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The Five-Minute Rule: Vehicle Team Voltron (Voltron: Defender of the Universe)

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Greg Tyler

Although Vehicle Team Voltron is far less well remembered than Lion Force Voltron, one fact about the vehicle-based ‘bot that people seem to remember most is that it can operate for only five minutes.

What do actual episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe say — and show — about Voltron’s time limit, if there is one? Let’s find out.

In Search of New Worlds (#101)

In the first Vehicle Team episode, “In Search of New Worlds” (Production #101), Commander Steele reminds other Galaxy Garrison officers of Voltron’s power limits.

STEELE
…the Land, Sea, and Air Teams can combine to form the giant robot… but remember he has only five minutes of stored nuclear power. He’s our last line of defense.

Another officer in the room, called “Professor” in the script, replies.

PROFESSOR
We can only hope five minutes is enough.

Later in the episode, as Voltron battles a Robeast that Voltron: From Days of Long Ago: A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration calls the Crush Crab Robeast, Hawkins mentions Voltron’s time limit.

HAWKINS
Voltron only has five minutes of stored solar energy. There’s not much time left.

Is it “stored nuclear power” or “stored solar energy?” We’ll think more about this later.

As Voltron continues to fight the Robeast, Jeff announces to the team:

JEFF
One minute left, team!

Fortunately Voltron destroys the Robeast less than a minute later.

A Temporary Truce (#111)

The next mention of a five-minute limit for Voltron is in “A Temporary Truce” (Production #111). Professor Page, the resident scientist of the Stellar Ship Explorer, mother ship of the Voltron Force, openly mentions it to Sandu, a young Drule soldier whom the Explorer crew brought aboard as a guest following the crash of his ship.

PAGE
The giant robot only has five minutes of stored thermonuclear energy, but that’s always enough to defeat any enemy.

Why Page would trust a Drule soldier — even one as seemingly friendly as Sandu — with such critical information is baffling. It’s also baffling that Voltron’s five-minute limit refers to yet another metric — thermonuclear energy.

The Red Moon People (#137)

The next reference to a five-minute limit is in “The Red Moon People” (Production #137), when a Drule robot (called a “hooded robot” in the script) announces:

HOODED ROBOT
Voltron has only five minutes of stored energy and most of it is used up. Now finish him off!

How did the Drule robot know about Voltron’s time limit? It seems certain that Sandu would have been debriefed after he was returned to the Drule Empire. Despite Sandu’s growing interest in peace between the Drule Empire and the Galaxy Alliance, Sandu probably would have told his superiors what Professor Page had openly told him.

Summary of Dialogue

Among all episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, a “five-minute rule” is mentioned four times across three episodes:

Production #	Title	Reference
101	In Search of New Worlds	Five minutes of stored nuclear power (Commander Steele)
101	In Search of New Worlds	Five minutes of stored solar energy (Commander Hawkins)
111	A Temporary Truce	Five minutes of stored thermonuclear energy (Professor Page)
137	The Red Moon People	Five minutes of stored energy (Drule hooded robot)

Even ignoring the adjectives, “energy” and “power” are distinct, but related, things. According to Wikipedia, “energy is the quantitative property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work on, or to heat, the object,” and power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time.”

That said, the phrases “five minutes of power” and “five minutes of energy” can be thought of as stating the same thing — that, for a “typical” set of power-draining activities, Voltron can operate for about five minutes before depleting its energy reserves.

And now, the adjectives — “nuclear,” “solar,” and “thermonuclear.” The term “thermonuclear” refers to nuclear reactions at very high temperatures. In other words, “thermonuclear” is a more specific term than “nuclear.”

What about “solar?” The term “solar energy” usually refers to energy gathered from sunlight. On the other hand, the energy of a star itself comes from thermonuclear reactions, so if we streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch a bit, Hawkins’ “solar energy” reference can be thought of as a very loose description of thermonuclear energy.

To summarize, with a bit of hand-waving, as stated in episodes 101, 111, and 137, Vehicle Team Voltron’s “five-minute rule” is that the robot’s thermonuclear energy reserves can provide power for an estimated five minutes’ worth of a typical range of activities.

But is that the whole story? Let’s dive deeper.

Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half that You See

Edgar Allan Poe is credited for having originated, in “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” (1845), the phrase “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.” We’ve just examined all that we hear about Voltron’s power limits, but we haven’t examined what we see.

I used a video editing application to analyze how long Vehicle Team Voltron remains formed in each of the robot’s appearances in Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The goal to was to see how often, if ever, Voltron stays formed for longer than five minutes.

Caveats:

We almost never see Voltron form and disassemble in the same episode. Usually but not always, we see the Voltron Force actually form Voltron. Very rarely do we see Voltron disassemble. Since the robot must assemble after its 15 constituent vehicles launch from the Explorer, and the robot must disassemble before returning to the Explorer, these events must occur off-screen when they aren’t shown on-screen. In other words, Voltron does more in each appearance than is overtly shown in an episode.
Episode running time does not necessarily correspond to narrative time. For example, even though we might first see Voltron 16 minutes into an episode, and last see Voltron 21 minutes into the episode, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Voltron had been active for five minutes of narrative time. It might have “really” spanned more time or less time than what we see on the screen. Scenes shown sequentially might have “really” taken place wholly or partially at the same time, and more narrative time might have passed between scenes than running times would suggest.

For each of Voltron’s appearances:

I defined the “start time” as follows:
- If we see Voltron form, then the clock starts when the final assembly action ends. For example, in many episodes, the last assembly action is Ginger’s red jet attaching to Voltron’s chest. In some episodes, the last action is Voltron’s twin face plates opening to reveal the face.
- If we don’t see Voltron form, then the clock starts when we first see the robot.
I defined the “stop time” as follows:
- If we see Voltron disassemble, then the clock stops when Voltron breaks apart.
- If we don’t see Voltron disassemble, then the clock stops when we last see the robot.

If Voltron remains assembled across commercial breaks, then I didn’t count the breaks — or the bumpers, when Peter Cullen says “Voltron will return after these messages,” or “We now return to Voltron: Defender of the Universe.”

If Voltron makes an out-of-context appearance at the end of the episode, then this analysis does not include that appearance. For example, if after Voltron fights a Robeast, we see the Voltron Force back aboard the Explorer, followed by an end-of-episode appearance of the robot with a voice-over narration, then this analysis does not treat that appearance as a “real” appearance of Voltron, or an extension of an in-context appearance of the robot.

This analysis of Voltron’s appearances also does not include flashbacks of appearances from prior scenes or episodes.

(Robeast names are from Voltron: From Days of Long Ago: A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration.)

