'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 11: Stayin' Alive

Stayin’ Alive

A big strength for this episode is the genuine emotional satisfaction in the status of the Galra defeat plan through the moments of team members looking back on their progress.  In fact, the start of the episode demonstrates this with Allura confiding to Coran about the prospect of defeating Zarkon which includes discussing how strong they are from their alliances.  It’s a calm moment showing the heart of the adventure that’s pleasing to see in a show with lots of big action scenes and space adventures. 

Also helping is that we see this idea through many alien races helping with the battle strategy such as the Olkari and the Balmerans.  Speaking of the Balmerans, it’s nice that unlike some alien creatures who show up in one episode and never again, the Balmerans come back after over a season and provide a big help for the greater good.  There’s even another scene to fit the calm tone where Allura, who healed the Balmera, is trusted enough to take its most enormous crystal.  It really brings to mind the heart of what the Paladins are fighting for and has an endearing use of many characters we’ve met together for a noble cause. 

However, the nice tone of the episode is compromised for the majority of the episode when the Robeast who attacked the Balmera last time appears for a fight, now powered by crystals.  This means that the focus is on a huge monster brawl fitting the overall tone of the series.  Allura proves to be very reliable in her own way and capable of more than simply giving orders to the Paladins as she fights the Robeast for a while.  However, despite holding a good fight, she still needs the Paladins, so they come in to help.  The fight itself is as thrilling as one would like an action scene to be with added challenges of the enhanced power of the Robeast and that they start out the fight with only a few Voltron lions, so it’s not so easy to defeat it the way they did before.  However, a few of the advancements the lions got this season play a role in the final takedown like the blue lion’s ice powers and the green lion’s vegetation, so the fight stands out more for reminding how much the Paladins’ lions have changed for the better. 

While this fight is great, it connects to a major concern of the episode.  The whole Robeast fight doesn’t have a point and just seems to pad things out while the teludav is being built.  The Robeast comes at the right moment, the Paladins fight it for a while with their new powers, and we move onto the attack plan once it’s defeated.  It feels like a standalone battle you can skip and not miss out on much despite how fun it is. 

However after this when the rest of the team meets Coran at Olkarion where the big teludav is completed, the nice, wholesome tone from the beginning returns resulting in another heartwarming moment of the Paladins looking back on the good times they had and what they could do after defeating Zarkon.  They kind of exaggerate when they say there won’t be a need for Voltron after that ignoring that there could be other evil threats out there, but that’s just me.  It’s still a sweet ending that’s nice to see from a show like this just before the following episode’s more substantial battle. 

While this episode is mostly a detour, its moments are impactful enough to watch and enjoy on your way to the season’s final two episodes. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Greening the Cube
3. The Blade of Marmora
4. Escape from Beta Traz
5. The Ark of Taujeer
6. Eye of the Storm
7. Stayin’ Alive
8. The Belly of the Weblum
9. Across the Universe
10. The Depths
11. Space Mall

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review puts the takedown of Zarkon into action while somewhat turning the best laid plans upside-down.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a Steven Universe episode that resolves an arc, "Friend Ship."

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If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 8: Rebirth

Rebirth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exciting tone of the last episode continues into this one when the Voltron Paladins are roped into fighting another Robeast which isn’t as easy to defeat as the first one was.  Much of their fight with the beast takes up a vast majority of the episode, and is big on a lot of engaging factors.  The biggest one involves the tensions raised when the team has to fight it without forming a clear idea for an attack strategy.  They have to retreat the first time they face it, and then return to try and beat it by weakening it, but it isn’t long before they decide that destroying the robeast is the only chance they have which really does seem impossible to do given its constant laser-shooting.  They only gain the advantage when a bayard plugged into a Voltron lion once again plays a role in battle which is a solid payoff for all the difficulties faced prior.  So not to make the battle too heavy on drama, the mood is also lightened by some of the team’s comments on what they’re facing, especially Hunk in his own cautious ways, including the part where his bayard is plugged into his lion.  However, there’s one character who really stands out to help make this episode a highlight of this season, and that’s Allura.  This is where everything strong about her character amounts to something incredibly heartwarming.  She’s willing to go down herself to the scene of battle despite the dangers to help the Balmerans who are put in danger by its moans of pain due to so many people taking from it and not giving anything back.  They’ve all given up hope and feel so guilty for their planets state that they want to stay on their planet as it’s destroyed.  However, Allura, through all her determination and hope, encourages the Balmerans to keep up hope and that she will not let anything happen to their home while also sympathizing with them through knowing what it’s like to lose a home planet to the Galra Empire.  It’s her determined spirit that reveals that she, like others of her kind, has the power to heal Balmeras which in turn ties into a follow-up on a statement of healing ceremonies in the last episode.  We learn that Alteans used to perform ceremonies to heal Balmeras when their crystals were harvested, and Allura is willing to perform one herself with her castle ship amplifying her healing powers.  What’s especially impactful of Allura’s willingness is that she’s doing something that could destroy her due to how powerful it is.  She successfully heals the Balmera which in turn finishes off the robeast by imprisoning it in crystals, and she lives anyway, despite needing to rest off the strain of the ordeal in the following episode.  Plus, her willingness to save innocent creatures isn’t made any less impactful and is a clear demonstration of her being a great asset to the series.  Ultimately, the thrill of the Paladin’s fight and Allura’s great appeal as a character elevate this to one of this season’s best episodes. 10/10

The Ranking

1.      Rebirth

2.      The Rise of Voltron

3.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

4.      Return of the Gladiator

5.      Return to the Balmera

6.      Tears of the Balmera

7.      Some Assembly Required

8.      Taking Flight

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins' castle ship is infected with "Crystal Venom" that cause havoc for everyone.

