VOLTRON Lion Force Chronology

Compiled by Shannon Muir

SEASON TWO
a.k.a THE NEW ADVENTURES OF VOLTRON

orignally released in 1985-1986; re-released in 1997-1998

• Lotor launches an attack on Planet Pollux (Arus' twin planet, ruled by her cousins Prince Bandor and Princess Romelle), aided by his new assistant Cossack. Allura's lion is damaged in a fight, and Lotor captures her. She's treated to a special dinner and possibly a "show" consisting of torturing the Pollux captives unless she agrees to surrender. Allura almost gives in, but the spirit of her father appears and tells her how to escape and rejoin her friends. [NOTE: In my honest opinion, Alfor gets used too much as a "deus ex machina" (god in the machine, easy way out) this season. ]
• General Warren from Galaxy Garrison comes out to visit the space explorers on Arus, and a party is held in his honor. He's not impressed with the way things are run and insists on taking control. This does not go over well with the other explorers, specifically Pidge. The party is a bust when a new Robeast attacks, and General Warren's orders are incredibly inneffective. Green Lion is temporarily paralyzed when Haggar's Blue Cat (who snuck on board) steals the Lion's Key. Pidge's mice friends come to the rescue and return the key, and just in time too, as Space Marshal Graham intervenes by calling General Warren and telling him to return command to the Lion Force! Warren apologizes to the space explorers for his error in judgement and they make up.
• Pidge runs out of paitence with his Space Mice friends after they steal his juicy apple. He finds a beautiful white kitten roaming near the castle and lets it in, then cooks a fabuolous dinner to set a trap for the mice. The white kitten is let loose to chase the mice and dinner is an absolute disaster, though in the end the mice are "repelled." Pidge doesn't realize that the white kitten is really a robeast, whose next phase of operation is to turn into a large sabre-toothed cat and steal Cheddar, the youngest mouse. The Voltron Force goes into action to save the mouse, and it's Pidge who puts himself at risk to save Cheddar with the help of the Mouse Plane. At last he realizes that maybe the mice are aggravating, but they're great friends.
• A new Robeast invades Arus, but when the lions go out to fight it, three of them are trapped by immobilizing foam. Keith also has problems with his lion, which leaves the fate of Arus in Allura's hands. The Robeast has reached the Castle and begins burrowing its way to Castle Control. Only the Mouse Plane is able to sneak by undetected. Allura runs to her father for help and he reveals a key to her that unlocks the power of the Signet Crest. The mice use their plane to fly the key to Coran in Castle Control, and the key unlocks a magic blast from the coat of arms on the front of the castle that frees the lions. They form VOLTRON and the Robeast is vanquished!
• Planet Zaul has been conquered by Zarkon's forces to mine lazon. Among the slaves doing the mining is a man named Joran, who once served in Zarkon's army -- and the other slaves refuse to let him forget it. After one fight with some of the other slaves, Joran falls into a ravine and is saved by a mysterious cloaked figure. The cloaked figure turns out to be Omnia, leader of those Zaulans who have fled to the ancient cities of their ancestors. She hears how Joran became a slave after refusing to whip a disobiedent slave, and asks him to join. Just then, one of Omnia's aides comes to her saying that the Voltron lions have heard their secret distress call and are coming! With Joran's help, they plan to destroy Zarkon's lazon base from the inside. Joran goes to warn the slaves and to help them escape, but they won't believe him until an explosion rocks the mine. Some miners are nearly trapped and it is Joran's intervention which saves them. Voltron is formed and Zarkon is driven away.
