Voltron: Legendary Defender (Re)Watch 8.12, "The Zenith"

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The final confrontation of the series continues in the penultimate episode of Legendary Defender.

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8.12, "The Zenith"

Written by Joshua Hamilton
Directed by Eugene Lee

Synopsis

Honerva continues to enact a ritual that will allow her to find a universe where she can live in love with Zarkon and Lotor--and that will destroy all other realities. The Paladins and the Atlas begin to rally in the attempt to stop her. Pidge figures out how Honerva's work is proceeding, and action resumes.

A final call to action?
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary

It also resumes on the part of Honerva and her supporters. Honerva rallies her pilots against the Paladins, and battle is joined. Honerva's powers prove formidable amid the melee, which draws on with the help of one of the Altean Robeast pilots.

Amid the fight, Coran makes his way to counteract the destabilizing effects of Honerva's ritual, aided by others.

This does seem to come a bit out of nowhere.
Image taken from the final episode, used for commentary.

The efforts come too late, however, as Honerva effectively pierces the boundaries between realities and flees. Keith urges pursuit, and assistance comes in the form of several Balmera that arrive to render help. They empower Voltron and the Atlas, that they may give chase to Honerva across realities--and they do, uniting into a single, colossal construct of immense power.

Thus uplifted, they rejoin melee against Honerva, chasing her through realities as they begin to collapse in the wake of her passage. And Coran works with the Balmera to mute the effects of Honerva's predations, enjoying some success. They are joined, in turn, by Galra led by Krolia and the remaining Blade of Marmora; the combined efforts further stabilize reality as the fight between Voltron and Honerva continues.

It is a strangely warming sight.
Image taken from the episode, used for commentary.

The efforts do not suffice, however. The work of Coran and his company cannot be sustained, and Honerva leaves Voltron behind en route to her preferred reality. They continue to pursue, emerging after her into a reality where Altea and the Galra homeworld remain, where Zarkon lives at ease, and where Lotor is a boy at study. The reality's Zarkon accepts Honerva's appearance after an initial challenge. The reality's Lotor, however, is not deceived, and a final confrontation ensues as Voltron appears upon the reality's Altea.

Discussion

It makes sense that there would be little new material introduced by the current episode; it is the next-to-last, so it should be more concerned with ending things than with introducing new ones. And it is the case that more of what has pervaded the series appears in the present episode, including instances of the deus ex machina that have received comment. But, as is noted elsewhere, such things pervade the medieval inspirations of the series no less than the Manichean allegory that is almost abusively obvious in the depictions of Honerva and the ennobled Voltron in the episode. (It is a nice touch that the appearance of the towering white-and-gold figure of the enhanced Voltron inspires terror among the people in other realities; angelic beings such as Voltron is figured to be tend to prompt such responses, however benevolent their intent.) As such, the series remains rooted to its inspirations even as it comes almost to its finale, a sort of a return to its thesis in advance of moving forward one last time.