I could have probably gone without finishing these, but it’s been eating at me...so here we are.
I’m well aware the time has passed and that no one is really still here to read. But hey! I’ll at least get to say that I finished a project finally.
---------------------------------------------
So I watched this episode again recently. I don’t mean again as in, say...I watched it once when the season dropped and then once again.
I mean...I’ve watched this multiple times, over and over, trying to have an opinion of it other than “meh”.
It was action packed, for sure. And there was certainly story-moving plot contained within. Objectively, I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with the episode itself. So what’s my hang up?
My issue is this: Here’s Oriande, the mystical, magical land of legend. Here’s the guardian of the mystical, magical land.
And now it’s gone. Whoops.
So, so much of a loss. We’re only 6 episodes in!
This should have been the start of the endgame. This should have been where the action picked up and continued on until the end. But as “Day 47” is the next episode, well…
It’s a pacing issue. This series has always had that problem, but here in the final season, it was unmistakable and bothersome.
I’m also having trouble taking in this episode on its own, divorced from what I know happens next.
I remember being thrilled that Lotor was back, and wondering how this would all play out.
It didn’t. And that’s a damn shame.
How about a “what if?”
What if Lotor did come back, and he had to face Honerva as she was now?
I’m still all for this notion of worship and reverence.
When we were told of the colony, I never got the feeling that he actively set himself up as someone to be worshipped. But he also didn’t put a stop to it, did he?
He’s certainly not blameless in allowing this to go on.
But Honerva? Yeah, she leaned right into this mess.
He’s a God, so she’s a Goddess. It makes sense, right?
Anyway, I’d have loved to see him be forced to deal with it all.
Work sucks. I’m not even checking how long it’s been since I started writing this. So..let’s get to it.
-
Candid Camera
I 100% love this opening conversation. It’s a weakness of mine in shows and movies: the candid conversation. Just seeing characters interacting with each other, not saying or doing anything to drive the plot forward...it’s great. I wish more media would write things like this. This way, we get a glimpse of the character’s personalities, in both the things they say and how they interact with one another.
Speaking of…
- -
A Bit Awkward
Acxa: I never has a creature companion, but one of my partners, Narti, was bonded to an immortal can't named Kova. That cat gave her the ability to experience the world.
So far so good...
Acxa: Until Lotor killed Narti and we had to abandon the animal on our destroyed ship so we could escape without being tracked.
Oh...ok. Yikes, lol?
To be honest...I wasn’t expecting her to be quite so awkward. But then I remember that we haven’t seen much of her when she wasn’t antagonizing the team.
And thus I reiterate: I love candid conversations like this.
Later, we get an awkward reprisal.
Leifsdottir: It would appear the mood at this table has become rather awkward. Most likely due to your Galra lineage.
Oh look...there’s two of them.
Tag yourself! I’m James.
Do scenes like this get to anyone else? It’s like seeing two aspects of my social awkwardness given form.
- - -
Let Me Love You
I love watching friendships happen.
Acxa: I know you have little trust for me, but your constant presence is tiresome.
How cute…
I meant it when I said watching her was like seeing my own brand of awkward. I don’t know how many potential friends I’ve scared off by being like this. The only friends I have now are the ones that have the patience of saints.
I’m grateful to them.
As I’m sure Acxa is to Veronica, even if we never really see it.
Also, this right here?
Veronica: Honestly, I just wanted to get to know you.
Acxa: By sneaking up on me at a firing range?
Veronica: I didn’t sneak up on you.
Acxa: Only because I’m always aware of my surroundings.
Really now?
*Marcia Brady voice* Sure, Acxa.
- - - -
Sword Play
I’ve been thinking about this one for a bit.
It starts with Keith pulling his signature move
After, Lance says this:
Lance: Huh, good job, Keith. I mean, I was just about to do that, too, but that’s cool.
What was he about to do?
The cool “throw your sword, totally disarming yourself” move, of course!
Keith is annoyed, not confused. This means that he knows that Lance has a sword. We never get to see that moment in the show...which is why I had to write it myself. Check my “voltron fanfic” tag, “fic: study it out” tag, or the first comment on this post for the fic link.
I’m also on AO3 with the same user name.
..yeah, that’s a self plug. I’m not ashamed.
- - - - -
The Bad and The Ugly
This is probably what’s really kept me dragging my feet on this for so long.
So, the real story of this episode is that Ezor has left Zethrid cause she’s a total rage-filled maniac, and she wants nothing to do with that life anymore.
Zethrid, being a total rage-filled maniac, fails to engage in introspection, and blames Keith for this. For some reason.
She tries to kill Keith while Acxa tries to talk her down. End the end, she’s only stopped when Veronica, Acxa’s new best friend, shoots her.
It’s fine, though. Ezor comes back to her, willing to forgive her for...things.
Roll credits.
…..does that seem right? It certainly didn’t to a lot of people.
Me included.
The idea is that Ezor was, narratively, dead. The idea continues that the backlash from having
1. Some of the gay rep being a villain pair, and
2. One in that pair being killed off,
scared them into retconning Ezor’s death, hastilty re-recording lines and adding shoddy animation to “fix” it.
I’m not at this point here to point fingers and blame persons for this supposed change. I just want to talk about why I think that it was changed.
It’s mostly because of this, at first:
Zethrid: Now you will feel what I felt.
Some argued that she was saying this to Shiro, who was, ya know...there. But she’s saying it to Acxa.
Here:
Ezor: She’s always been sweet on that one with the flippity hair.
You just know they’ve teased Acxa about this before. And that’s the thing.
Zethrid believes that Acxa is in love with Keith, and that’s why she’s going to kill him, so that she feels the same grief that she feels.
Ya know..cause she loved Ezor, and Ezor’s dead now.
I can’t pinpoint what all has been changed, when it was changed, or how.
But am I supposed to believe that Zethrid would take a break up this badly? Am I supposed to believe that Ezor, having left Zethrid because of her rage and anger, would watch her try to kill someone over said break up...and then take her back?
Nah. I don’t.
