Acxa’s arc when you step back and look at it from a distance, is actually quite fascinating. It’s really a series of reality checks for a very arrogant and self absorbed brat, who thinks herself better than the people around her, including her own allies. There’s a reason why I refer to Acxa as Lotor’s
protégé, cause in a lot of ways she is, especially when you compare her relationship with Lotor with that of Keith’s, her rival, with Shiro. There’s a lot of similarities to how each of them approach their mentors, and how their mentors teachings/attitudes reflect off of them. This is gonna be a long post, but bear with me.
Throughout the second arc, we have these little moments that’re very telling of Acxa’s bratty attitude. Back in s3ep1 when Lotor’s plan to dupe Throk and the rest of Zarkon’s court, she smiles when everything goes according to plan.
And in s5ep1, when Acxa is presenting the Sam Holt trade to Zarkon himself, if one were to notice she’s smiling smugly as she does so.
This is someone who relishes in manipulating and wrecking people. Acxa loves it when plans go well and is in a position of power over people, even if they don’t know it. It becomes more harrowing when you realize that the people Acxa laughs at are Zarkon’s court and Emperor Zarkon himself – she’s not just duping anyone, she’s duping the highest in galra command. As a half-galra who was mocked and ridiculed before, this must be a thrill for her.
And that’s the thing with Acxa and Lotor. Acxa relishes the outcomes of these plans cause she thinks as Lotor’s personal second-in-command, she’s got a lot of leverage. She thinks she’s got Lotor’s trust and Lotor’s trust alone. Much in the same way Keith and Shiro are very close, Acxa thinks her and Lotor are close as well. She probably thought that she was Lotor’s biggest confident as she’s the one he told her his big plan. And because she’s in this sort of position of power – cause Lotor is the new hotshot emperor remember – she thinks herself better than anyone else.
We see this in how she smiles as she dupes people as I pointed out, but also in how she treats the others around her. An example of this is with Keith, her rival. From their introduction we see that she’s acts very entitled around him. When he saves her, she gets offended when Keith takes her gun cause he doesn’t trust her.
We can’t see her face here, but her actions tells us that she’s deeply flabbergasted here. And it’s noting that Acxa ignores Keith here, and never thanks him for his actions. Instead, she goes on to take advantage of his kindness, and “teams up” with him for the rest of the episode. She leads him to believe that they’re allies who would have each others’ backs. She reveals this to be not true, however, and betrays him at the end, which is why Keith is so upset, he realized he was being used this whole time.
This entitlement we see more of later on when Acxa pays him back. When she saves him, Keith gives a judgemental distrusting look, which Acxa repays with an arrogant “I paid you back ok? You happy now?” and leaves with a bratty, entitled expression that lingers
She a very spoiled child, most likely a result of Lotor’s influence on her, a half-Altean, to think herself as better than other people, especially people who aren’t as great as them.
All of this makes Acxa’s character arc all the more ironic in season 6. Here is when Lotor’s, and to an extent, Acxa’s plans begin to fall apart. A lot of Lotor’s lies come unraveling in this season, particularly the ones he’s told Acxa before.
superheroladies 