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loveafterthefact · 4 years

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Love After the Fact Chapter 23: Duct and Cover

I stand by this terrible pun

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Pidge adjusted their eyeware, inspecting the Balmeran crystals Hunk had brought them. “Yes, these should do. Thank you.”

“Of course. Shay was happy for an excuse to call her brother.”

“The brother who hates you?”

“That’s the one.”

“Mnh. I’ll never understand that man. Oh! How is Shay? She's pretty far along now, right?”

“She’s due in a few phoebs. And she’s well, thanks for asking. Chasing after Rosetta is becoming difficult. I might see if Lance wants to borrow her. Get his baby fix.”

“You people. Squirting your DNA at each other. So uncivilized. So underevolved.”

“Whatever you say, Pidge.”

“Keith agrees with me.”

“For now… So what are you gonna do with the crystals?”

Pidge rummages around their workroom, digging for their toolkit. “Well, I stumbled across some old research of Alfor’s. Before Lance was born, he’d been looking into whether Balmeran crystals are biocompatible. Things that are compatible for some other species, like coral or ceramic, are not compatible with Alteans, limiting the use of more advanced prosthetics and cosmetic modifications. Alfor suggested that due to its unique ability to absorb, store, and distribute quintessence, Balmeran crystal might be biocompatible.

“But after Lance was born, he just kind of… discarded it.”

“That’s brilliant, Pidge. Have you contacted Ryner back on Olkarion?”

“Yes. She’s fascinated by the idea. As am I.” Pidge finally found their toolkit under a pile of digital blueprints of a Galran barrow. “It’ll be tricky. There are so many variables. I’ve also requested samples from Balmera T-672 and B-43 for comparison.”

Hunk carefully clears a space at Pidge’s worktable so they can lay out the crystal samples. “It’s okay, right? To hand off Rosetta to Keith and Lance? I mean, it won’t make Keith uncomfortable or anything?”

“Pfft. No. He threw someone across the training room the other day because they asked why they should take orders from a ‘stunted little freak’. Apparently they forgot exactly who they were talking to. If you came onto him he might be uncomfortable, but other than that, I think you’ll be fine.”

“So what are we doing exactly?” Hunk asked, passing a small toolkit and a camera to Pidge. They climb up into the ducts, arranging supplies.

“I am sneaking into Alfor’s lab to eavesdrop. You are going to be my backup. I’d let you be my full partner in this, but if you get fired, your family will starve. If I get fired, I live here in the ducts and make Alfor’s life hell.”

“You say as you make me your accessory in this crime. Also, I thought you had a feed in there.”

“Eh, Lance’ll come through for you. I have faith. I did, but it’s gone now. Like, the entire unit has been removed and destroyed. He probably suspects it’s me, but I used a generic device just in case.”

“I suppose… Why specifically are you sneaking into Alfor’s lab?” Hunk passes up a coil of rope. They have more advanced toys, of course, but sometimes Pidge likes to go back to the basics.

“Because. Lance says that there’s a rumor going around that there’s still unrest between Altea and Daibazaal. He’s got his cronies, that is you, me, Adam, and Lanval, running around trying to find the truth in it. Alfor spends almost all of his time in there, but he’s in the training yard right now, so it might be our chance.”

“But…” Hunk twiddles his thumbs. “It’s just court gossip, right? Totally nothing.”

Pidge presses their long, long fingers to their forehead. “Hunk, gossip is never ‘just’ gossip. Like legends, there’s always some truth to it. Comms check.”

“Comms check,” Hunk repeats, adjusting the mic dangling from his earpiece as Pidge’s voice chimes.

“Comms are go.” Pidge gets on their belly in the duct, crawling forward with the rope slung over their shoulder, toolkit at their belt, a camera strapped to their head. They activate a tiny, holographic map set into a device on their wrist. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about armor lately.”

“Could you think about it later? Y'know, when we're not about to get our asses court martialed?”

“And more discreet weapons. Teleporting, returning weapons? And like, better shields? Oooh, how about- oof!” Pidge rubs the top of their head, grimacing as their feelers trembled with the duct's reverb. They’d run into the wall of the duct. Hmm… do they go left, or right? They check their map. Right.

“How about you pay attention to what you’re doing right now?” Hunk mumbles. Pidge rolls their eyes. “And we can talk about armor later, after we’ve gotten away with treason.”

“‘Kay.” Pidge crawls along. “Found it,” they whisper, carefully popping out a vent like the one they crawled through. The gripping pads of their fingers cling to the metal, making sure it doesn't clatter to the ground.

“What do you see?”

“Hm. A ton of nothing.” There’s nothing. Well, actually there’s a ton of stuff. Alembics, beakers, flasks, test tubes, burners, scales, weird stuff in jars, a suspension chamber, quintessence capsules full of glowing blue liquid… It’s just an alchemy lab, albeit an incredibly well-supplied one. “I’m going to descend.”

Reaching the floor, there’s still nothing. Pidge looks around tilting their head so that their asymmetrical ears catch more sounds. Humming emptiness. “Something’s definitely off.”

“How so?” Hunk whispers, leaning forward to eye Pidge’s feed. The young Olkari runs their spindly fingers over a table. It comes up- “Is that dust?”

“Yes,” Pidge whispers. “Why? How? Alfor enters this room every day after breakfast and doesn’t leave until it’s at least time for dinner.”

“Maybe he’s using another table?”

Pidge hums skeptically, but checks around. Everything is dusty. They study the wear patterns in the floor. Too much wear. There's dust collected under the tables, but everywhere open is clear, thanks to the stupid cloaks these royals wear. Clearly, Alfor had paced and flitted all over this lab at one point. “No good. Hmm…”

Pidge pulls up their map of the ducts, notices a large space right next to the lab. “Hunk, can you check the castle map? I want to know what’s next to the lab on the east side.”

“Sure.” Pidge waits. “Pidge? Yeah, there’s nothing. Just space.”

“Yeah, right. I’m so sure.” Pidge shimmies up the rope back into the duct, replacing the vent one they’re back in. Negative space can be tricky. There’s no telling what’s in negative space. “Scanning for surveillance… Scan complete. No surveillance equipment detected, but I am detecting electronics. Okay so if I cut here-” Pidge indicates a panel in the duct. “I should be able to see something. If not, we’ll go from there.”

They pull out a miniature blow torch, cutting a hole in the side of the duct. They love this kind of work. It’s fun playing Lance’s spy.

“Okay, friend. Please be careful. And don’t do anything that’ll make Shay a widow, okay?”

“I will. And I won’t. I promise. As soon as I’m done, you can go back to your gross domestic life.” Pidge finishes with the duct.

“Uh-huh. Speaking of my gross domestic life, are you still coming over for dinner tomorrow?”

“Absolutely! It’s been ages since I saw Rosetta! Okay.” Pidge sticks the adhesive pads of their fingers to the siding, pushing it out so they can turn it to fit through the hole they’ve made. “Woah.”

“Woah,” Hunk parrots. “That explains the electronics you detected. What are we looking at?”

Pidge stares down at a large room of holographs and screens. In the middle of the room, there’s a particularly large table with a holographic top. Hovering, glittering in the dim room, is a perfect three-dimensional replica of Daibazaal. “A war room. We’re looking at a war room.”

Holding the panel of the duct steady with their sticky fingers, Pidge carefully seals the cut out section back into place. They lay on their stomach in the duct, thinking.

“Oh mother earth, are we still at war? Has this all been for nothing? What if-”

“Most likely scenario is that Alfor doesn’t trust the Galra. The one thing he’s very good at is killing people. He’s probably planning for just in case.”

“Okay, but what if he’s not? If we go to war again, the first thing that’s going to happen is that Keith will be killed! Not to mention Allura and Romelle in the fallout. Even Keith couldn’t fight off the entire Altean Army!”

