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Tag: behindthescenes

Numbers, Shmumbers II: Season, Episode, and Production Numbers in Voltron: Legendary Defender

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Greg Tyler

Introduction

(This article is a “sequel” to “Numbers, Shmumbers: Season and Episode Numbers in Voltron: Defender of the Universe,”  which was published to this website in 2019.)

This article was written in 2026, the tenth-anniversary year of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER. 2026 and ten are momentous numbers for this great show, and to celebrate, I thought I’d share some more numbers – production numbers from episodes of the show.

What Is a Production Number?

A production number is a unique and persistent identifier for a given episode. It allows the production team to refer to an episode in a consistent way.

Episode titles can change throughout preproduction, production, and even postproduction. For example, in the original STAR TREK, the episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” had the working title of “Danger Zone.”

The sequence of episodes can change as well. Returning to the original STAR TREK, the episode “The Man Trap” was the eighth episode to be produced, but it was the first episode to air.

The sequence of episodes’ production numbers doesn’t always correspond with the intended “narrative sequence” of the episodes. The Star Trek franchise provides an example of this phenomenon, too. Actor Leonard Nimoy guest-starred in a two consecutive episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Due to Nimoy’s busy schedule, those episodes — “Unification I” and “Unification II” — were filmed in reverse order. “Unification I” takes place before “Unification II,” but because of the swapped production schedule, the production number of “Unification I” (40275-208) is higher than that of “Unification II” (40275-207).

In general, production numbers aren’t shared outside production offices. They aren’t a secret; they just aren’t that interesting to most people. They are of interest to me, which is I decided to try to learn the production numbers of all episodes of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER. Gathering this information was not an easy task, but thanks to the help of the people credited in this article, the task was successfully completed!

Click here to jump to The Numbers.

Sources

My sources for VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes’ production numbers are listed below.

Form Podcast

The first source of production number information that I found was Form Podcast, produced by Nerdist and hosted by Kyle Anderson. In 2018, Form Podcast reviewed episodes from the first through fourth seasons of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER alongside guests who worked on the show. Podcast episodes that provided VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production number information are listed below.

  • Episode 1 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and reviewed “The Rise of Voltron.” This podcast episode also revealed that “The Rise of Voltron” had been produced as three episodes: “The New Alliance,” “From Days of Long Ago,” and “Defenders of the Universe.” The production number of “The New Alliance” was revealed to be 101, and it was stated that the three episodes were produced together, suggesting that the production numbers of “From Days of Long Ago” and “Defenders of the Universe” are 102 and 103, respectively. This podcast episode also strongly implied, but did not state outright, that the production number of “Crystal Venom” is 111.
  • Episode 9 featured guests Eugene Lee, Lauren Montgomery, Christie Tseng, and Anthony Wu, and it reviewed “Crystal Venom.” This podcast episode also revealed the production number of “The Legend Begins” to be 207.
  • Episode 25 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and reviewed “Changing of the Guard.” This podcast episode strongly implied that the production number of “Changing of the Guard” is 201, and it strongly implied that the production number of “A Little Adventure” is 301. The episode also revealed that VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER was produced in three production seasons or blocks, each containing 26 episodes. In general, episodes of the first production season have production numbers 101 through 126, episodes of the second production season have production numbers 201 through 226, and episodes of the third production block have production numbers 301 through 326.
  • Episode 28 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and Chris Palmer, and it reviewed “Hole in the Sky.” This podcast episode once again revealed the production number of “The Legend Begins” to be 207.
  • Episode 30 featured guests Mitch Iverson and reviewed “Tailing a Comet.” This podcast episode also revealed that the production number of “Changing of the Guard” is 201.
  • Episode 31 featured guests Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery and reviewed “The Legend Begins.” This podcast episode also revealed that the production number of “The Depths” is 114.
  • Episode 33 featured guests Lauren Montgomery, Steve Ahn, and Mitch Iverson. This podcast episode also reviewed “Reunion” and revealed its production number to be 205.

Shamus Kelley

The second source of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production numbers was not a podcast, but rather a person: writer Shamus Kelley. Shamus is perhaps best known for his writing for Den of Geek. He also hosts RoboSkullCast: A Robotech Podcast with his friend Nick. I met Shamus in person at WonderCon 2017, and Shamus has been a guest in mulitple episodes of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast. Shamus is kind, insightful, and witty, and under circumstances that have to be read to be believed, Shamus acquired a collection of VOLTRON production art and related materials from some episodes of the show’s first two seasons. Shamus generously mailed some of the production art to me, and more recently he has begun to list pieces from his own collection for sale on Ebay. Shamus shared photos of some of his VOLTRON production art and materials, and analysis of those photos has revealed the production numbers of several episodes. Over time I’ll analyze more photos from his collection, as well as art from my own collection, in hopes of learning even more episodes’ production numbers.

Thanks to Shamus’ photos of his art collection, production numbers of the following episodes were revealed or confirmed:

“The New Alliance” (Production #101)

“From Days of Long Ago” (Production #102)

“Defenders of the Universe” (Production #103)

“Some Assembly Required” (Production #104)

“Return of the Gladiator” (Production #105)

“The Fall of the Castle of Lions” (Production #106)

“Return to the Balmera” (Production #109)

“Crystal Venom” (Production #111)

“Space Mall” (Production #120)

“The Blade of Marmora” (Production #121)

“The Journey” (Production #206)

Benjamin Kaltenecker

The third source of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production numbers was line producer Benjamin Kaltenecker. In 2017, Marc Morrell and I interviewed Benjamin on Let’s Voltron: The Official Podcast in Episode #97. At VoltCon 2021, Marc and I met Benjamin in person, and interviewed him once more. Benjamin is incredibly kind and generous, and in 2026, he was kind enough to send me screen shots of spreadsheets that contained the production numbers (201-226 and 301-326) of every episode from VOLTRON’s third through eighth seasons. Thank you, Benjamin!

Emily Eiden

Emily Eiden, who lent her vocal talents and acting artistry to VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER as Shay, kindly shared the production numbers of the four episodes in which she played the character:

  1. “Tears of the Balmera” – Production #107
  2. “Return to the Balmera” – Production #109
  3. “Rebirth” – Production #110
  4. “Stayin’ Alive” – Production #124

Thank you, Emily!

Ronan Sinbad

Ronan Sinbad graciously shared photos of some of her VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production art collection. The photos enabled me to identify the production numbers of two more episodes. Thank you, Ronan Sinbad, and thank you once again to Shamus Kelley for discovering Ronan Sinbad’s collection photos and gaining Ronan Sinbad’s permission to share them here.

“Across the Universe” (Production #115)

“The Ark of Taujeer” (Production #119)

CookieTails

In September 2026, by way of Shamus Kelley, CookieTails provided information from her own research about VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes and their production numbers. After I received the information, but before I had time to update this website with that information, I had the good fortunate of meeting CookieTails in person at VoltCon 2026. I am thankful that CookieTails researched this topic and shared her research.

CookieTails also mentioned an AfterBuzz TV interview with Joaqium Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, and Eugene Lee, during which the executive producers mentioned that at some point, “The Feud!” was to have occupied a different slot in the seventh season:

Voltron Legendary Defender Interview – The Garfle Warfle Snick Spectacular (14:56)

DOS SANTOS: At one point [Bob, game show host in “The Feud!”] was…the last obstacle  they needed to pass before getting back to Earth….But it felt a little funny.

MONTGOMERY: The episodes were in a very different order production-wise. But ultimately when it came to airing them, we swapped a couple around because…getting back to Earth on the heels of [the] game show felt a little more anticlimactic.

DOS SANTOS: It was originally written like that was the prize. Like Earth was actually endgame for winning the game show. And it was cool, but it was also we don’t want the stakes to be kind of… a joke to get back to Earth.

MONTGOMERY: So we swapped it around and then it ended up being the… alone lost in space episode, which was a better fit. But that was another one of yours?

LEE: That was mine.

MONTGOMERY: That was a terrifying trip.

Based on the production numbers provided by Benjamin Kaltenecker for seasons three through eight, it seems that more than a couple episodes were rearranged, and that the “alone lost in space episode” is “The Journey Within,” directed by Eugene Lee.

