Tall Tales: How Big Are the Big Bots?

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Greg Tyler

Introduction

How tall is Voltron? The answer depends on which Voltron is being referenced.

Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER (2016-2018)
Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON FORCE (2011-2012)
Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION (1998-2000)
Stealth Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION (1998-2000)
Lion Force Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE (1984-1985) and VOLTRON: FLEET OF DOOM (1986)
Vehicle Team Voltron, as seen in VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE (1984-1985) and VOLTRON: FLEET OF DOOM (1986)

Let’s do some analysis to figure out how big each of these big bots “really” is.

I apologize for the low quality of some of the images that are featured in this article. I chose to focus on data rather than “pretty pictures.”

Voltron from VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER

During the Netflix run of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER, the height of that program’s Voltron robot was established, fairly clearly, in at least two references.

Voltron Website

By May 26, 2016, but by this writing, no longer online, the official Voltron website (at http://www.voltron.com/legendary) contained a page of basic information about VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFNDER‘s characters and technology, including Voltron. As shown in this screen capture from the website, the Voltron page described Voltron as “a mighty warrior standing at over 100 meters tall.”

Official Voltron Facebook Page

A May 7, 2016 post on the Voltron Facebook page, still online as of this writing (link), includes a low-resolution diagram of Voltron, the Statue of Liberty, and the Taj Mahal, with dimensions and dimension lines to show how tall each object is. The diagram establishes Voltron’s standing height as 100.584 meters. Since 2.54 centimeters equals exactly one inch, 100.584 meters is exactly 330 feet. Likely for artistic reasons, the diagram uses a perspective rendering of Voltron, rather than an orthographic rendering. (A perspective rendering represents what an object would look like through an eye or camera lens. An orthographic rendering is like a blueprint drawing.)

A quirk about the image is that the dimension line makes it appear as if Voltron’s height is measured from the bottoms of Voltron’s feet to the tips of its wings in some arbitrarily extended position. A standing height would be more realistically measured from the bottoms of the feet to the top of the head.

By examining the diagram in Adobe Illustrator, if Voltron’s height is 100.584 from feet to wing tips, then I estimate the robot’s height from feet to the top of the head — the crown, so to speak — to be 84.1 meters (276 feet), and I estimate the robot’s height from feet to the tips of the horns on the robot’s head to be 85.4 meters (280 feet). With all that said, are we really meant to believe that Voltron’s height was measured from the robot’s feet to the tips of arbitrary posed wings?

One thing to keep in mind that is that this image was released over one month before the June 16, 2016, release of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER. Height measurements and dimension lines aside, this image is less an “engineering drawing” than an artistic composition that offers a preview of the robot itself. For this reason, despite the dimension line on the image, we might surmise that the robot’s height is “really” measured to the top of the head. Let’s examine another image and see if that might indeed be true.

A July 14, 2016 post on the Voltron Facebook page, still online as of this writing (link), includes a color rendering of Voltron striking a pose, wings down, next to Big Ben. According to the Big Ben page on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben), Big Ben’s tower stands 96 meters (316 feet) tall. Voltron is not standing at attention, but the robot, from feet to top-of-head, or feet to tops-of horns, appears to be slightly shorter than Big Ben — but not as short as the 84.1 to 85.4 meters that the May 16, 2016, Facebook diagram suggests. The July 14, 2016 image is also an artistic composition, and like the May 16, 2016, it almost certainly wasn’t meant to be a precise reference. The choice to make Voltron slightly shorter than Big Ben might have been a purely aesthetic decision.

It’s probably safe to assume that Voltron’s 100.584-meter (330-foot) standing height is “really” measured from the bottoms of the robot’s feet to the top of its head – which might or might be the tips of its horns.

Lion Force Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE

Before I began researching for this article, I had encountered numerous online claims that Lion Force Voltron’s standing height is 60 meters (197 feet). I wanted to see if there was evidence to support these claims.

The 2014 book VOLTRON: FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO: A THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, by Brian Smith, Marc Morrell, Joshua Bernard, and Jacob Chabot, establishes that Lion Force Voltron stands “at an awe-inspiring 300 feet tall.” 300 feet is 91.4 meters. This measurement is over 50% taller than the oft-claimed 60-meter figure. What is the origin of the 60-meter claim?