And it’s not that I want Ezor to be dead. I want the story to make sense.
There’s other evidence, visually.
Ezor here is unfinished. The lines are uneven and the shadows on her are almost non existent. Maybe it wouldn’t have looked so bad had she not been placed next to Acxa, who was always in this scene. But as it is, she’s very flat.
This continues into the next episode.
Veronica: Zethrid and the Olkari have escaped their cells.
Only two indicators are shown. An argument could be made that they didn’t consider Ezor a threat.
But add to all this the fact that Ezor’s one spoken line ended up being a pitched up clip of Allura saying “no”, while Zethrid’s response of “trust me” was taken from S7...it’s all too much.
However, at the same time, I don’t want to dwell on this. It’s conspiracy and conjecture at this point. We’ll never know what really happened. There will never be a director's cut. They’ll never release extra footage. This is what we got.
In any case, the fact remains that the whole thing was jarring and seemed very out of place. The writing and story hasn't been the greatest to this point, but this marked the episode where the plot began to lose me. From this point on, I spend an inordinate amount of time watching and thinking “...um??”
It’s a bad feeling.
Also, Shiro? Baby?
Any thoughts?
...fair enough.
----------------
In Summary:
This episode started out wonderfully before it crashed and burned. The opening character interactions gave way to questionable character motivations.
If, as suspected, this plot point was changed because of outside pressure...well…
It’s an odd thing for it to happen during production like this. In my years, I’ve never really seen it happen like this before. There’s no way to fix something like this without the end result looking sloppy.
Also, as someone that creates stories, I don’t have a great feeling about this. There’s this idea now that if something isn’t perfect, you must shout it down until someone changes it, or make the thing go away completely.
I personally would have felt better if they’d stood by the story they’d created. After the fact, we can talk about things gone wrong, the mistakes that were made, and how the story might’ve been made better, all in retrospect.
To do anything else, in my opinion, shows a lack of integrity.*
*but what is integrity when there’s corporations and money involved, really?
I had some trouble with this episode, which I’ll detail a bit at the end. Unfortunately, I ended up being a lot more negative about it than I would have liked. I’m hoping it’s not a trend, but...
Well.
Let's get started.
-
First off, a bit of history on the term “The Prisoner's Dilemma”. Maybe you've heard of this, but it was new to me.
The prisoner's dilemma is a standard example of a game analyzed in game theory that shows why two completely rational individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so.
[...]
The prisoner's dilemma game can be used as a model for many real world situations involving cooperative behavior. In casual usage, the label "prisoner's dilemma" may be applied to situations not strictly matching the formal criteria of the classic or iterative games: for instance, those in which two entities could gain important benefits from cooperating or suffer from the failure to do so, but find it difficult or expensive—not necessarily impossible—to coordinate their activities.
So there's that. I was a bit weirded out by the term “prisoner” used on the context of the episode. I had a feeling that it meant something else.
- -
Here's one reason I can't just write this episode off: we're shown what the crew are doing as part of their “liberation mission”.
Also, note what they say here:
Officer: We’ve suffered little to no casualties, but half the fleet has been rendered inoperable.
They make a point to state that there are little to no casualties. It contrasts the previous season, where we see Keith actually kill several people. Now we’re back to no deaths.
Remember this; I’m going to bring it up again in later reviews.
All in all though, I wouldn't’ really call this a mission liberation. It’s more of a take over.
Warlord Lahn would rather die, either way.
Lahn: You’ve attained victory and I accept defeat.
Keith: It doesn’t have to be victory or death.
Also, I wanna bring up something here.
Lahn makes a dig at Keith (and his mom). Keith’s reaction is important because...there is no reaction. He just takes it.
I bring this up because one of the first complaints I saw about season 8 was that Keith, or even Shiro, didn’t tear this guy a new asshole for his insult.
If you didn’t know, that’s not how you do diplomacy. They just took over his base, let him be upset. A younger Keith might have flown into a rage over this. But he’s much more mature now, and with maturation comes not giving in to the urge to fight at every provocation.
The people who complained about that have obviously never worked retail. You wouldn't last a day.
- - -
So Warlord Lahn's lost fleet comes with a surprise.
It's...that thing!
I'd forgotten about it. Remember when we were all theorizing what it was?
Well...we still don't really know what it is. But we do get this explanation:
Keith: Ranveig found the creature in the Quantum Abyss and experimented on it with Lotor’s Quintessence. He trained to to take out his Galran enemies, but...
(Lance is very concerned…)
This struck me as odd. It felt as if we were being told information we already knew. Maybe I forgot?
Let's check Season 5, Episode 5.
Krolia: Warlord Ranveig intercepted an undocumented shipment of quintessence travelling through his territory. He took it for his own and began experimenting with it. It’s more powerful than any quintessence we’ve received from the empire, and it has some very unexpected effects.
Hmmm….not really.
Also, I miss you, Krolia...
I suppose we can take this as confirmation that Ranveig only considered other Galra his enemies, but it's still a bit off.
Once again, to me it feels as if this is being presented as something we already know, and is just being reviewed. But it’s the first we’ve heard of it, save for Krolia’s very vague explanation transcribed above.
It really makes me believe that they intended to do much more with it. Maybe it was supposed to show up again in seasons 6 or 7, but it was cut out for whatever reason.
It really bums me out. This had potential, and I had been looking forward to it.
- - - -
The episode ends on the best possible note: Lahn accepting the Paladins and joining the coalition. This is in no small part thank to Keith, who very obviously saved him, but also Allura.
Yoink!
They saved him even though he yelled at them and said mean things. And for that, the Voltron Coalition are one step closer to legitimizing their status as saviors of the universe.
There’s a lesson here: A true display of kindness and patience can change hearts.
In the end, Team Voltron and the Coalition split up, which is what maybe the should have done in the first place, their motivations not being the same at this point.
And so Voltron leaves behind the Atlas, which is the Castleship replacement. The Castleship replacement being the reason they went back to Earth in the first place.
Hm.
-------
And here I have some general positive things, cause that’s my whole M.O.