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 7: Return to the Balmera

Return to the Balmera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we’ve learned about Balmeras and have gotten to know the creatures who inhabit them, we’re set up to root for the Voltron team to save them from the rule of Galra by breaking them out of prison, particularly Shay and her family.  The whole rescue mission features several exciting moments as the team makes its way around the Balmera with the knowledge that it’s an actual living creature they shouldn’t hurt.  Right at the start, the excitement of the mission is effective through a fast-paced sequence of the team taking out the Galra defense devices along the Balmera.  Things get even more exciting and tense when a lack of Galra soldiers lead the team down to a hanger full of them.  Throughout the underground jailbreak sequence, while there isn’t a lot of time for character growth or interactions apart from some amusing banter between Lance and Keith as they deduce how to close the hanger to weaken Galra defenses, it’s still a good continuation of the excitement of the mission.  It all leads to a big reveal that even with the weakened defenses, Galra, specifically a commander named Prorok, knew the team was headed to the Balmera, and the Paladins end up trapped in its core with Shay who was used as bait while their floating castle ship is put at the mercy of a mob of Galra ships.  It’s this moment though that reveals another creative element of the Balmerans.  Their devotion to their literal beast of a planet allows them to send messages to each other as Shay sends a distress call to her imprisoned family.  Sure, her family’s eventual reveal to use the same power to open the doors to the core, as well as Rax regretting his actions without a moment between this episode and him getting Shay imprisoned in “Tears of the Balmera” are a little too convenient for the moment, but it’s still easy to get an impressed response to the reveal.  The excitement of the mission reaches its high point when the Paladins escape the Balmera core in time to get to their Voltron lions and help their advisors fend off the Galra attackers featuring yet another great formation sequence of the titular robot.  In an interesting turn of events, the final blow doesn’t come from Voltron who simply sets it up.  It actually comes from their usual associates, Allura and Coran, and with their already weakened castle ship too.  Even at that, the excitement doesn’t end, for in the last moments of the episode, the Paladins are led to fight another Robeast, immediately sent by Zarkon due to Prorok’s failure of a plan, which will take them into the next episode.  As for this episode, it works very well as a follow-up to our introduction to the Balmerans with an exciting adventure that’s engaging to the end, even if it lacks in meaningful character moments. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

3.      Return of the Gladiator

4.      Return to the Balmera

5.      Tears of the Balmera

6.      Some Assembly Required

7.      Taking Flight

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we're treated to the Robeast fight this episode teased and one of Princess Allura's best moments in "Rebirth."

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 11: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Episode 5: Tears of the Balmera

Tears of the Balmera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This episode is primarily a continuation of the previous one where some of our heroes are given shining moments in reclaiming their castle from Sendak.  From the title, you might think that the main focus would be on the two most light-hearted characters in the cast, Hunk and Coran, retrieving a crystal from a Balmera, a living creature that serves as a planet for smaller creatures.  There are some enjoyable moments from this part of the episode from the many ways Coran shows off his eccentricity, even amidst the dark aspects of Balmera the inhabitants teach them, and Hunk, who’s always prided on nervousness and looking for the easy way out in the past, showing concern for the Balerans and wanting to help them, and for good reasons.  They live in harmony taking what they need from Balmera while giving something to them in return, but things become complicated with it now owned by the Galra Empire.   Because of their problems, two Balmerans represent two believable reactions to Hunk and Coran’s presence.  One named Shay wants to help their cause believing they can give to the Balmera in ways no one has in a while and expressing hope for the future by possibly leaving with them, and another called Rax is loyal to his home and wants the outsiders to leave.  Rax even goes darker in his beliefs when he orders Hunk, Coran, and Shay, who helps them get their crystal behind Galra’s back, to be attacked even imprisoning Shay who allows Hunk and Coran to escape with their crystal.  Overall, this part has further implications of how hard Galra’s rule is on what they conquer, creativity with the concept of Balmeras, and bits of humor coming from the protagonists at the center, even if it seems to gloss over things at times such as with Coran apparently cracking his spine while lifting their crystal and act like it never happened in the next scene.  Surprisingly, this business with the Balmera doesn’t get the most focus.  That honor goes to Pidge who has to help Allura and the Paladins regain control of their castle while being hunted down from Sendak’s army.  In addition, we see more of her past such as the details of what she went through when her dad and brother got captured during their mission, how she got banned from flight school when using their computers to look up information on them during the flight, and her being unsociable with Lance and Hunk when they first met.  It’s always great to see the past of appealing characters, and it makes me wish we’d see more pasts from other main heroes besides her, Shiro, and Allura.  Regarding Pidge’s past, it allows her to move forward with her mission to stop Sendak and actually be a valued member of the team, just after wanting to leave it.  Watching her evade capture/death from the enemy brings out a lot of shining moments for her despite losing her drone, Rover, needing help from Allura’s mouse friends in the final takedown and hearing her closest companion, Shiro, get attacked as leverage to get her to surrender.  While the latter point loses its impact when we see her push on later without a scene of her making her choice in between, she still plays a significant role in helping the team reclaim the castle and defeating Sendak, and the episode ends with a heartwarming scene of her declaring that her loyalty belongs to the Voltron team.  It’s an engaging example of how facing one’s past can lead to great changes in the present.  While the story could have been tweaked with a few additional scenes and things can drag at times, there’s enough heart, creativity, and nice character-building moments to make me consider this a strong entry. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

3.      Return of the Gladiator

4.      Tears of the Balmera

5.      Some Assembly Required

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Paladins enter the galaxy and stop to help seemingly common refugees as they start "Taking Flight."

If you would like to check out other Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.