Fleet of Doom

Fleet of Doom

Optimus Prime tells us that both of the areas under the Voltron protection have enjoyed peace and prosperity.  Until Throk and Zarkon join forces.  We get a shot of the "Fleet of Doom," which combines the Doom and Drule mechanical designs into something that looks like Zentraedi ships.

Now Peter Cullen is back to his Hawkins' voice, and he introduces us to the secret energy planet that Zarkon has been searching for.  We get a weird, long sequence of them turning on some sort of reactor, and then the bad guys find them.  There's some brief scenes of running and exploding.  Hmm.  Dairugger was so much better at this kind of stuff, already.

We see an entire fleet of Rooster Frigates (this time in tasteful lavender) led by a new design for the command ship.  The Alliance forces fire back, but Cossack, the leader of the fleet, brushes it of and leaves, intent on revealing the location to Zarkon.  The Alliance personnel are amazed that they leave, but the commander tells them that they'll come back.  He orders Galaxy Garrison be contacted.

GG contacts Arus, and an outline of Space Marshal Graham tells the Voltron force of the situation.  On the Explorer, Hawkins briefs his Voltron force.  Galaxy Garrison is now talking to both Hawkins and Coran.  Hawkins says they'll use a special ship to get their fast.

The Castle of Lions transforms into the Flying Fortress and they set off for Akera.

On Planet Doom, Zarkon presents Cossack with the Distinguished Skull.  Cossack wants to lead the invasion, but Zarkon calls Throk.  The two go back and forth, and the Doom side of the invasion force is due to be commanded by Lotor.  The Drule base deploys its raiders, and Throk's HQ looks like the Mutant's base from Thundercats.  Both Throk and Zarkon plan on conquering each other.  AND the Drules have sent their own scientist to support Zarkon, to which Haggar takes offense, and she turns him into the fly.  Not the cool Jeff Goldblum fly.  The old one from the movie with Vincent Price.  Haggar tells Zarkon he'll regret something and she gives a "they'll be sorry" speech.

On the Flying Fortress, the team reminisces about their training with the other Voltron force.  Hurk.  And Allura Daydreams about picking flowers with the girl members.  Ugh.

Haggar is in, um, some . . . Place?  That looks like they were watching Krull and the Dark Crystal when they designed it.  She says some lame incantation, and flies a space coffin to the Flying Fortress and is going to invade the dreams of the sleeping Voltron force. 

A glowing pink Haggar flies past the sleeping space mice and looks in her crystal ball to see what they're all dreaming about.  Keith (who sleeps with a baby picture of himself?!) is having a nightmare about when he was in a forest at night and flipped out.  Apparently he was in the same forest as Wollo and his brother.

one of the mice comes out of the mousehole (good things to have in a SPACE SHIP, mouseholes) and sees the witch.  OK.  Golion had 4 mice pretty consistently.  WEP apparently didn't pay enough attention, because now there is a constantly varying number of mice.

ANYway.  The three awake members, Hunk, Lance and Pidge, are warned by the mice and go to rescue the princess.  Haggar steals her spirit and freezes the rest of the Voltron Force.

Y'know, even when I was 8, I liked Voltron and Robotech because they didn't do the usual "heroes get frozen/kidnapped/mummified/turned to stone/brainwashed/assimilated by swarm of radioactive bees (that really happened in Spiderman'n'friends).

Alfor appears and take Keith to save the princess.  That's basically all you need to know about that.

Keith appears in the dream world that Haggar has, um, created or something to match Keith's nightmares.

Zarkon's forces close in to attack the Flying Fortress.  Coran readies the artillery as the remaining three Voltron members launch.

In her dreamworld, Haggar makes Allura reappear.  Allura tries to appeal to Haggar's innate goodness.  She was cute.  And then Zarkon made her ugly and evil.  Blah blah blaaaah.

Lance leads the other two against Cossack and his Doom fleet, which launch redesigned Doom fighters.  These are actually pretty cool looking, for a later-season redesign.  The lions use their shoulder launchers to destroy the capital ships and the fighters.  Cossack seethes.  Lance orders the others to attack the ships with their knives.  Then Cossack uses the COSMOTRONIC FORCEFIELD (of science) and immobilizes the lions.

Okay, so this is a pretty normal gambit from Golion.  No complaints here.  Except that the shots were blocked out by someone so nearsighted he was only a few inches from the storyboards.

