I was of a single-digit age when I first watched VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE in 1984. Over four decades later, I still recall having been confused by the ways in which the show’s opening narration refers to universes, galaxies, and solar systems. Here is the troubling part of the narration, with all the astronomical terms emphasized.
From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend: the legend of Voltron, Defender of The Universe — a mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil. As Voltron’s legend grew, peace settled across the galaxy. On planet Earth, a Galaxy Alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe…until a new horrible menace threatened the galaxy.
The opening narration seems to suggest that a universe, a galaxy, and a solar system are the same thing. Even at that young age, I already understood what a solar system was, what a galaxy was, and what the universe was. They weren’t the same thing.
A solar system is a group of planets that orbit one or more suns.
A galaxy is a group of solar systems.
The universe is the group of galaxies and…everything else.
Despite this understanding, I was also young enough to have thought that because VOLTRON was written by grown-ups, maybe they knew things about space that I didn’t. Maybe Optimus Prime’s voice actor was using those astronomical terms correctly in some way that I didn’t yet understand.
The Right Stuff
As an adult, I’ve assumed that the writer used the terms “universe” and “galaxy” and “solar system” interchangeably, as if they were synonyms, simply to prevent the use of the word “universe” from exceeding the use of the word “the.”
Does the narration misuse the terms? Let’s examine.
“The legend of Voltron, Defender of the Universe,” comes “from uncharted regions of the universe.” This is fine.
“Voltron’s legend grew,” and it is implied that the legend catalyzed the peace that “settled across the galaxy.” Based on the next statement, “the galaxy” is presumably the Milky Way, home to Earth. This is fine.
“On Planet Earth, a Galaxy Alliance was formed.” This is fine.
The next statement is not so fine.
Houston, We Have a Problem?
The next, last space statement is where things seem to fall apart.
“Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe…until a new horrible menace threatened the galaxy.”
“They” refers to the Galaxy Alliance. It seems that the Alliance’s initial members included Earth and other “good planets” in Earth’s solar system. In the real world, we know of no sentient life on any planet but Earth, so VOLTRON‘s non-Earth “good planets” are presumably colonies. The presence of colony planets might be a precursor to the overcrowded galaxy that is repeatedly mentioned in the Vehicle Team episodes of VOLTRON.
What is unclear is why or how the Galaxy Alliance, whose initial members hail from a single solar system, could maintain “peace throughout the universe,” or even Earth’s galaxy. Perhaps the Alliance began with an overly ambitious charter, or maybe the charter was humbler at the start and gradually expanded to “throughout the universe” as more planets joined the Alliance from beyond Earth’s solar system and even beyond Earth’s galaxy. Example Alliance member planets from non-Earth solar systems include Arus, Pollux, Krik and Cinda’s home world, and Wolo and Tangor’s home world. Regardless, the claim that the Alliance “maintained peace throughout the universe” seems to be hyperbole at best.
Whatever peace existed would not last, because of whatever “new, horrible menace threatened the galaxy” that caused Voltron to be “needed once more.” It’s unclear whether the “new, horrible menace” had threatened other galaxies before it threatened the Milky Way, or whether the Milky Way was the first or only galaxy to be threatened by the “menace.”
Rymill mentions that in “The Daleks’ Master Plan,” story writer Terry Nation “mistakenly believed that the term ‘galaxy’ and ‘solar system’ were interchangeable.” As another example of odd uses of astronomical terminology in the mid-20th century, Rymill describes a “highly influential” 1955 Disney documentary called MAN AND THE MOON, which “helped bring many science concepts to the mainstream.” Rymill’s video includes a clip from the documentary that demonstrates that it “was quite happy to use ‘universe’ to mean ‘solar system.'”
As more examples of seemingly incorrect references to astronomical terms, Rymill describes writings of science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. “In his novel 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, published in 1968,”… [Clarke] refers to our galaxy, the Milky Way, as ‘our local universe.'” In Clarke’s 1953 novel CHILDHOOD’S END, “he [referred] to the island galaxy of which our sun was a member as ‘our own Universe,'” and he “describes the galaxy as ‘a spiral nebula.'”
To justify the Disney documentary, Clarke, and Terry Nation’s peculiar use of astronomical terms, Rymill explains that “prior to the 1920s, it was accepted by many that our galaxy, the Milky Way, constituted the entire universe, and everything that could be observed with the most powerful telescopes, was situated inside our galaxy. This included impressive spiral formations, such as…one…in the constellation of Andromeda. It was known at the time as the Andromeda Nebula.”
