Envoy from Galaxy Garrison

Envoy from Galaxy Garrison

This is the episode I remember most distinctly for airing on the day the Challenger exploded.  So when I got the DVDs as an adult, suddenly I was catapulted back to that incident--completely unexpectedly.  It's not like I'd think of the Challenger disaster and immediately *also* think, oh, yeah that was the day I saw that second-season Voltron episode with the grouchy Galaxy Garrison Guy.  But watching it now, it's all I remember.  Every commercial break, promises that the news airing after this show will feature the Challenger, prominently.

We open on planet Doom.  Rather than the subtitles of the first season, Optimus Prime describes it.  Zarkon is taunting someone.  Oh, it's Cossack this time, instead of Lotor.  Cossack begs Zarkon to allow him to prove himself.  Lotor appears and taunts Cossck.  He also goes and sits down on his father's just-vacated throne.  Really?  Doesn't Zarkon have spies?!  That's how Frank Herbert told me these regimes work.  Intrigues within intrigues.

Haggar is in her lab, laughing.  Zarkon tells her the laugh is repulsive.  She thanks him.  Then she tells him about a quarry of liquified moonstones.  She does something in her lab and, um, the moonstone is actually . . . doing something.  Then it becomes a turtle-looking robeast.  Haggar asks him to make her queen of Doom if they succeed.  Zarkon is ready to dump Lotor.  Who is naturally lurking in the corner, until Haggar catches him.

On Arus, things are peaceful and sunny, so Prime tells us.  They're having a party for the envoy from Galaxy Garrison.  He's naturally going to change things up and outlaw Voltron and blah-blah-blah-boooring.  The mice steal Pidge's apple.  Lance drools over the princess.

Haggar convinces Zarkon the party is a good time to use the robeast.

The mice (a bunch of blue guys now--YES I'M KEEPING TRACK).  Pidge chases them to the mouse hole, and then the general mocks him for not behaving like a real pilot.  Blargh.

Haggar arrives and makes some weird Disney incantation and sneaks toward the castle through the woods.

Coran and Allura dance, and Lance and Hunk are sad.  But she just wants to dance with Coran.  AUUGH!!!  Of course the general thinks they should be out training.  Oh, and they're not real pilots.  Because that's how all staff officers are.  Old.  Contemptuous of new things.  Stodgy.  They all sound like Robert Loggia.  And claim Voltron's obselete.  And Pidge makes an "order" joke.  Then he wants to look at the Control Room.  So Pidge leads him.

The blue cat sneaks into the castle.

Then the general wants to be left alone in control room--which we see now as a weird cylinder sort of thing from the outside.  Then the cat sneaks by.  Pidge tells they other guys, and they contront the general while the mice taunt the cat.  Then some trees get uprooted by the new robeast's arrival.  It's Haggar's darling moon-pod.  Really.  That's what she says. 

Hm.  I think this moon-pod robeast (which Haggar copied out of a book) is a member of the Gamera family.  Then alarms go off and the general acts like a douche.  Coran urges Allura to finish dancing so they don't alarm the guests, and then she goes to join the rest of the lions.  Oh, and grumpy pants says no Voltron.  Then Allura runs by and Coran tells him they're used to doing things their own way.  Grumpy-pants says they need discipline.

The robeast trashes a farm and scare some horses.  The cat is in Pidge's cockpit.  Coran warns the civilians.  Grumpy pants orders them to fly directly at a signal Keith wanted to circle around towards.  They come up on the robeast and start firing.  Black lion has a back-mounted missile launcher between its wings.  The other lions use their standard weapons.  None of them have an effect.  Keith wants to form Voltron, but Grumpy-pants refuses to allow them.  Then the cat jumps on Pidge's controls and turns of the power or something.  Green lion crashes.  Oh, hey , the mice were in the cockpit, too.  They bite the cat's tail and he drops a key.

Haggar gets real weird and uses and incantation to turn the flying saucer moonpod into, yep, Gamera.  Grumpy-pants gives them a dumb order, and they argue about it.  Hunk charges the robeast head on and gets knocked down.  Naturally, it's the Voltron force's fault and Grumpy pants wants to replace them.  Then Space Marshall Graham, who was apparently watching this while he ate launch, calls and puts Keith in command.  Keith promptly gets snared.  Pidge looks all over his cockpit for the key--which the mouse gives him.

The robeast tries to eat the black lion, but he's rescued by Pidge and Allura--but wasn't Hunk the one knocked out by the robeast?  Oh well.  They form Voltron.

They hit Gamera with the lion head attack--again only with the hand lions, and then it charges them.  Yeah, a giant turtle probably isn't fast enough to catch Voltron.  They form the blazing sword and moon-pod Gamera blows up.

Zarkon calls Haggar and mocks Haggar's crystal ball.  Like a poor craftsman, she blames her cat.

Back at the castle, General Grumpy-pants learns his lesson about age-discrimination.  Oh, and the Voltron Force poses, and people gush comments.  And I realize that this is basically the Galactica 1980 version of Voltron.  Except, I kinda like Galactica 1980 for all its goofiness and awkwardness.  This, compared to the earlier Voltron, is just any other 80s cartoon now.  At least Galactica 1980 was unique.  Garbage, but unique garbage.  This is just generic animated stuff.