“No, he couldn’t. We don’t have time right now to go in and see what’s up, so in the meantime, we’ll make plans of our own. Lance won’t stand for this. He, Keith, Allura, Romelle, and Lotor have already given up so much for this alliance, and every time Lance reaches out to Daibazaal for advice they’ve been nothing but cordial and helpful. He’ll likely side with them. At this point, the Galra are more likely to do well by his people.”

“And we’ll side with him, right?”

“Absolutely.” It’s not even a question for Pidge.

“We have to tell him, don’t we,” hunk murmurs, saying it more as a statement than a question. “Before we figure out what’s really going on?”

“He sent us here. He’ll expect a report today and knows we can deliver.”

“Keith only just started to feel safe here.”

“Yeah.” Pidge sighs, scoots backward, working their way through the ducts until they land feet-first in their workroom. “But if Alfor can plot and scheme, then so can we.”

“Uh-huh. But… Maybe we could…” Hunk fidgets. “Scheme tomorrow?”

Pidge sighs, smiles at their friend. “Sure, Hunk. We’ll scheme tomorrow. I’ll brief Lance myself. Thanks for the crystals.”

Hunk picks Pidge up in a tight hug. “You’re welcome. Let me know if you need more. And I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner. We can put the baby to bed and scheme over alcohol that's not nunvil.”

Pidge smiles wider, waves as Hunk leaves. Once he’s gone, they let their smile drop. Had they both really agreed to betray Altea so easily?

Quiznak, this place is such a mess.

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #altean lance #galra keith #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

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voltron-s7-8-rewrite · 5 years

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“A Little Adventure” & “The Ruins”

Here are the first two stories of my Voltron Season 7 and 8 re-write. For more information you can see here: My Voltron season re-wright

A Little Adventure

This story is pretty much fine as is. Getting the full background of Keith and Shiro’s story, Griffin’s appearance, and the other Paladin’s hijinks is all good.

The only thing about the story that I would change is the reasoning for Shiro being in the pod. Rather than another ‘Will Shiro survive!?” plot to deal with, he’s in the pod to heal the wounds from his and Keith’s battle, and for some observation that everything with the transference went well.

Because Shiro is not barely hanging onto life again, the setting is more relaxed for Keith, Krolia, and Allura. Keith and Krolia talk a bit about Keith and Shiro’s youth, which piques Allura’s curiosity, as she had never heard how they knew each other before Voltron. So, Keith shares with Allura how he and Shiro met and became friends, which is what the flashbacks are.

I know these are little details, but they have huge meanings for my version. First, from this point on Shiro will no longer be a character for the story to abuse. He’s been through the harshest of fires and has come out tempered and refined. He is now rid of the illness that plagued him for years, he’s completely free of any control Haggar had over him, and the Galra arm that was a reminder of all the pain he endured as the Champion is gone. Shiro has overcome all that life has thrown at him and is no longer a victim for the story, but instead has become a victor of the story.

As for Keith, willingly opening up and sharing some of his past with Allura shows that he has grown during his time away from the Paladins and is opening up to people. I’m not going to really go into detail about this yet, since it will come up more later, but this is the first sign of the growth he’s gone through.

The Ruins

After Shiro comes out of the pod fully healed and in good health, they all decide to head to earth to get the plans Sam has to build a new Castle Ship. With their Lions’ powers depleted the trip is going to take over a year. Pidge tries to contact the Voltron Coalition but is unable to get any response from their friends. As they discuss things, the subject of Shiro’s Clone is brought up. Shiro begins to apologize for the Clone’s actions, but the others try to stop him, saying it wasn’t him. Shiro, however, disagrees.

Shiro explains he and the Clone are the same person, as they merged into one being. He explains that from the moment he had woken up on the Galra cruiser he had known that there was something wrong. Though he tried to act normal and continue on with things before his death, he was in a constant state of fear, anxiety, and had an ever present sense of wrongness. No matter what he tried he couldn’t get past it, and rather than opening up to the Paladins and allowing them to help, he felt he had to keep up the image of the strong leader, which led to him lashing out at them.

Shiro apologizes and thanks them for being there for him, and especially notes Lance’s help. Lance says he wasn’t able to do much, but Shiro says that him just listening and being willing to help meant the world to him. The Paladins accept Shiro’s apology and, calling for a group hug, they now see Shiro in a new light. No longer is he the untouchable leader, he’s just like them, a person who struggles and needs help at times, and from now on they will make sure to never let him struggle alone again.

As the Paladins get ready to leave, Keith stands in front of the Black Lion looking up at it. Shiro joins him and tells him that they are all waiting for his lead. Nothing needs to be said to the implication of Shiro’s words. They both know, Keith IS the leader now.

Keith asks how he feels, and Shiro says he’s excited. Keith asks what he means, and Shiro tells him that while inside the Black Lion he came to understand how the Lions see the Paladins. The lives of the Paladins are finite compared to the Lions. One day they will all pass, while the Lions will continue on, bonding with new generations of defenders.

Shiro says while his time as a Paladin of Voltron has ended, his story isn’t over. In fact, ever since he woke up, he’s felt a pulling, something telling him that he has a new purpose out there that he has yet to fulfill. Keith tells Shiro that he and the others will be there for him no matter what, and Shiro says he knows.

The two share a smile and he pats Keith’s shoulder as Lance and Pidge get into an argument over which Lion each of the animals will travel in. Shiro pushes Keith towards the squabbling Paladins, telling him that he gets to deal with the kids now. Keith glares back before going to break them up.

After the Lions head out we see a Galra cruiser’s scanners pick up on them. A crew member asks if they should engage, but they are told to follow at a distance, not allowing the Paladins to know they are there.

After having traveled for some time, Pidge picks up on some signals. When Krolia hears them she recognizes a Blade distress signal, likely made by a senior member. Pidge pins down where the signal’s origin is and they head to that location.

Landing on a desolate planet, and exploring the place for some time, the Paladins find a survivor, Macidus. They all head to his home, where Krolia discovers he has the swords of fallen Blade members.

Macidus explains that after the lions and Lotor disappeared, the Druids began hunting down the Blades. The remaining Blades came to Macidus’ world where they had their final stand. In the end, Macidus was the sole survivor.

Krolia finds Kolivan’s blade and when it flashes she realizes he’s still alive. Macidus reveals himself to be the Druid Keith once fought, and drops a device. Kosmo, sensing danger, teleports Keith out of there as the device goes off and freezes everyone else in place.

As the Paladins are stuck, a handful of living Druids appear and surround them. Macidus orders the Druids to kill them while he goes after Keith. Macidus vanishes and the Druids charge their dark magic to end the Paladins…

.::+::.

Alright, here’s my little commentary corner.

First off, we needed was the whole Kuron-Shiro merger addressed in canon, and not just by the creators in an interview. So, how I’m portraying it is, Kuron was basically Shiro. When Allura put Shiro’s spirit into Kuron the two souls merged. Shiro-Kuron (Henceforth just called “Shiro”) views everything from both sides as being him. He sees his time with the Paladins during season 3-6 as his past, as well as his time being with the Black Lion as his past.

This isn’t really how I would want the Clone story line to end, but since I’m sticking to the canon amount of episodes the show had, this is how I have to go in order to fit everything.

As I was writing this, I thought one of the things that might add some depth, and give us insight into Shiro’s character during this time, as well as give him some character flaws, was by having some of Kuron’s un-Shiro like behaviors be actual flaws of Shiro’s, and not just Haggar’s influence.

We’ve seen Shiro be pushed and struggle many times. His illness, time as a prisoner, PTSD, etc… He’s an exceptionally strong character, and has always been able to push aside his issues and carry on. Giving him this “ever present sense of wrongness” during his time as Kuron, something that he can’t push away, causes him to lash out in ways we never saw before. Sure, there was Haggar’s influence in there, but some of it was just his own struggles at dealing with what was happening in his head. It shows just how much he was effected and hurting during that time.

