Heartwarming / Voltron: Legendary Defender

Do you see what you're doing? You're finally working together as one!

Season 1

The Rise of Voltron

• While not exactly a major moment, when Pidge attempts to argue with Commander Iverson's comment about the Kerberos mission failing due to pilot error, Lance immediately directs the Commander's attention towards himself. Even though Pidge made it clear that they weren't going to try and be a team, Lance was willing to be scolded instead if it meant he could back up his friend.
• Lance shaking Shiro's hand even though he is scared of its cybernetic nature.
• While it was Played for Laughs, it was kind of cute the way Pidge immediately clung to Shiro for protection when they were both startled by the sloth-creature they met when looking for the Green Lion. It was equally sweet how Shiro looked ready to protect Pidge, not even caring that the smaller boy climbed onto him.
• Shiro helps calm Pidge's nerves by recalling something said by the commander of his lost mission.
  Shiro: Our commander on the Kerberos mission is the smartest man I ever met, and he always said if you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.
  • He does the same for Keith when looking for the Red Lion that: "Patience yields focus". These words helped Keith immensely just when he's at the peak of frustration.
  • Shiro's line to Pidge gets some extra Heartwarming in Hindsight points because he's repeating something Pidge's father said to Pidge herself. Look at her little smile afterwards; she's clearly happy to hear something her dad said, and she probably also enjoyed hearing Shiro compliment Sam.
• Lance refusing to leave the planet where the Yellow Lion was located when he believed Hunk had been killed. Even though he was still new to fighting, he wasn't going to leave without avenging his friend.
  • The relief in Lance's voice is evident when he sees Hunk again.
• Pidge giving Shiro a joking smile and saying they had a hard time on their planet after Lance complains that they had a rough time on theirs. Despite barely knowing Shiro, he manages to be friendly towards the older man.
  • Even moreso after the reveal: Katie wasn't making a new friend; she was rekindling her friendship with Shiro from before he disappeared.
• When Pidge explains why he needs to find out whether there are other prisoners still on the ship, Shiro immediately changes his mind about searching for them—perhaps because he abruptly realizes in that moment who Pidge really is and how much she's sacrificed to get that far.
• When Shiro and Pidge run into a small Galra drone, Pidge reprograms it and renames it Rover.
• Despite barely knowing most of the team for more than a day, as the Lions are being pulled up to the Galra ship, Keith can be heard saying: "It's been an honor flying with you, boys."
• The Blue Lion's enthusiastic acceptance of Lance. While the other Paladins are thrown to their Lions by Allura, the Blue Lion itself spots Lance and immediately decides "That one's mine." It all but rolls out the red carpet for him: locking eyes with him, responding to his knock on the forcefield, shoving him into the pilot's seat and immediately chatting away to him. Given that Lance secretly sees himself as the least remarkable of the group, and the plot frequently treats him as the Butt-Monkey, it's touching to see that his Lion has such faith in him — presented with several candidates, it doesn't have any hesitation about who it wants.
• After forming Voltron for the first time, the Paladins gather in front of the castle, and Shiro randomly claps Keith on the shoulder in a brotherly manner as a way of saying "Good job".

Some Assembly Required

• A kind of blink and you'll miss it moment, but when Hunk rapidly fires his gun Keith immediately raises his shield and takes the blow. Behind him is Pidge, and he could have been shielding the younger Paladin from the blast.
• During the training exercise against the Gladiator, despite being knocked brutally aside, Keith still stood up to defend Shiro from the Gladiator's attack after he has a relapse from his PTSD. Keith even asks Shiro if he is okay.
• Shiro noticing how stressed Pidge has become during their mental link, and tells Coran that they should take a break. Coran agrees and gets them all something to drink, telling them that they've done well despite a few hiccups.
• The Food Fight scene, while also a Funny Moment really does show the team bonding. From Keith and Lance actually agreeing on something, to everyone (including Shiro, Allura and Coran) laughing as the "fight" goes on.
  • Pidge, frustrated from the day's events, points out that Allura is not actually their princess and gets food thrown at his face. Keith instantly comes to his defense and throws it back, telling Pidge to "go loose" (as in, loosen his arm) so he can throw an entire bowl - which leads to the rest of the team working together during the food-fight.
  • Coran's protectiveness over Allura during the food-fight. Not only does he still treat her with respect as royalty, but he also makes it seem as if he has taken her in as his own daughter.
  • After the fight, Lance looks to Keith and admits: "I... actually don't hate you right now."
• The Paladins form Voltron again, this time on command, and they next scene has them gathered in the lounge, celebrating their success. Then Hunk pulls Keith and Lance into a Bear Hug.
  Hunk: I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers, all they way. I love you guys.

Return of the Gladiator

• Apparently, the Lions are sentient and can act on their own free will when they wish. When the Robeast falls to where Shiro and Pidge were located, the Black and Green Lion flew out of the castle to shield their Paladins from the debris.
  • Shiro can also be seen crouching over Pidge, using his body to shield him.
• Shiro finally remembers how he became the Champion and tells Pidge how he protected Matt. Pidge cries and thanks Shiro while also apologizing for doubting him.
  Shiro: I can tell you really miss them. I know they miss you, too. Your father and brother would be proud of you, Katie. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me.
  • It's the fact that Shiro knew Pidge's secret but decided to not divulge it to the others that makes this such a touching moment.

Fall of the Castle of Lions

• Sometime after Allura's speech, Keith is seen trying the nunville, only to spit it out... right into Hunk's face. Hunk takes two treats and stuffs them in his eyes comically. Everyone, including the normally temperamental and quiet Keith laughs. It is quite a heartwarming moment, as Keith rarely smiles or laughs and rarely relaxes.
• Can double as a tearjerker: When Lance is waxing nostalgic about his life on Earth, he lists his mom's hugs as one of the things he misses most, causing him to tear up. Turns out the guy's more sensitive than he lets on.
  • Also doubles as a Tearjerker moment since it puts Lance out of commission for awhile, but the moment Lance realizes that the drone passing by them isn't Rover, the first thing he does is shove Coran out of the way of the explosion. Lance doesn't even hesitate and probably had less than a second to react, but his immediate reaction to the situation (Coran's safety over his own) gives us an idea of how much he values his friends.
• Let's not forget the looks on the other Paladins' faces when they realized that Lance was injured, as they look extremely worried for him.
• Coran offering Lance some company by lending an ear and even admitting that he missed Altea.
  • Also, when Lance walks off after admitting to Hunk that he misses his mom, you can see Coran in the background with a concerned look on his face. Although he hadn't gotten a lot of chances to show it yet, it's clear that Coran does care about the new Paladins.

Tears of the Balmera

• Hunk talking to Shay about the sky and promising to show it to her someday.
• Hunk telling the Balmerans that he has a friend who needs help when talking about the crystal. It's clear that Lance and Hunk are pretty close, and this just helps to strengthen the notion.
• Lance gets a Heroic Second Wind to shoot Sendak in the back, then comments to Keith that they really do make a good team.
• Pidge's flashback with her family before the Kerberos mission.
  • Despite Pidge rejecting any bonding time with her new Garrison team, Lance still made an effort to be friendly with her.
  • Pidge realizing that she wasn't always there for her team and vows that from now on she is going to do more to help.
• Doubling as a tearjerker, Rover, the small robot Pidge reprogrammed in Episode 1, deactivates itself to defeat Haxus and as a result 'dies'. Shocked and angered by the robot's sacrifice, Pidge swears vengeance on Sendak, showing that Rover meant more to her than just a drone.
• Hunk, surprised that Shay had come to rescue them, asks why, and she replies that his words touched her heart, and added that she wanted to be free from the Galra rule.