Rymill further explains that until astronomer Edwin Hubble’s 1924 observations proved the existence of other galaxies, our Milky Way galaxy was indeed thought to be the entire universe, and what we now know to be spiral galaxies such as Andromeda were thought to have been nebulae within our galaxy.
Rymill points out that because “Master Plan” writer Terry Nation was born in 1930, “any book he picked up in his youth would likely have been espousing redundant astronomical ideas. The term ‘galaxy’ had once referred to everything in existence, but was then recalibrated to mean just one unremrkable island in the universe, except that some people were using the word ‘universe’ to also mean ‘galaxy’ and ‘solar system.’ So we should cut Nation a little slack for this mistake.”
VOLTRON‘s opening narration was likely written by the program’s original head writer, Jameson Brewer. Brewer was born in 1916, nearly a decade before Hubble’s discovery of other galaxies, and before Arthur C. Clarke (1917) and Terry Nation (1930) were born. If Nation and Clarke can be excused for occasional gaffs in the use of astronomical terms, then Jameson Brewer can as well. In the case of VOLTRON‘s opening narration, I already provided speculative reasons for why its use of the astronomical terms might be correct in the context of VOLTRON lore.
Conclusion
VOLTRON‘s opening narration contains what to a television audience of the 1980s and beyond might seem to be incorrect use of the terms “universe,” “galaxy,” and “solar system.” By digging a bit deeper, these uses can be explained and perhaps excused. With a bit of imagination and creativity, the odd use of the terms can be considered correct. Either way, it’s all in good fun!
This article was written in 2026, the tenth-anniversary year of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER. 2026 and ten are momentous numbers for this great show, and to celebrate, I thought I’d share some more numbers – production numbers from episodes of the show.
What Is a Production Number?
A production number is a unique and persistent identifier for a given episode. It allows the production team to refer to an episode in a consistent way.
Episode titles can change throughout preproduction, production, and even postproduction. For example, in the original STAR TREK, the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” had the working title of “Danger Zone.”
The sequence of episodes can change as well. Returning to the original STAR TREK, the episode “The Man Trap” was the eighth episode to be produced, but it was the first episode to air.
The sequence of episodes’ production numbers doesn’t always correspond with the intended “narrative sequence” of the episodes. The Star Trek franchise provides an example of this phenomenon, too. Actor Leonard Nimoy guest-starred in a two consecutive episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Due to Nimoy’s busy schedule, those episodes — “Unification I” and “Unification II” — were filmed in reverse order. “Unification I” takes place before “Unification II,” but because of the swapped production schedule, the production number of “Unification I” (40275-208) is higher than that of “Unification II” (40275-207).
In general, production numbers aren’t shared outside production offices. They aren’t a secret; they just aren’t that interesting to most people. They are of interest to me, which is I decided to try to learn the production numbers of all episodes of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER. Gathering this information was not an easy task, but thanks to the help of the people credited in this article, the task was successfully completed!
My sources for VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes’ production numbers are listed below.
Form Podcast
The first source of production number information that I found was Form Podcast, produced by Nerdist and hosted by Kyle Anderson. In 2018, Form Podcast reviewed episodes from the first through fourth seasons of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER alongside guests who worked on the show. Podcast episodes that provided VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production number information are listed below.
Episode 1 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and reviewed “The Rise of Voltron.” This podcast episode also revealed that “The Rise of Voltron” had been produced as three episodes: “The New Alliance,” “From Days of Long Ago,” and “Defenders of the Universe.” The production number of “The New Alliance” was revealed to be 101, and it was stated that the three episodes were produced together, suggesting that the production numbers of “From Days of Long Ago” and “Defenders of the Universe” are 102 and 103, respectively. This podcast episode also strongly implied, but did not state outright, that the production number of “Crystal Venom” is 111.
Episode 9 featured guests Eugene Lee, Lauren Montgomery, Christie Tseng, and Anthony Wu, and it reviewed “Crystal Venom.” This podcast episode also revealed the production number of “The Legend Begins” to be 207.
Episode 25 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and reviewed “Changing of the Guard.” This podcast episode strongly implied that the production number of “Changing of the Guard” is 201, and it strongly implied that the production number of “A Little Adventure” is 301. The episode also revealed that VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER was produced in three production seasons or blocks, each containing 26 episodes. In general, episodes of the first production season have production numbers 101 through 126, episodes of the second production season have production numbers 201 through 226, and episodes of the third production block have production numbers 301 through 326.
Episode 28 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and Chris Palmer, and it reviewed “Hole in the Sky.” This podcast episode once again revealed the production number of “The Legend Begins” to be 207.
Episode 30 featured guests Mitch Iverson and reviewed “Tailing a Comet.” This podcast episode also revealed that the production number of “Changing of the Guard” is 201.
Episode 31 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery and reviewed “The Legend Begins.” This podcast episode also revealed that the production number of “The Depths” is 114.
Episode 33 featured guests Lauren Montgomery, Steve Ahn, and Mitch Iverson. This podcast episode also reviewed “Reunion” and revealed its production number to be 205.
Shamus Kelley
The second source of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production numbers was not a podcast, but rather a person: writer Shamus Kelley. Shamus is perhaps best known for his writing for Den of Geek. He also hosts RoboSkullCast: A Robotech Podcast with his friend Nick. I met Shamus in person at WonderCon 2017, and Shamus has been a guest in mulitple episodes of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast. Shamus is kind, insightful, and witty, and under circumstances that have to be read to be believed, Shamus acquired a collection of VOLTRON production art and related materials from some episodes of the show’s first two seasons. Shamus generously mailed some of the production art to me, and more recently he has begun to list pieces from his own collection for sale on Ebay. Shamus shared photos of some of his VOLTRON production art and materials, and analysis of those photos has revealed the production numbers of several episodes. Over time I’ll analyze more photos from his collection, as well as art from my own collection, in hopes of learning even more episodes’ production numbers.
Thanks to Shamus’ photos of his art collection, production numbers of the following episodes were revealed or confirmed:
“The New Alliance” (Production #101)
“From Days of Long Ago” (Production #102)
“Defenders of the Universe” (Production #103)
“Some Assembly Required” (Production #104)
“Return of the Gladiator” (Production #105)
“The Fall of the Castle of Lions” (Production #106)
“Return to the Balmera” (Production #109)
“Crystal Venom” (Production #111)
“Space Mall” (Production #120)
“The Blade of Marmora” (Production #121)
“The Journey” (Production #206)
Benjamin Kaltenecker
The third source of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production numbers was line producer Benjamin Kaltenecker. In 2017, Marc Morrell and I interviewed Benjamin on Let’s Voltron: The Official Podcast in Episode #97. At VoltCon 2021, Marc and I met Benjamin in person, and interviewed him once more. Benjamin is incredibly kind and generous, and in 2026, he was kind enough to send me screen shots of spreadsheets that contained the production numbers (201-226 and 301-326) of every episode from VOLTRON’s third through eighth seasons. Thank you, Benjamin!
Emily Eiden
Emily Eiden, who lent her vocal talents and acting artistry to VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER as Shay, kindly shared the production numbers of the four episodes in which she played the character:
“Tears of the Balmera” – Production #107
“Return to the Balmera” – Production #109
“Rebirth” – Production #110
“Stayin’ Alive” – Production #124
Thank you, Emily!
Ronan Sinbad
Ronan Sinbad graciously shared photos of some of her VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production art collection. The photos enabled me to identify the production numbers of two more episodes. Thank you, Ronan Sinbad, and thank you once again to Shamus Kelley for discovering Ronan Sinbad’s collection photos and gaining Ronan Sinbad’s permission to share them here.
“Across the Universe” (Production #115)
“The Ark of Taujeer” (Production #119)
CookieTails
In September 2026, by way of Shamus Kelley, CookieTails provided information from her own research about VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes and their production numbers. After I received the information, but before I had time to update this website with that information, I had the good fortunate of meeting CookieTails in person at VoltCon 2026. I am thankful that CookieTails researched this topic and shared her research.
CookieTails also mentioned an AfterBuzz TV interview with Joaqium Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, and Eugene Lee, during which the executive producers mentioned that at some point, “The Feud!” was to have occupied a different slot in the seventh season:
DOS SANTOS: At one point [Bob, game show host in “The Feud!”] was…the last obstacle they needed to pass before getting back to Earth….But it felt a little funny.
MONTGOMERY: The episodes were in a very different order production-wise. But ultimately when it came to airing them, we swapped a couple around because…getting back to Earth on the heels of [the] game show felt a little more anticlimactic.
DOS SANTOS: It was originally written like that was the prize. Like Earth was actually endgame for winning the game show. And it was cool, but it was also we don’t want the stakes to be kind of… a joke to get back to Earth.
MONTGOMERY: So we swapped it around and then it ended up being the… alone lost in space episode, which was a better fit. But that was another one of yours?
LEE: That was mine.
MONTGOMERY: That was a terrifying trip.
Based on the production numbers provided by Benjamin Kaltenecker for seasons three through eight, it seems that more than a couple episodes were rearranged, and that the “alone lost in space episode” is “The Journey Within,” directed by Eugene Lee.
CookieTails cited numerous online resources, the existence of which I had not previously known.
CookieTails kindly cited two posts and a spreadsheet that were authored by the Voltron News and Updates Tumblr, which is an excellent source of information about VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER.
The spreadsheet contains production numbers from the first five seasons’ episodes (and conjectural numbers from the sixth-season’s episodes) of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER — that is, it associates episodes with production numbers 101 through 126 and 201 through 226. Although the sources of this spreadsheet’s information aren’t specified in the spreadsheet, the episodes whose numbers I do know, with verification, do match the information in the spreadsheet. Any episodes’ production numbers in this spreadsheet that I have not yet been able to verify independently will be noted in The Numbers table by being tagged with the text “Not Yet Verified”.
Voltron News and Updates made posts on Tumblr that yield more information about episodes and their production numbers.
The Episode still spoilers post, dated February 22, 2018, parses episode production numbers from the file names of various promotional stills. For more excellent, well researched and explained details, read the original post.
In the post, the promotional still file names that reference episode titles and production numbers are:
114: “The Depths”
115: “Across the Universe”
117: “Greening the Cube”
121: “The Blade of Marmora”
122: “The Belly of the Weblum”
126: “Blackout”
201: “Changing of the Guard”
202: “Red Paladin”
204: “Hole in the Sky”
205: “Reunion”
207: “The Legend Begins”
210: “Black Site”
212: “Begin the Blitz”
213: “A New Defender”
In the post, the promotional still file names that reference production numbers and are screen caps that can be matched to specific episodes are:
214: Stills verified to be from “The Prisoner”
215: Stills verified to be from “Blood Duel”
216: Stills verified to be from “Postmortem”
217: Stills verified to be from “Kral Zera”
218: Stills verified to be from “Bloodlines”
219: Stills verified to be from “White Lion”
The Episode Still Spoilers post, dated June 5, 2018, parses yet more episode production numbers from the file names of various promotional stills. Again, for more excellent, well researched and explained details, read the original post.
In the post, the promotional still file names that reference episode titles and production numbers are:
220: Stills verified to be from “Omega Shield”
221: Stills verified to be from “Razor’s Edge”
222: Stills verified to be from “Monsters & Mana”
223: Stills verified to be from “The Colony”
224: Stills verified to be from “The Black Paladins”
225: Stills verified to be from “All Good Things”
226: Stills verified to be from “Defender of All Universes”
AJ LoCascio
CookieTails’ research also included a link to a December 12, 2022, X post from AJ LoCascio, which included a photo of numerous VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episode scripts that were still in his possession. In the photo, the scripts’ cover pages reveal the following episode titles and production numbers:
#212: “Begin the Blitz”
#215: “Blood Duel”
#217: “Kral Zera”
#220: “Omega Shield”
#225: “All Good Things”
#315: “Shadows”
The information in the photograph aligns with information from other sources.
Mr Freakeith
Thanks once again to Shamus Kelley for making me aware of a November 25, 2025 X post by Mr Freakeith, containing two photos of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production art. One of the photos features numerous examples of product art that are noted with Production #119.
“The Ark of Taujeer” (Production #119)
Arthur Loftis
While browsing for yet more production art, I happened upon the ArtStation site of artist Arthur Loftis, who worked on VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER as a background artist and later as a visual development artist. Loftis’ ArtStation site includes three pages of Loftis’ art from the show.
The Voltron: Legendary Defender S1-S2 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s first and second seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 107, 113, 115, 117, and 120.
I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.
“Tears of the Balmera” (Production #107)
“The Black Paladin” (Production #113)
“Across the Universe” (Production #115)
“Greening the Cube” (Production #117)
“Space Mall” (Production #120)
The Voltron Legendary Defender S3-S6 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s third through sixth seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 203, 205, 207, 215, 217, and 223.
I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.
“The Hunted” (Production #203)
“Reunion” (Production #205)
“The Legend Begins” (Production #207)
“Blood Duel” (Production #215)
“Kral Zera” (Production #217)
“The Colony” (Production #223)
The Voltron Legendary Defender S7-S8 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s seventh and eighth seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 303, 305, and 326.
I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.
As of the October 17, 2026, update to this article, the production numbers of 72 of VOLTRON‘s 78 episodes had been verified. On October 18, I reached out to Marc Schmidt, asking if he would be willing to check his records to verify the production numbers of the remaining six episodes. Fortunately, he was willing, and he was able to verify those production numbers!
On October 19, Marc confirmed the following numbers:
“Taking Flight” – Production #108
“Collection and Extraction” – Production #112
“Shiro’s Escape” – Production #116. (Marc noted that in his records, this episode’s title had been “The Secret of Shiro’s Escape.”)
“Eye of the Storm” – Production #118
“Escape from Beta Traz” – Production #123
“Best Laid Plans” – Production #125
Thank you, Marc!
The Numbers
This table contains VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes and their production numbers. The abbreviated column headers are as follows:
Prod #: Production number
Prod Seas: “Production season” number
Ep #: Episode number according to non-Netflix sources such as Amazon and DVDs, which treat “The Rise of Voltron” as three episodes instead of one
Nf Ep #: Episode number according to Netflix (which treats “The Rise of Voltron” as one episode instead of three)
Seas #: Season number
Ep # in Seas: Episode number within a season, according to non-Netflix sources
Nf Ep # in Seas: Episode number within a season, according to Netflix
Title: Episode title
OAD: Original air date
Prod #
Prod Seas
Ep #
Nf Ep #
Seas #
Ep # in Seas
Nf Ep # in Seas
Title
OAD
101-103
1
N/A
1
1
N/A
1
The Rise of Voltron
2016-06-10
101
1
1
N/A
1
1
N/A
The New Alliance
2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
102
1
2
N/A
1
2
N/A
From Days of Long Ago
2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
103
1
3
N/A
1
3
N/A
Defenders of the Universe
2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
104
1
4
2
1
4
2
Some Assembly Required
2016-06-10
105
1
5
3
1
5
3
Return of the Gladiator
2016-06-10
106
1
6
4
1
6
4
The Fall of the Castle of Lions
2016-06-10
107
1
7
5
1
7
5
Tears of the Balmera
2016-06-10
108
1
8
6
1
8
6
Taking Flight
2016-06-10
109
1
9
7
1
9
7
Return to the Balmera
2016-06-10
110
1
10
8
1
10
8
Rebirth
2016-06-10
111
1
11
9
1
11
9
Crystal Venom
2016-06-10
112
1
12
10
1
12
10
Collection and Extraction
2016-06-10
113
1
13
11
1
13
11
The Black Paladin
2016-06-10
115
1
14
12
2
1
1
Across the Universe
2017-01-20
114
1
15
13
2
2
2
The Depths
2017-01-20
116
1
16
14
2
3
3
Shiro’s Escape
2017-01-20
117
1
17
15
2
4
4
Greening the Cube
2017-01-20
118
1
18
16
2
5
5
Eye of the Storm
2017-01-20
119
1
19
17
2
6
6
The Ark of Taujeer
2017-01-20
120
1
20
18
2
7
7
Space Mall
2017-01-20
121
1
21
19
2
8
8
The Blade of Marmora
2017-01-20
122
1
22
20
2
9
9
The Belly of the Weblum
2017-01-20
123
1
23
21
2
10
10
Escape from Beta Traz
2017-01-20
124
1
24
22
2
11
11
Stayin’ Alive
2017-01-20
125
1
25
23
2
12
12
Best Laid Plans
2017-01-20
126
1
26
24
2
13
13
Blackout
2017-01-20
201
2
27
25
3
1
1
Changing of the Guard
2017-08-04
202
2
28
26
3
2
2
Red Paladin
2017-08-04
203
2
29
27
3
3
3
The Hunted
2017-08-04
204
2
30
28
3
4
4
Hole in the Sky
2017-08-04
206
2
31
29
3
5
5
The Journey
2017-08-04
208
2
32
30
3
6
6
Tailing a Comet
2017-08-04
207
2
33
31
3
7
7
The Legend Begins
2017-08-04
209
2
34
32
4
1
2
Code of Honor
2017-10-13
205
2
35
33
4
2
2
Reunion
2017-10-13
210
2
36
34
4
3
3
Black Site
2017-10-13
211
2
37
35
4
4
4
The Voltron Show!