It also shows the flaws in the relationship Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Coran had with Shiro. None of them approached him about his behavior in the show; they just accepted it as is, while occasionally discussing it behind his back. That’s so wrong.

So, how I view that is that, sense Shiro’s always been the strong leader, they just took his personal struggles for granted. He’s always pulled through his issues, so he’ll do it again. It’s not that they don’t care about him; just they fell into the trap of seeing him as “The Leader” as much as he fell into the trap of being “The Leader”. This is now something they will never allow happen again, he will never be taken for granted again.

This also helps show development in Lance, as he tried to step up as second-in-command, and actually tried to talk with Shiro. While it didn’t solve the issues, he was there, taking responsibility, and looking out for the health of his leader.

Now, I know a lot of people wanted Shiro back as the Black Paladin and Keith back in red, but it’s pretty clear that the creators always intended for Keith to become the Black Paladin. When they weren’t able to write the story the way they wanted, they cobbled together what we got with Keith leaving for the BoM and the Clone Saga. Some of it was good, a lot of it was a mess, and most of it was a disservice to both Shiro and Keith’s stories.

While I know there are people who won’t be happy, I am keeping Keith as Black Paladin, Lance as Red, and Allura as Blue. All I see from returning them to their original positions is regressing where their arcs should have gone. As you will see later on, it’s vital for them to be in these positions.

I will talk about what Keith’s story should have been in S7E5, and Shiro’s role and story in S7E11.

As a small note, there would be no scene where Lance arranges to have Romelle ride with him. If he’s truly interested in Allura like he said he was in S6E2, then he’s not going to manipulate things so he can flirt with a pretty girl. Not saying she can’t ride with him, just it wasn’t Lance with a motive that made it happen.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!

#Voltron legendary defender #keith voltron #princess allura #lance voltron #voltron shiro #voltron pidge #hunk voltron #MyVoltronSeasonSummary #MyWritings

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why-am-i-up-at-4am · 6 years

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Full Review of Voltron Season 7

Hey! So people are very, VERY angry at this season of Voltron saying that it was definitely the worst season yet. I’m not so sure. I certainly had mixed feelings about this season, so I’ve decided to scientifically (kinda) figure out if I liked this season!

WARNING: The post ahead is LONG (seriously, 6355 words) and PACKED with Spoilers. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Each episode will get a point (or points depending on how strongly I felt about it) for a pro and lose a point for a con. The points will go towards the total of the season. I’ll also give each episode a personal rating out of 10 (Just based on how much I enjoyed it :))

ANIMATION (+13)

Voice-Acting (+13)

Points: 26

Episode 1: A Little Adventure

Pros: Younger Shiro accomplishing his dreams (+1) Keith kicking ass instinctively on the simulator (+1) “That emo kid’s doing it!” (+1) Shiro stands up for Keith immediately to his teacher (+1) Keith steals Shiro’s car (+1) Shiro gives Keith a second chance because he sees his potential (+1) Everyone is super concerned and willing to help Shiro (+1) Romelle is adorable, an outsider’s realism and her cute poses (+2) Keith is a tiny space nerd (+1) Shiro sees Keith’s potential and gives him CHOICES (+1) Pidge teasing Lance softly (+1) Lance being friendly to the thing that shrunk them (+1) Romelle mispronouncing “quiznak” (+1) TINY PEANUT LANCE AND HUNK (+2) Shiro is never willing to give up on Keith (+1) Romelle and Hunk are besties in agreement (+1) Lance is a quick thinker and a good shot and it saves the team (+1) Keith and Shiro on hover bikes (+1) Shiro teaches Keith the leap of faith from the first episode! (+1) Keith calling Shiro old timer (+1) Keith LISTENS to Shiro’s advice, but is allowed to make his own decisions (+1) Keith’s dad’s backstory (+1) their similarity (+1) and Keith’s admiration of him (+1) Early introduction of a secondary villain this season (+1) Sam Holt standing up for Shiro (+1) Adam is introduced (+1) Gay representation (+1) Teamwork (+1) Call back to Season 1 “linked at the ears like a pack of Yelmors” (+1) Paladin pile (+1) Keith saves Shiro because their BROTHERS and they LOVE EACH OTHER (+3) “We saved each other” (+1) Lance’s explanation of events (+1)

Cons: The lions, all powerful ships that run on LIFE FORCE, need to be charged? (-1) Lance interrupting Coran’s explanation (-1) Why is it ALWAYS Lance’s fault (-1) Keith is kind of a dick to the other cadets (-1) Voltron makes us automatically strongly dislike Griffin, but they expect us to cheer for him later in the season with no apology or acknowledgement (-1) We still don’t know Keith’s dad’s name (-1) Shiro’s disease is introduced, but never explained or brought up again after this episode (-1) No explicit gay representation (-1) Using Hunk as bait “because he’s the biggest” (-1)

Points: 29

Rating: 10/10 Honestly one of my favorite episodes this season

Episode 2: The Road Home

Pros: Pidge reacting realistically as a child her age to not being about to contact her family (+1) The young paladins are so excited to go home (+1) “I hope I’m not grounded” (+1) Lance’s little ghost (+1) Enthusiasm (+1) Lance’s description of elephants (+1) Allura and Coran’s reaction to elephants (+1) Allura is terrible at drawing (+1) Arguing like a real family over who gets to sit with whom (+1) Learning the Altean alphabet (+1) Romelle wanting to save the day (+1) Literally the worst arrangement possible (+1) Pidge ignoring everyone to play video games (+1) “He’s super drool-y” (+1) Early indicators of the time skip (+1) The wolf teleports between lions and everyone is amazed (+1) Lance using quiznak wrong again (+1) New weapons and formations show something is wrong, namely the pirates and time skip(+1) “It’s super dangerous…it’s perfect” (+1) Keith trusting Lance to help them (+1) “Rodger that, Team Leader!” (+1) Krolia taking care of Shiro (+1) Coran gets trapped which helps in the next episode, thinking ahead (+1) Krolia is a badass (+2) Hunk flipping out of his lion (+1) getting a bayard upgrade (+1) TURRETS (+1) Allura is a badass (+1) Romelle is fearless and also a badass (+1) Pidge talking to the wolf (+1) Wolfie saves Pidge and Lance (+1) Paladins are captured! I love angst (+1)

Cons: The power cores of the lions become a writing crutch (-1) 18 MONTHS (-1) Why is everything ALWAYS Lance’s fault? (-1) Coran being more annoying (immature?) than previous seasons (-1) Power core’s mean the lions can’t fight. It completely negates all their experience (-1) the Lions can’t form Voltron (of course) (-1) Everyone except Pidge and Lance get to have their awesome moment (-2) The wolf is injured saving Pidge and Lance (-1)

Points: 24

Rating: 8/10 I adored the first half of this episode. I struggled to maintain my focus on the second half. There are too many characters moving around the battlefield, and it makes it slightly more difficult to care because I only REALLY care about our originals.