First, I couldn’t GIF it so you’ll just have to watch for yourself, but Keith’s solo encounter with the creature is beautifully animated. Check out that sexy, sexy frame rate!
Second, Keith gets a boomstick.
Third, my man Ryan is here.
He doesn’t say anything, but it’s ok, I love him anyway.
And lastly, major props to Ray Chase as Lahn. I never recognize him in anything, and that’s some amazing range.
- - - - -
In summary:
Hey, this ones not so great, I know. Not only did real life get in the way of writing this, I just wasn’t feeling it. I always try to present the facts of the story, then move one to my own thoughts, but dammit...try as I might, I got hung up on one thing and couldn’t really move on from it.
The episode is supposed to be about working through your personal feelings in order to pursue the greater good. It has a second smaller plot of dealing with the creature, and an even smaller point of showing us how the Coalition is running its mission.
But, guys...I don’t like the whole “liberation” thing.
This has everything to do with me and the fact that I came of age during the Bush era “watch out or we’ll bring democracy to your country” mindset. Seeing my faves taking out bases and calling themselves the good guys brought back some thoughts I haven’t had in a long time.
I couldn’t let it go.
So, it’s quite possible this was a well done episode. I just didn’t like watching it. I kinda don’t want to watch it again, either.
I do think that the creature is a big waste of opportunity, though.
So what did you think? Am I out of my mind for feeling like this? I haven’t seen anyone else talk about it, so I’m prepared to be the odd one out here.
I love a good villain origin story, especially one that doesn’t feature the heroes in any way, except mentioned in passing and with disdain. And this episode certainly delivers.
This piece is actually coming off as more meta than review. Also, there’s a lot about Honerva and Lotor that I’ve talked about in the past and reference here. Click through my “Honerva” tag and you should find all of it, mostly in the form of answered asks. (psst..is Tunglr still fuxing with links? I want to direct link to things, but...you know.)
This one's for you, Honerva anon. Please never change.
Let’s get started.
-
Bringing on the Heartache
Once again, I have to say, every time I see pre-corruption Honerva and Zarkon, it breaks my heart.
These two loved each other so much.
And Lotor was so wanted.
What a tragedy.
- -
Blood Sacrifice
And here we have flashbacks.
This whole sequence isn’t very clear, actually. It moves from the present and into flashbacks without much preamble. On my first watch-through, this threw me a bit, taking me out of the moment as I struggled to figure out what was going on.
Given this these disjointed transitions, and the fact that it’s never explained, it took me a bit to figure out what was happening, what Honerva was doing.
At first, I thought that as she was draining people’s Quintessence, she was getting glimpses of her past as Haggar, but now I've realized that the flashbacks were only for our benefit.
Her actions at the Kral Zera were twofold: she meant to undo the Empire by killing the remaining warlords vying for the throne, and also to gather enough Quintessence to connect with Lotor to find him.
And the last thing she needed for that, I’m assuming, was to sacrifice something that meant a lot to him.
Goddammit.
This is continuing with the idea that Honerva is willing to sacrifice everything to save Lotor. And entire planet, her husband, even her cat for god’s sake...no one is safe.
Also, I just realized that she’s taken the flame Lotor lit at the Kral Zera. His cat and his flame, then..the only two things left of him.
Also, we’re solidifying the fact that the Galra, or at least the Empirical Galra, are as vampires. And it’s still meant to contrast nicely with the Alteans, who are said to be “life-givers.”
…...that felt really bad to type out.
- - -
Deification of the Son
Can I admit something?
I’d forgotten that the Alteans on the colony were said to have worshiped Lotor. It seems like so long ago at this point, and so much has happened in the meantime.
Romelle: And over time, the Alteans came to worship Lotor as their savior.
-
Romelle: [This was the world I was born into,] one of unquestioning devotion to a supposed messiah.
But this brought it all back to me.
Honerva:[speaking of the Galra] Your ways weakened a god.
Now this? This is interesting.
I get that the Alteans may have felt this way about Lotor. For generations they’d been told about how he’d saved them, protected them, cared for them. And given that he’s been alive all these years...yeah. I can see why they’d see him in a godly manner.
But why would Honerva feel this way? Why deify him herself?
Well...it’s not actually about Lotor. It hasn’t been since she entered the rift.
Lotor’s feats of alchemy are impressive, if you completely ignore the fact that he’s not the one performing them. He didn’t “pierce the veil”, Allura did. He didn't give Sincline it’s powers, Allura did. He only orchestrated it.
But by elevating Lotor to a god, she elevates herself further. In her speech to the gathered warlords at the Kral Zera, she says:
This flame represents Lotor, son of Zarkon, prince turned emperor, emperor that pierced the veil.
And my Altean blood coursed through his veins.
What a statement.
You see, Lotor is her’s. She created him. And if he’s a god, than she is the creator of a god. A flawed god, but one who’s best qualities he most certainly got from her.
Don’t get much better than that, huh?
And I feel like the Alteans of the colony agree.
Merla: We pledge our allegiance to you, Honerva, mother of Lotor.
And that statue was there in Lotor’s time. He knew that they worshiped him. I guess he had no problem wit that. Like mother, like son I suppose.
Ya know, it’s kinda weird watching an actual cult being formed.
Honerva: May the light guide you.
Yikes.
- - - -
The Exile
It’s hard having the father that refuses to be happy with anything you do. When you grow up like that, you waste so much time trying to please them, to get them to love you. And it’s usually all for nothing.
We all learn this the hard way. It uh...it’s not typically as hard a lesson as Lotor learns here.
By all accounts, he’s done everything right. He’s done what his father wants, and exceeded all expectations. But he didn’t do it the way his father wanted it done, so he may as well have done nothing at all.
It’s..a familiar feeling. This scene got me real good.
The rush of adrenaline you get as you stand up to your asshole dad for the first time is nearly intoxicating. You know, deep in your heart, that you’re right. You know that he’s being unreasonable. And you’ve had enough, so you say your piece.
And then, as it all comes crashing back down, and you realize how much power this man still has over you, and how your retribution is swiftly coming...well, it’s enough to make you sick.
