Alex, Keith and Lance aren't gay; they're just frenemies. *sigh* No Brian. There's something more here. I can just feel it. What are you talking about? Just because they fight a lot doesn't mean that they're in love with each other. If anything, their banter sounds a lot like ours. We're not gay, right? What? Goddammit- Voltron: Legendary Defender is one of those reboots that no one asked for, but... here it is, I guess... Now sometimes it's so dumb that I end up doodling things all over my notes for this video- There were some genuine good moments and as much as it tried to explain things that don't make sense or no one asked explanations for, I'd say it's a solid show. A lot better than *distorted* Teen Wolf To be honest, most of the episodes boiled down to: "Oh no, guys, a bad thing happened." "Oh no, the system failed." "I'll hack into the mainframe." "I like food get it? It's funny!" "Keith is dumb. Haha!" "This is dumb." "I'm leaving." But you know what? Every time I look into my comment section all I see is... "Can you do Keith and Lance from Voltron???" Alright, alright. I'm doing it. So basically the Keith and Lance situation isn't really something that you can go into- -with. Thinking that Keith and Lance are butt buddies or that they're meant for each other isn't necessarily wrong, but it's like speculating that Coran was the lead singer of a glam rock band in the 70s... Like, there's a chance and you might find evidence, but I couldn't say for sure... So this couple isn't a Sherlock, -an obvious queer bait- or a Hannibal, where the characters are basically confirmed in the show. This is a fun ship. This is a ship that makes sense! It could be real, it could also not be. We're here to talk about why it might be, and why it's totally valid to see it that way. I mean... Chandler and Monica weren't supposed to end up together in Friends, but that went pretty... Pretty well. Now what's so enticing about Klance -the ship name- is the romantic comedy situation: Two people who hate each other but have extreme sexual tension. And yes, Lance and the mullet definitely have some. Ooh so, they're like two... tsunderes? What?? No, shut up Brian!! So when they first start off the show, they're still at that weird Academy thing I forgot the name of, and Lance is the Overcompensating Dude Bro™. He has friends named Hunk and Pidge, and they do wacky stuff together! But as we see, Lance knows Keith. Keith doesn't know Lance... But Lance has definitely fantasized about Keith. Lance has been noticing a guy called Keith... Keith, the guy with the mullet that always tries to one-up him. No way!! Oh, he's NOT gonna beat us in there!! That guy's always trying to one-up me. To be clear, Keith doesn't know who the hell he is, but somehow Lance has this weird idea that they're archenemies for no reason. You know like that guy you hate because his polo just piss you off. You know that guy? His polo just looks... so GOOD and TIGHT on him... It just... piss you off!! THAT guy!! Yeah, screw that guy! Right?? So, further on Keith is breaking out this guy named Shiro. He was captured and then he came back like Jesus, so he needs some saving. Both Keith and Lance and his friends want to save him, This causes issues... Now I know myself. This video is going to be like five hours long if I can't cut this down. Long story short, They find some lions and frozen people named Allura and Coran and they form this lion robot thing named Voltron. Let's talk about sexual tension now. For the time being, everytime Keith and Lance are together, they're at each other's throats. But they have to be a team. It's difficult for Keith and Lance to work together. They've established this weird rivalry and now they can't get out of it. But they're forced into situations together. Partly because comic relief and partly because they're a team and they have to work together in Voltron. You know? Like we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers. No nothing! Brothers all the way! I love you guys! They even start professing their *undying love* for each other. I actually don't hate you right now! Even if they don't like each other they're forced to help each other and work together. And that builds a bond over time. I say "Vol", and you say "Tron"! "Vol"- Uhhg... Vol...Tron...? So there's some dissonance here, but Keith is trying! I'm trying... And eventually they do grow on each other. In a gay way. Lance, are you okay? We did it. We are a good team... Now I'm not denying that Bros can stare lovingly into each other's eyes, but I don't think that's what bros are known for exactly. Don't make it gay, Alex!! Although, perhaps Lance may not be as into it. It sounds like the mice did more than you though. I punched Sendak! Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off. We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms! Nope! Don't remember, didn't happen. Poor Keith. Just wants to be acknowledged for his cradling skills. Except Lance actually does remember and he's just playing dumb. Oh come ooon, I thought we bonded! Keith? Buddy? My man? (not sure on this one) Perhaps the repercussions of a homophobic society that Lance was raised in on Earth. Why else would he deny something he remembers? Is he ashamed of himself? Again, even with Lance repressing everything deep- Deep- Deep deep deep down... They still managed to work together Keith acknowledges that Lance has good ideas. You got a better idea?? I do! We sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors! That will trap the ships there! That- Actually... is a better idea... But you know what? This isn't something you can brush off. They save each other's lives every day! Keith! Keith!! Come on! Aaaah... You don't just forget someone saving your life, that creates a bond. Sure, they may not want to fondle each other or whatever, but they do have a bond. Their rivalry becomes less of a "I hate you" thing, to a... "we do friendly banter" thing. It might one day become a "let's pounce on each other" thing. Maybe... One day. Now this gets kind of annoying because it's like they're trying to make this a romantic comedy. Let me demonstrate: Welcome to trope check with Alexander Charles. Today, we're going to be discussing Keith and Lance, stuck in an elevator. They