ALLURA’S REGRESSION IN MATURITY
I remember a rumor after season 3 came out that Allura was originally written to be Shiro’s age in the first two seasons, but her age was lowered to match the other paladins in season 3 so that she fit in more as a paladin. Well, I found some evidence of this:
Shiro and Allura as equals
Firstly, Allura is seen in season 1-2 mostly sparring intellectually and emotionally with Shiro rather than the other (younger) paladins:
[Season 1, Episode 5: Eye of the Storm, 09:09]
Here we have Allura “sparring” emotionally with Shiro, again, and also a quite sweet moment where he takes her hand. We saw everyone surrounding her when she collapsed by the controls earlier this episode, but here, she is alone with Shiro, and discussing her worries with him only. He also discusses his worries with her.
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 04:15]
Her insistence here is reasonable, unlike in Season 3. She used her previous knowledge of Galra supply lines as a reason, whereas in Season 3, she didn’t have much of a reason at all, only a desire to see if there were any Alteans there.
Shiro agrees to have her on the mission, because he sees her reason and can’t argue against it. I don’t think he even really wants to, recognising that her knowledge is invaluable to their mission. The only reason he looks at Coran while shrugging is because Coran looked to him for help to let her stay back, due to his overprotectiveness. Shiro enables her and respects her as a member of the team, just like the others, and he sees her as an equal.
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 04:15]
Here, again, only the two of them are “sparring” and all the other paladin’s expressions are very telling in this moment. None of them are interfering in this discussion between Shiro and Allura, because they recognise that it is totally between them. These frames also look funny to me, cause it’s reminiscent of when grownups banter and the kids just watch. It’s totally giving kids staying out of grownup talk vibes. Shiro is the only other one who argues his case here, because he’s the only one who is equal to Allura. Pidge only interferes to give a sound reason for why Shiro should come with her, because he can help her fulfill her goal (his arm is made of Galra tech and can interact with it), which is the only reason why Allura allows him to come, ‘cause it will make her job easier, not for protection. In fact, Allura is the one who ends up protecting HIM:
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 15:07]
They also banter quite a bit, sending quips back and forth.
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 16:52]
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 18:51]
And they save each other:
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 04:15]
She saves Shiro, hauling his ass into the escape pod before it closes. aaa look at her, she is so cool !!! If I were Shiro, I’d just downright swoon, like no wonder people shipped them together.
[Season 1, Episode 10: Collection and Extraction, 22:22]
Shiro ready to go back for her !!
[Season 1, Episode 11: The Black Paladin, 16:44]
And Allura wanting to save Shiro.
In season 2, this continues:
[Season 2, episode 3: Shiro’s Escape, 04:11]
Here they “spar” again. None of the paladins are really interfering here, which is telling. Allura is being very mistrustful of Galra, and Shiro is the only one who challenges her on her prejudices. He is furthermore, the only one who argues against her during this whole episode:
[Season 2, Episode 3: Shiro’s Escape, 10:58]
Shiro is the only intellectual match to her. They have the same level of maturity, so he is the only one who can pinpoint her blindspots. He doesn’t pull rank at all, like he does in season 5, but rather tries to reason with her, because he knows that her prejudice is blocking her rationality.
[Season 2, Episode 3: Shiro’s Escape, 11:32]
He does end up convincing her, because I think she recognises that he might be right. Shiro is the only one who is able to do this with her, challenging her blindspots. This is very similar to how Lance challenges Keith on his blindspots, and is the only one who can get him to listen. Again, seasons 1 and 2 consistently show them as equals, which means that Allura is at the same level of maturity as Shiro is here, which further implies that she is the same age as him.
Shiro and Allura furthermore frequently back each other up, and think the same way:
[Season 1, Episode 2, Some Assembly Required, 09:12]
[Season 1, Episode 5: Eye of the Storm, 10:26]
Here, they are backing each other up, acting very much like the co-leaders they are.
Allura responds to Shiro’s plan, and looks to him for more details. She recognises that his plans usually work.