Taking Flight

• It's kinda sweet the way everyone was hovering over Lance's cryopod at the beginning, waiting for him to wake up. They were all worried about him, and they all wanted to be there for him when he woke up.
• Keith is visibly annoyed and tries to open Lance's cryopod, but Allura slaps his hand away saying "Just a few more ticks". He angrily asks how a "few more ticks" is going to help Lance and looks away sadly. Compared to all of the other times where the two fight, seeing how much he cares for Lance despite their supposed rivalry is truly heartwarming.
  • A blink and you'll miss it moment, but Keith was the last person to leave Lance's cryopod as everyone else walked away to compare the difference between a "tick" and a "second".
• Not only is no one (except Lance) surprised that Pidge is a girl, they also end up treating her exactly the same as before. It makes absolutely no difference one way or the other to them. The fact that it isn't something that they discuss any other time in this episode, or even the rest of the season, shows that this was never a real issue for anybody. There's no "Why would you lie?" or "You need to trust us more than that." Just a simple, "Yeah, we already knew, and it doesn't change what we think of you at all."
  • It's also heartwarming on a more realistic level, as this scene could easily be interpreted as someone "coming out", and revealing their sexuality or that they're trans, and everyone being completely okay with it.
  • Shiro's reaction to it takes on a whole new light amidst the revelations that he had a boyfriend.
• It's pretty cute to see Pidge geeking out over Beezer, showing how infatuated she is with technology.
• Keith teasing Lance when he claims that his connection was cutting out and he couldn't hear him when the Blue Paladin asked for Keith to unchain him from a tree.
  • When the camera pans out to show the other lions, the Red Lion is missing from the group. Keith went to unchain Lance.
• Rolo thanking the paladins for not killing him and his crew even after all they did. He also admits that he actually hopes that they would defeat Zarkon.

Return to the Balmera

• Shiro teasing Lance for running into the debris after the blue paladin asks, "Come on, Shiro. Who do you think you're dealing with? A bunch of amateurs?"
• Hunk stopping a Galra tower from falling to the Balmera, reminding his teammates that the planet was a living creature.
• Despite their past bickering, Lance and Keith manage to be a good team as they infiltrate the Galra hangar to stop the ships from leaving.
• How worried Hunk is for Shay. Even though he was wary that they were falling into a trap he had to save her.
• Pidge saving a Balmeran child as some rocks from the cave's ceiling begins to fall.
• Shay communicating to the other Balmerans to help her and the paladins escape.

Rebirth

• Allura's Rousing Speech to the Balmerans, because she understands the pain of losing a home planet to Zarkon.
• Allura manages to save the Balmera and restore its health using her quintessence in a healing ceremony.
• Hunk and Shay have a peaceful moment at the end, watching the sun rise.

Crystal Venom

• Coran reminiscing about boot-camp to Lance. Although it may seem like a throw-away scene, this is one of the few times Coran ever really talks about his past to the others. It's also a possibility that Coran didn't want Lance to wander the castle alone since the time he talked about missing his family and wanted to provide the Paladin with some company.
• Lance is understandably uneasy after being stuck in the cryopod by what he presumes to be a ghost's doing. Despite this, and believing that his friends were pranking him, he rushes to aid Coran after "hearing" him calling for help.
• Pidge has a plan that involves Hunk kicking her as hard as he can, Hunk replies: "What? No, we're friends."
• After all the shenanigans and being attacked by a rogue robot, Keith immediately asks for Shiro's location after hearing Sendak's name.
• After Shiro ejects Sendak's pod, the rest of the team comes in and asks him if he's okay, worrying more about their friend than the fact that they lost their chance to find any useful info about the Galra.

Collection and Extraction

• Shiro respects Allura, and wasn't against her coming along with them to the Galra base, but he did not want her going off alone.
• While trying to extract information from a Galra drone, it's pretty nice to see Hunk, Lance and Pidge talking to each other as they wait for Shiro and the others to return.
• The minute Keith calls for help, Pidge flies off in the Green Lion to get him.
• Despite Allura telling him to go on without her, Shiro refuses to listen, declaring that he wasn't going to leave her behind and tries to help her seal the doors.

The Black Paladin

• Instead of going to fight the incoming Galra battleships and rescue Allura, Keith decides to focus on helping Shiro and the Black Lion - even disregarding questioning from Lance and cutting off communications with Coran.
• After Keith and the Red Lion were brutally beaten to submission and about to be killed by Zarkon, Shiro sweeps in at the last second to save them. Complete with the Black Lion carrying the much smaller Red Lion in its mouth as if it was a cub and Shiro assuring Keith that he's got him. Even before the Paladins and their Lions get sucked into the wormhole, for a split second, you can see the Black Lion standing over the damaged Red Lion protectively.

Season 2

Across the Universe

• Keith's relieved smile when he hears Shiro telling him he's okay.
• Allura holding a baby Coran and telling him he was like a second father to her.
  • Really, all of Allura's motherly mannerisms during the scene were pleasant. Except for the whole "time crisis" thing.
• Pidge asking her Lion what was wrong when she wouldn't move and gently telling her to rest up.
  • Pidge sounds ecstatic when the Green Lion finally works again and she happily yells "Welcome back" as she swims towards her Lion.
  • Throughout the entire episode she shows how much she misses her teammates and doesn't want to be alone.
    • Even though Pidge does poke fun at her team members, when her satellite doesn't work immediately she angrily yells that she had to find her friends.
• The Black Lion allowing Keith to pilot in order to save Shiro.

The Depths

• Lance's Lion comes back online after the crash, and he happily greets Blue saying, "Welcome back, beautiful."
• Despite Hunk beating him to a pulp under hypnosis, Lance refuses to fight back and manages to snap him out of it without hurting him.
• When the Baku manages to capture Lance, Hunk finds a large boulder and shoves it off a ledge so it would fall on the monster and free Lance.
• Plaxum giving Lance a kiss on the cheek near the end of the episode, although it was through her jellyfish mask.

Shiro's Escape

• Shiro is plagued by a nightmare as he heals in a cryopod. When he wakes up, the Paladins and the Alteans are there to greet him with warm smiles, and Shiro sighs in relief upon seeing them.
• When Ulaz throws Pidge at Keith, he actually catches her as they slide across the floor, taking the impact before getting up and charging at the intruder again once Pidge is safely on the ground.
• Once he realizes the Paladins are not a threat to him. Ulaz is nothing but honest and even courteous towards them.

Greening the Cube

• The Paladins having a snowball fight. It's been a long time since the team could just unwind and have fun, and it's nice to see moments like these where they can just laugh with each other.
• When Pidge babbles on about the code in the spores, she mentions Alan Turing and the achievements he made in the world of science. As she starts to say "when far too many people were-", she gets cut off by Keith who tells her to get back to explaining the code inside the spores, but it's highly possible that Pidge was about to say "homophobic", since Alan Turing was known for being a homosexual man, something that was illegal during his lifetime.
• Even when driven out of their cities, the Olkari learned to adapt and create out of what nature gave them.
• The Olkari promising to help Voltron when the time comes to take on Zarkon.
• Pidge almost immediately bonding with the Olkari, and Ryner encouraging her, are both pretty sweet.
• Coran getting more echo cubes, and the team decides to play with them for a bit.
• Pidge making an even deeper connection with her Lion, and the realization she comes to at the end of the episode.
  Pidge: You know, it's weird. I've always been a tech junkie. That's how I connected with the world. But, for the first time, I feel connected to everything. I guess it's like Ryner said. We're all made up of the same cosmic dust.
  • There's also Keith, who comes to a realization that we never would have expected a loner like him to come to.
  Keith: So, that means we're all related. This ship, those stars, the Olkari. Even the Galra.
  • This might have also brought some relief to him after finding out he might be Galra.

Eye of the Storm

• As Coran slams into the wall of the ship, the others look up with concern and ask if he's okay.
• Pidge's look of excitement when she sits down to finally learn the Altean language.
• Allura comes back to the control room where Shiro is, claiming she couldn't sleep knowing Zarkon was looking for them and tries to control the ship again. Shiro gently grabs her hand and lowers it, telling her to rest.
• Despite fighting previously when they're on their defense drones, Keith and Lance actually work as a team to take down the Galra Fighters.

The Ark of Taujeer

• Both Allura and Keith decide to leave Castle of Lions to see if Zarkon is using either of them to trace the Paladins. After they realize they're not the cause they attempt to get back only for their pod to explode. As they are shot out of the pod, Keith desperately jets to Allura as he grabs her hand in time. He even asks if she's okay.
• Coran approaches the Red Lion to be Keith's replacement and he tells Alfor that he's finally following in his footsteps.
• The Red Lion senses that Keith is in trouble and flies out of the Castle of Lions to rescue its Paladin.
• There's a nice Call-Back between Shiro and Keith.
  Shiro: Good to have you back, Keith.
  Keith: Good to be back.
  

