'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 13: Blackout + Final Thoughts

Blackout

This is the second part of the Paladins’ battle to end Zarkon’s reign which this season has been building up to, and it delivers on many fronts. 

It starts out with a confident tone that the Paladins can it off considering how they got Zarkon’s base through the teludav in the previous episode.  Working in their favor is Zarkon’s continued obsession of getting his original black lion.  At this point, it’s become so bad, he’s compromising common sense by flying straight into Voltron’s fray and using armor that hasn’t been tested.  Despite Zarkon’s behavior being a huge detractor, the episode knows not to make the battle too easy for our heroes. 

The battle offers Haggar a huge chance to work her magic by powering the base since.  She also creates a black hole that gives Voltron some very nasty blasts and drains the lions of their quintessence or energy.  The first of these blasts leaves a devastating effect when the lions float helplessly and the Paladins are unconscious.  However, as a previous episode established, the lions unleash advanced powers when their Paladins connect with them enough, and it’s a very pleasing sequence when it happens here.  It's not just the Paladins who get up to great moments here.  Usually, the supervisors, Allura and Coran, stay in the castle ship offering moral support behind their particle barrier.  In a battle this big, they let it down and initiate their own attack on Zarkon’s base as assistance.  It’s impressively brave to see them pull off a huge attack even if it gets them struck with a blast from Haggar that costs the castle power. 

Their support doesn’t stop there when Allura makes a bold move to face Haggar head-on with Blade of Marmora members Kolivan and Antok coming for support.  What follows is an intense combat scene with an actual death, a big reveal that Haggar is a being of Allura’s home planet when her mysterious cloak is let down, and Allura unlocking a new power to protect her from Haggar’s attacks, most likely due to being Altean just like her.  As for the Paladins, they continue to put up a good fight once they better connect with their lions. Shiro especially advances when he discovers his lions’ bayard, plugs it in, and unlocks its special powers that come in handy as Zarkon gets closer to controlling the lion.  It’s a great stage of development for Shiro unlocking these powers, and stand out even more when they bring the final attack that obliterates Zarkon’s armor and leaves Zarkon himself hospitalized. 

Like the last season though, there are lasting negative impacts from this last blow when the Paladins find that Shiro has disappeared, and a new Galra ruler, Prince Lotor, is called in while Zarkon is out of commission.  These are heavy aftereffects sure to shake up the dynamic, and give an enticing reason to keep watching this show.  With memorable action set pieces, shining moments for character after character, and moments with lots of promise for the future, this final battle ends Season 2 with style. 10/10

The Ranking

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

Final Thoughts

After leaving such a strong first impression with its first season, Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 greatly capitalizes on that season’s strengths resulting in not just a strong continuation of the story, but a well put together space odyssey that builds up to something great.  In fact, it’s so great it helps the show to move past its previous detracting points.

Through starting off exactly where the first season left off, the show starts to get an idea of where it wants to go.  Each episode offers a major step in the Paladins’ plan to save the galaxy, and when you put them all together, everything falls into a cohesive strategy with a definitive concluding point.  We start with the Paladins regrouping after being separated, then they learn about good Galra members out there, then they try to find out why Zarkon keeps tracking them as they form a new plan, then they form alliances with the rebel Galra groups who help them construct everything, and finally execute the plan which comes with its own consequences.  It’s an instance where nearly every episode matters in the grand scheme building up to a substantial final battle. 

Out of the storytelling is big expansion the show’s universe with many creative planets our heroes end up in like the technology-based tree planet, Olkarion, the decaying planet prompting immediate escape, Taujeer, and the secret base of the Blade of Marmora located between two black holes.  The steps to putting the Galra defeat plan together have many creative adventures to them too that take the Paladins to wild locations with insane and intense jobs to do involving escapades at a mall while getting important lenses, getting eaten by a giant worm, and going through with a jailbreak with a confusing idea of who to rescue.  It can occasionally get bogged down with a lot of time devoted to complicated explanations on how inventions like the teludav or creatures like the weblum worm work, but they usually turn out fine when we also get some light-hearted reiterations of the explanations. 