But it’s no good. The damage has been done. You face your punishment.
Yeah...this still gets me real good. Added bonus of enabler mother, too.
….I keep feeling like I’m telling you all too much, but I really want you to understand where I’m coming from.
I feel for Lotor, I really do. He tried so hard, but there was no getting through to Zarkon at this point - there really hasn’t been much of Zarkon left since the rift incident. He’s only base instincts at this point, all power mad and unfeeling.
And now I”m going to say a few things about Lotor because, well...he doesn’t really show up again, does he?
My first point is that I wanted so desperately to see him come back, to start making up for the things he’d done.
He’d obviously picked up on his parents worst habits. In season 3, he was very much a threat; maybe not as much as Zarkon had been, but he was certainly far more clever.
I wanted to see him acknowledge these things in himself and work to rid himself of them once and for all. It would have been cathartic for me, because that’s something that I had to work on myself.
So to that end, I’m very upset that I didn’t get to have that; that neither of us got to have that.
With that said…
Lotor did some terrible things. He wasn’t some soft, baby; a poor, helpless abuse victim. He’s been an adult for a long time now. And when you’re an adult, you have to begin taking responsibility for the things you say and do.
I spent so long with my bastard dad that, even though I tried very hard not to, I picked up some of his personality traits. For a while, I was just the worst. But eventually, I came to realize these things in myself and I had to decide to make the change. I found my own redemption.
When we meet Lotor, he’s conniving. He has no problem torturing Throk. He has no problem luring Voltron into a situation where they might be killed.
He killed Narti.
Now, I do have to say, watching him do that, I was thinking “I understand the impulse”. I was surveilled too. My father's been know to show up where I am when I’m out with friends. Cameras in the house were not an impossibility. It makes you crazy, being watched like that all the time.
But he killed Narti. That’s, ya know...not ok.
I don’t think, in the end, that he was just using Allura. I’m not ever sure that at the beginning of his time with them that he was just using her. But he was keeping secret the fact that he had an entire colony of her people out there. Her people that he was using for energy production, against their will if Bandor was to be believed.
These things are not ok. I’m not sure if you can truly be redeemed from some of these.
I’m not here to judge, though. I just wanted him to have the chance to realize these things and do better, just like I had to.
I say this because, as I’d mentioned, I’ve written quite a bit on Lotor. I keep seeing all these other posts about how he’s done nothing wrong, and as an abuse victim, he can’t be held accountable.
That...has not been my experience, and it’s not a good way to look at things.
I take responsibility for the things I’ve done and said. Occasionally, someone will try to tell me that I wasn’t so bad, not really. But I was, and accepting that is part of the healing process. You have to break the cycle, and there’s no other way to do it.
Lotor didn’t get that chance. Everyone should get that chance, should they need it.
- - - - -
Well, that got needlessly personal. Let’s get to the stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.
This guy is Macidus, Keith’s biggest fan.
I only noticed this time around because I have the subtitles on. This show really has a problem with that. Merla is named in the subtitles in this episode as well, even though her name is only spoken once, and in the second to last episode I think.
-
This is something I enjoyed.
Through the flashbacks, we see that it took a long time to build Zarkon’s base.
Here, before the scene with very small Lotor.
And here, with grown up Lotor.
-
I’d seen somewhere someone post about how Haggar was wearing the same cloak she was in when she was dead. I believe they said it was her funeral clothes, probably something about how metal that was.
Well, I’d like to offer a different idea: She’s been wearing her maternity clothes the entire time.
-------------
In Summary:
Well, that was an episode. Things got explained fairly well, and we got some good backstory. Honerva has gone off the rails and has convinced the other Alteans to follow her.
What did you think? Did I miss anything important? Was I amazingly wrong about some things?
Sorry for all the...personal stuff up there. I wasn’t going to write all that at first, but it’s been on my mind. And hey, what’s the point of having a blog I you don’t use it as your own, personal confessional?
Yeah, it’s been almost two months since the season dropped, but I think that’s how long it took me to get around to post my S7 reviews too.
I’m not gonna lie, one of the reasons this has taken so long is that I was so upset in the aftermath. I knew there was no point in trying to go back and have another look until I calmed down.
And I have calmed down. And here we are.
So we start with my thoughts on episode 1, categorized into sections to cut down on the rambling.
- - - - -
Old school Voltron
-
The old school Voltron gag was a welcome surprise. Hunk's run down was perfect.
Hunk: Did you watch it, Lance? Ah, it’s so cool! It’s so cool!
They got you spot on, but Coran is like, he’s all superserious and stuff. And Allura is a little....I dunno, she’s different.
Keith is friendly! He’s happy all the time.
I mean, they got it so wrong.
For all its flaws, let's agree on one thing: this run of Voltron was a definite improvement over the original.
-
Girl Time
-
First, Romelle says this:
Romelle: She has a date...with pointy chin!
And I’m like...which one?
And I still love Colleen.
In fact, I’m in love with all of the girls. There’s so many of them, and they’re all so different. The great diversity of characters really did become a strong point in the show. It’s all very natural, not forced or stereotyped. These could be real people that you meet in your everyday life.
And how about the mall? I’d briefly forgotten that we’re in the post-apocalyptic stage on Earth.
Once again, we’re not really given a time frame on all of this. In my mind, it’s been nearly a year since their last battle. And in that time, Earth hasn’t rebuilt much. It’s to be expected, but I found it a bit jarring. Points for realism, I suppose.
Here's the episode spanning gag again:
Pidge is a terrible goblin child and I love her.
I gotta say, I love the outfits they all chose for Allura.
This one:
It’s very 1980s female-power-executive. I remember this style well; I still have nightmares about mandatory shoulder pads. It was...not a good look.
And this:
This was the exact outfit my mom stopped me from wearing to the 1st grade, c. 1993. Actually, though, it looks very familiar, like it’s a callback to something I should remember outright, but I can’t for the life of me recall. It’s very 80s/90s, though.