Before we investigate where the 60-meter claim might have originated, I should point out that the very book from which the 300-foot height is established also offers some evidence for Voltron being 60 meters tall.

FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO contains a section that I have described as a “Robeast Rolodex” — a short description of many of the Robeasts that Lion Force Voltron and Vehicle Team Voltron encounters in VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE, and that Voltron encounters in VOLTRON FORCE. Far Universe Entry #60, “Drule Voltron 1,” describes the Haggar-created Voltron lookalike Robeast that Lion Force Voltron battles in the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE episode “Voltron Vs. Voltron” (Production Number 244). This entry describes the Voltron lookalike as being 200 feet tall, or 61.0 meters. In the episode, Voltron and its lookalike are clearly intended to be the same size.

In 1997, toy company Trendmasters released a plastic and die cast metal toy of Lion Force Voltron that, despite minor changes, was basically a re-release of Matchbox’s 1985 Voltron III, or Lion Force Voltron toy, which in turn was basically a re-release of the 1981 Popy / Bandai GB-36 Golion toy in Japan. One panel of the Trendmasters toy’s box contains size information about, not Voltron, but rather each of the five lions that combine to form Voltron.

The panel specifies each lion’s height, in meters.

Black Lion: 40 meters (131 feet)
Red and Green Lions: 20 meters (98 feet)
Blue and Yellow Lions: 30 meters (66 feet)

Based on how the lions are reconfigured to form Voltron, Voltron’s height can be estimated by adding the length of Black Lion to the length of Blue or Yellow Lion. Each lion is much longer than it is tall, so if these metrics are accurate, then Lion Force Voltron would be significantly taller than even the 300-foot (91.4-meter) claim in FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO.

In search of more information about Lion Force Voltron’s height, let’s go back further — waaaaaay back, to the instructions of the Popy/Bandai Golion GB-36 toy. As a reminder, most Lion Force Voltron episodes of VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE were adapted from the 1981 anime program BEAST KING GOLION. Thanks to Voltron collector Brad Schneider for providing these photos.

Because the Golion instructions are in Japanese, I used Google Translate and my smartphone’s camera to translate the Japanese text.

The translated instructions reveal the height of Golion and the lengths of each lion.

Golion height: 60 meters (197 feet)
Black Lion length: 40 meters (131 feet)
Red and Green Lion lengths: 20 meters (98 feet)
Blue and Yellow Lion lengths: 30 meters (66 feet)

The lion length values do match the “height” values that Trendmasters printed on their Voltron toy box.

The instructions of Bandai’s 2017 Soul of Chogokin GX-71 Golion also contain the same metrics, as shown in the translated photos below.

What do we conclude from this evidence? Unlike VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER, the evidence is somewhat contradictory, but my conclusion is that Lion Force Voltron, like Golion, has a standing height of 60 meters (197 feet).

Vehicle Team Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE

Before I began researching for this article, I had encountered numerous online claims that Vehicle Team Voltron’s standing height is 60 meters (197 feet). I wanted to see if there was evidence to support these claims.

The 2014 book VOLTRON: FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO: A THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, by Brian Smith, Marc Morrell, Joshua Bernard, and Jacob Chabot, establishes that Vehicle Team Voltron stands “at over 300 feet tall.” On the other hand, since the book uses the 300-foot height for Lion Force Vfoltron, and a 200-foot height for the Voltron lookalike Robeast, its claim about Vehicle Team Voltron’s height is similarly suspicious.

In VOLTRON: FLEET OF DOOM (1986), Vehicle Team Voltron and Lion Force Voltron are shown to be roughly the same size. This, coupled with my conclusion about Lion Force Voltron being 60 meters (197 feet) tall, suggests to me that Vehicle Team Voltron also has a standing height of about 60 meters.

I own a Popy/Bandai Dairugger DX toy — the toy that corresponds most closely to the Popy/Bandai Golion GB-36 toy from which I posted photos of the instructions. Unfortunately, my Dairugger toy does not include its original instructions. I will update this page with Dairugger DX instructions if I should find someone who owns them and is willing to share photos.

The instructions of Bandai’s 2019 Soul of Chogokin GX-88 Dairugger reveal Dairugger’s height to be, like Golion, 60 meters.

Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION

Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION is of the same “classic-style” design as Lion Force Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE, except for minor, stylistic changes. Having seen no evidence to the contrary, I assume that Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION is of the same standing height as Lion Force Voltron from the 1980s program. As previously mentioned, that height is 60 meters (197 feet).

Stealth Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION

In the VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION episode “Consider the Alternatives,” Stealth Voltron encounters a classic-style Voltron from an alternate universe. The robots appear to be of similar size. Having seen no evidence to the contrary, I assume that Stealth Voltron is of similar standing height as that of classic-style Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION: approximately 60 meters (197 feet).

Voltron from VOLTRON FORCE

One thing that I didn’t mention about VOLTRON: FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO: A THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION is that the book’s “in-universe” sections treat VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE, VOLTRON FORCE, and the six VOLTRON FORCE comics by VIZ Media as having a shared continuity. The book suggests that the visual differences between Lion Force Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE and VOLTRON FORCE are the result of upgrades that were performed by the Voltron Force: Keith, Lance, Pidge, Princess Allura, and Hunk. Arguing whether that makes sense is outside the scope of this article. What is in scope is that the book’s mention of Lion Force Voltron being “an awe-inspiring 300 feet tall” — that is, 91.4 meters tall — applies to Voltron regardless of its visual appearance. This means that Voltron from VOLTRON FORCE, like Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE, is 300 feet (91.4 meters). That said, as previously mentioned, the Voltron lookalike Robeast iss said to be 200 feet — 61.0 meters — tall.

The height of Voltron from VOLTRON FORCE is the most ambiguous of all the Voltron robots, because I have been unable to find any references that are more definitive than the contradictory figures in FROM DAYS OF LONG AGO. In the VOLTRON FORCE cartoon itself, and likely also in every Voltron production, the sizes of the lions and Voltron can vary from shot to shot or scene to scene. Simply for its relevance to the plot, if we choose this image from the episode “Clash of the Lions,” we can see that Voltron’s head is large enough, with Voltron’s face retracted, to allow Sky Marshall Wade to stand inside Black Lion’s open mouth. This is consistent with many other episodes, which show Voltron Force pilots and cadets entering and exiting the individual lions by way of the lions’ mouths.

Based on visual evidence that I will provide in a future article, an adult human could stand inside the mouth of a lion that forms a 60-meter-tall Voltron. For that reason, unless any future contradictory information, I’ll assume that Voltron from VOLTRON FORCE, like all other Voltron robots except the version from VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER, is about 60 meters (197 feet) tall.

Conclusion

To summarize, based on as much evidence as I have found, and with conclusions and assumptions that I drew from sometimes conflicting sources, the Voltron robots have the following heights:

Lion Force Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE: 60 meters (197 feet)
Vehicle Team Voltron from VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE: 60 meters (197 feet)
“Classic-style” Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION: 60 meters (197 feet)
Stealth Voltron from VOLTRON: THE THIRD DIMENSION: 60 meters (197 feet)
Voltron from VOLTRON FORCE: 60 meters (197 feet) (barring evidence to the contrary)
Voltron from VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER: 100.584 meters (330 feet)

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

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Greg Tyler

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 from having access to the episodes’ scripts.
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

Blue Lion – Made in the USA (Voltron: Defender of the Universe)

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Greg Tyler

In the Voltron: Defender of the Universe episode “The Lion Has New Claws” — the episode immediately following the one in which Blue Lion pilot Sven is seriously injured — Princess Allura secretly takes Blue Lion for a ride in the middle of the night. Despite the princess’ attempt to be stealthy, an alarm sounds in the Castle of Lions. Keith, Lance, and Pidge race to Castle Control and check the monitor for the cause of the alarm.

The monitor shows a simple wireframe of a lion flying erratically. The lion wireframe is accompanied by seem tiny, barely legible English text. I point out that it’s English because this episode was animated in Japan for a Japanese audience as part of Beast King Golion. Even if the monitor text is fully legible, it appears for about one second — hardly enough time for someone with little fluency in English to have read.

Anyway, here is the monitor, showing the text.

The most legible text is… MADE IN THE U.S.A.

Made in the USA? This is the planet Arus, not Earth!