Space Mall

• While played for laughs, Allura and Coran's father-daughter like relationship is shown more when he tells her she couldn't go out to shop with them because it may still be unsafe.
  • The two reminiscing of the time Coran went shopping and the pirates nearly took him for everything he had. Allura laughs and adds that her father wasn't pleased when he found out.
• Even though Allura slightly complains that she would be stuck in the castle, she does say to herself that she'd be worrying over the others if she had nothing to do. To amend this, the mice give her a dinner and a show.
• Apparently, Coran's favorite Paladin is Lance, who called shotgun when they were going to the mall.
• Vrepit Sal declaring that he would search the entire galaxy if it meant Hunk would come back and work at his restaurant. Looks like Hunk has a fan.
  • Also, it's fun to see Hunk in his own element when he helps Sal and prepares food that has a crowd lining up for his cooking.
• Zarkon forces Shiro into a psychic battle over who will pilot the Black Lion. As Zarkon starts to gain an edge over Shiro, he taunts that Shiro could never control Voltron. Shiro counters that no one could ever command Black and the most important thing for a Paladin and their Lion is earning each other's trust. This act wins Black's full loyalty as he turns on Zarkon and helps Shiro. Zarkon realizes that his bond with Black has grown weaker as a result.
• While their friendship wasn't explored much in the previous season, Lance helps Pidge collect money for a video game that she wanted to get because she said she had to have it. He doesn't even question it.
  • When they arrive back on the ship, Lance is the first one to grab a controller and wait for Pidge to plug the game in.

The Blade Of Marmora

• During Keith's Trials of Marmora, his suit creates a virtual mindscape of his greatest hopes and fears. When asked about it, Kolivan explains to Shiro that the reason Keith is seeing Shiro is because, in that moment, he desperately wants to see him.
  • Keith tells Shiro that he's like a brother to him. This means a lot coming from someone like Keith.
• When Keith is dreaming of his father, the Red Lion senses that Keith is in danger and attempts to destroy the Blade of Marmora's base to reach him.
• At the castle, Allura and the others notice that Red is attacking the base. Lance is the first to look concerned, because if Red was attacking, that meant Keith was in trouble and he turns to Allura to see what they should do next.

The Belly of the Weblum

• The group has to split to complete their missions and some of the farewells are rather nice.
  • Hunk and Pidge profusely shake each others hands with tears streaming down their faces◊.
  • When Keith goes to Shiro, they hold hands and pull each other into an embrace. Despite now knowing Keith is a Galra, the race that tortured and experimented on him, that doesn't change Shiro's views, and he continues to see Keith as his friend and little brother figure.
  • Allura hugging Coran and wishing him good luck.
• Keith has Hunk calm down so they could focus on the mission and even jokes about it. Hunk is at first surprised by the fact that Keith had made a joke and giddily responds, "Wow, Galra Keith is way funnier than regular Keith".
• Keith protecting the stranger and vice versa. Even when Hunk questions whether or not it's a good idea when Keith reveals they're a Galra, he replies that Galra or not, he couldn't just leave them inside the Weblum.
• At the end, Keith sincerely thanks Hunk for his help and says without him the mission would have been a failure.
• Hunk being completely fine with going on a solo mission with Keith after the reveal that he's part Galra. His total acceptance is very kind and refreshing, and acts as a foil for Allura's cold treatment of Keith. Plus, the fact that Hunk — the Paladin who is scared or wary of almost anything that seems like a threat — is completely relaxed around Keith shows that he doesn't care about his heritage, as he knows it doesn't change anything.
  • In general, no one besides Allura seems to have any major problems with the fact that Keith is Galra. We don't get to directly see their reactions, but no one says anything to Keith about it afterwards. It's nice that the entire team has accepted this, but considering their rivalry, it does get some extra heartwarming points from Lance.

Escape From Beta Traz

• After so much searching, Pidge finally finds that Matt is alive and was rescued by a group of rebels some time ago.
  • Pidge shows Shiro what she discovered and he also looks relieved.
  Shiro: Matt's a lot like you. He's a survivor.
  • It's also nice that Pidge didn't let this revelation distract her from the overall mission. She didn't abandon the team like she tried to in Season 1, and she didn't bring up finding Matt after this episode. It shows that, while she is still determined to find her family, she is also keeping her promise to stay and help defeat Zarkon.
• While minor compared to Pidge's moment, it's honestly nice to see how much the Warden of Beta Traz loves his pet. When forced to make a choice between stopping Slav, the entire reason for his job, and saving the life of his pet, he chooses her instantly. And after the Paladins get away, he starts rubbing her belly.
• Shiro's comment about how he's "glad we brought our sharpshooter" after Lance fires off a shot that saves Slav. Considering that earlier, Lance had been worried that he didn't have any special skills and that he was dragging the team down, he's clearly relieved to hear Shiro compliment him.
  • Also Lance willing to throw himself between what he thought was Slav and the Warden, telling him "stay away from my friend!" He's barely known Laika for more than a few minutes and he already considers her a friend.
  • From Laika's perspective, she seems to genuinely like Lance. Laika's apparently not fighting on either side during the final confrontation was likely because she liked her master and Lance, thus she didn't want to pick a side.
• Lance explaining the roles of everyone on the team to Laika, and mentioning that Hunk is, in addition to a good mechanic and cook, just a great guy to hang around.
• After Lance gets grabbed by the Warden, Pidge can be heard yelling "Lance! No!" as she rushes in and tries to get him to release her friend.
• Shiro stops his charge at the Warden when he throws Lance and Pidge at him, and he tries to catch them.

Stayin' Alive

• Hunk probably gave Allura the idea to play guessing games with the mice since she would be alone on her mission. She even notes that Hunk was right and that the games helped pass the time.
• Allura pays a visit to the Balmera and Shay asks if Hunk was with her.
• Hunk trying to get the Yellow Lion working again as it falls towards the Balmera and he talks to it in a panic, "Come on boy. Come back to me." Shiro then appears, grabbing the Yellow Lion by the scruff and flying it to safety.
• Hunk teaching Coran how to fist bump. It turns into a funny moment since Coran doesn't get it, but it's still kind of cute that Hunk even tried to do this.
• As Allura reunites with Coran, she wonders how they would fare in their final confrontation with Zarkon. Coran tells her that her father would have been proud of the leader she became, and even when they felt alone they still didn't give up.
• The Paladins reminiscence about their travels up to this point and talk about the fun times they had.

Best Laid Plans

• Allura admitting to Keith that while she had lost her family she gained a new one in the Paladins. She also apologizes for the cold way she was treating him after finding out about his Galra heritage admitting her hatred was blinding her to the good in him and other Galra not loyal to Zarkon. Then they hug as she begs that he comes back safely from his mission.
  • Say what you will about Allura and her treatment of Keith, but it's nice to know that no one had to give her a What the Hell, Hero? speech or talk her into apologizing to him. She figured out on her own that it was wrong and irrational of her to hate Keith for something that he has no control over. It makes her apology feel much more genuine and sincere, rather than just saying it because someone told her to.
• Despite their short meeting, Keith tells Thace before he leaves that it was an honor to fight beside him.
• Red once again proving its bond with Keith by flying out of the ship to go and rescue its Paladin. It even purrs once it finds him.

Black Out

• The Black Lion is out of commission, but that doesn't stop Keith or the others from doing their best to protect Shiro against a giant mecha-Zarkon.
• After the Black Lion phases through Zarkon to get the Black Bayard back, the small correction Keith makes to Shiro is pretty sweet.
  Lance: Woah, what did you do?
  Shiro: I've got Zarkon's bayard.
  Keith: You mean you've got your bayard.
• While Coran calls the Paladins to retreat, Keith notices the Black Lion floating aimlessly and tells the others they couldn't leave Shiro. He and Pidge fly their lions to each side of Black and quickly head back to the castle.
• Despite them being the bad-guys, it's impressive to see Haggar watching over an unconscious Zarkon while on a quintessence life support. Haggar's loyalty for the Emperor holds no bounds.

Season 3

Changing of the Guard

• After Keith gives up his search for Shiro, he tells Coran he found nothing and was coming home. Keith actually considers the castle his home now.
• Lance trying to convince the aliens they saved that the Blade of Marmora also did a lot to help.
• While everyone wonders who should pilot the Black Lion, Keith is still quite upset that he couldn't find Shiro. They all look towards Lance who walks up to Keith and assures him that even with Shiro gone they were going to make the best out of their situation. The others join in with comforting Keith and telling him everything was going to be okay.
  • Pidge tells Keith how her dad and brother would always talk about Shiro at home and how he was like a legend to them.
  • Hunk brings up how Shiro helped him pilot better, even though he's not sure how much good it's done thus far.

Red Paladin

• While mostly played for laughs, it's nice to see Pidge, Hunk and Lance look so excited to see if they'd be chosen for the Black Paladin.
• Even though Lance argued earlier that he wouldn't accept Keith leading him anywhere, he does respect the Black Lion's choice for the Black Paladin and tells Keith that he should too.
• Zethrid can be seen waving a piece of meat out for Cova.
• Keith looks down at the controls of the Black Lion and mutters, "This one's for you, Shiro."
• Lance letting his heart out to Blue, and shows how much he cares for the bond between the two of them.
• Allura tells Lance that the Red Lion chose him because he pushed away his pride and stood up for Keith as leader when no one else wanted to.
  • As Allura begins to walk away from the Blue Lion, its particle barrier disappears, showing that it accepted Allura as its new Paladin. She even gives the lion an affectionate smile.
  • The fact that the Red Lion is said to be highly temperamental, yet it only ever responds positively to Lance. Even when Lance has trouble with Red's speed.
• Hunk protecting Pidge from a barrage of Galra flyers aimed at her with the yellow lion.
• Lance's ecstatic that he's flying the Red Lion and is clearly enjoying himself.
  • When Keith scolds Lance for scuffing Lotor's ship with Red, even though he's Black's pilot now he still cares for his lion.
• While it's sad to see Lance have to part from Blue, he is genuinely happy for Allura and even hands her his bayard.
  Lance: If I had to lose Blue to someone, I'm glad it's you.

The Hunted

• Hunk noting that they were all unorganized and uncoordinated due to the swap, and Allura asks if he was talking about her specifically. Hunk quickly tries to assure Allura that it wasn't her fault.
• While maybe just pointing out how Lotor flying out alone against the lions was a bad idea, the fact that Zethrid even brought up shows that she does care about her prince's well being.
• As they continue to pursue Lotor, they lose Allura and only after Lance yells at Keith that they had to turn around to get her does he finally pull back. Before, Keith would have never listened to Lance, but now he's taking his advice to heart.
• Hunk is scared, lost and alone as he realizes that he's separated from everyone else. As he hears the static from Pidge's radio, he starts crying tears of joy to see his friend.
• Keith blaming himself for his brash decisions, and while Lance doesn't tell him otherwise, he does say that they could still fix it and find the others.
• Allura manages to bond with Blue, and the Lion finally begins to work with her.
  • Allura using the Blue Lion's sonic scanner to navigate her way around the planet and finding the Paladins.
• Hunk chilling with Pidge and asking her in their current situation what's the one food she wouldn't mind eating forever.
• After spending the episode stubbornly refusing to listen to his teammates, Keith shoots down the idea to pursue Lotor and admits that his recklessness is what caused all of their problems in the first place.

Hole in the Sky

• In this reality, it's actually pretty nice to see a slightly more grounded Slav who hasn't been tortured.
  • When Sven questions the Paladins, Slav replies that if they were his friends in an alternate reality, then there's a 72% of them figuring it out the Alteans' true intentions and he knows they will do the right thing.
  • Also, it's kind of nice to see Sven and Slav working together in this reality, despite how in the "main" universe, Slav is one of the few things that can tick Shiro off.
• Allura's face brightening when she hears about the world that this reality's Alteans have built. She admits that she was never allowed the thought of a universe where her people still existed.
• Sven Taking the Bullet for Lance like he did in the original series.
  • Slav assuring the Paladins that he will get Sven to safety.
• Coran's joy and relief after the Paladins return from the alternate reality.
• Keith attempting to console a depressed Allura who feels it's her fault that Lotor was able to get the comet. While it didn't work, it's nice that Keith even attempted to.

The Journey

• Shiro's eyes lighting up when he hears the word "Voltron" over the aliens radio.
• Despite being antagonistic towards Shiro throughout the episode, once Shiro wins the trust of the two rebel fighters they obligingly help him figure out how to get to Thaseryx.
• In what he thought would be his last moments, Shiro remembers all the times he spent with the other Paladins and his time piloting.
• The Black Lion sensing Shiro which leads to Allura opening a wormhole in his location.
• Shiro being rescued at the end of the episode by the Black Lion and the Castle, along with the small smile on his face because his friends found him.
  • Also to make note is the warm smile on Keith's face when he comes across the Galra cruiser. He's finally found Shiro.

Tailing a Comet

• Keith and Shiro's talk.
  Shiro: Keith... How many times are you gonna have to save me before this is over?
  Keith: (grinning) As many times as it takes.
• After Hunk and Pidge go off to re-calibrate the ship, Keith's immediate reaction is to turn to Lance for an interpretation of their talk. Lance shrugs and admits that he has no idea what the two had talked about.
• Hunk thanking the mice for helping and promising them a "little mouse shower".
• Lance coming to talk with Keith, he noted that something must really be bothering Lance if he came to talk to him. He listens to Lance's thoughts, how he notes that Allura has come a long way in such a short time, and if they were going to swap back he should probably stay behind since they had too many people to pilot the lions. Keith tells Lance to not sell himself short and that he was needed on the team as well.
  Keith: (as Lance begins to leave) Lance. Leave the math to Pidge.
• Keith immediately offers Shiro the Black Lion back. While some of Keith's motivation stems from his dislike being the team leader, it's also out of loyalty to Shiro, whom Keith has always been the first to defend as the true Black Paladin despite Shiro's initial struggles to bond with the Black Lion in season 1 and 2.
  • More subtly, Keith also doesn't ask to pilot Red despite usually being focused on the mission, showing that he paid attention to Lance's insecurities and is trying not to make them worse by sitting out of the mission instead.
• Lance saving Keith from a knife that Ezor threw in his direction by shooting it down.
  Lance: I got you, buddy!
• Shiro telling Keith that he's coming along as a leader and how proud he was of him.

The Legend Begins

• Haggar attempting to bring Zarkon back, and, as she goes through his memories, she sees his time with the old Paladins, her younger self getting married to Zarkon, and holding hands in his perspective. She gasps and is visibly taken aback, and she slowly begins to remember who she once was. Before she attempted this, she even apologized to him, knowing this was an extreme invasion of his privacy but claimed she knew no other way.
  • The fact that Zarkon was so in love and happy with his wife, that these memories are ultimately what helps Haggar remember herself and bring her husband back to life.
  • Also, it's kind of touching in general to see that they used to care about each other so much, despite how ruthless they are now.
• Just seeing how comfortable the Paladins of old were with each other, enough that they could tease one another. Some can even say that they were like family.
  Alfor: (grinning) Why I ever joined up with this band of scoundrels, I'll never know.
  Trigel: (laughing) Because we're the only band of scoundrels who will have you. (raises her cup) To us!
• Zarkon's first meeting with Honerva. He tries to avoid eye contact with her and acts as diplomatically as possibly before fleeing the scene. It almost makes him come across as Adorkable.
• Alfor noting that Zarkon's marriage to Honerva has softened him after he presents Allura with a gift for her birth.
  • Really, baby Allura in general. A tiny baby with big cotton candy eyes and white hair wearing a massive red-and-grey helmet fit for Galran royalty and loving it to pieces. Her tiny gasp of interest is adorable.
• As the creature begins to wreck Honerva's lab, while they flee, Zarkon can be seen protectively running behind Honerva with his hand around her.
• Gyrgan and Blaytz are pretty similar to Lance and Hunk which is something that's so nice to see.
• When Alfor leaves the two, Honerva passes out and Zarkon is immediately at her side. He does everything in his power to keep his wife alive and help her with her Quintessence addiction. He stays by her bedside and gently holds her hand, asking what he could do to help her.
• Zarkon even goes as far as to lie to his comrades and bathe her in the portal that was overflowing with Quintessence. However, this fails and the two end up dying of poison from the overexposure.
  • Just the way you see Zarkon gently hold her up as they both bathe in the rift's quintessence, all he wanted was to bring his wife back.
  • When Alfor and the others inspect the two after they escape the rift, the shot only shows their hands holding each other as they were both presumed dead.
• Zarkon wakes up after his death and his first thought was to look for Honerva.
• Haggar gently caressing Zarkon's face, and after her next attempt to bring him back, she tells her husband to come back to her.
  Haggar: Husband, how could I have forgotten? You brought me back to life long ago. Now, come back for me.
• The idea that Zarkon did not merely make Haggar his right hand because she was powerful, but because, despite her forgetting that she was his wife, he never lost hope that one day she would remember. The fact he only came to when she finally did might very well be evidence of this.
• Part heartwarming and part Tear Jerker: despite recently having just lost their home planet and their emperor, several groups of Altean and Galra citizens appear horrified when a resurrected Zarkon declares war on Alfor and Altea.

