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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:
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

Eric Stocker’s Awesome Transformable Voltron Costume

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Greg Tyler

On October 19-20, 2019, I had the privilege of being a guest at VoltCon, the first-ever Voltron-focused convention. It was a lot of fun, and one reason why was an amazing 1980s Lion Force Voltron cosplay by Eric Stocker.

The costume is a great-looking rendition of Lion Force Voltron from Voltron: Defender of the Universe, with light-up eyes and a Blazing Sword. On top of that, the costume can “transform” into the five individual Robot Lions! Black Lion is a costume in its own right, and the other four Lions are impressive display pieces.

Recently I asked Eric if I could spotlight his costume on this website, and he graciously agreed.

Here’s what Eric had to say about his costume:

I made my Voltron: Defender of the Universe cosplay out of EVA foam and hot glue. Although I am not 100% sure, I believe this is the first individually worn cosplay of the mighty robot that breaks down into its lion components. The time spent into making it was about 250 to 300 hours. It is painted by hand with latex paint and primer. The joints are held together using nylon screws, bolts and washers while the covers of the lions legs and a few other places are held in place with neodymium magnets.

I am very proud of the outcome and have had extremely positive reviews. I plan on this being my go to cosplay in the future and will be at every Voltcon.

Thanks to Eric for sharing these photos. (I also snagged a handful of photos from VoltCon.org.)

Costume Under Construction

Voltron Classic Lions Being Re-Released — GameStop Exclusive

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Greg Tyler

Playmates Toys’ “Voltron 84″ Classic Legendary Lions, which were originally released at mass retail in late 2017, are being re-released as a GameStop exclusive.

The five lions combine into a 16” Voltron. Black Lion features electronic lights and sounds. Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow Lion each include a variety of accessories.

Here’s how to pre-order online:

Voltron Classic Black Lion Figure Only at GameStop – $39.99
Voltron Classic Red Lion Figure Only at GameStop – $24.99
Voltron Classic Green Lion Figure Only at GameStop – $24.99
Voltron Classic Blue Lion Figure Only at GameStop – $24.99
Voltron Classic Yellow Lion Figure Only at GameStop – $24.99

As co-host of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast, I reviewed these lion toys for the podcast’s YouTube channel. Check it out here.

Here is a link to all Voltron merchandise at GameStop: Link

These are my all-time favorite toys of the 1980s Voltron lons that don’t carry pilot action figures. (Yes, I like them more than the Popy/Bandai Golion of the early 1980s, the classic Matchbox version in the mid-1980s, and the Bandai Soul of Chogokin GX-71 of 2017.)

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.

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! :)

New Book by Neil Ross – Vocal Recall: A Life in Radio and Voiceovers

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Greg Tyler

Neil Ross, best known to Voltron fans as the voices of Keith and Pidge in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, has written a new book called Vocal Recall: A Life in Radio and Voiceovers. As described on Neil’s website, NeilBook.com:

How does a kid who survives the rain of V-2 rockets on London in the waning years of World War II, end up in Hollywood announcing the Diamond Jubilee of Oscar? Veteran Hollywood voice actor Neil Ross tells the amazing story of his life, and fifty-plus year career, in two exciting, highly competitive professions in his autobiography: Vocal Recall A Life in Radio and Voiceovers.

Check out NeilBook.com for a full description of the book, plus sample pages. The book can be ordered as a paperback, a downloadable audio book read by Neil Ross himself, a downloadable eBook in Kindle format, and as a downloadable e-Book in PDF format. You can also order a custom autographed bookplate to personalize your book.

Ross’ many other Voltron voices include but aren’t limited to Jeff, Chip, Bandor, and Commander Steele from Voltron: Defender of the Universe, and Keith and Amalgamus from Voltron: The Third Dimension.

Let’s Get to the Lions! (Voltron: Defender of the Universe)

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Greg Tyler

This site already examined, in Voltron: Legendary Defender, how the Paladins of Voltron travel from the bridge of the Castle of Lions to the Lion hangars. Now it’s time to see how, in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, the Voltron Force travels from the control room of the Castle of Lions to the Lions’ dens on Arus.

What About Those Dens?

In “Escape to Another Planet,” Coran mentions that, when Haggar first broke Voltron “into five separate units” that “came falling down as mechanical Lions, each one a fighting machine.” Coran then states that “each Lion buried itself in a different part of our planet as it landed.” Accompanying Coran’s tale are visuals of where each Lion lands.