Appearance #	Episode Production #	Episode Title	Appearance # in Episode	Duration (Minutes)	Comments
1	101	In Search of New Worlds	1	2.70	Voltron forms, fights the Crush Crab Robeast, then stands dramatically on the planet. Note: 1.47 minutes after forming, Jeff says, “One minute left, team!”
1′	101	In Search of New Worlds	1′	5.23	As with Appearance #1 (101-1), but assumes Jeff’s “One minute left, team” line begins exactly four minutes after Voltron has formed.
2	102	First Day on a New World	1	3.01	Voltron forms, fights the Titanic Tick Robeast, then stands dramatically on the planet.
3	103	Building a New World	1	0.67	Voltron forms and then flies away from a planet before it is destroyed.
4	104	Goodbye New World	1	3.80	Voltron forms, fights the Dragonoid Robeast, then stands dramatically while Hawkins communicates with Jeff, telling him to meet the Explorer at a newly sighted planet.
5	105	Try This World for Size	1	2.31	Voltron forms, fights the Crush Crab Neo Robeast, then leaves the planet upon Hawkins’ order to withdraw.
6	106	A Storm of Meteors	1	2.81	Voltron forms, fights the Antropoda Robeast, then disassembles to escape the Robeast’s rocket ropes. Voltron immediately re-forms (Appearance #7) to continue the battle.
7	106	A Storm of Meteors	2	7.13	Voltron re-forms immediately after escaping (Appearance #6) the Antropoda Robeast’s rocket ropes. Voltron fights the Robeast, then goes to the nearby Planet of Meteors and stands guard as the Explorer is repaired. When a storm of meteors begins to fall, Voltron uses its Blazing Sword against large, falling meteors until the Explorer leaves the planet. Voltron flies alongside the Explorer.
6, 7 (cumulative)	106	A Storm of Meteors	1, 2 (cumulative)	9.94	(Voltron had no time to replenish its energy reserves between Appearance #6 and Appearance #7.)
8	107	Help Not Wanted	1	1.31	Voltron forms and fights the Cannon Mantis Robeast.
9	108	Ghost Fleet from Another Planet	1	2.68	Voltron forms, fights the Mutant Sphere Robeast, then drives away Mongo’s attack fleet.
10	109	A Very Short Vacation	1	3.22	Voltron forms, fights the Barracudax Robeast, dragging it underwater. Note: 1.56 minutes after forming, Jeff says, “We don’t have much time!” After destroying the Robeast, Voltron flies back toward the Explorer, which prompts Zabor to retreat.
11	110	Planet of the Bats	1	2.78	Voltron forms, fights the Dread Sinistar Robeast, then stands dramatically on the planet.
12	112	Wolo’s Lost World	1	4.15	Voltron forms, fights Brak’s Robeast, then stands as Wolo remembers a lesson that his brother Kobal had taught him. (Note: FDLA does not unambiguously name this Robeast, due to errors in the book.)
13	113	Planet Stop for Repairs	1	2.90	Voltron forms, prpeares to fight Nerok’s Robeast, but does not strike, avoiding a battle. Voltron stands by as the Robeast and Nerok depart. (Note: FDLA does not unambiguously name this Robeast, due to errors in the book.)
14	114	A Curious Comet	1	2.08	Voltron forms and begins to fight the Cyberbug Robeast, which fires at Voltron, causing its right arm to separate and separate into Rugger 3 (Wolo’s ship) and Rugger 12 (Cinda’s ship). (Time between completion of assembly and detachment of right arm: 0.55 minutes.) Voltron’s right arm re-attaches, and Voltron continues to fight the Cyberbug Robeast. (Time between re-attachment of right arm and last instant of Voltron’s appearance: 1.29 minutes.) This sequence is considered a single appearance because Voltron remains (mostly) assembled.
15	115	In the Enemy Camp	1	4.36	Voltron forms, fights the Planet Smasher Robeast, then stands dramatically on the planet.
16	118	What’s on First	1	4.06	Voltron forms, fights the Hades Orb Robeast. Voltron then fights the Nightshade Berzerker Robeast. Voltron’s Wing Beam and a rogue tornado presumably destroy the Robeast, and Voltron escapes the tornado.
17	119	Great Stone Space Faces	1	1.57	Voltron forms and fights a Nightshade Berzerker Robeast — seemingly a different one than the Robeast fought in Episode #118.
18	120	Defend the New World	1	3.04	Voltron forms without its head. Krik commands the headless Voltron as it fights the Heavy Blazersect Robeast. Voltron’s head attaches 0.81 minutes after forming. Voltron defeats the Robeast, then stands dramatically on the planet.
19	121	Meanwhile Back at Galaxy Garrison	1	0.25	Voltron forms, then flies off to meet a support fleet.
20	122	Nerok Scores Big	1	2.36	Voltron forms, then fights the Arachno-Binder Beast, accidentally damaging the Explorer during the battle. Voltron then escorts the Explorer away from the battle site.
21	123	Hazar on the Carpet	1	2.08	Voltron forms, then fights the Rocket Sniper Robeast.
22	124	Hazar is Demoted	1	0.88	Voltron forms, then departs a planet with the Explorer to meet a group of space settlers.
23	125	Just Like Earth	1	3.37	The Steel Spacebug Rattler Robeast fires at Rugger 7 (Lisa’s ship) before it, Rugger 9 (Shannon’s ship), and Rugger 14 (Marvin’s ship) can form Voltron’s right leg. Voltron fights the Robeast. After Voltron’s right leg attaches, Voltron defeats the Robeast and destroys Zabor’s Drule battleship.
24	126	The Planet Trap	1	2.49	Voltron forms, fights the Wolf-Beetle Robeast, then destroys Brak’s Drule battleship before it can ram the Explorer.
25	127	Save the Space Station	1	9.26	After the Explorer and are repaired, Voltron forms and escorts the fleet near an asteroid field, where Voltron is ambushed by the Death Digger Robeast. Voltron fights the Robeast.
26	128	Planet of the Amazons	1	3.35	Voltron forms, fights the Dagger Toad Robeast, and then destroys the attacking Drule fleet.
27	129	Revolt of the Slaves	1	8.18	Voltron forms, protects the Explorer from Drule missiles, then fights the Twin Equinox Dragon Robeast.
28	129	Revolt of the Slaves	2	1.43	Voltron forms, then fights an attacking Drule fleet.
29	130	Raid on Galaxy Garrison	1	0.48	Voltron forms, then strikes a heroic pose.
30	131	Smashing the Meteor Barrier	1	13.63	Voltron, already formed, flies with the Explorer fleet toward a Drule command base. Then Hawkins orders Voltron to protect a support fleet from a Drule attack. Voltron fights a Robo-Golem Robeast, then helps the Explorer fleet and the support fleet to drive the Drule forces into an asteroid belt. On Hawkins order to return to the Explorer, Voltron disassembles.
31	131	Smashing the Meteor Barrier	2	2.97	Voltron, already formed, follows the Meteorbreaker and leads two Galaxy Garrison fleets through a dense meteor barrier and to a Drule command base.
32	132	A Man-Made Sun	1	3.31	Voltron, already formed, approaches a Drule base and destroys incoming Drule missiles, fights the Black Poison Robeast, and then separates to enter the Drule base.
33	133	Captain Newley Returns	1	5.23	Voltron forms, then fights the King Hydraxis Robeast.
34	134	Hazar Bucks the Empire	1	2.43	Voltron forms, fights the Razorface Robeast, disassembles, then escapes the planet before it is destroyed.
35	135	Letters from Home	1	1.82	Voltron forms, then fights the Death-Knight Crusader Robeast.
36	136	Peace! A Fish Story	1	1.89	Voltron forms, fights the Beachhead Robeast, then frightens the Drule fleet into retreating.
37	137	The Red Moon People	1	3.21	Voltron forms, then fights the Demon Bluegore Robeast.
38	138	This World’s for the Birds	1	4.06	Voltron forms, fights the Cyberai Robeast, then protects the Explorer from Twyla’s Drule fleet.
39	139	That’s the Old Ball Game	1	2.45	Voltron forms, fights the Repto-Boxer Robeast, then destroys Drule battleships.
40	140	Red Moon Rises Again	1	3.12	Voltron forms, then fights the Invincibeast Robeast, with the help of a buck.
41	141	Another Solar System	1	5.16	Voltron forms, fights the Doom Gladiator Robeast, then strikes a pose.
42	142	Whose World Is It?	1	9.08	Voltron forms, fights the Astroblaster Robeast, and then stands by as Hawkins convinces the Drules to conduct peace talks.
43	143	It’s Anybody’s World	1	2.41	Voltron forms, then fights the Planet Compactor Robeast.
44	144	Frozen Assets	1	1.83	Voltron forms, then fights the Bladebug Robeast.
45	145	Coconuts	1	2.01	Voltron forms, fights the Sentrius Robeast, then destroys Zutka’s Drule battleship.
46	146	It Could Be a Long War	1	1.67	Voltron forms, then fights the Blackstar Unicorn Robeast.
47	147	Color Me Invisible	1	1.19	Voltron forms, then fights the Krushborg Robeast.
48	148	Time Is Running Out	1	3.80	Voltron forms and is immediately covered with Magna Mines. Voltron fights the Monster Vultura Robeast and throws it at a Drule attack base, destroying both.
49	149	Zero Hour Approaches	1	5.50	Voltron forms, fights the Astronomax Robeast in an asteroid field, then destroys a Drule base with a full-power Electro-Therma-Blast.
50	150	The Drules’ World Cracks Up	1	6.50	Voltron forms, fights its way to the surface of the Drule homeworld, then disassembles during combat against three Robeasts.
51	151	The Drules Surrender	1	16.02	Beneath the surface of the Drule homeworld, Voltron forms and fights multiple Robeasts. When Voltron is approached by Drule civilians who wave a white flag of surrender and peace. Jeff tells the team that it’s time to return to the Explorer.
52	152	The End of Hazar’s World	1	0.78	As the already formed Voltron, already formed, stands before a group of Drule citizens, Hazar emerges from the crowd, asking Voltron to help the people to evacuate before the Drule homeworld explodes.
53	?	Fleet of Doom	1	8.16	Voltron forms, then fights alongside Lion Force Voltron against the Drule Voltron 2 Robeast. Afterward, the two Voltron robots stand side-by-side as their pilots reunite.