Furthermore,
[Season 1, Episode 8: The Blade of Marmora, 10:26]
Here, she addresses solely Shiro, instead of the whole team. She is the first one from the team and the only one to talk directly to him like this, challenging his decision. The others respect him too much as a leader to really voice their opinions, unless it is very dire of course. Allura may be motivated by her prejudice here, but it is still telling that she addresses Shiro directly and casts doubt on his decision specifically, rather than trying to convince the others. This, again, speaks to her status as his co-leader and his true “right-hand-man”.
And, I love that she is the one who literally builds his right hand in season 7:
[season 7, Episode 9: Know Your Enemy, 22:09]
This is such a great homage to their partnership in the first two seasons, and I love even more the poetry of her building his right hand (white) after he lost the hand Haggar made him, her antagonist (black). I appreciate this small callback to what they once were. (I don’t know about her giving up her crown for it though…it may have been symbolic for how she gives him the role she used to have, being the captain of a ship, but Allura not being the Black Paladin cheapens this exchange and just doesn’t make it as satisfying as it could be. For a true role reversal, Allura should have been the Black Paladin when she built Shiro his new arm.)
Season 3-8 Allura
In season 3, this changes, though not drastically just yet. In episode 1, we see Allura “sparring” with Coran, the only other adult in the group, now that Shiro is gone:
This is usually something she would talk to Shiro about, and you can tell by the last screenshot that she is thinking about him. It is undeniable that Shiro was the one who gave everyone encouragement and faith during the first two seasons, even Allura, so now that it falls on her, she realises the true vastness of his absence.
And in this meeting, only Allura and Kolivan discuss the politics of their plan. The only other one who contributes in any way is Keith during his outburst, and Hunk when he asks the guests if they’d like more food, seemingly to ease the tension of Keith’s outburst. Keith’s outburst is furthermore conveyed to be an immature reaction to the circumstances, because it is not the time, nor the place, to yell at their allies that they should just take care of themselves. His grief for Shiro is blinding him to the true importance of this meeting. This is emphasised when Allura tries to amend what he says:
My point isn’t to reprimand Keith or whatever, my point is that even here in episode one, Allura is clearly the most mature one of them all, as she is the one leading the meeting with Kolivan, and she is the one who tries to convince their allies to join them, amending the more unsavory reactions of the paladins. Actually, when she refers to them and we get their line-up during the meeting, the music is kind of goofy and distorted, because we are supposed to realize that without Shiro, the paladins don’t look very impressive or like they know what they’re doing, because they’re all very young and inexperienced.
Allura is also the one to convince Keith that they should find a new pilot (along with Lance…)
What Lance says has an effect on him, because he turns towards him after he finishes speaking, clearly thinking about what he says.
And what Allura says here:
Changes his mind, because she recognised that Shiro is, indeed, irreplaceable. Allura is again mirrored against Keith here, because she opened with, “I know exactly how you feel,” because she is an orphan like him, and is also alone. In fact, it is perfect that Allura tells him this, because she is (unknowingly) encouraging him to step up to the legacy left behind for him, just like she had to do in the pilot episode. Again, she is meant to be a more mature version of Keith, and she is encouraging him to live up to her level of maturity here.
Episode 2 is where we see some indication of changes… (side note, funny wilhelm scream at 02:43 lmao)
You’re right Allura, but… you’ve already said this. In fact, you said almost this exact thing in season 1, episode 10…
But Allura, you already are… You are the captain of your ship, you are essential to the team and your knowledge of the paladins of old as well as the many different cultures and diplomacy is invaluable to the team. Here, I find what she says very confusing, because she already accepted his legacy in season 1 & 2. part of that arc was also about knowing where her place is in the fight, so I find it a bit baffling and out of place that she feels that it isn’t enough.
She starts crying after saying that she can’t continue to let others fight on her behalf, but she hasn’t done that at any point. In fact, she JUST spent the season 2 finale fighting against Haggar, after just getting blasted with her own weapon. I find what she says here in the Red Lion baffling, and an indication that it is all an excuse. She wants to fly the Red Lion, because it is a connection to her past and her father. Already here, we are seeing her regress from her arc in season 1, when she destroyed her Father’s AI. I’m not saying she should feel nothing about it, but I am saying this is not how she would react, if she had sustained the acceptance of the death of her father and Altea, as well as having no connection to them. Which she did in season 1… but here it’s as if she never did. Acceptance brings peace, not more turmoil… but here, she is clearly in emotional turmoil over not being chosen by the Red Lion.
