Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 4 Review

Previously in Voltron: Legendary Defender - Shiro, who was missing for a few episodes after knocking out Zarkon at the end of Season 2, finally pops up and rejoins the team, who has already adjusted to having Keith as their new leader, and Allura taking the Blue Lion spot. Lotor finally shows up with his harem soldiers and is a rebel with a plan of his own, and is quite a match for the Voltron team. Meanwhile, Haggar, as she helps recover Zarkon, remembers her being his wife and the catalyst for the conflict thanks to her obsession with the quintessence having virtually infinite power, which explains why Voltron is so powerful.

With Shiro now back on the team, Keith feels less obligated as team leader and spends more time with the Blades of Marmorra. This causes a rift within the group, resulting with Keith leaving the team to be with the Blades, while Shiro re-assumes the position of Black Lion pilot. Later on, Pidge is reunited with her brother Matt and the two geniuses worked together to help Shiro and the others.

Zarkon's loss to Voltron is spread across the universe, causing many civilizations to revolt and form the Voltron Coalition, with the mission to liberate the rest of the universe from Galra control. The Voltron team are tasked to strengthen the coalition by performing a series of stage shows (I kid you not). The coalition then began their campaign and by the end of the season, have liberated a third of the Galra territory.

Meanwhile, Zarkon is back and orders a search and destroy operation against Lotor, now deemed a traitor to the Galra Empire. This forces Lotor to speed up his plan of re-opening the gates between dimensions, in order to mine the quintessence for his own use. This complicates things, however, when he kills one of his own harem soldiers suspected of being under Haggar's spell, causing the rest to plot to bring Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for leniency. Lotor then is forced to take drastic measures - an unholy alliance with the Voltron team.

Season 4 of Voltron: Legendary Defender has the smallest number of episodes with just 6. I suspect that extending the series to 6-7 Seasons or so is just wordplay when in actuality the episodes were divided into smaller chunks and stamping the season number with it. We've seen this practice before with Cartoon Network on their handling of Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa, and more recently Adventure Time. It's awfully annoying, to be honest.

Word has it Shiro's return happened sooner than the staff wanted it to be due to the insistence of the top brass from either Dreamworks or Netflix. The reason is explained in the fourth episode of this season - Shiro is the most popular character of the show. This of course, resulted in re-writing the plot, that in effect not only removes Keith from the Voltron team, but also demotes him to a supporting role, pretty much crashing down all the build up that was made for him in past episodes.

I have mixed feelings for this. On the one hand, I am glad Shiro is back. He is indeed my most favorite character. But I don't want him back in the leadership position, and especially taking back the Black Lion. It makes the concept and requirements of being a Paladin of Voltron and piloting a lion virtually redundant. I'm more than ok giving Shiro a supporting role and just have him give commands in the Altean Castle.

And I do feel bad for Keith because like I said earlier, Shiro's return has him demoted to being a supporting character. So all that build up and development seemed to tantamount to nothing. I also get the impression this would make him less popular among the fanbase.

If there is a silver lining to this, there's still Operation Kuron, of which Shiro is unknowingly an agent of the Galra. So chances are Shiro's revelation about this will result in him giving the Black Lion and the position of team leader back to Keith. However, I'm no longer as hyped over that revelation because we've already seen the switch between Shiro and Keith, then a switchback, and with Operation Kuron, if that is the case, likely another switch.

There's also the matter of how grand is the war against the Galra really is. The show wants to say that 'when we say universal, we mean it'. It does open a bunch of questions that the series won't answer in terms of world-building. So as to not bore you with science stuff, let's just say that if Voltron, who is on one end of the universe, travels to the other end where Zarkon is, the time of travel between those two points is like taking a non-stop flight from New York to Australia and Zarkon didn't grow old during the whole process.

