The WORST episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe

#1 - My Brother is a Robeast

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/19/1984

The Royal family from Planet Pollux has made a visit to planet doom. Lotor seems to have a particular thing against the planet's prince, Avok. So Avok is sent to the arena where he successfully beats a hiddeous beast. Infuriated, Lotor challenges the man himself and they get into a heated sword fight. But then Lotor spies Avok's sister and little brother standing on the sidelines the sister, Romelle, bears a striking resemblance to Allura. While he's busy gawking at the look-alike, Avok disarms Lotor.

#2 - Mousemania

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/23/1985

On Doom, Lotor has enlisted slaves to build his super power base with which he hopes to overthrow his father, King Zarkon. Work is over when a Robeast bursts on the scene and destroys the building. It seems Zarkon was wise to the plans and ordered Haggar to do the dirty work, though she hints that she would not have done so if Lotor had just included her in the plan from the start.

#3 - Envoy from Galaxy Garrison

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/22/1985

Cossack is berated by Zarkon and given one last chance to redeem himself for the last embarrassing defeat. After Zarkon exits, Lotor breezes in and talks big about overthrowing Zarkon.

#4 - Dinner and a Show

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/21/1985

The people on Pollux are enjoying their hard-earned peace when suddenly! Doom ships appear and out comes a new foe, Cossack the Terrible, to terrorize the peasants. A young boy is sent to warn Sven as Cossock rounds up villagers to take as slaves. Meanwhile, Sven expresses his decision to not re-join the Voltron Force in favor of staying there with Romelle. Bandor then teases Romelle and Sven about being in love. The messenger boy shows up. Sven and Bandor ride off on horseback to confront Cossack while Romelle goes to warn the Voltron Force.

#5 - Lotor, the King

Season 1 - Episode 51 - Aired 11/26/1984

This one picks up where the last one left off, with Voltron flying toward Doom and Lotor preparing to launch his father who is a most unwilling robeast pilot. Lotor is pumping up the morale of his troops, while Romelle and her forces are ready to lend Voltron a hand. She and Sven are prepared to take out Haggar's laboratory, while Lotor has sent out his minions to try to stop her

#6 - Zarkon Becomes a Robeast

Season 1 - Episode 50 - Aired 11/23/1984

Lotor is still smarting over his defeat in the last episode, marveling at how such a perfect plan went so wrong (though in the flashback, Lotor got a lot of the details of the last two episodes entirely wrong). Then, armed Doomites show up to arrest the Prince on Zarkon's orders and he's brought before his father. Zarkon orders him, like all that fail in battle, to be punished by going to prison. Haggar, however, is worried that the planets Lotor had conquered would revolt if their conquerer was imprisoned. Instead, she suggests Zarkon invite them to Lotor's court martial so that they would pledge allegiance to Zarkon. So Lotor is locked up pending his court martial.

#7 - Summit Meeting

Season 1 - Episode 47 - Aired 11/22/1984

#8 - It'll Be a Cold Day

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 11/21/1984

This one starts with Princess Romelle of Pollux being tossed into a dungeon cell on Doom by Prince Lotor. Due to her resemblance to her cousin Allura, Lotor figures he might as well live vicariously through her and snag a smooch. Of course, he is seriously denied when she sends him packing with a hefty slap to the face. She even tries to stab him with a sharp rock. Poor Lotor, he gets no respect.

#9 - One Princess to Another

Season 1 - Episode 45 - Aired 11/20/1984

Bandor gets a memo bearing some bad news - Zarkon and his cohorts are planning to fuel some 500 robeasts on a satellite called Nuklon. Something has to be done, and Sven and Romelle ( in a kickin' new 60's go-go girl outfit and cape - meow! ) elect to do the doing.

#10 - The Shell Game

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/24/1985

Zarkon is annoyed at all the happiness on Arus, so in the dead of night, he sends out a Robeast to start destroying Arusian cities. The Castle's alert sirens go off and it isn't long before the VF launch into action. This crab-like Robeast is a real challenge. What's worse is they're hesitant to use Voltron as the monster insists on staying in the city where frightened Arusians could be hurt by the resulting battle. The VF try to lure the Robeast away but he won't budge, and Pidge only succeeds in getting his Lion skewered by the Robeast.

