Voltron on Netflix

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I still have to watch season two, but I was honestly pretty "meh" on the first season. For me, more than anything else, the character dynamic falls rather flat in how static they all feel. When it comes to an ensemble show like this, I feel as though the series lives or dies based on how interesting its character interactions are. If season two improves on this, it might be worth a go.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Yeah, I'd say season two's been better on handling character chemistry. The writers just letting the cast hang out instead of being told by higher-ups to ship them like in Korra helps.

[Peanutbutter]

Other than Keith being a bit bland at times in the first season, I don't see how the rest were "static" before. Lance, Hunk and Pidge bounced off each other well all the time right off the first episode. Hunk and Pidge had great arcs that fleshed them out. Pidge even had a good sibling like relationship with Shiro last year. If anything, I think the current season while good with its overall plot sacrificed a bit of potential character moments for Lance, Hunk etc. at the expense of fleshing Keith out.

[Avaitor]

Season 3 confirmed for this year.

Can't say it's a big surprise, but I also can't say I'm disappointed at all.

[Lord Dalek]

Wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed though. After all, Season 2 was supposed to be out last fall.

[Peanutbutter]

Probably there will be a delay but hopefully it won't be a major one. I want Lotor!!!

[Daikun]

The season 3 premiere will be screened at SDCC.

[Daikun]

Season 3 trailer

New season starts August 4.

EDIT: Season 4 starts in October.

[Dreamer2]

As mentioned season 3 is only 7 episodes and season 4 is apparently only 6, so basically one season split into two. I'm not really complaining though.

[Peanutbutter]

Don't know why the split, but at least there won't be as long a wait in between.

[Lord Dalek]

ITS UP!

[Peanutbutter]

One episode in, LOTOR!!!!!



Seriously, can already tell this series is going to great having him in. He was already one of the highlights of the 80s series, for the right reasons or wrong reasons. This version is going to be amazing!

[LumRanmaYasha]

They made Lothor actually pretty competent and cool, which was pretty neat. I also like his harem of henchmen. They feel like more interesting and formidable adversaries for the paladins than previous villains, including Zarkon himself.

Though speaking of which, I didn't find the backstory episode very satisfying. In fact, I'm pretty frustrated by it. Sure, they described the circumstances of what the lions were originally made for, but really didn't explain anything about how or why the lions and Voltron were created - like, how did Allura's father just instinctively know to make them in the form of lions, how their powers worked, and that they could all combine to form a giant mech? Why does quintessence give them sentience, and why did they decide that need a psychic link with the pilots? It's supposed to be some spiritual thing, sure, but I wanted a concrete understanding of how the lions and Voltron actually work and where they came from, and the episode only raised more questions than answers.

Not to mention it's not very satisfying that Zarkon and Haggar didn't really become corrupted by their own ambition and power but are just being manipulated by the dark quintessence. None of the characters seem to have surmised this, but it's pretty obvious that both of them have just been brainwashed by the dark creatures from that alternate reality into becoming evil. I mean, Haggar did push her science experiments too far to the point she risked the planet and her health was failing, and Zarkon enabled her out of both love and temptation of power, so they do carry the blame for the destruction of the Galra homeworld. But while Zarkon wanted more military might, there was never an indication he was interested in conquering and colonizing other worlds, and Haggar's experiments on quintessence were more for the pursuit of understanding it rather than using it for evil ends. It's clear from the disconnect from their motivations before they "died" and after they were resurrected that their personalities and memories were changed by the dark quintessence to pursue evil ends. While it'd be interesting to see whether Zarkon and Haggar might be able to be redeemed if they have been brainwashed, I feel this development really robs a lot of responsibility from what they've done as villains and shifts the blame to a shallowly nebulous force that simply represents evil. To contrast with a backstory from this team's previous show, in Avatar Fire King Sozin was enticed and motivated by power, there were many early signs of his colonial desires long before he had a chance to launch a full-scale invasion, and in the end he chose to let his best friend die in order to pursue those ambitions. That to me was an effective villain backstory that showed how Sozin's path to darkness was self-propelled, but still humanized him through his tragic friendship with Roku and other positive qualities that could've made him a good person if he had chosen to be. My problem with Zarkon is that the backstory makes it seems like he hasn't chose to seek revenge and conquer worlds of his own volition, but because he's been corrupted by an evil force. I was initially excited that we'd learn more about how Zarkon betrayed the rest of the original paladins and became evil, but now I feel like Zarkon and Haggar have just become less interesting and nuanced antagonists because they aren't truly responsible for the actions they've done since the beginning of the war.

Also, where does Lothor factor into all this? I'm assuming he was born before Zarkon and Honerva were corrupted by dark quintessence because they lost their memories and romantic feelings for each other after that, so when was he exiled and why? Does he know what happened to his parents, or even suspect anything? Actually, is Haggar even his mother, or did Zarkon have an affair? And I still don't understand how the Paladins surmised Lothor is after pure quintessence after learning the backstory. Why did Corran tell them a story that Lothor wasn't even a part of when they're supposed to be figuring out what Lothor is up to, not what Zarkon was after all those years ago? It felt like a really flimsy excuse to do an origins of Volton episode, except they didn't have time to fully explore or develop the mythology to a degree that was satisfying or made any sense. The more I think about that episode the more it frustrates the hell out of me. Season 4 better clear up some of these things or do a better job of explaining what Lothor's motivations are.

[LumRanmaYasha]

One week later and I'm still pissed at that backstory episode. You know they've made a real misstep when the original Zarkon's motivations from Voltron/Go-Lion seem more credible and less shallow than those of a modern-day incarnation.

[Peanutbutter]

On the contrary, I thought Zarkon's backstory was good and did a great job expanding both his and Hagar's characters.