2017-10-13
212
2
38
36
4
5
5
Begin the Blitz
2017-10-13
213
2
39
37
4
6
6
A New Defender
2017-10-13
214
2
40
38
5
1
1
The Prisoner
2018-03-02
215
2
41
39
5
2
2
Blood Duel
2018-03-02
216
2
42
40
5
3
3
Postmortem
2018-03-02
217
2
43
41
5
4
4
Kral Zera
2018-03-02
218
2
44
42
5
5
5
Bloodlines
2018-03-02
219
2
45
43
5
6
6
White Lion
2018-03-02
220
2
46
44
6
1
1
Omega Shield
2018-06-15
221
2
47
45
6
2
2
Razor’s Edge
2018-06-15
222
2
48
46
6
3
3
Monsters & Mana
2018-06-15
223
2
49
47
6
4
4
The Colony
2018-06-15
224
2
50
48
6
5
5
The Black Paladins
2018-06-15
225
2
51
49
6
6
6
All Good Things
2018-06-15
226
2
52
50
6
7
7
Defender of All Universes
2018-06-15
301
3
53
51
7
1
1
A Little Adventure
2018-08-10
302
3
54
52
7
2
2
The Road Home
2018-08-10
303
3
55
53
7
3
3
The Way Forward
2018-08-10
307
3
56
54
7
4
4
The Feud!
2018-08-10
305
3
57
55
7
5
5
The Ruins
2018-08-10
304
3
58
56
7
6
6
The Journey Within
2018-08-10
306
3
59
57
7
7
7
The Last Stand, Part 1
2018-08-10
308
3
60
58
7
8
8
The Last Stand, Part 2
2018-08-10
309
3
61
59
7
9
9
Know Your Enemy
2018-08-10
310
3
62
60
7
10
10
Heart of the Lion
2018-08-10
311
3
63
61
7
11
11
Trial by Fire
2018-08-10
312
3
64
62
7
12
12
Lions’ Pride, Part 1
2018-08-10
313
3
65
63
7
13
13
Lions’ Pride, Part 2
2018-08-10
314
3
66
64
8
1
1
Launch Date
2018-12-14
315
3
67
65
8
2
2
Shadows
2018-12-14
316
3
68
66
8
3
3
The Prisoner’s Dilemma
2018-12-14
317
3
69
67
8
4
4
Battle Scars
2018-12-14
318
3
70
68
8
5
5
The Grudge
2018-12-14
319
3
71
69
8
6
6
Genesis
2018-12-14
320
3
72
70
8
7
7
Day Forty-Seven
2018-12-14
321
3
73
71
8
8
8
Clear Day
2018-12-14
322
3
74
72
8
9
9
Knights of Light, Part 1
2018-12-14
323
3
75
73
8
10
10
Knights of Light, Part 2
2018-12-14
324
3
76
74
8
11
11
Uncharted Regions
2018-12-14
325
3
77
75
8
12
12
The Zenith
2018-12-14
326
3
78
76
8
13
13
The End is the Beginning
2018-12-14
Conclusion
VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER is a great show. I loved it as it was being released on Netflix between 2016 and 2018, and I love it now. Production numbers are a geeky peek behind the scenes into an aspect of how the show was made.
Thank you to the many people who contributed information that led to the writing and completion of this article! They’re listed below.
Form Podcast, hosted by Kyle Anderson, with guests Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, Eugene Lee, Christie Tseng, Anthony Wu, Chris Palmer, Mitch Iverson, and Steve Ahn
Shamus Kelley
Benjamin Kaltenecker
Emily Eiden
Ronan Sinbad
AfterBuzz TV, hosted by Katie Cullen, Megan Salinas, and Mark Donica; and guests Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, and Eugene Lee
CookieTails
Voltron News and Updates (Tumblr)
AJ LoCascio
Mr Freakeith
Arthur Loftis
Marc Schmidt
Update history:
This article was updated June 9, 2026, with information provided by Emily Eiden.
This article was updated July 25, 2026, with information provided by Ronan Sinbad.
This article was updated September 7, 2026, with additional information provided by Shamus Kelley.
This article was updated October 17, 2026, with additional information provided by CookieTails, Voltron News and Updates Tumblr, AJ LoCascio, Mr Freakeith, and Arthur Loftis. As of this update, the production numbers of 72 of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER’s 78 episodes had been verified.
This article was updated October 19, 2026, with additional information provided by Marc Schmidt. As of this update, the production numbers of all 78 episodes of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER’s 78 episodes had been verified!