In the end, when the Red Lion roars for Lance, Allura accepts that she is not the one chosen, saying this:
So she goes through her season 1 arc one more time…
This episode is also the first time we see her in the pink paladin armour, which makes her look younger than her other armour
Her wearing the paladin’s armour makes her one of them now. She is no longer “above” them in any way, nor is she the “decision maker” any more.
Next we have episode 3:
I just found this funny. But I also think she’s already starting to look a little like Keith. I’ve definitely seen Keith frown like that before. Flying in the Blue Lion is forcing her to come out of her comfort zone, and Keith’s hot-headedness and one-track-mindedness isn’t allowing for any breathing room or adjustment for anyone, not even himself. Flying in the lion is regressing Allura’s confidence and ability, until her level is on their level. This season, she also “spars” more with the other paladins than with any of the older characters, signifying her age is at their level as well. This season is a metaphor for growing into yourself and gaining confidence in who you are, but as I said, Allura was already self-assured when she was introduced. She knew what she was doing from the get-go. But now that she’s flying the Blue Lion, she’s not that person anymore.
I think the writers needed to put her in an environment of self-doubt in order to make her more relatable to the other paladins, especially if they didn’t want her as the Black Paladin. Otherwise, there would have been too much imbalance as the oldest and most mature person being a leg rather than the head. This episode is when we start to see her regression in maturity. And it only grows worse in the next episode.
Allura’s one-track mindedness in terms of Alteans didn’t appear before episode 4. In fact, she seems to regress completely in her arc of accepting the death of Altea and her father (that she’s gone through twice now…).
[Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom, 01:34]
Allura already went through this arc in season 1 (and two episodes ago), and usually, once a character goes through an arc, they grow and mature from what they learned. But in season 3, it’s as if she never went through this arc to begin with.
This is so strange. Allura in season 1 & 2 would’ve said the same thing as Keith. Heck, even I would’ve thought of it as a trap before I ever considered the possibility of it being another Altean, because it’s such an obvious ploy, that it would be downright naive to not think that. And in fact, it does turn out to be a trap, because Lotor is the one who sent the distress signal.
During the whole episode, Allura is extremely one-track-minded and naive, playing right into the hands of the Other Alteans (who are designed exactly like the famous Kuvira and her husband from LOK) and Lotor for that matter, and ends up giving him the trans-reality comet, a mistake so dire that they use the whole rest of the season trying to make up for it.
[Season 3, Episode 4: A Hole in the Sky, 03:14 ; 16:11]
Allura should have had more caution than she shows here, and I know she would have, had this been season 1 or 2, but here, she is painfully naive, so much so that Keith, notorious hot-head, is the voice of reason here. I mean, that’s how you know it’s bad.
This seems almost like a regression from the episode in season 1, where she has to destroy her last connection to her father to save the castle, doesn’t it? As well as her arc of overcoming her prejudice of the Galra and gaining a more nuanced mindset that she went through in season 2. Keith even reminds her of this, yet she seems strangely one-track-minded, which is very unlike her.
I’d also like to point out that in her season 1 arc, Allura was delirious from spending all of her energy on the Balmera just the episode before, making her vulnerable and susceptible to manipulation, (which was done with her Father’s face, mind you, someone she trusts and loves very much) and it takes Coran, her second father figure to snap her out of the vision Alfor shows her. She doesn’t even hesitate in destroying the AI chamber, once she knows that’s what she needs to do.
[Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom, 19:36]
But in season 3, she is of complete sound mind and body, yet she is still manipulated, by a stranger no less, and she does hesitate before fighting against them, even when her new found family is being held at gunpoint by them.
