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Numbers, Shmumbers: Season and Episode Numbers in Voltron: Defender of the Universe

As I described in “It’s as “Easy” as I, II, III: Being a Voltron Fan in the 1980s,” keeping up with Voltron: Defender of the Universe was a bit difficult. I wish I could say it has gotten easier over the years, but it hasn’t.

Even numbering the program’s seasons and episodes has been a challenge. Why? Buckle up, and I’ll tell you.

  • The program’s 124 regular-length episodes can be thought of as comprising three “seasons.” In original air date order, the seasons are:
    1. 52 Lion Force episodes adapted from Beast King Golion
    2. 52 Vehicle Team episodes adapted from Armored Fleet Dairugger XV
    3. 20 Lion Force episodes which were animated specifically for Voltron
  • In original air date order, a small number of second-season (Vehicle Team) episodes originally aired in the middle of the first season.
  • As I described in “Out of Order: Voltron vs. Golion and Dairugger”:
    • The episodes of Voltron‘s first season originally aired out of sequence with respect to the corresponding episodes of Beast King Golion.
    • The episodes of Voltron‘s second season originally aired out of sequence with respect to the corresponding episodes of Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
  • The double-length “Fleet of Doom” episode, which was animated specifically for Voltron, isn’t considered one of the program’s episodes, but rather a distinct production; however, in some markets, the episode was edited into two regular-length episodes that aired alongside the program’s 124 regular episodes.
  • While examining scripts from Voltron, I learned about the episodes’ production numbers:
    1. The first season’s 52 episodes have production numbers 201-252. Their sequence matches that of the Beast King Golion episodes from which they were adapted.
    2. The second season’s 52 episodes have production numbers 101-152. Their sequence matches that of the Armored Fleet Dairugger XV episodes from which they were adapted.
    3. The third season’s 20 episodes have production numbers 301-317 and 319-321. Their sequence matches that of the episodes’ original air dates.
    4. The third-season episode with production number 318 was never completed or aired. Video-only excerpts from this unfinished episode were an extra in the Media Blasters DVD sets of the mid-2000s.
    5. The “Fleet of Doom” script has no production number.
  • In the original “Voltron Trilogy” concept for Voltron:
    1. Voltron I, which later became known as Vehicle Team Voltron, was the titular robot in Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
    2. Voltron II was the titular robot from Lightspeed Electroid Albegas.
    3. Voltron III, which later became known as Lion Force Voltron, was the titular robot in Beast King Golion.
  • That “Voltron I’s” 52 episodes have production numbers in the 100s, and “Voltron III’s” initial 52 episodes have production numbers in the 200s, suggests that the decision not to adapt Lightspeed Electroid Albegas into “Voltron II” was made fairly early in production — perhaps even during pre-production.
  • The Madman Entertainment DVDs of the early 2000s and the Universal DVDs of 2019 numbered the Voltron episodes as follows:
    1. The first season’s 52 episodes are numbered as “Lion Force” episodes 1-52. Their sequence matches that of the Beast King Golion episodes from which they were adapted.
    2. The third season’s 20 episodes are numbered as “Lion Force” episodes 53-72. Their sequence matches that of the episodes’ original air dates.
    3. The second season’s 52 episodes are numbered as “Vehicle Force” episodes 1-52. Their sequence matches that of the Armored Fleet Dairugger XV episodes from which they were adapted.
  • The Media Blasters DVDs of the mid-2000s numbered the Voltron episodes as follows:
    1. The first season’s 52 episodes are numbered as episodes 1-52. Their sequence matches that of the Beast King Golion episodes from which they were adapted.
    2. The third season’s 20 episodes are numbered as episodes 53-72. Their sequence matches that of the episodes’ original air dates.
    3. The second season’s 52 episodes are numbered as episodes 73-124. Their sequence matches that of the Armored Fleet Dairugger XV episodes from which they were adapted.

The table below is my attempt to capture all this information in one place. You can sort a column by clicking on its header. You can sort multiple columns by holding the Shift key while you select multiple columns. (Sorting by multiple columns probably won’t work on most mobile browsers.)

The abbreviated column headers are as follows:

  • Prod #: Voltron production number
  • Seas: Voltron season number (in original air date order)
  • Bot: Indicates Lion Force Voltron or Vehicle Team Voltron
  • Seas for Bot: For a given Voltron robot (Lion Force Voltron or Vehicle Team Voltron), the season number (in original air date order)
  • Title: Episode title
  • OAD: Original air date
  • MB DVD Ep #: Episode number according to the Media Blasters DVDs of the mid-2000s
  • ME / Univ DVD Ep #: Episode number according to the Madman Entertainment DVDs of the early 2000s and the Universal Home Entertainment DVDs of 2019
  • An: Original anime program (Beast King Golion or Armored Fleet Dairugger XV)
  • An Ep #: Anime program episode number
  • An Title: Anime program episode title
  • An OAD: Anime program episode original air date
Prod # Seas Bot Seas for Bot Title OAD MB DVD Ep # ME / Univ DVD Ep # An An Ep # An Title An OAD
201 1 Lion 1 Space Explorers Captured 1984-09-10 1 1 G 1 Escape from Slave Castle 1981-03-04
202 1 Lion 1 Escape to Another Planet 1984-09-11 2 2 G 2 Ruined Phantom Planet, The 1981-03-11
203 1 Lion 1 Ghost and Four Keys, A 1984-09-12 3 3 G 3 Ghost and the Five Keys, A 1981-03-18
204 1 Lion 1 Missing Key, The 1984-09-13 4 4 G 4 Resurrection of the Legendary Giant 1981-03-25
205 1 Lion 1 Princess Joins Up 1984-09-14 5 5 G 5 Fortress for the New Struggle 1981-04-01
206 1 Lion 1 Right Arm of Voltron, The 1984-09-17 6 6 G 6 Death of Shirogane the Hero 1981-04-08
207 1 Lion 1 Lion Has New Claws, The 1984-09-18 7 7 G 7 Beautiful Princess’ Battle, The 1981-04-15
208 1 Lion 1 Stolen Lion, The 1984-09-26 8 8 G 8 Stolen Blue Lion 1981-04-22
209 1 Lion 1 Pretty Spy, A 1984-09-27 9 9 G 9 Girl of the Land of Evil 1981-04-29
210 1 Lion 1 Secret of the White Lion 1984-09-28 10 10 G 10 Secret of the White Lion 1981-05-06
211 1 Lion 1 Surrender 1984-10-01 11 11 G 11 Red Rain of Hell, The 1981-05-13
212 1 Lion 1 Bad Birthday Party 1984-10-08 12 12 G 12 Evildoing of the Emperor 1981-05-20
213 1 Lion 1 Witch Gets a Facelift, The 1984-10-12 13 13 G 13 Introducing Beautiful Honerva 1981-05-27
214 1 Lion 1 Yurak Gets His Pink Slip 1984-10-02 14 14 G 14 Crown Prince of Hell, The 1981-06-03
215 1 Lion 1 Give Me Your Princess 1984-10-03 15 15 G 15 Overcome the Phantom of Shirogane 1981-06-10
216 1 Lion 1 Bridge Over the River Chozzerai 1984-10-04 16 16 G 16 Legendary Bridge of Love, The 1981-06-17
217 1 Lion 1 My Brother is a Robeast 1984-11-19 17 17 G 17 Challenge from Space 1981-06-24
218 1 Lion 1 Zarkon is Dying 1984-10-05 18 18 G 18 Footsteps in the Forest of Fear 1981-07-01
219 1 Lion 1 Buried Castle, The 1984-10-16 19 19 G 19 Mystery of Ghost Castle, The 1981-07-08
220 1 Lion 1 Pidge’s Home Planet 1984-10-25 20 20 G 20 Goodbye, Earth 1981-07-15
221 1 Lion 1 It’ll Be a Cold Day 1984-11-21 21 21 G 21 Altea’s Sister Planet 1981-07-22
222 1 Lion 1 Deadly Flowers, The 1984-10-09 22 22 G 22 Plantom Space Flowers 1981-07-29