Episode 3: A Way Forward

Pros: Zethrid and Ezor are back (+2) Lance is a dork (+1) Coran’s memoir (+1) The mice to the rescue (+1) The wolf can’t teleport Coran because he’s hurt, thinking ahead (+1) Coran knocked a guy out with his crotch (+1) Getting in disguise (+1) “I will always take care of you Ezor” (+1) They’re gay? Gay?? Are they Gay? (+1) Torture! I LOVE ANGST (+1) Coran tries so hard come up with a story (+1) Acxa is back (+1) Hunk making friends (+1) The power of teamwork (+1) Team Voltron does, in fact, have a soft spot for the small one (+1) LANCE immediately defending Pidge and rushing to her aid despite being handcuffed (+3) Shape shifting Coran (+1) Mice to the rescue AGAIN (+1) Lance taking care of Coran (+1) Coran calling Lance Allura (+1) Keith has flippity hair (+1) Keith summoning his bayard from across the room (+2) “Lance lead the team” (+1) Lance being concerned for Keith (+1) “Can’t we just fight?!” (+1) Paladin campfire (+1)

Cons: Why is Lance always written so stupid! (-1) “Will someone shut him up?!” (-1) No faith in Coran (-1) Zethrid doesn’t listen (-1) Why couldn’t Coran do this alone? (-1) Why couldn’t they show Coran as capable? (-1) Why couldn’t Coran put up a better fight? Let him have a MOMENT (-2) Forced romance between Acxa and Keith (-5) Identifying explosives based on two seconds of observation (-1) Time skip (-10)

*ten points might seem like a lot, but time skips are incredibly lazy writing. An author writes a world and a time period, but suddenly they decide they want something else, so they skip ahead. It undermines all the relationships and events from the first six seasons. The explanation isn’t bad; inter-dimensional travel would certainly cause time dilation, but it leaves the rules of the universe in a float-y and ambiguous. Anything can happen, and at this stage of the show they should really be wrapping up plot lines, not telling us the universe has been thrown BACK into turmoil after SIX SEASONS with only 13 episodes left. This episode also loses the points for it because this is where it is confirmed*

Points: 6

Rating: 6/10 I didn’t dislike this episode. I was glad to see the return of the generals, but I was fairly upset by the demonstration of Coran as this completely bumbling, failing fool. We know Coran is wise, kind, strong, and capable. He deserves better.

Episode 4: The Feud!

Pros: This whole concept (+3) Keith’s soft confused voice (+1) Lance’s pose as his name is called (+1) Bob is genuinely charismatic (+1) the cute boots (+1) the paladin’s cute nods (+1) Keith’s spin (+1) Pineapple Keith (+2) Artist Keith (+1) Keith breaking the pen (+1) Hunk’s cheer (+1) The Galra team (+1) “My lovely wife Haggar” (+1) Grumpy Lotor (+1) Quippy Zarkon (+2) Galra team cheer (+1) Artist Lotor (+1) Lotor smacking Movak (+1) Lance angst (+1) Terra advertisement (+1) Beautiful Lance (+1) More Galra dances (+1) The paladins spelling ROLO (+1) Bii-Boh-Bii (+1) Lance’s babbling is the only one who could have gotten Bii-Boh-Biis game (+2) Sal is still using Hunk’s recipe (+1) Pidge being brainy (+1) Mini golf (+1) Pidge tackling Bob like a badass (+1) The paladins all chose each other, selfless (+1) Each is given compliments and assurances of their importance (+5) Luxia’s kingdom and Plaxum’s bakery (+2)

Cons: WHY THE HELL IS LANCE SO BAD AT EVERYTHING (-1) He isn’t stupid! He knows what these things are! Stop writing him as a MORON (-3) “Lance would you stop talking!” (-1) ….the dumb one? (-10) He’s a social person, why wouldn’t he remember names? (-2) “You’re team is starting to lose faith in you, Lance” (-1) Lance ends up in the Garflator (-1) Lance did say “Bii” (-1) Lance, after giving Keith a GENUINE COMPLIMENT, is told he is too annoying to spend eternity with (-10) Lance is NEVER reassured that he is not stupid by ANYONE on the team (-5)

Points: 7

Rating: 7/10 I enjoyed this episode, I REALLY DID. It was a fun, softer episode after the action-packed start of the season. I LOVED the idea of a game show episode, but everyone was SO MEAN to LANCE? Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy the angst, but no one comforted him or complemented him. It was sad.

Episode 5: The Ruins

Pros: Adorable sleeping paladins (+1) Pidge’s nightmare (+1) 15 more minutes (+1) “Like mother, like son” (+1) Hunk giving up to have breakfast (+1) Keith gets out and is salty (+1) Lance making a plan that works (+1) Hunk is an excellent chef (+1) Using the wolf to deliver food (+1) KOSMO (+1) Keith waiting the dog to tell him his name (+1) Lance acknowledging Hunk is fantastic (+1) MeMaw’s cooking (+1). Knowing the Blade code (+1) Recognizing magic damage (+1) Kosmo knows what’s up (+1) Romelle trying to patch up relationships (+1) The Blade’s sacrifice (+1) Keith refers to himself as a Blade (+1) Surprise druid! (+1) Keith’s wolf saved him from the time grenade (+1) Tension of the under the bridge scene (+1) Using the wolf’s teleportation to your advantage in battle (+1) Kolivan is alive (+1) Allura saves everyone with her magic (+1) Using your Galra ears? (+1) EPIC SWORD THROW (+1) “Good job Keith” (+1) Haggar probably has the Alteans (+1) “I love you too mom” (+3)

Cons: Keith being a bit of a hard ass (-1) unbeatable simulators (-1) hundreds of Blades died (-1) how were two blades and the princess able to kill four druids, but it takes hundreds of blades to take down one druid (-1) Exposition dump (-1) Killing the Blades for almost no reason? (-1) The same druid Keith fought in season 2? (-1) Keith continuing to be a lone wolf, even in battle (-1) Allura’s magic is a plot crutch (-1) The team is free and help Keith, but apparently can’t stop stumbling over each other long enough to be more than a distraction to the druid (-3) I honestly don’t know how Keith saw him, heard him, felt him? (-1) Krolia leaves Keith (-1)

*Krolia’s death is telegraphed SO HARD and I’m glad it didn’t happen*

Points: 17

Rating: 5/10 This episode kind of bored me. We had a good solo Keith fight and some truly wonderful moments between Keith and his mother, but it just didn’t keep my attention as steady as I would have hoped.

Episode 6: The Journey Within

Pros: Shiro and Keith trying to keep the team focused (+1) Lance’s totally right, something tries to kill them (+1) Hunk’s pun (+1) “This is why no one rides with me” (+1) No one letting Allura take the blame (+1) Shiro’s right, the paladin’s have been struggling to find balance for about four seasons now (+1) “We always come back” (+1) The paladins lift each other up (+3) When Keith thought Pidge was asking what flight formations were (+1) Lance using quiznak right (+1) Keith trying to keep them together (+1) Ziplines instead of magic (+1) Hunk keeps his stomach (+1) Paladins holding hands in space (+1) “We have each other” (+1) Lance reassuring Hunk (+1) Sound offs (+3) Keith referring to his time in the quantum abyss (+1) Pidge calculates pi for fun (+1) “Hadoop” (+1) Paladins look freaking awful (+1) The paladins really do be going through it (+1) Not letting go of Keith (+1) Lance initiating sound off (+1) Hunk trying to keep everyone together (+1) Lots of angst (+1) Hunk acknowledging that the paladins are afraid to be afraid (+1) Hunk in general in this episode (+1) Not letting Keith leave (+1) “Are we really even friends?” (+1) Hunk being the voice of reason (+1) Hunk being a good shot (+1) with a MASSIVE energy blast (+1) Hunk being incredibly heroic (+1) Paladins not abandoning him (+1) KEITH APOLOGIZES (+1) The power of friendship (+1) Paladins fighting a huge monster with just their bayards (+1) Lions to the rescue (+1) Forming Voltron (+1) LANCE AND KEITH TEAM BAYARD UPGRADE (+3) “did something try to kill us?” “yup” (+1)

Cons: Four weeks of empty space (-1) Shiro being snappy at Lance (-1) No one goes after Pidge when she flies off (-1) Were the paladins actually hallucinating? Group hallucinations? (-3) Keith snapping at Hunk (-1) Hunk doesn’t want to be a paladin anymore (-1) Keith STARTED the argument (-1) Hitting where it hurts (-1) “Guess I don’t know how to be a coward” (-1) Lance and Allura do not apologize to Keith (-2) No explanation of what exactly the bayard upgrade is (-1) Timeline confusion? Due to Lance and Keith did they get there faster? Not 18 months? How long did the paladins spend in empty space? (-3)