She has never hesitated before, not even when it was her own father. The instant she knows what to do she just does it, as we also saw in the season 2 finale, where she went to fight Haggar, even after being blasted with her own ship's cannon. But not here.
It seems very out of character for her, considering what we’ve seen in seasons 1 & 2. See here how she reacts after her father’s AI is destroyed in season 1.
She has the great clarity to determine the difference between her real father, and her father’s AI. She understands that his AI cannot replace the real thing and that it doesn’t compare. This is the clarity which enables her to see through her Father’s last attempt at stopping her from destroying his AI.
[Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom]
But this clarity and wisdom is absent from her in season 3.
In her reaction, Allura says, “You’re no Altean.” but… she is. They all are. That’s the whole point. It seems very strange for her to say this, when she just learned in the finale of last season that every race has good and bad in them. But here, it’s as if she’s refusing to learn. While I was rewatching this episode, I got more and more frustrated, because I felt like this was such an insulting portrayal of her character. Allura is not stupid, but here she is acting really, really fucking stupid.
In season 4 we get further regression in maturity:
This is how Allura reacts upon finding out that she has to play Keith, which is a very Keith reaction, or even something Lance would do. Allura from season 1 or 2 would not have reacted that way, no matter how she felt about it. If she really felt some type of way about it, she would have been animated with a drop on her head, but smiling politely, and taking the role gracefully, or she would have smilingly told Coran she’ll put him through the wringer later for revenge, if they wanted to play it off for laughs. But that’s not how she acts here.
Furthermore, we have this:
[Season 4, Episode 6: A New Defender, 17:35]
Again, this is out of character for Allura. She is usually very self-assured. Again, comparing to Season 2 finale, Allura didn’t hesitate before she absorbed the alchemy Haggar shot at her, nor did she hesitate before blasting the Komar. No one trained her to do that either, (which I also don’t entirely believe. She is a sacred Altean, after all, as Coran explains in season 1, so she must have had some training from her father, otherwise how did she know how to fight, and all the things about Voltron?). Her hesitating now, and self-doubting, especially in a situation this dire, is very unlike her. She also looks very young here…
Then we have season 5 which is… well, I’ll just show you.
First, we have Allura here in Episode 1: The Prisoner, exhibiting doubt and scepticism for the first time since season 2. This is the reaction I would have expected from her in Season 3, episode 4 towards the Other Alteans. And I have a feeling this is more about her prejudice of the Galra than the fact that Lotor is untrustworthy, because she says this:
She uses the words “bloodthirsty” and “murderers”, which is what I would expect her to say in season 2 before her arc in gaining a more nuanced mindset. Here, she is regressing on her nuance arc (again…), confirmed by Lotor:
Again… Allura is going through the same arc she was going through in season 2… and season 3 for that matter.
But then… just a few episodes later, Allura says this:
ummmm, sorry, but again, why is she acting so stupid. The last episode, he literally went behind her back with Shiro, actively going against her orders, to light the flame of the Galra empire, which effectively makes him the most powerful being in the universe. Why isn’t she being suspicious here!! That is Hella Suspicious, especially on the back of Shiro’s outburst. Allura is very perceptive, yet she doesn’t seem to see that all of Shiro’s arguing against her is benefitting Lotor. Season 1-2 Allura would never say this, and she would never be so ready to bury the hatchet. She would have seen through all the bullshit, and noticed that Shiro is oddly backing Lotor up again and again, to his benefit.
Again, she is being incredibly naive. There is literally nothing that stops Lotor from double crossing her now, but she doesn’t realize that. Especially because we know that all that crap about a new era of peace led by the children of their forefathers was all baloney. It was never his goal to stay working with Voltron, because he has his own plans to bring about peace, a plan that doesn’t require Voltron as an integral part, but rather a means to an end.
This is honestly so painful to watch, my sweet girl !!! you are being manipulated beyond reason like it’s insane !!! who did they turn you into !!! #NotMyAllura
Insecure Allura… again… This is by far the worst I’ve seen Allura. She just went through this with Lance in season 4, but again, she doesn’t learn anything! She is not herself here at all! and it only gets worse!