Season 4

Code of Honor

• Keith refuses to comply with the Blade's code, and even risks his life to go back and get Regris. While it's not something a Blade member would do, it certainly is something a paladin of Voltron would.
  • Goes into a bit of tearjerker when Regris performs a Heroic Sacrifice, the way Keith screams his name shows that he really cares for his comrades.
• The Olkari are absolutely welcoming to the refugees, doing whatever they can to make them feel welcome, and even start to expand their city more to accommodate the newcomers.
• Shiro managing to pilot Black again in order to save the other Paladins.
• While sad to see Keith go, Shiro is supportive of his decision to leave the team in order to train with the Blade and gather intel.
  • Hunk even tears up and demands to be let in the hug. The whole group ends up in a group hug with tears streaming down their faces.

Reunion

• After thirty-two episodes apart, the Holt siblings are finally reunited.
• The flashbacks of the time before Matt's departure for Kerberos show how close they are.
  • And the reason why Pidge wants to be called by that name is because Matt was the one who gave it to her.
    • If you look closely in the background, you can see Shiro and Keith looking at one of the Garrison ships.
• A bit of Fridge Heartwarming. When we see Pidge's room in the past, it's almost painfully neat, indicating that she routinely cleans it out of boredom because she's a loner. Contrast to her room on the Castle which is a complete disaster area since she has people to spend time with.

Black Site

• As the Green Lion flies overhead, Hunk laughs with glee knowing Pidge was back, and once the lion landed the mice run passed Allura's feet in order to greet Pidge.
• The Paladins immediately welcoming Matt into the fold.
  • It is a little cute to see Matt instantly crush on Allura, while Lance is in the background glaring intimidatingly.
• Pidge giving her brother a tour of the Castle and showing him everything is just adorable.
• The Alteans are super eager to try more milkshakes after Hunk prepared them some, claiming to Kaltenecker that it was delicious.
• Matt proudly watching Pidge at work and gets excited hearing all of her accomplishments.
• While pretty sad, it's amazing to see how much the Generals cared for each other, and after Lotor kills Narti, Zethrid and Ezor look the most shaken of the group about her death.
  • Cova even stays by Narti's side after she is killed.

The Voltron Show!

• While understanding that they need to be fighting Zarkon, Shiro points out the benefits that live shows like these could give to the people. At the end of the episode, he even says that because of Coran's idea, they had more people joining the Coalition than ever.
• If you think about it, the show brought hope to the people that one day they would be able to live free of the tyrant rule of Zarkon.

Begin the Blitz

• Ezor cutting off communications with Lotor so she could speak with Acxa and Zethrid. She's worried about her safety and theirs, and is afraid they might end up like Narti if they fall out of line with Lotor.
• Rolo and Nyma reappear, and apparently they've been helping out a lot with the resistance. Hunk seems to have smoothed out his relationship with them, and while Pidge takes longer, she finally caves into Beezer and admits she can't stay mad at him forever.
• Acxa pulling out her gun to Lotor and quietly saying, "For Narti".
  • The fact that even when given the chance, Acxa doesn't kill Lotor despite what he did to Narti, but instead stuns him so she and the others could transport him to the empire as a bargaining chip.
• Lotor reawakens and asks what his Generals were going to do him. Zethrid sounds genuinely apologetic and tells him they were planning on giving him over to the Empire. He calmly admits that he understands their reasoning and doesn't hold it against them.
  • He could have killed Zethrid someway, but instead he ejects her out of the ship and takes control of it.

A New Defender

• Allura is almost pulled into the planet's core when she tries to control the energy, and the rest of the Paladins scramble to grab her and pull her back.
• Lance encouraging Allura to use her powers to help Voltron get off the planet. He even claims that she was the heart of Voltron.
  • After Allura gets them free of Naxzela, Lance smiles fondly and tells her, "That was all you."
• When it looks like Keith is about to sacrifice himself, Lotor flies in and uses his ships lasers to break the shield around Haggar's ship.

Season 5

The Prisoner

• Matt and Pidge talking about all of the upgrades they made to the cargo ships to Nyma. While they go off on a Techno Babble, she stands off to the side looking between the two and barely attempting to keep up with the conversation.
  • They even cleaned up Beezer, which Nyma smiles at and says she can see her reflection in his breastplate.
• Beezer saving Matt from the fall by grabbing onto him with his extendable arms.
• When Matt tells Pidge that he didn't find their dad, she tries to look but he grabs her arm. Pidge falls to the floor in tears and Matt gives her a reassuring hug.

Blood Duel

• Haggar looking back into her memories and realizing that Lotor was her son. She even seems fearful for his life when she is informed that Zarkon was doing a hostage exchange for Lotor.
• Despite the fact that Lotor was given the black bayard and could have used it to kill the generals who betrayed him, he instead knocks Acxa out.
• The Holt siblings are finally reunited with their father, and Shiro can be seen smiling from afar.
• Lotor attacking Zarkon in order to prevent his father from attacking the Paladins and the Castle of Lions.

Post-Mortem

• Allura attempts to comfort Lotor, and says that him killing his father was the best thing to do for the universe. Despite her previous misgivings about him, she does slowly grow to care for Lotor.
• Haggar quietly reaching out to touch Lotor's face through her magical mirror.
• The generals are all stuffed in a cell, waiting for their executioner. When the doors slowly open, they all stand up and are prepared to fight.
• Allura walking in on Lance's training and remarking that she hadn't seen an Altean broadsword like his in ten-thousand years, since her father used one. She also tries to tell Lance that he was capable of great things.
  • Also Allura and Lance being comfortable around each other enough to tease the other, and admit that something feels off about Shiro.
  Allura: Thank you, Lance. Speaking with you actually made me feel better.
  Lance: (Pretending to be offended) What do you mean by, "actually"? (the two laugh together)

Kral Zera

• Sam and his wife apparently met arguing over modulations. Normally? Pretty odd. For this family? Incredibly sweet.
• Keith sneaking the Blades in by hiding in the shipping containers, one of the members even compliment him saying, "Nice thinking, earthling."
• Keith realizing that Shiro had docked onto the planet, and attempts to dismantle as many bombs as possible.
  • Keith saving Lotor from the blast, no doubt to pay Lotor back for saving him before.
• Despite being on opposing sides, Acxa shoots one of the Galra generals who was about to attack Keith. The two give each other a knowing glance before returning to battle.

Bloodlines

• Hunk giving Sam a drive that has videos of the other paladins to give to their families. He blushes and admits that he cried in his.
  Hunk: So... that's for mom's eyes only.
• Sam giving his children one final hug before returning to earth.
• The Garrison Trio reprogram a Galra sentry robot, with Pidge and Hunk giving themselves a high-five and declaring, "Yeah! Team Punk does it again!"
  • They later blow up some goo and all stand up to cheer. It's just so nice to finally see the group get to act like kids, something they've barely done in the past few seasons.
  • Lance, Pidge and Hunk making friends with the two Galra guards who'd been chasing them all episode.
• Allura being worried that she wouldn't be able to live up to the legacy of her father as she holds the star map, and then it begins to glow.
  • Lotor's gentle encouragement and the way he carefully folds his hands over hers is also very sweet.
    • The very fact that Allura accompanies him alone to Haggar's lair and isn't afraid to cry in front of him or confess her insecurities demonstrate how much she already trusts Lotor. In an earlier scene, she even willingly walks with her hand on his arm.
• Krolia addressing Keith when he asks why she was willing to give up the code to the super weapon in order to save him.
  Krolia: I left you once, I'll never leave you again.
  • She then reveals by the end of the episode that she could use the blade because it was once hers.
• As the two board a ship and are prepared to leave once Trugg acknowledges that the code worked, Krolia gives a nice little Call-Back to what Keith said to the paladins back in "The Rise of Voltron."
  Krolia: Keith, shut up and trust me!
• Krolia not only pulled a spectacular Batman Gambit because she knew the weapon couldn't really be controlled, but maybe the other reason she handed the code over to Trugg was due to the fact that Trugg was threatening to hurt her son, something she definitely would not have liked.

White Lion

• Lotor and Allura bonding over the Altean alchemists' achievements.
  • He even tells Allura that he wanted to be an explorer, and wished he could have met Alfor.
• As he talks about his past, Lotor genuinely tried to bond with others from planets he had control over, even going as far as to refuse to obey his father's command to destroy that very planet. While this got him exiled, Allura does comment that he did the right thing in trying to protect those people. However, he breaks this mood when he tells her that Zarkon still annihilated that planet in the end.
  • However, she adds that she's glad he's there with her now, and the two share a Held Gaze and an affectionate smile.
• Lance pacing around the ship worrying about Allura's safety, and confusing Pidge, Coran and Hunk's conversations as them replying to him. Pidge gets so annoyed that she tells Shiro to take Lance out of the room since he was hindering their work.
  • When their alone, Shiro admits he hasn't been feeling like himself lately. Lance can tell Shiro's worried and tries to comfort him.
• While Ezor and Zethrid wonder if they can take the throne from Lotor, Acxa is the only one who objects and tells them no one is replacing him.
• Allura falling to her knees to show that she wasn't here to fight, but to seek knowledge from the lion.
• While Lotor definitely wanted to gain knowledge from the Ancients, he does praise Allura for being able to unlock the secrets. It's also sweet that she repeatedly insists on sharing the credit with him.

Season 6

Omega Shield

• Lotor's nanny- I'm sorry, governess- shows up out of nowhere. After smacking Lance with her switch, she smiles and congratulates Lotor on ascending to the throne, calling him her best student and stating that she always believed in him. Considering the Galra in general, and Lotor's dad in particular, Governess Dayak was probably the only positive adult figure in Lotor's childhood.
  • Despite her more painful methods of teaching, she did seem genuinely pleased when Hunk dodges all of her strikes and was glad to see him improving.
    • On that note, Hunk's sincere interest in Galra culture is rather endearing.
• Lance pushing Allura out of the range of the electric blast from the energy shield and, after he doesn't respond to her calls, Allura shoots herself out of the Blue Lion to enter Red and heal Lance.
  Lance: Allura, you saved me.
  Allura: (smiling) I owed you one.

Razor's Edge

• As the first blast comes towards the two, without hesitating, Krolia leaps in front of Keith and hugs him close, prepared to take the blast for herself.
• Lotor and Allura growing even closer, and it looked like the two were about to share a kiss before Hunk and Pidge interrupt.
  Allura: It is an honor to continue my father's work. And...(blushes) to do so alongside you.
• Lance confiding in the mice about his feelings towards Allura and how she may never return them since she seems to be attracted to Lotor. Though it's more of a Tear Jerker in context, the way he talks about Allura shows that he respects her and doesn't just see her as a pretty face like he did when they first met.
• Krolia and Keith's dad looked genuinely happy together based on the flashbacks and how the two both look lovingly at their son.
  • After finding the Blue lion Krolia tells her partner that her crashing onto Earth was the best thing that could have ever happened to her, and she wouldn't go back to her people even if she could. When she tells him her new mission will be protecting the Blue Lion, he gently holds her hand and tells her that he wants to help. She's stunned for a second before gently smiling back.
• Before the Galra scouts arrive on earth, there's a peaceful moment where Keith's father and Krolia are sitting together on their bed, with Krolia feeding baby Keith from a bottle while cradling him in her arms.
• Krolia's Little "No" when the Galra scout reported that he "neutralized" a primate outside, and they order her to surrender. She pretends to drop her knife, only to duck, throw it into his gun and angrily take out the scout next to her. Her partner is later revealed to be alive after he detonates the bomb on the one ship trying to get away.
• Krolia giving a baby Keith one final kiss before telling her partner that she had to leave in order to protect them.
• Keith initially thinks Krolia left for the sake of the mission, but she is quick to correct him:
  Krolia: That's not true. I left to protect the person I most love. You.
• Because of the Year Inside, Hour Outside nature of the Quantum Zone, Keith gets two years of uninterrupted bonding time with his mother.
  • Keith also playing with the wolf creature that he befriended. He even pouts a bit when it doesn't seem to get the game he's trying to play with it, which is both adorable and slightly funny.
  • At one point the wolf creature happily tackles Keith when greeting him.
  • Another scene shows that when Keith sleeps, the wolf curls up on his opposite side as if to watch his back.
• Allura and Coran aren't the last Alteans, as Keith and Krolia stumble upon some survivors.

Monsters and Mana

• The group playing a game of Monsters and Mana, seeing as how most of the time they're helping Lotor or struggling to keep peace, it's nice to see them all unwinding and having fun.
• Similarly, Coran being so excited about the game and reminiscing about how he always used to play it back on Altea. It's nice to see him get to talk about some more of his fond memories of his home planet.
• Shiro talking about how much he enjoyed the game, and given his usual strictness when it comes to missions, it's nice to see him finally get a break (to a certain extent).

The Colony

• The surprised look on Shiro's face when Keith returns back to the castle.
• Krolia addressing Shiro and shaking his hand, thanking him for looking after her son and raising him to the man he was today.
  • When Keith tells the team that Krolia is his mother, Shiro tells her (or tries to, before Lance freaks out) that he's honored to meet her.
• Romelle's love for her little brother Bandor, because he's all she has left of their family.
• When Bandor is selected to travel to the second Altean colony, he smuggles his sister a homemade communicator so that they can keep in touch even though contact between the two colonies is forbidden.
• After all of the ship tease, when Lotor and Allura return from the rift, they share a kiss.
• Despite the heart-wrenching moment of Pidge not being able to shoot Shiro, it only shows how much she looked up to him and how much she truly cares for the people in her team.

The Black Paladins

• Lotor and his generals reunite, and Acxa shoots Haggar while uncuffing Lotor.
• "Shiro, please! You're my brother! I love you!"
• The flashbacks of Shiro looking after a young Keith, especially when he tells him "I'm never giving up on you."
• In the final moments of the episode, the space station Keith and "Shiro" were fighting on began to fall apart. This leads to Keith dangling on a broken platform while also holding on to the unconscious "Shiro." Keith tries in vain to pull the latter up to safety before realizing he couldn't save them both. Keith could have very well let "Shiro" go and have a better chance of saving himself, but instead he decides that he would rather die with Shiro than save himself. This really showcases how much Keith cares about Shiro.

All Good Things

• The Black Lion saved Keith and Kuron from dying.
  • Keep in mind that the Black Lion most likely knew all along that this wasn't the real Shiro, yet even after everything that just happened, it still made sure to rescue him as well as Keith.
• Lance giving Allura a shoulder to cry on as they work to reboot the castle after the virus Shiro uploaded. He comforts her when she says she was foolish in trusting Lotor and he assures her that Lotor had fooled all of them.
  Lance: As someone who's made a million mistakes, all you can do is get up and try to make it right.
• The conversation between Keith and Shiro on the astral plane.
• Even though she feels it's imperative to sever all ties with Lotor permanently for their survival, the fact that Acxa doesn't want to see Lotor fall into his madness is shown as she begs him not to combine his Sincline ships just before she's ejected.
• Keith powering up the Black Lion through his love and concern for his friends, who were in grave danger.