Points: 32

*When I think about this episode after the fact it leaves a bit of a bad feeling in my stomach and a bad taste in my mouth, but that might just be because I abhor the idea of being lost in space*

Rating: 8/10 I think the reason this episode got more points was for interpersonal relationships. People don’t watch this show for the plot, they watch it for the characters. So when you put just the characters in space alone you can really reflect who they are as people. That being said, there was a ton of wasted potential this episode. Liked it, but I could have loved it

Episode 7: The Last Stand Part 1

Pros: Pidge tearing up (+1) The Galra are at EARTH (+1) Appropriate reaction (+1) Colleen Holt (+1) Realistically messy hair, her entire family was missing (+1) Collen knowing where her kids are (+1) “You’ll get me clearance” (+1) Sam Holt throwing shade (+1) Colleen with her short hair (+1) AW Garrison pictures (+1) Sam starting formal and ending with “Pidge, this is dad” (+1) More new characters (+1) Cool new Garrison ships! (+1) Colleen knowing what is best (+1) Informing the world of what’s up (+1) Messages back home (+5) Paladin families! (+3) Iverson isn’t a dick? (+1) Particle barrier that works better than the Castle of Lions’ (+2)

Cons: Evilish military (-1) Sam Holt is a prisoner (-1) More timeline confusion, two years ago? (-1) Exposition dump (-1) We really didn’t need Sam Holt to explain everything, we know, we could have skipped this part (-2) Keeping secrets from Earth (-1) Even more characters (-1) Losing the Voltron Coalition Rebels (-1) I can forgive Iverson for being a dick to Lance…I’ll forgive but I won’t forget (-1)

*Telegraphing the new squadron as the new paladins of Voltron. Don’t know if this is intentional or not, but it makes me nervous. I don’t really want a new generation of pilots, but I also want the paladins to be happy. If the paladins want to stay on Earth I don’t think I would hate the new pilots. *

Points: 16

Rating: 3/10 It was…boring. Not overtly BAD, just really boring. There was a TON of information we didn’t need to hear again. I admire that the show wanted to show that they DID tell the Garrison, but we didn’t need to hear it again. I also don’t really care about any of these new characters, I care about the paladins. This could have been done in one episode, but they stretched it out to two.

Episode 8: The Last Stand Part 2

Pros: Sendak is back (+1) Elephants (+1) Strong particle barrier (+1) Sendak’s strong battle strategy (+1) Veronica! (+1) The paladins do return (+1) Sam Holt making inspirational speeches (+1) Sam Holt using quiznak (+1) Veronica throwing shade (+1) I like her too Rizavi (+1) Veronica is a badass (+1) Self-sacrifice (+1) Leifsdotter remembering the way home (+1) Sam Holt’s unwavering faith in Voltron (+1) “Silence promotes haste” (+1) Recognizing moral (+1) Sam Holt’s ringtone is the Voltron theme (+1) Lance’s family (+1) Smart strategy to contact Voltron (+1) More Sam Holt speeches (+1)

Cons: Tons of human death??? (-5) Killing a ton of Garrison pilots (-1) Killing Adam after barely any screen time (-3) The whole supply run is COMPLETELY unnecessary. This feels so disconnected from the rest of what the show is (-2) Making us think Veronica is dead when we know it’s utter B.S. (-3) Herding up humans. It’s a bit too serious? (-1) Veronica is dead for all of two minutes (-1) The resistance doesn’t really do shit? (-1) Even more time line confusion. Has the Garrison been on its last legs for two years? (-1) Playing the same clip of Voltron 3 times (-1)

Points: 0

Rating: 2/10 The show can’t decide what it wants to be. Is it a children’s show that won’t show blood? Or is a show aimed at older audiences where thousands of people are killed and rounded up to become slaves? This episode was also mostly unnecessary. The time line is also SO HARD to work out. Did Sam send the last communication JUST as Voltron arrived at the Milky Way? Another fairly boring episode to boot.

*This episode also made people angry because of the ‘bury your gays’ trope where people who are canonically gay are usually killed off. However, there is conflicting information about whether Adam and Shiro were really in a relationship. It was just bad marketing on Voltron’s behalf to announce Shiro was gay and then disappoint fans, especially considering what Voltron’s fanbase is like*

Episode 9: Know Your Enemy

Pros: Sam correctly figuring out how Sendak works (+1) Helping the paladins cut off communication (+1) LANCE’S BAYARD UPGRADE (+1) Pidge’s plan is very smart (+1) The mice and Kaltenecker (+1) Throwback to the first episode, being cramped in the Blue Lion (+1) The paladins are home (+1) Lance leading the formation (+1) Hunk bringing up the rear (+1) Keith and Lance working together (+1) “Don’t miss” (+1) Lance nailing the shots (+4) Pidge leaping into her mom’s arms (+1) “Uncle Lance!” (+1) Lance tearing up (+1) Sliding into a family hug and being drowned in people (+3) Hunk family flashback (+1) Hunk’s spaceship noises (+1) Iverson apologizes to Shiro (+1) Coran sticking up for Shiro (+1) Iverson apologizes to Keith (+1) Keith has matured as well (+1) Coran’s explanation of Kosmo’s power (+1) Shiro mourning Adam (+1) Hunk trying to protect people (+1) Sam standing up for Hunk (+1) The Atlas is amazing (+1) Shiro standing strong against the Admiral (+1) Allura knowing her shit (+1) Sam making prosthetics for injured soldiers (+1) Hunk’s flashback to fixing cars (+1) Keith offering help (+1) Hunk opening up (+2) Keith being so impressed with how brave Hunk is (+3) Hunk and Keith hug (+3) Awkward Keith (+1) Keith going with Hunk to get his family (+1) Sendak’s memories coming back is great long term writing (+1) Altea being destroyed because it refused to give up (+1) Flashback to Hunk’s baking (+1) Hunk’s mom (+1) Allura making Shiro a new arm! (+1) Hunk’s determination! (+1)

Cons: What exactly is the bayard upgrade? It’s still unexplained (-1) Why does the Earth team know more about the Galra than the paladins (-3) Griffin is still a dick (-1) Hunk’s family is missing (-1) Weird looks between Griffin and Keith, but no resolution? (-1) Shiro getting literally 30 seconds to mourn Adam (-1) All resistances were wiped out (-1) Griffin yelling at Hunk??? What the Fuck? Are we still supposed to be rooting for this guy? (-3) The Admiral isn’t stupid, why would she think the Galra would stick to this deal (-3) Lance goes missing after the first 3 minutes of the episode, unlike every other paladin (-1) Not saving Hunk’s parents (-1)

Points: 36

Rating: 7/10 I adored the family reunions and the Hunk flashbacks. I felt so sorry that Hunk couldn’t rescue his family, but it really motivates him. Overall not a bad episode. It was another prep and build up episode with a lot of exposition, but it’s setting up for the fight with Sendak.