What really makes the storytelling stand out are strong themes that are prominent throughout several of the episodes.  A big one is about the importance of letting go of any prejudicial attitude as the Paladins find that some members of the Galra are rebelling against Zarkon’s rule.  They start out meeting one individual good Galra creature, Ulaz, builds up with them forming an alliance with an entire anti-Zarkon resistance, and culminates with a Galra traitor helping them at Zarkon’s base.  Some of them even go as far as to give their lives for the Paladins, making for some of the season’s more impactful moments. 

The final battle is an extremely satisfying payoff to all the work going into the plan with a lot of twists and surprises through showing how advanced the Paladins have become through controlling their lions with exciting blows against Zarkon, reveals of certain characters, and especially the aftermath.  Shiro disappearing and the call for Prince Lotor both leave a lot to look forward to in following seasons, and coming off of what may be the show’s most exciting battle leaves them with a lot to live up to.  The storytelling still isn’t perfect though, mostly through spending time on planets that don’t offer anything significant for future episodes like the trash nebula, the mermaid planet, and especially the space mall, mostly the shops not carrying the item of importance.  Even with that, there’s still plenty of plot development that adds to the appeal of the main story which thoroughly delivers in the end.

The characters we follow also impress with how more interesting they’ve become, at least most of them.  Some of them are still lacking in development like Hunk being predominantly nervous and thinking of food while Lance is still mostly a smart-talking fool, though the latter does have at least one genuinely nice moment on finding out what his purpose is.  Practically everyone else gets new developments that tie into the arcs started for them in the previous season.  Pidge, while not looking for her family nearly as much as last season, has one of the most beautiful moments of character development in the season when she expands her horizons beyond technical stuff.  Shiro goes through a lot of development through trying to make it as the Paladins’ leader through advocating his continuously returning memories for bigger causes, striving to establish a stronger control with the black lion so not to be overpowered by Zarkon, and even gives thought to who should take over for him.  You can easily tell how much Shiro has to put up with, so when he disappears in the end, you really feel for him and his teammates. 

As for his chosen successor, Keith is the standout characters for the season with a compelling arc of his own.  He has his own anxieties that only get more complicated when, in the first episode, Shiro requests him to lead the Paladins if something should happen to him.  A lot of time is devoted to Keith studying a blade with a Galra symbol on it, and protecting it from anyone who tries to take it, even the Galra resistance group everyone’s trying to get on their side.  His hesitations on becoming leader start to make sense when it’s revealed that he’s of Galra blood.  The impressive thing about Keith is that even with this reveal, he still acts the way he usually does while also having a much better control of his emotions when adventuring with the others.  He’s even fairly well accepted despite being half Galra by the rest of the team, though he does get a good amount of disgust from Allura.  Speaking of Allura, she has a relatable arc regarding prejudices against Galra, seeming stubbornly hesitant of believing there are good ones out there since they didn’t do anything to stop Zarkon for thousands of years.  It’s understandable behavior towards any victim of an evil race, though her behavior can go out of proportion, especially involving Keith.  This is why it’s emotionally satisfying when Keith going off to sabotage the Galra base opens her to accept him as a Paladin and family member.  As you can tell, a good number of our heroes are given a lot of defining moments and arcs that make them far more fleshed-out and relatable enough to follow. 

Even the villains feel more fleshed out, which is great considering how one-note all Galra members were in Season 1.  In addition to there being good Galra, this season adds some relatable members to much of the Galra like many of them fearing their leader when interrogated, or getting overly excited and confident over successfully carrying out a mission.  Even the leaders are a bit more interesting with Zarkon having a relatable flaw of obsessing over something, in this case his old black lion, to the point of losing focus on the main mission, and Haggar being revealed to be Altean like Allura, leaving something interesting to explore in the future.  The Galra are still not the most interesting villains, but I do give credit for being more multilayered than they first let on.  If anything, the Blade of Marmora is stiffer than they are at this point, though I would take the Blade over a grating neurotic like Slav, but that’s beside the point.  What matters is that while there’s still a ways to go with character development, it’s apparent enough that Season 2 has brought a lot of progress to that.

