let’s hone in more about lance, leadership in general, and keith’s leadership (vs. shiro’s), culminating in his overall feelings about keith’s departure.
first of all, i’m not someone who wants to see lance as the black paladin. i think his narrative is very much about him realizing his intrinsic worth. validating his idea that he must lead in order to “contribute in some way” would be detrimental to him in the long run. what i want to see is lance recognizing how essential his is to the team as he is now.
that aside, we know that lance does possess strong leadership traits.
we’re introduced to lance when he’s leading the garrison trio. although that simulation was a disaster, what it did showcase was that lance could quickly identify what the problem was and who could best fix it. he also applies this to himself; he tends to fill any role that needs filling at the time.
time and time again, we’ve seen evidence that lance is very, very perceptive, both of people’s emotions and of his surroundings. this is a very useful skill not only in a leader, but also in a support character such as lance.
when keith is leading, in one particular instance, it’s lance whom the team follows, not keith.
even when the team is technically following keith, without lance’s guidance tempering keith’s impulses, the team isn’t confident in his judgment.
furthermore, it’s lance, not “shiro”, who delivers the pep talk to allura that saves voltron.
essentially, lance is perfectly capable of leading, but in the end, the black lion does not choose him.
