Season Five’s Most Crucial Moments in “Voltron: Legendary Defender”

Season five of “Voltron: Legendary Defender” hit Netflix on Friday, March 2, 2018. The first episode of the season was shown as a sneak peek during the Voltron panel at Emerald City Comic Con, where fans were given the chance to hear from Josh Keaton, Jeremy Shada, Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery and Christine Bian just a few short hours before the full season was released. The panel was delightful, but now we get to take a look at the rest of the season!

Because this article contains spoilers about season five, read at your own discretion.

Lotor’s Ascension to the Thrown

This is hands-down the most important thing about season five. Zarkon’s death happened fairly early on in the season, giving plenty of time for Lotor’s character to be developed as he goes through the motions of becoming the leader of the Galra Empire. The Paladins were torn on whether or not to trust him, but they really had no choice after Lotor killed Zarkon and proved his allegiance to the Rebel cause. This moment was the turning point for the Rebels and the Paladins of Voltron. Now we just have to wait and see what Lotor does with his newfound power!

Galra Civil War

It’s also important to recognize that Lotor is ruling over a divided empire – according to him, a majority have sworn their allegiance to his cause, but there are still factions that are taking a stand against him. If it seemed like the Galra disliked one another before, it’s only going to get worse from here. The dialogue suggested a civil war among the Galra, and it’s going to get messy if the quintessence supplies are cut off.

Krolia Reveals Herself as Keith’s Mother

Keith has very little screen time in season five compared to other seasons, but he learned a critical thing about his heritage when he was around! Knowing that Krolia is Keith’s mother, I’m thinking we will be seeing more of her next season. It’s also possible that she will reveal more about not just Keith’s heritage within the Galra, but also the civil war that is unfolding.

Sam Holt is Rescued, Alive and Well

We’ve been questioning this for so long, and it was so wonderful to see Sam get rescued! The situation was dire because he was being held hostage, but Matt and Pidge are both stubbornly determined. Their love for their father overrode everything else, especially for Pidge, and that’s what brought the family back together. More importantly, Sam has returned to Earth with messages from each paladin to their families – those vlogs are going to be seen!

Haggar Confirms That She is Lotor’s Mother

One of the most heartbreaking moments this season was seeing Haggar’s flashbacks into Lotor’s childhood. She was not expected to survive his birth, which was sad enough on its own. But it also looked like Lotor became more morose with each age progression shown in the flashback. Lotor’s later refusal to accept Haggar as his mother was snappy, as though he had heard it before. It’s possible that Lotor watched his mother fall deeper into the depths of her magic as he grew, causing him to become hardened with resolve and lack affection, and Haggar to become so engrossed in her magic that she forgot her own son. But no matter the explanation, it’s undeniable that this flashback moment is going to come back and connect to something in the future.

Allura Unlocks the Secrets of the White Lion

Lotor’s plan to get to Oriande was insane, but it paid off. He and Allura both faced the White Lion in an ethereal plane, but it was Allura who was able to gain access to the secrets of Altean Alchemy by sacrificing herself to the Lion. It’s clear that Allura is one of the Chosen meant to study Alchemy, but that leaves us with a looming question: why does Lotor possess the Chosen marks as well?

Shiro’s Inability to Remember Calling Out to Lance

We’ve been tossing around the clone theory for a while because Shiro doesn’t seem like…well, like Shiro. This issue was addressed during the season, but it became undeniably clear that something is wrong when Voltron was stuck in that cocoon early in the season. When the paladins made a new connection with Voltron, they entered some sort of ethereal plane. Shiro began calling out to Lance during his moment, but he disappeared before he could finish. And when Lance asked about it later, Shiro didn’t remember any of it. It looks to me like there may have been an issue of repressed consciousness going on, as though Shiro’s true mind was being overridden by something else and that ethereal plane of existence was his only chance to contact his team.

This is speculation, of course, but I’ll be exploring that idea more soon!

Potential Romantic Interest Between Allura and Lotor

Lotor showed great interest in Allura as soon as he was given freedom to roam the castle. And after he claimed the throne, he immediately began getting closer to her. It makes sense considering they are both exploring the Altean heritage they were denied for so long, but it was still peculiar to see the affections that were played out – Lotor found several reasons to be near Allura or touch her, like gently grabbing her hand or placing his hand on her shoulder. And Allura didn’t take long to get used to this.

I have personally shipped Lotura prior to this season, so you can’t imagine how fast my fangirl heart was beating. It’s not confirmed, but all evidence is pointing toward some sort of romance between these two.

Stronger Bond Between Lance and Shiro

Near the end of the season, Shiro asked Lance to elaborate on that moment he has no memory of. This was a huge power reversal: normally, Shiro would be the mentor who takes care of his teammates, but in this situation, he is the one seeking help. It feels as though he has an inkling that something is wrong, but he’s not sure what it is. And Lance, who displayed far more maturity throughout this season than in previous seasons, took it in stride and tried to take care of Shiro as best he could. It was a small moment, but I think it’s also the beginning of a stronger bond between Lance and Shiro as teammates.

I also have to say that, while I would be all for Black Paladin Lance, I don’t think that’s where this is going. I believe Lance will be an excellent support system for his friend and hero, possibly catalyzing the discovery of Shiro’s issue.

Lotor’s Altean Markings

I touched on this before, but I want to reiterate how much it bothers me that we don’t know what Lotor’s markings indicate. We were given a lot of information about him (he wanted to be a space explorer as a child and my life is so much better after hearing that), but the man is still an enigma wrapped in a blanket of mystery.

But, anyway, he looks even more handsome with the markings, don’t you think?

Season six of “Voltron: Legendary Defender” is set to release on June 15, 2018. Because we are not waiting indefinitely for the release, I encourage you to let your theories abound before the season six premiers! Drop a comment below or reach out to me on Twitter and Tumblr to let me know what you think about season 5!