This episode was always a favorite when I was a kid. A couple of friends, a gathering of all of the neighborhood beach balls, whiffle balls, and everything else we could think of, and a t-ball bat as the blazing sword--that closing scene got replicated a lot.
A Storm of Meteors
Mongo--Malvor, but now with his usual voice and name, has a dream that his flagship is destroyed by meteors. He arrives on the bridge, and his XO indicated that the Explorer is caught in the same meteor storm that had caught them previously. Monog grits his teeth, considering, then decides to trap the Explorer.
On the bridge, Sparks is calling out the damage as they lose the radar. Jeff hears the meteor impacts and thinks it's an enemy attack. He gets part of the Voltron force riled up and running through the corridors until another officer explains that it's just meteors.
Mongo's XO tells him that the meteor shower is over. Mongo is ready for is attack, but does a little daydreaming about becoming Drule Emperor, first.
The Explorer is stopped in space. Repair crews are all over the ship. Commodore Steele calls Newley and Hawkins on the utra-wave. They discuss meteors, the Drules, and luck. Steele suggests they just repair real fast, because he can't send help.
The Voltron force is hanging out in the lounge in a series of scenes from a previous episode. On the bridge, they see the repair teams are behind schedule. They decide to send the Voltron force out to assist in repairs. We see Chip, Murdock and Rocky going the wrong way in footage from the first episode, and then we see a montage of the Voltron force helping (mostly) with repairs. The camera pulls back and the Explorer dwindles until it is just a blip on Mongo's viewscreen. He decides to chase them to the planet of meteors.
Newley watches the clock and is dissatisfied with the speed of repairs. Then a radar operator sees something--the Drule attack fleet. They call the repair crew back to battle stations. The crews rush to finish and get inside as the Drules approach. The Drule fleet opens fire. Newley orders the engines run at full power.
On Mongo's bridge, we get a cool shot of the bombardment from his point of view. He orders them to pursue the Explorer to the planet of meteors, and launches the robeast.
The Explorer's engines are overheating. They see the robeast, and rather than risk further damage, they launch the voltron force. As soon as they're launched, they form Voltron. The robeast wastes new time in firing. The trade shots while the Explorer escapes.
Mongo watches the development. It's all going as he's foreseen it.
Then the Explorer sees that they're approaching an unknown planet. Newley and Hawkins decide to land there for repairs. They splashdown in a lake and the repair teams are sent out again.
Meanwhile, Voltron is still fighting the robeast. It launches rocket ropes and begins electrocuting Voltron, dragging him through space (to the ends of the universe, Wolo actually says). With Voltron occupied, Mongo sends the fleet to trap the Explorer on the planet. Voltron disassmbles to escape the rocket ropes, then reassembles. They form the blazing sword as the robeast launches the rocket ropes again. With its main weapon disabled, the robeast flees. They hit it with the eyebeams, and it turns for one last attack. Then the blazing sword does its work. Voltron takes off to the planet of meteors.
The Explorer's repair work is almost done. Voltron joins them. They see no sign of the enemy. They suddenly hear laughter over the ultrawave. It's Mongo, mocking them. He demands them to surrender. The fleet appears over the horizon, and Jeff takes Voltron to attack--but Hawkins holds him back, trying to communicate longer. He offers the chance to explore the universe together. Mongo calls him a coward. Mongo relents and leaves. But it's because the meteor storm is about to hit the planet.
Voltron covers the Explorer's retreat in that awesome scene I referenced above. They get clear of the meteors and again recommence repairs.
Fall to the Meteor Shower
We open on the Galveston fleet being destroyed by meteors. It turns out to just be a nightmare of Drake's--that is revealed AFTER the title card. Drake arrives on the bridge. Roche shows him that the survey ship is caught in the same meteor storm they experienced earlier.
On the Rugger Guard, things go about the same as in Voltron--they take damage, Aki starts a panic.
On the Galveston flagship, Drake and Roche discuss what to do with the mysterious ship. Drake decides it's dangerous and they won't rescue them, but destroy them.
Galaxy Garrison HQ calls the Rugger Guard--they've just moved to send supplies and reinforcements via the space fortress. Asimov and Ise are pleased by this development. But repairs are 3% behind schedule, and the Rugger Teams are sent to assist. It goes mostly well.
The Galveston fleet moves to intercept the Rugger Guard.
The radar antenna repair work is falling behind. The radar operator can't make out a contact he's getting--he switches to visual, and it's the enemy. They recall the repair crews. Keats has a premonition. Then the Galveston fleet begins bombarding them.
Drake is herding the Rugger Gaurd to the Meteor planet. He orders Roche to deploy a battle machine (implying they have several).
The battle machine approaches the Rugger Guard as they see their engines won't hold up. They launch the Rugger teams. They complain about the constant fighting as they launch. They form Dairugger. Patty actually plays a role in some of the fighting, something we didn't see with Ginger in Voltron. 'Ruggs holds off the battle machine while the Rugger Guard escapes to a planet with a rudimentary atmosphere and lakes. And craters. They land to make repairs.
The battle goes much as in Voltorn. Dairugger defeats the battle machine, and the Rugger Guard begins repairs. Aki complains to Ise about the constant fighting, and Ise agrees to attempt negotiations. Then Drake breaks in on communications. This is the first face-to-face (over radio) meeting of the two sides. Asimov urges an end to the fighting and a face to face meeting. He says "okay," and the enemy ships appear over the horizon. Aki lunges for them, but Ise holds them back.
The discussion doesn't go well. Ise proposes joint exploration. The Galveston empire claims rule over the galaxy and Drake refuses a joint effort. He says they can make repairs now without fear of attack, and his fleet withdraws. Then the meteors return and Ruggs covers the Rugger Guard's escape. Then they're back to repairs.
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