially not making it, he’d really rather have the comet, and, so, it’s time to send them after his pride- so, like ringing a desk bell for service, he goes and turns on the beacon.

Voltron answers, a merry jaunt in another reality occurs, the sanctity of brains are threatened, computers are unplugged, Sven appears to assuage that Shiro-shaped hole in the fans’ broken hearts.

Two of the generals (unidentified, but not Lotor) shoot at and attack the castle before seizing the comet and making off with it.

Casualties of this incident: The paladins’ dignity, the Sincline comet.

This may not impress you much but let’s consider the casualties of Sendak’s raid on the Castle:

Heavy internal injuries and unresponsive state that required medical intervention via healing pod- Lance, electrical torture- Shiro, destruction of the castle’s crystal, Rover, most of the buildings in the Arusian village [immediate]...

Destruction of King Alfor’s AI, Shiro being actively, maliciously baited into a panic attack, Allura having a sobbing breakdown [did not emerge until Crystal Venom]

But sure- the fact that Lotor breaks out the kid gloves in a way that no other villain we’ve seen does dealing with the paladins is largely more a consequence of his minimal-engagement, overly frugal tactics and disinterest in fighting long battles, he still picked on the paladins several times, and that’s fair. Maybe you’re mad about that.

Lotor at this point has no good reason to regret it. He literally hasn’t even been given the opportunity to get to know the paladins, and I think you’re really kidding yourself if you assume any of them would respond positively to Zarkon’s son waltzing up and extending an olive branch that he inevitably won’t have the support of the empire to actually enforce- not that he could even do that, anyway, because he’d be executed as a traitor very quickly if he were caught negotiating with Voltron. 

In s3e1 Lotor talks about how “the masses” are easily swayed- them cheering his name in an arena once doesn’t mean that if he suddenly makes a highly controversial decision that basically demands they chose their loyalty to Zarkon or their five seconds of fondness towards him, when many of them were willing to back Throk’s coup against Lotor- yeah, Lotor’s not going to win.

From Lotor’s perspective, either he gets the comet or Zarkon kills him, and probably kills the four at-risk minority women he’s kinda trying to keep around and in power. At bare minimum the Generals would likely lose all of their standing since Zarkon certainly wouldn’t let “mere half-breeds” operate at that status.

He uses Voltron, Voltron gets him exactly what he wants and needs, and for their troubles, they were shook up and scared, but again, no lasting harm, physically or emotionally. The closest he came was scaring the hell out of Allura in s3e3 which he was largely unaware of her fear outside of where it affected her piloting and commented positively when Allura started turning the tables on him, acknowledging her competence and learning curve.

Even if Lotor really got to know the paladins, he wouldn’t feel that bad about it. After all, these guys face danger far greater than his threats all the time. He did what he had to in order to survive, they did what they had to in order to fight him. Fair is fair.

As far as Narti...

Lotor killed Narti and left her body on the cruiser. There’s no other way to slice that.

He did so because the only possible explanation for what had happened that he was aware of was that Narti had somehow betrayed him to his father- which is a big deal because, again, that tip-off led to Zarkon ordering the entire empire to murder Lotor on sight.

Narti did not do so voluntarily. Lotor had less than five seconds to consider the situation, did not know if Narti would start attacking them once she was discovered, and had no way of knowing what had transpired between Narti and Haggar. We, the nearly-omniscient audience, watched it happen and have, scientifically speaking, no fucking clue what happened.

Lotor has to make a decision right then and there if he’s going to leave Narti behind to the dubious mercy of the empire, take her with and risk being hunted down even further or killed and having the comet ships taken from him.

Immediately afterwards he is nearly unresponsive, uncharacteristically snappy when he does speak, crosses multiple lines he never has before onscreen with his generals, and makes an entire vocabulary of deeply upset, highly agitated and anxious faces. When Acxa attacks him, Lotor’s reflexes are uncharacteristically so slow that he actually doesn’t even turn his body to face Acxa before she shoots him. This is someone who was able to, from a standstill and with a sheathed weapon, run Narti through and pull his weapon out of her body in seconds. There’s no way he didn’t have the time to cut Acxa down.

Everything about this scene tells us Lotor didn’t want to do that, that the only possible thing that could motivate him to do that was the situation adding up to the undeniable conclusion that Narti had betrayed him first, and the only counter-evidence we have passed silently behind his back some twenty minutes or more before he even had an inkling something was wrong.

But okay- Narti’s dead, we’re all heartbroken. Maybe it’d make us feel better if Lotor was just, taken down a peg in a way that made it clear this was an awful thing.

Maybe like... completely losing the loyalty of his generals, something he can’t even bring himself to hold against them because he clearly regrets everything about Narti and the only reason he’s not trying to make amends is because as far as he knows it was necessary, and there’s nothing else he could’ve done.

Or just getting shot in the back and having to hurt himself to escape the situation.

Or just, the complete revelation that his dream of having a weapon that could challenge Voltron just nicely went up in smoke because all four of the people he trusted to pilot it with him are now decisively inaccessible, killing what the show has repeatedly emphasized is the greatest advantage for him- the support of a knowing, caring team.

Because I don’t really know how to respond to the implication Lotor doesn’t already regret the hell out of what he did to Narti. He’s borderline catatonic for the entire rest of the season afterwards and only seems to recover, coincidentally as soon as he’s contacting Voltron- people he’s not sure he can trust.

And our very first scene with Lotor tells us when he’s not sure he can trust people?

He lies through his goddamn teeth the entire time.

So, the only actually content seeming Lotor we’ve seen since Narti’s death is in the one context where he’s most likely to be faking every second.

So... even as superficial and character-inappropriate as I think your prescribed schedule for a reform arc is, Lotor arguably qualifies, in that pretty much the one genuinely nasty thing he’s done besides his comprehensive screwing over of Throk is also the one thing he seems to feel so awful about that it actively impacted his ability to defend or take care of himself- since, y’know, the guy who spent all of s3 and the first two episodes of s4 carefully taking it easy and protecting himself suddenly made five different incredibly self-destructive decisions in the span of two episodes effective immediately after losing Narti:

1. flung self and Zethrid at an experimental portal and burnt irreplaceable resources doing so, 2. dislocated own shoulders, 3. repeatedly tried to sleep while flying spaceship, 4. flung self into a sun, 5. went towards an area immediately after hearing a fatal explosion was likely to occur there

Like I mean if you don’t think Lotor doesn’t obviously regret killing Narti then I don’t. know what more to tell you.