#11 - Raid of the Red Berets

Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 11/16/1984

Instead of your typical Robeast, this time Haggar and Lotor have cooked up an elite fighting force of robots they call the Red Berets. Even Zarkon is impressed with their fighting style when he sees them in action at the Arena. The force of about 5 Berets is launched to Arus with a Robeast overnight.

#12 - A Transplant for the Blue Lion

Season 1 - Episode 32 - Aired 11/15/1984

This is a sequel to the previous episode. Both sides it seems are licking their wounds, so to speak, and preparing to do better next time. Princess is nursing her shoulder injury and worried about her Lion, when her father appears on the Castle monitor to impart some wisdom. He tells her and the rest of the team that the Lions are like 5 parts of a stream flowing into a river.

#13 - Lotor's New Hit Man

Season 1 - Episode 37 - Aired 11/14/1984

Lotor, Zarkon and Morgill are watching some of the up and coming pilots in the Academy practice when a stand-out performance from one catches their eye. The pilot, Carp, does a bold fly-by at the trio before landing. Morgill wants to kill him for his wreckless endagerment of the King, but Lotor sees the potential in his skill as a pilot and has him spared after Zarkon seconds that notion. Carp is willing to pilot a robeast for Doom but insists it be built to his specs and, when he defeats Voltron, demands to be made Governor General of Arus. Morgill has never been more infuriated but must hold his tongue and his sword.

#14 - The Mighty Space Mouse

Season 1 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/13/1984

Cheesy and his mousy cohorts are training to become warriors - you know, one of the team! Oh brother.While out training with pans on their heads as pseudo-helmets, they run across Haggar's blue cat and run to tell the Voltron Force of that little presence of Doom. Amid the excitement, the team unveils the Mouse Plane for the rodents, which is a tiny robotic mouse for them all to pilot. Heck, they even get mini-uniforms not unlike the Voltron Force's own. Cute, in that gag-me saccharine kind of way.

#15 - Voltron Frees the Slaves

Season 1 - Episode 43 - Aired 11/12/1984

Lotor once again is up to no good. First he conquers a new planet and dubs it Zarkonia. The people of Zarkonia are promptly enslaved and treated poorly, which Lotor hopes will draw Voltron...for he and Haggar have a little trap for their loathed arch enemy when he arrives.

#16 - Voltron vs. Voltron

Season 1 - Episode 44 - Aired 11/9/1984

Yadle, an unattended colony-planet of Zarkon's, declares itself independent and prepares to celebrate along with its allies, the Voltron Force. Haggar creates a Voltron look-alike to subdue its people with Lotor's guards before it will be used to attack the real robot. A young friend named Bobby goes to guide the Voltron Force to Yadle to get through Zarkon's magnetic field. However, they have yet to be warned that they are awaited by a robot that has all their powers and the ability to know what maneuvers they will perform even before they carry them out.

#17 - Attack of the Fierce Frogs

Season 1 - Episode 33 - Aired 11/8/1984

The opening scene here is classic. Zarkon is drinking a glass of wine but decides to hurl the goblet at Lotor, which cracks him squarely in the forehead. The reason for violence? Zarkon is disgusted at his son's efforts to take over Arus. When Lotor whines about Voltron always mucking up his plans, Zarkon advises him to find a weakness in Voltron's armor. Enter Haggar with her latest Robeast which is designed to fight best underwater - where Voltron is weakest. When Lotor wonders how they'll trick Voltron into fighting in water, Haggar produces a tank of 'mini-robeasts' that resemble tadpoles.

#18 - Lotor's Clone

Season 1 - Episode 36 - Aired 11/7/1984

Zarkon kicks off the episode by berating Lotor for his failures while all but calling him a coward for sending robots into battle where he should be leading. Lotor promises to deliver a plan that doesn't involve robots and then leaves to consult with Haggar. She took a culture from the Prince and together with her magic, has created a clone of Lotor to lead the troops. Appearance-wise, the clone is an exact duplicate but Haggar claims he'll have twice the strength and unafraid. Basically, the clone with do the dirty work while the real Lotor will get all the glory. After testing the clone's skill on two unsuspecting robot Doomites in the arena, they're off to Arus.