• On the planet Mira, Zarkon's forces harvest giant powers to gain their poison. Haggar takes one of the locals of the jungle planet and tries to combine him with a fish to see if she can make a powerful new Robeast. When the "fish-man" fails to grow to giant size, they put him to work collecting the flowers -- until a beautiful blond woman rescues him! The Voltron Force hears about what's happening on Planet Mira and go to help, just as a damaged Galaxy Alliance vessel crashes on the planet. Zarkon's soldiers capture all of the passengers except Lt. Lorn, who is also saved by the beautiful Mirana. Lorn and Mirana succeed being on the run for a while, but eventually are captured. Fish-Man gets away, but was hit by a magnetic ray. The lions arrive and three are caught in a giant tree, as the magnetic ray makes Fish-Man large enough to fight the Robeast. The other two lions free their friends just as Fish-Man is knocked unconscious, then form Voltron and save the day! Mirana plays her pipes for the now-small Fish-Man to heal him, and we find he's her father! Lt. Lorn volunteers to stay to help the people of Mira protect themselves.
• Heading back from their recent adventures on Zaul and Mira, Hunk passes a planet where he did his first service after getting out of the Academy. He returns to find a group of orphans he rescued when their village was attacked by Zarkon, who are surviving on their own. The Doom forces find out that the Yellow Lion is there and come up on Hunk unexpectedly, but the combined efforts of the Voltron Force and the orphans save the day.
• On Pollux, the reserved Sven has had difficulty admitting his true feelings for Romelle -- after all, she's a Princess and he's "just a pilot." When a Doom ship crashes carrying escaped slaves, Sven helps Romelle and Bandor care for them at the castle. One victim won't let them take off his mask, and later the "slaves" turn out to be Doom Soldiers in disguise with a mission to capture Romelle and Bandor. Sven is back home at the time (he doesn't live in the castle) and feels regret he wasn't there to help. His friends find out about the attack on Pollux and bring the Voltron Lions. Afraid for Romelle's life, Sven agrees to go along with Haggar and tell his friends Pollux has ASKED for the protection of Doom. Allura, however, catches Sven sending a "secret code" with reflections of sunlight off his watch and knows it's a ruse. The Voltorn Force escapes and manages to destroy Haggar's latest Robeast, launched after the trap fails. Sven finally admits his love for Romelle.
• A mysterious visitor requests permission to land at the Asgard Monument. Coran indicates that this new visitor is one of the greatest scientists in this part of the galaxy, and brings the Voltron Force along to meet the new arrival. It turns out to be Marianne, a former Arusian who now resides on the planet Caspia, and the monument the site of her home which burned down when she was a child. She went to Caspia so she could work alone, building robots that would work strictly for peace and not for fighting. Unfortunately, the Doom forces found her lab and stole her prize robot. Hunk volunteers to use Voltron to get the robot back, but Marianne does not want to be part of any fighting. They do, however, return with her to Caspia. After Marianne is injured and Pidge captured, Marianne is convinced that some form of fighting back is unfortunately necessary to maintain peace. She finishes up a newer robot to help rescue Pidge and do in her first robot. Then a Robeast battle ensues and Voltron wins.
• Planet Oron plans to quit their association with the Galaxy Alliance because they believe they can adequately defend themselves. The Voltron Force goes to negotiate with military leader General Krueger after Senator Roland calls Space Marshal Graham for help. When Zarkon invades Oron, the Voltron Force is blamed and put under house arrest. Oron finds it can't defend itself alone, and luckily the Voltron Force breaks out of captivity to save the day. Roland is chosen the new leader of Oron.
• Zarkon has forged a new alliance with Largo, King of the Rogue Galaxy, whose pirate fleets attack many Alliance planets. The Voltron Force (and Sven, representing Pollux) attend a conference at Galaxy Garrison back on Earth to discuss how to deal with the threat. Largo demands surrender, but Keith encourages everyone to stick together and fight. Lotor and Largo team up and attack Garrison Island. Allura turns herself over to Lotor to save Coran's life, but Sven pilots the Blue Lion again to save the day. [NOTE: Just a minor nitpick alert. The landing crew on Garrison Island discusses the arrival of a ship from PLANET Cryo. Cryo -- according to the 2-part episode about the Garrett clone from Season One -- is "the third MOON of the planet Shamara".]
