- Rax: Your arrival has left us imprisoned and torn apart. As soon as your attack started, they took her away to the core of the Balmera. For all we know, she could be gone for good.
The crew is finally ready to liberate the Balmera from Galra control, but when things seem to run suspiciously smoothly, they realize their attack has been expected and a trap has been set for them.
Tropes:
- Always Save the Girl: Despite Shiro anticipating that Shay is part of a trap, he says that the Paladins have no choice but to go ahead and save her since there's no other way.
- Bound and Gagged: Shay is held this way so that she can't warn Hunk and the Paladins that she's bait for a trap.
- Break the Haughty: Sendak specifically doesn't punish Prorok for his failure to show him the power of Voltron when the Lions combine.
- Bridal Carry: How Hunk catches Shay and lowers her safely to the ground.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Keith is surprised when Lance comes up with a sensible plan to incapacitate the Galra guards without randomly firing at them and hurting the Balmera.
- The Fettered: Hunk warns the Paladins that the Balmera is a living planet, and thus it can feel pain, so everyone has to make sure their attacks don't hit the Balmera.
- Genius Loci: Hunk reminds everyone that the Balmera is a living being, and so top priority on the mission is only destroying Galra structures while avoiding damage to the planet's surface.
- Heel–Face Turn: Rax when Shay calls for help through the Balmera, encouraging his family to go down and help free her and the Lions.
- It's All My Fault: Rax says this when he gets indication that Shay is alive and that the Paladins risked their lives to save her.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Hunk notices how the guards seem to have been taken out too easily and aren't anywhere close.
- Kick the Morality Pet: Rax realizes that he did this to his sister after getting her distress cry from within the Balmera.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Lance ducks behind his shield as the Galra sentries fire at him.
- Morality Chain: Shay is this for her brother, Rax. When she sends a distress signal, revealing that she's alive and the Paladins came to save her, he undergoes a Heel–Face Turn.
- Never My Fault: At first Rax blames the Paladins for breaking up his family when they encounter him again, though he was the one that alerted the Galra and got Shay arrested.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Keith discovers his Red Lion can fire heat beams. Jealous of this, Lance quickly follows up and discovers that his Blue Lion can fire ice beams.
- Not So Above It All: As the rest debate on what sound lasers actually make, Shiro tells them to stop... only to "correct" them.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Coran is much less of a comic-relief character than usual this episode (and the next), thanks to his horror at what's happening to the Balmera.
- I Shall Taunt You: Lance does this to get the sentries attention so Keith could take them out.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Lance and Keith come up with the same plan to fire on Galra soldiers that lead an offense on them. Lance tries to communicate with Keith using complicated hand signals; Keith gets confused and doesn't understand the gestures, but comes up with the same plan and gets into position.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Keith throws his blade after taking out most of the other sentries.
- Translation: "Yes": Allura asks if the paladins were alright, and Lance responds with a long overview of what occurred before confirming that they were fine.
