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spiftynifty · 4 years

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VLD Rewatch: Season 3

For a half-of-a-half season, season 3 packs quite a bit in and sets up a lot of plot. This shouldn't be surprising; Voltron was laid out as three 26-ep seasons, with each season bringing a new big bad and new theme. Season 3 is our beginning of the Lotor arc and there's a lot of setup and... a lot to unpack here.

For those who are still in "can't do it" mode about rewatching the series (which is fair), here's a quick summary to catch you up:

Shiro has been missing for (it's kind of implied) months. Without Shiro, Voltron and the group are fractured, especially with Keith's deep grief over losing Shiro preventing the recruitment a new Paladin.

Ultimately, Keith takes up the mantle of the Black Lion, Lance moves to Red, and Allura gets Blue. The group is clumsy and outmatched by Lotor and his generals who are definitely Up to Something. Keith tries to play leader and it's a bad look when he's making decisions via grief escapism. The team gets briefly trapped on a foggy wifi-less planet, discovers a bizarro alt-reality where Alteans rule the universe and Shiro is Swedish and doesn't mind Slav, and trails after Lotor and Co who have made off with the reality-breaking comet from Svavland.

Meanwhile Shiro escapes the Galra again, catches up with Voltron, shares a couple lowlit intimate moments with Keith while also awkwardly undermining his authority and jeopardizing the safety of the team, but no one suspects a thing.

Oh and there's a flashback episode about the OG paladins that I'll be honest I skipped since it turns out literally nothing that happened in the past is relevant to the present day and our only major revelations are that we (and Haggar) learn that she was once Honerva, Zarkon her husband was once kinda adorable, and turning evil swaps out your voice actor. Oh and Honerva had a cat who may or may not be as old as Haggar and potentially still kicking around.

Let's talk about season 3.

There's good and bad to be had with this season. Originally when I began my rewatch of the show I wanted to do it as though I were watching the season for the first time. Season 1 and 2 made that astonishingly easy; of all the seasons they seem the most confident about what the show is and what it's going for. Season 1 is for the mild setup and world building, season 2 is for the character building, relationship building, lion building, and problem resolving. Season 2 is arguably the show's strongest season overall so it's a tough act to follow. Season 3... makes an effort.

The good of this season is really good. Keith's grief over losing Shiro surprised and moved me the first time I saw the season and I was impressed with how long they held onto it given the show's habit of moving on pretty quick. Keith's grief holds the team back and endangers it; his early insistence on going after Lotor felt like a way to channel his anguish and maybe get a little revenge for his loss. Keith got one of his most significant character boosts in season 2, and following it through in this season sets up a complicated Keith that we will see for seasons to come.

The other good is Lotor. Lotor is handsome and charismatic and devastatingly cunning and is a polar opposite to his Saturday-morning-cartoon-villain dad. Zarkon was threatening, but Lotor is INTERESTING and his "wait and see" approach makes us the audience want to wait and see what he's up to. His band of generals are intriguing and colorful and I love the variation of their designs and personalities.

And of course, we can't talk about the good stuff in season 3 without discussing Shiro and Keith's relationship. Season 2 gave us some really fantastic growth and moments and entire episodes between them, but Season 3 brought a new level of intimacy that definitely bumped it up a notch. From the slow-moving reunion and closeups of only Shiro and Keith's faces, to their quiet moments alone in dimly lit rooms. This season gave us "as many times as it takes", which remains one of the most beautiful little exchanges between the pair in the whole series. The jury is still out on whether or not Sheith was a hopeful intention by the creatives on this show or just an incredibly happy accident, but looking at some of the decisions made in 3x05 and 3x06 especially lean more to the former. These scenes are more bittersweet now knowing how it all ends up.

There is a lot of setup for future things in general, and this is where it becomes difficult to separate what is in s3 with what will be by the end of s6 (and beyond) because some things we just can't unknow. It was really interesting to see how things that made me very hyped after this season now take on a bit of a disappointing and even bitter flavor because some roads really don't go anywhere. Lotor's mysterious plans for instance, only seem to get more mysterious, as do his allegiances. He spends most of this season clearly toying with the Paladins, clearly prepared to destroy them or let them destroy themselves, but later he sides with them and the Paladins seem pretty quick to forgive this and assume he's a good guy now. Lotor's "side" is never clearly established since his goals never are. The Lotor in s3 is interesting by virtue of the assumption that we will eventually learn all his secrets. But we never do, and that definitely for me taints him as a character.

Speaking of some mixed character motivations, s4 reveals that Narti was either a spy for Haggar the whole time or that Kova was, or both, and yet in season 3 Haggar sends a goon off to spy on Lotor. Even in Haggar's private moments she seems unsure of what Lotor is up to so this later reveal that she was aware the whole time is an odd one and still left very vague.

Similarly, major problems arise with Shiro in s3 but only via the hindsight of s4-6. Everything about the way Shiro is brought back into the fold in season 3 is highly suspicious. From a narrative standpoint I want to say it begins with Sven as foreshadowing, an alternate-reality Shiro who looks JUST LIKE SHIRO but is NOT SHIRO. Unfortunately I think this was less of an audience wink and more of an excuse to nod to the original Sven. But Shiro's Journey opens with scientists doing tests on him, Shiro's pupils dilating to the sound of camera lens adjustments, and Shiro literally seeing a dead-eyed copy of himself on a slab. The words "Operation Kuron" are repeated at least three times as the Galra let him escape. When Shiro meets the two aliens on the ice planet and they accuse him of being a traitor, Shiro protests, "I'm not a--" and never finishes. He does pilot logs into a Galra Cruiser as he tails Voltron. And that's just in one episode.

The next episode has him repeatedly undermining Keith's newfound leadership position (a position Shiro repeatedly encouraged Keith into in s1/2 to Keith's great reluctance), to the point of talking over him and shouting at him. He dismisses the safety of the team for the sake of the mission; something that goes expressly against the team Voltron way of doing things (Kolivan details this in s4) and is completely against Shiro's nature. It felt manipulative to me the first time and it still feels off when at the end of this he privately tells Keith "I'm sorry I had to step in back there", referring to Keith's failure (which was not a failure) and then in the next breath "you're good at this." This was the topic of many a heated debate when the episode came out but from my end there is just no way to see that the man presented here is Shiro and not an insidious clone.

There's a term for this that I forget where the storyteller essentially gaslights the audience for no real reason. Ultimately we will come to know that this is Shiro. A little more short-tempered but ultimately a good boy and not the potentially fully aware evil clone that season 3 hints at. It's bad writing; and the reason that it's bad writing is that the audience is privy to very little more than the characters are when it comes to Kuron and yet the characters are not in the slightest bit suspicious about the behaviour that we the audience sees as suspect. We end up gaslighting ourselves because of bad writing, only to learn that we were right the whole time. And genuinely, speaking as someone who loves all Shiros dearly, Kuron is a whole walking writing disaster. But more on that as we get further into the season.

I don't love the episode, but the Comet episode is a surprisingly adult-oriented one and presents an interesting flip to things and an intriguing hypothesis that I wish had been explored better, or longer, or something. As I've said 100x before, Galra aren't an inherently evil race; they're the result of a 10,000 yr universe takeover. This episode suggests that Alteans are no better, and the broader implications of this are massive and should have offered a much bigger fundamental shift in the characters and the way they viewed this war. In particular Allura, who previously immediately turned against Keith the moment his heritage was revealed, despite having become good friends with him. Her learning that her own people aren't immune to "absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a moment that is not given any real weight or consequence . This is a letdown especially since this potentially weightier-themed episode was self-aware enough of that weight to be the only episode outside of the Voldemort season to show imagery maybe a little too old for its younger audience (the repeated shot of the mummified Altean scientist).

From a production standpoint I noticed a lot of little things. There were a number of hookup issues; some hilariously drawn bg characters, some compositing that worked and some that decidedly didn't. Some of the editing was a little rough in places and some of the timing of things felt very off. There were some jokes that ran long and didn't land and threw the pacing off or stole time from other things. The editing on the Comet episode was particularly off and the characters were visually difficult to track at times. Also, there is definitely a different/longer version of the "As many times as it takes" scene even if it only exists in script or maybe board form. All of the Shiros in that scene were drawn by Ryu, who was often tapped for revisions (particularly for Shiro and Lotor). But the Keith in that scene is not a Ryu Keith; and Keith's "Well--" in "If you're feeling up to it" sounds like two lines spliced together. Ryu's fingerprints are all over 3x06 in interesting places; I definitely spotted his artwork in at least one shot of the Galra post leader and I think a Zethrid. He drew a few of the short haired Shiros as well. I think this episode underwent a number of changes; I remember too that Lance exclaiming "you're looking better" was originally Keith's line. At the same time we get little nice superfluous animations like the foreground gecko. Just a lot of inconsistencies.

Overall it's still an alright season but knowing what's coming means I just don't love this season the way I used to. The little moments that rock still rock but a lot of plot pawns were pushed forward that were ultimately just discarded. I can't wait to see if finishing the next 3 seasons will retroactively bump this season back up to where it once was in my heart.

#voltron #vld #vld rewatch

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thirdstrikes · 6 years

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S6: let it rip (post vld s6 thoughts)

I HAVE ASCENDED AND AM ON ANOTHER PLANE OF EXISTENCE

LIKE I AM NEVER COMING DOWN FROM THIS

thought Season 3 was good? Season 5 was awesome? Season 6 is another BITCH entirely. best season ever, hands down.

okay let’s like talk about allurance this season? because bitches that was fucking all i wanted in life, and i got that and more. i’m immortal. i’m in heaven. i cannot be stopped. i’ve risen.

so basically voltron is a 100K+ slow burn allurance fic. good to know. that’s all she wrote. glad i finally know what i signed up for.

burn baby burn

god allura can like save lives? like she jumped out of her lion when lance got hit and saved him, regardless of the huge radiation belt like seconds from burning them to smithereens. he’s so important to her. he loves her so much. i’m in heaven. did i already say that?

lord lord lord the keith and krolia backstory? like hello, shit? his mother loves him so much, and keith finally knows the truth. all he ever knew about his mother is that she left him? but it’s. like jesus fucking on a toaster strudel, it wasn’t the mission she had to protect this whole time, it was him.

someone hold me, for the love of god hold me.

and two years? like what the fuck? are we all going to gloss over the fact that it’s been two years for them? like jesus fucking hell.

but he got that time with his mama, and he’s missed out on nearly 2 decades of it. i guess i’ll let him have this one.

nghh shiro wears papa kogane’s clothes. i love it. jesus. still didn’t get a fucking name for dad, vld peeps, i’m bitters

also the wolf is adorable and i love it and please name it cosmo. i have dubbed it so.

also jesus shit i saw that fucking lotura shit coming. i knew he’d betray her. and they had to get close for it to sting more. but the whole thing broke my heart cause i would have loved a good!lotor, and i guess he’s kinda understandable. he’s just got the altean purity outlook with galran tendencies, and that’s going to cause issues. he comes from a good place, but his morals and actions are skewed so far to the right it ain’t funny.

poor allura. girl got her heartbroken. i’m here for you baby. (lance is too!!!)

and oh SHE KNOW SHE KNOWS SHE KNOWS how he feels about her. like i literally CANT anymore.

and shiro baby? GLAD THE CLONE THEORY WAS RIGHT.

kudos to those who called a shiro farm!

dare we talk about episode 5, season 6: the black paladins? aka the best episode ever???

the A N I M A T I O N was off the charts! the art was wonderful! it was breathtaking.

keith with studio ghilbi hair like fuck me with a chainsaw it’s all i’m gonna be talking about for the next two years.

please kill me, everything about thsi episode was amazing and you can all fight me to the death if you have anything bad to say about it

KEITH: YOU MADE A PROMISE ONCE. YOU TOLD ME YOUD NEVER GIVE UP ON ME.

