Netflix Retrospective - Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 7 Episodes 4-6

We’re back with Voltron: Legendary Defender, when we last left the crew, they were struggling with their lions, which are low on power and find it’s been years since Voltron was last seen. Can things get better, let’s take a look at the next 3 episodes.

The Feud

We open with the introduction to a television (or galactic equivalent) show called “Garfle Warfle Snick” and who better to host such a show than John Henson, one half of the US Wipeout duo. He’s playing Bob, but it’s basically just him being a game show host/comedian, which is something he knows very well.

So, our contestants are the Paladins of Voltron, and I think you can guess where this is going now. This is a filler episode, with a heavy emphasis on comedy, and that is going to be what saves this episode. That and callbacks, there’s a few of those too. The animation has a deliberately grainy feel to it, guessing that’s another reference to old gameshows filmed before HD cameras.

The problem is there is basically no plot to this episode, so I really don’t have a lot to talk about. They have to accumulate enough points through the game or they’ll be stuck here forever, especially since Bob seems to be able to manipulate reality. So first game is drawing and Keith’s the one doing the drawing. He’s told to draw things from their adventures and it’s up to the others to guess, pity Lance is an idiot in this episode and they run out of time.

Time to be introduced to the other team, Zarkon, Haggar, Lotor and Morvok, you remember him, right? Anyway, their personalities are dialled way back so they can get a few gags in rather than, you know, try and kill the Paladins, I presume they’re Bob’s creations because at least 2 of them are dead and Haggar is back to being Honerva now. Also, it's 5 against 4, not exactly fair. The Paladins don’t stand a chance and lose the round.

Play or pass for team Zarkon, Zarkon decides to pass, and plays a trump card to make one of the Paladins face it alone, specifically Lance “the dumb one” yeah, the whole panicked guessing was to justify this nickname. The next round is ‘faces from the past’ guess who the faces were from the past. And I absolutely relate to Lance here, because I couldn’t name any of these faces with a gun to my head. Thankfully he remembers the last one, a minor cameo character Bii-Boh-Bi, and with this Zarkon’s team is sent home… what kind of gameshow is this?

Anyway, Bii Boh Bi is brought out for the next round and Lance still has to face it alone for some reason. 5 questions or cooked alive in acid, of course Bii-Boh-Bi can speak in Bii Bohs and Bis and so are the answers, Lance fails and is stuck in the acid tank. Pidge is up for the next round, miniature golf basically. Pidge takes her time, much to Bob’s amusement, but Pidge uses the ball to knock out the camera, and give her an opening to take down Bob and get him to let them go, it doesn’t work but Bob moves onto the final round and Lance is freed.

They’re allowed to free one person and each of them gets to nominate someone, whoever has the most nominations is freed. Hunk votes for Allura, due to her leadership skills, Keith might want a word with you about that. Allura voted for Pidge as her and her family are the bridge between Earth and Voltron, spanning an alliance for good. Lance voted for Keith, which is in and of itself a sign of growth given their relationship, citing both him being the leader and him being half-Galra, a potential uniter of two worlds. Keith voted for Lance because he really doesn’t want to be stuck with Lance for eternity, can anyone blame him? Pidge voted for Hunk for his ability to get along with people and bring them together.

No-one voted for themselves and everyone got a nomination, Bob decides on that basis to let them all free. This game-show is weird. The Lions are in space for some reason as the Paladins return to the Lions. Coran explains that Bob is an all-powerful inter-dimensional being who tests the worth of great warriors.

It’s an episode that relies on you finding these antics funny and for the most part I did, it’s an entertaining standalone episode but feels a bit out of place, especially with the darker tone this season has overall.

Rating 7/10

The Ruins

Keith gives everyone a wakeup call for battle simulations, wanting to keep everyone in shape. It’s an unbeatable holo-scenario Krolia developed and the team get their asses kicked pretty quickly. With that it’s time for breakfast, they decide to name the wolf Kosmo (aside from Keith) and I’ll be happy to never have to associate the name Kosmo with this idiot ever again.

(Yes I know they're spelt differently, still pronounced the same) Pidge picks up a pulse that after some decryption turns out to be a distress call by a senior member of the Blade of Marmora. Hoping they may find reinforcements there as well, they head to investigate. According to Pidge’s scans the planet the signal originated from is long abandoned, but can’t narrow down its source any further. The scars on the buildings indicate a fierce battle, with scars indicating both magical and blade attacks.

