Lotor and his Four Generals attack a Galra base to steal a Teludav lense (from episode Blackout) and the team barely survive a battle with Lotor's forces. When Keith is confronted with a difficult choice of pursue Lotor or destroy the teladuv, he tricks Lotors Generals into a shoot and miss, destroying the teladuv and leaving Lotor open to attack.
Tropes:
- Beam-O-War: One of the dilemmas Voltron runs into when they are being chased by Lotor's Generals.
- Chance Meeting Between Antagonists: Lotor's Generals and the paladins happen to meet at the post.
- Combat Parkour: Ezor manages to out-manuever Keith and get him into an armbar.
- Character Development: Lance in seasons one and two wanted the constant opportunity to prove himself as a leader. He comes to talk to Keith, however, to voluntarily step down as a Paladin if Shiro is returning to the team and he doesn't want to take away Blue from Allura. Rather than bickering with him, Keith tells him to leave the math to Pidge and that they'll handle the problem when it comes.
- Compliment Backfire: Shiro compliments Keith for his growing leadership skills, but Keith doesn't look pleased to hear this.
- Continuity Nod: Keith recognizes Acxa from their brief Enemy Mine in the Weblum. She doesn't acknowledge him at all.
- Deadly Dodging: Keith argues for Voltron to take down Lotor's generals ship while Shiro tells them to aim for the cargo ship and deal with the consequences. Keith orders Hunk to use the shoulder cannon and the moment the Generals shoot at them, Voltron dodges at the last second and their beam ends up hitting the cargo ship carrying the teladuv.
- Destructible Projectiles: Lance shoots Ezor's knife that was aimed at Keith.
- Didn't See That Coming: Lotor didn't predict that Voltron would be able to invoke Deadly Dodging and Forced Friendly Fire.
- Disappointed in You: Lotor tells this to Acxa who accidentally shot the teladuv cargo ship.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Along with his new clothes, Shiro's hair is also cut a bit differently.
- Flashback: Keith has one of these when he attacks Acxa. Remembering them from when he and Hunk found her inside the Weblum.
- Keystone Army: Galra Mecha-Mooks are fairly easy to shut down, whether it's by Pidge hacking into the mainframe or Narti brainwashing the officer with the clearance for it.
- Leap and Fire: Acxa does this multiple times hitting every sentry.
- Neck Lift: Narti wraps her tail around Hunk's throat and easily lifts him up in the air when he grabs her from behind.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Lance unlocks a new form to his gun and gets upgraded to a sniper rifle, but it's never shown when it changed or how. He uses his new skills to snipe enemies from afar. Hunk also has a new design to his gun which is much sleeker compared to the original.
- Oh, Crap!: Ezor's face turns from smug to shocked when Keith shows he can teleport his sword from one hand to the other.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Shiro advises that the paladins aim for the cargo ship carrying the teladuv for Lotor, and just have to deal with the consequences. While they didn't have time, and Keith manages to go for a third option, this kind of order coming from Shiro feels a little... off.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When Acxa accidentally hits the teladuv, Lotor immediately orders her to fire again, since she still had Voltron in her sights and could still make the shot. It's later clear that Lotor is disappointed by her mistake, but in the moment, he prioritized accomplishing the goal still available to them.
- Samus Is a Girl: It turns out that the stranger Keith and Hunk found in the Weblum in the previous season is one of Lotor's female generals, Acxa.
- Scope Snipe: The first part of the episode shows Lance's new skills as a sniper as he shoots down targets and hits the switch to the room.
- Scream Discretion Shot: Haggar continues to torture Throk for his failure, and Lotor can be seen smiling in the hallway.
- Shoot Out the Lock: Lance does this to stop the flow of Galra soldiers coming in.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift: Shiro oddly enough doesn't come back wearing his old clothes, instead he has an entirely new look.
- Tactical Withdrawal: Realizing that they can't beat the Generals, Keith tells the others that they should fall back.
- Tail Slap: Narti uses her tail to take out Pidge and Hunk.
- Take a Third Option: Keith is presented with two choices, take down Lotor's Generals ship, or take down the cargo ship with the teladuv and face the consequences. As he tells Hunk to bring out the shoulder cannon and aims it at the cargo ship, he actually moves Voltron out of the way at the last moment to avoid the ion cannon beam the generals had aimed at Voltron.
- Techno Babble: Pidge and Hunk have a discussion on what they should do to locate the comet, causing them to spout out all sorts of technological terms that leaves Lance and Keith in the dark.
- Tranquil Fury: While Lotor's voice sounds calm, he tells Acxa how disappointed he was that she accidentally shot the cargo ship and orders her return immediately before more Galra ships arrive.
- Villainous Breakdown: Lotor blames Acxa for shooting the cargo ship, and is visibly angry that his plans were now delayed.
- Weaponized Teleportation: Just as Ezor seems to be getting the upper hand, Keith teleports his blade from left his left hand to the right.
- Worthy Opponent: Zethrid notes this about Allura, and is excited at the thought of finally finding someone worthy to fight.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Shiro tells Keith that although he may not think it, he will eventually be a good leader.