SHIRO: AND I SHOULD HAVE ABANDONED YOU. JUST LIKE YOUR PARENTS DID.

ME: *sobbing*

keith’s galra genes coming out to play? i mean who didn’t love that. that’s some hunka hunka burning hot love right there, man, yes siree.

god the sheith scene there was something out of a fanfic and i was sobbing, but i don’t know if it was cause i hadn’t peed in a few hours by this point, i was excited, or i was terrified. kind of a mix of all three probably.

i can wax poetry about episode 5 for the rest of my life. i wonder how long they spent on it. cause it looks and feels like a masterpiece. like amen. you all deserve awards. i elect this the best episode of animation in all of tv and media. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

YOU’RE MY BROTHER. I LOVE YOU.

fuck me with a chainsaw. did not expect to get that. it was beautiful.

can we just talk about how shiro was trapped in the astral plane? he fucking died at the end of season 2. but black saved his essense or whatever. like shit dude. didn’t expect to be right about that.

the others couldnt hear shiro cause they’re connection wasn’t strong enough. but keith did it. their bond was enough. i love them.

also guys guys keith’s “i love you” nearly broke through to kuron. their bond is strong enough to convert even the most deadset nonbeliever.

all versions of shiro love keith, no matter what happens or who they are. it’s canon now, bitches.

okay i think i’m done talking about episode 5.

let’s face i never will be. sorry not sorry bitches.

the last 3 episodes were done beautifully. like the animation was breathtaking. the characters were amazing. the final fight was beautiful.

i could have it be a series finale and the show never continues right now, and i’d be fine with it. that’s how good this season was.

and then them bringing shiro back? like props to allura. girl you doing great, sweetie. i’m so proud of you.

YOU FOUND ME. Y O U F O U N D ME.

on a list of things i will never be over

poor lance. oh my god, there were tears, but he’s one of my favorites. god i loved him this season. my baby i love you. he thought he had failed shiro, and that hurt. jesus he cares so much.

i legit cried when the castle got destroyed. it’s been their home. i think i quoted hunk and i ain’t even seen the episode before.

but now they’re going back to earth and i’m living

and basically this whole season was a blessing that we did not deserve

amen

please come talk to me about this shit. it’s all i’m gonna be thinking about.

#voltron #allurance #sheith #voltron season 6 #vld spoilers #voltron spoilers

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fangzeronos · 6 years

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SDCC 2018 wrap up

Ok now that SDCC is over, I feel like I should do a little wrap up for the weekend. I got to sit and wait for all the trailers and news to come out since I couldn’t afford to go, so this is gonna be strictly from the “Nerd on the Couch” perspective. I’m putting a read more in case anyone wanna skip this.

Titans: The trailer was alright. Robin’s in a bad place because of Batman so his “Fuck Batman” line is justified. Starfire and Beast Boy could still use some work, but it was only the first trailer, so we’ll have to reserve judgement until the show comes out. I’m looking forward to it anyway.

Young Justice Outsiders: It’s actually real. I thought for the last two years we’ve all been thinking it’s not coming and that we’ve all been living in a dream about wanting it back. I was in the middle of the store when I saw the trailer and my heart stopped. Two minutes of Season 2 recap, including Wally’s ‘death’ (HE ISN’T DEAD ALRIGHT!? HE’S JUST IN THE SPEED FORCE AND NOBODY CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE DAMMIT!!!) before we get the new footage. The new characters look amazing, Geoforce looks like he’s going to be a good character, hopefully we’ll get Terra since she’s “been missing for two years”. Still waiting to see M’gann, Kaldur, Beast Boy, and the rest of the season 2 cast, but I’m excited for this one more then Titans.

And since both shows above are going to be on the DC Universe Online service, I can see paying $75 a year for it if we’re going to get more Young Justice. With all the shows coming out on DCUO, like Harley Quinn, Stargirl, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, and all of the older shows like Batman The Animated Series, Wonder Woman, the older DC movies and the comics, I can justify paying that much for a yearlong subscription.

Supergirl: Season 4 looks like it’s going to be interesting. Agent Liberty seems like a decent antagonist, but with the way this show has done in the past, hyping a villain for the first half and then swapping it with a generic bad guy for the second, I don’t have much hope. It looks like they’re toning down the relationship drama from season 2 and 3, which is good. I’m honestly thinking they’re going to screw Lena’s character development and have her go evil Luthor judging by how season 3 ended with her “We can begin phase two” line and having the Harun-El made up that she gave to Alura. A few quick shots of Alex as Director of the DEO sporting a new haircut, nothing too revealing except for the Supergirl spacesuit at the end. I saw it and my mind went to the first Injustice 2 game trailer from 2016 with the armored look. I’m looking forward to the new season, not keen on it being on Sundays before the Charmed reboot but have to get the viewers for a remake somehow.

Arrow: Oliver Queen in prison. That’s a hell of a concept for the season. We know something’s going to change and he’s going to be out by the fourth or fifth episode, possibly earlier. Decent shots of the other characters, Dinah wearing SCPD riot gear was a nice touch, Laurel-2 denouncing vigilantism makes for an interesting idea considering what the hell she’s done in the last seasons. Diaz is fine, not enjoying having him around again but since he didn’t get killed at the end of the last season, it’s fine. Longbow Hunters might make for interesting fodder, but we can’t be sure until the show starts. I’m sick of Felicity, but that arguments been done to death. We all know it was Roy in the Green Arrow suit in the end of the trailer. If it had been Diggle, we’d have seen his face and since we know Roy’s back, it doesn’t really give us many options to choose from. I’m glad it’s on Mondays now so I can watch it and keep up instead of being behind.

