Warning: Spoilers to the show and the  the season are present.

The final season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, aired on Netflix on December 14th, 2018. Along with 13 episodes, the season brought a lot of hate. Although I personally loved the season, there were some questionable parts. The creators had led the fandom on numerous times, only to let them down, which reasonably infuriated the fandom. Thus, the season received a lot of controversy.

The season starts 3 years after the “rushed,” season 7. The first episode does a great job at showing that the threat of the Galra Empire was still present, while showing the viewer almost everything that has happened over the previous years. The rest of the episode focuses on one of the main characters, Lance, asking out another main character, Allura. The show had constantly hinted at a LGBTQ relationship between Lance and another main character, Keith. The creators had shown with their interviews, additional art pieces and scenes that were dedicated to show this growing bond of the two characters. As a result of the points mentioned, the fans were hoping the two characters would get together in the final season, after a previous incident where the creators “queer baited,” the viewers by similarly advertising a relationship, only for it not to occur due one of the character’s death. So, this made the fandom mad. I, however, understood that the creators weren’t allowed to share this relationship due the lack of allowance from DreamWorks, although it was intended from the start. However, that won’t stop me from from thinking of alternate realities where Klance (Lance and Keith’s ship name) happens.

The season was indeed interesting. It had some fun episodes, like an episode at the fair, or like Kinkade’s all over the place documentary. It also had some intense episodes, like the one where the life of the paladin Keith is threatened, or the one where the past and present paladins of Voltron fight against their foe, Honevra, through her mind’s creations. The season had a good balance between funny and serious. The “filler episodes,” were perfectly placed, giving the viewer a well deserved break after what some of the episodes brought upon them. Similar to the previous season, some events did seem rushed and a bit out of place. I may have to watch the season again before I can truly understand how some events even occurred.

At the same time, numerous scenes did feel drawn out, unnecessary, or even out of place. For instance, the first few episodes follow Honevra’s attempts to bring her son, Lotor, back from the quintessence field where he had “died” during Season 6. The viewer sees how her struggle to do so, only to learn that she wasted her time. Lotor comes back, but only for a few minutes before his struggling soul attacks one of Honevra’s soldiers. A little bit later, it is revealed that he had melted into his seat. This was not exactly explained and felt brushed off. as Honevra developed her new plan. Possibly the longest and most surprising scene that many viewers deemed unnecessary was in the final episode. The creator of Voltron: Legendary Defender, Lauren Montgomery, wanted to end off the show with a bang, with something unforgettable. She was indeed successful in doing so. The show ends off with an intense fight with all the living Paladins of Voltron and Honevra. Honevra enters  an alternate reality, with the intent of having her son back. When the alternate version of Lotor refused to let her into his life, she went mad. That’s when Voltron came in to fight her. Honevra escaped, passing through realities as if it were nothing. After Voltron catches up, it is shown that she is destroying all realities. Luckily, before she can destroy the only lasting reality, Voltron is able to convince her that what she was doing was not the answer. With the help of Allura, Honevra learns that her son had lived the best life he could under his circumstances, and she finally feels happy. She decides to help bring back all the realities, but in order to do this, she had to sacrifice both Allura and herself. That is what most viewers found unnecessary. In this scene, Allura vaguely agrees and says her goodbyes, kissing Lance, causing altean marks to appear on his cheeks. Allura and Honevra are then greeted by their deceased family members. They walk up to join them, killing themselves in the process. Then the future lives of the paladins are shown as well as how they honored and shared Allura’s sacrifice. Both Allura’s death and Lance’s marks were questionable. Allura’s death invokes the question of why the creators would kill off this beloved character, leaving even fans who couldn’t care about her in tears! Lance’s altean marks are one of the things in the season that seem out of place. After rewatching and fully analyzing the final episode, fans were able to conclude that Allura had passed down the “mark of the chosen,” that she had, onto Lance because she “chose” him. Regardless, the entire process is a bit confusing.

Overall, I believe that season 8 was, in fact, a good season. Like all shows, it had its ups and downs as well as a bunch of questionable moments or false promises . However, I genuinely enjoyed the season. I liked the season because it kept the viewer entertained while on the edge of their seats. It was an emotional and stressful season, but truly one I’d never forget.