Recap / Voltron: Legendary Defender S2E1 "Across the Universe"

Shiro: Keith, if I don't make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron.

The Paladins have been separated from the castle, while Allura and Coran are caught in a timeloop! As Allura tries to free the castle from a temporal loop that rapidly deages Coran, Keith tries to save an injured Shiro while they are both stranded on a deadly planet. Meanwhile, Pidge is drifting through space, waiting for rescue.

Tropes for this episode include the following:

• Badass in Distress: Shiro is unable to even defend himself because of his wounds from the last episode.
• Big Brother Mentor: This episode hammers home the fact that Keith really respects Shiro, even repeating the advice Shiro gave him in episode one.
• Big Damn Heroes: Pidge's signal saves Allura and Coran just as Coran becomes a baby and in the next loop will cease to exist.
• Burning with Anger: To an extent, when teenage Coran refuses to turn of the opera music in the castle, dark smoke begins to come off of Allura's body as she angrily tells him off. Even the mice, in a snail form, are slowly crawling off Allura to get away from her anger.
• Chekhov's Gun: The technology remnants that Pidge finds allows her to create a rudimentary satellite that can dispatch her location.
• Cliffhanger: Pidge saves Allura and Coran from the temporal wormhole. Allura and Coran save Shiro and Keith. But where are Lance and Hunk?
• Closest Thing We Got: Keith asks the Black Lion to help him save Shiro, even though he's not the Black Paladin.
• Cuteness Proximity: A worried Allura coos over a baby Coran.
  • Pidge immediately relaxes when the cute creatures on the trash nebulae float out to greet her.
• Deathby Deaging: If Pidge didn't manage to save him in the nick of time, Coran would be subjected to this.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Keith asks Shiro how his wound was and the latter flatly jokes that it was getting bigger all the time. Keith gives him a sour look which prompts Shiro to reply, "Just trying to lighten the mood."
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Pidge sees what appear to be these, but they're actually the glowing cheek marks of some cute puffball aliens.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: Pidge at first wants to stay where she is and wait, but she misses the other Paladins, Allura and Coran. Then she makes dummies of everyone and talks to them, and immediately assembles a satellite to create a location signal. Though, the dummy part could just been because she was bored.
• Klingon Promotion: Because of his prior machinations and plotting at trying to acquire Voltron by himself, the sabotage that allowed Team Voltron's escape is blamed on Prorok, and his subordinate Thace is promoted from lieutenant to commander (Thace is also put in charge of the investigation).
• Merlin Sickness: Coran suffers from this when he and Allura keep passing through a timeloop. Oddly enough, only Allura is unaffected by the whole thing.
• Mood Whiplash: After Allura's relief that she and Coran made it out of the temporal loop, she realizes she's holding an adult Coran, who calls her "mum". She immediately drops him.
• Mythology Gag: Keith piloting the Black Lion in his red armor, just like in the original.
• Parental Substitute: Allura tells baby Coran that he was like a second father to her when she thinks she's going to lose him forever.
• The Reveal: The Galra who secretly aided Team Voltron in their escape is revealed to be an officer named Thace.
• Shout-Out: The title might be one to The Beatles' song "Across the Universe"
• Take Up My Sword: Shiro tells Keith that if he doesn't make it, that Keith needs to lead Voltron. Keith protests that it won't get to that point.