Defender of All Universes

• The item that Allura takes from the castle is a holo-photo of both of her parents.
  • Coran giving a heartfelt good-bye to the castle that his grandfather had made, letting go of one of the last few things he had in memory of Altea.
• All of the final shots of the castle of lions a place the audience has gotten to know since the first season.
• "You found me."
  • Another heartwarming moment is Shiro falling on Keith after coming back to life and Keith catching him.
• Allura healing Shiro and transferring his spirit into his new body.
  • And for anyone who's worried, Word of God confirmed that "Kuron" is now a part of Shiro, with all his memories, knowledge, and consciousness intact..
• Even the lions are sharing in the joy, all of them roaring loudly together after Shiro's return.
• It's mixed with Tearjerker, but it's a testament to her endless compassion that Allura still wants to save Lotor after everything he'd done. Keith even agrees with her.
• Pidge telling the group there was one place they could go that would allow them to create a new castle ship, and she gave the plans to her dad.
  Keith: (smiling) We're going home.

Season 7

A Little Adventure

• Keith and Shiro's first meeting is shown, as well as the formation of their bond that has persisted into the current day. In the flashback we're shown that Shiro was willing to bail Keith, a total stranger, out of jail for stealing his vehicle. We also see Shiro sticking up for Keith after he gets in a fight with a fellow classmate. Finally we see Shiro and Keith bonding over learning how to ride a hover bike, something that Keith would later use to bail Shiro out of containment. It's no wonder that Keith would go through hell and back for Shiro; for the longest time he was all he had.
• Romelle bonding with the other paladins, especially Hunk. We hardly got to see her act goofy and have fun, so seeing how she'd be when the situation isn't perilous is very refreshing.

The Road Home

• Coran seemed genuinely interested in doing the "human activities" for road trips, and Shiro is initially open to this when he tells Coran they don't know the Altean alphabet. However, this causes the rest of the occupants (Krolia, Keith and himself) becoming annoyed with Coran's singing.
• Kosmo helping out the others, and when Pidge is asking if he had any ideas on how to take out the pirates, he simply teleports out of her lion and takes care of it. When he teleports back a little battered, Pidge happily rubs his head.

The Way Forward

• Zethrid comforting Ezor while she has doubts about their entire situation. For someone that's always been shown as a Blood Knight she is surprisingly compassionate.
• When Ezor chooses Pidge to torture in order to get information out of the Paladins, Lance immediately lashes out to stop her despite being in handcuffs. Sadly it doesn't work and only reaffirms Ezor's suspicions that torturing Pidge will get the best reaction out of the other Paladins.
  • His exact words are "Don't you touch her." As at least one person pointed out, the logical reaction when someone else is faced with torture is to tell their would be torturer not to hurt them but Lance and Pidge have bonded to the point that he doesn't want anyone with ill intentions anywhere near her. True it just ended up putting Pidge in more danger but the sentiment is still sweet.
• Keith entrusting the safety of the group to Lance. It show how far the two's relationship has come since the first season.
• Keith goes back for Acxa whereas he could have easily escaped with the others. Later she thanks him and the two share a knowing nod.

The Feud

• For the final challenge, everyone on the team voted for each other to be the one to escape, and it is this act that impresses Bob and wins them their freedom.
  • Hunk votes for Allura because he believes that the universe needs her more than it needs the rest of the Paladins.
  • Allura voted for Pidge because she believes that she and her family can finish what Alfor started due to her drive for intelligence and drive for knowledge.
  • Lance voted for Keith because he's the leader and his half-Galra heritage represents a peaceful future. That's actually a pretty hopeful and insightful observation.
  • Pidge voted for Hunk because she believes that if anyone is going to bring the universe together it will be him because he gets along with everyone.
  • Then there's Keith, who voted for Lance. But according to him it was only because he didn't want to spend an eternity with Lance. Lance's reaction is a Funny Moment.
• Although it's seen as weird for how out of character it is, there's something oddly heartwarming about Zarkon doting on Haggar like a loving husband, and Lotor acting like a bratty teenager. It makes one think about how they could have turned out like a normal family if things hadn't gotten so screwed up.
  • "Haggar" attempting to assure "Lotor" that she does appreciate his artistic interests. True, he didn't reciprocate, but it was still kind of heartwarming.
  • It's also a reminder of the fact that Zarkon genuinely had loved Haggar at one point, so showing him gushing over her is pretty sweet.

The Ruins

• The group deciding on naming Keith's wolf Kosmo, despite his objections.
• When Krolia leaves to help the resistance and whatever's left of the Blades of Marmora, Keith gives her the Blades sword that he's had for half the show. They then share a hug and vow to find each other again after this is all over.
• The most crowning heartwarming moment? Keith is finally able to call Krolia "Mom".

The Journey Within

• Out of everyone, it's Hunk who keeps the team together when they're stranded out in deep space without the lions.
  • Even after Keith insults him, Hunk still does his best to keep everyone together. Keith later apologizes for the things he said to Hunk (and everyone else).
• After they get rescued, none of the Paladins bear any ill will towards each other over what was said during the space madness.

The Last Stand: Part 1

• Sam being reunited with his wife after two years in space. Her Tears of Joy just add to the moment.
• Sam and Colleen reveal to the world the truth about his disappearance and about Voltron. To prove their point, they show the messages Hunk and Lance (and Pidge) recorded for their families, who are shown all watching it together.
  • Seeing Colleen act similarly to Pidge in this part, with her dedication to the truth, can be heartwarming in a way as well.
  • The shocked expressions on Hunk and Lance's families' faces is both heartwarming and tear jerking, since they finally get to see that Hunk and Lance are actually alive after over a year.
• The Holts later get a radio signal from Matt, who unfortunately can't talk to them for long since they needed to stay off the Galra radar, and the Coalition was in shambles. However, he does assure his parents that he'd be alright and tells them that he loves them before signing off.
• Once the whole world learns the truth about aliens, everyone on Earth asks the Garrison what they can do to help. Showing that despite fears to the contrary, the world can handle the truth about the life beyond Earth.

The Last Stand: Part 2

• Veronica turning up at the Garrison alive with local members of La Résistance after everyone believed she was dead.
  • Not only that, but the Resistance helped her save her entire family. All, that is, except one younger brother, Lance.

Know Your Enemy

• After three years, Pidge reunites with her whole family sans Matt. Colleen isn't even angry about her daughter's absence or her deception of the Garrison, just incredibly relieved Pidge is alive.
  • There's also something adorable about Pidge literally giving her mom a full-body hug, wrapping both arms and legs around Colleen.
• Not long after Pidge's family reunion, Lance's reunion with his family. The interactions with his niece and nephew (who affectionately comment to each other how much they've grown), and with Veronica especially stand out.
  • Despite Hunk's visible sadness and worry about his own family as he watches the events mentioned above, he's still genuinely happy for Pidge and Lance.
• Keith, who is, by his own admission, terrible at talking about feelings, cares enough about Hunk to swallow his awkwardness and give Hunk a heartfelt pep talk; and when it works and Hunk pulls him into a massive bear hug, Keith actually hugs him back.

Heart of the Lion

• Before heading out on the mission to destroy the cannons, Allura and Lance tell each other to be safe with tons of blushing. Veronica even comments that it looks like Allura likes Lance back.

Trial By Fire

• The way everyone on board of Atlas turns to Shiro for orders and calling him captain. It's been so long since he's been in the leader position, you can see him back in his element as he smiles and takes command.
• To make up for her mistakes, Admiral Sanda sacrifices herself to buy the paladins more time to take out the Galra fleet outside.
• The paladins bonding even more with their lions to the point where they can now essentially pilot them telepathically.

Lions' Pride: Part 1

• Keith helping Shiro up after he kills Sendak.

