In addition to providing us with another major battle for
Voltron to fight, we also get a lot of depth to the most compelling characters
of the series so far. Shiro and Pidge
have been the only characters to have some sort of background to their
personalities. Shiro was held prisoner
by Galra and is still in the process of recovering his memory, while Pidge is
shown to be considerably desperate to find his family who were imprisoned with
Shiro, even in the heat of battle. These
characters having the most background of the five Paladins makes the bond they
share all the more compelling. However,
the story brings a major strain in the bond when they learn from the prisoners
they saved from the Galra Empire ship back in the premiere why they refer to
Shiro as “The Champion.” While held
prisoner, Shiro was forced to fight in gladiator battles with powerful
monsters, and during the fights, he beat the most powerful monster of all. However, when Pidge asks what all this has to
do with his family, the prisoners reveal that Shiro injured Pidge’s brother in
a fit of rage, which understandably traumatizes Pidge, making him question his
trust in Shiro and become more determined to find out where his family is. This whole sequence sets up an engaging
dilemma where Pidge has doubts in his trust, and Shiro has to deal with the
fact that he did something horrible in the past. Their conflicts are cut short though when the
Paladins have to team up to fight a Robeast, the creature sent by Zarkon and
Haggar. Even with the tensions risen by
having to fight a beast who turns out to not be an easy win for Voltron, it’s
great that Pidge and Shiro don’t let their emotional traumas cloud them from
the battle at hand. In fact, Shiro gets
his own chance to shine when he points out ways to weaken the Robeast by
equating it to the monster he faced in prison.
True, Keith is the one who finishes it off by cleverly plugging his Paladin bayard
into his lion, but Shiro’s efforts still play a good role in the beast’s
takedown. In addition, the whole fight
gets Shiro to remember that while he did hurt Pidge’s brother, it was for the
noble cause of getting him out of fighting into another prison, and Pidge
heartwarmingly understands the reasons for his actions. We also learn that Shiro found out that Pidge
is actually a girl named Katie which adds another later to his…or her…character
and justifies her seeming feminine. I do hope that we learn why Katie feels the
need to pretend to be a boy in the future though. The episode also introduces us the
inhabitants of the Paladins' planet of residence, Arus. Their scenes are cute in how they view Allura
as the “lion-goddess” and show dedication to the beings they share their planet
with, but they don’t seem too important to the plot, and it appears that they
may just be used as tools in Zarkon’s next attack as a scene following the
Robeast’s defeat shows. Even with that,
there’s still a lot to love in this episode with action, heart, and character
development. 9.5/10
The Ranking
1. The Rise of Voltron
2. Return of the Gladiator
3. Some Assembly Required
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins face their first true challenge in "The Fall of the Castle of Lions."
If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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