CookieTails cited numerous online resources, the existence of which I had not previously known.

  • A Google Sheets spreadsheet and two informative posts by the author of the Voltron News and Updates Tumblr
  • A photo posted by AJ LoCascio

Voltron News and Updates (Tumblr)

CookieTails kindly cited two posts and a spreadsheet that were authored by the Voltron News and Updates Tumblr, which is an excellent source of information about VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER.

The spreadsheet contains production numbers from the first five seasons’ episodes (and conjectural numbers from the sixth-season’s episodes) of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER — that is, it associates episodes with production numbers 101 through 126 and 201 through 226. Although the sources of this spreadsheet’s information aren’t specified in the spreadsheet, the episodes whose numbers I do know, with verification, do match the information in the spreadsheet. Any episodes’ production numbers in this spreadsheet that I have not yet been able to verify independently will be noted in The Numbers table by being tagged with the text “Not Yet Verified”.

Voltron News and Updates made posts on Tumblr that yield more information about episodes and their production numbers.

The Episode still spoilers post, dated February 22, 2018, parses episode production numbers from the file names of various promotional stills. For more excellent, well researched and explained details, read the original post.

In the post, the promotional still file names that reference episode titles and production numbers are:

  • 114: “The Depths”
  • 115: “Across the Universe”
  • 117: “Greening the Cube”
  • 121: “The Blade of Marmora”
  • 122: “The Belly of the Weblum”
  • 126: “Blackout”
  • 201: “Changing of the Guard”
  • 202: “Red Paladin”
  • 204: “Hole in the Sky”
  • 205: “Reunion”
  • 207: “The Legend Begins”
  • 210: “Black Site”
  • 212: “Begin the Blitz”
  • 213: “A New Defender”

In the post, the promotional still file names that reference production numbers and are screen caps that can be matched to specific episodes are:

  • 214: Stills verified to be from “The Prisoner”
  • 215: Stills verified to be from “Blood Duel”
  • 216: Stills verified to be from “Postmortem”
  • 217: Stills verified to be from “Kral Zera”
  • 218: Stills verified to be from “Bloodlines”
  • 219: Stills verified to be from “White Lion”

The Episode Still Spoilers post, dated June 5, 2018, parses yet more episode production numbers from the file names of various promotional stills. Again, for more excellent, well researched and explained details, read the original post.

In the post, the promotional still file names that reference episode titles and production numbers are:

  • 220: Stills verified to be from “Omega Shield”
  • 221: Stills verified to be from “Razor’s Edge”
  • 222: Stills verified to be from “Monsters & Mana”
  • 223: Stills verified to be from “The Colony”
  • 224: Stills verified to be from “The Black Paladins”
  • 225: Stills verified to be from “All Good Things”
  • 226: Stills verified to be from “Defender of All Universes”

AJ LoCascio

CookieTails’ research also included a link to a December 12, 2022, X post from AJ LoCascio, which included a photo of numerous VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episode scripts that were still in his possession. In the photo, the scripts’ cover pages reveal the following episode titles and production numbers:

  • #212: “Begin the Blitz”
  • #215: “Blood Duel”
  • #217: “Kral Zera”
  • #220: “Omega Shield”
  • #225: “All Good Things”
  • #315: “Shadows”

The information in the photograph aligns with information from other sources.

Mr Freakeith

Thanks once again to Shamus Kelley for making me aware of a November 25, 2025 X post by Mr Freakeith, containing two photos of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER production art. One of the photos features numerous examples of product art that are noted with Production #119.

“The Ark of Taujeer” (Production #119)

Arthur Loftis

While browsing for yet more production art, I happened upon the ArtStation site of artist Arthur Loftis, who worked on VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER as a background artist and later as a visual development artist. Loftis’ ArtStation site includes three pages of Loftis’ art from the show.

The Voltron: Legendary Defender S1-S2 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s first and second seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 107, 113, 115, 117, and 120.

I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.