There’s no doubt that Voltron: Legendary Defender is more interesting as a series than ever with its second season with a well-flowing story, new heights reached by many of the characters, and an overall creative and epic scope.  If you like the first season, you’ll easily latch onto the second one and, like me, be excited to see what the show does next.  Until the look at the next season of this show, Vrepit Sa.

Highly Recommended

That's all there is to Season 2 of Voltron: Legendary Defender. I hope you enjoyed these reviews and stick around for my eventual look at the third season.

In the meantime, there's going to be a review set of a show new to this blog to fill in the third slot.  From the wild mind of Joe Murray, be on the lookout for reviews on the first season of the Nicktoon classic, Rocko's Modern Life. 

Also, don't forget about the reviews of Steven Universe Season 2 and Hey Arnold Season 3 currently in progress.

I'll see you all next time with more great reviews to share. Until then:

Stay Animated Folks!

'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 12: Best Laid Plans

Best Laid Plans

The first part of the season's final battle is impressive with a consistent focus on the Zarkon defeat plan.  However, the way the team puts everything together not only gets them closer to their goal, but also leaves several impacts from the characters’ moments. 

Keith in particular stands out among the heroes by offering to infiltrate Zarkon’s base, being of Galra blood himself, to input a code to make it susceptible to viruses, which Pidge will provide.  It’s great to see how far Keith has come, playing to his usual traits of willfully sticking to his risky ideas, but having strong reasons to validate them.  There’s also a heartfelt scene between him and Allura before he leaves.  Allura has had a lot of Galra prejudice throughout the season which wasn’t always comfortable, with some disdain towards Keith becoming more prominent recently.  For her to confirm to Keith that she’s become less judgmental through seeing him and the Paladins as family is great, and shows that her views are not all black and white. 

With the antagonists, they continue to improve as well.  The trend of good members of the Galra is as strong as ever. Much of their moments are spent on interrogating the member they found out allowed the Paladins to escape a while back, a commander named Thace.  Even the empire's emperor is shown to have humanity.  Zarkon has had the black lion, the Voltron lion he used to pilot long ago, on his mind, but now, his desire to get it back has become very obsessive. It’s starting to get in the way of the Galra Empire maintaining control of the galaxy right down to falling for Shiro’s trap of using the lion as bait to get his base to the teludav.  The obsession is a relatable flaw to anyone, so the audience can see a part of themselves in the main villain. 

As for Thace, it’s a bit contrived that Haggar’s druids let him go while Zarkon’s absorbing energy to track the black lion.  The druids could’ve kept him cuffed up during that time and what later happens could’ve been avoided.  Even if we don’t have a logical explanation for them letting Thace go, his moment with Keith is thrilling and impactful.  Thace helps Keith by trying to enact the code needed to shut down the anti-virus system, but the druids changed the code.   With that, Thace turns the control room into a bomb and lets Keith escape while he stays behind to fight the druids before the bomb explodes, sacrificing himself in the process.  It’s not as impactful as Ulaz’s sacrifice since we don’t know as much about Thace, but the lengths this Galra soldier goes through for the greater good are still of high value. 

With all these character actions in place, the episode reaches an exciting climax where the whole team rushes to move their big teludav over Zarkon’s base now infected with Pidge’s virus while the Voltron lions reassemble.  It’s a grand sequence that impresses with how well it works after many episodes of buildup, thus making a perfect moment of satisfaction to make worth out of the trouble and sacrifices made prior.  However, when the episode ends with a statement that this is just the beginning and the Paladins forming Voltron, the excitement remains as you’re left with something to look forward to next time. 

With all this said, all the shining character moments and the built-up climax really delivering make this a truly great penultimate episode for Season 2. 9.5/10

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the last episode of this season which sets the next steps of the plan into motion and leads to big game changing results.