A closer look reveals the source of the text — it’s the back of a package of… Push-Pins!

I wasn’t able to read all of the text, but here’s what I was able to decipher:

…Push-Pins instead of thumbtacks to put up…
…calendars, pennants and light wall decorations.
…tie-backs, shelf paper…and
…other household uses.

…Push-Pin between thumb and forefinger and insert
…of the…. They are easily removed…the
…The…-tempered steel…the
…possible…. Millions of Push-Pins are used…
…decorations, the…, the…and…
…as a superior pin-… device.. Push-Pin…the
In both aluminum and plastic, the plastic available in
red, yellow, green, white, and blue.

…and…up to 100…
…

In schools, apartments, or office buildings where nails
are not allowed – use the new 2-in-1 “…-…”
…picture hanger. Will support up to… pounds
while eliminating the use of nails,…
and picture…

MADE IN U.S.A.

I’m not sure why the Castle of Lions’ monitor would display text about Push-Pins while displaying an animated wireframe of Blue Lion. Maybe Coran had left the interstellar feed of the Home Shopping Club on overnight.

Castle Ships in Voltron Lore

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Greg Tyler

In the first-season Voltron Legendary Defender episode “Taking Flight,” the Castle of Lions tears itself from the surface of the planet Arus, and assumes what became its ongoing new form: a spacecraft. Its crew informally called it the “Castle-ship.”

Voltron Legendary Defender wasn’t the Voltron-related program with a Castle-turned-spaceship.

In Beast King Golion, one of the anime programs that were adapted into Voltron: Defender of the Universe, the Golion Team calls Castle Gradam its home. In the 50th episode, “The Great Storming of Galra,” Raible reveals that the Castle can convert to a spaceship. The Golion Team uses the ship as part of a final assault on the planet Galra.

The Castle’s transformation initiates when Raible inserts a special key into the Castle’s main console.

The Castle does not launch from Altea until Golion‘s 52nd and final episode, “Burn Galra Castle.”

Because Golion‘s 52 episodes were adapted into episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Castle Gradam and its ship mode appear in Voltron, although in the latter program the Castle is called the Castle of Lions. In Voltron, the Castle’s ship mode is revealed in “Zarkon Becomes a Robeast,” which was adapted from Golion‘s “The Great Storming of Galra.”

The Castle of Lions’ ship mode makes a notable reappearance in “Fleet of Doom,” the two-part final story that was animated entirely new for Voltron. In that story, the Castle of Lions transports the Lions to the Galaxy Alliance’s Power Base, to rendezvous with the Voltron Vehicle Team and remove the Drule/Doom forces that threatened the base.

Although Voltron: The Third Dimension featured a Castle of Lions, no ship mode is seen or referenced in the program’s 26 episodes. Perhaps a ship mode would have been revealed had more episodes been produced.

In the 26th and final episode of Voltron Force, the spirit of King Alfor activates the Castle of Lions’ transformation to its spaceship mode. The Castle’s ship mode is a surprise even to Princess Allura. The Castle helps Voltron win a decisive victory over Maahox.

Castles-turned-spacecraft are seemingly as much a part of Voltron lore as the Defenders of the Universe themselves.

Same But Different: The First Episodes of Beast King Golion and Voltron: Defender of the Universe

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Greg Tyler

As a longtime Voltron fan, and as co-host of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast, I am sometimes asked which episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe is my favorite. My response has probably varied over the years, but the episode that I find myself watching most frequently is “Space Explorers Captured,” the first episode in original air date order, and the first episode to feature the Lion Force characters.

During my most recent re-watch of the episode, as well as “Escape from Slave Castle,” the Beast King Golion episode from which it was adapted, I realized why I’m so fascinated with “Space Explorers Captured”: unlike nearly every other episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, “Space Explorers Captured” isn’t a straight adaptation, with violent shots removed for an audience of largely American youths – the Voltron episode has its own distinct narrative, and it sets up a surprisingly different premise from that of Beast King Golion – and all of this is accomplished with clever editing and new writing.