Summary of Appearances

Regardless of Vehicle Team Voltron’s “five-minute rule,” on 13 occasions (12, if we ignore Jeff’s “One minute left, team!” remark in “In Search of New Worlds”), the mighty robot is seen to be active for over five minutes of episode running time.

How can this be?

The likely real-world reason is that the Voltron writers invented the “five-minute rule” to increase the suspense in a given episode, knowing full well that most of the time, the robot would not be seen in action for more than five minutes. It should be noted that Voltron’s limited energy reserves were a purely Voltron invention. Such a limitation is never specified in Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, the anime program from which the “Vehicle Team” episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe were adapted.

In the context of the Voltron fictional universe, there are multiple possible reasons for the occasional, unexpected longevity of Voltron’s energy reserves:

One minute of episode running time need not equal one minute of narrative time. Perhaps a longer-than-five-minute appearance “really” lasted less than five minutes.
In some of Voltron’s longer-than-five-minute appearances, the robot spends portions of time flying casually in space, or standing still — activities that presumably require less power than active combat against a Robeast.
Perhaps Voltron’s limited energy reserves are used only during “surges” of activity, such as combat. For less-intensive activities, the robot might be able to tap other energy reserves that are adequate for low-intensity activities, but inadequate for combat.
Perhaps over time, Voltron’s energy reserve capacity was increased, perhaps just once, or perhaps incrementally. There is some evidence which might support the idea of such an upgrade or upgrades:
- Although a Drule robot mentions Voltron’s five-minute energy reserve limit as late as “The Red Moon People” (Production #137), the last time anyone from the Galaxy Alliance mentions this limit is in “A Temporary Truce” (Production #111), when Professor Page openly states this limitation to Sandu, a young Drule soldier who is later returned to his people.
  - Perhaps Voltron’s energy reserves were increased sometime after the events of “A Temporary Truce,” but before the events of “Zero Hour Approaches,” the first of the last four of Voltron’s lengthy appearances.
  - It is also possible that Voltron’s energy reserves were increased before “A Temporary Truce,” and that Professor Page fed misinformation to Sandu. It does seem unconscionable that the professor would volunteer such sensitive information to an enemy soldier – even one who seems open to peace.
- Prior to Page’s mention of the “five-minute rule” in “A Temporary Truce,” the only episode that references the limitation is “In Search of New Worlds” (Production #101) — the same episode in which Jeff tells the team that they have only one minute left — after which Voltron remains formed for at least 0.23 minutes of episode running time, plus the time needed for Voltron to separate off-screen. Maybe Voltron’s energy reserves were increased mere months, weeks, or even days after the events of this episode.

Conclusion

Vehicle Team Voltron’s “five-minute rule” is expressed four times in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, but based on episode running times, Voltron violates the rule as many as 12 or 13 times.

Maybe the rule was rendered “OBE” — Overcome By Events — through one or more upgrades to Voltron’s energy reserves. Maybe we weren’t supposed to notice Voltron’s lengthier appearances. We certainly weren’t meant to time the robot’s appearances with a stopwatch…or video editing software.

Whether Voltron can function for five minutes, five hours, or five months at a time, it has inspired the imagination for over 35 years, which is a remarkable time indeed.

The Nexus Perplexes (Voltron Force)

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Greg Tyler

One of many elements that distinguish Voltron Force from other iterations of our favorite Defender of the Universe is the Nexus. It’s kind of cool, but it’a also kind of confusing.

What Is the Nexus?

We first see the Nexus at the end of the feature-length premiere, “The New Defenders Trilogy.” In other markets, this feature aired as three regular-length episodes, and in that context we first see the Nexus in the third episode, “Defenders of the Universe.”

After the five Lions take a pounding from a Haggarium-powered Robeast, the Voltron Force decides that they’re ready to form Voltron. Keith gives the classic “Activate interlocks” preamble, and the Lions connect as Keith orders them to “form feet and legs” and “form arms and body.” Just before Voltron’s head is formed, there is a quick cutaway shot.

The star is a nod to Voltron: Defender of the Universe. In that program, inside each Lion’s cockpit, just above the slot in which the pilot inserts the Lion’s key, a display panel features a star comprised of six lights. The panel becomes visible and lights up just after the pilot inserts the Lion’s key, and when the pilot goes through the “Activate interlocks” routine in preparation to form Voltron.

The Lion cockpits in Voltron: The Third Dimension have a similar display panel.

The Stealth Lion cockpits in Voltron: The Third Dimension have a star-shaped display on a flat, touchscreen interface.

In Voltron Force, once the star is formed, the person in the “center Lion” tells everyone that he or she will form Voltron’s head.

This star is the Nexus — although this and other information about the Nexus aren’t revealed until the 13th episode, “Clash of the Lions,” which we’ll get to later.

The star is shown each time Voltron is formed using the “standard formation sequence.” We’ll probably explore the other formation sequence, “Flash Form,” in a future article.

The positions of the five “Nexus pieces” match the positions of the Lions when they are combined as Voltron, when viewed from the front. The upward point corresponds to the “center” Lion — the one that forms Voltron’s head and body. The upper left point and upper right point represent the “right arm Lion” and “left arm Lion,” respectively. The lower left point and lower right point represent the “right leg Lion” and “left leg Lion,” respectively.

Black Center

Red Center

Green Center

Blue Center

Yellow Center

In “Hungry for Voltron,” Blue Lion is separated from the others by a planetary force field, and the other four Lions are forced to form Voltron with a missing right leg. Correspondingly, the Nexus has only four of its five pieces. In the episode we see a four-Lion Voltron in both Black Center and Yellow Center configurations. We’re treated to a four-piece Black Center configuration of the Nexus. We aren’t shown the four-piece Yellow Center configuration of the Nexus, but we can assume it happens off-screen.

Four-Lion Voltron (Black Center)

Four-Lion Voltron (Yellow Center)

The episode “Clash of the Lions” finally reveals more about the Nexus. Sky Marshall Wade fires a Corite charge at the center of Voltron’s chest.

