"Lotor's been lying to us the whole time. He's a murderer — just like his father."
— Pidge
Lotor and Allura finally test out the ship and head inside the rift to harvest quintessence. Keith later shows up with dire news about Lotor, bringing along Romelle, one of the surviving Alteans. She warns them that Lotor has actually been using her people to harvest quintessence which he then uses. Once Lotor and Allura return on the ship, the two share a kiss before joining the others, who break the news to Allura. When she takes out Lotor, the generals have invaded the ship and Haggar gains full control over Shiro, causing him to hurt his allies. After he and the generals escape, Keith tells them that they'll give chase since they still have a Black paladin to pilot Black; himself.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Activation Sequence: Seen as Lotor and Allura power up their ship and prepare it for launch.
- Big Damn Kiss: Between Lotor and Allura.
- But What About the Astronauts?: The surviving Altean population is descended from Alteans who were offworld at the time of the destruction of their home planet. This makes sense, given that they were a very technologically advanced race, so a significant number of Altean intergalactic travelers would not be out of the question.
- Death of a Child: Bandor dies at a very young age.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Bandor after returning home only has the energy to tell his sister how she was right to be paranoid of Lotor before dying.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Allura telling Lotor that this will be a moment she will truly never forget.
- Human Resources: Lotor was draining an untold number of Alteans of quintessence.
- Mid-Season Twist: Lotor has been secretly draining Alteans for quintessence, Shiro gets taken over by Haggar, and Keith returns to the paladins and becomes the leader of Voltron once more.
- Mythology Gag: The checklist Lotor and Allura go through is a recitation of things Keith said while forming Voltron in the original series.
- Necessarily Evil: Lotor attempts to justify his sacrifice of thousands of Alteans as such, saying that it as only necessary until the Quintessence Field was unlocked and helped the rest of her people live in peace, but Allura is outraged and disgusted.
- Only Sane Man: Romelle was suspicious of Lotor's motives, as she didn't understand why they couldn't contact the other Alteans since they were so close by. She later finds out through her brother after he returns home thin and weak that Lotor had been using them all to harvest quintessence.
- People Jars: The Alteans that were "chosen" are put in test tubes and drained of their quintessence.
- Properly Paranoid: Romelle to a T.
- Released to Elsewhere: In the Altean Hidden Elf Village founded by Lotor, "being chosen for another colony" secretly means "being drained of their quintessence until they die", but nobody knew that until Bandor finds his way back to Romelle.
- Shared Family Quirks: When faced with Lance's antics, Krolia and Keith both get the exact same expression.
- Wham Episode: Romelle explains that Lotor has been harvesting Altean quintessence. Shiro is revealed to be a Manchurian Agent and turns against the Paladins when Haggar and Lotor's ex-generals attack the Castle. Shiro takes Lotor's unconscious body with him to Haggar, allowing the original show's iconic lineup to form Voltron for the first time since season 3.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Pidge has her bayard out and aimed at Shiro as he prepares to escape with Lotor's unconscious body. However, she can't make herself shoot him.