Golion #1 Story	Voltron #1 Story
On the planet Galra, five earthlings are in a cell in Slave Castle. The earthlings had been captured shortly after returning from a space mission and their discovery that, in their absence, Earth had been devastated during World War III. The earthlings escape Galra in a Galra slave ship. Emperor Daibazaal orders Sadak to pursue. Sadak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Altea. The escape ship’s descent is watched from an ancient castle by a beautiful princess. Before the ship crashes, a strange beam of light emanates from a statue in front of an ancient castle. The ship’s descent slows, and the earthlings’ leader, Kogane, takes the controls and flies the ship past the castle.	Five Space Explorers from Earth’s Galaxy Garrison reach the planet Arus, which is under attack by the forces of King Zarkon. The Explorers’ ship is captured, and the Space Explorers are taken to the planet Doom. The Space Explorers escape Doom in a slave ship. Zarkon orders Commander Yurak to pursue. Yurak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Arus. The escape ship’s descent is slowed by a strange beam of light emanating from a statue in front of the legendary Castle of Lions. Keith, captain of the Space Explorers, tells his team the legend of Voltron. With hope that the Space Explorers can locate and bring back Voltron, Keith guides the escape ship past the Castle of Lions.

Golion #1 Story

Voltron #1 Story

On the planet Galra, five earthlings are in a cell in Slave Castle. The earthlings had been captured shortly after returning from a space mission and their discovery that, in their absence, Earth had been devastated during World War III.

The earthlings escape Galra in a Galra slave ship. Emperor Daibazaal orders Sadak to pursue. Sadak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Altea.

The escape ship’s descent is watched from an ancient castle by a beautiful princess. Before the ship crashes, a strange beam of light emanates from a statue in front of an ancient castle. The ship’s descent slows, and the earthlings’ leader, Kogane, takes the controls and flies the ship past the castle.

Five Space Explorers from Earth’s Galaxy Garrison reach the planet Arus, which is under attack by the forces of King Zarkon. The Explorers’ ship is captured, and the Space Explorers are taken to the planet Doom.

The Space Explorers escape Doom in a slave ship. Zarkon orders Commander Yurak to pursue. Yurak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Arus.

The escape ship’s descent is slowed by a strange beam of light emanating from a statue in front of the legendary Castle of Lions. Keith, captain of the Space Explorers, tells his team the legend of Voltron. With hope that the Space Explorers can locate and bring back Voltron, Keith guides the escape ship past the Castle of Lions.

Golion #1 Premise	Voltron #1 Premise
Several thousand years ago, the mysetrious robot Golion arrogantly challenged the Goddess of the Universe to a fight. The goddess punished Golion for its arrogance by splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion. In 1999, five earthling space explorers from the war-ravaged planet Earth rediscover the robot Lions and form Golion, to protect the planet Altea and its allies from Emperor Daibazaal and the Galra Empire.	Some years ago, King Zarkon’s witch Haggar placed a curse on the mighty robot Voltron, splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion. Now (the future – in an unspecified year), five Space Explorers from the Galaxy Garrison rediscover teh robot Lions and form Voltron, to protecdt the universe from Zarkon and the forces of Doom.

Golion #1 Premise

Voltron #1 Premise

Several thousand years ago, the mysetrious robot Golion arrogantly challenged the Goddess of the Universe to a fight. The goddess punished Golion for its arrogance by splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion.

In 1999, five earthling space explorers from the war-ravaged planet Earth rediscover the robot Lions and form Golion, to protect the planet Altea and its allies from Emperor Daibazaal and the Galra Empire.

Some years ago, King Zarkon’s witch Haggar placed a curse on the mighty robot Voltron, splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion.

Now (the future – in an unspecified year), five Space Explorers from the Galaxy Garrison rediscover teh robot Lions and form Voltron, to protecdt the universe from Zarkon and the forces of Doom.

I also studied the Voltron premiere episode, and I discovered that — Ignoring the opening, closing, teaser for the next episode, and minor edits such as trimming violent Golion content, the first Voltron episode is comprised of:

Eight segments from the first Beast King Golion episode. (The overwhelming majority of the content is from this episode.) In the Voltron episode, these segments are re-sequenced and given a different context.
Three short segments from the third Beast King Golion episode. These segments support Voltron’s altered premise.
Two short segments and one longer segment from the first episode of Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, the anime program from which the Vehicle Team episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe were adapted. These segments also support Voltron’s altered premise.