Legends of Tomorrow: It looks great. This one has become one of my favorites on the network and I’m glad to see they’re getting more episodes. Hopefully this season doesn’t get shafted and end up getting thrown to a different night or time or cut in the middle for a different show. Bringing Constantine back for a regular spot is a good move considering what they’re going to be dealing with thanks to the fallout from killing Mallus. Dragons, demons, all sorts of magical and mythical creatures. “Couldn’t we be heroes just a little longer?” made me laugh and it’s that sort of thing that makes Legends stand out to me. It can be dark and gritty but still lighthearted and fun. It’s what Flash started to be and it’s what Arrow needs to be. I’m glad it’s going to be on Mondays along with Arrow.

Flash: Coming off of the reveal that Mystery Girl is actually Barry and Iris’ daughter (which I’d had a feeling about anyway since she was so giddy at the wedding in the Crisis crossover), Nora seems to be a fun addition to the cast this year. I’m honestly looking forward to seeing what she messed up, why she came back, and why didn’t she learn from Barry’s mistakes about screwing with the Timeline. Cicada looks to be interesting, and I hope he’s going to be the main villain for the year. I want to know more about how Caitlin was Frost before the Accelerator and Flashpoint happened, or is it a side effect of Flashpoint two years later? Guess we’ll find out in October.

Aquaman: The trailer looked amazing. This might just be part of what the DCEU needs to get its shit together and stop being so grimdark. Wonder Woman proved DC movies can do fun and lighthearted and still hit some dark themes and notes, and this looks like it’s going to do the same thing. Jason Mamoa looks as badass as he did in Justice League, Amber Heard is beautiful as Mera. Atlantis looked amazing. I’m thoroughly excited and December can’t come quick enough to see this.

Shazam!: One of my favorite DC heroes, man. Zachary Levi just killed it in this trailer and I was laughing the whole way through. If the movie keeps that same energy up, I’ll be damn happy. March release for this one and I’m ready to go!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters: It’s frigging Godzilla, fighting his own list of bad guys. Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, all classics that should have been in the first one instead of the MUTO. I’ve always been a Godzilla nerd, so when I saw this trailer I was geeking the fuck out. I’m definitely excited for this one.

Now, you’re probably wondering, “Hey, where’s Voltron in all of this?” and you’d be right that I haven’t talked about it yet. I have spent three days milling over the reveals from the Voltron panel and been trying the right ways to word things, so I don’t seem like I’m being an asshole and damning myself with what I’m going to say. Now, with that out of the way.

The season 7 trailer looked good. We’re going back to Earth, so who knows how much time really has passed since the only indication we’ve had was the week that Kuron was in the Galra fighter before Keith and Black found him back in season 3. I’m sad to see that season 8 is going to be the last of VLD, but I can understand why, since they were only approved for so many episodes. Going back to a 13-episode season is the best thing they could have done. Keith piloting Black still kind of irks me, but with Shiro only having one arm, I guess it makes sense. I would much rather have Allura in Black, put Lance back in Blue, and give Red back to Keith, but that’s a whole other post.

The big thing people took away from the panel was “You’ll meet Shiro’s significant other, Adam.” When I saw that on Twitter, I was…. I’m not gonna lie, I was disappointed. You’ve had six seasons of moments between Shiro and Allura, the Hand Touch, the way she looked at him when he said “You found me” at the end of the season, how adamant they are about saving each other every time they’re in danger, Shiro’s resolve to get her back in Season 1 after she threw him into the shuttle and got taken by the Galra. And now it’s all thrown out of the airlock?

No offense to the writers, Josh Keaton who gets mad credit for keeping this close to the chest and not revealing anything, the fans that are a fan of this plot point for the next season, but I’m not a fan. Don’t get me wrong, LGBT representation in animation/kids’ media has come a long way in a few short years. Look at Steven Universe. One of the main characters is a literal fusion of two she-pronoun using space rocks. I just feel like this is shoehorned in like a checkmark on an RPG character creation. “PTSD? Check. Missing limb? Check. Male POC? Check. What else can we check to make people happy? OH! Gay! DOUBLE CHECK!!” is what it feels like to me. To me, this feels like the writers have been shadow stalking Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, everywhere else Voltron is big and made their choice but what the popular ships were in the search results.

Make Shiro gay, fine. Make him bi, that’d be a better option because then we can ship him with whoever we want and not get comments that say that shipping Shiro with Allura or any other female member of this show is gay erasure. By saying “Shiro’s gay”, you’re shooting all of the other Shiro ships in the face. Shieth shippers are over the moon, Shallura shippers are sitting in a corner, Klance shippers are looking between the two going “WTF”, and the rest of the internet’s like “Why is it a big deal?”

I feel like I should stop there about this. This is already more then a page in my word doc.

SDCC 2018 was fun to watch from a distance. CW brought some good trailers, DC killed it with 8 trailers, and Voltron is what it is. Now begins the countdown for SDCC 2019.

#SDCC 2018 #Titans #Young Justice Outsiders #Arrow #Supergirl #Flash #Legends of Tomorrow #Godzilla #Aquaman #Shazam

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zephi-dreams · 7 years

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Thoughts and analysis about S4

This is going to be episode by episode and very long so here we go.

Episode 1: Code of Honor The Blade of Marmora is affecting Keith obviously in more ways than one, we know that Keith felt he was not meant to be the leader of Voltron and the BoM helps him ghost away from his responsibility. This causes something he feels is right, no longer being the Black Paladin, and something he fears, being pushed away by his team. From his vlog, we know he isolates himself on purpose so he won’t get hurt, instead it has the least desired effect this time. Yes, the team supports eventually his decision on going with the BoM, however, they were harsh on him in the beginning and this isn’t what Keith needs.

Despite all the things with Keith, Shiro (Kuron) gaining his trust back with the Black Lion says something, they still have their bond and the lion knew how much he needed to help the team. If we’re still on the clone theories, it’s really interesting Kuron was able to bond with the lion. But, this still throws away all the work in S3, even if Keith didn’t want it.

Episode 2: Reunion (AKA MY FAV EPISODE) Oooohh boy!!! I’ve been waiting so long for this!! Prepare for super analysis and detail because the Holts are my life.

