In case you missed it, Voltron: Legendary Defender came out last week in the US on Netflix. To my surprise, the third season's number of episodes was shorter, with just 7 episodes total. However, the 4th Season is said to be coming this October, which is two months from now as of this recording. I had the feeling Netflix is taking cues from Cartoon Network and started splitting episodes just because.
When I learned that the series will have 78 episodes total, I was both surprised and a bit concerned. It's because it's been awhile since we had an action-oriented animated series with an ongoing story arc that lasted for more than 50 episodes. In Japan, most anime wrap themselves up between 12 and 24 episodes. Sure, we have Dragon Ball Super and One Piece who are well beyond the 100 episode mark. But look up the rest of the pack and you will notice a number of them don't last that very long.
Of course, the US has a number of animated shows that go beyond 50 episodes, but that's mainly because the episodes themselves have almost no overarching plot. Even Batman: The Animated Series and Samurai Jack have mainly standalone episodes and only a number of them are part of a major story arc. The last series I can remember where you have to watch the show where it's an ongoing arc from beginning to end would be the Avatar franchise. Unless I am mistaken, there's only like a couple of episodes where it is a standalone, or a recap episode of sorts.
Long story short, I was expecting Voltron: Legendary Defender to wrap itself up after 3 seasons. But if the show is to have 78 episodes total, I just wonder how they can keep the show going without appearing like it's dragging itself for too long.
Anyhow, the main plot of the 3rd season of Legendary Defender can be divided into three parts - the search for the missing Shiro, who disappeared at the end of Season 2; the eventual transition of the pilots to the status quo we know from the original Voltron and GoLion anime; and the team's battle with Lotor. With this season only 7 episodes long, these major arcs get resolved rather quickly.
The search for Shiro was pretty much resolved within two episodes total, mainly in episodes 1 and 5. The first episode has Keith and the team desperately looking for Shiro. At the same time, within the span of 3 episodes, Keith and the gang would transition into the Voltron team we all know. I had no issues with the transition as it went smoothly and feels natural. Keith still has his hot-headedness, but he slowly shows markings of being a leader, just as Shiro wanted him to be.
Shiro's arc is exclusively in the 5th episode, as we see what became of him after Season 2, and eventually reuniting with the team. At that point, he can no longer pilot the Black Lion, as Keith is now it's new.....owner? Master? Anyhow, he does replace Allura's post as he commandeers the castle with Coran.
That being said, the episode slightly reveals that Shiro is more than he appears to be. As Shiro makes his escape from Galran captivity, he had a vision of him being subject in a series of experiments as part of "Operation: Kuron", highly implying Shiro is unknowingly playing as a sleeper agent for the Galra. Does that mean he will eventually betray the team? And what then? We will not know until many episodes later, not necessarily the next season.
I really do like the way Lotor is written in Legendary Defender. He is shown to be far more cunning and skilled than his Defender of The Universe counterpart, and has proven to be just as much an arch-enemy to the Voltron team as Zarkon. While he and Zarkon have the same goal of ruling the universe, Lotor's way of ruling differ from his father's that the two have an estranged relationship. Lotor also has an entourage of female Galra fighters by his side who are just as fearless as they are loyal, if not enamored to him.
I did not expect the series to play the multiverse card and that Voltron's origins and power stems from an ore that travels through alternate realities. The Quintessence, which is the power source of Voltron and Zarkon, actually originated from another dimension. Zarkon becoming a bad guy was mainly due to the overexposure of the Dark Quintessence that corrupted him and his wife Honerva, now the witch Hagar.
At this point, Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion and Voltron now makes a lot of sense. Zarkon needs Voltron to open up the rift and extract the Pure Quintessence for himself. Lotor has the same idea and is following through with his plan. Though I do wonder if Lotor is also aware of his parents being corrupted by the Dark Quintessence and if it's a possibilty that he plans to use the Pure Quintessence to cure them. Or maybe he really just wants it for himself. Who knows?
Going back to the multiverse concept, although subtle and doesn't really say much, I get the impression that Voltron: Legendary Defender is not a reboot of the original Defender of The Universe series. Think something like the Powerpuff Girls or the Ben 10 reboots in which they are in actuality continuations of their past shows. In the case of Legendary Defender, the multiverse concept suggests the previous Voltron shows exist in other realities that are tied to the universe in Legendary Defender.
In episode 4, when the Voltron team entered an alternate universe where the Alteans are the bad guys, they encounter Sven, who is that universe's version of Shiro. Obviously, the Sven character is a reference to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe. But thanks to the multiverse concept, it could also mean that Sven in Legendary Defender is also a counterpart to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe.
I highly doubt that Legendary Defender will go far enough that the characters would cross over with the previous Voltron incarnations, let alone the GoLion anime. But it would be interesting to see if the two Pidges from Defender of The Universe and Legendary Defender meet and how they would interact, given that they have opposite genders. Hell, if Legendary Defender can somehow use the multiverse concept to introduce the Vehicle Team Voltron aka Dairugger, or the Gladiator Voltron aka Arbegas, I'd have them take my money along with my Netflix subscription.
Although short at 7 episodes, the third season of Voltron: Legendary Defender does a lot better than the last one. And I admit, I was wrong about the dragging part. The series has a lot of stories to tell and the writers did a very good job keeping it interesting and the viewer engaged in its plot. In the end, I am left vey satisfied overall and looking forward to its next season. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 3rd Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 4 out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment