Voltron Season 7 Episode 1 Review (Spoiler Free)

This was a wild ride.

Coming off of the season 6 ending there’s now a huge shift in the status quo. The Paladins need to get back to Earth but it’s not happening right away. They’ve got to find a power source for the Lions and take care of Shiro. Both of these plots make up two strikingly different parts of the episode.

The former is a wild fun ride that gives us more of Romelle and even Hunk! The two’s interactions in this zany plot is hopefully an indication of a beautiful friendship forming because I could’t get enough of them. The adventure also provides a welcome return to Voltron’s comedic side after the roller coaster ride of intensity from the end of last season.

It may seem odd to jump to comedy so quick but they actually lampshade it in a great way. It pokes fun at the little amounts of downtime we get to see with the characters and works perfectly in the context of the show.

Taking care of Shiro though is the most down to earth and emotionally driven plots of the entire run of the show. Not to say Keith and Shiro battling wasn’t emotional, but this plot reveals so much about the two. Why Keith was so angry all the time as a kid. Why Shiro has been so selfless and seemingly perfect.

It’s hard to talk about it without going into heavy spoilers but one aspect that the offical Voltron account did reveal is we get to meet Shiro’s former signifant other, Adam. It’s a scene I never expected to see at this point in the show’s run but it took my breath away. There hasn’t been a scene like this in western animation.

An exchange that’s emotionally charged between two men who love each other.Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

There’s so much to be said about this scene and what it means for Voltron. We now have explicit queer representation. Not only that, but he’s a disabled person of color and arguably the main character of the show. That’s incredible.

Even more so that the scene isn’t just about revealing Shiro is into guys (his actual sexuality hasn’t been confirmed), it also shows that Shiro wasn’t always selfless. He didn’t always put others before himself. It makes him a deeper and richer character and the fact that’s done through his love of another man? Truly groundbreaking.

Voltron season 7 is off to a ground breaking start and when the rest of the season arrives on August 10^th I can’t wait to see what else it has in store. I don’t know if anything can quite live up to that Adam and Shiro scene, but it doesn’t have to. It just has to continue being the fun, hilarious, action filled, and the emotionally gut punching show it’s always been. 

It just now has a confirmed gay character. That lends every moment from now on something special. That feeling of belonging. That no matter who you are, you have a place in Voltron.

My emotions weren’t ready for this and I’m so thankful for it.

Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter!