Voltron Season 3 Episode 1 Review (Spoiler-Free)
You already know Voltron Legendary Defender is one of the best shows on TV but could you imagine it gets even better? The first episode was screened at San Diego Comic-Con and it brought the house down for good reason.
Voltron has been excellent at world building; introducing new alien races and making the universe feel large and populated. The premiere takes this to a new level with the team trying their best to recruit new worlds into the fight against Zarkon. As shown in some of the trailers leading up to this season, it’s not so easy without being to form Voltron.
Voltron’s legend has been growing and as a result the various alien races the characters are meeting aren’t quite sure if they want to sign up. Now if you’re a fan of the action in this series you might be worried that without Voltron you don’t get your giant mecha fix. Don’t worry. Your mind will be blown by this premiere.
In an opening fight scene not only do we get an astounding ground battle that rivals major motion pictures but we get lots of aerial battles with the individual lions. I don’t know what happened between seasons but the lion action was kicked up to a whole new level. Everything moves with lightning speed but it’s never overwhelming. Some of these shots make you feel like you’re directly in the battle.
One impressive shot was in the SDCC trailer where Blue Lion spins across the screen and takes out a Galra ship. If you thought that looked cool in the trailer, wait till you see it in action.
The Voltron Paladins are of course all still reeling from the absence of Shiro. We check in on everyone and some are dealing with it better than others. Keith’s angst level is turned up to a thousand and he can barely function. Allura takes on a more diplomatic role in trying to sign up more worlds in the Galra fight. I won’t mention the other characters but there’s a hilarious moment with some food. Yeah, you can guess who that’s about but it works perfectly to offset the serious scene it’s in.
Of course everyone in that panel room screamed when Prince Lotor showed up and he deserves it. He’s a much different villain from Zarkon (who is out of commission for now) and he operates his chunk of the empire more like ancient Rome. It might sound strange, but Galra politics takes up a large chunk of this episode and it’s riveting. The more I hear about it the more I desperately want a series of full fledged novels diving deep into how the Galra empire came to be.
While Voltron Legendary Defender is setting out into territory the original series didn’t cover there are still some callbacks that will delight longtime fans. A minor character that was present throughout the original series makes a return and it’s part of a big action sequence.
Voltron just keeps going from strength to strength and I can’t wait to see where this new season will be doing. Special shout out to AJ LoCascio who totally reinvents the character of Lotor and thankfully moves him away from the (admittingly hilarious) over the top voice of the original. This Lotor is someone who you believe millions of people would follow. He’s charming but can turn sinister in a flash. I can’t wait to see more of him.
Voltron Season 3 drops on Netflix August 4th.
Shamus Kelley needs some pizza rolls. You’ll understand that soon enough. Follow him on Twitter!
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