I think a lot of people are reaching the point with Voltron where they realize that it’s not going to give them what they want from the show. You want Avatar II? You’re not getting that. You want another Brave series show? Lauren Montgomery hates giant robots. You want representation? Romance is the last thing on the writing team’s minds.

There is however one arc that has not been addressed yet, which everyone seems to have some opinion on.

Earth.

Now that we know Earth is an inevitable future arc in Voltron, there’s a lot of debate on how to handle it. Most of the metas I’ve seen involve using Earth as a “cool down” arc where everyone visits their families, introduces Allura to Earth culture, and then goes back into space.

Personally, I think that’s a waste, especially with the Galra being less of a threat.

At this point, it appears that the main villains need some time to restore their narrative strength. Even if Haggar or Lotor end up being the main bad guys, as it stands they would need time to become a threat.

So in this idea, the Paladins journey to Earth to, theoretically, strengthen it from an increasingly desperate enemy. What they find, however, is a planet under a single leader’s jackboot.

Since the paladins left, Earth has come underneath the control of a single human army, which would provide a new angle to view both the characters and the conflict. Maybe humanity doesn’t have the reverence for ancient Altean weapons. Maybe the new power in charge is more concerned with their own dominion vs the rest of the universe.

Naturally, this leads to the Paladins thinking they can use Voltron like they have against the Galra, who at this point have had no effective countermeasure, to force the Garrison to surrender and for the peaceful nations of Earth to joint the Voltron Coalition. And after smacking around a few human tanks, it appears to be the case.

Then the depth of the Paladins’ arrogance is revealed when the Garrison reveals its true power.

A machine capable of battling Voltron on equal footing, using all the technology they’ve encountered so far refined for military purposes. Sam Holt’s findings and the observations of the space machines have all been reverse engineered into a legion of machines that the Garrison’s leader declares superior to Voltron, powerful enough to repel any invasion.

(Note that the actual robot will probably not resemble this robot, called Zeorymer, but if Dreamworks hired some people with that aesthethic, I wouldn’t mind).

Voltron loses. The Garrison’s robot completely defeats Voltron, showing the depth of the issue, and that Voltron and the Paladins will need to become more powerful. The stories from here all run the gamut from reflection, to fear for family, to finding allies, to Voltron itself powering up (to sell those new Voltron toys).

There’s a lot more storytelling potential than just Allura meeting Lance’s family.