Episode 10: Heart of the Lion

Pros: Sam being concerned for Shiro (+1) The paladins being concerned for Shiro (+1) Allura gives up the last symbol of her being a princess, her crown, for Shiro (+5) Allura’s epic arm tackle (+1) “I feel great” (+1) Keeping in mind civilian casualties (+1) Lance being concerned for his sister (+1) Hunk making friends (+1) Throwback to the maze guiding scene with COMPLETE trust (+3) Keith trusting Lance to cover them (+1) “It’s a…cosmic wolf” (+1) Lance giving GOOD instruction (+1) Really cool paladin tech, sonar imaging? Awesome (+2) Lance and Kinkade making awesome shots and team work (+3) Sibling teasing (+1) Throwback to the distraction scene on the Balmera, but this time Keith gets it (+3) Pidge thrusting (+1) Pidge’s victory laugh (+1) Bringing back the Zaiforge canons (+1) Chaff makes the people invisible (+1) More sibling teasing (+1) Paladins connecting with their lions! (+3) Lions flying next to their paladins (+1) Lance angst (+1) Concern for Lance (+1) Lance protecting his sister (+3) Red to the rescue (+1) Deferring for Keith for leadership (+1) A traitor! (+1) Some really great music this episode (+1) FORMING VOLTRON (+1) off camera! (+1) Voltron got FUCKED (+1) Paladins are captured. I LOVE angst (+1)

Cons: Shiro’s arm isn’t attached? That’s really weird (-1) As much as I love Cosmo, he’s ANOTHER plot crutch (-1) Why did Allura and Griffin come along? They didn’t really assist (-1) What is with Shiro suddenly being the expert on paladin bonds? (-1) Romelle has been missing for several episodes (-1) Lance and Allura sudden and out of nowhere romance? (-5) Why didn’t Lance and Red connect? (-1) Was Lance connecting with Red or getting ready to die? auditory clue would have been appreciated (-1)

*I just want to make it known that I don’t hate Allurance. I’m really okay with that ship if it does become canon. I just don’t like how out of left field it is. 10 episodes ago Allura was basically in love with Lotor. She has shown no interest in Lance in other seasons at all. If you wanted to give Allura feelings for Lance you could have given her blushies when she knocked him on his ass while sword training, or when he said they were a good team in the Monsters and Mana episode, or when she revived him, or when the mice told her what he said to them. ANYTHING. But there was nothing. They didn’t even bond particularly strongly in the journey home from what we saw. *

Points: 38

Rating: 9/10 I loved the action and teamwork in this episode. The whole sequence of infiltrating the base really shows how much the paladins have grown. Lance and Veronica getting attacked and Lance protecting her really made this episode awesome for me, but we also got the paladins deepening their bonds with the lions and Shiro’s new arm!

Episode 11: Trial by Fire

Pros: The Earth team figures out who the traitor is (+1) Shiro’s concern for the paladins (+1) Keith wakes up to hear who the traitor is (+1) Nunville? (+1) Commander Iverson evacuation (+1) Commander Shirogane (+1) Good intentions, still betrayal (+1) Sendak is a smart and cautious villain (+1) Shiro’s white hair doesn’t look that bad (+1) Kinkade’s awesome maneuver (+1) Leifsdottir is adorable and analytical (+1) The castle crystal comes in handy (+1) Leif continues to be a super cute super computer (+1) Altean magic doesn’t give a damn about engineering (+1) CAPTAIN SHIRO (+1) The Atlas is AWESOME (+2) Hunk reminds the paladins to call the lions (+1) Showing the paladins and their lions from the same angles is EXCELLENT cinematography (+5) Piloting the lions remotely (+1) Admiral is a badass (+1) Shiro’s happy laugh that the Paladins are back (+1) “WAIT! We’re still on that ship!” (+1) Redemption and self-sacrifice (+1) Black Lion saves the day (+1) Hunk tackling his door (+1) Ending on a cool group shot (+1)

Cons: Why aren’t the bayards working? (-1) Again, the Admiral shouldn’t have been so stupid to negotiate with the only hope for the universe (-1) It’s unclear how strong the MFEs are in comparison with the lions (-1) The “connect with your lions thing” is also a bit of a plot crutch (-1) Cheap redemption. Having the Admiral continue to fight while injured and give her life makes her seem deserving of redemption, but it’s a manipulation of pathos. Her intentions were good, but she made the wrong choice at every turn (-2)

Points: 25

Rating: 7/10 Another decent episode. Getting the Atlas in flight was amazing, and it utilized the Chekhov’s Gun that was the Castle of Lions Crystal. The Admiral’s sacrifice was a little cheap to me, but it was a lot of learning for her. The most amazing part BY FAR was when the paladins were trying to connect with their lions. They aren’t just the pilots, they ARE the lions, intertwined with their quintessence.

Episode 12: Lions’ Pride Part 1

Pros: Forming Voltron! (+1) Brutal and cynical replacement of Lieutenant Hepta (+1) Forming sword (+1) and shoulder cannon (+1) Amazing lighting on Sam Holt (+1) They do fire on their own ships! (+1) Leif’s battle strategy (+1) Hunk coming in a clutch AGAIN (+1) Clever solutions (+1) Throwback to pushing the shield plates together in season 6 (+1) WORKING PARTICLE BARRIER (+1) Reflecting the beams works (+1) Shiro is a BADASS (+1) Atlas particle barrier to the rescue (+1) Hunk’s parents (+1) “Wouldn’t be the first time” (+1) Poor Shiro, but he saves the day (+1) Sam’s avatar, just like Pidge (+1) “Victory or death” (+1) Lance saving his sister (+1) Lance starting the counterattack (+1) BADASS LANCE (+1) Paladins using their special weapons! (+1) Shiro versus Sendak again, after all this time (+1) Shiro’s awesome new arm (+1) The lions to the rescue! (+1) minimizing casualties (+1) Keith’s awesome finishing move on Sendak (+1) Lion pride! (+1)

Cons: Sudden base cannons? (-1) Didn’t they say there could be citizens inside those bases? (-1) Couldn’t they angle the plates to make the Ziforge cannons destroy themselves? (-1) Is the cannon blowing up a result of Shiro’s work? That’s a bit confusing (-1) I don’t think Shiro could survive falling through Earth’s atmosphere without a helmet (-1) Shiro doesn’t get to beat Sendak. Keith beats Sendak, but Shiro DOESN’T NEED TO BE SAVED. LET SHIRO STOP BEING A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. Since the moment we MET Shiro he’s had to be saved, let him save HIMSELF. (-5) The season should have ended here, seriously. Or here-ish. The shoved one last battle into this season and it undermines the hard battle they just fought against Sendak (-3)

Points: 16

Rating: 8/10 Every second of this episode was wrapped in tension. Shiro commanding the Atlas is an EXCELLENT way to keep him as part of the action, and he saves the day by taking down Sendak’s ship. The paladins and lions all worked so hard to save the Earth, and the battles were well animated and engaging.

Episode 13: Lions’ Pride Part 2

Pros: Saving Shiro (+1) Yellow Lion to the rescue (+1) Epic new robot weapons (+1) Providing cover for Keith (+1) Atlas to the rescue (+1) Shiro getting back in the fight (+1) Forming Voltron (+1) off camera (+1) Pidge and Lance bayard upgrade! (+3) Sketchy animation! MY FAVORITE (+3) Dual wielding! (+1) Badass sword moves (+1) Pidge bayard upgrade! (+3) MFEs to the rescue (+1) Awesome lighting on the robot (+1) Voltron backflip! (+1) Hunk keeping the people on the ground safe (+1) Atlas mech is huge and badass (+2) Realistically show for a big machine (+1) …Atlas has thicc thighs… I DIDN’T WANT TO SAY IT (+1) Lance and Keith team bayard (+1) EPIC MUSIC (+1) Paladins working together to save the Earth (+1) Self sacrifice (+3) “It’s been an honor to fly with you all” (+3) Fading to white on the paladins, cutting the sound, and the music (+5) Lions crashing in their elements (+1) Shiro’s speech (+1) The paladins live (+1) Paladins healing (+1) with their families (+5) Shay is back! (+1) Rebuilding with help from the universe (+1) Visiting Dad Kogane’s grave (+1) Alteans are back (+1)

Cons: This episode exists! (-3) This new robot is out of nowhere. Thought it was Lotor, thought it was Haggar, was wrong both times (-2) New robot is insanely overpowered (-1) Why is the robot so much more powerful than Voltron? (-1) If Voltron is the most powerful weapon in the universe how does it continually get beaten like this? (-3) How is the Atlas not in pieces? (-1) WHAT??? (-1) How do you ACCIDENTALLY build a giant mech? (-1) I get that the castle of lions gave the ship new abilities, but WHAT??? (-1) Some of the machinery just APPEARS out of NOWHERE (-3) At least Voltron SHOWS us how it’s put together (-1) IT ALSO MAKES ME QUESTION, WHY LIONS? Lion can’t be aerodynamic, or the best armored and now that we see these super powerful humanoid ships it begs the question: why does Voltron have LIONS for HANDS (-5) Of course this robot can change size to fight the Atlas, of course it can (-1) Why didn’t it just get huge to fight Voltron (-1) Last second bomb, but it JUST exploded (-1) Making us believe the paladins are dead (-3) Matt has a girlfriend? (-1)

Points: 24

Rating: 7/10 This episode got a lot of points, but it lost a lot of points, too. I don’t think this episode should have ended the season, but only because it comes out of nowhere. It does set up the next season which I can appreciate. Lots of epic upgrades. I believed for a moment that the paladins had died, and they were setting up the earth team to take their places, but that scene was beautiful. I wish the others had said a little more to each other, just a few lines to say how much they meant to each other, not just Keith. I still think the Earth team might take over for the paladins and they stay on Earth. I REALLY hope that’s not the case.