223 1 Lion 1 It Takes Real Lions 1984-10-17 23 23 G 23 Friday the 13th 1981-08-05
224 1 Lion 1 Raid of the Alien Mice 1984-10-10 24 24 G 24 Look for the Little Shadows 1981-08-12
225 1 Lion 1 Short Run of the Centipede Express 1984-10-11 25 25 G 25 Destroy the Giant Cannon! 1981-08-19
226 1 Lion 1 Invisible Robeast, The 1984-10-26 26 26 G 26 Defeat the Invisible Enemy 1981-08-26
227 1 Lion 1 Green Medusa, The 1984-10-15 27 27 G 27 Giant Beastman’s Lullaby 1981-09-02
228 1 Lion 1 Treasure of Planet Tyrus, The 1984-10-30 28 28 G 28 Demon’s Birthday, The 1981-09-09
229 1 Lion 1 Magnetic Attraction 1984-11-06 29 29 G 29 Comes a Fiery Sky 1981-09-16
230 1 Lion 1 Sleeping Princess, The 1984-10-18 30 30 G 30 Prince Imperial’s Dark Love, The 1981-09-23
231 1 Lion 1 Sincerest Form of Flattery, The 1984-10-31 31 31 G 31 Dreaded Mecha Beastman, The 1981-09-30
232 1 Lion 1 Transplant for the Blue Lion, A 1984-11-15 32 32 G 32 Behold the Hundred-Ton Punch 1981-10-07
233 1 Lion 1 Attack of the Fierce Frogs 1984-11-08 33 33 G 33 Terror of the Space Frogs 1981-10-14
234 1 Lion 1 Lotor Traps Pidge 1984-10-19 34 34 G 34 Underground Operation 1981-10-21
235 1 Lion 1 Doom Boycotts the Space Olympics 1984-10-29 35 35 G 35 Protect the Soccer Field 1981-10-28
236 1 Lion 1 Lotor’s Clone 1984-11-07 36 36 G 36 Mortal Combat of Light and Shadow 1981-11-04
237 1 Lion 1 Lotor’s New Hit Man 1984-11-14 37 37 G 37 Space Speed Demon 1981-11-11
238 1 Lion 1 Raid of the Red Berets 1984-11-16 38 38 G 38 GoLion Hunting 1981-11-18
239 1 Lion 1 Captive Comet, The 1984-10-22 39 39 G 39 Hypergravity Planetoid Trap, The 1981-11-25
240 1 Lion 1 Little Prince, The 1984-10-23 40 40 G 40 No Tomorrow for Altea 1981-12-02
241 1 Lion 1 There Will Be a Royal Wedding 1984-10-24 41 41 G 41 Brave Shirogane’s Brother 1981-12-09
242 1 Lion 1 Sand People, The 1984-11-05 42 42 G 42 Sand Planet of Death, The 1981-12-16
243 1 Lion 1 Voltron Frees the Slaves 1984-11-12 43 43 G 43 Angry Youth Suicide Corp 1981-12-23
244 1 Lion 1 Voltron Versus Voltron 1984-11-09 44 44 G 44 Planet Jarre Oath, The 1981-12-30
245 1 Lion 1 One Princess to Another 1984-11-20 45 45 G 45 Great Army of Darkness, The 1982-01-06
246 1 Lion 1 Mighty Space Mouse 1984-11-13 46 46 G 46 Fight Back, Space Mice 1982-01-13
247 1 Lion 1 Summit Meeting 1984-11-22 47 47 G 47 Seven Free Planets, The 1982-01-20
248 1 Lion 1 Return of Conan’s Son 1984-11-01 48 48 G 48 Reunion with the Phantom 1982-01-27
249 1 Lion 1 Coran’s Son Runs Amuck 1984-11-02 49 49 G 49 Last of Hys, The 1982-02-03
250 1 Lion 1 Zarkon Becomes a Robeast 1984-11-23 50 50 G 50 Great Storming of Galra, The 1982-02-10
251 1 Lion 1 Lotor the King 1984-11-26 51 51 G 51 GoLion’s Desperate Battle 1982-02-17
252 1 Lion 1 Final Victory 1984-11-27 52 52 G 52 Burn Galra Castle 1982-02-24
301 3 Lion 2 Dinner and a Show 1985-10-21 53 53
302 3 Lion 2 Envoy from Galaxy Garrison 1985-10-22 54 54
303 3 Lion 2 Mousemania 1985-10-23 55 55
304 3 Lion 2 Shell Game, The 1985-10-24 56 56
