As I’m writing this, it’s currently 5:40 a.m., and I’m exhausted, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep.

I don’t know what I was expecting from season 6 after the writers have subverted all my other expectations and hopes for past seasons but considering Voltron: Legendary Defender is now half complete as a series, I’m not surprised they ended with a bang. Literally.

Season 6 was about coming together both in this and Voltron’s reality.

The unrest we all anticipated from Lotor’s triumph at the Kral Zera from season 5 is beginning to come to a head with Sendak’s attack in episode 1. With Zarkon’s defeat in season 5 and Lotor seemingly having switched sides in the interim, there needed to be a new (if temporary) villain. Sendak served this purpose well.

What remains to be seen is his impact on the Galra Empire. There was definitely no room in this season for him to make continuous appearances, so it makes sense that he peaced out after episode 1. The other Galra vs. Galra unrest has not been properly resolved. It’s confirmed there are multiple pockets of rebellions cropping up all over the Empire and with Lotor’s fate at the end of season 6 unconfirmed, we have yet to see how this will affect the team and the story.

Having never seen the original Voltron series, I can’t speak for the way Lotor and the rest of Team Voltron interacted after he joined their side. For this current series, all I have to say about Lotor is caaaaaalled it.

Since season 5, I’ve been suspicious of Lotor’s motives and why he suddenly seemed so nice and accommodating to Team Voltron.

This. This is why.

Lotor’s failure to gain the power at Oriande played into his decision to continue working with the Paladins and manipulating Allura into having feelings for him. Lotor’s super cool Galra-Voltron was the reason why he suddenly started playing nice after having been shown to be manipulative and back-stabbing.

So again: caaaaaaalled it.

Gloating aside, what I didn’t see coming is how much smol Keith we would get in this season.

Season 6 episode 2 was everything I’ve been waiting for since I fell in love with Keith and his smug little, “Yep,” in the very first episode of Voltron: Legendary Defender.

While the magic memory space flares felt a little too convenient and like the writers were trying to give an exposition dump on Keith’s backstory, honestly, I’m not complaining. I prefer a show don’t tell approach to story-telling, providing exposition in this way meant the plot in the show could still progress while at the same time giving more depth and background to Keith and Krolia.

The two year-long trip on a space whale provided some explanation for Keith’s maturity when he reunites with the team in episode 4. Again, while a little convenient, Keith’s continuous immature, hotheadedness would have likely driven a wedge between himself and the team again.

The Keith we see for the rest of the season is a far more grounded person than he has been to this point.

This made his battles with Lotor, his generals, and Shiro’s clone in this season feel less tenuous than when Team Voltron fought Lotor back in season 3.

Speaking of Shiro’s clone, fans have been speculating since season 1 that Shiro had some kind of evil twin, and they weren’t entirely off base.

Project Kuron finally was revealed in season 6 and also revealed the shocking revelation the season 6 teasers had been hinting at.

The writers did a phenomenal job at linking the events throughout episodes 4-7 and making it easy to follow the story’s progression.

Episode 4 properly introduced us to Romelle, who, in 80s Voltron, was Allura’s look-alike cousin.

It’s no secret now that the writers have intended to take Voltron: Legendary Defender in a different direction than its inspirations—Beast King Go Lion and Voltron: Defenders of the Universe. Romelle is no longer Allura’s cousin but a fellow Altean and part of a branch of Alteans who have survived in the 10,000 years Altea was destroyed.

Episode 5 brought all the feels.

The battle between Keith and Shiro’s clone (dubbed by the fans as Kuro) was animated beautifully. Considering the weight the fight had, it makes sense this particular episode would be animated differently than the reason of the episodes in this season. If we’re being honest, I haven’t seen animation this high quality since the very first season of Voltron: Legendary Defender.

The Shiro—or at least his body—from season 1 and 2 is dead. In his place, the body of his clone remains. Luckily, we will not get a repeat of 80s Voltron where Sven (Shiro’s 80s counterpart) is killed. The Shiro we saw Lance almost communicate with on the astral plane back in season 5 is still the original Shiro, and through all kinds of magical mind-melding, he was able to take over the clone’s body in the climax of season 6.

Romelle’s news about Lotor was the jumping point for the rest of the episodes in season 6.

In episode 6, Lotor states he will usher in “a new age of power.”

While Lotor had never really seemed to type to gripe on about desiring power, we’ve seen what prolonged exposure to quintessence can do to a person.

Photo credit to Netflix Photo credit to Netflix

Lotor has turned out to be a far more nuanced anti-hero than I anticipated he would be. Especially after his declaration in episode 6 that he was ready “to wipe the universe clean of all [his] enemies. Voltron, Haggar, and the rest of the Galra.”

At this point, it’s hard to tell if Lotor is actually evil or if the Lotor we’ve seen up until this point is more of who he is. Who knows? Quintessence doesn’t change a person, it only brings out what was already there. Ezor said it best herself, “I’ve stopped trying to figure out Lotor’s master plan a long time ago. Too complicated.”

For the moment, Lotor’s master plan involves quintessence and a whole lot of it.

During the battle in the rift, I kept wondering if the black creatures from season 3 would make a reappearance since it didn’t take long for them to converge on the original paladins when they entered the rift. This would have been a great opportunity to plant that seed in fans’ minds that there may be a bigger player at work than one Galra’s ambitions. It’s highly likely they will make a reappearance.

The problem for Team Voltron now is that they need to find a new base of operations. The Castle of Lions felt like home to not only Team Voltron but the viewers as well. It was referred to as home in the series’ very first episode, and from there it only continued to become a place of comfort. We witnessed no major character deaths, but losing the Castle of Lions felt like we did.

So now, it’s back to Earth.

The few loose threads that exist now feel like they’ve been given a new lease on life.

Sendak is still out there amassing power, and with Lotor’s fate still ambiguous, anything could happen with the Galra Empire. The black creatures from season 3 are still MIA, and the Blade of Marmora may also join Voltron when they return to Earth. If two years passed while Keith and Krolia were riding the space whale but only mere minutes passed where Team Voltron was, what about Earth? For Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro’s families, how long has it been since they’ve been missing?

Needless to say, season 7 will be highly anticipated, and I will be waiting with baited breath for the release date.

#SaveShiro2k19 maybe?

…

…

…

On a side note, maybe this is my inappropriate sense of humor coming out, but am I the only one who found it kind of hilarious that Shiro (which translates to white in Japanese) literally turned shiro?

Just me? Okay.