might as well replace Lance with Jennifer Aniston already. Now as much as Keith tries to be Snape, he eventually comes around and he realizes that he needs to be a part of the team. Without you, the team cannot form Voltron! If Keith like Lance, even as a friend, he would never say it. He's too stubborn. Even though they're a team, they have this weird rivalry thing in the way of their relationship. It's like well the person who likes you in kindergarten is also the one that throws dirt on you all the time just to get attention and hide their feelings. Only one? Me? Okay... But they're also paired together a lot. A lot of that is a comic relief thing, but a lot of that may be a gay thing. When Shiro is gone and Keith is the living embodiment of a G note. Lance is the one who's there to comfort him. Hey man... Listen... We all miss Shiro! I remember what a thrill it was just to meet him for the first time when the two of us carried him out of that garrison hospital. We're all right there with you. But you know that he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on! And as Shiro is gone, the team is in desperate need of leadership. They look to Keith even though Keith doesn't feel up to it. But Lance believes in Keith! He fills the emotional support void that samurai Jack left behind. Old Lance would want to be the new leader of Voltron, but new Lance respects Keith's leadership. Keith also supports Lance when Lance is having doubts. Eventually, Samurai Jack returns. But now that Allura's filled his space, there isn't enough lions to go around. Lance feels like the weakest link and tells Keith that he should be the one to leave but Keith doesn't think so. Keith wants him on the team, he wants Lance on the team. I've been doing some math. With Shiro back, that makes six paladins, but there are only five lions And if I'm right, that's one paladin too many. Solid math. Look when Shiro takes over the black lion, You're going to want your red lion back. If I get a lion, that means I'd have to take Blue from Allura. But she's progressed a lot faster than any of us did. So, maybe the best thing I can do for the team is step aside. What are you talking about? Just focus on your missions. Things will work themselves out. Okay. Thanks. And Lance - Leave the math to Pidge. So in season four, Keith's distances himself from the team because of course he's a loner and Decides to join this other rebel fighting group thing. That's not a cold thing, though, because they all hug before he leaves and it's sad And Lance is sad because, you know, his bed Will be cold at night. He shows up a little at the end of season four and what happens next with him and the team, we'll see in season five. So now that we've talked about Keith and Lance, let's talk a little bit about Keith and Lance Now, I don't know about you But I find the idea of all alien civilizations of the universe having the same socially constructed gender roles and binary sexes, I find it very Unlikely that even one alien race shares the same Concepts of gender that earth does. So I find it very difficult to call Lance straight when he's flirting with like Every alien ever. And I know they're trying to make the aliens seem like they're women by putting eyelashes and dresses on them But that just seems so outdated. It's almost like the writers and animators live in a heteronormative society Really makes you think. I'm not going to say that this show is making some progressive social commentary on a clearly pansexual man. But from a pragmatic point of view, the idea that Lance only flirts with females doesn't make sense. I know This is a show about lions turning into robots but if the writers came up with a BS scientific explanation for that, then they better know something about alien genders. Feel like LGBTQ+ representation can be beautifully summed up by the scene in Voltron. I ran the bioluminescent pattern through a variety of code-breaking Sequences, including this homemade virtual Turing machine, of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the original design because, obviously, there have been several Advancements since he designed it. Although, you have to admit Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age when far Too many were still-- Yeah, Pidge just wants to talk about gay icon, Alan Turing, but everyone says to shut up. Oh, Pidge, going off on one of those gay rants. Hahaha. It's funny because queer people regularly get shut out of conversations in real life and have their videos demonetized. Yep, some writers somewhere definitely has a sense of humor. LGBTQ+ fiction is lacking in all forms of media. And although, I don't think Klance is a queer bait, I don't think it would be a bad idea to have some representation for LGBTQ+ people in the show. And I mean, they already kind of made everyone ambiguously brown, so. Ambiguously queer and I think it might be a possibility Since some of the same people that worked on Legend of Korra are also working on Voltron You know legend of korra animated show then made a popular lesbian pairing canon yeah that one as gender may also be an indication that the writers are not afraid of LGBT storylines although page identifies as a girl as Page said explicitly, it's undeniable that trans people can identify themselves with page in some ways just take this scene Voltron is not a big Network show it's a show on Netflix a streaming service that gives the writers a lot more Liberty to do what they please with the show the Writers aren't afraid of LGBT storylines and thinking that there might be when in the future isn't crazy Keith and Lance have great potential to be close friends. They also have great potential to be lovers and in the end That's a show about a team. They'll always be together They'll always be together more than they are apart friends lovers enemies or frenemies Ethan Lance is a fun pair to watch, but are they gay you decide So have I convinced you. I don't know absolutely they can have a platonic relationship without it being romantic like you and me Yeah, yeah, yeah sure sure Where are you going? Hi I'd like to return an engagement ring yeah, the one that says Brian It the engravement says light of my life fire of my loins Yeah, yeah fire to my loins. Yeah loins Yeah Oh
