Over 30 years ago, Voltron was developed into a cartoon series from a Japanese anime. Since then, it’s been recreated for more television series and comic books. Just a few years ago, Netflix rebooted the story for a new generation with Voltron: Legendary Defender. In it, five people from Earth discover the lions that makeup Voltron, and the princess of the planet where the lions originated.
Princess Allura begins the series as a source of information for the team. She provides them with a homebase in her castleship, but her courage and commitment to justice inspires her connection to the lions as well. Allura grows to become the pilot of the blue lion and a fan favorite. We’ve got answers to 10 lingering questions from Voltron fans.
10 Was Sleeping For 10,000 Years Allura’s Choice?
When Allura first emerges on the scene, she’s woken from a 10,000 year sleep. She was placed in cryostasis when Zarkon attacked her home planet of Altea, searching for the lions of Voltron. That long sleep wasn’t actually her choice.
If Allura had her way, the lions of Voltron would have been used to battle Zarkon and protect the planet. While Allura’s desire to stop Zarkon is admirable, it’s debatable that her plan would have succeeded. After all, the black lion was still loyal to Zarkon to a degree. Instead, her father hid the lions and placed Allura in cryostasis with Coran. Unfortunately, when Zarkon did come to Altea, only a handful of Alteans survived - and none of them were on the planet.
9 Does She Actually Have Super-Strength?
Allura is able to use an Altean shapeshifting ability during the course of the animated series. She turns her skin to a more purplish tone and increases her height to appear like she’s a member of the Galra empire. While acting as a Galra, Allura exhibits the ability to throw people many times her size.
Some fans might have thought her super-strength was a result of the shapeshifting, but that’s not the case. Even in her true form, Allura is able to both hold and open doors too heavy for humans to move. She’s also able to literally throw both Shiro and Lotor when she needs to. At least when compared to a regular human being, Allura does, indeed, have super-strength.
8 How Is Her Comic Book Version Different From The Animated Version?
In 2011, Devil’s Due Publishing released their own take on the Voltron story in comic book form. This version features a few changes to Princess Allura’s story. Here, Coran is a retired combat instructor who raises Allura after Zarkon murders her parents.
She becomes more militant in her approach to get justice and refuses to even be called a princess until she does. This version of Allura doesn’t spend 10,000 years in stasis, and she also has visions of the five people who will become the Voltron paladins before ever meeting them.
7 How Is Allura’s Weapon Of Choice Significant?
The paladins of Voltron are armed with bayards that can transform into their weapons of choice. Allura’s weapon tends to be one of two items: an energy whip or a staff. More often than not, it’s the energy whip early in the series. Eagle-eyed fans will notice that Allura’s energy whip bears a resemblance to Zarkon’s weapon of choice. While some might have thought that that was significant, it turns out, it’s not.
According to an interview with Buzzfeed, Allura ended up with a whip because the team behind the series wanted to diversify their weapons. Swords and guns were the most common in the series, so Allura ended up with something completely different.
6 How Long Has She Piloted The Castleship?
When Allura emerges from her sleep, it’s not Coran who pilots their ship. She has the aptitude to use the controls herself. According to Allura, she’s piloted the ship for “half her life.” The question, of course, is just how long that has actually been. She’s been asleep for 10,000 years, but before that, she was an active member of Altean royal society, had combat training, and learned to fly.
Other versions of the series placed her as a teenager like the rest of the team, which would mean she’s been piloting the castleship for at least eight years. Coran, of course, revealed that he was 600 years old before the cryo-sleep. It’s entirely possible that Allura is a teenager in the way of humans, but it’s also possible she’s half of Coran’s age - 300 years or so - to be considered an Altean teen. To this day, fans still don’t have a real answer.
5 Who is Older: Allura Or Lotor?
When Allura and Lotor meet, they trade stories about the Altean and Galra empires. They were born around the same time, but led very different lives.
Technically, Allura is born before Lotor, evidenced further by her as an adult in the alternate realities where he is still a child. Of course, Allura is also sent into her prolonged sleep, while Lotor lives his life during that same 10,000 years. Allura is frozen in time when she is placed in her sleep, making Lotor older by nearly 10,000 years.
4 What Inspired The Helmet Gifted To Baby Allura?
When Allura is still a baby, her father and Zarkon are teammates and paladins of Voltron. She’s still a tot when Zarkon gifts her with her own version of a paladin’s helmet. That helmet will look familiar for those who have ever seen the ‘80s series.
According to producer Lauren Montgomery, the design of the helmet is meant to call to mind another piece of headgear. It’s meant to resemble Lotor’s hat from the original series.
3 Why Can Allura Communicate With Mice?
Throughout the series, Allura has the Disney Princess ability to communicate with animals. In reality, she can only communicate with one specific set of mice.
She’s able to understand their squeaks, and they can understand her. That’s a result of the mice spending 10,000 years in her cryostasis chamber with her. The mice and Allura didn’t just share a sleeping space. When they were in cryostasis, the mice and Allura’s brainwaves actually shared space, linking them to one another. It provides for a nice side effect that also gives the audience a hint at just how powerful Allura would eventually become.
2 Does She Always Fall For Lance?
In the original series, all of the paladins developed a bit of a crush on Allura. That wasn’t the case in the new series. In fact, other than Lance’s advances being used for comic relief at the beginning of the series, romance isn’t a focus of the series at all.
Multiple interviews with the producers indicated that romance wasn’t a focus in the writer’s room. In fact, romance wasn’t a concern until all of the main characters were fully developed. For previous versions of the series, Allura actually ended up with Keith. Pairing her with Lance was a complete departure for the character.
1 How Is Allura’s Ending Different Than Previous Series' Versions?
The final episode of Voltron: Legendary Defender sees Allura sacrifice her own life to give power back to the point where all realities form. She and Honerva both essentially become quintessence to save the universe. Notably, this ending is different from the one Allura had in the previous versions of Voltron.
Previously, she'd settle down with Keith after saving the universe, and continue in leading what’s left of her people into a new life. Her sacrifice doesn’t sit well with all fans of the series, but it certainly provides a new twist on the story.