-
Keith
-
Now, before I get into the meat of this, I wanna travel back all the way to Season 3.
Season 3 is where I started watching the show. I’d been hearing that it was good, but I hesitated before trying it out. After all, it was Voltron. Probably just made to sell toys like the old show, and it was for kids anyway.
But I started hearing something more, something about...Klance? A bedroom scene?
I’m perpetually late to the game when it comes to media. I had just come off of my Yuri on Ice high (holy shit they did that!), and with as much as I was hearing about these two boys getting together, well...I just had to investigate.
I started out with the first episode, as one does, and I was hooked. So I watched the next, and the one after that, and the one after that. After the fourth episode, I took the internet to find the exact moment of the aforementioned Keith and Lance interaction. Because if these two pull it together in such a short amount of time, I said to myself, I will be very impressed.
…...haaaaa…..
Well, that was not as advertised. Lance goes to Keith for reassurance, and Keith can’t deliver because he’s awkward as hell. It showed me two young men insecure in their roles – roles that they were now set up to grow into.
This scene in this episode? That’s a callback.
Lance comes to Keith for reassurance, not because he’s the leader, but because he’s a friend. And Keith delivers, because now he’s grown and matured.
I was very, very happy to see these two interacting this way. To be honest, I was so sick of their stupid rivalry. It was overdone in the first episode, let alone the rest of the series up to this point. So this was a very, very welcome change.
And the way the conversation goes? This tells me that they’ve talked about this before. Even though Keith is much better as this sort of thing now, he’s still not that great. Yet, here he is with the exact right words for Lance. Not only is he remembering an unseen-to-us conversation, but he’s remembering “the bedroom scene”, that one moment before that he couldn’t help Lance.
They’ve both had such good growth throughout the series.
…..seriously, y’all had me thinking they kissed in S3. Or at lease a confession. I still have no idea which show y’all were watching.
Now, I want to talk about Keith himself.
Shiro said to “spend time with the ones you love.” And here’s Keith, alone. Again.
When I watched this the first time, I just kind of rolled my eyes. He’s back on his loner bullshit, I see. And as much as I loved his talk with Lance, I was disappointed when he showed up. I thought it would either be Shiro, or Krolia.
At the time, I put it aside. I'm and introvert like Keith, so to see him enjoying some solitude in a familiar setting wasn't off-putting for me. He's been running around the world, checking up on defenses and being, generally, a good leader. He's gotta be exhausted from all that, right?
As for no one besides Lance coming to see him, well….I mean, after all, Krolia and Shiro are going back into space with him. And Shiro is a damned workaholic that probably has a lot of stuff to oversee before take off. I figured at the time that the rest of the season would fix this.
Welp.
-
The Date
-
We have to talk about this.
I don’t want to, thought.
This is the part that tripped me up. I would start this review, then stop when I got to here, and I did that several times.
It just hurts.
When I first watched this whole sequence, my heart was full. They look so good, all dressed up. Everything was soft and sweet, and it was all so tender and loving.
And it wall happened the way I figured it would, with Allura talking about family, and feeling alone. And then Lance offered to be her family.
He kinda...that’s kinda….he proposed, really.
Lance: Allura, I love you. I have for a long time. I wanna be your family.
And then they kissed and it was all so great. I say that as someone that usually doesn’t care about romance in media at all. It’s usually so cheesy and out of character for both parties and completely unrealistic. But this got me feeling some kinda way, and for once, I was into it.
Then the scene ended with Allura returning to find out about the Altean and Haggar, and I actually said out loud to myself “Jesus...they’re not gonna let her have anything, are they?”
And how.
Watching it now, my heart is hollow.
Of course, I see that the moment of her healing the tree and the rest of the garden was foreshadowing, and I picked up on that the first time.
It didn’t have to be like this, though.
I’ve consumed a lot of media in my time, from books and comics, to movies and video games. Every story has it’s ups and downs, it’s happy and sad. If it’s a story that I love, thought, I deal with the sadness and press on, such is my enjoyment of it. And if one of these stories gets me down too much, I know how to back off and let myself process the situation. When I come back to them with a fresh mind, I can view the happy times in a bittersweet way.
It didn’t happen this time. I love Voltron, but this still feels like a bridge too far.
Allura was on her way to finding happiness in this new world. It was healing, to see a character that had lost so much find people to support her, people that would be there for her no matter what.
In the end, I wish this had never happened. I wish this date had been left out.
The saying is “better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Fucking try it, then get back to me.
-
Other Things
-
As best I can, I’m going to try to leave these reviews on a happy note.
So here’s a few good things that I didn’t make room for in the review proper.
1. Hunk is the best wingman.
And so is Romelle:
2. Coran is a big damn troll.
Also...what the hell?
In summary:
It was still one of those episodes that gives you emotional whiplash, going from happy to depressing all too quickly. But in all, it was a strong opening.
Hey, guys...remember me? I make Voltron fan content and stuff. That is, when I’m not working an insane amount and end up too tired to think.
So...yeah.
I’ve been working on this one in my down time. It’s a bit shorter than usual, but I’ve still got a few thoughts on the whole thing.
-
Wide Open Spaces
They don’t tend to speak about it in depth, and the science is always simplified (almost too much), but one thing I’ve always appreciated about this show is that they acknowledge how far away everything is in space.
Pidge: Also, this celestial quadrant is 230,000 light years in diameter.
I, being me, did some research.
I’d like to know how they’re calculating these “celestial quadrants”, because our milky way galaxy is 100,000 light years across. The Andromeda Galaxy is 110,000 light years across.
Are they really searching an area the size of two, average sized galaxies?** In that case, they’d be lucky if they found anything at all. And as it happens, they’re having that particular kind of trouble here.
Once again, I say: space is huge and scary.
**The largest galaxy that we’ve detected so far is IC 1101, a supergiant elliptical galaxy that spans 2 million light years at its widest point.
- -
Forgotten in the Chaos
Raise your hand if you had a bad feeling about Olkarion this season.
Yeah….same.
I’ll be honest, I’ve had a bad feeling about Olkarion’s fate since the last battle there in S5.
