The End Is the Beginning

Depending on who you are and why you chose to watch this show in the first place, be it for the gigantic mech fights, the wisecrack humor or the characters and plot, Voltron has plenty to offer to a diverse viewer base. I went into this show with low expectations and little to no knowledge of the show or its premise. What I can tell you is that no matter what the one star reviewers tell you: Voltron is a well put together show.

I got into this show late, I read no reviews or anything before giving it a shot. Season 1 was a mixed bag for me and so were seasons 4 and 5 since they were pretty much like 1 hour movies if you tie in all their runtimes. But with that being said, Voltron has some pretty deep moments.

From its exploration with its characters to the plot, for a show tailored towards a much younger audience than myself, it goes to some pretty great lengths that surpassed my expectations.

While the fandom of this show is UNREAL when it comes to these "ship wars", "queerbaiting" and romantic relationship (I am not kidding, you hop anywhere on the web about this show and THIS is ALL you will find!) they all seem to miss the point that this show is trying to illustrate.

The loudest voices in the fandom treat Voltron like some romantic comedy of "who's-gonna-kiss-who-first! OH-LAH-LAH!" when that's not even the point of the show. Voltron is about war, and yeah, even war stories can have their share of romance (either it be hetero or not), but it shouldn't be the main focus. And I'm glad it wasn't in Voltron's case.

This show touches base on comradery, war, genocide, overcoming racial prejudices, finding forgiveness, trying to find happiness in a crap situation, leadership skills and finding the strength within yourself to overcome challenges. It also paints these themes in a digestible way that doesn't seem to on-the-nose and just goes with the flow of the story.

I can understand how some viewers feel about the "queer baiting." About how the showrunners teased to show a same-sex relationship on screen. But I believed the showrunners illustrated one of the best gay characters in animation without making that character's sexual orientation the mainstage focus on who he is. And he was by far the best written character on the show, IMO. When it was revealed he was gay, it just added another layer to his characterization rather than overshadowing it like a bright neon sign saying "SEE! WE GOT GAY CHARACTERS TOO!" Until the very end, where the showrunners shoehorned those unnecessary post-credit scene.

Apart from that, Voltron IS a great show. Some viewers hate the ending... no ending is perfect, but it has to end regardless.

But it's definitely Voltron's weakest so far and I'm very not fond of season 4. Throughout the entirety of season 8 it felt like I was watching a different show and the finale further cements this.

There was simply nothing redeeming about this season, but in particular about this episode.

Its pacing was off, it was rushed, holes were never filled in, the characters were barely friends, and the staff and cast has already said that this season was edited. Anyone who has eyeballs can see that this season was edited, but you can especially see it in the poor animation quality in this episode. The fact that they forgot to name the random husband, instead having the audio description call him "Adam" Shiro's dead ex-boyfriend is... telling.

Voltron didn't care about their ending so neither do I.

Despite some funny and cool moments here and there, at it's core it is just bad. The buildup was a drag and the end was an ultimate middle finger to everything. Things in the characters buildup was left out and felt choppy and the events often feel unnecessary from how it's structured and played out. I give props to the animators who poured their heart and soul into this but I can't say the same for the writing.

I was able to rewatch S7 but I don't think I can with this. A total tragedy.

It's really crazy to see so many people who watched this season be really mad at what the final outcome was. This episode, like the final episode of season 6, was so suspenseful and heartbreaking. I've had a great time and a fun experience with this entire show and I thought that the ending, the 10 - 12 minutes or so was the best conclusion that this great show deserves. I know there are a few things that weren't good here or there, but I still enjoyed it. No matter what happened, I'll always remember the great tale of the Paladins of Voltron.