It Takes Real Lions/Friday the 13th

Okay, this is a more pedestrian episode for me.  I guess this is where the series started to become routine for me . . .

It Takes Real Lions

Planet Doom.  Bad-face Lotor is standing on a rock outcropping.  He's watching a crazy looking three-eyed robeast as it fights three robeast lions.  The robeast lion designs are actually pretty cool looking, though the main robeast is too bizarre for me.  During the fight, Lotor flashbacks to an argument he has with Zarkon.  The robeast has swords it pulls out of its knees, and glowing laser rope thingies that it uses like lariats.  It also shoots beams out of its head-eye.  The other two eyes are on its chest (what is with these designers and repurposing nipples?

On Arus, the team is practicing in their lions.  Allura is having trouble staying in formation.  Damn azimuth.  Keith coaches her, and then the team uses a mountain for target practice.  The black bazooka has a new design I kinda like.

The animation in this episode is a little different.  Farmed out to a different animation studio to make up for running late?  The cockpit models are a little weird looking.  Basically, they're drawn in a style very different from what we're used to.

The team lands in the lake in blue lion (How'd they all get there?) and go swimming.  Aaand Allura loses her bikini top.  *sigh*  And then, just when thngs couldn't get more annoying, Nanny.  *blargh*

Nanny and Coran see Allura lounging on the lakeside in her pink bikini, and then I'm not really sure what happened.  Possible traumatic brain drama from smashing my head against the wall.  Clearly, the Arusian royal court hasn't seen much of what passes for British royalty the last couple of decades.

Whew.  Back to Haggar's gnarly looking workshop.  Lotor (who keeps switching animation models) and Haggar see the Voltron force hangin' out at the beach in Haggar's crystal ball.  Lotor launches in his flagship.

Allura, back in her Enchanted Kingdom dress, is bored with studying.  The night sky is lit up by a strange light she sees through her window.  The team sees the same light in the rec room.  They run to castle control.  Coran enlarges them on the screen to reveal a space coffin and the batplane.  Coran urges them to launch without the princess.  What?  Why?

I guess the last few episodes overshadowed illogic like this with rampant coolness.  So far, there's nothing really cool or memorable happening.

The team buzzes the robeast.  Bad-face Lotor deploys the robeast.  The goofy-looking thing gets out of the coffin and supersizes itself.  The team does a flyby, and Lotor, who's apparently just learned to count, realizes the blue lion isn't out.  He veers off and heads for the castle.

The team bounce off the robeast, and it throws Hunk down and steps on him.  The rest of the team open fire, and then the robeast lassoes the three of them.  Lotor approaches the castle.  Apparently, the castle hasn't gone on defense like the first time Lotor attacked.  Lotor sees her standing at her window.  He draws a pistol and shoots a grappling hook (?) into her room.

In castle control, a computer read-out indicates trouble in the princess' room.  In her room, Lotor has princess backed up against the door--which opens and two guard run in with submachingeguns.  Coran rescues Allura, and she rushes to her lion despite his (and Nanny's) protests.  A veritable stampede of guards drives Lotor out.

Allura reaches the team as the robeast tosses them around with the lassoes.  Blue lion slices through the ropes with her ion knife (that's what they're callin' it these days).  And what?  They say she accomplished that with perfect form, and she says "Does that mean I'm on the team?"  Haven't we already established that?

Then they form Voltron.

Voltron kicks off the fight with eyebeams, and then both sets of lion torches (hands and feets).  Then the robeast uses it head-eye beam, knocks Voltron down, and brandishes its knee-sword.  Yellow lion hits it with a missile, then they form blazing sword and lop off an arm.  The robeast spins around, then explodes. 

Back on Castle Doom, Haggar tells Zarkon how Lotor took Arus completely by surprise--and lost.  Then, at the castle, Allura stands in her window and vows never to bow to Lotor.  And she now knows she can be both her peoples' ruler and defender.  Again, hasn't all this been established already?!

Friday the 13th

Sincline calls the beastman Kauman.  Is that like "cowboy?"  He has spurs, too.  And Kauman's opponents are leopard beasts.  Daibazaal is angry at Sincline for not defeating Golion, and the absolute rule of Galra will be threatened.

Kogane's treatment of Fala is much harsher than Keith's of Allura.  And they smash the mountain with a maneuver called "V-spin." 

The backgrounds of the split-screens in this episode are unusual, too.  I really think a lot of the animation was handled by a different group then usual.

The space mice theme plays during the topless swimming scene.  Oddly, I don't think Voltron cut any of that out.

Ugh.  Hys.  That voice is worse than Nanny's/  Or, maybe it's the second time running through these scenes.  Gods.  I'd gouge my eyes out, but I'll need them later.

We get more of Honerva's "El roy mu el roy mu," and the crystal ball tells Sincline to attack tomorrow.  So that's what he does.  There's a whole weird time sequence that basically works out to Friday the 13th.

And, Raible has brilliantly locked Fala in her room and grounded her from training and . . . fighting?  Seriously, guys, haven't we covered all this before?  Is this your idea of development, or is this just a filler episode that got rushed and farmed out to some other studio?

Oh, and Sincline kills some of the guards who rush in to rescue Fala.  He attackes them with a sword while they're using submachineguns.  It takes a wave of reinforcements to drive him back out the window.

At least they form Golion to the blue lion song.  Again.

Okay, so I just don't like this episode.  The animation is dodgy, and it takes a few step backwards in terms of character development with the princess.  Basically, it's filler.  If this were based on a manga, I'd be guessing that they're waiting for the manga writer to catch up.  But they're not, so they must just have been behind schedule.  God, even the beastman explodes in a way that annoys me.