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Red Paladin
The feelings of loss continue here along with new dynamics
between the Paladins and lions. Everyone
is still broken up by the loss of Shiro as well as worried about how they can
possibly work as a team without their leadership. That’s not even considering the concerns over
where to find a new Paladin for the black lion.
Keith reveals Shiro’s wishes about how Keith should take over as leader if something happens to him. Now that Shiro is
gone, Keith is in the clear for that position, but he openly states that he can’t
take it which is telling of his inner struggles. He’s aware of his own flaws and the pressures
he genuinely doesn’t feel up for. As for
the rest of the team, they want the leader position for themselves. There are tests where each one goes to the
black lion to activate it. Many of them
provide a good number of laughs for the episode with everyone’s feeble
attempts.
Keith is ultimately the
Paladin the black lion accepts, so he has to be the leader whether he likes it
or not. It does bring up another legit
concern over his reluctance. They got a
pilot for the black lion, but that leaves the red lion without one. This brings a particular emotional scene with
Allura. As someone who’s strived to find
Paladins for the good of the universe, she sees this as a time to be one
herself. When the red lion doesn’t
respond to her, you can feel her pain of feeling she let down not just the
universe, but her people who have long since been wiped out.
During this drama, we get a lot of great moments
with Prince Lotor. He proves to follow his
philosophy of conquering planets by convincing their leaders to join him as
opposed to outright killing everyone.
It’s a smart move we see in action, which is also part of a ploy to get
the Voltron lions to come to him. During
this time, we see the difficulties coming from Keith as the leader. Only three lions can go, and they can’t fight
properly. That’s where the episode gets
interesting when Lance is unable to take control of his blue lion. As someone who I’ve viewed as the least
productive Paladin, the genuine sorrow over not controlling the lion brings out
great endearment from Lance. He reflects
on his inabilities to take things seriously and wishes he can improve. It works in an effective twist where
admitting his shortcomings and accepting Keith as the new leader makes him the
new pilot for the red lion. So Lance
proudly becomes the new red Paladin, and shortly after that, Allura ends up
surprising everyone by gaining control of the blue lion.
All five lions show up for the already
intense battle, but Lotor demands that his troops retreat having seen what
needs to be seen. For all the excitement
the action built up throughout the episode, it’s disappointing that we get such
an anti-climactic payoff. The emotions
of everyone accepting their new roles though is very strong, and we end with
great anticipation of Keith uses his own talents as leader. He puts a tracker on Lotor’s ship, and
commands the other Paladins to follow it.
This episode ends up being a heartwarming story of learning to accept
change enhanced by great moments from the major characters and creative
occurrences.
A
Season 3 Rankings
1. Red Paladin
2. Changing of the Guard
The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review shows that Keith still has a lot to learn about being leader as he accidentally leads the Paladins into Lotor's trap.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the Steven Universe masterpiece, "Mindful Education."
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