After Voltron is returned to the Castle of Lions, Pidge assesses the damage to the robot.

PIDGE
The Corite pierced something inside Voltron that we’ve never been able to crack before. The Lions each have one in their chest – like a heart-slash-hard drive – and they all come together when Voltron forms.

VINCE
Kinda like a Nexus!

PIDGE
Hmmm. Yeah. A Nexus. That’s exactly what it is. And now that there’s a hole in the Black Lion’s piece of the…Nexus, it’s releasing all kinds of strange data, things I can’t even begin to decipher. Whatever it is, access to this Nexus could change the entire way Voltron works.

In “Inside the Music,” Pidge explains more about his attempts to decipher the aforementioned “strange data.”

PIDGE
The hole Wade shot in the Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus has given me access to copious amounts of new data…but it all seems to be encrypted with some code so ancient, it’s…it’s almost like I need to create a new branch of science to understand it.

Later in the episode, Voltron battles a Robeast that can fire blasts of “Sonic Haggarium.”

KEITH
It’s like Haggarium is leaching in!

PIDGE
It must be penetrating the Nexus through that hole!

In “Rogue Trip,” in the hangar in the Castle of Lions, Pidge takes his research a bit too far.

PIDGE
I’ve been studying the Black Lion’s Nexus relentlessly, but I still can’t decipher the code. It’s based on ancient, but highly advanced, mathematical algorithm. If I’m going to have any hope of making progress, I’ll need to extract the Nexus and analyze it in the control room. Can you help me do some heavy metal surgery?

Hunk uses what looks like a blowtorch and cuts into Black Lion, but mere inches from the Nexus, Black Lion activates, roars, shakes Pidge and Hunk loose, and exits the hangar of the Castle of Lions.

The Voltron Force soon discusses Black Lion’s departure.

PIDGE
It’s as if Black sensed the Nexus was being threatened, and it triggered some kind of security response.

KEITH
But the Lions bond with their pilots, so how could they possibly consider us a threat?

PIDGE
I don’t know. But one thing is certain — the Nexus modules are far more important to Voltron than I ever suspected. I have to do more research.

The Voltron Force locates and approaches Black Lion. In response, Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus flashes — and this triggers the Nexus pieces in the other four Lions to flash. The other four Lions eject their pilots and side with Black Lion as they stare down their much smaller pilots. Keith later “tames” all five Lions by behaving like a new Alpha to which Black Lion submits.

In “Gary” Hunk and Pidge continue their repair efforts.

HUNK
All right, Pidge. Hopefully this will fix this hole in Black’s Nexus.

A Space Mouse takes Hunk’s torque wrench, interrupting his and Pidge’s work. Soon afterward a group of Garys does much worse. Several Garys enter Black Lion and began to take control of it. One of them discovers Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus.

Although Keith drives out the other Garys, the one near Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus remains inside even during Voltron’s subsequent battle with a Robeast-sized Gary.

The Voltron Force tries to form Voltron in its traditional, “Black Center” configuration, but before the formation sequence completes, Voltron forms Yellow Center. Pidge quickly realizes why this happened.

PIDGE
It’s the Nexus! It’s got one of those things in it! It must have… gotten into the Nexus through the hole in Black’s piece!

Voltron then forms Red Center, although Keith somehow regains control and forms Black Center.

The Gary in the Nexus continues to make Voltron unstable. At multiple times its arms and legs begin to pull away from the torso, as if the Lions are about to separate or change configuration again.

After the Garys are defeated, Hunk is more determined to fix Black Lion.

HUNK
All right, I think now we REALLY gotta figure out how to fix that hole in you.

The Voltron Force discusses its next step in “Five Forged.”

KEITH
Every time we mess with the Black Lion’s broken Nexus, bad things happen.

PIDGE
True, but even worse things are going to happen if we don’t do something. There’s Haggarium in there now, spreading like an infection. We’re leaking power at an alarming rate. If we don’t repair this Nexus soon, we could lose the Black Lion.

Vince tries to use his “finger wires” to hack into Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus, but Black Lion comes to life, frees itself from the finger-wires, and flees Arus — followed by the other four Lions. The Lions fly to the planet Ariel, where they stand just outside the entrance to what looks like a temple. The Voltron Force pilots and cadets arrive and pass a sequence of five challenges, after which five Krelshi converge above their heads, to be replaced by an apparition of a kind but tough-looking blacksmith.

PIDGE
You’re the blacksmith. The one who forged Voltron.

BLACKSMITH
I had my part, yes.

PIDGE
I have so many questions.

BLACKSMITH
I’m certain you do. But I’m afraid I have a very limited role. And to much time to do it in. I understand your Black Lion has a Nexus problem.

After the blacksmith uses some exotic tools, Black Lion stands and roars, and all is right with Voltron once more.

Interestingly, when the Voltron Force is in the workshop of the blacksmith, before the blacksmith appears, they examine artwork on the walls, but they don’t mention one that would let them know, beyond any doubt, that they were in the right place.

After Black Lion’s piece of the Nexus is repaired in “Five Forged,” the Nexus isn’t directly mentioned again for the rest of the program, although it is still shown each time Voltron is formed.

Unanswered Questions

When exactly do the five Lions’ Nexus pieces combine?

In a typical formation sequence, the Nexus pieces are shown to combine after the Lions combine, but before the operator of the “center” Lion announces that he or she will form the head.

On relatively few occasions, the Nexus pieces are shown to combine before the Lions combine.

I assume the Nexus pieces “really” combine after the Lions combine, but this isn’t entirely clear. I suppose it’s possible that each Nexus piece teleports from its Lion’s chest to Voltron’s chest before the Lions combine, but the Lions themselves aren’t shown to have teleportation capability, so this seems unlikely.

Where exactly do the five Lions’ Nexus pieces combine?

Do the Lions’ Nexus pieces always combine inside Black Lion, regardless of whether Black Lion is the center Lion?
Do the Lions’ Nexus pieces always combine in the center Lion?

What happens to the Nexus when Voltron reconfigures?

When Voltron reconfigures, such as from changing from Black Center to Red Center, a sequence of operations occurs:

Voltron’s limbs detach from the “old” center Lion
Simultaneously…
1. The “old” center Lion moves from head/torso position to its position in Black Center configuration, while transforming from head/torso mode to its mode in Black Center configuration
2. The “new” center Lion moves from its position in Black Center configuration to head/torso position, while transforming from its mode in Black Center configuration to head/torso mode
3. If Black Lion is neither the “old” center Lion nor the “new” center Lion, then it moves from the “old” center Lion’s position in Black Center configuration to the “new” center Lion’s position in Black Center configuration, while transforming from the mode of the “old” center Lion in Black Center configuration to the mode of the “new” center Lion in Black Center configuration
Voltron’s limbs attach to the “new” center Lion

Example: When Voltron changes from Black Center to Green Center…

Voltron’s limbs detach from Black Lion
Simultaneously…
1. Black Lion moves from head/torso position to left arm position, while transforming from head/torso mode to arm mode
2. Green Lion moves from left arm position to head/torso position, while transforming from arm mode to head/torso mode
Voltron’s limbs attach to Green Lion

Example: When Voltron changes from Blue Center to Yellow Center…

Voltron’s limbs detach from Blue Lion
Simultaneously…
1. Blue Lion moves from head/torso position to right leg position, while transforming from head/torso mode to leg mode
2. Yellow Lion moves from left leg position to head/torso position, while transforming from leg mode to head/torso mode
3. Black Lion moves from right leg position to left leg position, while transforming from leg mode to… leg mode
Voltron’s limbs attach to Yellow Lion

While all this is happening to the Lions, what happens to the five pieces of the Nexus?