#19 - A Ghost of a Chance

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/7/1985

Nobody on Doom knows exactly where Merla is from, and nobody really listens to Haggar when she insists Merla has mental powers of persuasion. Right on cue, Merla gets inside Zarkon's head, convincing him to put her in charge of conquering Arus. Merla takes Zarkon, Lotor, Cossack and Haggar inside her ship to show them her quarks - charmed quarks even (don't ask). Cossack and Haggar are skeptical that such things exist and Merla dares them to call her bluff by inviting Cossack to step inside one of the contraptions. Cossack is transported to another dimension and brought back, making a believer of Zarkon. Cossack is angry he got duped and both he and Haggar worry about the advantage Merla has over them with her mental abilities. Haggar already knows, for instance, that Merla has been tapping into Allura's dreams and worries about what she may have learned.

#20 - Final Victory

Season 1 - Episode 52 - Aired 11/27/1984

The last episode in season one finds the Lions trying to penetrate Castle Dooms defenses with a little help from Romelle's crew of rebels on the ground. Coran also decides it's time to lend a hand, so he flies the Castle of Lions to Doom to level the playing field.

#21 - Breakin' Up is Hard to Doom

Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 11/18/1985

Merla is sitting in her Castle and thinking she can never match the goodness of the Voltron force. Then, Lotor bursts in even though only females are allowed on Merla's planet. He says he's come to thank her for saving him. At first, she doesn't think he's sincere. But soon she's swept up in memories of their engagement and the thought of his little nephews running around all cute, with their pointy ears. Lotor vows to prove his love by helping Voltron. Merla is worried but also annoyed that Cossack is tagging along with Lotor on the mission.

#22 - The Alliance Strikes Back!

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 11/15/1985

This one opens at the Castle of Lions, where the team and Coran are discussing the wide revolt going on against Zarkon. Oppressed people are finally rising up and fighting back against Zarkon - and winning! It's pretty sad when Doomies are losing to a bunch of kids or slaves riding silly looking "horse-a-roos". Yikes. The team decides that, even though they're a defensive unit, now is the time to strike Zarkon if only to free his slaves. Zarkon arrives back on Doom and is dismayed that his forces are too busy fighting to welcome their King. Then it goes from bad to worse as the Lions show up and form Voltron. Zarkon decides, after a bunch of his robot fighters are defeated, that he needs to vanquish Voltron himself. However, Lotor has taken his battle ship with the intentions of doing the vanquishing, getting the glory and ultimately, his father's throne. Zarkon's new mission, therefore, is to teach Lotor a lesson. However, Merla tries to talk Lotor out of going as she geniunely doesn't want to see him destroyed. Lotor balks at the show of emotion as she tries to reason with him and leaves anyway. Merla is left confused by the failure of her evil powers and the fact that she's not feeling so evil at all anymore.

#23 - No Muse is Good Muse

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 11/14/1985

On Doom, Haggar has developed another of her unstoppable robeasts. But this time she tests it on a Voltron clone she built, and shows Merla how the Robeast is able to handle Voltron's best defenses, including his blazing sword. Zarkon is out of the loop on this one, and Merla can't wait to defeat Voltron without him.

#24 - Lotor, My Hero?

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/13/1985

On Doom, Merla is doling out shoulder massages to Zarkon (a little FIL kink, eh?) and it seems Haggar is jealous. She reminds Zarkon about when she was just as young and beautiful - though it was more than 1,000 years ago - as well as reminds him of all her evil deeds in those years. Zarkon is unimpressed given Voltron is still a thorn in his side.

#25 - With Friends Like You

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/12/1985

Coran is showing the Voltron Force space images of the planet Philos - an oddity in that it's a planet that orbits and acts like a comet. Ineterrupting their space lesson is a skull tank, which lands on Arus with a white flag raised. Though skeptical, the team has to check it out. Alliance guards escort the pilot of the tank out, which is an alien who claims to be from Philos. Lance wants to just lock him up right away, but Allura gives the stranger a chance.