Voltron Final Season Discussion Post

[erinptah]

Season 8 is out! Who wants to have some discussion about it?

Spoilers in the comments!

Comments

[erinptah]

Only watched through episode 5, here are some preliminary thoughts before I crash for the night:

-- I'm a sucker for cartooning meta-jokes, so everything about Eighties Voltron being an in-universe fictional retelling of Reboot Voltron is precious and wonderful. Pidge being annoyed at her portrayal! "Allura's, uh...different." Amazing.

-- Humans have rebuilt enough culture to have functioning animation studios, but we're still using the barter system instead of currency? I'm dubious.

-- Underwhelmed by Allura's date dress. At least Lance had a good dressy-casual look.

-- Everything about Lotor's backstory was sad and depressing, as intended.

-- I know people have called Axca/Keith foreshadowing, but so far Axca and Lance's sister have more chemistry.

-- I'm so happy that Purple Jasper and Twi'lek Ty Lee are okay, and reunited, all in the most dramatic and emotional and as-gay-as-possible-without-an-actual-kiss way. Excellent scene to end my night on.

[erinptah]

Onward, through episode 10:

-- The whole recurring theme of "you destabilized our society, promised to help us rebuild, and then disappeared on us" feels like it should be a direct commentary on the US' endless "nation-building." Except that the paladins just keep going "well, we tried our best, and anyway we're back now!", and the narrative seems ready to forgive them.

-- Shiro getting involved in a multispecies alien combat tournament, by his own choice and where it's all for fun and nobody gets hurt, is awfully heartwarming.

-- I honestly don't remember any foreshadowing for the Obviously Evil Dark Glowy Entity that was secretly the Real Reason behind this entire 10,000-year multi-genocidal empire. Actual gap in the writing, or just me being a casual? (I'd go look it up, but I'm still not finished the season and I already got spoiled googling something else.)

-- Mental battle on starlit plains with lots of glowing in thematic colors was really fun to watch.

-- Don't remember any foreshadowing for "the original paladins' spirits were secretly in mental prison this whole time," either. Don't get me wrong, it creates some cool moments and interactions -- but it does feel like a weird turn for Allura's arc to take, all the hard emotional work she's done to accept the loss of her family, and now with 4 episodes to go she gets to hang out with her dad again.

-- I do really like that their mental connection with the Lions has come to the forefront of the plot again.

[enemytosleep]

Dark entity was a big part of the original paladin flashback episode (s3 ep7). Typing on my phone sorry it’s short!

[erinptah]

Through the end! (And now I've read the whole megathread on FFA too, heh.)

-- The whole "oops, we're destroying entire realities at the source every time we swing and miss" battle was so nerve-wracking. I feel like the writers knew they'd be fixing it eventually, so they didn't treat that incomparable scale of death with the gravity it called for.

-- Allura ascending to another plane of existence in order to save the multiverse is...not as bad as a traditional "takes a bullet to save a friend" kind of sacrificial death, but still awfully depressing. I'd be much happier if we'd just gotten some Madoka-esque sense that the spirit of Ascended Allura is watching over the paladins, not to mention the restoration of her people.

-- A roundup of all the shots that Shiro's husband appeared in. (Season 7 as well as 8!) It's a different design than we saw in the leaks -- wonder if the revision was planned, or if the post-leak outcry over "what, Shiro's marrying some random guy we've never seen before??" led them to redraw the husband as one of the established bridge-bunnies. I do like this better, although it's a shame they didn't also manage to squeeze in any...you know...buildup.

-- I'm cool with all the other paladins' endings. They all fulfill their dreams in ways that make sense for their characters, and it's great that they stay friends as the years go on.

-- Also great: how hard it leaned on the general themes of intercultural diplomacy, celebrating diversity, how "a misguided sense of self-preservation" can lead whole societies violently astray, and how we're Stronger Together. Listen up, next generation.

-- I have zero complaints that the show ends with a gay wedding, and the last shot is an m/m kiss. The creators wanted to get a finale same-sex kiss on Legend of Korra in 2008, they weren't allowed, but ten years later (and in the wake of all the road-paving Rebecca Sugar fought for with Ruby and Sapphire) they finally had a chance to make good.