Escape to Another Planet

Escape to Another Planet
Voltron: Defender of the Universe Episode 2
Air date	Sept. 11, 1984
Based on Golion episode	The Ruined Phantom Planet
Written by	Jameson Brewer
Directed by	Fraklin Cofod
Story b	Susumu Takahisa
Episode Chronology
Previous	Space Explorers Captured
Previous	Space Explorers Captured
Next	A Ghost and Four Keys
Next	A Ghost and Four Keys

The space explorers crash-land on the Planet Arus, meet some new allies, and learn of the legend of Voltron.

Plot Summary

I assure you, these ejection seats have been thoroughly tested and are totally safe.

The lion statue may have slowed the descent of the Doom slave ship that Keith and company "borrowed", but they are still in danger, as the ship cannot land safely. Keith sends a brief message to the Galaxy Garrison, and Space Marshal Graham holds a brief meeting. The space explorers finally eject, landing in a desert on Planet Arus as the ship crashed into the side of a mountain.

After gathering together, the team does some recon. Some spears are thrown from a cave at the space explorers. Hunk angrily threatens the people in the cave. Keith decides that their best course of action is to go to the castle, which is in the mountains. They all gather spears and start a long hike.

It looked much nicer in the brochure.

There is fog near the crestline of the mountains. The space explorers are attacked by birds, who are successfully repelled. They then notice Doom fighter ships flying above them, but the pilots do not seem to be able to see them. Yurak, angry at the situation, demands that their altitude be reduced and infrascanners be used.

The fog clears and the castle is revealed. Walking through the ruins of the capital city, they reach a tower where the lion statue sits. The tower is at one end of a bridge, and the other side of the bridge is the castle itself. A drawbridge is lowered, and Keith and company walk across.

Near the other side of the bridge, some rocks fall, and Pidge checks it out. He finds some space mice, who scurry away fearfully. The crew walks across the courtyard to the castle's main keep. Going inside, they find themselves in a dark room, and are confronted by an old man carrying a torch.

The man introduces himself as Coran, who had been the castle diplomat. The space explorers mention trying to find Voltron. Coran explains what happened to Voltron. During an attack some time ago, Voltron was sent to intercept, but the witch Haggar cast a powerful spell breaking Voltron into five parts, each part a robot lion. The lions buried themselves in a different part of the planet. Afterward, they meet Princess Allura. They decide to offer Keith and company positions in the Voltron Force.

King Zarkon orders his forces to find the Voltron Force.

So do the different colors denote different ranks, or...?

Coran takes the newly-minted Voltron Force into the control room. The room has a central console, and monitor screens along the walls. He also gives them new uniforms.

Keith asks where the lions are, and Coran explains. Black Lion is the statue across the drawbridge. Red Lion is in a volcano. Green Lion is in a forest. Blue Lion is in a lake. And Yellow Lion is in a desert. And for easy access to the lions, there are tunnels connecting the castle underground with the lions' lairs. The Voltron Force then see a video on the main monitor showing how the lions combine into Voltron.

Thus, the Voltron Force is created.

Featured Characters

Voltron Force

• Keith
• Lance
• Pidge
• Sven
• Hunk
• Princess Allura

Other Arusians

• Coran
• Space Mice

Galaxy Garrison

• Space Marshal Graham

Planet Doom

• King Zarkon
• Haggar
• Yurak

Quotes

"That Hunk! Plows head-first into everything. Your face is disgusting!"
    — Pidge, just before Hunk spits dirt in his face

*****

"Doesn't sound like a man-eating lion, but it could be a lion-eating man!"
    — Thanks for that clarification, Lance

Differences from the Original Beast King GoLion Material

• Lance comes off as far more heroic in the Voltron version of this episode than in its GoLion counterpart. In the former, he easily forgives his spear-wielding assailants; explaining that they are simply frightened survivors and stating the need to help them. In the latter, he uses the same frames of animation to suggest that the people are cannibals who intend to hunt and eat the team like animals.
• Coran was originally not a diplomat but rather Planet Arus' chief military strategist. He seems more interested in the team's fighting ability than in any show of loyalty, and displays this by feigning an attack upon its members to display their skill in reacting before letting them see Princess Allura (Fala in the Japanese version).
• When introducing the princess, Coran states that today is her sixteenth birthday (drawing even more comparison between her and Disney's Sleeping Beauty than her similar dress would already). In the North American version, no mention of Allura's age is given in this episode (and the 30th-anniversary Voltron book From Days of Long Ago lists her age as 25).
• As a sign of fealty, Keith kisses the princess' hand. In GoLion, Sven, Hunk, and Pidge follow suit. Lance is about to, but the noise of Yurak's renewed assault startles Allura and she jerks her hand away, causing Lance to accidentally kiss his own (causing a cute little heart to appear)!

Notes and Goofs

• King Zarkon mentions that the "fool guards paid with their lives." The guards appear identical to the Ultra Droids, implying that the robots are designed to look Drule. Perhaps this was done so that soldiers could fight alongside robots without enemy snipers specifically targeting them.
• Coran and Allura seemed very willing to trust Keith and company. Even if they had seen identification (which they did not ask for and which Keith and company did not offer to show), identification could be faked. They knew full well that Zarkon had human allies, and there is no possible way there was any time, between Keith and company entering the castle and them getting their oddly-well-fitting uniforms, that Coran could have done a full background check.
• One must wonder why the lions were not deployed before the massive bombing in "Space Explorers Captured." It could be that the tunnels had just been finished, and Coran was reviewing candidates for the Voltron Force to assume their posts, but Zarkon's attack basically ruined those plans. Any candidates already chosen would have either been killed or forced into hiding.