'Voltron: Legendary Defender' Paladin Confirmed as LGBT

The Voltron: Legendary Defender panel dropped an unexpected bit of news this weekend when it [...]

The Voltron: Legendary Defender panel dropped an unexpected bit of news this weekend when it revealed that one of the paladins is a LGBT character.

During today's panel, showrunner Lauren Montgomery noted that viewers would meet Adam, Shiro's significant other, during the seventh season of the show. The two men were heading towards marriage, but Shiro broke things off to join the Kerebos mission instead.

Our own Megan Peters broke the news on Twitter:

Ultimately, Shiro was captured by the Galra but escaped back to Earth at the outset of the series. Since then, Shiro and the other Paladins have been caught up defending the galaxy and haven't returned to Earth, although that could be changing in Season 7.

The revelation on the panel is significant for a few reasons. First, it establishes the leader of the Voltron paladins as an LGBT character, a rarity in sci-fi or genre programming. Shiro is almost universally beloved by his fellow paladins and is a respected war veteran and pilot even before the series began.

The news is also significant as it gives shippers of Shiro and his fellow paladin Keith some hope for a future relationship. The two have shared some heavy moments in past season, and some have wondered if there's more to their friendship than originally believed. Shiro materialized as Keith's greatest hope in a past episode, and the thought of Shiro leaving Keith is considered to be Keith's biggest fear.

Whether or not Shiro's sexuality plays any greater role in Voltron: Legendary Defender remains to be seen. The show is confirmed to end at the end of its eighth season. That means that we have only 26 episodes left in the show, with Season 7 (consisting of 13 episodes) dropping on Netflix on August 10.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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