So, the episode starts Katie staring out the classroom window, until something in the school lesson catches her interest. She gets excited and shares her own knowledge on it, it shows how much passion she has for science. Only for her to be shot down by pre-teen assholes. This affects her to the point of tears, showing she wasn’t confident about her brains, even giving up studying for a brief period.

Let’s take a break to say, because of this, I suspect Katie didn’t have many friends. It’s middle school, a really tough time for any teen and she’s struggling. The only thing that keeps her sane is her older brother, he shares his wisdom and supports his little sister. At a point later in the episode she even says something along the lines of: “I can’t believe I have to go through middle school without you.” She’s later praised and known for her brains. Nerd power!!

Also, it turns out Matt gave Katie the nickname Pidge and used it as her alias. I have my own headcanon on how she got it but that’s a post for another time.

Okay, back to the present and Pidge is out searching for him. That Pidge Jedi aesthetic? My aesthetic. Bargaining Pidge? My fav. Now, she’s got a lead and helps freedom fighters she encounters. Okay, here comes the part where I super analyze Pidge.

Pidge witnessing someone die right before her eyes, when she knew she had the chance to save them. She’s crying, frustrated and feels helpless. We know how much Pidge thinks and rambles when she’s nervous. Imagine her now. “I could have done more.” “I should have been faster.” and etc. She knows the casualties the Galra cause, but seeing it up close and alone is different.

Back to the past! Honestly, this small moment of the siblings sitting on the roof, Matt teaching her codes and frequencies, and them going past their curfew is adorable.

Now here’s where I get emotional. With Matt’s code, Pidge arrives on a destroyed planet, there resides a massive burial and cemetery honored rebels who fought in the cause. Everything about this scene screams heartbreaking: the music, scenery of the 120,000+ graves, the flashbacks, everything. I knew from the spoilers that Matt was alive and well, but the feeling of over a year’s work of finding your family, only to reach their grave, is devastating. This hit me hard and it’s the only episode I recall crying at.

Thankfully, encrypted in his grave, there are hidden coordinates. (HUGE FUCKING SIGH OF RELIEF AFTER THAT HEARTBREAK)

after small scuffle, her bayard knocks off his mask and cue a very happy and sweet reunion. Matt loves his sister and thinks she’s amazing, literally all that matters. Also a bounty hunter was looking for them since the Unilu meeting.

“Stand back, Matt.” “Stand back, Pidge.” SHOW THAT GUY WHAT THE HOLTS ARE MADE OF!!! The animation in this fight scene is awesome like I’m in awe. The siblings using their brains to weaken their opponent and BOTH KNOCK HIM OUT!!! LITERALLY EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE ASKED FOR!! Matt is a tall bamf and I love him.

Some pictures of the Holt family in front of the Garrison is shown (also pre-Kerberos Shiro and Keith in the background, I’m assuming he knew Keith at some point). Matt no longer needs his glasses and passes them on to Pidge, I’m sure they’re mostly for sentimental purposes and she wears them for that. Pidge can knock down Matt like omg. And it ends with a shot of her putting on the glasses and looking up to the sky.

Okay, honestly. This is one of my favorite episodes, it’s just great. I have no words for it. I love Pidge, I love Matt. I LOVE THEM

Episode 3: Black Site Haggar/Honerva looking at her true self, using magic to hide her her true appearance because she can’t bear to look at herself.

We get to see how Matt really is and I love this memelord. Fanon Matt is Canon Matt and it’s amazing. Honestly, he’s relatable when first seeing Allura. Like that Ouran vision is amazing AND THEN THAT SHOUNEN SHOT I’M DYING. JEALOUS LANCE!!!

Okay, here’s where I’m a little disappointed. The reunion with Shiro is a little stale and stiff, yes there’s a hug but there’s nothing about Shiro saving Matt when they were prisoners. Him calling him ‘Sir’ is a little strange, I’m sure he was higher up than him, and him being a Paladin is intimidating, but in a reunion none of that really matters.

zarkon’s going like darth vader with the suit to keep him alive. also CARRY ON MY WAYWORD SON

CUE MONTAGE OF PIDGE BEING ADORABLE AND SHOWING HER BROTHER THE CASTLE

Matt: “Hey, this is pretty goo- d.” HE MAKES FUCKING PUNS I LOVE HIM

I love Pidge’s messy little room, she kept her trash versions of the paladins and even some of the trash bugs. AND MATT JUST LOVES HIS SISTER SO MUCH AND IS VERY PROUD AND I’M SURE THEIR DAD IS TOO

Color coded or you’re an animal is the holts’ mindset. Matt calling Hunk and genius and HE’S SO SMUG ABOUT IT!! HE KNOWS HOW SMART HE IS!!

Hunk: “This one time, we went to another reality. It was pretty lame.” Matt: “Wait, you what? You were in another reality?” Pidge: “No big deal.” hovers away Matt: “My little sister.”

HE!! LOVES!! HER!!!

i’ll never get over how coran and allura talk to animals and like milkshakes. adorable!! Lance playing video games to blow off steam and jealousy. Honestly.. same. I’m so happy they got their video game set up. Lance knowing how to milk a cow. Iconic. HE CHUGS MILK LIKE DAMN SON AND DRINKS MILK BY ITSELF??

TECH TRIO!! I LOVE THEM!! THEY ARE ALL SO SMART AND I’M VERY PROUD!!

CO PILOT MATT!! CO PILOT MATT!!! I LOVE HIM!!

I’m still trying to figure out why Narti was a spy and was given Kova to begin with? What where her intentions? Haggar just wanted to keep an eye on Lotor, she knew something was up with him, and Narti was the only option. Like the death seemed to be for shock value, they could have gotten rid of the cat. Idk at this point. Ezor and Zethrid obviously begin doubting him at this point, wanting to save their own skins, while Axca is trying her best to say by his side. But we see how that plays out later.

Episode 4: The Voltron Show! Now, I’m a fan of this episode because: Coran focus and it gives us a moment to breathe. But, it has it’s iffy moments, AKA the ‘Humorous Hunk’ joke. I hated it so much, like poor Hunk I felt so bad for him. Of course, we know something was manipulating Coran but that’s just mean and humiliating. The Yuri on Ice, Jurassic Park and Star Wars references are great, plus aerial dancer Lance.