Do they remain inside Black Lion the whole time, even if Black Lion isn’t the center Lion?
Do they move as a combined whole from the old center Lion to the new center Lion? If so, then when during the reconfiguration process does this happen?
Does each piece return to its Lion before the Lions separate, and then re-combine after the Lions re-combine? If so, then do they always combine/re-combine inside Black Lion, or do they re-combine in the new center Lion?

What happens to the Nexus when Voltron “Flash Forms?”

When the Lions “Flash Form” into Voltron, they transform and combine very quickly, bypassing the “Activate interlocks” preamble. During a Flash Form, the Nexus pieces aren’t shown. Do they also “Flash Form,” or do they combine at their regular speed, which is still pretty darn fast, although it might lag Voltron’s formation by a short duration?

What happens to the Nexus when Voltron is forcibly separated into the five Lions?

In the final episode, “Black,” Maahox’s Castle Doom Robeast wraps a tentacle around each of Voltron’s limbs and pulls it apart. Each part crashes to the planet below. In such a scenario, do the Nexus pieces similarly separate, with each piece very quickly snapping back into the chest of its respective Lion? Or do they remain stuck inside the “center” Lion? In “Black” the Lions are shown to fight after Maahox pulls them apart, which would suggest that each Lion got its Nexus piece back, but it’s not entirely clear.

In Closing

Like Voltron’s reconfiguration power, the Nexus is a fun aspect of Voltron that distinguishes the Defender of the Universe in Voltron Force from its incarnations in other Voltron programs.

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

Let’s Get to the Lions! (Voltron: The Third Dimension)

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Greg Tyler

This site has already examined, in excruciating detail…

Now it’s time to take a similar look at Voltron: The Third Dimension.

Dens

Just as in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, the Lions in Voltron: The Third Dimension spend their idle time in “dens” on Planet Arus.

Black Lion’s den is within a lion statue on one side of the Castle of Lions.

It’s not clear which side of the castle sports the lion statue.

Red Lion’s den is within an active volcano.

Green Lion’s den is inside a giant tree stump.

Blue Lion’s den is at the bottom of the moat that surrounds the Castle of Lions.

Yellow Lion’s den is inside a giant lion statue in a desert.

It’s unclear how far the dens of Red, Green, and Yellow Lions are from the Castle of Lions. The Castle’s moat is surrounded by trees, so Green Lion’s tree stump den might be nearby, but it might not. In any case, it seems unlikely that all five dens are equidistant from the Castle.

Lion Launch Sequence

As in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, each Lion pilot boards a small shuttle that travels in a tunnel to a point beneath his or her Lion’s den. It’s unclear how the pilots reach the shuttle from the control room. In the program’s second episode, “Red Lion Breaks Loose,” the pilots exit the Castle of Lions’ control room through a seemingly ordinary doorway.

Lance exits through a seemingly different doorway than the others, but maybe all doors lead to the Lions.

When we next see the pilots, each is in an identical “shuttle bay.” (In most episodes, what Keith calls the “Lion Launch Sequence” begins in these shuttle bays rather than in the Castle’s control room.) Each bay’s exterior walls are natural rock, which implies that all five bays are located below ground.

How each pilot reaches his or her underground shuttle bay from the presumably above-ground control room of the Castle of Lions is unclear. Maybe the pilots descend in vertical chutes, as they do in Voltron: Defender of the Universe. On the other hand, maybe the pilots take Lion-colored spiral staircases. Or water slides. I’m going with water slides.

Once each pilot has taken a seat inside his or her shuttle, a transparent canopy closes, and the shuttle begins to travel in a horizontal tunnel. Interestingly, all five tunnels start with a shallow and seemingly unnecessary S-curve.

The shuttles soon accelerate to a high speed, and at a certain point, each tunnel seems to dip downward sharply. There’s no indication that the pilots hold their hands up and scream, as if they were riding in roller coasters.

Our next view of the pilots is from the inside of the Voltron Lions — from inside the cockpit in each Lion’s head, looking rearward. Each cockpit has a hole in the floor, and we see each pilot ascend into the cockpit, still seated in his or her now open-canopied shuttle. The shuttle seat becomes the Lion cockpit seat, and the rest of the shuttle goes… elsewhere. The open shuttle canopy seems to disappear just behind the rear wall of the cockpit.interior literally becomes part of the Lion’s cockpit interior. The lights beneath the cockpit go dark, conveniently hiding how this magic happens.

Once the pilot is inside his or her Lion, he or she places the Lion’s Lion-colored key into a special slot in the cockpit, and the Lion powers up.

Unlike in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Black Lion, when in its den, is always concealed within the lion statue. Just before Black Lion launches into the sky, the statue disappears, as if by magic. On the other hand, maybe the statue is only a hologram.

The other Lions “simply” leap out of their dens.

It’s unclear where the pilots keep the keys when they aren’t in use. The uniforms are form-fitting, and they don’t seem to have pockets. Maybe the keys are kept in compartments hidden in the bulky, mouth-concealing portions of the helmets.

And that’s how the brave pilots of the Voltron Force get to their Lions.

Brothers of Balto: Pidge and Chip from Voltron: Defender of the Universe

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Greg Tyler

Chip and Pidge from "Fleet of Doom" — Chip and Pidge from “Fleet of Doom”

One of the surprisingly few links between the Lion Force and Vehicle Team episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe is the familial link between Pidge, a member of the Voltron Lion Force and the pilot of Green Lion, and Chip, a member of the Voltron Vehicle Team’s Air Team, and the pilot of Rugger 4.

Because 104 episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe were adapted from episodes of Beast King Golion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, some Voltron fans believe that Voltron‘s mythos was created mostly by happenstance, as each episode was adapted. There is almost certainly a degree of truth to this notion, but if a viewer examines the episodes more closely, he or she might find more depth to the story and characters than one might expect — and perhaps more than the writers actually intended. This is certainly the case with Pidge and Chip.

“Letters from Home” establishes that Pidge and Chip are twin brothers.

LISA: Chip’s very close to his brother. Don’t forget — they’re twins.

The episode also establishes that the brothers are orphans.

LISA: Chip and Pidge were orphans as children. Their adoptive parents took them both, so they wouldn’t be parted.

Pidge, himself a highly intelligent person, considers Chip to be the smarter twin, as he indicates in a letter to Chip in the episode “Letters from Home.”

PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): You always had the brains!

Later, after Chip has joined the Voltron Vehicle Team, his teammates acknowledge and admire his intelligence. In “A Man-Made Sun,” the five-member Air Team (of which Chip is a member), and Sea Team leader Krik, are in a death trap.

JEFF: Chip, you’re the scientific whiz — any suggestions?!

Chip saves everyone, after recalling some of his and his brother’s childhood interests.

CHIP: My brother Pidge and I used to study solar power as a hobby.

At some point in their childhoods, Pidge and Chip are adopted. They meet their parents at the orphanage. Pidge recalls some of the details behind the adoption in “The Green Medusa.”

PIDGE (inner monologue): I know what it’s like… finding new parents and a new home. I was an orphan, and I remember the day my new parents came to take me away.
(Flashback to the orphanage)
WOMAN: Are you sure you’ll like living with us?
PIDGE: Yes, ma’am. I know I will.
(Present)
PIDGE (inner monologue): She was very good to me, but I always wished I’d had my own mother.

Pidge provides further details of the adoption in a letter that he writes to Chip in the episode “Letters from Home.”

PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): Remember the day at the orphanage, when Mom and Dad came to adopt me, and I said I wouldn’t go unless they took you, too? We swore we’d never be separated! Well, we’re finally separated, and I miss you.

The accompanying video, reused from “The Green Medusa,” shows only Pidge shaking the hand of his future adoptive mother.