Girl literally met the god of alchemy and she STILL doesn’t have confidence in her abilities ?? girl what happened to you. Allura doesn’t learn or grow more confident throughout the seasons at all, she’s become a completely static character.
Allura regresses extremely in her maturity and confidence, and she spends all the rest of the seasons clashing against Keith and all the other paladins, which seems unlike the character she was in seasons 1 and 2. In the main analysis, I argued that this mirroring was meant to establish a contrast between Keith and Allura in their relation to Lance, and the purpose was to mirror her with Keith, but invertedly, and to establish that she can be as one-track-minded as Keith can, foiling her to him, but they already did that excellently in season 1 and 2. There, Allura is already foiled against Keith the same way Shiro is paralleled with Lance. Shiro is a more mature version of Lance, and Allura was supposed to be a more mature version of Keith. But from season 3 onward, this changes completely. She is painfully naive and static.
So, if it’s not because of her foiling against Keith, then what is it for? Well, it’s for Lotor and his gain. Lotor can more easily manipulate her and gain her trust if she is unsure of herself and her abilities, which, again, she wasn’t in the first two seasons. Allura’s naivety and her grief for Altea and Altean culture is what makes her trust Lotor and be blind to his ulterior motives.
I am positive that if Allura’s characterization from season 1-2 had sustained through to Lotor’s introduction, and she had maintained the growth she was supposed to have from Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom, she would not have fallen for his manipulation (side note: I’m not saying Lotor’s intentions were all bad, I know that there may have been more to Lotor than we saw in the show. My point is that his initial plan when joining Voltron was manipulating them into helping him, even if he developed real feelings for Allura along the way. Ulterior motives don’t always have to be bad or evil, it just means that he has another reason for doing what he does than he says. Another motive).
In fact, I believe that she would have been very suspicious of him and wouldn’t have easily let her feelings get the best of her, because that’s what she learned not to do in season 1 and season 2, and even here in season 3 episode 4. She would have seen through his attempts at getting closer to her using her culture against her, and she would have called him out on it. I furthermore don’t think she would have been easily manipulated by the Other Alteans either, in the alternate reality episode. I think she would have been suspicious of them just like Keith was, especially due to everything she learned in the first two seasons. But if she wasn’t manipulated by them she wouldn’t have given them the comet, and if she wasn’t manipulated by Lotor, she wouldn’t have gained the secrets of Altean Alchemy to help Lotor build his ship. Without Allura’s new characterization Lotors plan and plot couldn’t progress. So Allura’s character was sacrificed for Lotor’s gain.
Allura is very smart and perceptive, especially in the first two seasons, but again, this changes in season 3, her new naivety making her more susceptible to manipulation. Her characterization in seasons 3-8 is pretty consistent, but it is inconsistent with her characterization from s1-2
[Season 3, Episode 6: Tailing a Comet]
[Season 4, Episode 1: Code of Honor]
When Shiro comes back, we see these instances of Allura addressing Shiro specifically, just like she did in season 1-2. But unlike season 1-2, we don’t see Shiro responding to her, or address her back. I think the main reason is that obviously this isn’t Shiro, so he is going to act differently than the real Shiro would.
[Season 4, Episode 3: Black Site]
And in fact, Kuron usually shoots down her ideas, where the real Shiro would have backed her up.
The only time Kuron addresses her directly is when he argues for trusting Lotor more… which is in line with his motive as Haggar’s spy.
Furthermore,
Only Allura and Shiro go down to Lotor without anyone else, again implicitly signifying their status as the leaders of Voltron. If this was season 3, this would have been Keith and Lance. Allura is also not wearing her Paladin armour, but her castle armour, which is what she always wore in season 1-2. She is not going down to Lotor as a paladin, but as the leader of the coalition.
