Voltron: Legendary Defender season two ended on a major cliffhanger. After finally getting his black bayard, Shiro was able to activate one of the hidden powers of the Black Lion. Zarkon seemed defeated and the Paladins raced back to the Castle Ship…. Only to find Shiro was gone. He wasn’t dead just… gone.

In the hiatus between seasons two and three fans speculated what happened to him. Was he somehow fused with the Black Lion? Was he really truly dead? Did he somehow bond with Zarkon’s Quintessence? How long would it take before Shiro was brought back? How would the team deal with his absence?

The opening episodes of the season began to answer that last question. Keith struggled with taking on the mantle of leader. The team was in disarray. They needed someone to pilot Black Lion. Everyone tried but eventually Keith had to take on responsibility. Lance moved into Red Lion and Allura into Blue Lion.

Not only had the team reverted to the classic Voltron line up from the original series but they were also beginning to find their way in this new configuration. The third episode featured everyone struggling with Keith’s leadership and Allura doing her best to work with the Blue Lion. While they made it out of that adventure mostly unscathed, they still had a lot of work to do to bond as a team again.