“Tears of the Balmera” (Production #107)

“The Black Paladin” (Production #113)

“Across the Universe” (Production #115)

“Greening the Cube” (Production #117)

“Space Mall” (Production #120)

The Voltron Legendary Defender S3-S6 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s third through sixth seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 203, 205, 207, 215, 217, and 223.

I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.

“The Hunted” (Production #203)

“Reunion” (Production #205)

“The Legend Begins” (Production #207)

“Blood Duel” (Production #215)

“Kral Zera” (Production #217)

“The Colony” (Production #223)

The Voltron Legendary Defender S7-S8 page features production art from multiple episodes of the show’s seventh and eighth seasons. Each image file has the episode’s production number as part of the file name. The art shown on the page is from episodes with production numbers 303, 305, and 326.

I have not received Arthur Loftis’ permission to post their art, so I won’t post the relevant art here, but I will show a screen cap that aligns with each image.

“The Way Forward” (Production #303)

“The Ruins” (Production #305)

“The End is the Beginning” (Production #326)

Marc Schmidt

Marc Schmidt was one of the sound editors for VOLTRON :LEGENDARY DEFENDER. In 2018, Marc Morrell and I were fortunate to interview Marc and lead sound editor Rob McIntyre in Episode 156 of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast.

As of the October 17, 2026, update to this article, the production numbers of 72 of VOLTRON‘s 78 episodes had been verified. On October 18, I reached out to Marc Schmidt, asking if he would be willing to check his records to verify the production numbers of the remaining six episodes. Fortunately, he was willing, and he was able to verify those production numbers!

On October 19, Marc confirmed the following numbers:

  1. “Taking Flight” – Production #108
  2. “Collection and Extraction” – Production #112
  3. “Shiro’s Escape” – Production #116. (Marc noted that in his records, this episode’s title had been “The Secret of Shiro’s Escape.”)
  4. “Eye of the Storm” – Production #118
  5. “Escape from Beta Traz” – Production #123
  6. “Best Laid Plans” – Production #125

Thank you, Marc!

The Numbers

This table contains VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER episodes and their production numbers. The abbreviated column headers are as follows:

