Classic Voltron Season One (1984-85)

(Episodes 5-10)

Episode #5: "The Princess Joins Up"

On Planet Doom, Haggar makes a RoBeast out of the winner of a strength contest in the Arena and sends it to Arus. The Voltron Force try unsuccessfully to get the villagers to come out of the caves. When Doomite troops attack Arus, the Voltron Force counter with the Lions. The Robeast joins the battle, so Voltron is formed. After a good fight sequence, Allura helps Voltron defeat the RoBeast with a laser cannon, thus committing herself to saving her planet.

The high point of the episode occurs when Lance almost falls off a cliff trying to coax the villagers out of the caves. The low points are when the slaves get news of Voltron's first victory, when the "new" Castle of Lions emerges from underground, and when Allura gets behind the controls of that laser cannon.

Episode #6: "The Right Arm* of Voltron"
(*WEP goofed. Sven was the pilot of Blue Lion, the right LEG of Voltron, not the right arm.)

Yurak's troops interrupt a victory feast at the Castle of Lions, only to retreat back to Doom when Voltron attacks Yurak's ship with the Blazing Sword. Haggar has a plan to cripple the Voltron Force by taking one of it's members out of commission. Lance falls into her trap, but Sven saves him. Haggar takes out Sven instead with the help of a RoBeast. The remaining members of the Voltron Force end up pushing the RoBeast into a lava pit, destroying the RoBeast.

This episode is one of the better ones, in my opinion. Even though the Voltron Force get lucky in the end, as usual, this is the first episode where Haggar shows how cool she really is. Not only does she imitate Spider-Man with her magic net, she also blows Sven out of the water with her "Multiplicity" act! The whole "trap sequence" is enough to make this episode great on it's own.

Episode #7: "The Lion Has New Claws"

Zarkon learns about Sven being unable to pilot Blue Lion. On Arus, Nanny comes out of hiding, but the Voltron Force isn't impressed. Meanwhile, Allura takes Blue Lion out to try and replace Sven. It's Nanny's turn not to be impressed. After a rough landing, Allura is undeterred, but Coran and Nanny deny her wishes to try again. While Nanny's out looking for a substitute pilot, a RoBeast appears and traps her. The Voltron Force launch four Lions. Allura wants to join the fight, but is tied up by Coran. The RoBeast has the advantage, until Allura escapes with help from the Space Mice. Blue Lion is launched, Voltron is formed, and the RoBeast is destroyed.

This episode has a few good parts, like where Hunk's being lazy but when he finally gets up, his pants fall down. This is also the episode where Allura gets spanked and tied up by Coran, the RoBeast emerges from the mountain, and finally, where Haggar gives her cat a proper name (Coba). Of course, it sucks when we see Nanny for the first time and the realization that she's gonna stay at the Castle hits. The Space Mice are a pain in the butt, as usual.

Episode #8: "The Stolen Lion"

On Arus, Allura is learning to pilot Blue Lion. She's saved from crash-landing by a dashing young man who calls himself Prince Bokar of Senak. Lance immediately smells a rat and fights Bokar for a while. Allura, Nanny, and Coran invite Bokar to stay at the castle for saving Allura's life. After the Castle of Lions is mysteriously infested by cobras, Alura gives Bokar the key to Blue Lion. It's then that Lance's suspicions are realized: Bokar's working for the Doomites! He takes Allura hostage and steals Blue Lion. After being attacked by Red Lion, Bokar turns into a RoBeast and is ejected out of Blue Lion. Voltron is formed, and after another good fight sequence, Bokar the RoBeast is destroyed.

Overall, this is a pretty cool episode. Lance gets Nanny all tripped up, the whole scene with the cobras is cool, and a Space Mouse even gets knocked out. (YES!) Unfortunately, Alfor's ghost makes a short appearance while Bokar's trying to launch Blue Lion, and Bokar is destroyed by the Blazing Sword, but what else is new?

Episode #9: "A Pretty Spy"

A young girl named Twyla crash-lands on Arus after being pursued and shot down by Doomite attack ships. Hunk rescues her and takes her to the Castle of Lions. The rest of the Voltron Force are skeptical about the whole situation, but Hunk is very defensive. Twyla tells the story of how she and her brother were captured by the Doomites, but she escaped somehow. Hunk remains defensive about Twyla, until she is caught trying to plant a bomb in one of the castle's missle rooms. A devestated Hunk goes out looking for Twyla. When he finds her, she tells him that as part of a freedom bargain with Zarkon, her brother has been turned into a Claw-Beast. The Lions are launched, Voltron is formed, and Twyla's brother is destroyed after a short fight.

This episode is OK, but it's not great. Apart from the cool music that plays when Twyla's trying to escape, this episode doesn't really have any high points that stand out. On the other hand, Haggar put it best when she said that Twyla "was never cut out for evil." In addition to being found out by the Space Mice and failing to blow up the castle, Twyla is undecided about who should win the battle between Voltron and her brother, the Claw-Beast. Oh well, there's always the next episode!

Episode #10: "Secret of the White Lion"

Haggar has the brilliant idea to play with Allura's emotions. She causes Allura to have a nightmare and sends a white lion to Arus to lead Allura into a trap. Allura is convinced that the white lion is her father (and mother) reincarnated. The Voltron Force try to help, but Haggar is ready for them. The white lion traps all the Voltron Force except Keith, who is left to Haggar to trap. The white lion is actually a RoBeast. Just when everything looks perfect, Coran and Nanny fly to the rescue in Blue Lion. Voltron is formed, and after Allura snaps out of her spell-induced state, the RoBeast is destroyed.

This episode is not perfect, but it's a very good episode. Being a fan of the Shady Lady, I like the fact that Haggar gets major airtime in this episode. This is the only episode to show what Allura's mother looked like, which could be either good or bad. There is a low point, though. That flood that swept Haggar into the river was a FLUKE! If it hadn't been for Nanny pushing the wrong lever, the flood would never have happened. Other than that, this episode was cool.

Read About Episodes 11-20
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