But in the next few episodes, this ceases to be true. Allura is no longer the co-leader, because Kuron doesn’t co-lead with her, like Shiro did. Instead he pulls rank:
Now this is interesting. Instead of being suspicious of Shiro’s behaviour… she seems to listen to him:
She turns to Lotor to look at him, clearly thinking about what Shiro said… She is being manipulated on two fronts, both by Lotor and by Kuron. But again, if this had been Season 1-2 Allura, she would have been very suspicious of this, and seen right through it…
EDIT: I am going to put a response here to a tumblr reblog that someone added to the tumblr post of this analysis, as I feel I made my points a bit more clear in that response:
Hi! thanks so much for your response. Because you took the time to write out your thoughts, I want to extend the same effort and respond to your interpretation. I find I can best do this by responding to each of your points one by one, so bear with me as I try to back up my claims and clear up some confusion I may have caused.
I also want to preface this by saying that the analysis above is a bit less refined than my main analysis, which was my focus, and was more so a by-product of the observations I made while rewatching Voltron for the main analysis. So, with that out of the way, I'd like to answer some of your concerns. I've put it all under the cut so that I don't spam people's dashes lol
"the main reason they act more “mature” (more on track than the rest of the paladins) is because of their proximity to the galra in s1-2 right? they have that in common, a reason to hate the galra most thus motivating them to get the job done accordingly and add to that their sense of responsibility towards the team. [...] none of them know the scale of their cause like shiro and allura and add to that the responsibility they bear towards the team."
Firstly, thank you for trying to define maturity here! I admit that is one hole in the analysis that I didn't define clearly, the parameters to which I compared all of their behaviour to. So, let me start by trying to define it here.
"1. The quality of behaving mentally and emotionally like an adult. 2. a very advanced or developed form or state."
This is the definition given by Cambridge's dictionary page [x]
It states that maturity is the "quality of behaving mentally and emotionally like an adult." Since we don't know Allura's age, the way in which we can determine whether she shows maturity is by comparing her to other adult characters in the series, whose ages we do know, or at least can infer based on their personalities and their characteristics. This is what I tried to do in my original analysis, by pointing out moments where she interacts with other, older characters.
Let's start with mentally.
Allura is the one to decide what to do when Sendak attacks in Episode 1:
[Season 1, Episode 1: The Rise of Voltron, 48:21]
As Shiro states, this is because she has experience, and she knows what to do.
[Season 1, Episode 1, The Rise of Voltron, 46:16]
To compare to the other adult character in Voltron, whose age we know, let's look at Shiro. Shiro also usually decides what the team should do. To compare to another adult character, Kolivan also is the one who lays down the plan, when on missions in the Blade of Marmora. This is because they all have more experience than the ones they give orders to. So, she has that in common with two other adult characters.
She also expresses caution, just like Shiro does and Kolivan do:
[Season 2, Episode 5: Eye of the Storm, 10:34 ; Season 2, Episode 8: The Blade of Marmora, 03:25]
Another thing she has in common with two other adult characters.
Allura also heads the meeting with Kolivan in Season 3, Episode 1: Changing of the Guard, and tries to amend Keith's outburst.
Based on this, we can conclude that Allura shares more similarities with the other adult characters of the show, rather than the younger characters, mentally (in the first two seasons and episode 1 of season 3).
Next we have emotionally:
[Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom, 22:36]
[Season 3, Episode 1: Changing of the Guard, 22:26]
Both of these times Allura is showing incredible emotional maturity in her response to stressful situations, especially ones which relate to her personally (as seen in season 1 already, for example). Both of these times, Allura lost someone close to her, yet she responded incredibly gracefully to both situations.
And, as I said in my first analysis, she mostly shares her emotional worries with the older characters of the show
(Shiro in Season 2, Episode 5 and Coran in Season 3 Episode 1). This implies her level of maturity, as she can best "spar" with someone who has the same level of maturity as she does.
Secondly, I'd like to point out that Shiro doesn't hate the Galra the same way Allura does. In season 1, Episode 1, Shiro tells Hunk that they can't let the Galra have the Blue Lion because he knows their goal. He is expressing caution and moral righteousness, rather than hatred. He also doesn't use as harsh language against the Galra, the same way Allura does:
[Season 1, Episode 1: The Rise of Voltron, 19:41]
“You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead."
Compared to here:
[Season 5, Episode 1: The Prisoner, 06:33]
"One of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known."