Kosmo soon finds what looks to be a bounty hunter, who claims to be the source of the signal. They follow him to his cave, where he’s been for the last 2 years. The signal is coming from below them. The ‘bounty hunter’s name is Macidus, and he has a collection of Marmora blades. With Lotor defeated, there was a power vacuum in the Galra Empire, with smaller factions fighting one another. Haggar has disappeared but her druids have been hunting down the Blades, who were exposed after Lotor began openly working with them.

Kolivan called all his forces here to make a final stand, and stand which they lost but Macidus was the only survivor. He’s hoping to rebuild with that signal, or so he says. Krolia discovers that Kolivan’s blade is still active and he’s still alive and the facade crumbles immediately. Macidus is in fact a druid, using the signal to lure Blades to their death.

The Paladins draw their weapons but Macidus teleports away leaving behind some kind of magic stasis bubble that traps everyone except Keith, who escapes thanks to Kosmo. Still, he’s outgunned and has to hide until he can come up with a plan. Macidus is clever though and quickly spots him engaging in combat as Keith tries to make a run for it. It’s quite an intense battle.

Kosmo eventually teleports Keith to where Macidus is holding Kolivan, apparently Haggar had forsaken the druids and they’re doing this in hopes of her returning to her. Macidus is soon upon them again and the fight continues. Thanks to Allura’s Altean magic, the others manage to escape the stasis bubble, Allura redirecting the energy at the ground so they can support Keith. Unfortunately, Macidus’s teleporting gets them all taken out. Keith focuses, I think, and somehow manages to track where Macidus is teleporting and takes him out with a blade throw. Your guess is as good as mine, honestly.

Kolivan is rescued but reveals that when a team went to investigate the Altean Colony, they found an empty facility, all the Alteans were gone. Krolia offers to go with him and rebuild the Blade of Marmora. Keith gives Krolia a blade as the two say goodbye. Anyone else notice how little Shiro has done since the first episode?

It’s a solid episode, very downbeat, but the action is handled a little too quickly, this could’ve done with more setup and a less rushed final action scene, a 2-parter perhaps.

Rating 7/10

The Journey Within

Things are progressing slowly with the Lions, they’re in deep space, still a year in a half from Earth and the Lions are so low on power, they’re basically defenceless. Time for Shiro to have an idea. Apparently, they haven’t had time to find balance in their current configuration and that’s why they aren’t charging the Lions with their own quintessence, as it’s supposed to work. Hard to say whether I buy this, maybe this was the reason they brought back Shiro('s clone) so quickly, to not give them enough time to really work together in their current state. Still, they’d worked together reasonably well in other episodes.

As if the universe was acting in response, the Lions are pelted with white balls of energy. The Lions are incapacitated and all the supporting characters are frozen. With the Lions drifting, if they don’t attach themselves fast, they’re going to lose each other. Thankfully Allura has some zipline to do the job, but the Lions need to be closer together and their jetpacks don’t have the thrust to move them. I’m no physics expert but would you really need that much? Mass is irrelevant when there’s no gravity, and there’s no friction or air resistance, so the slightest push in one direction should produce movement, the problem might be getting them to stop again.

Anyway, they all head to the yellow Lion when another cosmic event hits, they’re sent flying and although they manage to stay together they’re separated from the lions. Their first shot of hope is a bright light and some flying creatures but when they try to follow, they disappear. Hunk fantasises about handing the yellow Lion over to a worthy successor on Earth, Keith sees them all being attacked by red orbs, he tries to use his bayard but it won’t work, and it turns out he’s the only one seeing it.

The tiredness begins to settle in, leading to most of them trading a war of words with each other, particularly at Keith regarding his choice to leave. You might want to thank clone Shiro for that one too, just saying. Anyway, Hunk is the only one staying sane here, he’s been scared before and can manage himself. Something that proves all the more useful when the team are duped by a mirage of Earth and Hunk summons his bayard’s weapon to show the others the deception.

It seems to be some kind of monstrous space creature, I’ll be damned if I can name it, but with Hunk being the only one with an active weapon, he volunteers to stay behind and hold it off, but the others drag him away with them, saying they’re a team. With their reconciliation, the team all have their weapons are and are able to attack the creature. As the creature regains the upper hand, the Lions arrive to provide support, just as another event is about to occur. For the first time this series, they manage to form Voltron.

With Keith and Lance’s bayards, Voltron grows super-jets and manages to move them out of the event horizon, right into the Milky Way.

This episode doesn’t do it for me. I don’t feel like their bond was altered in any particular way and if Keith’s leaving had had a damaging impact on the team, it should’ve been hinted at before now.

Rating 4/10