Here is a breakdown of the segments in Voltron‘s first episode:

Voltron #1 Seg #	Duration (mm:ss)	Voltron Context	Source	Golion #1 Seg #	Source Context

1	00:19	Keith reports no problems approaching Arus, but Space Explorers notice problems as they reach planet	Golion #1	N/A	Part of Golion main title sequence

2	00:01	Keith reaction shot	Dairugger #1	N/A	Manabu Aki reaction shot

3	00:01	Hunk reaction shot	Dairugger #1	N/A	Shinobu Kai reaction shot

4	00:09	Forces of Doom attack Arus	Golion #3	N/A	Sadak’s forces attack Altea

5	00:16	Forces of Doom attack Arus	Golion #3	N/A	Sadak’s forces attack Altea

6	00:05	Forces of Doom attack Arus	Golion #3	N/A	Sadak’s forces attack Altea

7	01:51	Arus fights back against Forces of Doom, but Arus is devastated; Yurak captures the Space Explorers	Golion #1	5	Earth is devastated during World War III (Kogane imagines these events, which took place while he and his fellow space explorers were on space mission); Sadak captures five earthling space explorers who just returned to Earth from space mission (flashback)

8	01:48	Keith contacts Galaxy Garrison; Galaxy Garrison high command discuss Keith’s message	Dairugger #1	N/A	Galaxy Garrison meeting

9	05:16	Yurak brings slaves including Space Explorers to Doom; Zarkon believes he will be unopposed now that Space Explorers are captives; slaves sent to arena against Blue Robeast; Space Explorers talk of escaping before they can be sent to arena	Golion #1	4	Sadak brings slaves to Galra; Daibazaal seeks amusement; five earthlings are already captives on Galra; lively new slaves are slaughtered by Deathblack Beastman in arena to amuse Daibazaal; earthlings discuss having nearly died when they fought a Deathblack Beastman

10	10:45	Space Explorers escape cell, steal slave ship, escape Doom and approach Arus; Yurak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Arus is slowed by Castle of Lions (Note: Princess Allura and Coran are not shown here, delaying their introduction until the next episode)	Golion #1	7	Earthlings escape cell, steal slaves ship, escape Galra and approach Altea; Sadak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Altea is slowed by Castle Altea (Note: Princess Fala and Raible are shown watching escape ship from castle)

11	00:11	Reactions of Lance, Sven, Hunk, Pidge	Golion #1	9	Reactions of Kurogane, Shirogane, Seidou, Suzuishi

12	02:09	Keith tells legend of Voltron	Golion #1	2	Narrator tells legend of Golion

13	00:49	Keith talks of somehow finding and combining Lions to bring back Voltron to help Arus	Golion #1	N/A	Part of main title sequence

14	00:20	Keith takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle of Lions	Golion #1	10	Kogane takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle Altea

To contrast the first episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe with that of Beast King Golion, here are the segments of the Golion premiere:

Golion #1 Seg #	Golion Context	Voltron #1 Seg #

1	Narrator tells legend of Golion	N/A

2	Narrator tells legend of Golion	12

3	Episode title card	N/A

4	Sadak brings slaves to Galra; Daibazaal seeks amusement; five earthlings are already captives on Galra; lively new slaves are slaughtered by Deathblack Beastman in arena to amuse Daibazaal; earthlings discuss having nearly died when they fought a Deathblack Beastman	9

5	Earth is devastated during World War III (Kogane imagines these events, which took place while he and his fellow space explorers were on space mission); Sadak captures five earthling space explorers who just returned to Earth from space mission (flashback)	7

6	Kogane reaction shot	N/A

7	Earthlings escape cell, steal slaves ship, escape Galra and approach Altea; Sadak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Altea is slowed by Castle Altea (Note: Princess Fala and Raible are shown watching escape ship from castle)	10

8	Medium and close-up shots of Princess Fala watching ship descend	N/A

9	Reactions of Kurogane, Shirogane, Seidou, Suzuishi	11

10	Kogane takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle Altea	14

“Space Explorers Captured,” the first Lion Force episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, is surprisingly different than its Beast King Golion counterpart, “Escape from Slave Castle.” The episodes are a testament to how important editing can be in telling a story — or two. IF you’ve not watched these in a while, or ever, then check them out.