  • Prod #: Production number
  • Prod Seas: “Production season” number
  • Ep #: Episode number according to non-Netflix sources such as Amazon and DVDs, which treat “The Rise of Voltron” as three episodes instead of one
  • Nf Ep #: Episode number according to Netflix (which treats “The Rise of Voltron” as one episode instead of three)
  • Seas #: Season number
  • Ep # in Seas: Episode number within a season, according to non-Netflix sources
  • Nf Ep # in Seas: Episode number within a season, according to Netflix
  • Title: Episode title
  • OAD: Original air date
Prod #Prod SeasEp #Nf Ep #Seas #Ep # in SeasNf Ep # in SeasTitleOAD
101-1031N/A11N/A1The Rise of Voltron2016-06-10
10111N/A11N/AThe New Alliance2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
10212N/A12N/AFrom Days of Long Ago2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
10313N/A13N/ADefenders of the Universe2016-06-10 (as part of “Rise”)
104142142Some Assembly Required2016-06-10
105153153Return of the Gladiator2016-06-10
106164164The Fall of the Castle of Lions2016-06-10
107175175Tears of the Balmera2016-06-10
108186186Taking Flight2016-06-10
109197197Return to the Balmera2016-06-10
11011081108Rebirth2016-06-10
11111191119Crystal Venom2016-06-10
1121121011210Collection and Extraction2016-06-10
1131131111311The Black Paladin2016-06-10
11511412211Across the Universe2017-01-20
11411513222The Depths2017-01-20
11611614233Shiro’s Escape2017-01-20
11711715244Greening the Cube2017-01-20
11811816255Eye of the Storm2017-01-20
11911917266The Ark of Taujeer2017-01-20
12012018277Space Mall2017-01-20
12112119288The Blade of Marmora2017-01-20
12212220299The Belly of the Weblum2017-01-20
1231232121010Escape from Beta Traz2017-01-20
1241242221111Stayin’ Alive2017-01-20
1251252321212Best Laid Plans2017-01-20
1261262421313Blackout2017-01-20
20122725311Changing of the Guard2017-08-04
20222826322Red Paladin2017-08-04
20322927333The Hunted2017-08-04
20423028344Hole in the Sky2017-08-04
20623129355The Journey2017-08-04
20823230366Tailing a Comet2017-08-04
20723331377The Legend Begins2017-08-04
20923432412Code of Honor2017-10-13
20523533422Reunion2017-10-13
21023634433Black Site2017-10-13
21123735444The Voltron Show!2017-10-13
21223836455Begin the Blitz2017-10-13
21323937466A New Defender2017-10-13
21424038511The Prisoner2018-03-02
21524139522Blood Duel2018-03-02
21624240533Postmortem2018-03-02
21724341544Kral Zera2018-03-02
21824442555Bloodlines2018-03-02
21924543566White Lion2018-03-02
22024644611Omega Shield2018-06-15
22124745622Razor’s Edge2018-06-15
22224846633Monsters & Mana2018-06-15
22324947644The Colony2018-06-15
22425048655The Black Paladins2018-06-15
22525149666All Good Things2018-06-15
22625250677Defender of All Universes2018-06-15
30135351711A Little Adventure2018-08-10
30235452722The Road Home2018-08-10
30335553733The Way Forward2018-08-10
30735654744The Feud!2018-08-10
30535755755The Ruins2018-08-10
30435856766The Journey Within2018-08-10
30635957777The Last Stand, Part 12018-08-10
30836058788The Last Stand, Part 22018-08-10
30936159799Know Your Enemy2018-08-10
3103626071010Heart of the Lion2018-08-10
3113636171111Trial by Fire2018-08-10
3123646271212Lions’ Pride, Part 12018-08-10
3133656371313Lions’ Pride, Part 22018-08-10
31436664811Launch Date2018-12-14
31536765822Shadows2018-12-14
31636866833The Prisoner’s Dilemma2018-12-14
31736967844Battle Scars2018-12-14
31837068855The Grudge2018-12-14
31937169866Genesis2018-12-14
32037270877Day Forty-Seven2018-12-14
32137371888Clear Day2018-12-14
32237472899Knights of Light, Part 12018-12-14
3233757381010Knights of Light, Part 22018-12-14
3243767481111Uncharted Regions2018-12-14
3253777581212The Zenith2018-12-14
3263787681313The End is the Beginning2018-12-14

Conclusion

VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER is a great show. I loved it as it was being released on Netflix between 2016 and 2018, and I love it now. Production numbers are a geeky peek behind the scenes into an aspect of how the show was made.

Thank you to the many people who contributed information that led to the writing and completion of this article! They’re listed below.

  • Form Podcast, hosted by Kyle Anderson, with guests Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, Eugene Lee, Christie Tseng, Anthony Wu, Chris Palmer, Mitch Iverson, and Steve Ahn
  • Shamus Kelley
  • Benjamin Kaltenecker
  • Emily Eiden
  • Ronan Sinbad
  • AfterBuzz TV, hosted by Katie Cullen, Megan Salinas, and Mark Donica; and guests Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, and Eugene Lee
  • CookieTails
  • Voltron News and Updates (Tumblr)
  • AJ LoCascio
  • Mr Freakeith
  • Arthur Loftis
  • Marc Schmidt

Update history:

  • This article was updated June 9, 2026, with information provided by Emily Eiden.
  • This article was updated July 25, 2026, with information provided by Ronan Sinbad.
  • This article was updated September 7, 2026, with additional information provided by Shamus Kelley.
  • This article was updated October 17, 2026, with additional information provided by CookieTails, Voltron News and Updates Tumblr, AJ LoCascio, Mr Freakeith, and Arthur Loftis. As of this update, the production numbers of 72 of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER’s 78 episodes had been verified.
  • This article was updated October 19, 2026, with additional information provided by Marc Schmidt. As of this update, the production numbers of all 78 episodes of VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER’s 78 episodes had been verified!

Posted in Behind the Scenes, News, Special Features, TV, Voltron: Legendary Defender Tagged: art, behindthescenes, productionnumbers, vld, voltron, voltronlegendarydefender

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