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 7: Space Mall

Space Mall

This episode offers significant progression on the main plot following up on the previous episode’s reveal that Zarkon keeps finding the Paladins because of his strong connection to the black lion.  Its current Paladin, Shiro, sets off to rectify this issue by making his own connection with the black lion stronger so Zarkon can’t overpower it every time Voltron is formed. 

Given the title of this episode, there’s also a lot of focus on the rest of the team going to a space mall for replacement teludav lenses for wormholes.  The mall trip plays out like a comedy with everyone getting up to some wild and crazy antics.  The mall perfectly resembles a common Earth one, meaning the only thing to set it apart from ordinary malls are the alien creatures who work and shop there.  The antics at the mall are very fun and play to each of the characters’ personalities. Hunk is forced to pay off a debt at a food court washing dishes but becomes chef thanks to his culinary interests. Keith gets caught in an auction for his Galra blade.  Lance and Pidge look for money to get a game console.  Coran winds up in an energetic bidding spree for the lenses at a shop resembling an old alien swap meet. 

Some of these antics allow many characters to shine like Hunk becoming a chef bringing something impressive out of his constant thoughts of food, and a deeper look into Keith’s Galra roots through his protection of his blade, suggesting it’s from his family.  All the same, it’s concerning that these subplots take up a lot of the episode. They’re fun sequences, but that’s all they are.  They only exist for humor’s sake and that’s a problem when your show is heavily plot-driven.  There’s more focus on the light-hearted mall scenes than far more important ones like Coran getting the lenses, which doesn’t feel right.  If they existed in short scenes like humorous moments in other episodes, that would be a much better way of integrating them while still focusing on the main story. 

Fortunately, enough time is devoted to the most important plot information we have at this point.  Referring back to Shiro attempting to bond with the black lion, this part is done insightfully.  When he goes to his lion, it flies to Zarkon’s home planet, and grants Shiro visions of when Zarkon piloted it, forming Voltron with other original Paladins including Allura’s father, King Alfor.  Zarkon was even able to unlock powers of the lion that Shiro hasn’t.  The memories are interrupted when Zarkon locates the black lion again, and Shiro ends up fighting the leader of the Galra Empire inside his mind.  It nicely interprets how strong Zarkon’s connection to the black lion is with him constantly popping up around Shiro who can’t strike a blow.  However, as soon as Shiro points out that the true bond to a lion depends on trust, the black lion sides with him which helps him win a fight he could’ve lost.  Then there’s the interesting twist that everything Shiro saw, even leaving, was just a vision set up by the lion, implying that the strengthening of Shiro’s bond was all in his mind, and the growth was all done through his power.  It’s an interesting and creative depiction of overcoming one’s innermost turmoil and a great one to lead into the next phase of our heroes’ mission. 

The episode still loses points for giving too much focus to frivolous stuff no matter how fun it is, but it’s still enjoyable and several moments offer great plot and character progression that must be seen to be believed. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Greening the Cube
3. The Ark of Taujeer
4. Eye of the Storm
5. Across the Universe
6. The Depths
7. Space Mall

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review officially introduces us to the Blade of Marmora while also brings interesting reveals about Keith.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another review of a Steven Universe episode, "Chille Tid."

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 6: The Ark of Taujeer

The Ark of Taujeer

This adventure is a big display of this show’s creativity and has the benefit of everything that happens coming together to develop characters and answer one of the biggest questions of the Paladins. 

Regarding how Zarkon constantly locks onto the Paladins no matter how far they go, we already have the possibility that Allura might be giving them away.  However, this episode provides another possibility tying into the past few episodes featuring short scenes of Keith pensively looking at a blade with a Galra symbol.  Although it’s never outright stated, there are hints that Keith has a bit of Galra inside him.  When everyone talks about how Zarkon keeps finding them, Keith says that he may be the reason claiming that Zarkon left a mark on him when they fought. 