Final Total: +296

Average: +22.77

Average Rating: 6.7/10

Overall, it seems I did enjoy this season. There are some things that I get simple joy from, like the bayard upgrades, and badass fights, but there are a lot of this that happened that could have been improved. My personal favorite episode is the Feud, despite its flaws. It was very funny and gave more character to the paladins. Plus, the scene at the end where they all chose each other, you could genuinely feel the love they had for each other (except Lance).

I think one of the best parts of this season was Hunk! He was a strong, brave, caring character and thought of his family and friends to give him the fire to fight. He really shone in the second half of the season but had some awesome moments in the first half as well! Seeing the flashbacks to his family warmed my heart, and I’m so, so glad he got to see them and Shay again! He was level-headed, and he was acknowledged for his bravery.

One of the main problems I have is with Keith. I really adore Keith, but he is starting to feel a bit like a Mary Sue to me. He’s good at EVERYTHING, and even when given help from the other paladins, still seems to be on a pedestal above them. I still love Keith as a character, but he’s gotten a bit bland as the show moves forward. One of the episodes where I felt like he had CHARACTER was the Journey Within. I’m not saying I want him to revert back to being angry and lashing out, but he felt more like Keith. I understand that as he develops he changes, but let the guy have a little fun! He felt so stiff and strict this season.

Pidge this season was pretty amazing as usual. Her smarts and tech expertise are always a major help to the paladins. I would have liked to see her succeed in combat a bit more this season. She couldn’t fight because her cannon wasn’t charged, she was pinned against the wall by Zethrid, and she was used as a distraction in the base infiltration. Reuniting her family was fantastic though, and it brings a heartwarming close to her story arc.

Shiro was a hero this season. Even with one arm he is fully willing to throw down, and you gotta admire that. I was a little bothered by Shiro suddenly becoming the encyclopedia on bonding with your lion, but it makes sense. He WAS trapped inside the mind of his lion. Even without a lion, Shiro still guides the team and captaining the Atlas was a good position for him. The biggest disappointment for Shiro is that he was announced as Gay and yet there is little to no explicit evidence. I wish he had more time to grieve Adam. As mentioned earlier, I also wished for Shiro to be his OWN savior, and maybe he will next season.

On to Allura! Allura’s best moment of the season for me was when she broke her crown to give Shiro the power source for his arm. To me, that felt like the culmination of Allura’s arc. She isn’t a PRINCESS to them anymore, she’s a paladin. She’s family. Allura doesn’t see herself as the authority over them anymore, but rather as a part of a whole. It’s also a realization of her dream to fight in the war, to be a part of it. She also showed some amazing strength when fighting for a planet that wasn’t even hers because it was important to her family.

Coran Coran the gorgeous man! They did him a bit dirty this season. Coran was always seen as a bit eccentric, but strong and capable when it came down to it. It felt like a major regression this season, even compared to just season 6! In season 6 when Coran set off the bomb in the engine, it was STILL A FUNNY MOMENT without making Coran seem like a total idiot. I wish he could have had ONE victory this season, but all his victories were given to the mice :/ That being said, he does provide the Atlas with a way to be powered, and he does an excellent job at the helm of the Atlas.

Lance…my best boy…. Speaking of doing characters dirty. Yikes! So from the very first episode, things are usually Lance’s fault. I don’t like that, but I don’t HATE it either. The team is also making fun of him from the first episode onward. And again! I don’t think I mind that, but if you’re going to have a character that is a fuck up (which Lance is, and that’s FINE) then when the character does something right you need to have it acknowledged. For example, it’s Lance’s fault they get shrunk, BUT he saves their asses by thinking fast and making an amazing shot. No one acknowledges that. Another example, when Keith kills the druid Lance says, “Good job, Keith!” When Lance shoots four moving drones within two seconds, Keith says nothing, but he DID give him a shifty look before and said, “Don’t miss”, like he didn’t believe in Lance. You can’t have a character that is exclusively mocked by those around them. In addition to that, Lance is called the dumb one over and over in the game show episode. No one on his team stands up for him. Lance couldn’t even get ONE victory that episode. When they were all complementing and validating each other, Lance was picked by his FRIEND to be the only one to leave because he could not STAND the thought of spending forever with ANNOYING, DUMB LANCE. Aside from all of that, Lance had some amazing action moments this season. He is motivated by his love for his sister and family to save her one the ground and begin the attack on the cannons. His reunion with his family was lovely and heartwarming. Again, I don’t really like the romance, but if it happens I’m okay with it.

I wanted to make this post to get what I was feeling out of my head. Usually, I would talk to my sister or brother (who usually watch the show with me), but I can tell that they are getting bored and annoyed with me. It’s helped me evaluate how I feel about the things I didn’t like and appreciate and remember all the things I did.

If you made it this far, thanks! This was really fun to write.

Additional Lol: This review was twelve pages long :)

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klimpaloon-loves-superwholock · 6 years

Text

I know this is a bit late, and I don’t usually make original posts, but I want to gather my thoughts on VLD s7, even though I literally never participate in fandom discourse lol. So I guess we’ll see how this goes.

There were great parts of this season. Let’s start with that.

First of all, Hunk was incredible and I’m so glad he finally got an arc where he could shine, even if I feel like it was long overdue. Seriously, I feel like Hunk was the best part of this season and I cannot state enough how much effect he had on my overall impression of the season. He basically carried the season singlehandedly and I don’t understand why searching through the tag rn I can hardly find any appreciation for him this season. (yeah jk I know why ha)

Everything they did with the Paladins’ families (from Hunk’s arc about rescuing his parents to Lance reuniting with his family and his relationship with Veronica to freaking Colleen!!!! just straight up stealing the show for two episodes!!! What an icon I love her so much!) was absolutely perfect. (I will say I’ve seen speculation that Hunk’s sister and her kids died since they weren’t there in his hospital room, which I desperately hope is not the case since that really should have been mentioned.)

I also loved seeing Shiro take charge and become Captain of the Atlas without even seeming to realize that he was the man for the job.

Sendak was a formidable and interesting villain who raised the stakes, which made it more satisfying when they defeated him.

I enjoyed getting to know Romelle more and see her in action.

Coran and the mice’s team up to break out the rest of the gang was very good and funny.

KOSMO!!!!!!! A GOOD PUPPY!!!!!! HE HAS A NAME!! I LOVE HIM SO!!!

I enjoyed seeing Lotor’s ex-generals again (because I love them), although I do have some issues which I’ll get to later.

The new characters they introduced, mainly Rizavi, Leifsdottir, Kinkade, Veronica, and Griffin were all great and I loved them! They did a great job of making me care about these new people. (And Kinkade is drawn so pretty what the heck y’all sleepin on this beautiful dude)

Seriously Colleen was so great I cannot stress this enough. I’ve been feeling for this poor woman who thought that she’d lost her whole family since season 1 so I’m so glad to finally see her in action, fighting for her family and her planet.

