Shallura

Shallura is the het ship between Shiro and Allura and from Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom.

Canon
Upon their first meeting, Shiro is quick to follow Allura’s lead and aid her in the revival of Voltron and bringing peace to the universe from Zarkon’s reign of tyranny. Both Shiro and Allura take on leadership roles—Shiro’s being the head of Voltron and Allura’s piloting the Castleship. Since the beginning of the show, they’ve maintained a respectful co-leadership with each other and express concern for each other’s well being.

Season 1
When they first meet in episode 1 of the first season of the series—after the Blue Lion brought Shiro, Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge to Arus—Shiro is surprised to find Allura and Coran in stasis inside cryopods. After Allura awakens from her long 10,000 year slumber, Shiro is left speechless when she pins Lance to the ground.

Later on in the episode, when the other paladins go out in search of the missing lions and retrieve two others, Sendak appears to confiscate the Lions. This causes the group to argue about the best course of action—either to stay and fight or leave to fight another day. Their argument stops when Shiro intervenes and asks for Allura's opinion on what is the best course of action. After speaking with her father's AI and gathering her resolve, Allura gives a speech, explaining how they are the only hope for the universe. Shiro responds with "We're with you princess."

In episode 10, it is later shown that Shiro and Allura's relationship is that of two equals. When Allura states that she is going with the rest of the team aboard the Galran spacecraft, the others protest. However, Shiro states "fine, suit up." Later on, Allura and Shiro begin to argue about Allura sneaking aboard a Galran spacecraft to retrieve information; Shiro insists that she should not go alone. When Allura and Shiro are discovered aboard the ship, they barricade themselves in a room. A Galran officer finds them, but Allura rams the door through, knocking the Galran officer out, and takes his blaster. This all stuns Shiro, who is surprised about her amount of strength, leaving him speechless.

Soon, they are cornered by sentry droids, Allura tries to shoot them with the Galra blaster, but she is holding it the wrong way, and it shoots backwards. After destroying all the sentries, Shiro is annoyed with Allura since she shot the wrong way and asks "I thought you said you traveled around the galaxy. I mean you fly a spaceship, how could you possibly not know how to hold this correctly?" Allura snaps back with "I'm tense. This is a tense situation."

Shiro and Allura are cornered again by the sentries. Nearby, an escape pod that is about to leave; Allura states that Shiro must leave her behind to escape, but he protests "I'm not leaving without you!" Allura then grabs Shiro by the collar of his uniform and flings him aboard the escape pod just as the sentries get through. Shiro is devastated that Allura sacrificed herself to save him. After being rescued by all the other paladins, Shiro states that they must go after Allura to keep Zarkon from getting his hands on her. The others protest; going after Zarkon's headquarters must be a bad idea. However, Shiro states that they have no choice.

Season 2
Season 2 begins to highlight their relationship as partners and allies. After being separated due to the events of season 1 and found in season 2, Shiro and Allura's relationship is further emphasized by their mutual respect and trust in one another.

In episode 3, Shiro asks Allura why she did not tell the other Paladins that Zarkon was the original Black Paladin. Allura responds with "I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the Paladins. You are the Black Lion's Paladin now, not Zarkon." Later on in the episode, Shiro's savior Ulaz, a Galra, comes to try and negotiate with the other Paladins. Allura immediately does not trust him due to her bloody history with the Galra. Shiro, on the other hand, vouches for him, and trusts that what Ulaz is saying is the truth. Allura's trust in Shiro's instincts is enough for her to go along with his decision: to fly into a field of explosive asteroids that turn out to be a hidden base.

In episode 5, Shiro displays great concern and care for Allura's well-being, such as when she overexerts herself after using too much energy to teleport away from Zarkon's army. Shiro, along with the other Paladins, shows worry and concern for Allura. Later on, when Shiro is on the Command Deck, Allura comes back, concerned that Zarkon is out there searching for them. Worried, Shiro asks why she is up when she should be resting. Allura explains her concerns, and Shiro responds by grabbing her hand. Giving her a sympathetic look, Shiro reassures her, "I understand how you feel, but you have to step away for awhile. It's what's best for everyone." When Zarkon finds the team, relentlessly hunting them down, Allura comes to the conclusion that he is tracking them through her. However, Shiro refuses to let this break the team apart, saying "it doesn't matter, Princess. We are in this together. We're going to get out of it together."

In the final episode of the series, Allura overexerts herself to teleport Zarkon to another part of the universe. Shiro checks in with Coran to see about her condition, and Coran says that she is fine but weakened after the ordeal. Later on in the episode, when Shiro and the other Paladins are left in a weakened state by Haggar, Allura tries to help them, joining in the battle with the Castle of Lions and giving them a speech about how they are true Paladins. They are the universe's only hope of surviving. After the Castle of Lions full-powered attack on Zarkon is reflected back at them, Shiro shouts out Allura's name in horror.

Season 3
Season 3 emphasizes Allura's feelings towards Shiro, or at the very least what she thinks of him. In episode 1, after Keith angrily snaps at world leaders following the disappearance of Shiro from season 2. Everyone, along with Allura, reassures him that they all miss Shiro even though they haven't shown it. She even goes to show how much she misses him by calling him "someone who is completely irreplaceable". Whether these are romantic or not, it is evident that Allura thinks very highly of him and is also sad and after his disappearance.