We don’t know how old Pidge and Chip were when they became orphans. We don’t know how old they were when they were adopted. For that matter, we don’t know old they are in the “present” of the Voltron programs. In the footage from “The Green Medusa,” Pidge looks the same as he does in the “present” scenes of the program. This might suggest that Pidge and Chip were adopted no more than a few years before they joined the Voltron Force.

How are we to interpret what Pidge told Chip in the letter? Were Pidge and Chip’s future adoptive parents really planning to adopt only Pidge? Did Pidge have to put his foot down and insist that they also adopt Chip? Maybe the prospective parents had just met only Pidge, and Pidge told them up front that he and Chip must be adopted together, perhaps even before the prospective parents knew that Pidge had a brother.

In any case, how would Chip feel to be reminded, years later in a letter, that Pidge had insisted that Chip be adopted along with him? Pidge undoubtedly meant it to express how close they were to one another… but it’s also possible that the words, especially if said repeatedly over years, would make Chip feel inferior to his twin brother.

I point this out, because at the beginning of “Letters from Home,” Chip is sad because he hasn’t received a letter from his mother. (He receives the letter from Pidge at the end of the episode.) To hide this from his teammates, he goes so far as to write a fake letter that he claims is from his mother.

CHIP: Mom says, “I think of you often. We had a nice long letter from your brother Pidge today. He’s fine. I wish you and he were stationed together. Twins shouldn’t be separated. I miss you both.”

One might interpret this as more than a fake letter. It sounds like a cry for help. Maybe Chip isn’t doing well with the separation from his brother, but he perceives that Pidge is doing fine. And maybe it’s Chip who wishes he and Pidge were stationed together, especially when we learn later from Pidge’s letter that the brothers swore they’d never be separated.

In any case, Chip’s friends notice his sadness.

KRIK: Obviously his mother, for some good reason, couldn’t write to him this time around. So he felt abandoned all over again.

Chip is so distraught that he fails to join the rest of the Air Team on a mission. Later his teammate Rocky looks directly at Chip and speaks of him in the third person, with words so pointed as to suggest that Rocky knows just how to hurt his friend most. I don’t think Rocky means to be as hurtful as he comes across, since in many other episodes, he and Chip seem to be close pals, but…

ROCKY: This squirt thinks because he’s small, he gets special privileges! Well, he don’t! He’s gotta grow up and learn to be half the man his brother Pidge is!

Chip felt abandoned by his real parents, and he feels abandoned now from not having gotten a letter from his mother. He feels inferior to his twin brother, and Rocky’s words seem to confirm that belief. Ouch.

Later Chip talks about his fake letter to his friend, Lisa of the Sea Team.

CHIP: I wrote this to myself, and everybody knows it. How can a person be so dumb and live? Why didn’t she write? Maybe something bad happened to Pidge!

Chip just said, in so many words, that he doesn’t deserve to live! Then he covers it up by worrying once more about Pidge.

And how does Lisa respond?

LISA: Everything’ll be all right, Chip. You weren’t the only one who didn’t get mail. Sometimes a packet gets held up or lost. Aw, come on. You wouldn’t want your brother to see you like this, would you?

Soon afterward, a Robeast attacks, and the Voltron pilots are called to their ships.

LISA: Chip, yo you hear that? They need us. Come along. It’s not too late! What about Pidge? Wouldn’t he jump if *his* team needed him at a time like this?
CHIP: Wait up, Lisa! I’m coming! Just because I’ve been a wimp, doesn’t mean I have to stay a wimp!
LISA: You’re no wimp.

Lisa also means well, but her words seem to reinforce — twice — that Pidge is the better of the twins. And when Chip calls himself a wimp, she refutes his feelings.

I feel for the guy.

And at the end of the episode, when Chip finally gets that letter from Pidge, how does it conclude?

PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): Mostly I work with our Voltron team to defend Princess Allura and her planet from invasion. I fly the Green Lion, and I form Voltron’s left arm. I’m left-handed, you know. What part are you on your Voltron team? You oughta be the head. You always had the brains! Hey, do you think we’ll ever get to take that vacation we’ve been dreaming about for years? Well, write soon, and fill me in on everything!
Chip (in tears, reading the letter): Love, Pidge.

Although the letter doesn’t state this outright, it seems like this is the first letter that Chip has received from Pidge since they separated. Why else would Chip not know about Pidge’s mission, or which Lion Pidge pilots, and why would Pidge not know which Rugger Chip pilots?

It’s no wonder that Chip is so sad. He became an orphan. He feels that he was adopted only because Pidge insisted that Chip be adopted. He feels inferior to Pidge. His friends’ words seem to reinforce that he is inferior to Pidge. He hasn’t heard from Pidge in weeks, months, or even longer. And he hasn’t heard from his mother as he had expected.

But it gets worse. In an earlier episode, “Pidge’s Home Planet,” Pidge and Chip’s home planet is destroyed!

PIDGE: Picking up radioactive missiles heading for Planet Balto! Oh, no! That’s my home planet, Keith! It’s being attacked!
PIDGE: “My family was moving to another planet. I don’t know if they made it! Gotta go and see!
LANCE: The whole planet has been destroyed! Wiped out!
HUNK: Pidge, we’re near your village!
PIDGE: I see, but I don’t recognize it. Wait, that’s my school… my home!
PIDGE: Looks like the people escaped to another planet, but my world is sure ruined!
KEITH: At least we’re sure everybody got safely off the planet before Lotor started his dirty work.

After a battle between Lotor and Voltron, Balto explodes!

PIDGE: At least I can think of Planet Arus as my home now till I find where my family has gone. Wish I could’ve seen my back yard once more.

Later in the episode, Pidge receives welcome news from his friend and teammate.

ALLURA: When get back to Arus, I’m going to make you an honorary citizen! Then you’ll have both a new home and a new world. Okay, Pidge?
PIDGE: I’d like that.

And later, on Arus:

ALLURA: To Pidge! Now a full-fledged citizen of Planet Arua!
PIDGE (to the Space Mice): Hi, fellow citizens! This is *my* country now! I could become a duke! An earl or a baron or maybe even a knight! But gimme your honest opinion. Am I too short to be a prime minister?

Pidge might seem to be in a better state than his brother, but Pidge might not be in the best mindset either. In “The Sleeping Princess,” Prince Lotor and witch Haggar execute an elaborate plan to make Princess Allura seem to have died, so that during her funeral, they can steal her body and take her back to Planet Doom. As Lotor drives the hijacked, horse-drawn hearse, Pidge jumps onto the carriage and tries to strangle Lotor. Eventually during a skirmish, Lotor stops the hearse and holds the unconscious Allura in his arms, ready to take her away. Pidge halts their plans temporarily by revealing a grenade and pulling out its pin with his teeth!

PIDGE: Her life means more than yours or mine or anybody’s!

Lotor then puts Allura on the ground.

PIDGE: Now get out! I oughta feed you this!

Then Pidge, who is still holding the live grenade, charges at Lotor and Haggar! Hunk and Keith plead with Pidge to get rid of the grenade, but he ignores them. As Pidge reaches Lotor, Lotor leaps over Pidge’s head. Pidge is knocked backward, landing next to Allura, and the grenade flies out of his hand. Pidge places himself over Allura’s body to shield her from the coming blast. The grenade lands on the hearse and explodes!

What was Pidge thinking? Anyone in the Voltron Force would stop at nothing to protect Allura from Lotor, but… a grenade? Why did Pidge have a grenade to begin with? Was he the only person who brought a grenade to Allura’s staged funeral? And why did he pull the pin so early during the confrontation with Lotor?