Later, when he decides to leave to protect the team with Allura, he advocates that not all of the Galra are evil, even if his suggestion is shot down by Allura.  From these moments, we get a few sides that make Keith more interesting.  Not only is the idea of him being of Galra blood a remarkable possible attribute, but him believing there are good Galra out there shows how despite his tempers, he’s still considerate and open-minded, which means a lot contrasting to Allura’s biased attitude on the subject.  However, despite good intentions, it gets concerning that they’re abandoning their posts where they perform all their vital tasks with Keith helping to form Voltron and Allura piloting the castle, which the Paladins even bring up, and those tasks are desperately required in the episode’s mission. 

The mission provides the episode’s creativity, taking place on the Galra-controlled planet of Taujeer.  It’s inhabited by blobby figures with intercoms at their faces and talk with a robot filter to their voices.  The problem they face is also creative.  The outer layer of Taujeer is decaying like a layer of dry skin, exposing the aliens to deadly acid, and the Galra forces expect them to survive it, so they cut one of the engines on the escape ark.  This part of the episode mostly consists of four of the five Paladins doing what they can to keep Taujeer safe which is difficult without Keith, and a Galra attack, which proves that he and Allura were not giving the team away, makes it worse. 

Speaking of the attack, there’s a lot of time devoted to the commander in charge, Morvok, one of the more fleshed out members of the Galra Empire.  Rather than just acting menacingly, there’s an enjoyable edge as he shows a lot of focus on the possible quirks of fulfilling his mission and how over-the-top he is when commanding his troops.  He stands out among the villains for being both threatening and somewhat entertaining. 

As for the Paladins, following Coran’s hilarious attempt to pilot the red lion in Keith’s absence, the episode’s biggest reveal comes when the lion runs off and retrieves Keith and Allura just as they decide to go back to the team.  This allows Voltron to be formed, spelling Morvok’s defeat and the Taujeerians’ rescue.  The red lion locating its Paladin might not sound big, but this little moment has a lot of weight. A lion has a strong connection to its Paladin even when they’re really far apart.  The black lion once belonged to Zarkon, so his connection with that lion is strong enough to track the Paladins.  It’s impressive that Keith and Allura thinking they’re endangering everyone and everything to the mission ties into this huge reveal, allowing the story to really progress. 

Along with the interesting character developments and creative aliens and planet, it’s an ark worth getting on for a great episode. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Greening the Cube
3. The Ark of Taujeer
4. Eye of the Storm
5. Across the Universe
6. The Depths

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next Voltron: Legendary Defender episode where Shiro aiming to get better connected with his Voltron lion is told alongside a trip to a space mall.

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 2: The Depths

The Depths

This episode shows where Lance and Hunk ended up after the wormhole incident.  Their adventure doesn’t really have a big role to play in the main story which would mean that you wouldn’t miss much if you were to skip it, but with how much detail that’s packed into the adventure, it makes sense why this outcome would get its own episode.  There’s so much world building that a few short scenes of Lance and Hunk mixed in with others from the rest of the team wouldn’t fit that well. 

With these details comes an interesting world to add to the show’s imaginative galaxy.  The planet Lance and Hunk end up on is an underwater world where the surface is frozen over, but the area below is completely habitable with mermaids.  As a matter of fact, the place is constantly described as being “safe and warm”.  The ruler, Queen Luxia, loves the environment they live in, from the Baku garden that provides the warmth to the food and entertainment.  In Luxia’s scenes, there’s something unsettling about how she praises her kingdom and all its little things.  She even makes it clear that these are the only things she wants Lance and Hunk to think about, and both Paladins give in and decide to stay forever.  From there, there’s a huge sense of mystery of what Queen Luxia’s intentions are, and when Lance is ambushed by three rebels to the queen, they don't seem to be good intentions. 

Through some entertaining banter from the three of them and explaining their information through simple sketches, it’s revealed that Luxia somehow brainwashes creatures into the Baku kingdom, and they never come out, suggesting potential dangers they can’t figure out.  They also add to the creativity by helping Lance avoid any more brainwashing such as something as humorous as putting a jellyfish on his head.  On this note, it’s a really interesting to see someone cocky and girl-crazy like Lance be the one to figure out the truth of a strange situation and have to save the more reasonable and considerate Hunk. 

