"The Buried Castle" is the nineteenth episode of the lion series of Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
Plot Summary
Three Arusian children are exploring the forest when they come upon a castle in the mists. In the Castle of Lions, the appearance of this mysterious new castle does not go unnoticed. Keith comments that this other castle seemed to have suddenly sprung up, adding that he didn't know there was another castle on Arus. Princess Allura states that neither did she (apparently there can be only one).
Wait; does that mean there was only one castle on the whole planet (not including the two versions of the Castle of Lions)?
Coran does a search for it on the computer, which after displaying a rather cryptic English message reveals that the castle was buried during the last Robot Wars. It was said to contain a great treasure, but was so dangerous that the warring kingdoms agreed that it must be destroyed. However, it could not be destroyed, and as such they banded together to bury it under a vast amount of earth, there to remain entombed...until now.
Lance voices his skepticism (as that is what Lance does), yet Pidge is quite excited by the possibility of treasure and wishes to investigate. Keith, too, is worried about possible danger, yet Allura finds the situation amusing and is happy to send the Space Mouse which has just crawled up her back and onto her shoulder along with him.
This enthusiastic rodent will be useful in finding help when this inevitably proves to be a trap.
The formerly-buried, mildly-ruined castle seems shrouded in perpetual storm, and a lightning bolt felling a tree before the children frightens them to the point at which they think they see monsters in the mist. Fortunately Pidge has landed the Green Lion nearby, and finding the children he comforts and encourages them. They all decide to go into the castle to look for treasure.
Little do they know, the castle is a trap set by Haggar, the Drule witch. However, for the time being the crone seems content to toy with them, conjuring an undead hand which when severed is mistaken for a tree limb. Similarly, when the party enters the castle there is little to frighten them but cobwebs, darkness, and some nasty-looking bats. Pidge and the children enter a "treasure room" (apparently a royal tomb) and set about pilfering everything but the royal cruciger.
The sort of place in which one might find a ghost and four keys.
It is then that Haggar springs her foul trap, as she turns the treasure the party has claimed into vicious snakes and disgusting toads. The outer doors have also been magically locked, trapping Pidge and the children inside the castle inside until they can find another exit. They fail to, however, before the Witch reverses gravity in the chamber and sends them upside-down inside the bell in the castle's belfry. They are then locked in place by fetters which even Pidge's disintegrator blaster cannot damage.
Featured Characters
Voltron Force
Other Arusians
Planet Doom
Quotes
Notes and Goofs
- Perhaps due to the Western aesthetic of Arus, English appears to be the written language of the world and thus also the language in which the main computer of the Castle of Lions displays text (even if it still doesn't often make sense). This was also the case in Episode 7.
Failure, by the way, is the mother of success.
In those days, Arus used hoverplanes like those in The Hunger Games' Panem.
- This episode provides additional insight into Arus' technological history, both making mention of the "Robot Wars" and showing one of the types of aircraft employed therein.
- More Christian imagery is used in the buried castle, which not only uses crosses in its most sacred and significant areas but also holds a treasure chest containing the sort of globus cruciger held by a Christian monarch.
- When the rest of the Voltron Force is alerted to Pidge's capture, they are all already in uniform, yet swiftly rush to their lions using the normal stock footage. Thus they appear to have changed from their uniforms to their civilian attire only to immediately change back into their uniforms!
Thou hath discovered a Roman Catholic Globus Cruciger!
- Princess Allura has been a damsel-in-distress in 11 of the 13 episodes thusfar since she first piloted the Blue Lion, albeit often accompanied by one or more other people at the time.
