Voltron: Legendary Defender

Voltron: Legendary Defender
Production Information
Genre	Sci-fi, action, fantasy
Network	Netflix
Release date	June 10th, 2016
Also known as	VLD, Voltron, Legendary Defender
Created by	Lauren Montgomery Joaquim Dos Santos
Based on	Beast King GoLion by Toei Animation Voltron: Defender of the Universe by World Events Productions
Country of origin	United States
Seasons	5
Episodes	37
Production company(s)	DreamWorks Animation World Events Productions Studio Mir
Running time	23 minutes per episode 68 minutes ("The Rise of Voltron")

Voltron: Legendary Defender, a series created by Netflix and DreamWorks Animation (DWA), is the fourth major television series of the Voltron franchise and the first to be a web-exclusive to Netflix. Since its initial release in 2016, the series has released four seasons, with the fourth season released on October 2017. In total, the series has accumulated aired 37 episodes. Legendary Defender was first announced as an expansion of the existing multi-year agreement between Netflix and DreamWorks Animation. Comic books for the series have also been produced.

The official logo was released on February 8, 2016, while the entire first season was released on June 10, 2016. The latest season is the fifth season comprised of an unknown number of episodes which will air March 2, 2018.

Characters

Defenders of the Universe

Paladins

Paladin is the term used to described individuals chosen by a Lion of Voltron to pilot them. There can only be one Paladin to a Lion. Although an individual may be allowed by a Lion to pilot them, they are not recognized as a full-fledged Paladin until a Lion acknowledges them as such. Only then will they be awarded a bayard and the title of "Paladin". Below is the current roster of Voltron Paladins:

• Shiro: Current pilot and Paladin of the Black Lion.
• Keith: Former pilot and Paladin of the Black Lion and the Red Lion of Voltron. An earthling male of Galra lineage.
• Pidge: Current pilot and Paladin of the Green Lion of Voltron.
• Lance: Current pilot and Paladin of the Red Lion of Voltron; former pilot and Paladin of the Blue Lion.
• Hunk: Current pilot and Paladin of the Yellow Lion of Voltron.
• Allura: Current pilot and Paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron, Princess of Altea, and captain-commander/pilot of the Castle of Lions.

Allies

• Coran: Royal adviser to Allura and chief engineer of the Castle of Lions. Also one of the last survivors of the Planet Altea.
• King Alfor: Allura's father and previous king of Altea, responsible for sending the lions to the far corners of the universe for protection, who died in the Altean Genocide. Alfor was the creator of the Voltron Lions as well as the original Paladin of the Red Lion.

Galra Empire

• Emperor Zarkon (voiced by Neil Kaplan) - Leader of the forces of Galra and conqueror of most of the known universe. He was the original Paladin of the Black Lion.
• Prince Lotor (voiced by A.J. Locascio) - The son of Zarkon and fugitive of the Galra empire; former heir who briefly controlled the Galra following his father's defeat at the hands of Voltron.
• Lotor's Generals - Lotor's top generals who used to loyally serve him; they are only part Galra:
  • Acxa
  • Ezor
  • Zethrid
  • Narti (Deceased)
• Witch Haggar (voiced by Cree Summer) - Head of the Druids, a group of magic users in the service of Zarkon who gather the quintessence as a power source and create the robeasts to fight Voltron. She was previously Zarkon's Altean wife, formerly named Honerva.

• Commander Sendak (voiced by Jake Eberle) - A Galran commander tasked with capturing or destroying the lions along with Allura's castle. He is the first major enemy fought by the Paladins.
  • Haxus (voiced by Robert Atkin Downes) - Sendak's second-in-command.

• Commander Prorok (voiced by Keith Ferguson)
  • Subcommander Ylvik (Mentioned only.)
  • Chief Information Officer Plytox (Mentioned only.)
  • Thace (voiced by Mick Wingert) (Deceased) - A spy for the Blade of Marmora.

• Commander Throk (voiced by Tony Curran) - A Galran commander who seeks to steal the throne from Lotor, whom he sees as unfit to lead the Galra.

Voltron

Voltron is the legendary, giant super robot made 10,000 years ago by King Alfor, composed of 5 robotic lions: Black Lion, Red Lion, Green Lion, Blue Lion, and Yellow Lion. It was created using ore from a comet that had the ability to travel between realities. It is that ability that caused Zarkon to deem Voltron so valuable to the Empire, as it would allow him to collect quintessence from the layer between realities. A second comet with similar properties is later found by Lotor, which he then used to create the Sincline ships.

Episodes

A total of four seasons have been confirmed for Voltron: Legendary Defender. The first totaled eleven episodes, starting with "The Rise of Voltron" and concluding with "The Black Paladin". The second season, debuting on January 20th, 2017, contained thirteen episodes, using "Across the Universe" as its premiere and "Blackout" as its finale. Season three, relased on August 4th, 2017 to a total of seven episodes, began with "Changing of the Guard" and concluded with "The Legend Begins". The fourth season came out on October 13, 2017, consisting of 6 episodes. began with Code of Honor, and concluded with A New Defender

See also: Voltron: Legendary Defender/Episodes

Merchandising and other media

• Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 1 Soundtrack - An album of the first season's official soundtrack
• Puzzle & Dragons - A mobile puzzle/RPG hybrid developed by GungHo Online Entertainment. In 2017, it held a special event featuring characters from Voltron: Legendary Defender as its first North America exclusive collaboration.
• Voltron VR Chronicles - An episodic virtual reality game by Digital Domain Interactive available on various platforms.
• Voltron: Legendary Defender Comics - A tie-in comic series published by Lion Forge Comics.
• Playmates Toys - The sole license-holder for the series' toy line.

Trivia

• In an interview, Tim Hedrick, Voltron's story editor, was asked "...Will we be seeing any LGBT content in Voltron?" to which he responded, "I think I'll let that play out as we go. No comment on that question."