And in fact, he trusts the Blade of Marmora once he regains his memories. When he finds out Keith is half-Galra, he also doesn't treat him any differently, unlike Allura.
This is because Shiro doesn't hate the Galra, I actually doubt Shiro hates anything. He is the moral compass of Voltron, and he knows what's right and what is wrong. He is pointing to the Galra's imperialism and colonialism as wrong, because it is at the detriment of the conquered planets, and he points to Allura's prejudice as wrong, because he sees that she is judging every Galra as bad before she gets to know them. He sees that her prejudice blinds her. And Allura sees this too by the end of season 2:
[Season 2, Episode 9: Belly of the Weblum]
However, again, she regresses completely from this in season 3-8.
"besides, allura had so many “immature” moments in s1-2. mostly season 1 very similar to the other paladins, she literally was constantly in a rush to get the paladins ready, pushing them till they snap, she literally started a fucking food fight 😂. and in season 2 her rashness drove her to go on a mission which jeopardized the entire team twice not once (in collect and extract s1 she insists on going on that mission), and (ark of taujeer s2 she leaves even though the castle can’t operate wout her) much like heith. and she lets her prejudice prevail in the episode shiro’s escape. [MY SHAYLAS] and as grounding shiro is to keith, he grounds allura too."
I would not constitute the behaviours you presented here as immature, because of her intention with them. She was in a rush to train the paladins because she understood the direness of their situation. She only has inexperienced pilots to deal with, and Zarkon is still conquering planets as they fumble with their Lions. Furthermore, if her rush is immature, then Shiro's rush here is immature as well
[Season 1, Episode 2: Some Assembly Required, 09:12]
and we all know Shiro to be the most mature one of them all. So, it's not immature, even if it is impatient.
Furthermore, yes! She is rash, just like Keith! However, unlike Keith, these behaviours are a bit more refined, as in the reason behind them are more due to the importance of her situation, rather than her own personal shortcomings (Keith is rash and impulsive because he doesn't have respect for authority, and because he has a hard time working in a team, having spent his whole life alone. Allura is rash because she wants to solve problems quickly and efficiently. These are two different things). Moreover, they do not occur as often as it does for Keith. This aligns with the second definition of maturity as stated by the Cambridge Dictionary:
"a very advanced, or developed form or state."
I stated multiple times in the main analysis as well as the one above, that Allura was meant to be a more mature version of Keith, as it ties into her and Shiro's parallel with Keith and Lance, respectively. Allura and Shiro in seasons 1-2 were meant to show us Lance and Keith's work relationship once they mature, grow and put aside their differences (especially Lance). We see this parallel on its way to being fulfilled in season 3, when Lance grounds Keith the same way Shiro grounds Allura, as you state above:
"and as grounding shiro is to keith, he grounds allura too."
[Season 1, Episode 9: Crystal Venom, 22:30 ; Season 3, Episode 1: Changing of the Gaurd, 22:19 respectively]
I pointed this out in my original analysis as well. Shiro is to Allura what Lance is to Keith. They have many parallels that are consistent throughout the first three seasons.
"I think that putting her in blue was a mistake for the reason you said, she lost her leadership rank. nevertheless I think that she does mature after s1-2 but with the pace and the sudden changes she gets to a point where she has limited options."
I didn't (at least intentionally) try to imply that I thought this decision was a mistake, but rather that it brought about changes in her personality which are inconsistent with the characteristics she shows in the first two seasons. Her flying the Blue Lion does force her into an unknown environment, where she is much less comfortable, however, she learns very quickly to adjust to her new environment, as Lance also states here:
[Season 3, Episode 6: Tailing a Comet, 05:55]
This tells us that we should see Allura gain more confidence, but unfortunately, that is not what we see:
[Season 4, Episode 6: A New Defender, 17:35]
[Season 6, Episode 7: Defender of All Universes, 15:00]
Allura expresses doubt in herself and her abilities multiple times, and none of these are related to the Blue Lion, but rather with her own, personal abilities. This is inconsistent with who she was in season 1 and 2, and it also makes her a static character:
"A static character is one that does not undergo inner changes [...] The personality of this character remains the same at the end of the story as it appeared in the beginning." [x]
Unfortunately, this describes Allura perfectly. Her change in characteristics from s1-2 to s3, is a regression of her personality. And once this regression occurs, her personality does not change at all.
