velkynkarma:

Oh yeah, ANOTHER piece from the Voltron comics that nobody seems to talk about? This part:

Let’s just take a second to think about what this means:

• Lance seemingly cannot use the Blue Lion’s ice ray while in Voltron formation, because Shiro specifically orders him to “split off” before he can ice the shield as an extra defense. Presumably this means Keith can’t use the Red Lion’s heat ray either.
• We don’t know if this extends to each Lion’s upgraded ability (ex. Pidge and the Green Lion’s plant gun). But I’m gonna guess ‘no.’
• Apparently Voltron can detach…one part of itself? Back into a Lion, to use whatever ability that Lion has, ON the rest of Voltron? We know it works, because Shiro gives the order and in the next panel the shield is iced over for extra protection
• But also, one piece of Voltron can re-attach itself separately? Because on the next page, Voltron is whole again, including having a Blue Lion leg.

The implications of this are pretty big. Up until now it seemed like if you broke off one limb, Voltron would just fall apart completely. We’ve seen it fall apart before–but in retrospect, that’s always under a full-scale attack that affects ALL of Voltron.

But this actually implies Voltron could detach limbs and use them to power up or support itself, at the sacrifice of one of those limbs (however temporary). Presumably you’d lose whatever upgrades came with it too (so detaching the Red Lion would probably also lose you the Blazing Sword, since Keith needs to activate it). So you’d have to be careful when and how you used this. Detaching either leg means less maneuverability, and giving up either arm means sacrificing either your sword or your shield. It would be a more advanced technique that requires the rest of the team to compensate for the loss of a limb.

But, in the right circumstances, this could also be a very useful technique. Lance and Keith’s Lions have Ice and Fire powers respectively that could be very useful in certain scenarios. Or imaging forming Voltron, but breaking off Pidge and the Green Lion to plant-gun an enemy to trip them up, or temporarily bind severe damage Voltron takes. Or, if the Voltron shield has been broken or flung away (which…seems to happen a lot), detaching the Yellow Lion to act as an orbiting shield while the rest of it fights. Or sending any of the Lions out to retrieve an item while the rest of Voltron distracts. Etc, etc.

This could even extend to the Black Lion to some regard. We already know its wings come off to create a shield. We also know its wings seem to be the source of its upgrade ability. There’s probably some wiggle room there, too.

This also means if an enemy uses an attack that just severs one Lion form Voltron, they might not be totally screwed. Assuming somebody gets knocked off but the Lion is still operational and the pilot is still conscious, presumably they could just stick themselves back on. Without a whole Form Voltron sequence, even.

I just find the implications of this fascinating. Voltron might be even more versatile than we first realized.