In the same episode, overhead views reveal that the Castle on a small island at the center of a lake. Dense trees encircle the lake, and the Castle faces a much larger forest on the surrounding land. A bridge that starts at the Castle’s main entrance connects the island to the surrounding land. Beyond the circle of trees behind the Castle is a deep canyon, beyond which is a desert, and a pool of lava can be seen in part of the canyon.

All five Lions land near the Castle. It turns out that each Lion’s den would be established at or near its crash site.

Red Lion crashes in the lava pool in the canyon behind the Castle. Coran describes Red Lion’s den as being “beneath the fiery lava of the volcano.” In “A Ghost and Four Keys,” when Lance first operates Red Lion, it exits a cave to one side of the lava pool, and it runs along what looks like a land bridge with lava on either side. It’s not known whether the land bridge was natural or constructed sometime after Red Lion landed.

Green Lion crashes in the forest, and Coran describes the den as being “hidden deep in the forest.” The den is shown as being inside the stump of a giant, fallen tree. It seems unlikely that Green Lion originally landed inside the tree.

Blue Lion crashes in the lake that surrounds the Castle, and Coran describes the Lion’s resting place as “somewhere at the bottom of the lake.” In “Magnetic Attraction,” the lake water has boiled away, and Blue Lion is seen to rest on an artificial dais. An elevated tunnel leads to the dais. Maybe we’ll consider how the artificial dais came to be in a future article.

Yellow Lion crashes in the desert — presumably the area on the other side of the canyon. Coran says that “the Yellow Lion lies hidden out on the sands of the desert.” The den is shown as being inside a gigantic stone sculpture of a lion. It seems unlikely that the statue existed before the Lion landed.

Black Lion crashes somewhere off-screen, but near the Castle. It is later shown to be “on top of the lion monument.” Initially it is hidden inside the lion statue on the tower. In “The Missing Key,” when Keith first operates Black Lion, it breaks out from within the statue, destroying it, and in subsequent episodes, Black Lion simply rests atop the tower, in plain sight.

Now that we know where each Lion’s den is, let’s examine how the Voltron Force pilots get to the dens from the Castle’s control room.

Chutes, Tunnels, and the Launch Area

One of the most prominent features of the control room of the Castle of Lions is a large control panel on the top of a circular, elevated platform. In early episodes of the program, we learn that the control platform can rise some eight or nine feet (2.4 to 2.7 meters), revealing five open doorways, each of which is at the top of a long, vertical chute. The doorways are numbered 1 through 5.

For much of my 1980s childhood, I thought the doorways were located along the periphery of the Castle control room — even though they are shown in multiple early episodes to be beneath the control platform. Why? In retrospect, I can think of two reasons:

In the 1980s, you couldn’t watch TV on demand. Unless you owned the episode on a licensed videocassette, or you recorded the episode on videocassette, you couldn’t easily rewatch specific episodes.
In the often reused stock shots of the raised control platform, the platform has a much smaller diameter than it should — and only one doorway is visible in each shot. This was probably a deliberate choice. Had multiple doorways been shown in each shot, multiple pilots would also need to be shown running toward their respective doorways. This would be more costly to animate, and it would limit the usability of each stock shot. For example, if a particular episode showed only Pidge running for his Lion, then a shot of Pidge in the foreground and other pilots in the background couldn’t be used.

To reach the Lions’ dens, each pilot runs through one of the doorways and takes hold of an overhead grab bar with both hands. The grab bar is suspended by a cable, and once the pilot holds the bar, it begins a rapid descent in the chute.

How far the chutes extend isn’t clear, but all five terminate at the ceiling of a circular “launch area.” Inside the chamber are tunnels that extend radially outward from the chamber. Inside each tunnel is a shuttle that points away from the center of the room. The pilots’ grab bars stop descending just above the ceiling of the chamber, so each pilot lets go of the grab bar and seems to fall into the aft section of the shuttle.

(In the DVD version of “The Missing Key,” Allura is seen to be dropping from Blue Lion’s vertical chute — but in the story, it’s supposed to be Sven.)

It should be pointed out that, to this point, each pilot is not wearing his or her uniform. At this point, the shuttle’s aft section seems to be a closet, because soon, at the back of the shuttle’s open cockpit, twin doors slide open, and the pilot emerges, wearing his or her uniform and seated in a chair that slides from the aft section into the cockpit.