Pidge usually seems like an outgoing and joyful person, but his behavior during this incident suggests that he was in a dark place. Did he feel imdebted to Allura for making him an honorary citizen of her planet? Was this culmination of his childhood as an orphan, a lengthy separation from his twin brother, and the destruction of his home planet?

Pidge and Chip weren’t the only kids in their adopted family. They also have a younger sister. Pidge mentions her in the episode “Surrender,” after he meets a young girl named Tammy, who tells Pidge that after she grows up, she wants to become a Space Explorer like Pidge and the rest of the Voltron Force.

PIDGE (inner monologue): She reminds me of my kid sister back with the Space Explorers on Planet Terra.

Even as members of the Voltron Force, Pidge and Chip seem to be minors, and they have an even younger sister who is among other Space Explorers. If we assume that Pidge and Chip are about twelve years old, how old would their younger sister be — ten? Even younger? Tammy seemed to be no older than about eight.

March 4, 2019, Update: Shannon Muir suggested to me that perhaps one or both of Pidge and Chip’s adopted parents were career Space Explorers. This might have influenced the brothers’ decision to become Space Explorers themselves, and it might explain why their sister was “with the Space Explorers” — because she was with her parents.

How are Pidge and Chip related to their sister? She is mentioned only in “Surrender.” She might not be their biological sister. She might be the biological child of Pidge and Chip’s adoptive parents — or she might also be adopted.

In “Final Victory,” Lotor has been defeated — although it’s not known for how long — and Pidge contemplates the future.

Pidge (inner monologue): Now that there’s peace in *this* part of the universe, I guess the Galaxy Alliance will be sending us out on assignment some place else. Hey, maybe they’ll call us back to join the rest of the Voltron Force! I’ll get to see my brother, Chip, again! I’m gonna write him a apace letter right away!

Aboard the Stellar Ship Explorer, Chip receives another letter.

ROCKY: Hey, Chip, looks like you got a *real* letter today!
CHIP: It’s from my brother, Pidge! He says their Voltron Force defeated all the Drule bad guys in the Danubian Galaxy. Now maybe they’ll be coming back to join us! If the Galaxy Alliance doesn’t decide to transfer them to another trouble spot.
JEFF: And if *we* don’t get sent to another galaxy! But then we expect that, because we’re all a part of Voltron, Defender of the Universe!

The twins finally re-unite in “Fleet of Doom.” We see them smiling and shaking hands, and a Space Mouse sits on a shoulder of each brother. Chip is taller than Pidge, and they don’t look exactly alike, which suggests that they are fraternal rather than identical twins.

After the events of “Fleet of Doom,” I imagine that Pidge showed his brother some of the Space Mice’s talents, which he had mentioned in his first letter to Pidge in “Letters from Home.”

PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): When we’re not flying, I spend my time training animals. You oughta see the great act I’m putting together with some very clever mice here at the Castle.

As an additional curiosity, in “A Ghost and Four Keys,” Pidge calls himself an “Earth man.”

PIDGE: Come on, you robots! You’re only a bunch of nuts and bolts! Let’s see what you can do against one little Earth man!

Why would Pidge call himself an “Earth man?” Before joining the Voltron Force, the brothers had lived on Balto. Did they live on Earth before they were adopted? Were they born on Earth? Did Pidge call himself an “Earth man” simply because he had attended the Space Academy of the Galaxy Alliance, which was headquartered on Earth? Voltron: The Third Dimension establishes Pidge to be a native of Balto, and Voltron Force establishes the same for Pidge and Chip, but that’s not necessarily true in Voltron: Defender of the Universe.

August 23, 2019, Update: I recently noticed a voiceover line of Pidge from the episode “The Little Prince.” The Voltron Force, trapped on the Omega Comet, is on its way to oblivion. A mysterious angel appears before them and offers to them the opportunity to proceed to the afterlife, sacrificing Arus to Lotor, or to return to Arus, sacrificing this opportunity to see what lies beyond. Pidge considers the alternatives:

PIDGE: Maybe I’d see my family again. No, we’ve gotta go back to Arus!

It’s unclear whether Pidge is referring to his biological parents or his adoptive parents. In “Pidge’s Home Planet,” Pidge mentions that he needs to find out where his presumably adoptive family has gone following the devastation of Balto. Maybe he subsequently learned that his adoptive family did not survive.

Pidge and Chip overcame major obstacles in their younger years, they lost their home planet, and they continue to struggle with feelings of abandonment and insecurity. But they are every bit as heroic as their bigger teammates in the Voltron Force.

They Came From Outer Space: “Lions’ Pride Part 2” (Voltron Legendary Defender)

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Greg Tyler

By the end of “Lions’ Pride Part 2,” the final episode of Voltron Legendary Defender‘s seventh season, Voltron and the Galaxy Garrison have defeated Galra commander Sendak and his occupation of Earth, and they have destroyed an unusually powerful Robeast of mysterious origin. The planet has been devastated, but its people remain strong, and they open their world to beings from throughout the universe who have struggled and fought against Galra oppression.

And they come. Let’s take a look at the new arrivals from other worlds.

Although it’s difficult to recognize the species of many beings in this establishing shot, it’s easy to spot some Balmerans and Olkari.

N-7 (artificial intelligence), and Captain Olia and her two children (unknown species). The third being from the right is an Unilu with a distinctive headband, who was seen in episodes as early as “Begin the Blitz.”

In no particular order: Slav (unknown species), an Arusian, Balmerans, a masked rebel (unknown species) who helped to free Matt Holt, Olkari, Nyma (unknown species), Ozar (unknown species), Olia (unknown species)

In the left foreground, an Olkari ship (I think). In the background, Balmera X-95-Vox, as seen in the first season (but rotated, so it’s less recognizable).

In the left foreground, an Olkari ship (I think). In the right foreground, rebel ships. In the background, Balmera X-95-Vox, as seen in the first season (rotated, so it’s less recognizable).

Blades of Marmora (who are, of course, Galra), Olkari, a Taujeerian, Puigians, Captain Olia, and a Balmeran, on whose shoulder is a (presumed) child of an unknown species

Shay, a Balmeran from Balmera X-95-Vox

Shay (hugging Hunk) and… her brother Rax?

N-7 (an artificial intelligence) and Nyma (unknown species)

Alteans, who arrived before the other non-humans: Romelle, Coran, Allura, and Space Mice (also of Altea)

Kolivan and Krolia of the Blade of Marmora — both Galra

A Balmeran

A Taujeerian in the foreground, and a Balmeran in the background

A being of an unknown species. The being reminds me a bit of the Pink Panther.

Vrepit Sal (a Galra), Vrepit Sal’s dish washer (species unknown), and a Balmeran

Allura operating a teludav, closing a wormhole

Olkari and Coran

Voltron Easter Egg: To Boldly Go Where No Rugger Has Gone Before?

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Greg Tyler

During a recent re-watch of the Voltron: Defender of the Universe episode “Letters from Home,” which was adapted from the Armored Fleet Dairugger XV episode “Get Yourself Together, Mutsu,” I noticed a funny Easter egg.

In this single shot, Ginger’s Voltron vehicle or “Rugger” bears the name “USS Enterprise,” presumably from Star Trek! Some old-school fans differentiate the Vehicle Team episodes of 1980s Voltron by likening it to Star Trek, while likening the Lion Force episodes to Star Wars. Maybe this is why!

I have no idea why the “USS Enterprise” marking would be next to an “SR-5” marking. Ginger’s Rugger is Rugger #5, so “R-5” would make sense… but what’s with the “S?” In Voltron, Ginger is part of the Air Team — but “Air” doesn’t start with “S.” The five Air Team vehicles combine into the Strato Fighter, so maybe that’s where the “S” comes from. On the other hand, in Dairugger, the team is called the Air Rugger Team — the “Aki Team” for short, and the five Ruggers form the Air Rugger. None of those terms start with “S.”