I’m still a bit confused about the apparent lack of communication here. Had they contacted Olkarion at some point before the Atlas set out? You’d think so, as they’re arguably Voltron’s greatest ally.
I suppose that they may have been in contact before Volton split from the Atlas, and that this is a very new development.
But why haven’t the Olkari alerted them to the situation? Have they actually gone into hiding?
That’s the feeling I get now that I’ve looked at things again.
We have to remember that the first time we meet the Olkari, they’ve been enslaved by the Empire and forced to make the cubes. And here, we end up seeing that the Robeast absconds with those same cubes. I can easily see them, at least for the time being, disappearing from the galactic stage until they feel safe again.
Shiro: How many years have you lived like this?
Ryner: Many decafeebs.
It hasn’t been that long since they had been freed from years long occupation. And now this thing comes and takes the weapons that they were forced to build. I can assume that at this point, they’re hiding not just to protect themselves, but everyone else. They have a unique kind of power. In the wrong hands, it’s devastating.
Removing themselves from view removes the possibility of others using the Olkari people for their own gain.
- - -
Girls, Girls, Girls
I’m never going to shut up about this, ok?
This episode gave us some great Allura and Pidge moments. I just wish we’d gotten more throughout the series.
Of all the paladins, other than Shiro and Hunk, they’ve interacted the least on screen. I wish it had been under better circumstances...but eh.
But this was the episode that I started realizing that this last season was going to be female driven.
This episode has the aforementioned Pidge and Allura interactions, but also:
The two girls Pidge sees playing, and:
Ryner, who I’m going to imagine is their grandmother.
The first episode of this season featured some great female interactions of all kinds. The big bad is Honerva, and her most notable cohorts are also women.
It’s something that means a lot to me. Even now, you don’t see many shows with a number of diverse female characters. And even though this series had to get a running start at it, I still appreciate what they’ve given us in this case.
Who run (and destroy) the world?
- - - -
The Lessons Learned
“The old must give way to the new.”
That’s a good lesson to learn. Nothing lasts forever, no matter how much you might want it to.
Personally, I have difficulty letting go. Objects and people...if I lose them, it causes major anxiety. Learning to accept change and loss is an ongoing process for me, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people.
So, what Hunk says here:
Hunk: If you think about it, this isn’t really the end of Olkarion. Weblums eating dead planets is just the first step in a process that leads to the growth of new stars, planets, and galaxies.
...not only is it the truth of things, it’s an idea that can help quash those bad feelings that come with change and loss.
It’s healing, in a way.
So when I saw these faces:
...I figured that maybe something significant was to come.
Looking back...well…
In Keith’s case, maybe he’s remembering their first trip to Olkarion. He was still reeling from the realization that he was most likely half Galra and had a few things to say about acceptance and sameness.
Pidge: I guess it’s like Ryner said. We’re all made up of the same cosmic dust.
Keith: So, that means we’re all related. This ship, those stars, the Olkari. Even the Galra.
So when I see that contemplative look on his face, I can easily imagine that he’s remembering this moment, and how he had may have felt at ease with himself for the first time since his revelation.
Allura, on the other hand…
At this point, I was convinced that the end was going to see her finding happiness with a new family. Between this episode (that look!), and “Launch Date”, I took it as a given.
After all, old gives way to the new.
As far as loss goes, losing not only you’re family, but the entirety of your people is more than I can even imagine. The amount of loneliness and pain she must’ve been feeling this whole time is sure to have weighed her down.
I was so, very hopeful that the end of all this would see her happy and surrounded by the people who loved her.
We all know that didn’t happen.
In fact, I’m now lost on the meaning of this lesson within the plot.
No old gave way to new. The old came back. The old just kinda...hecked off back into space.
Where was the new? What’s my take away from this?
I’ve been working on this piece for a month. I’ve rolled these thoughts over in my head, trying to tumble them into smooth stones of reason.
And I got nothing.
...I mean, it’s still a good lesson, but….
- - - - -
A few good things, cause I promised.
One, this move is fire!
It’s speed up because Tumblr’s gif limit is still shiat, but that’s Allura and her lion working together.
They never really did the whole “remote-piloting” thing again, but they’ve learned to do things like this, and I think it’s pretty cool.
Second is something not so much related to this show, but within the theme of the episode.
There was always something I would try to remember when I was feeling particularly down on myself. And there’s a post going around on here saying the same thing, and I was absolutely thrilled to see it.
The idea is this:
A supergiant star can burn for billions of years. Eventually, though, it will begin to run out of fuel, and within its core, it’ll fuse heavier and heavier elements, until eventually, it begins fusing iron.
This is how a star dies.
If the star goes supernova, all of the elements contained within will be blasted out into space to eventually become new things. Maybe the hydrogen will help form a new star. Maybe the helium will help create a new gas giant, like Saturn.
And the iron?
That iron is in your blood.
So if you’re feeling small, maybe a little worthless, remember: a part of you once killed a star. What could be more bad ass than that?
------
In summary:
This episode featured a lot of loss, as well as a lot of hope.
In the end, I’m not sure what it did for the overall story, though. Unless I’m forgetting something that happens later on that acts as a call back to this “old is new” concept, I’m just kinda eh on the whole thing.
I’m having a bit of trouble with this one. Not just this one, but the rest of this season.
I think it would be easier for me if I hadn’t just been making clips from earlier seasons for my videos. Cause damn, this is a huge departure from when we started.
And I casually throw around the phrase “shit gets real”, but, this time, I mean it.
There’s now a sense of realism that this show only barley hinted at in the first episode.
And it’s just the stupidest thing, but the part that’s messing me up the most is that, now, we’re in the military. Of course I knew what the Galaxy Garrison was. It’s got ‘garrison’ right there in the name. But… I’m not a fan of military stuff, which is a bit hypocritical as one of my favorite movies is “Independence Day”. I suppose it’s hard for me to accept that, say...Lance, the goofy, dork of a child, is part of a military institution. He’s a soldier.