And the iconic: Coran: “Allura, you’ll be playing Keith.” Allura: “HEAAHGHG”

Shiro: “I will save the princess, even if it means taking on the Galra Empire with my bare.. hand.” i’m dyingg

literally everyone else is reading the script deadpan as possible and LANCE IS THE OVERLY EXCITED THEATER KID I LOVE IT.

“holds bayard dashingly- oH.”

hip talking coran is so bad i love it.

brief cameos of the mermaids and varkon.

i don’t have much to say on this episode.

Episode 5: Begin the Blitz Wow, we get to see Keith again!

Axca is still trying so hard not to doubt Lotor by telling herself he’ll protect them.

Hunk is accepting of Nyma and Rolo while Pidge is still unsure, that’s unexpected, but she can’t stay mad at a cute robot. I love how she loves robots it’s adorable.

ALLURA SPEECH!! I LOVE HER!!

PIDGE AND HUNK FIGHTING TOGETHER!! HUNK BEING A BAMF AND KILLING A MAN BY ELBOWING HIM IN THE FACE AFTER HE HURTS PIDGE!!

that really hot galra commander like mmm

I love the rebels so much. But like a third of them gets fucking wiped out... jfc

FInALLY MORE KEITH!!

God Lotor looks so defeated when visiting Daibazaal. I feel bad after his plan fails and his generals turn on him. They suspect after his failure he’ll just turn on them suddenly, but they don’t know about Narti being a spying and it’s frustrating. He didn’t even explain it to them, so both sides are at fault here. He wasn’t even expecting their betrayal. Like yikes.

THE WHOLE COALITION FIGHTING!! REBEL FIGHTER SHAY!!

god this scene with lotor’s bONES LIKE OMG I’M DYING LIKE DAMN SON I LOVE IT

Episode 6: A New Defender This episode is wild.. like wow

Lotor flies barely above the surface of a star and lives?? He’s desperate to complete his plans, whatever they are.

Haggar is awesome this episode like she’s crazy and i love it

This episode was tense and had my heart racing, I knew they would be okay but this situation was insane. The fact that the camera is on Lance and goes for Allura first when she’s being electrocuted, then asks if she’s okay.

ANOTHER ALLURANCE MOMENT AND I’M LIVING!! Lance cares so much for Allura and supports her in every way he can. Allura’s magic is back and it’s beautiful!! I love Princess Allura!!

Allura: “Thank you, Lance.” Lance: “That was all you.”

MY HEART

GOD KEITH’S ALMOST SACRIFICE FUCKED ME UP SO BAD

ONLY MATT AND THE REBELS WOULD HAVE SEEN HIS DEATH

FUCKING CHRIST HE DIDN’T EVEN TELL TEAM VOLTRON

AFTER LEAVING TO GO WITH THE B:ADES THERE’S THIS SAD FACE HE MAKES AND THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR HIM OK

HE ALREADY HAS ABANDONMENT ISSUES AND NOW HE’S PUSHING THEM AWAY EVEN MORE, TO THE POINT WHERE HE’S FULLY WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF. HE’S NOT SUICIDAL BUT BELIEVES THEY’D BE FINE WITHOUT HIM LIKE

I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE THANKFUL FOR LOTOR

After rewatching it, I like this season a lot more. It’s pretty good! Now I’m off to read meta posts about Keith.

#my posts #voltron #vld spoilers #voltron spoilers #voltron season 4 #vld season 4

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dani-fandom · 7 years

Text

My in-time thoughts on VLD Season 4

*cracks knuckles* Alright kids buckle up, because this is about to be an entire dissertation on season 4.

So I’ve watched the season twice now, and though I originally really disliked it, I’ve softened up and wrote down all my thoughts as I was watching it the second time around, plus some general overall thoughts at the end.

It’s gonna be under a read more because trust me. It needs to be.

Episode 1: Code of Honor

My least favorite freaking episode

This episode makes me want to die

Kolivan to smaller blade: Do not engage

Me: okay so that’s Keith then

So, like, how much of their mission depended on that guard being asleep at the station

Because he would have noticed the hack if he was awake

Okay, but like, Keith’s right, you asshole

He had the intel

It’s too bad we never see Regris’ face but oh well

This is 100% a fake Shiro, he would never be so short to Keith

But, Keith does need to get his head out of his ass and work with Voltron

Keith: this is your dream, Shiro, not mine

Man I hate clone Shiro

I am 100% sure that he’s a clone

Even if he flies the Black lion

She’s a flip

It’s actually really cool how they’re putting on shows for the people

It should be taken seriously

“It won’t take long” then why did you just reach the Galra cruiser as the show started

*sings softly* I will go down with this ship (Regris’ theme song)

Keith shut the fuck up, you need a lecture

Do not interrupt Allura you bitch

I get it, Lotor is important, but you have a job

“The Mamora can go on without you, they have for thousands of years. Voltron cannot.”

I’m very salty about Kuron being able to fly the Black Lion

You are a fake ass bitch, Black Lion

jk, I love you

but seriously

“I knew this would happen eventually” okay but like, Kuron, you let Keith go on these missions

Like, it’s mostly your fault

My sister watching the Galra attack: I hope Keith learns his lesson

Me, internally: no he just continues to do whatever the hell he wants

My sister: This fake Shiro is better than Keith at this point

Me: oh worm?

