Voltron Season 5 Episode 6 Review: White Lion

This Voltron Legendary Defender review contains spoilers.

Voltron Season 5 Episode 6

So… Is Lotor really a bad guy? The whole season has made me question it. He genuinely seems like he wants to make the Galra Empire a better place. His story to Allura about working with an alien species seems genuine. I don’t think he made it up just manipulate her. He really does want unlimited quintessence to bring peace to the Empire.

How he goes about that though is where things gets interesting. How far is he willing to go? We saw how he reacted to not passing the White Lion’s test. He was pissed. Things are all chummy with team Voltron right now but what if they start to question his decisions again? He thinks he has all the answers for how to bring about peace.

What will he do for that peace? What happens when he finally gets his hands on that quintessence? Will he be driven mad like his parents? Will he be able to resist its pull? He had a horrific upbringing and that could make him even more susceptible to the power it promises. That doesn’t excuse everything he does but it does help you understand him. You get where he’s coming from. This is what makes Lotor such a great character and a big bad. 

He has reasons for what he does. I can see him doing whatever he must to subtly influence Allura into using the quintessence for his purposes. Maybe he’ll even encourage her to make more lions. Perhaps of a… stealth variety? (That’s a Voltron: The Third Dimension reference, folks.)

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The entire sequence of the team attempting to get into the white hole does something pretty special for Voltron that must other series could never pull off. It makes the universe itself something foreboding and truly magical. In science fiction everything can tend to be boiled down to facts and figures. There’s nothing wrong with that but seeing a giant White Lion inside a white hole gives the impression anything is possible. That there are some things in the universe beyond our understanding and there’s still so much to learn.

No matter how much the Voltron team learns there’s always something fantastical just beyond their understanding. It also gives more weight to Allura, the one who is most closely tied to this magical side of the series. 

Any of my fears about this magical element from the last review were quickly dispelled. The trial of the White Lion not only strengthened Allura’s character but it remembers a crucial element of the original Voltron series, that it was a mix of science fiction and fantasy. For as technological as the lions can seem there was always something mystical about them as well. This was more present in GoLion but it makes the new series something truly unique and special. It perfectly balances two genres that don’t always mesh well together and that takes some serious skill.

Many fans have been worried about this possible “Kuron Shiro” but somewhat similar to Lotor, there’s more to him than what’s on the surface. He’s not just a plant for Haggar, he has genuine feelings and a real personality. It may be influenced by Haggar but she might not have full control over him. The more he learns about what’s going on the more he might be able to resist her pull. What I’m saying here is Kuron Shiro is still Space Dad to me, dang it.

Season 5 of Voltron is another triumph for the series. It speeds through many of its plotlines but it mostly gives them the time they need. The show has finally gotten out of the slight funk when Shiro was forced to come back so early and it’s now just firing on all cylinders.

Season 6 of Voltron can’t get here soon enough.

Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Even while facing a mystical space white lion Lotor’s hair game is the best in the universe. Long may it reign. Follow him on Twitter!