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.
Bruh legit what is it that caused Zethrid her left eye, Ezor her left leg, and Acxa her left arm I am still shook about that. But it’s cute that they match on where their new disabilities are.
The Generals are back and cooler than ever. They wear new outfits with new colors, a combination we’ve never seen before, and I have some ideas:
1) they found another boss so they changed their old (but fine as hell) Sincline outfits. The new leader can be someone confident and powerful enough to trust them into a tie again, and maybe it’s someone who will do a favour to them eventually, like bringing back Narti. If that’s the case, I hope the new boss is Merla, that from precedent voltron versions is always a very powerful and clever leader and among the few people who can stop Lotor, so the girls working for someone even stronger and without issues and manias is a great step forward
2) the Generals aren’t working for nobody, they are now starting a new empire, maybe with the territories already ruled by Lotor (we know of their existence through Throk’s words in the arena in s3e1). I think this is also the most likely to happen since Zethrid already stated in s5e6 that they could fight for having a “nice, little territory on their own”. Of course, they won’t ally with Sendak and/or Haggar anymore and they could replace Lotor’s old place as Voltron’s allies, but they could also keep staying on their own side.
Whatever Haggar is up to it’s getting more chilling. If the theory that Druids are dead Alteans is true, then she might have gotten thousands now thanks to the colony. I suspect Alteans are now with the coalition due to the new prosthetics of the generals and overall design.
Zethrid’s scarf reminds me of what rebels of her other half wear as well.
Haggar might be popping out Druids in a rapid speed because look at the bandages on their arms. This is what Druid arms look like
So she might be sending them instantly now with no time to adjust
it’s interesting to note a couple of things starting with their different designs, and boy have they change.
Ezor: taller overall. older and developed looking over all. Her left leg is now a prosthetic.
Zethrid: Lost an eye (her left one) and her ears are more messier.
Acxa: doesn’t seem that much different except that her hair grew out to shoulder length it seems and she’s got a prosthetic arm. (hah knew that black hair was just that – black hair)
It’s to note that they all got new outfits which carry a different color scheme from the team sincline outfits
it includes white, magenta and gold in it and looks rather noble – makes sense if the girls actually did conquer territory like they planned too. And they went through hell for it judging by the very obvious battle scars they have now.
this of course, suggests a major timeskip, which was already implied by the original trailer as is
vld but the main hero-villain rivals resemble each other more physically and personality wise with each newer arc
arc 1 – Shiro and Zarkon
Barely
any physical resemblance. only in the eyebrows and jawlines with scars on their faces in some way that isn’t mirroring.
Personality-wise, they are both leaders but have vast ideological
differences as to how to go about leading. Both eventually are removed
from the position of Black Lion and are essentially reborn in some
manner.
arc 2 – Allura and Lotor
Physical resemblance is higher than with Shiro and Zarkon. Both have long white hair that is curly with blue eyes, and pointy ears. Both share a species with one another. Backstories is similar and situation with parents is an inverse mirror of one another, though differences in current present time are notable. Lotor is the leader of his team while Allura is the support position. Entrance to Oriande results in paralleling but ultimately different results. Approach to leadership is based lies with Lotor, but with truth and honesty with Allura.
potential: Arc 3 – Keith and Acxa
Resemblance is uncanny unless you look deeply. Acxa bears strong resemblance to Keith’s mother including the same weapon usage as her. A fairly popular theory circulated around the fandom regarding them being related. Personality-wise they are eerily similar with the same responds and mannerisms with both responding to their respective mentor figures in a similar brand of loyalty. Arcs are direct mirrors of each other, with direct parallelism can be drawn directly each other. Both are thrusted into the leadership role where they did not expect to/want it. Fights in a similar manner
The lore goes that staff at Studio Mir tried to sneakily name the Lady Squad (except Narti, who already had a name) the Golden Girls’ names spelled backwards: Yrothod (Zethrid), Aiphos (Acxa), and Esor. Someone caught it, but Ezor kept her GG tribute. Narti is Blanche by default. 😉
Sorry for the lateness anon, but I really had to digest the show as a whole before I could crank this one out.
They’re foils of one another. Think of it sort of like how in many shows and movies, how the protagonist has a rival, a dark version of themselves. This rival shares many of the traits the protagonist has – such as certain flaws or quirks or even virtues – but instead of using them for good, it’s for evil, or in Acxa’s case, morally questionable shade of gray.
But it becomes more interesting when you take the show as a whole into account. Every major arc (26 episodes or so, 24 for in the first cause of the 3-in-1 first episode in s1) has a main rivalry between the main arc villain and the focus character in question, with a particular shared theme in mind. (This is gonna be long but bear with me)
In the first arc, this particular character is Shiro vs. Zarkon. Like Shiro, Zarkon was the Black Paladin. He led his team on many victories and was a natural born leader just like how Allura described Shiro in s1ep1. And it’s very telling how both of respond to this leadership – Zarkon defines himself as the Black Paladin cause that’s how he sees himself and defines his autonomy. Shiro defines himself as the leader of Voltron, Mr. “I want to be a Paladin again”. And that’s the special history between the Shiro-Zarkon rivalry. But also the source of conflict between the two of em
The reason why the rivalry exists is cause they’re the Black Paladins, and Zarkon wants the Black Lion back. They’re essentially fighting over the same lion. Shiro’s and Zarkon’s theme is fighting over the Black Lion.