“You keep saying you’re sorry but your actions speak otherwise” yes Allura drag him

The group shot is cute

But fuck it

Voltron fandom: hey can you like not hyperfocus on Keith and his plot in every single season

Voltron writers: ok lol *immediately boot Keith from the team and we never see him again until the end of the season*

Voltron fandom: confused.gif

Episode 2: Reunion

MY FAVORITE EPISODE

I LOVE PIDGE SO MUCH

MY ADORABLE DAUGHTER

I LOVE YOU SWEET SMART THING

Matt and Pidge are the best siblings ever

He brought her CAKE

I love Matt

I LOVE MATT

I live for Pidge beating that Uniloo trader

Such a badass

She just swoops in and takes out those Galra fighters in front of the freedom fighters

She’s so cool

Man those rebel ships really aren’t designed for maneuverability are they

I wish Tiosh didn’t die

She seemed cool

“You look so much like him, it’s the eyes.” And the entire rest of the face like they are basically carbon copies

Freaking family of nerds

The lighting is so soft in the flashbacks I love them

“The most powerful processor is right here and it can never be hacked” uhhh are you sure about that

Me: this episode is titled “Reunion” and we see them together, and I saw the leaked stuff

I KNOW HES ALIVE

I know we know that Matt isn’t dead but damn if I wasn’t about to bawl with Pidge

That whole scene? I was wrecked

I don’t want my daughter to cry

Looking at it now, assuming the markers are all rebel fighters, it might be safe to assume that the ones with the lights on are still alive, which is why some of them were on and some were not

I live, breathe, and die for the sibling fight

I LIVE BREATHE AND DIE FOR THEIR REUNION

AHHHHHHH

They never explain what the bounty is for

Like, damn, Matt what did you do to have a bounty on your head???

What kinda technology does the Garrison have that they can fix eyes???

The whole ending scene is adorable

Episode 3: Black Site

My SECOND FAVORITE EPISODE

At first I didn’t like Matt’s reaction to Allura but tbh same

He is a walking shitpost/meme and I love him

I live for the slow pan to Shiro’s face

The sibling tour is the coolest thing ever

Also, like, is Haggar never going to bring up the whole, “hey so we were married and you threw me into a rift to save me” thing to Zarkon?

Like, never?

Didn’t she, like, bring him back to life?

“Hey, this is pretty goo…d.” I love him

I live for Matt being a proud, supportive older brother

I feel so bad for Narti

She deserved better

Also, Kova is never talked about

The entire Kaltenecker scene is sent from God himself

Lotor is talking out of his ass so obviously

It is so cringe-y

I hate Haggar

Why did she have to hack into Narti???

Im so upset about this

“What are we, animals?” I LOVE MATT

Also he was complimenting Hunk

Thank you

Everything about the Kaltenecker scene is executed perfectly

Ezor is so beautiful

Like I cannot stop staring at her when she is on screen

I have no idea what Hunk, Matt, and Pidge are saying, but I love them

Nerd squad!!!

“We have to help” Allura if only you knew

If only you knew

I literally screamed when he killed Narti

Like, oh my god

Narti didn’t do anything wrong

IT WAS KOVA/HAGGAR

I HATE LOTOR

Zethrid and Ezor are so sad, I am so sad

I am so upset

Episode 4: The Voltron Show

Why does this episode exist

It did nothing for the plot

We already knew that they were doing the shows, we didn’t need to dedicate an entire episode to them

Also we didn’t need to dedicate an entire episode to humiliating the characters

I mean, seriously, Humorous Hunk who is clumsy and farts a lot?

Really?

We didn’t even get development surrounding Coran (besides seeing his awesome room)

His framed picture of Alfor??? I love it

It was just him with a weird brain bug

I almost screamed watching it crawl into his ear

I still have goosebumps

It was basically just a waste of 24 minutes

They could have done so much more with it

This could have even been episode 1, which would lead more into Keith leaving because he wouldn’t want to do the shows

Episode 5: Begin the Blitz

Ezor I love you

Also I just noticed how her head tail thing is wrapped up in her helmet

Adorable

Yeah, Acxa. Narti trusted Lotor and she got shanked

Okay, so we see that he and Zethrid are on the other ship, but then when the ship goes through???

What happens?

They say it fails, but shouldn’t they both be dead?

Shouldn’t they have been torn to shreds like the other rift? Or did they just go straight through, and not make it to the other reality?

Rolo and Nyma and Beezer!!

Im kinda glad they’re back tbh

HUNK’S BODY SLAM MOVE

I WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS SCENE

HE LOOKS SO BADASS

Also the Galra he body slams kinda looks like the “Operation Kuron” Galra, but I’m not 100% sure

Okay literally we never see any female Galra generals until this season and we see three with like ten minutes of each other

Im not complaining, but like, wow

“Roger, Ribbit” is…is that a Roger Rabbit pun

Well, bye then, roger ribbit

Nice knowin ya

I love those three Galra we see on the surface

The one that just hops away is my favorite

I mean, I know they’re probably dead but still

Why doesn’t Voltron always use Hunk’s laser cannon???

It works, it takes out multiple ships at once

But they like never use it

?????

“For Narti” get him, Acxa

I love my plotting alien ladies

I wish they would join up with Voltron

But no, instead we get Lotor at the end coming to them

Also, why would they put their captive in the ship with the major destructive lazer?

Like, this is Lotor we’re talking about

Why would you do that

THE ARM THING MADE ME WANT TO DIE

I HATE IT

IT IS SO DISGUSTING

Episode 6: A New Defender

I hate the description of this episode because I was so sure that they were going to have Keith save the day and I am so tired of him being The Most Important

I’m screaming over Lotor deciding to take a nap in deep space

Like man did you really not know those beacons existed?

The visuals of the star are stunning, honestly

Moral of this episode: when Lance says you should go, you go

They wouldn’t have been stuck if they had just jumped into action

But no, they had to stay and look

“Maybe we can get through this energy field” really, Kuron? Maybe? That’s real reassuring

I’m just not going to talk about how those lasers should have hit them as they jumped

They totally should have gotten hit

Are Galra sentries just the Voltron stormtroopers?

I straight up thought Allura was gonna die

I almost screamed

Also did she just never bring up that she discovered Haggar was Altean in the end of Season 2?

Like, really?