They did a good job of setting up Admiral Sanda’s inevitable betrayal, even if it was a really stupid thing for her to do.

Ep 5 was great; I was super excited to see what the Druids looked like under their masks, Macidus and Keith’s teleporting fight was awesome, and it’s always great to see Allura’s magic develop more, even when I wish it wasn’t so unclear how/what she’s doing.

Lots of the fights were so cool, from the Voltron team taking down the Galra drones in the cave system in Ep 2 to all the MFE fights to Shiro’s rematch against Sendak to even Voltron’s fight against the Robeast. These fights, I’ve noticed, are always especially cool when they unlock a new ability like Hunk’s turrets and Voltron’s double swords. Also I forgot how strong Alteans are until Romelle just straight up ripped apart a drone.

As much as I overall didn’t like The Feud as an episode, it did have some great moments with Pidge taking down Bob, Allura and Hunk being cute in the background, and the team being overall really supportive and loving of each other.

Shay came to visit Hunk!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, I also have a lot of problems with this season. Ones that, for me, are too serious to ignore. But let’s start with my more minor grievances, then work our way up to the big ones, shall we?

I don’t like Shiro’s new arm. It reminds me too much of Sendak’s and is too bulky/strange looking for for my taste. And for some reason my eyes have a hard time finding it? Like they’re drawn to the light emanating from his shoulder and not the forearm/hand. Idk, but I’m not a fan.

I wish Griffin had apologized to Keith for being such a jerk about his parents. I kept waiting for it since they had all these long glances with each other. I came to like him despite the bad initial impression only because he proved to be a good leader who valued every member of his team and knew when to step aside because someone else was better at a job. But I still kinda needed resolution for his rudeness, especially since he’s obviously grown since then and should want to make amends.

Admiral Sanda’s just so freaking stupid????? Like, how did she get that high in ranking when she consistently makes such bad decisions???? Clearly the dictator who’s controlling earth who comes from a war-mongering culture that enslaves and destroys planets isn’t just gonna let y’all go once he gets Voltron. He’s either gonna continue using you as slaves because nothing’s stopping him or destroy you because you’re no longer useful. Listen to people who know the Galra better than you!!

I saw somewhere that Matt has a girlfriend now???? When did this happen????

They somehow got the ENTIRE BALMERA to Earth?!!!????!!?!?!?!? How did they build a teleduv big enough to do that!?!

Also, where did they get a teleduv? Did the Atlas have one? Or was that something that they built during the epilogue montage??

How did Keith summon his bayard telepathically?? Was that a Galra thing or a new Paladin ability?

How did Shiro manage to survive falling from space to earth on the outside of a ship while fighting Sendak?? I mean I’m really glad he lived, but??? How??

I don’t think we needed so much time dedicated to Sam Holt updating the Garrison and then the rest of earth on what happened in space. I kinda appreciated it since it’s been a long time since I watched the early seasons, but at the same time he didn’t tell them anything that was new information to us as viewers. The only things we gained from those scenes were how others reacted to this info. (And we still didn’t get to see the reaction of the person I was most interested in, Adam, but I’ll get to that later.)

This is a problem I’ve been having with the show since like season 3 or so, but how much time has passed? They actually explicitly said it at a couple of points this season, what with 3 years having gone by for most people but only a few weeks for the Voltron team, but why did that time difference happen? Also, how much time passed between the team leaving Earth and them fighting Lotor in last season’s finale? Because I could believe any time frame between 6 months to a few years for that, which makes a big difference in how old the paladins are. According to the show, Sam landed on earth 4 years before the team gets back to the Milky Way, so I guess Sam left the team a year before they faught Lotor??

I didn’t get the thing with Allura’s crown gem? Since when is that a power source? And I was really struck by the imagery of her literally throwing her crown away to help her friend, but I feel like it would’ve been more powerful if we had been given some information about what exactly that gem is and what it means for her. Just make this more clear for me. Also, Shiro has already lashed out and hurt people against his will, so I really didn’t need that angsty moment for him.

The B-plot in Ep 1 was tonally dissonant from the A-plot of Shiro’s flashbacks, and it ended up being totally useless anyway. As much as I enjoyed Romelle and Hunk’s banter in those parts, they would’ve been better placed somewhere else. They should’ve just dedicated the whole episode to Shiro’s flashbacks and given us more information about him.

If they were going to mention that Shiro had a progressive disease in his flashbacks, then they need to explicitly mention in the show that he doesn’t have it anymore. As it is, people who don’t know about the SDCC announcements are just gonna assume he still has it. If it doesn’t happen in the show, it’s not canon. Also, if he’s had this disease the whole time, then why is s7 the first time it’s mentioned? The way he held his arm in the flashback reminded me of the way he held it when his Galra arm activated for the first time. Did the arm help fight the progression of the disease like that lil wristband did? If so, that should’ve been explained and made clear a long time ago. It just bothers me that this is the first time we’re hearing about this major part of Shiro’s life that he’s been fighting with, and that in show we’re given absolutely no resolution for it.

I guess the gem powering Shiro’s arm and the Castleship diamond powering the Atlas connected somehow?? Which is how Shiro turned it into a giant robot? ??????????????? I’m genuinely very confused on what was going on there. It needed to be made more clear. I was on board for whatever they were doing at first just because Shiro looked so pretty in that lighting, but they took it in the weirdest direction possible. Why would anyone care about Voltron anymore when you’ve got a bigger, stronger robot now? Voltron’s no longer the most powerful weapon in the universe - the Atlas is. And it only became such by coincidence. Which is just. Irritating.

The Feud episode. Oh boy. First of all, I got some serious emotional whiplash from the change to this episode. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the season at all. Second, they just really did not have to spend that much time making fun of Lance for being stupid. Especially when he’s not. Also, the first two of the people he had to identify had masks on, and Lance had only met them briefly. ALSO you’re telling me that Lance, the most social and outgoing of the Voltron team, is the one who’s bad with names/faces????? ALSO spending less time teasing Lance would’ve opened up more time for giving Hunk and Allura their own activities. ALSO everyone else on the team gets a little speech about how they’re valuable, but Lance just gets “I don’t want to be stuck with him forever”?????? That’s so freaking messed up. Third, the whole premise of the episode was strange to me. Like why would an all powerful being who tests heroes do it in this way? It seems to me that that premise fits Ep 6, where they were stranded in space, much better. They were genuinely tested then, and the forces that attacked them and propelled them through lightyears of space were never explained, so saying that Bob did it and propelled them towards their goal as a reward for passing the test could’ve been a satisfying answer to those questions. And fourth, can I also ask why Morvok was the fourth player?? Like he’s a nonentity in terms of villains. And they still didn’t have the same number of players as team Voltron. Haggar’s still alive, so they could’ve put Sendak on there too. And for the fifth player they could’ve put on a fan favorite villain character. One who showed up in more episodes than Morvok did. One who died a while back and who the fans have wanted to see again ever since. Like, I don’t know, NARTI!! Ugh.

The Robeast. I just. This season could’ve ended on a pretty high note if they had just cut that out and just went straight to the lil epilogue after defeating Sendak. As cool as that fight was at parts, it caused a pretty low finale, which is pretty disappointing after last season’s incredible finale. I get that they needed to foreshadow Haggar’s return to this fight or whatever they’re doing for next season and that she’s been working on the lost Alteans, apparently, but it was just a strange note to end on. Especially with the weird addition of Atlas to the Giant Robot Squad. And Allura’s line “Seriously? We just defeated Sendak and now we gotta deal with this?!?!” (I’m paraphrasing) was a MOOD.

Okay, so this post has gotten kinda out of control, so I’m gonna have to save the biggest issue I had (betcha can guess what it is) for another post. So. Look out for Part 2 of this nonsense. Feel free to reblog with your own ideas/input!

#voltron #vld spoilers #vld s7 #vld discourse #criticism

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