• Zarkon takes on new allies -- Stride the Tiger Fighter and MERLA QUEEN OF DARKNESS. Stride's father once served with King Alfor as part of the Astroknights, but the galaxy's since been divided and Stride's planet is on the other side now. Stride is told that Arus has threatened the honor of their star system and only for that reason will Stride go to Arus and fight. Merla's jealous that Stride will get all the action and uses her mental powers to convince Zarkon to let her take a fleet to help Stride. Stride and Keith duel one on one, and Stride is so impressed with Keith's honor he switches alliegances. Just then, Merla shows up and opens fire. Stride and Voltron team up to fight Merla back.
• Allura gets wind of a rumor her father will be coming back to life at the Valley of Zohar, the site of his final battle. Allura, desperately wanting to believe, goes to check it out -- with her friends right on her tail. Meanwhile, Merla's got a new device called a Cosmatron that can send the Voltron Force to another dimension of sight, sound, and pain. The rumor about Alfor is her trap to capture the Voltron Force in the Rainbow Cave, but Allura escapes. Merla captures Allura and plans to send her away, but the mice save the day. Meanwhile, Alfor uses his magic to return the other members to their lions in time to save the day.
• On Planet Doom, Lotor and Merla are married in an informal ceremony as a symbol of unity between their empires. Meanwhile, on Arus, love doesn't bode so well for a country girl named Taren. She escaped from Zarkon, but was forced to leave her boyfriend Ro behind. Taren is surprised to see a weakened Ro reappear at her front door, accompanied by new and powerful friends (Merla and Haggar in disguise). In exchange for saving Ro, Merla sweet-talks Taren into taking a container of honey nectar to the castle for Keith's birthday, claiming to be a secret admirer of the leader of the Voltron Force. Taren agrees, not realizing it's poison; Ro wants to tell her the truth but is too afraid their lives will be in danger. Keith is running late for his own party because he's too busy picking flowers for Allura, so Taren ends up giving the bottle to Allura, who feels pangs of jealousy. Taren goes back to Ro, who can't hide his guilt any longer, and the two journey to the palace to warn them -- but Haggar delays them. When later Keith fails to appear, they decide to try some of his honey nectar. Luckily the playful mice spill some on a vase of flowers and they detect the poison in time! Keith passes by Taren and Ro's cottage on the way home and meets Lotor, who out of concern for Allura warns Keith about the poison. He arrives about the same time Taren and Ro do, and VOLTRON is formed to do battle with the new Robeast that has appeared. Merla and Lotor have an equally informal divorce when Merla drops her marriage bracelet off a bridge.
• A parade is held to celebrate Arus history, complete with life-size statues of Alfor, Coran, Allura and Keith! Lance, Hunk, and Pidge are upset that THEY don't have statues, but soon their wish comes true when they are "frozen solid" by some of Haggar's magic. Keith and Allura must work together to free their friends from the evil spell. Keith and Allura's budding romance gets Alfor's blessing. [NOTE: According to this episode, Arus is in the Azure quadrant.]
• The Voltron Force detects the incoming approach of Phylos, a planet with the elliptical orbit of a comet. Count Zane of Phylos comes in a Skull Tank waving a white flag and begging for help to free his people from Zarkon. Lance is the only one who refuses to trust Zane -- and his instincts are right, because Zane is setting up a trap! Also, an Alliance ship is forced to crash-land on Phylos during a conflict with Merla's fighters... which prompts immediate action by the Voltron Force. Zane's ploy fails and Voltron is able to drive Zarkon from Phylos and save the Alliance crew, but not before a massive device called the Herculean generator does some serious damage to Planet Arus as Phylos passes by. [NOTE: It is said Phylos is in the Coral Quadrant, so there must be a brief part of it's orbit where it goes outside the Coral Quadrant and into the outer edges of the Azure Quadrant, per the note above.]