305 3 Lion 2 Traitor, The 1985-10-25 57 57
306 3 Lion 2 Voltron Meets Jungle Woman 1985-10-28 58 58
307 3 Lion 2 Little Buddies 1985-10-29 59 59
308 3 Lion 2 Who Was that Masked Man? 1985-10-30 60 60
309 3 Lion 2 Take a Robot to Lunch 1985-11-01 61 61
310 3 Lion 2 War and Peace… and Doom! 1985-11-04 62 62
311 3 Lion 2 Who’s Flying the Blue Lion and the Return of Sven 1985-11-05 63 63
312 3 Lion 2 Enter Merla: Queen of Darkness 1985-11-06 64 64
313 3 Lion 2 Ghost of a Chance, A 1985-11-07 65 65
314 3 Lion 2 To Soothe the Savage Robeast 1985-11-08 66 66
315 3 Lion 2 Doom Girls on the Prowl 1985-11-11 67 67
316 3 Lion 2 With Friends Like You 1985-11-12 68 68
317 3 Lion 2 Lotor – My Hero? 1985-11-13 69 69
319 3 Lion 2 No Muse is Good Muse 1985-11-14 70 70
320 3 Lion 2 Alliance Strikes Back, The 1985-11-15 71 71
321 3 Lion 2 Breaking Up is Hard to Doom 1985-11-18 72 72
101 2 Vehicle 1 In Search of New Worlds 1984-09-19 73 1 D 1 Galactic Clash 1982-03-03
102 2 Vehicle 1 First Day on a New World 1984-10-27 74 2 D 2 Isolated Regiment, The 1982-03-10
103 2 Vehicle 1 Building a New World 1984-11-03 75 3 D 3 Farewell, Achilles 1982-03-17
104 2 Vehicle 1 Goodbye New World 1984-11-10 76 4 D 4 Rescue Mission TO Hell 1982-03-24
105 2 Vehicle 1 Try This World for Size 1984-11-17 77 5 D 5 Battle of the Experiment Fleet 1982-03-31
106 2 Vehicle 1 Storm of Meteors, A 1984-09-20 78 6 D 6 Fall to the Meteor Shower 1982-04-07
107 2 Vehicle 1 Help Not Wanted 1984-09-29 79 7 D 7 Annihilation of the Reinforcement Fleet 1982-04-14
108 2 Vehicle 1 Ghost Fleet from Another Planet 1984-10-07 80 8 D 8 Specters of the Binary System 1982-04-21
109 2 Vehicle 1 Very Short Vacation, A 1985-01-14 81 9 D 9 Glorious Suicide Corps, The 1982-04-28
110 2 Vehicle 1 Planet of the Bats 1984-09-21 82 10 D 10 Sneak Attack on the Space Fortress 1982-05-05
111 2 Vehicle 1 Temporary Truce, A 1984-12-14 83 11 D 11 Momentary Truce, A 1982-05-12
112 2 Vehicle 1 Wolo’s Lost World 1984-12-17 84 12 D 12 Legend of the Space Forest 1982-05-19
113 2 Vehicle 1 Planet Stop for Repairs 1984-12-24 85 13 D 13 Enemy Within the Mind, The 1982-05-26
114 2 Vehicle 1 Curious Comet, A 1984-12-25 86 14 D 14 Earth Fleet’s Counterattack, The 1982-06-02
115 2 Vehicle 1 In the Enemy Camp 1985-03-05 87 15 D 15 Breakdown of the Space Talks 1982-06-09
116 2 Vehicle 1 Who’s on First 1984-12-18 88 16 D 16 Two Rebellions, The 1982-06-16
117 2 Vehicle 1 No, Who’s on Second 1985-01-15 89 17 D 17 Orders For Asimov’s Return 1982-06-23
118 2 Vehicle 1 What’s on First 1985-01-16 90 18 D 18 Touch and Go Situation, A 1982-06-30
119 2 Vehicle 1 Great Stone Space Faces 1985-01-17 91 19 D 19 Red Moon Rising 1982-07-07
120 2 Vehicle 1 Defend the New World 1984-12-19 92 20 D 20 Desperate Struggle for Planet K 1982-07-14
121 2 Vehicle 1 Meanwhile Back at Galaxy Garrison 1984-12-28 93 21 D 21 Arise Galaxy Garrison 1982-07-21
122 2 Vehicle 1 Nerok Scores Big 1985-01-18 94 22 D 22 Ex-Commander Teles 1982-07-28
