I’m a firm believer that the best stories are those that can help you feel a wide range of emotions so to make what happens feel believable, and this episode is one that fits this criteria. While some may believe that Sendak’s initial takeover of the team’s Castle of Lions was more of a one-and-done deal, it’s been made clear that him plugging in his crystal corrupted the power of the castle, giving what happened much-needed credibility. The events that go on in this episode are clear results of his actions. As the Paladins go about their day, they experience some very strange occurences from the castle like Hunk and Pidge getting attacked by food and later floating helplessly in zero-gravity, Keith getting mercilessly attacked by the training gladiator, and Lance getting stuck in a pod and later in an airlock where he’s nearly pulled into space. There’s a lot of humorous and even intense moments that make up what goes on for our heroes stemming from them innocently starting their day, but the castle’s corruption is really meaningful in two emotional instances. One of them has Shiro interrogating Sendak about the location of Zarkon’s base for their eventual confrontation with him, but is put through a mental breakdown when Sendak tries to convince him to join the Galra’s side prompting him to send him into space. It leaves one to wonder if this side of Shiro joining Galra will come into play later on with a potential layer to his background, but it’s a little concerning that no one considers that Sendak roaming free could mean trouble in the future. It could also be possible that he’ll be left for dead in the void of space, but still. The real emotional highlight though is of Allura enjoying spending time with the projected memories of her father. Though we’ve only seen only a little of her interactions with him, the fact that she’s lost something and someone dear to her as her planet and father understands her desire to use these memories to feel connected. Relating to the castle corruption, she’s led to believe that everything she’s seeing with her father in her dreams is real which leads to her sending the castle towards an impending supernova under the guise of going home to Altea. With danger imminent, when Allura snaps out of it, she decides to save the ship by destroying her father’s memories, permanently cutting off all connections with him. It’s a mature, yet heartfelt, move on Allura’s part that can be easily relatable to anyone suffering a great loss, especially since in real life, when people are dead, they’re dead, and while it’s hard, you just have to grow to deal with it. Because of this, this episode stands as one of the most powerful as well as inspiring when Allura is at least grateful that with her new team and Voltron, she can carry on her father’s legacy. In spite of the possibilities of consequences of Shiro freeing Sendak being glossed over, everything else amounts this episode to an effective and relatable show of emotions. 9.5/10
The Ranking
1. Rebirth
2. The Rise of Voltron
3. Crystal Venom
4. The Fall of the Castle of Lions
5. Return of the Gladiator
6. Return to the Balmera
7. Tears of the Balmera
8. Some Assembly Required
9. Taking Flight
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins finally make their first attempt of direct attack on Galra as they set out to find the location of Zarkon's base through "Collection and Extraction."
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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