Then again, I’m trying to rationalize a marking that’s next to a nonsensical “USS Enterprise” marking. Curse you, brain, for overthinking yet again! :)

Where on Earth Is the Galaxy Garrison? (Voltron Legendary Defender)

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Greg Tyler

In Voltron Legendary Defender, where on Earth is the Galaxy Garrison? The seventh-season episode “Trial By Fire” shows us the location of the base! It happens during this scene, starting at about 3 minutes, 51 seconds into the episode:

VERONICA: I’m detecting movement from the Zaiforge cannons.

IVERSON: Where are they headed?

VERONICA: Based on our projections…The cannons are converging above our location!

During this scene we are shown a graphic of part of Earth’s surface, and near the center of the image, we see a glowing marker that represents the main Galaxy Garrison base. It’s somewhere in the 48 contiguous states of the United States of America.

I took a screen capture of the map without the marker, and a screen capture of the map with the marker (and other stuff), and I isolated the marker. Then I compared the location of the marker with a real-world map of the United States of America, and I tried to estimate the location of the marker.

It appears that the Galaxy Garrison is located in… Nebraska!

The Galaxy Garrison seems to be “framed” by four highways:

To the north, NE12
To the south, US20
To the west, US281
To the east, NE14

If the imagery in “Trial By Fire” is to be believed, then the Galaxy Garrison is located in northeastern Nebraska in the United States of America.

Who’s Running This Planet, Anyway? Earth’s Government in Voltron Legendary Defender

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Greg Tyler

The Voltron Legendary Defender seventh-season episodes “The Last Stand Part 1” and “The Last Stand Part 2” tell an entertaining tale of what happens on Earth between the departure of Shiro and his comrades, and their return as Paladins of Voltron, to defend their home from a Galra occupation. These episodes also suggest an alarming situation on Earth that predates the Galra invasion:

The entire planet Earth seems to be governed by the military.

In “The Last Stand Part 1,” Sam Holt has returned to Earth after having been gone for six years. Admiral Sanda of the Galaxy Garrison informs Sam that the joint chiefs want to debrief Sam, to learn about his intergalactic experiences.

We know nothing about the organization or authority of the joint chiefs on Earth in Voltron’s time.

According to the About page of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff official website, the Joint Chiefs of Staff consist of chiefs of staff of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the National Guard. During World War II, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had command authority over combatant commands. In later years, the Joint Chiefs lost their executive authority and began to serve instead as advisers, entrusted with providing advice to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.

If the joint chiefs in Voltron’s future Earth were similarly empowered, then this would suggest the existence of a civilian government.

Or would it?

As of this writing — less than one month before the December 14, 2018, release of Voltron Legendary Defender‘s eighth and final season — no other evidence exists to suggest a civilian government on Earth. On the contrary, “The Last Stand Part 1” and “The Last Stand Part 2” suggest that Earth’s government might actually consist of the senior-most officers of the Galaxy Garrison.

In “The Last Stand Part 1,” Admiral Sanda seems to be the commanding officer of the entire Garrison. At the end of the episode, Sam Holt challenges her leadership.

SAM HOLT: Right now, the world needs a leader that’s not afraid to face facts, and you’re not it.

SANDA: And you think you are?

SAM HOLT: Yes.

Sanda then yields much of her authority to Sam. On the other hand, in “The Last Stand Part 2,” after Galra Commander Sendak addresses Earth and demands that Earth turn over the Voltron Lions, it is Admiral Sanda who replies as Earth’s representative. Whatever the case, there are no references in these episodes — or any others — to Earth having a president, a prime minister, a congress or parliament or governing council, or indeed any civilian political entities.

It’s possible that Earth does not have a central government, and that individual nations have their own governments, and that the Galaxy Garrison controls only Earth’s exploration of space, and planetary defense. On the other hand, if this is true, wouldn’t Garrison leadership advise the countries of Earth during the Galra invasion and occupation? The episodes don’t suggest that anything like this occurs.

It’s also interesting to note that the Galaxy Garrison is a military organization. Everyone seems to be a commissioned officer or a cadet. Sanda is an admiral, Sam Holt is a commander, and at the time of Shiro’s disappearance at Kerberos, he is a lieutenant. Regardless of whether the Galaxy Garrison controls Earth, why is the Garrison a military organization when, in episodes like “The Rise of Voltron” (“The New Alliance”) and “A Little Adventure,” Iverson and Shiro mention that the Garrison consists of astroexplorers? Why is a space exploration group organized like a military, and why is the group called a garrison?

“The Last Stand Part 2” mentions that humanity experienced a third world war. After World War III ended, did the people of Earth decide to create a military organization charged with exploring space, defending Earth, and oh, by the way, governing all of humanity? Is Admiral Sanda, and later Sam Holt, a benevolent dictator?

Maybe the eighth season of Voltron Legendary Defender will reveal just who is in charge of Earth and its people. I’m hopeful that it isn’t the Galaxy Garrison.

To the Letter: The Altean Alphabet in Voltron Legendary Defender

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Greg Tyler

In the seventh-season Voltron Legendary Defender episode “The Road Home,” Coran and Romelle sing the Altean equivalent of the English “alphabet song” — the “ABCs.” The lryics are:

♪ Exus, plexis, ceedus, flee,
jaydus, nacto, pledum, ree ♪
♪ Joodum, ruu, and leeum too
That puts us just halfway through ♪
♪ There’s mai-ox, kay, and jibley-way
Afus, nofus, youkus-play ♪
♪ Beefur, leefur, agus-play ♪
♪ At the end, flancko and blee! ♪

It’s almost a certainty that the show’s writers created this song purely on a whim, just to give the Paladins another source of annoyance during their long journey to Earth. Having said that, let’s look more closely at the song, in typical Lions and Pilots and Bots Dot Com geeky fashion.

Letters

According to the Altean alphabet song, the Altean language includes 22 letters. We don’t know which are consonants and which are vowels — or indeed whether the Altean alphabet even has such concepts.

It’s also worth noting that many letters start with the same phonemes. Examples include…

Phoneme	Letter(s)
Short e (as in “egg”)	exus
pl	plexis, pledum
s	ceedus
fl	flee, flancko
j	jaydus, joodum, jibley-way
n	nacto, nofus
r	ree, ruu
l	leeum, leefur
m	mai-ox
k	kay
Short a (as in “apple”)	afus, agus-play
y	youkus-play
b	beefur, blee

At first glance, it seems that at least some letters aren’t named for their phonemes. For example, if there were an Altean word that sounds like “bell”…

Which letter might make the b sound? Beefur? Blee?
Which letter might make the l sound? Leeum? Leefur?

Glyphs

Throughout Voltron Legendary Defender, we catch glimpses of Altean text, featuring distinctive glyphs. There’s no way to know how all of these might match the letters that were identified in the Altean alphabet song, but it’s still fun to look at them!

In search of Altean alphabetic glyphs, I skimmed three episodes of Voltron Legendary Defender: “Eye of the Beholder,” “Reunion,” and “The Colony.” I found at least 27 — possibly 28 — glyphs. Each episode revealed glyphs that weren’t in the other episodes. The glyphs that I identified are shown below.

With 27 or more glyphs, and only 22 letters in the Altean alphabet, it’s clear that there can be no one-for-one mapping between glyphs and letters. Maybe Altean uses cases (upper case, lower case, etc.) like English does, or some other means of giving each letter multiple glyphs.

Whatever the case, after finding new Altean glyphs in each of the three episodes that I checked, I decided to stop. It looks like Romelle and Bandor were thinking the same thing in “The Colony.”