I mean, the Paladins have been through war stuff already. But now it’s Earth war stuff; things that are immediately familiar.
I uh...I have some hang ups. If I’m seeming a bit down on all this, it’s a me thing. The show itself is still good. It’s now just suddenly not my thing.
Let’s get down to it.
Part 1
First thing: I love the Holts, ok? Sam is already amazing, and Colleen is a spitfire. You can definitely see where Pidge gets it. If they could adopt me like, right now, that’d be great.
That said, Sam is extremely idealistic. The first thing he wants to do once he gets back to Earth is tell the whole world what happened to him.
Sanda shuts him down:
Sanda: If we told the world there was an imminent attack, we’d set off a global panic.
That reminded me of this, from Men in Black:
And it’s about aliens too. Nice.
She’s not wrong. At least, I don’t think she would be in our modern reality. My city is one sports championship away from spontaneously combusting...again (thank god our teams all suck). I’d really hate to imagine what would happen in this situation in the here and now.
And Sanda wasn’t wrong about sending signals into space, either.
Sanda: Any contact with alien species needs to be run through the appropriate channels.
In the end, she acquiesces, only for them to make contact with Matt, who tells them to stop broadcasting. Welp.
Sanda’s in an unenviable position. How would you react if someone told you that space magic is real and now there’s a risk of alien invasion, and a knockoff band of Power Rangers was your only hope? She didn’t excuse herself from the meeting to stand out in the hallway and scream, which is what I'd have done. But now she has to consider the safety and well-being of the entirety of the Earth, without causing mass hysteria throughout the populace.
There are no good answers. Not in real life. And this is uncharted territory for everyone involved.
So they build weapons in secret.
I have to say, I like how they’ve designed their new tech. They didn’t try to emulate Altean aesthetics, and instead stuck with a more conventional, modern Earth look.
War planes, energy cannons, and a particle barrier. They’re working on their own Castleship. They even have “the best pilots to come out of the Galaxy Garrison in the last year.”
But it’s not enough, and Sam forces Sanda’s hand, telling the Earth about everything. As it turns out that Sanda was wrong, and instead of panic, the world comes together to help save themselves.
And in the end, it’s too little too late.
What a bunch of losers.
We’re not given much of a timeframe on these events. At the beginning of the episode, the screen reads “FOUR YEARS EARLIER”. But where in those four years does the invasion happen? If Sanda had allowed for help earlier on, would it have made a difference?
I’m thinking….no. Sendak knows what he’s doing. The Earth was screwed from the start.
Part 2
So now you’ve found yourself being overrun by alien invaders. Yikes.
And these invaders have this to say about you’re ability to fight them.
I wonder if they’d say that about us now. We still have enough nukes to blow ourselves up several times over. Does this future Earth still have that?
They’ve never said much about Earth in the Paladins time, so I came up with something on my own.
I think Earth is peaceful. And I think that because the general scope of the Garrison seems to be exploration, not military power. Of course, they’re not slouch in that department either. I can’t quite explain why they’d still have active military, except that ya know...shit happens.
The overall diversity of the place tells me this, too. If this was strictly military, I don’t think they’d be letting foreigners into their ranks. This is me, assuming again, that Lance is from actual Cuba, and Hunk is from actual Samoa.
Diversity, and bases all over the world. Also, the fact of everyone coming together to protect the planet.
And I think it might be because of this:
Veronica: It’s an older setup from World War III.
That’s pretty damn significant. And it’s the last we hear of it.
Did humanity learn it’s lesson after that? Was this war so bad that everyone found their chill in the aftermath? And is it recent enough to have been within living memory for a sizable chunk of the population?
I’m gonna say yes. Look at the chiefs:
At least four of them at the table have medals on their uniforms.
So my theory is this: World War III happened around 40 years prior. The ones with the medals were awarded these medals for their services during that war. The war was so bad that everyone wised up and stopped all that nonsense. They got rid of the worst of their weapons. Now, the people of Earth have come together to explore the universe.
….hey, why not? We might find out more in season 8. Or we might go right back into fantastic space battles.
Also, I’d like to say that Sanda is also a veteran. She’s just...such a hard ass. She didn’t get that way on her own.
She’s also the one in charge.
Aliens are attacking, Admiral! What should we do?
Why, send in the least effective of our attacking fleet, of course!
Sam: You’ve just doomed those men and women.
And one, in particular.
Yeah, Adam was actually doomed as soon as he was introduced as Shiro’s ex. I’m going to talk more about this at the end of the review, because otherwise it’s just going to throw off the flow.
So, the cities of the world are razed.
Again, I’m having a hard time with this. Military movies, disaster movies….I’ve lost my taste for them. I’d rather spend my time on something hopeful. I guess, in the end, it is hopeful, because we as the audience know that Voltron will eventually save the day. But this lead up is brutal.
So, did you survive the invasion? Or do you think you’d have been one of the ‘able bodied citizens’ taken captive?
I know I’m dead. I’m soooooo dead.
Probably not in the initial attack; they always go for the cities first, and I’m at the edge of nowhere. In the end, it wouldn’t even be the Galra that get me.
It’s my chronic illnesses. If I don’t get my meds, I’m done for. So when I see a story about invasion and people getting cut off and isolated, I get a bit...uncomfortable. And that’s a bit part of why I’m having such a hard time with the back half of this season. In my head, all I can think is “oh god, I’m boned. I’m sooo screwed.”
But who knows? Maybe in this future Earth they can cure what’s wrong with me. Or maybe there’s ways to prevent you from getting sick in the first place. Then again, they couldn’t really help Shiro, so...
….
Auuuggggghhhh!!!
This is bringing me down way too much! I gotta find something great…
Ah! The squad!
The aftermath of season 7 online was a mess. I saw way too many people complaining that adding these four was a waste of narrative. Those people have toe fungus and need to get a hair cut, because the MFE pilots are great. I wish we’d gotten to see more of them.
I made a video of her moments a bit back and talked about this there, but I’ll say it again: I love Leifsdottir, and I love that she’s autistic.
Also: Veronica
Rizavi: I like her.