[Season 5, Episode 1: The Prisoner, 06:33]
[Season 8, Episode 10: Knights of Lights, Pt. II, 15:31]
"LOTOR! he symbolized so much!!! he was the product of galra and altean unity.. he constantly praised allura’s dad, I do not think he was disingenuous with his praise.. having him as an ally was a huge step for the coalition because now they get to operate within the corrupt system."
I don't deny any of what you said. I don't deny that Lotor was most likely very genuine in his praise of not only Allura, but of Alteans in general. BUT, he did those things with an ulterior motive, to gain something that he needed for his plan (Allura's alchemy abilities). As I said in my original analysis, although Lotor may have gained real, genuine feelings for Allura, it does not change the intentions he went in with working with Voltron. Lotor's plan was always to manipulate Voltron (including Allura) into helping him by pretending that his generals had betrayed him. He always had an ulterior motive. He confirms this for us in Season 6:
[Season 6, Episode 6: All Good Things, 07:34]
My point wasn't whether it was beneficial for them to work with the Galra or not, because obviously it is. If they work together with the Galra, they essentially have no reason to fight them. Nor was my point whether Lotor's feelings for Allura were genuine. My point was mainly to focus on Allura's reactions and how they differ from her reactions when she is introduced.
"allura recognized all of those things, she wasn’t naive she was hopeful and desperate. she had no other option but to trust him and gain the oriond powers that would get them steps over the galra power that been growing for the past 10,000 years."
"Naive: too willing to believe that someone is telling the truth, that people's intentions in general are good, or that life is simple and fair. People are often naive because they are young and/or have not had much experience in life."
This is the definition of "naive" from the Cambridge dictionary website [x]. Allura exhibits many of these traits listed here. The first time in Season 3, Episode 4: Hole in the Sky, when she meets the Other Alteans:
[Season 3, Episode 4: Hole in the Sky, 14:37]
She assumes that they have good intentions, therefore she helps them get the comet.
The second time in season 5, episode 5: Bloodlines, when she says this:
[Season 5, Episode 5: Bloodlines, 04:44]
Here, Allura is being naive because she assumes Lotor's and Kuron's intentions to be good, despite witnessing them both going behind her back to have Lotor gain massive power (power that he can use against her). In fact, she exhibits naive behaviour all through the episodes until season 6, Episode 4, when Lotor's plan is revealed, and she admits it herself that her naivety was beneficial to Lotor in episode 6:
[Season 6, Episode 6: All Good Things, 05:06]
And unfortunately, what you described, Allura being hopeful and desperate, can lead to naivety, and does make her more susceptible to manipulation, as you also state here:
"at this point the paladins did not present any other better plan and the voice of sound in the group was absent leaving her and the rest open to manipulation"
And in fact, Allura says the same thing in season 8:
[Season 8, Episode 1: Launch Date, 01:46]
So, it seems we're in agreement that they were all manipulated, much for the reasons you stated. And Allura agrees:
[Season 6, Episode 6: All Good Things, 05:13]
I am not reprimanding Allura for being manipulated, because, as you say, she was backed into a corner, and she was also being manipulated by someone she trusted a lot (Kuron); nor am I imparting any moral judgement here. I am simply observing that these new characteristics, her naivety and her lack of confidence, benefit her manipulator, who is Lotor in this case (and Kuron, as an agent for Haggar).
As for my own personal preference, I do prefer her characterisation in season 1-2, not only because that is what we were presented first, but because I, personally, find it more compelling and interesting. I have read many female characters before, who doubt their abilities and only seem to gain more confidence through encouragement by a male character (usually their love interest), so to be presented with Allura the way she was in seasons 1-2, I found it very refreshing.
If you disagree, that is totally fair and I respect that. As I said, that is all personal preference, and you are completely entitled to your own opinion.
I hope I cleared some things up!
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