So am I to believe that all the ships featured in Voltron Legendary Defender are capable of travelling across the universe with virtually no time dilation whatsoever? In other words if Shiro and the team left Earth to travel across the universe and back, it only took them a couple of months. If they did that in the real world, when they return to Earth, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years have already passed!

Granted, even in the original Voltron series, the conflict is said to be universal. But it's mainly hyperbole and the conflict is more between Planet Arus and Planet Doom, rather than expanding through galaxies. What I'm trying to sayis I prefer less is more in terms of the scale of the Galra conflict. If the staff really wants this to be literally universal in scale, at least provide more details to maintain the claim a la Star Trek or Gundam or Macross. If that's not possible, then make it something like Gurren Lagann. The way Voltron: Legendary Defender explains it is smack right in the middle which ends up neither appealing nor interesting.

And it doesn't stop there. The whole writing pretty much suffers everywhere throughout the season. Lotor, who was shown to be incredibly cunning and tough, takes a full 180 in this one. An entire episode is made dedicated to being pure comedy, but it ends up more cringy than funny. And there isn't anything that gives Voltron a true sense of challenge or struggle. I can't help but blame the sudden return of Shiro and putting him back in the leadership position as the cause of all this.

With only 6 episodes, and a totally messed up writing, there's not much else to say other than this season is my least favorite of the bunch. All I can hope is that it's just a huge fallback for the staff and that they would work hard to make it better in the seasons to come. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 4th Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 2 out of 5.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 3 Review

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.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Review

Call me a late bloomer, but it's only recently that I finally got to watch the 2nd Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender on Netflix. Part of the reason why I put it off for this long is because I got so much stuff to do, I don't have any time to get to watch anything lately, save a few. Furthermore, when it finally came out several weeks ago, I was simply not into it.

Let me put it this way. Voltron: Legendary Defender is one of the two animated series I was paying attention that is of the mecha genre. The other being, of course, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans. When the latter announced its second season, and there wasn't any trailers or anything other than some designs of the new cast, I was still hyped and my interest never waivered. The same cannot be said in Voltron's case.

If I'm to give a reason why I'm not as hyped now with Voltron as opposed to Iron Blooded Orphans, it's because I have a very powerful assumption that Voltron will not be as good as Iron Blooded Orphans in terms of its narrative. What I mean is Voltron will not contain any of the grand reveal, shock, awe, and the kind of attachment and feel the way Iron Blooded Orphans has, especially given what the latter is doing so far as it nears its conclusion.

If I'm to take Iron Blooded Orphans out of the equation and compare Voltron to something else that's made in America, it would be Regular Show. I don't have to tell you how incredibly epic the finale for Regular Show was. There is just no way Voltron could ever top that. Furthermore, I was already well aware that Voltron: Legendary Defender will have a 3rd Season. So the grand spectacle won't come until that time. Ergo, I really can't expect anything on the 2nd season of Voltron unless by some miracle they surprised me - which they don't.

When the trailer for the 2nd season was released at at the San Diego Comic-con, I recall there weren't that many cheers for it, mainly because the trailer didn't really reveal anything. Sure, they teased that Keith would eventually be the new leader, but other than that, not much else. If there was nothing in the trailer that hooks me in, why would I be hyped for it?

So after being struck by the power of boredom, I decided to finally give Voltron: Legendary Defender, a shot. In a span of the past couple of days, I decided to watch the 13 episodes.

The first episode, I will admit, I felt really awkward, as it features Shiro and Keith working together. This is mainly due to a lot of fan-shipping between the two characters, dubbed "Sheith". It was so commonplace that even the Voltron staff are aware of it, so it's a wonder if the show is going to go through with it and make "Sheith" happen. It never happened, and the closest thing you could ever get is a bro-mance.

Another reason is that, as featured in the trailer, the 2nd Season is grooming Keith to become the leader of the Voltron team. A number of episodes do focus on developing Keith's character for that eventual role. Like I said before in my past videos on the subject, this path goes back to the status quo as in the original Voltron: Defender of The Universe cartoon, and the GoLion anime. So I am ok with this happening. That just leaves the question on how they make Shiro step down as leader of Voltron.