Lance’s speech makes me want to cry

I love him

He’s so supportive

He’s the one keeping them all together, I can’t get over it

I’m so happy that Allura is the one who saves them, but also that Lance is the one who gave her the pep talk

I feel so bad for Coran, I can’t imagine how helpless he must feel being told to just get away

I hate Keith’s self-sacrificial personality

I hate it

Hate it

Hate

“I HATE YOU MOM” Lotor, probably

I hate this end

I hate it

I don’t want another Zuko

I mean, I know he’s totally doing this for himself

But still

I hate it

I don’t want him to be Zuko

OVERALL GENERAL THOUGHTS: This season was okay. It wasn’t my favorite (they go in this order: 1,3,4,2) but I didn’t dislike it as much as I did season 2. I will say that if you remember that Season 3 and 4 were originally supposed to be one combined season, it makes zero sense. Perhaps they omitted an episode in the middle to make it seem like two separate seasons, but still. Suddenly Keith is the Black paladin, and then just as suddenly he’s leaving Voltron? They introduce Lotor and then have him separate from his generals and go to Voltron in the same season? Like, if you look at 3 and 4 as standalones, they operate better than they would have together. If it had been one big season, that would have been horrible writing and pacing. It’s better apart, but still.

But anyway, this season was aight. I loved “Reunion” and “Black Site” more than life itself, but I feel like episodes 1 and 4 could have been handled differently. If they really wanted to do the shows it should have been in episode one, where it is already mentioned that they do the air shows. This would further drive Keith from the team, because we all know he would probably rather die than do those scripted acts. But this way we’d kill two birds with one episode, and I wouldn’t have to spend 24 minutes cringing over the secondhand embarrassment in episode 4.

What they could have done with episode 4 instead if they had smushed 1 and 4 together:

Backstories for Lotor and the girls, or even just how they all met each other. We get a very vague sense of loyalty between them in season 3, but as soon as he guts Narti that all flies out the window with little explanation

Why was their bond so strong that the death of Narti would cause even Acxa (whose defining characteristic is that she’s the most loyal to Lotor) to turn against him?

What did they mean when they said that his plan failed “again?” What other plans have failed before?

Why was Lotor exiled?

Exploration of the whole Zarkon + Haggar = Lotor thing

Seriously, the timeline is all screwed up

It makes no sense for them to have had Lotor pre Zombie-fication, plus, Coran definitely would have mentioned that, and/or Allura would have known him prior with how close their parents were

And he refers to his mother as “Honnerva” like who told him that that was her name? Haggar didn’t even know that was her name until the end of last season so who was telling him that?

It’s obvious that Zarkon didn’t remember that Haggar is Honnerva, and for some reason she didn’t tell him when he woke up/when she brought him back to life again

Side note: I bet the reason he’s covered in armor now is that he actually looks like a wreck, like skin sliding off and all that gross shit

Everyone wants to talk about how horrible his childhood must have been and yadda yadda, but why not show us? For all we know, he could have been pampered to no end, or he could have that heartbreaking backstory that everyone wants him to have

Deeper look at the Operation Kuron

Also, fake Shiro never mentions his headaches in this season

But, like I was 1000% convinced that Shiro was with Matt and the rebels, so where is he actually?

Did the Black Lion send him back to Earth?

Closer look at the rebels/freedom fighters

Besides episode 2 we don’t really get a good look at them

Olia is never really introduced, she’s just suddenly there in the Voltron meetings

I didn’t even know that was her name until after I had watched the season twice

It’s hard to feel for characters that get killed when we don’t have a face to associate with them

Star Wars does this very well, in my opinion, making you care about characters/pilots right before they meet their untimely but ultimately predictable death

In regards to the last two episodes, I really really really hate that Lotor is now going to be seen as a “Prince Zuko” type character. You can tell by his voice and expressions in the end that he is in this totally for himself, but we know he is not above groveling and humbling himself to get what he wants. I would love to say that the Voltron Coalition is smarter than that to let Lotor join them, but I do not have that much faith. I already know that Keith is gonna be the first to be like “but he saved us! #NotAllGalra!” or whatever. Idc about that, what I do care about is the fact that he is a lying son of a bitch and I will not feel bad for him until I have a reason to, and we do not have a reason yet.

I feel like it would have made more sense for the girls to be the ones to intercept and save the day. They said they had one more option, but we never see it. I thought it was obvious that they were going to try to appease Voltron but??? I guess not?? Not knowing where they are going is less of a cliffhanger than if it was Lotor who disappeared into deep space, searching for another rift or something. It would have made more sense for Lotor to completely switch places with the girls from episode 5 to 6. Let them get chased by the Galra and have them stumble across the transmissions, realize that that is their chance to help and get on Voltron’s good side, and succeed. Let Lotor be like “I have one more option” and don’t tell us. That is a better cliffhanger (in my opinion) than having Lotor being all snarky in front of Voltron and the girls off who-knows-where.

As far as character development, to quickly sum, Lance went backwards/stayed where he was (I mean we see him care about Keith leaving in ep 1 but that’s it and he’s a flirt again until the very last episode), Pidge went forwards (I guess technically), Hunk went forwards a bit (wasn’t reduced to a food joke, and was actually badass and praised for his smarts more than once), Keith just seems to be regressing, Allura got development in the end I guess, and I don’t care about Kuron so we’re just gonna ignore him for now.

I didn’t really care about ship interaction one way or another, so I won’t comment on that stuff.

I just want to put this out there, I love all of the characters. I love Keith to bits and I just want him to be happy and feel loved. I really hated how they took him away from the team. I hated it! It just feeds into his idea of not being needed and I hate it! (Do I think he left even partly because of what Lance said last season, not really tbh) Like Kuron said himself he was fine with just helping in other ways. I don’t understand why that couldn’t have been the end of it (for a bit at least) and let the other paladins tell Keith how much they want him to stay and work it out with them. I don’t get it.

TLDR; This season was okay. I’m in the middle with it, I just wish episode 4 either hadn’t existed or was made into something else. And I don’t want Lotor to be another Prince Zuko.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #vld #vld spoilers #vld season 4 #voltron season 4 #voltron spoilers #voltron thoughts

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