123 2 Vehicle 1 Hazar on the Carpet 1984-12-20 95 23 D 23 Mission to Recapture Planet K, The 1982-08-04
124 2 Vehicle 1 Hazar is Demoted 1984-12-26 96 24 D 24 Riot on Galveston 1982-08-11
125 2 Vehicle 1 Just Like Earth 1985-01-07 97 25 D 25 Bitter Struggle on the Planet of Light 1982-08-18
126 2 Vehicle 1 Planet Trap, The 1984-12-31 98 26 D 26 Snare of the Hell Planet, The 1982-08-25
127 2 Vehicle 1 Save the Space Station 1985-02-01 99 27 D 27 Storming the Space Fortress 1982-09-01
128 2 Vehicle 1 Planet of the Amazons 1985-01-02 100 28 D 28 Eldora’s Plea 1982-09-08
129 2 Vehicle 1 Revolt of the Slaves 1985-01-11 101 29 D 29 Uprising of the Space Fort 1982-09-15
130 2 Vehicle 1 Raid on Galaxy Garrison 1985-01-21 102 30 D 30 Earth’s State of Emergency 1982-09-22
131 2 Vehicle 1 Smashing the Meteor Barrier 1985-01-01 103 31 D 31 Locate Enemy Headquarters 1982-09-29
132 2 Vehicle 1 Man-Made Sun, A 1985-01-03 104 32 D 32 Destruction of the Front Line Base 1982-10-06
133 2 Vehicle 1 Captain Newley Returns 1984-12-27 105 33 D 33 New Allied Fleet to the Rescue, The 1982-10-13
134 2 Vehicle 1 Hazar Bucks the Empire 1985-01-24 106 34 D 34 Planet of the Burning Cave 1982-10-20
135 2 Vehicle 1 Letters from Home 1984-12-21 107 35 D 35 Get Yourself Together, Mutsu 1982-10-27
136 2 Vehicle 1 Peace! A Fish Story 1985-01-25 108 36 D 36 Desperate Undersea Combining, A 1982-11-03
137 2 Vehicle 1 Red Moon People, The 1985-01-08 109 37 D 37 Air Rugger Vanishes 1982-11-10
138 2 Vehicle 1 This World’s for the Birds 1985-01-09 110 38 D 38 Emma, the Female Captain 1982-11-17
139 2 Vehicle 1 That’s the Old Ball Game 1985-02-04 111 39 D 39 Tears of a Rugby Player, The 1982-11-24
140 2 Vehicle 1 Red Moon Rises Again 1985-01-31 112 40 D 40 Boy Denon and the Elk, The 1982-12-01
141 2 Vehicle 1 Another Solar System 1985-01-29 113 41 D 41 Discovery of the New World 1982-12-08
142 2 Vehicle 1 Whose World Is It? 1985-01-30 114 42 D 42 Impending Crisis on the Inhabitable Planet 1982-12-15
143 2 Vehicle 1 It’s Anybody’s World 1985-02-05 115 43 D 43 Teles and Asimov 1982-12-22
144 2 Vehicle 1 Frozen Assets 1985-02-06 116 44 D 44 Aki Team Gets Caught 1982-12-29
145 2 Vehicle 1 Coconuts 1985-02-07 117 45 D 45 Defend the Third Planet 1983-01-05
146 2 Vehicle 1 It Could Be a Long War 1985-02-08 118 46 D 46 Fall of the Survey Base, The 1983-01-12
147 2 Vehicle 1 Color Me Invisible 1985-02-11 119 47 D 47 Invisible Super Weapon, The 1983-01-19
148 2 Vehicle 1 Time Is Running Out 1985-02-12 120 48 D 48 Get Past the Tenth Planet 1983-01-26
149 2 Vehicle 1 Zero Hour Approaches 1985-02-13 121 49 D 49 Entering the Final Zone of Defense 1983-02-02
150 2 Vehicle 1 Drules’ World Cracks Up, The 1985-02-14 122 50 D 50 Struggle for Galveston, The 1983-02-09
151 2 Vehicle 1 Drules Surrender, The 1985-02-15 123 51 D 51 Fierce Battle in the Underground City 1983-02-16
152 2 Vehicle 1 End of Hazar’s World, The 1985-02-18 124 52 D 52 Galactic Dawn 1983-02-23
Fleet of Doom 1986-09-10