As for the truth about Luxia, the story does a good job at convincing the idea that she’s dangerous. Everything we saw of her suggests she’s brainwashing innocent creatures. One scene separate from the heroes even shows her sentencing one of her subjects, Florona, to swim in the Baku garden for failing to keep Hunk and Lance safe, and Florona meets her demise there.  When Lance captures Luxia, there’s a clever twist.  She was never the one brainwashing, and she herself was the first to be brainwashed by the Baku, the worm-like creature of the kingdom’s garden, by eating its food that led her to worship it, and all the other mermaids later did the same. 

So there’s an exciting scene of Lance and Hunk battling the Baku, the true threat, and after it’s defeated, their main problem for the episode is resolved when Luxia, now revealed to be good all along helps them contact their the rest of the team.  That leaves this episode as an enjoyable watch with a creative setup, fun character moments, and surprising twists. 

However, it’s still a persistent problem that so much time is devoted to this place and characters that don’t play a role anywhere else apart from this one episode. There is a newly revealed freeze ray on Lance’s blue lion, but that’s just one thing.  At least it can be considered a strong, enjoyable cartoon by itself. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Across the Universe
2. The Depths

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review is on an episode that offers more flashbacks of Shiro and is the first sign that not all Galra members are heartless dictators.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a look at Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 4, "Love Letters".

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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 4: The Fall of the Castle of Lions

Fall of the Castle of Lions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While all the episodes we’ve seen have always ended well for Voltron and its Paladins, this episode is where their quest to defend the universe starts showing its difficulties as the Galra Empire hits it hard.  Their impeding effect is especially felt when you consider that we open with a celebration the team has with their new allies, the Arusians.  Amidst the happy, light-hearted scenes at the party, we also see a lighter side to Allura as she gathers secrets about the Paladins from a race of mice who are also the remaining survivors of her home planet, including one she skirts around about Pidge, or Katie, being a girl.  However, it’s around here where things start getting heavy when Pidge reveals that she’s leaving the team to find her family.  As emotional as Pidge’s arc is, it’s concerning that she’s not considering the serious repercussions of this move.  Voltron needs all its Paladins to work, and without it the universe is doomed.  They do talk about this later on, but this move is too drastic to get behind.  Not only this, but other Paladins talk about wanting to go home to, which nicely reveals a vulnerable side to someone as full of himself as Lance who considers how far away he is from Earth.  Finally, the Galra Empire, led by Zarkon’s notorious commander, Sendak, initiates their attack which starts putting the odds against what seemed unstoppable.  First, they reprogram Pidge’s drone friend, Rover, to destroy the crystal that powers the Altean’s castle that holds the Voltron lions.  Then, they separate the team by knocking out Shiro and keeping him and Lance, who was wounded when the crystal was destroyed, hostage, and force Hunk to leave with Coran to find a new one, and power the castle up to keep Keith and Allura out.  They also plan to take the castle into orbit to keep the Voltron lions for themselves, but in a tense scene that cements that her loyalty is to the Paladins, Pidge finds a way to destroy the engine to prevent it from takeoff.  However, the episode ends with Sendak demanding her to be found, leaving the audience to guess what will become of her and the rest of the team for that matter.  Even if it’s an abrupt end to the episode in particular, you know that all this is a huge lead in to something bigger.  Voltron, the only hope for defense of evil, is now in danger of being stolen, and our heroes are separated.  After getting to know their personalities, including through the events here, it’s worth being concerned for their safety and hope they can find a way out of this.  While some characters may have head-scratching mindsets at times, this is the point where the care for them hits a high point. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1.      The Rise of Voltron

2.      The Fall of the Castle of Lions

3.      Return of the Gladiator

4.      Some Assembly Required

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of this episode's thrilling continuation which also serves as an addition to this show's lore, "Tears of the Balmera."

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