Lions' Pride: Part 2

• As the paladins keep pushing the Altean mech out into space, Keith tells the others, how it's been an honor fighting beside them.
• The ending montage showing the rebuilding of Earth, with the help of all the allies the Paladins have made over the course of the last seven seasons, as well as the Paladins recovering from their fight against the Altean Mech, and the visitors they receive during their recovery; in addition to Lance and Pidge with their families, Hunk reunites with his as well, and is also visited by Shay and Rax, Keith has Krolia and Kolivan (and the presence of Blades of Marmora at Shiro's speech shows they were successful in finding survivors of the Druids' purge), and Allura has Coran, Romelle, and the Mice. Not only is Earth taking its place as a player in the universe, but it also shows the power of the Galra Empire might finally be broken.
  • Even Galra like the Blades and Sal are welcome on Earth.
• On Allura's table, there's a vase of lillies and a card with a cute drawing of Lance on it.
• Matt returns holding the masked Coalition leaders' hand, and Colleen runs to her son leading the two to share a hug.
• Keith taking Krolia to his father's grave, while being watched by Acxa, having completed her Heel–Face Turn and come to Earth.

Season 8

Launch Date

• Allura going on a date with Lance, with Nadia, Ina, Pidge and Romelle helping her pick out an outfit.
  • Pidge, without hesitation, trades her brand new video game for Allura's dress.
  • None of this would've happened if it weren't for Hunk. Though previous episodes showed him making fun of Lance's crush on Allura, he encourages a depressed Lance to reconsider asking Allura out before leaving for space, even by acting like a parent and literally pushing him when he tries to back out.
    Hunk: No, Lance, what? It's the only time. After tomorrow, we're back out in space fighting the Galra, there is no other time, literally. You're asking her today and that is final, young man!
• Keith's heartwarming speech to Lance, telling him how glad he is that Lance was by his side as his right hand man.

Shadows

• It plunges into horrible tragedy later, but it's rather nice to see a nobler, kinder Lotor that stood up to his father in defense of innocent people.
• Seeing Zarkon and Honerva's sincere excitement at her pregnancy is rather sweet. Despite everything that happened later, they did want him. They even created his name by combining those of a historic Altean engineer(Honerva's initial proposal) and a hero of Galran mythology(Zarkon's idea), in order to honor both of his heritages.

  Zarkon: He will be the best of both our people.

Genesis

• It's more Fridge Heartwarming than anything else, but when Allura is charging Honerva out in the open, Sincline has a clear shot at her...but doesn't take it. Lance attempts to intervene, but doesn't actually reach the mech, and if Honerva was controlling it, she would have no reason to spare Allura. A closer look reveals that Sincline simply powered down and lowered its arm. The implication being that Lotor's spirit decided to spare her.
  • On that note, Lance's attempted intervention and protectiveness is rather heartwarming.

Day Forty-Seven

• Kinkade blocking Rizavi from filming an unaware Lance and Allura kiss, saying "That's private."
• The tribute to the late Seok Jin Jang, a story-boarding director that worked on the show. Kinkade warmly greets his Ink-Suit Actor as he leaves the Atlas to return to Earth and it's made clear through Ryan how warmly the crew thought of him.

Clear Day

• When the Holts have their family photo, Matt's masked alien girlfriend is included in the picture as well.
• The continuing closeness between Lance and Allura is rather sweet; it's nice to see Allura so at ease.
• Pidge and Lance's determination to win Allura a prize.
• Shiro telling Keith to lighten up and have fun at the carnival.
• It's kind of endearing to see Keith and Hunk on a ride together, even if Keith isn't enjoying it at all.
• The Warden from "Escape from Beta Traz" reappears (still with Laika at his side) and sincerely thanks Shiro for helping him find a new path in life.
• Shiro's Adorkable excitement at the crowd cheering for him during the arm-wrestling competition, just soaking up the attention. After everything he's suffered, it's so nice to see him genuinely having fun and actually winning a prize.
  • Ditto for Coran winning a prize.

Knights of Light: Part 2

• The spirit of the real Zarkon helping the Paladins learn Honerva's plans.
  • On that note, there's something sweet in the fact that Zarkon is the one guarding the highest level of Honerva's mind. After all this time, she still loves him.
• Despite how horrific her intended means, Honerva's ultimate goal: she wanted a second chance with the family she lost when Zarkon was an insane conqueror and she his amnesiac accomplice.

The Zenith

• It's nice to know that there's at least one reality where Zarkon loves and cherishes Lotor.

The End is the Beginning

• The MUCH deserved Earn Your Happy Ending. After everything the heroes went through, after everything the universe has suffered, it FINALLY comes together when the universe is saved once and for all, and our heroes earn their rest.
  • Especially heartwarming is Hunk's ending: he becomes a renowned chef at the head of a culinary empire, using what he loves to bring people together. It calls back to Pidge's words about him in "The Feud!"
  Pidge: He gets along with everybody, and everybody loves him…if anybody’s gonna bring peace to the universe, it’s Hunk.
  • Keith helps transform the Blade of Marmora into a humanitarian relief organization.
• It's mixed with Tearjerker, but Allura using memories of Lotor to break through to the good still in Honerva is a truly touching moment, especially with the flashbacks/montage to some of Lotor and Allura's genuine moments. It's safe to say this is the moment Allura forgives both of them.
  Honerva: You tried to help him. He was happy...He deserved better. Better than I could give.
  Allura: Lotor may have been misguided, but ultimately, he wanted to preserve life. Honor your son. Help me change this.
• Allura's Heroic Sacrifice in order to save the multiverse and restore the realities lost in the final battle. Crosses over into Tearjerker territory too, especially when everyone says their final goodbyes.
  • Seeing what appears to be the spirits of Zarkon, Honerva and Lotor happily reunited.
• The epilogue reveals every Paladin's lives after the war, enjoying the paths they have taken.
  • Special mention goes to Shiro who not only finds new love, but is shown at his wedding with his husband, and share an on-screen kiss. A truly wonderful moment, especially for the LGBT fanbase.
• The implication at the end that the lions have gone to find and possibly rescue Allura.
  • It's hard to make out, but what appears to be Lotor's silhouette is next to Allura's in the nebula. Apparently, the universe showed him mercy.
• Despite losing someone who was probably the love of his life, Lance has come to terms with Allura's sacrifice, and spends time telling as many people as he can about what she did for everyone.

Comics

Issue 1

• Coran and the Paladins telling Allura to rest after she had just healed the Balmera and being worried for her condition.
• The group going to "The Fripping Bulgogian" where it was the former Paladins favorite hangout and Coran claimed that it was peaceful.
  • There was even a table that had Alfor's name on it written in Altean, with all the colors of the Voltron lions and five seats.
• When Kythylian Mu takes Coran as a hostage the Paladins are immediately up in arms and prepared to fight for Coran.
  • Before that, Kythylian and Coran seemed genuinely happy to see each other after ten thousand years, and Kythylian even calls Coran, "Coran, Coran, the gamblin' man".

Issue 2

• Pidge pleading with the aliens, telling them that they needed the pearl because their friend was in danger.

Other

Voltron Vlogs

• The Voltron vlog's have plenty of heartwarming moments for each character.
• Coran doing the vlog to give advice to future Altean explorers and looking back a bit fondly on the times he's had.
• While Keith believes his abandonment issues may stem from his mother leaving him and his father when he was young, the fact that she left Keith her blade, which is pretty much the Blade of Marmora's whole identity says how much she may have truly cared for her son.
• Allura talking about how far the team has come as well as herself, before ending the vlog when the mice were ready to put on another performance for her and said they get mad when she was late.
• Lance talks about Allura throughout his vlog and at one moment after showing a clip from "Taking Flight" he can be seen blushing about Allura with hearts over his head and thinking aloud.
  Lance: Yeah... she's pretty great.
• Pidge talking about the technology she's encountered in space and fondly reminisces about Rover, claiming she would never forget the drone since it was her best friend before she became closer to the paladins.
  Pidge: He was the best robot a girl could ask for.
• While Hunk spent most of vlog complaining about the dangers of space and how he should have stayed home, he does admit that there were plenty of other cool things, like the mice, and Shay.
  Hunk: While I'd prefer to not have my life in danger at all times, there is something pretty cool about helping out all of those different people. And, that's why I'm glad I didn't stay home. (gives a small smile)
• Shiro declaring in his vlog that he would do whatever it takes to get the paladins safely back home. Whatever it takes.

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