man I have issues with VLD season seven BUT
narratively speaking, it DID give us one of the most epic battles throughout the show, even if said battle ended in an unsatisfying way.
We have Shiro & Sendak, who have been enemies since literally DAY ONE (well, more like day three, but the point stands)— since we see them first go head to head in combat during season one, “Fall of the Castle of Lions”. and Sendak's firmly established as a villain & antagonist. Like no weird redemption arc, he's just Evil. Shiro despises him, is probably slightly scared of him, and wants nothing more than to take him out.
and then in "Crystal Venom", Shiro ejects him from the ship out of fear/panic/trauma trigger and it is clearly shown that he is indeed not to be trusted & that he isn't a good guy. The rest of the episode, Shiro's clearly shaken up from his interaction w/ Sendak and Team Voltron still treats him as an antagonist.
and then he shows up again in season six, "Omega Shield". We don't rlly face him directly much in this ep, but he DOES show up & he is the one who causes the main conflict (that being the disruption of the shielding station). And again, Shiro's angry at him, again probably scared of him & his fleet, and so he fights hard to keep the citizens safe.
all of this leads up to season seven, "Lions' Pride Pt 1", where they have the epic showdown/rematch that was always meant to be. They are paralleled in a lot of ways, some of which are pointed out by Sendak in "Crystal Venom", such as both having robotic arms and both being in command of a fleet/group/team (in Shiro's case). So this rematch feels RIGHT (even if how we got there doesn't lol).
Shiro's weak-- the battle has been raging for what I'm assuming to be at least several hours (at MINIMUM it's two hours due to Sam saying towards the beginning of the battle that they have two hours until the beams intersect), which leaves him both mentally & physically drained. Sendak is desperate-- his plan is falling apart around him, and he sure as hell can sense his impending doom coming. His cannons didn't work and now his ship has lost power for a reason he doesn't know other than "Voltron".
Their fight is intense, desperate, mostly hate-filled, especially on Sendak's side ("every ounce of my being will be directed toward the destruction of you and your pathetic planet!"), and by no means a fair fight. Sendak has the upper hand (literally lol), just like he did WAY back in season one. Shiro uses his arm to fight in the battle, again, just as he did in season one. Sendak gains tactical advantage in combat & is able to bring Shiro down, just like season one. And again, just as in "Fall of the Castle of Lions"/"Tears of the Balmera", Keith runs in and saves him from Sendak, and in this battle, specifically, he outright kills him.
The only real opposing moment is that, unlike before, it is now Sendak whose crystal has been destroyed & whose ship is out of commission, rather than the paladins.
Interestingly, if you listen closely, you can also hear the music from "The Black Paladins" playing, specifically the bit during Shiro & Keith's fight. I'm not sure if this was done to save time/money on music choices, or if it is a deliberate callback to how Shiro & Keith's relationship has progressed, but either way, it's a fun tidbit.
however, while the ending is really nice in the sense of 'oh my gods, Sendak's finally dead', it is unsatisfying for Shiro's arc because he has to be once again saved by Keith. It does work narratively-- Keith has consistently saved Shiro countless times before & during the show, but it completely undermines Shiro's character. he's not able to hold his own, not even against Sendak, when, after all this time & training, Shiro should arguably be stronger/more equipped to handle an opponent like Sendak. It could be argued that he's already weakened significantly by the prior battle, and so that's what stopped him, but then why is he immediately seen getting back to help command the Atlas in the next episode, despite his grievous injuries? Regardless, while it's nice to see Keith come in and save his mentor & brother, it ruins the point of Shiro's character, which is that in spite of his disabilities/weaknesses, he can still triumph against evil. Having Shiro be able to take down Sendak, or at least deliver the killing blow (if we must keep our boi Keith in for angst purposes), would've felt so much more satisfying and just overall strengthened Shiro as a character. Keith can join in as support or help him return to the Atlas, but at the end of the day, it would've been SHIRO who took down the Big Bad Evil Guy that has been plaguing him since, again, literally day one. This, to me at least, feels so much stronger for him.
HOWEVER. While I don't like the approach that the writers took with how they chose to end this epic rematch, I do deeply appreciate these three frames:
like. I'm sorry. not only are these two men absolutely drop-dead GORGEOUS, but they're so... happy?? and I mean fluffy-soft-happy, not like 'oh-I'm-faking-it-happy', but like real, genuine excitement & happiness & sheer joy at finally being free. Their faces, their whole bodies-- like you can see the exhaustion (especially with Shiro, my poor guy) and you can see they're injured and just need some sleep, but like man. They are so, so ecstatic at their victory. <3
(and then the robeast comes lmao)
so anyway. rant over. love Shiro, love Keith, love all of VLD, and I love the fight w/ Sendak (the animation btw is PEAK), I just wish it ended better.
