Shadows of the Last Stand Part 2
Slides Transcript:
[Slide 1]
Welcome to Team Purple Lion’s reconstruction of Voltron Legendary Defender Season 7. We are educators, researchers, and analysts using our knowledge of literary analysis to reconstruct Seasons 7 and 8 of Voltron Legendary Defender. This project aims to reconstruct a cogent, thematically appropriate story for all ages and educate viewers on the nuts and bolts of creative writing and literary analysis.
This episode is Season 7 Episode 7 The Last Stand Part 1. In our reconstruction, we combine scenes from Season 8 Episode 2 Shadows to create better narrative flow and sustained dramatic tension in the last half of Season 7.
[Slide 2]
Summary: This continuation of The Last Stand once again centers on the Holt parents’ search for Matt and Pidge versus Honerva’s search for Lotor. Each parent takes great risks to find their children, with a strong comparison drawn between Colleen and Honerva as fierce and determined mothers. However, the Holts’ optimism is contrasted with Honerva’s almost knowing desperation and her destructive reaction to her son’s fate. Moreover, the Holts’ love for their children is juxtaposed with Zarkon and Honerva’s treatment of Lotor from infancy to his teenage years.
[Slide 3]
Again, watch and listen for scene connectors.
[episode plays]
[Slide 4]
Let’s review for scene connectors?
Matt Holt’s mention of Lotor and Matt’s love for his parents connects with Zarkon and Honerva’s mistreatment of young Lotor and Lotor’s desire to please his father and know his mother. Zarkon’s statement that Lotor’s mother was his only weakness contrasts with Sam Holt’s statement to his wife that their children will be okay because they are strong just like their mother. Colleen’s statement that she will do whatever it takes to see her kids again connects with Honerva sacrificing Kova in order to find Lotor. Honerva seeing Lotor’s fate in Sincline connects with Colleen’s statement that her family was presumed to be dead but that was a lie. The Holts’ message of hope about the paladins and speech about the Earth being united contrasts with Honerva blaming the Galra for her son’s death and destroying the Kral Zera. Earth’s citizens volunteering their help contrasts with the Galra fighting for power. The Galra of the Kral Zera connect with Sendak’s Galra ships arriving on Earth.
Thank you for joining us for The Last Stand Part 1b. Our reconstruction efforts continue with The Lion’s Pride Part 2 Restructured Cliffhanger Sequence.
bro this does actually work so much better than the episodes did originally!!!! good job guys <3
Thank you very much! I’m looking forward to you all getting to see the revamped cliffhanger that’s coming up soon!
Looking back on Season 7 and 8, Colleen and Honerva are so deeply connected that the symbols their children represent in the show are on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of color and element. Colleen Holt is the mother of Pidge who is the *Green* Paladin aka the Lion of Nature and Wildlife. Honerva is the mother of Lotor who is the *Purple* Paladin aka the Lion of Quintessence. Quintessence is sacred fifth element in addition to the original four elements in medieval philosophies. The color purple is associated with magic because it’s the least common color found in nature. (And also the thing about lighting the purple-pink fire at the Kral Zera and it symbolizing his rule) It also transitions to their jobs in Season 8: Colleen is in charge of the ATLAS’ greenhouse and Honerva is even more obsessed with quintessence and realities regardless of the loss of life.
And they do something significant with their hair when they divert focus to their children in the story. Colleen cuts hers and Honerva ties it back and wears a crown as the Empress of New Altea.
Wow, these are all super nice catches regarding how Colleen and Honerva are juxtaposed as mothers. Also, I did not know that about the Medieval elements — thank you for sharing!
While researching for several different examples of narrative symmetry found in VLD, I found some intriguing details that I thought I could share with Team Purple Lion (apologies for clogging the page with my musings!!)
I believe the Holt and Galra Royal Family juxtaposition found in the reconstructed season 7 was present in season 5. During the prison exchange in “Blood Duel”, Pidge’s obstinacy in her retrieval of her father and in her harsh judgment of Lotor metaphorically keeps her trapped in immaturity/childhood. There’s dramatic irony demonstrated in Pidge’s accusation that Lotor only wished to seize the throne for selfish reasons; the viewers have seen that Lotor’s priority has been on the trans-reality comet and accessing the quintessence field. Lotor’s intentions are not falsehoods: he aims for peaceful access to quintessence to ensure the stability of the universe, not unlike Alfor’s objective revealed in “The Legend Begins”.
Returning to my original point, as the prison exchange happens, Zarkon demands for Lotor. We then see Haggar-Honerva bathe(/baptize?) in quintessence and regain her memories of having a son. Pidge screaming in anguish for her father, Sam, precedes Haggar reacting in alarm for Lotor and activating stage 4 of Project Kuron (the clone’s ability to spy on Lotor). These scenes are connected together.
Honerva continuously uses puppets to achieve her goals while misdirecting her enemies and absolving herself of responsibility. Zarkon discarding and attempting to kill Lotor contrasts to Honerva’s flashbacks where we see Zarkon ask if Lotor can be saved. Quintessence blinds Zarkon whereas it elucidates matters for Honerva. This is also the episode that legitimizes Lotor as a future Paladin; he fights the past Black Paladin (Zarkon) while the present Black Paladin (Shiro), who armed Lotor with the bayard, tries to rescue Sam. All three have been or will be turned into “the witch’s monsters”.
The long awaited reunion between Pidge, Matt and Sam is juxtaposed by Lotor saving everyone from Zarkon’s killing blow. Familial love contrasted against patricide.
Never apologize for commenting, friend, your insights are always welcome!
And that observation is really astute! There was a lot of foreshadowing in prior seasons (such as Lotor being foreshadowed as the Purple Paladin in season 3), and your findings are spot-on!! We actually hadn’t quite put that together with season 7 since we’d been so focused on reconstructing the lost narrative but you leaping on that just shows how interconnected the whole show is to itself at various points and how well it all works together early and late-game to give us a solid narrative.
Thanks for pointing it out to us, we’re very impressed at how thorough you’ve been with your own research and finding this!
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Thank you very much for your content! It was great!