SPOILER ALERT: Warning, this article contains spoilers from the Season 5 of Voltron: Legendary Defenders. Proceed at your own risk.
For the third time in Voltron: Legendary Defender, Haggar the witch gets the last line of the season. At the end of Season 2, she summons Prince Lotor to preside over the empire. In Season 3, she coaxes Zarkon to come back from near death. Now, at the end of Season 5, she leaves us with yet another cliffhanger when she tells Acxa that they’re going to a place she’s been searching for her entire life: Oriande.
It should be safe to assume that she’s going there to master Altean alchemy like Allura and Lotor did. We just don’t know what she’s going to do with the skill, should she succeed. That’s where some rather interesting theories come into play on which direction Haggar could take the plot in Season 6.
A Voltron Clone?
With Zarkon now dead and Lotor an ally of Team Voltron, that leaves Haggar as the main antagonist. She already activated stage 4 of Operation Kuron, which allows her to spy on the team through Shiro’s eyes. Combined with a mastered alchemy skill, that would make her an even greater threat. So what would be her next villainous move?
In Season 4, Acxa mentioned that 60% of the trans-reality comet has been used in the production of the first two Sincline ships, with the remaining 40% stored aboard Lotor’s ship. Haggar was upset when she learned of this, so it’s possible that she will try to steal the comet from Lotor. She could then use her new knowledge from Oriande to build her own Voltron-like ship from the comet (which is how Alfor built Voltron in the first place). With it, she could access the quintessence field that Lotor’s been trying to reach. If she gets there first and uses the quintessence for who knows what, this might become the next major conflict for Team Voltron.
The Return of Honerva
On the other hand, Haggar may very well use the secrets of alchemy for a more personal, non-evil motive. Presumably because of corruption by quintessence, she lost a lot of memories of when she was Honerva, the Altean alchemist. Yet since she brought back Zarkon from near death, she’s been regaining a lot of those memories, including the knowledge that Lotor is her son. In these moments, she almost appears nostalgic, like she wants her past back.
As far-fetched as it sounds, this could be why Haggar wants to go to Oriande. Perhaps there’s an alchemy secret that would let her counteract the negative effects of quintessence and restore her back to Honerva. And since Honerva was good, then we could see a change in alliance if she tries to reach out to Lotor as a mother. Lotor might need some convincing, as he has denied that Haggar and Honerva are the same person. But should they reconcile and work with Team Voltron, there’s no telling what they could do, especially with the quintessence field.
Is Zarkon Really Dead?
It’s the longest of long shots, but it’s something to consider: is Zarkon actually gone? Team Voltron thought they killed him at the end of Season 2, but he was back the next season. But this time, his death at Lotor’s hands does seem more permanent. His blood was on Lotor’s sword and Lotor has since become the new emperor.
But, as Alfor once said, “Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats.” So what if Haggar retrieved Zarkon’s body and uses the secrets she learns in Oriande to bring Zarkon back from death? We’ve seen her make robeasts and rob entire planets of quintessence in the past, and that’s without being a master alchemist. Plus, Lotor calls the sages of Oriande “life-givers.” If Haggar knows this piece of trivia as well, then she may take it literally and we could see King Zarkon once again. However, it would now be him fighting to become the emperor, which would be much easier for Voltron to handle.
Beyond this next journey to Oriande, Haggar has yet to make any clear sign of what she’ll do next. If she does master Altean alchemy though, that will be something to keep an eye on. Who knows what twist it will bring?
