Voltron
III: Storyline
I mean, what can I say about
the story of Lion Force that hasn't been said already? In today's
day and age, no stone has been left unturned. However, since the angle
for my site is that of a Trilogy fan, I'm sure I can come up with
a few things.
Let's start with Episode
1. What's the first line? "This is Air Unit leader Keith calling
Galaxy Garrison..." Then look at the first view of Keith and
hunk. They're wearing Air Team uniforms. I mean, we all know that's
Jeff and Rocky from the Vehicle Team, but the splice works for the
very first episode of the entire triple series. What does any of this
imply? It CAN mean that Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Sven were the
original Air Team, who were reassigned from the Vehicle Team to deal
with the threat of Zarkon in the Far Universe. I mean, I could be
reading far more into a single line than I should, but I think it's
just obvious and a much underutilied story element.
Fast forward to Episode 47.
At about 2/3 of the way through the episode, we get our first look
atthe Drule leadershio. We see Hazaar and Grand Marshal Keezor. Keezor's
entrance and first lines are loaded with drama. He walks in to a robotic
announcement, book slams on the table, and his epic first line, "I
need a decision from you!!" Classic, absolute classic. We learn
that Zarkon is subordinate to a supreme council, and that he doesn't
send enough gold to the empire. It's almost poetic justice that every
miserable boss also has a miserable boss. Later in episode 50, it
is Keezor who orders Zarkon to be dethroned.
It is these little bits that
tell a much bigger story of this "one unit of the Voltron Force"
in a larger set of universes. I think if the writers had relied on
these devices just a little bit more, the original plans for a Trilogy
would have actually come together.
Finally, we have the "second
season" of the Lion Force episodes. I do think the introduction
of characters like Cossak and Queen Merla were amazing. I think the
inclusion of skull tanks based on the toy line was, well... expected
I guess. Would the universe been better if we had gotten a Voltron
II instead? I mean, I know what I wanted but I think World Events
made the best decision they could have given the wild success of Lion
Force.
We HAVE to mention Fleet
of Doom. I just want to mention that the stories in the fan fiction
section were written before the movie came out. We watched eagerly
to see what WEP came up with. We weren't disappointed. Seeing the
two Voltrons side by side was the perfect end cap to an amazing series.
That little image you see in the banner of the three robots together
uses a frame from the movie. I just digitally added Albegas in place
of the Castle of Lions. You might see that image out on the web or
in a Voltron fan video on Youtube. I can't call it "fan art"
as it's really a "fan collage" but I am the one who pasted
it together. You're welcome ;-)
By now, we all know what
happened. World Events lined up Dairugger XV, Daltanious, and Albegas
(in that order) to be localized as "Voltron," and to kick
things off, WEP requested, "the one with the lion," and
Golion got shipped instead of Daltanious. This of course ended up
being the best mistake for everyone involved!
When you watch the pilot
trailer to Voltron, you can see that Daltanious was still in position
for the #2 slot, but if you look closely at the footage for Voltron
III, you can see a mysterious black robotic hand forming a sword before
the lion robot comes sweeping out of the sky. Golion had booted Albegas
from the #3 slot. As for how Daltanious got swapped for Albegas in
the #2 slot by the time the toys came out...? Who knows.
There are a few differences
between the first Lion pilot episode and the finished series. The
most notable is that the main setting is known as Planet Nim instead
of Planet Arus. The next is that Castle Doom had another name in the
pilot, that being "Darkstone Castle." We only learn this
via on-screen text. Throughout the remainder of the series, "Castle
Doom" is used instead. Well, except for Episode 52, where Keith
uses the original name. So, forget what I was saying.
We also all know that the
series was adapted from Beast King Golion, but without the added footage
from Dairugger XV, we would not have gotten Voltron as we know it
today. Why? Because there was no concept of a Galaxy Alliance in Golion.
Even though the additions were minimal, they altered the story in
a way that made the Voltron universe bigger than it would have been
without it.
Of course, it was the Lion
Force that won the day. Whenever we think of "Voltron" we
think of the five robot lions and nothing else. I'm not exactly mad
about this. Granted, I don't fall into "the other Voltron sucked"
camp, but if it weren't for the Lion Force's staying power, we wouldn't
still be talking about Voltron today as a pop culture icon. Had Toei
sent Daltanius as requested, there's no telling how things would have
turned out, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been the same.
