When I got wind of Voltron: Legendary Defender's third season coming out, you can bet your bottom dollar I did what any perfectly normal nerd would--marked it on my phone's calendar with an alarm, then stalked their Facebook page and feverishly laid in wait as the days went by. (Wait, other nerds don't do that? Just me? Oh. Well, this is awkward.) And when it came out today, I was ready to watch. And when I say "ready," I mean that I glued my behind to the living room couch, settled down with my dog, and jumped right in.
Season 3 starts out with the Paladins forging new alliances with the other alien nations they've come across since the end of Season 2. They're down one Shiro (Yup. Cartoon bae is still MIA. Sad face.), but they seem to have gained some confidence after defeating Zarkon and are now more at ease with their roles as the galaxy's most important line of defense. Or at least, everyone minus Keith is more at ease, and a big portion of the season's episodes focus on his acceptance of the leadership role as well as his character's development.
Keith isn't the only character whose growth gets special attention this season, though. Lance matures in a big way and becomes a calmer, much more emotionally intelligent person. He ends being a stabilizing force on the team in Shiro's absence, which was a welcome change from his previous role as simply being the comedic relief and a foil for Keith. The audience really gets to connect with him and actually see his character maturing in each situation.
Conversely, we get to see more of Allura's insecurities, which really rounds out her character and makes her feel like less of a good-girl-know-it-all and a lot more like how one would imagine a teenager with monumental responsibilities would. She's less grounded and has to learn a whole new way of doing things in order to adjust, which is interesting to watch since Allura's the one character besides Coran that the team turns to for advice.
We don't get much about Hunk's or Pidge's journeys in this season, but let's not dwell on the good guys. This time around, the bad guys have got some major changes to their starting lineup. The Galra Empire is SHOOKETH and with Zarkon out of the picture, his son, Prince Lotor, is called in to take over.
However, the prince seems to have his own ideas for the Galra Empire--and not all of the Galra are on board with the change in leadership. Nevertheless, he turns out to be one brilliant strategist and extremely cunning, which makes him a seriously formidable opponent for the Paladins.
Lotor's not the only jack-in-the-box in this season. We also get the full backstory on Haggar, Zarkon, King Alfor, and the original Paladins. And it's a good one, though you might be able to figure out the big twist in the story if you paid close attention in the first two seasons.
All in all, it was a great ride and it definitely left me wanting more. It also left me with a problem: How the hell am I supposed to wait until the next wave of episodes? So, um, Netflix...