• Haggar's jealous Zarkon pays too much attention to the beautiful Merla. On Arus, a young lady named Debra has come to the Voltron Force for help -- her mother has been made magically ill after a run-in with Haggar and she doesn't know what to do. King Alfor says they must make a potion of the rare Cadmium Flower, which only blooms once in a millenium and only when nurtured with love. Luckily one will bloom soon, and the Voltron Force waits for it's appearance. Lotor is locked up for attacking his father, but manages to get free from prison. When the flower does appear, Haggar sends her Blue Cat to steal the flower and take it to Doom's new secret base on Pollux, which is under covert siege by Sven and his forces. Voltron arrives to get the flower, but Haggar burns it and a Robeast is launched upon them. The day is saved by Lotor, who launches a duplicate Robeast on Zarkon's creation in order to get back at his father. The Voltron Force returns to Arus, discouraged that they don't have a flower, but an entire bush grows just for them because their love is so strong, and Debra's mom is saved. [NOTE: there's that "deus ex machina" feeling again...]
• Merla pretends to be captured to lure the Voltron Force into a trap on Planet Norn, but they're preocccupied commemorating the day of King Alfor's eclipse. So Bandor is sent instead to oversee Merla being turned over to the Alliance, but Merla reveals the hoax and takes Bandor and the soldiers at the Norn base hostage. Merla talks Lotor into teaming up with her against Zarkon. Voltron goes to rescue Bandor, but Lotor leads them too near the sun and makes an escape. They get into a fight with a Firebird Robeast, a blast from which they are sent reeling away from the sun and back to Norn. The Robeast waiting on the surface covers Voltron in ice and immobilizes him. OnlyAllura calling on the power of her father's eclipse can save the day. [NOTE: I have so many complaints about this episode you'll have to link to my commentary.]
• Lotor steals his father's command ship and tries to take Voltron down. He fails miserably, in large part because Merla frees Voltron after finding her mental powers no longer work effectively on Zarkon and the others. Zarkon is finally fed up with his insolence... so he has his own son chained to the Pit of Skulls! Merla catches wind of this and pleads with the Voltron Force to help her save Lotor. It takes quite a bit of effort, but finally they agree to help her. Lotor is rescued and baffled that the Voltron Force saved HIM as Merla gets him onto her Steed Ship headed for her Starcutter. Zarkon has the Steed Ship blasted out of the sky before it can get far. Lotor crashes back to the ground and Merla is rescued by her telepathic Dwarflings. As Lotor wakes up, he gets a telepathic message from Merla: "You and I have been saved for a reason. We have a second chance... a chance to be good." A dazed Lotor walks the Doom desert, contemplating what it might feel like to be GOOD. Haggar launches a Robeast on the Voltron Force, and they defeat it.
• Lotor pretends to want to be good to try and win Merla's heart. He leads the Voltron Force to a fake Planet Doom with an equally fake castle and pretends to "save" them from his father King Zarkon's attacks. Eventually they come to the throne room and the trap is sprung. The Voltron Force is trapped in a glass dome and "Zarkon" is revealed to be Cossack. A bomb is also inside with the Voltron Force, threatening to go off. Pidge blows a small hole out of the dome in time for them to crawl out and escape before "Castle Doom" blows, causing a chain reaction that leads to earthquakes all over the planet. Cossack runs away, babbling that "he only did was Lotor told him to, honest!" Keith and Lotor get into a one-on-one fight, Merla sees this and tells Lotor he's just like his father. She calls him a "fool" and walks off, bitter. Keith and Lotor's fight is pre-empted by the continuing earthquakes. Both flee to their ships and escape in time before the "fake Planet Doom" explodes.

And that was the last half-hour episode to ever be aired of the series for ten years... until this season of shows was revived as THE NEW ADVENTURES OF VOLTRON in 1997. VOLTRON remained popular, and World Events financed 26 new episodes of the show in 3-D computer animation that debuted in 1998-1999.

According to several articles I've seen on VOLTRON, 21 "new scripts" or 21 "new segments" were made for the second season. I used to think this counted the "Fleet of Doom" special as an episode, except that two of the articles refer to plans for a one-hour special AS WELL AS 21 new segments. However, the 1997 re-release of Season Two as THE NEW ADVENTURES OF VOLTRON confirms there are only 20 half hour shows in Season Two.

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