violethowler:

It’s clear by this point that Haggar is the final villain of Voltron: Legendary Defender. And it’s fitting. Her research on the rift was the catalyst that set the entire plot in motion. Her influence shaped both Lotor and Zarkon, her son and her husband, the main antagonists of the previous arcs, in different ways. So it’s only fitting that she be the final boss of the series. But for someone who’s supposed to be the villain of Arc 3, Haggar was completely absent from Season 7. And yet her influence on the plot remained. 

As we look ahead to season 8, let’s take a look at how each of the three members of the Galra Empire’s royal family operates during their respective tenures as the main antagonists: 

Zarkon’s main objective is taking back the Black Lion, and with it, Voltron itself, and using it to access the Quintessence field. But his planning is, in retrospect, one-note and repetitive. His response to his enemies was to throw the might of his empire at them. Whenever Haggar’s Robeasts failed, another one was sent. Medically inaccurate as it may be, the saying that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” perfectly sums up Zarkon’s arc as a villain, best illustrated by repeatedly trying to connect with the Black Lion with the aid of the Druids even when it grows weaker and the Druids begin to tire. He’s built up as a serious threat because of his immortality and his ability to fight a Voltron Lion on foot, armed with nothing but the Black Bayard, and win. But when it comes down to tactics and strategy, there are none. His preferred solution is to throw bodies at Voltron, be they ships, Robeasts, or his own troops, and expect them to win. Anything more complex than that was orchestrated by others: Sendak, Prorok, Haggar… 

Lotor’s ultimate goal, as confirmed so far, is to build Sincline to harvest Quintessence from the rift. He operates on the front lines and prefers to face Voltron directly, with only occasional assistance from the empire at large. To quote one post I read a while back “Lotor doesn’t have an actual plan. He has goals, but he plays fast and loose with the steps he takes to reach them”. Lotor doesn’t have a concrete A to B to C plan to get what he wants. His plans are more along the lines of “If A doesn’t work, at least we get B out of it. If A does work, we can move ahead with C”. We see that in S3E4. Lotor’s agenda for that episode boiled down to “if Voltron is destroyed before it can get the comet, at least it’s out of the way and we can come up with another way to get the comet. If Voltron does retrieve the comet, then we can attack Voltron and steal the comet for ourselves.” 

We still don’t know Haggar’s ultimate goal, but looking back, it’s quite obvious what her strategy is when it comes to achieving that goal: she’s playing a quiznaking chess game. She had to have timed the launch of the Altean Mecha so that it arrived right after they took down Sendak. How did she know the Paladins were on Earth? Could it perhaps be due to the fact that Sendak’s new lieutenant Hepta worked for her on Operation Kuron? 

“Contact Command Headquarters. Operation Kuron Stage Three is underway.” 

-Hepta’s only line prior to “The Last Stand: Part 2″ (S3E5 The Journey)

Haggar may have been absent from Season 7, but there are so many things and characters associated with her: the Komar, her personal project. The Druids, her devoted followers. Hepta, her subordinate. Sendak, her intended puppet for the throne. All of these combined paint a picture of what Haggar’s strategy for achieving her goals: manipulating and misdirecting her enemies. 

Haggar was the one who summoned Lotor back from exile to rule while Zarkon was recovering. Subsequently, Team Voltron spent all of Season 3 and most of Season 4 focused on stopping Lotor. 

Haggar was the one who presented Sendak as a contender for the Kral Zera. After Lotor took the throne, Sendak went rogue and provided a threat to the security of his empire that kept Voltron occupied when they weren’t working on the comet ship. 

Haggar planted Shiro’s clone among the team, taking control right after Allura found out about the Colony and removing Lotor from the castle as the generals attacked to shatter any hope for the Voltron-Lotor alliance to recover from Romelle’s revelations. While the rest of the team was focused on stopping Lotor from accessing the Quintessence Field, Haggar got away without anyone noticing. 

When the Blade of Marmora found the Second Colony empty, Haggar sicced the Druids on them, devastating the organization and keeping them so focused on their own survival that they didn’t spare a thought towards tracking her down or finding out what she’d done to the Alteans. 

While Voltron was missing, Sendak invaded Earth with the deliberate intent to draw them out. Isn’t it convenient then that Hepta only re-enters the plot when Sendak is invading Earth? I’m not saying that Haggar put Hepta in the Fire of Purification to manipulate Sendak into attacking Earth to draw Voltron out, with the Altean Mecha waiting in the wings to kill them when Sendak fell, but that’s exactly what I’m saying. 

Point being, this is how Haggar operates. She sets up others around her to serve as targets for Voltron while she continues her work quietly in the background without incident. It’s only now that they’ve seen the Komar and the Altean piloting the giant robot, after hearing that the colony was abandoned and Haggar had vanished, that the Paladins of Voltron are beginning to put the pieces together and realize just how serious of a threat Haggar is.