Now, I would've preferred Shiro getting killed off. Shocking yes, but it will push the boundaries both in the narrative, and in the show itself, as it also will go in tune with what happened in GoLion. But knowing that a) Production of Season 2 (if not the series altogether) was finished months ago, b) Despite being a Netflix series, it still follows the standard formula of an Ameican cartoon aimed at a younger audience, and c) Regular Show BROKE that formula with their series finale - I do NOT expect Shiro to be killed off at all in this one.

Aside from Keith's eventual progression to be the new team leader, the 2nd season of Voltron: Legendary Defender also gives us more insight into the history of the Galra Empire. Another which progressed for several episodes is Allura's distinct hatred for the Galra race as a whole. Many of the comments I've seen on the subject tend to project that Allura's attitude towards the Galra makes her a racist.

Granted, the Galra were responsible for nearly wiping out the Alteans, leaving Allura and Coran as the last of their kind. So it is understandable Allura hates the Galra. That being said, Allura's arc can be seen as a relative view of the current political and social climate of the Western world, and not just the United States. As Voltron is aimed at a younger audience, Allura's hatred of the Galra, and later her rude awakening on the subject, is played in the simplest manner possible.

Near the season finale, Coran commented that Allura was a great leader among the group, but that statement was totally false, since she really never did anything in these two seasons that show her effectiveness in leadership skills. For the most part, that goes to Shiro. And slowly, but steadily, Keith.

There is one thing I really didn't like in this season, and that is Zarkon's motivation for turning heel - he is simply obsessed with the Black Lion like it was some sort of drug, and that led him to start conquering the universe just to have the Black Lion in his possession.  I would get this if the Black Lion somehow had incredible power that would make Beerus of Dragon Ball Super wet his pants. Unfortunately, nothing in the 2nd Season shows that is the case. Perhaps in the 3rd season, we will learn more of what the Black Lion has that made Zarkon chase it across the universe. But again, as this is a show for younger audiences, I don't expect much.

As this is just the 2nd Act of a 3-Act play, Everything that is going on here is just one big set up for the next season. Here, the Voltron team and their allies are setting up for that one grand battle with Zarkon and the Galra, as though it is their final battle, which I already know it is not. It's just like Pro-Wrestling where if you know the champion is gonna hold the belt for a full year, then every Pay Per View event the champion's in, you already know the outcome of the match. If the matches before the champion drops the belt are 5-star matches, then it's worth it. But that's not going to happen in every PPV. In the case of Voltron: Ledendary Defender, despite the powerups, the visuals, the drama, and the set up, it failed to get me excited at all. What became of Shiro by the end of the season was disappointing, but expected.

The show does have some good bits. For one, you get to see Voltron more often than last time, as there are more giant Ro-Beasts to fight. As though taken directly from Digimon, three of the five Voltron pilots would have a strong character development that would result in their respective lions getting new weapons. You still get the occasional human adventures, and even though the main focus of this arc is with Keith, there are still a number of episodes to develop the rest of the cast. My favorite episode of Season 2 was in Episode 7, where Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran have an adventure at a mall, which was under the watch of a Galran security guard. This was obviously a parody of the Paul Blart: Mall Cop movies starring Kevin James and the episode was funny and very entertaining.

As a lead-up to the 3rd season, this 2nd season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, in spite of a few good moments, is all just one big tease overall. I'll be honest, had I watched this series first before Iron Blooded Orphans or Regular Show finale, then I probably would've enjoyed it. But as it stands, I find the 2nd Season disappointing compared to the first one. It's not a total loss, as you do get more lore out of it and some others. Hopefully the 3rd season will blow me away, because I do want this show to succeed as the other mecha show Americans get into besides Transformers. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2, a 2 out of 5.