Later in episode 2, after Lotor attacks Puig and the Paladin's save the planet, Lance and Keith become the pilots of the Black and Red Lions respectively. At the same time, Allura takes charge of the Blue Lion when she appears before Lance in her pink Paladin uniform. Allura reveals to Lance that it is actually a color that all Alteans use to honor fallen warriors. Following this principle, Allura states that she wears it to honor the Paladins of old and Shiro, showing how much she really misses him.

Season 4
Not much of Shiro's and Allura's relationship is seen in season 4, but in the Voltron show when Coran is being yelled at by a leader of a planet Shiro and Allura turn there face's to each other.

Season 5
In season 5 Shiro and Allura's relationship has been put on a strain. In episode 3, Shiro and Allura argue with each other to the point of yelling at each other disagreeing and bickering over their last mission to rescue Sam Holt where Allura points out to Shiro's action about putting the team in jeopardy with his decision of arming Lotor with his bayard, as where Shiro points out where that move resulted in the removal of Zarkon.

Later on in the episode Allura consults with Lance about Shiro about how the two of them seem to constantly be at odds implying that the two of them are getting along less then usual then how they normally do.

Season 6
Towards the end of the season, Shiro is revealed to have died in Season 2 and was replaced with a clone. After Keith defeats the clone, he brings the body back after the battle with Lotor and lays him down on the ground. Allura steps up to the Black Lion, using her magic to draw Shiro's soul from the Black Lion and place him into the clone's body, which changes his hair to a white color.

Shiro weakly says "you found me", Keith tells him it's good to have him back and Allura smiles at him, gently telling him to rest.

Season 7
When the paladins arrive on Earth and prepare for the fight against Sendak, Allura takes some time to herself after speaking to Sendak's hologram where Shiro finds her. Allura brings up her father's wisdom, that there are people in the world who have the power to destroy but there are also people who have the power to create, showing a new arm Allura built for Shiro.

Shiro goes into surgery to have it installed but the arm causes Shiro to be in pain. Allura then looks at her tiara's crystal, pulling it off and rushing into the medical bay. She grabs the arm and puts the crystal in it, which makes the arm work.

Season 8
In the ending of Season 8, Allura sacrifices herself to save the rest of reality. Allura gives her goodbye to Shiro, thanking him for what he has done for her. Shiro holds her, tearfully saying she never has to thank him for anything.

Quotes
"You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon. Look at you. Only Shiro is in uniform."

- Allura, Some Assembly Required

"She sacrificed herself to save me."

- Shiro, Collection and Extraction

"It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura."

- Shiro, Collection and Extraction

"I know you're worried about her. We all are. I'm sorry I let her slip away."

- Shiro, Blackout

"Yes, on Altea, we wear this color to honor our fallen warriors. I wear it to honor the Paladins of Old. And Shiro."

- Allura, The Red Paladin

"I will save the Princess, even if it means taking on the Galra with my bare...hand."

- Shiro, The Voltron Show

Fanon
However, after the announcement of Shiro's ex-fiancé Adam in Season 7, Shallura has become obscure in the fandom and considered controversial to others now, thinking it is homophobic or gay erasure to ship Shallura because Shiro was announced as LGBT.

Other fans point out that it isn't wrong to ship Shallura since it's fiction or even bringing up the fact that Shiro and Adam's sexuality is described as open to interpretation by the directors and Shiro can be headcannoned as gay, bi, or any other sexuality. Shallura shippers haven't been in the public eye but still create content and fanart of the couple currently after the show's end.

On AO3, Shallura is the fourth most written ship in the Voltron: Legendary Defender fandom; the second most written ship for Shiro, and the most written ship for Allura.

Behind the Scenes

 * At the NYCC 2017 panel, Joaquim Dos Santos uses an analogy of a sword to describe Shiro and Allura's role on the team.
 * Question: "Is that familiarity [Allura’s familiarity with the lions] something that she brings to the team now, as well? Now that she’s out in the field, is that an asset that they can draw on?"
 * Lauren Montgomery: "I think, absolutely!"
 * Joaquim Dos Santos: "Yeah, I mean, when you really think about it, she’s been sort of their beacon, their guiding light in this. If Shiro has sort of been like the edge of the sword, she’s been at the very, very tip of the sword saying like, 'That’s where we gotta go.'  So, yeah, she’s the most familiar with all of this.  With the whole universe."

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Allura/Shiro tag on FanFiction.net
 * Allura/Shiro tag on FanFiction.net

TUMBLR

Variations

 * Keirotora refers to the ship between Lotor, Keith, Shiro and Allura
 * Shallureith refers to the ship between Keith, Shiro and Allura
 * Shalluratt refers to the ship between Matt, Shiro and Allura
 * Shotura refers to the ship between Lotor, Shiro and Allura

Trivia

 * Both Shiro and Allura were given parental nicknames by the fandom, Allura's being "Space Mom" and Shiro's being "Space Dad"
 * Josh Keaton has fully embraced his Space Dad nickname. Even owning a shirt with the words on them.
 * Josh Keaton tends to playfully bow to Kimberly Brooks whenever they're around each other.
 * There have been many parallels between Shiro and Allura with the paladins of old that suggest they may fall in love at the end of the series—from Zarkon meeting Honerva, to Allura's father Alfor and her mother when Shiro wears armor similar to Alfor's and Allura was wearing colors that match her mother's clothing, even to Keith's mother, Krolia, and his father.