Arc 2′s focus rivalry is Allura and Lotor, and their shared theme is Altean history. But not only Altean history, their shared history also is cause of their mirror parents heritages.
Lotor and Allura have a “bond” over how they’re the “last” Alteans left and are both connected essentially, to the old Altea. Allura is the Princess of the time, and Lotor is the son of the Galra Empire, Altea’s major ally at the time. Their rivalry is different from Zarkon’s and Shiro’s – cause in a way, it ends in a “romance.” It’s a much more peaceful, but more insidious cause Lotor not only was lying bout the whole thing, but also actively using Allura for his own purposes. Allura thought he was a good person, but ultimately was a guy with twisted methods and perverted morality.
Now we’re at the cusp of arc 3. I’m almost certain the rivalry in this season is gonna be Keith with Acxa. And we’ve gotten the build up since season 2. Their theme is one of mirrors.
If you were to look at Acxa’s arc in the second arc, you will realize that it’s a lot like Keith’s from the first one. She acts solely as Lotor’s second-in-command, obeying and executing his orders as he sees fit. She goes along with a plan that sacrifices one of her teammates and lies to the other. That kind of loyalty mirrors Keith’s loyalty to Shiro , whose loyalty got him to set down from being a paladin not once, but twice, in s3ep6 and in s4ep1. Acxa in the second arc, would of done the same given the same scenario.
And here’s where that connection lies – they’re mirrors cause they’re the step-ups to the previous leaders in their factions. What Acxa went through in arc 2 is a mirror to arc 1 Keith. But unlike Keith, whose leader he was loyal to was a genuine, kind guy who was there for him, Acxa had Lotor, who couldn’t care less at all.
Shiro’s a clone here, but at least he tries to comfort Keith here as best as he could. He cared, even if he didn’t understand the true bond Keith and the OG Shiro had. Lotor doesn’t care for Acxa, he just wants results and blames her when he doesn’t get the ones he wants. And Acxa realizes this, which is why she cuts ties with Lotor in the end.
This is a contrast to how in forever and always, Keith was never gonna give up on Shiro, cause Shiro never gave up on him. Acxa gave up on Lotor cause he never gave her a chance.
And that brings us to season 6. Shiro is not the Black paladin and the leader anymore. Keith has grown into his role, and recognizes who he is. He’s synergized with the rest of team voltron, and grew into it, with the help of his spending time with his mom and with Shiro.
Acxa is too, the new leader of her team, but for the opposite reasons. She cut Lotor off cause he was terrible and her and her team were ejected into space for it. All her calls and leadership has gotten her and her team nothing but pain. Acxa has lied to Ezor and Zethrid, something we haven’t seen Acxa apologize for. If Narti’s alive then Acxa is in some major hot water cause unless Narti was in on the plan, Acxa agreed to sacrifice her for it. They have no ship, no faith in her leadership, and no plan. She’s just like season 3 Keith, only arguably worst off.
But here’s where I think the connection will head. Acxa will have to re-adapt to her team again, cause not only does she have to reprove her worth, she has to learn to manage things without Lotor’s help. She doesn’t even have his guidance here either, he genuinely doesn’t care and is gone to boot. She’s gonna have to do things differently, that includes bending into the wishes of her allies where she didn’t approve before.
But of course, in order to rebuild all of that, Acxa needs time and experience, something she can’t really get if Voltron is hot on her tail. But as I pointed out before, Voltron is gone and busy on their own thing at the moment, which gives Acxa the well needed time.
Am I saying Acxa is gonna be the final boss for Voltron? No, I don’t think so. Cause there’s another factor that we have to consider besides Acxa as main threat. That threat is Haggar. Again, Acxa really screwed herself over big time in the second arc, and one of those fuck-ups was breaking ties completely with Haggar. Cause the same way OG Voltron team had their own Oriande-blessed Altean (Alfor), and team Voltron has their own Oriande blessed Altean (Allura), Acxa doesn’t have that cause she tried to shoot at Haggar, the only other blessed Altean we know of. And Haggar has her own plans indeed.
To get to the main meat of the question – Acxa’s main deal with Keith is that she’s his rival enemy in the same vein Zarkon was to Shiro and Lotor was to Allura. We don’t know the source of the conflict of course, nor Acxa’s whole deal, cause it wasn’t her time yet. And it’s why I have been adamant on why she’s not gonna get a redemption arc – if one at all. All rivals in this show are tragic evil villains, and their downfalls have all been their own doing in the end. Acxa is most likely gonna have that choice to change, but Zarkon and Lotor before her, is gonna turn it away.
superheroladies 