The pilots then launch their shuttles — in unison — and each shuttle races ahead in its tunnel. The fact that all five shuttles launch at the same time suggests that every pilot waits for the others to finish changing clothes. Maybe each shuttle’s closet has a fancy machine that quickly removes the pilot’s “civilian” clothes and puts on the pilot’s uniform.

At first, the tunnels have metallic walls, but eventually the walls become mostly transparent. Beyond the tunnel walls…

Black Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by flat stones.

Red Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by lava.

Green Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by earth and tree roots.

Blue Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by water.

Yellow Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by round stones.

By the time each shuttle reaches the end of its tunnel, the tunnel walls are metallic once more. Above the tunnel end is another vertical chute. A track descends from the chute and behind the shuttle’s seat. The track lifts the seat out of the shuttle, and the seat continues to ascend the chute and into a port on the Lion’s chest.

When we next see a pilot in his or her seat, the seat ascends into the Lion’s cockpit through a hatch in the cockpit floor. In later episodes, it’s clear that a Lion’s cockpit is inside its head. This raises the unanswered question of how the pilot seat travels from the Lion’s chest into the Lion’s head, beneath the cockpit.

Once inside a Lion’s cockpit, the pilot puts his or her key into a slot above the large display screen at the front of the cockpit.

Shuttle Tunnel Routes

The five shuttles start in a common room. Each Lion den is located at a distinct elevation:

Black Lion’s den is atop a tower, above ground
Red Lion’s den is at the bottom of a canyon
Green Lion’s den is in a forest, at ground level
Blue Lion’s den is on the bottom of a lake
Yellow Lion’s den is inside a statue in a desert, at ground level

Because many if not all dens are at different elevations, one might wonder where the launch area is with respect to the dens.

The closest den is Blue Lion’s, at the bottom of the lake surrounding the Castle. The only thing we know about the depth of the lake is that it must be deep enough to conceal Blue Lion.

If we assume that the Blue Lion shuttle tunnel is fully horizontal — in other words, that it has no slope — then the floor of the launch area must be at roughly the same level as the bottom of the lake.

This implies that Black Lion and Green Lion’s shuttle tunnels descend below the bottom of the lake, since Black Lion’s den is at the far edge of the lake, and Green Lion’s den is in the forest beyond the lake.

Since Red Lion’s den is at the bottom of the canyon, Red Lion’s shuttle tunnel would need to descend below the bottom of the canyon. Either the tunnel has a downward slope to rival the tallest roller coaster, or it descends more gradually in a spiral or a similar shape.

Yellow Lion’s den is on the other side of the canyon, so its shuttle tunnel must descend like Red’s does. Once Yellow’s shuttle tunnel passes beyond the canyon, it might ascend to shorten the length of the vertical chute from the tunnel to the den on the surface.

In “Raid of the Alien Mice,” a solar generator outage prevents the shuttles in the launch area from exiting. Keith, Lance, and Hunk are forced to race to their Lions on foot. They are seen to exit the launch area, and then to exit the Castle of Lions itself from the ground-level front entrance. They attempt to cross the bridge from the Castle’s island, but they are fired upon, forcing them to dive into the lake.

Black Lion’s Vertical Chute

The tower on which Black Lion rests has legs which span the bridge. How does the vertical chute from the shuttle tunnel reach the main body of the tower? Presumably, during the launch sequence, a short segment of vertical chute from either below ground or in the tower extends to connect the below-ground chute segment with the in-tower chute segment.

Conclusion

The path from the control room of the Castle of Lions to each Lion den is interesting. And I thought about this stuff waaaaaaaaaaay too much.

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.

The Shake Ups – Legendary Defenders: Voltron-Inspired Album Releasing June 1

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Greg Tyler

The Shake Ups, a band that specializes in pop culture-themed “power pop” music, is releasing a Voltron-inspired album on June 1, 2018. Entitled The Shake Ups – Legendary Defenders, the album features 15 tracks that cover Voltron Legendary Defender and Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The tracks cover a variety of topics in Voltron lore, from Shiro, Haggar, and even the Space Mice from Voltron Legendary Defender to the Voltron Vehicle Team from Voltron: Defender of the Universe.

In a Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast episode scheduled to be released on June 1, Marc Morrell and I spoke with band members Patrick O’Connor and Savannah O’Connor about the upcoming album. The Shake Ups were kind enough to allow Marc and I an early listen to the album, and… well… it’s a lot of fun! There’s something to like in each of the tracks. My personal favorites are “Space Mice”, “Quiznak!”, and “Team Punk.”

If you like Voltron and music, you’ll like Voltron music — and you’ll like this album, so check it out!

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.