Keith is assaulted by monsters rejected by the Real Ghostbusters.  And then HE TURNS INTO A LITTLE BOY AND CRIES.  Then adult Keith runs.  Seriously.  These are failed designs from the Real Ghostbusters.  And then Keith's gun turns into a snake.

Haggar is watching, and thank the gods, we get the old Doom-theme background music.  This "new" music just ain't doin' it.  And then Keith sinks into red quicksand--And says "This stuff is really gloopy."  And gets chased around.  And then Alfor tells him how to defeat them and this whole thing is a pointless exercise.  Complete with Tom Cruise-style "fist bump and 'YEAH!'" in triumph.  Then Keith sees the place where Allura is imprisoned.

The Vehicle Voltron teams are on some new ship and we basically just check in to remind ourselves that we haven't forgotten them.

Meanwhile, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk pass out and Cossack starts to real them in with ultraclws.  He says "Yahoo."  And then Lance regains consciousness and fights his way free.  The other two escape and begin wreaking havoc among Cossack's fleet.  Cossack withdraws in his command ship.  Lance is ready to pursue, but Coran tells him that the Fleet of Doom has reached Akera.  Hawkins calls coran and tells them that they're caught in an astral-radial belt.  Hawkins sends the teams to get ready.  At least they get the uniform colors right half the time.

Keith runs up to Haggar's swamp fortress and confronts her with two pistols.  Haggar levitates Allura to him in a bubble, and then multiplies her image.  Of course, Keith can sense her.  Yeah, yeah, the good guys win.  Then the princess appeals to Haggar's good side, and the Good Witch Glenda emerges and the two aspects of Haggar allow Keith and Allura to escape.

Lotor and Throk (well, mostly Lotor) gloats over the destruction of Akera.  The Flying Fortress arrives, and Coran can't reach Hawkins.  And Lance acts stupid.  Then the lions launch--all three of them.  Lotor launches the rhino beast.  Who was apparently designed by Floro Dery when he wasn't designing Galvatron, the Sweeps, and the Predacons.  The Rhino beast grabs Hunk's lion.

Back in the castle, Keith and Allura arrive in the real world in Allura's room.  Good thing this scene isn't suggestive at all.  The two of them reach Castle Control in their flight suits, and Hawkins says he's made it to Akera, too.  Keith and Allura join the other three lions fighting the Rhino beast and they form Voltron. 

Voltron kicks the Rhino into a Doom ship.  Throk launches the Scorpio and Beetle beasts.  They launch missiles, but Voltron intercepts them.  The robeasts surround him.  They throw the spinning laser blades, but the Beetle catches it and the scorpion destroys it.  The three robeasts knock Voltron to the ground, and Lotor launches the Armor beast--which is an Armadillo.  Then the Vehicle teams arrive and they form their Voltron.

Hunk and Cliff trade some words and, if you think about Lennie Weinrib doing both voices, that's a little surreal.  And Jeff and Keith talking to each other.  Lion Voltron knocks the robeasts away and Vehicle Voltron temporarily disables them.

Lotor and Throk are freaking out.  lotor muses that his robeasts have a surprise.  He sends the final wave of robots to attack the base, then launches the bridge of his flagship and it forms the head of this new combiner gestalt robeast.  Which, again, looks like a Season 3 Transformer.  The robeast forms a mace/flail weapon, but the two Voltrons work together to defeat this weapon, and Lotor's use of the lazon beams.  Then he activates the super weapon system.  The two Voltrons form their solar combat spears (which are animated incorrectly).  The robeast crashes to the ground, adn the two Voltrons land.  Lotor gloats that the power base is being overrun.  Keith calls Coran, and he and Hawkins provide the power domes with covering fire.  Both ships land and debark infantry.  The robots don't stand a chance.

Lotor "forms the blazing scimitar," which is more like a sharp tuning fork.  He and the two Voltrons trade sword and weapons attacks for a while, and he slashes both Voltrons across the midriff and takes off, ready to attack.  But Jeff tells Keith to go for the skull on his chest, and the robeast doesn't have much longer to last.  Fortunately, Lotor's has an escape ship.

Haggar appears to see the Fleet of Doom destroyed.  Her younger self is absorbed, and she turns into a black-haired hot Haggar.

Cossack and Lotor are bowed before Zarkon when this new woman enters the throne room.  Zarkon gets all interested, and then she turns into old Haggar.

Meanwhile, the two Voltron teams are shaking hands, and the two Voltrons are standing side by side.

Aaand, we're done.