Same, Rizavi. Same.
I wish I hadn’t read the reviews before season 7. I’d have loved to have gone in blind, not knowing that this is that Veronica, Lance’s sister. I’d have never guessed. She’s so professional.
I wonder if she was like her brother when she was a Garrison cadet. We later see a lighter side of her, and right after that, we see Serious Lance again. Yeah...I’m going with that. I bet Lance entered the Garrison, and the instructors all began lamenting “Oh god...not another one.”.
Also, have you noticed the diversity here at the Garrison? There’s a good split of men and women, and all kinds of varying skin tones. It’s great to see.
This episode does end on a high note, or rather, as high as it can, with a message sent to Voltron with the hope that they get there in time.
And Sam Holt gives a speech.
Earth has been conquered.
We are the last holdout in an evil occupation.
And we must face the facts: our supplies are running out.
They have hammered us and hurt the ones we love.
Our backs are completely up against the wall.
And nothing makes us more dangerous.
We only have enough resources for one last stand.
Regardless of the outcome, if we stand united,
we will let them know, the planet Earth, our home,
will not go down without a fight.
…
I still really like that movie, ok?
---
Now, about Adam.
When I went online after watching the season, I was expecting to hear a bit about his fate, but I never expected all...this. And anything I have to say has already been said better by many other people.
I’m firmly of the idea that the showrunners had nothing to apologize for.
See, like I said, Adam was doomed as soon as he was introduced. He was only ever meant to serve as plot device. Take away the approval for him to be Shiro’s ex, and you’re left with Shiro’s close friend who died at the hands of Sendak. It’s meant to make you feel bad; it’s meant to make you feel unsafe. His death tells you “This is war, and anyone can die.”
But then, Shiro was allowed to be gay. And now Adam wasn’t his roommate, he was his boyfriend.
The narrative needed someone who was close to a main character to show that war is hell, but not too close as to be excessively cruel to the audience. The narrative also needed someone to show that Shiro was queer. It’s just how things worked out.
This is something we’ll have to get used to as better representation begins to filter in. There will be missteps, and there will be hurt feelings. But it is progress.
There are good conversations to be had about this. But none of those conversations are happening here.
In the end, Adam was a brave man, who once upon a time loved another man. He died a hero.
In summary:
This was brutal. It actually happened: Sendak has done everything short of destroying the whole of the Earth. I had really, really been hoping that the fight would stay in space.
The episodes were well made, with a great bit of story to be told. But my own issues got in the way of me liking them. Ah, well...it happens.
...
The Garrison is all 70s aesthetic. I don’t like 70s aesthetics...
These next ones are more battle than story, so they’re kinda hard to meta on. I’ll do my best, though. Thanks for sticking with me.
- - -
So for the rest of these episodes, I couldn't stop thinking about two things:
1. the mice and Kalteneker are still on the Blue Lion.
2. The entire population housed at the Garrison is now on the Atlas. That includes civilians, which includes Lance’s family.
And I don’t think any of them signed up to be a part of this fight.
- - -
Much respect to Sam, Shiro, and Iverson, but they lost an entire gorram Admiral and didn’t notice until it was too late.
Sam: Where’s Admiral Sanda?
Officer: Sir, she’s been gone since our mission briefing.
Thanks for the heads up, nameless officer.
What a mess. You guys should have never started this without all the top brass present.
-
She finally did what she said she was going to do, against the wishes of everyone except that one other official. And I get that. She just wanted them to take the lions and go. She even demands to take the paladins with her.
Sanda: Hand over the Paladins to me and leave Earth.
...we got an extraneous ‘and’ in there...
You really thought it would work, huh? After everything they told you about how they destroy worlds, and how they especially destroy worlds that don’t surrender, and how they’ve built 6 world destroying cannons...you still did this?
Sendak was going to make the Paladins watch.
And congrats, cause now you’re in here too.
Sendak: Throw her in the brig with the Paladins.
- - -
So here’s this, the best part of the episode.
There it is. This is why we witnessed the exchange between Shiro and Allura in the last episode.
This could have never been her. This is Earth.
As Allura had been beloved in the universe before, Shiro’s been a respected figure on Earth for years, long before he was ever associated with Voltron.
He’s beloved, he’s trusted. Right now, he’s the leader of Earth’s forces.
He’s no longer the head of Voltron, something I’m sure he’s been torn up about. But Voltron isn’t the only thing in the universe.
They need Shiro, right here, in this position. There’s no other way.
And Shiro? He needs it just as much.
So, boo on the ones saying that this is a step down for either of them. Double boo on the ones claiming that this is somehow a step down for both of them, cause, friend...that doesn’t even make sense.
These two have taken on new roles to suit the circumstances. It happens. It’s ok.
– - -
The paladins have learned to pilot the lions in absentia. I just…
The first time I saw this, I was just like
More space magic!
But why the hell not? It’s been space magic the entire time. No reason to stop now.
This was actually another part of what they were setting up in “The Journey Within”, the first being that they called the Lions to Earth in the first place. And lets face it, it was about time all of them got in on this mystical-lion-bond thing. Keith was standing alone in that for way too long.
In fact, it was Hunk who facilitated this in that episode, and it’s him that suggests it now.
Hunk: Remember how we were able to call our Lions to us on Earth? Why can’t we do that now? They might be able to break us out.
The suggestion to call the Lions to Earth in the first place, though, was all Shiro.
Shiro: You don’t need to go to them. They’ll come to you.
Once he realizes that they’ve gone this one step even further…
– - -
Oh, Admiral Sanda.
You didn’t get a redemption. Not really.
You tried to make up for it all, and made a valiant effort to get the crew out. But you paid for it.
Sanda: Do what I couldn’t. Save Earth.
You were a hard ass, and mean as hell. But you considered yourself a woman of honor. That was your downfall, really; you expected others to be the same.
- - -
In Summary:
We’re still losing, but all the pieces are coming together. It’s getting a bit hopeful in here.
Next up: I know what happened to Earth in the original Voltron, and I’m very, very scared.
