The Fall of the Castle of Lions/Transcript

This is the transcript of the episode "The Fall of the Castle of Lions". Feel free to edit or add to this page, as long as it's officially coming from the episode.

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Next: Tears of the Balmera

The Fall of the Castle of Lions

The Greatest Weakness

The Voltron Alliance

[In the Castle of Lions, the ARUSIAN KING tells his version of Voltron's battle against the Galactic Gladiator before a party of Arusians. Two groups of Arusians act as either combatant.]

Arusian King: "The monster fell from the sky! It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!"

[The Arusians pretending to be the Robeast knock down the other Arusians pretending to be Voltron.]

Arusian King: "... No. I said, Voltron was victorious!"

[The Arusians end the battle accurately. The Arusians cheer.]

ALLURA: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for that... wonderful production. It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe."

[ALLURA gives the ARUSIAN KING an Altean communicator.]

ALLURA: "Your Highness... please accept this gift. This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help. Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance."

Arusian King: "Hoorah!"

[The ARUSIAN KING holds up the communicator; the Arusians cheer. HUNK approaches KEITH and LANCE.]

HUNK: "We ought to get something like that."

LANCE: "Like what?"

HUNK: "You know, like, a cheer. Like, a team cheer that we do."

LANCE: "Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay. How about, uh... I say 'Vol' and you say 'Tron.' Vol—!"

KEITH: "Uh... Vol-tron?"

LANCE: "No! No, no, no, no, no. The cheer includes the instructions. I say 'Vol' and you say..."

KEITH: "... Vol-tron?"

LANCE: "... We'll work on it."

[KEITH shrugs at HUNK. LANCE drinks Nunvill and is disgusted.]

LANCE: "Coran, what is this?"

CORAN: "Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods."

LANCE: "It tastes like hot dog water and feet."

CORAN: "Yeah, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well."

[CORAN sprinkles Nunvill on his mustache and it grows luxurious. LANCE retches; KEITH and HUNK prod at him until he falls. CORAN approaches SHIRO, who is watching the Castle's entrance.]

CORAN: "Not feeling well? Try some Nunvill. Settles the stomach and brightens your smile."

SHIRO: "I'm not sure we should be letting everyone wander in and out of the Castle like this. It doesn't seem safe."

CORAN: "Oh, these Arusians won't hurt anything—"

[CORAN sees Arusians playing with a hover platter.]

CORAN: "... Much."

[CORAN cringes at the sound of them crashing.]

CORAN: "Besides, it's only fair to let them see the inside of a Castle that's been sitting on their planet for so long."

SHIRO: "But who knows when Zarkon will attack again? I'm going to do a perimeter check, just in case."

[SHIRO exits the Castle.]

The Commander Lives

[Near the Castle of Lions, SENDAK watches the Castle with HAXUS.]

HAXUS: "Commander Sendak, the Sentries are in position around the Arusian village."

SENDAK: "Luck is on our side. Look, the Castle defenses are down. The door is wide open. With all these Arusians coming in and out, it should be nothing for you to infiltrate."

[HAXUS spies PIDGE With ROVER.]

HAXUS: "I may not have to. Look. The small one has a Galra drone they've repurposed. If I can just get close enough to clone its signature code, I can send our bomb drone in undetected."

SENDAK: "I knew you would not disappoint me, Haxus."

[HAXUS leaves for the Castle.]

An Uncertain Team

[In the Castle vestibule, ALLURA watches the Paladins with the Altean Mice.]

ALLURA: "Look at them, the new Paladins of Voltron. The fate of the universe is on their shoulders."

[KEITH drinks Nunvill but finds it foul so he spits it out on HUNK. HUNK turns away and then reveals Arusian food stuck to his eyes.]

HUNK: "Ow, my eyes!"

[KEITH and HUNK laugh; ALLURA is unimpressed.]

ALLURA: "... I must portray strength, so no one can tell how concerned I am about the fate of our mission."

[The blue mouse with red eyes squeaks.]

ALLURA: "Let's... keep that a secret."

[The mouse squeaks again.]

ALLURA: "Who else has secrets?"

[The blue mouse with red eyes uses another mice as a demonstration.]

ALLURA: "Hunk tried to eat what? That is rather amusing. What other secrets?"

[The blue mouse with blue eyes pretends to be LANCE shooting things and posing.]

ALLURA: "That seems like Lance."

[The blue mouse with blue eyes pretends to look adorable.]

ALLURA: "Pidge is a what!?"

[ALLURA watches PIDGE secretly put alien food in a backpack and pick an ear with a stick, sniff it, and retch.]

ALLURA: "Hmm... Are you sure?"

[The mouse nods.]

ALLURA: "I'm getting to the bottom of this."

[LANCE and HUNK are talking at the party.]

LANCE: "I guess we should get used to this space juice. Who knows when we'll get back home again?"

HUNK: "Yeah, if ever."

LANCE: "What do you mean?"

HUNK: "I mean, if this Zarkon guy has been ruling for 10,000 years, how long do you think it will take for us to fix it? You know, if we live."

LANCE: "Right. That."

[HUNK looks at the alien food he's grabbed.]

HUNK: "Hey, what do you think the chances are of us landing on a nacho planet?"

LANCE: "Well, there's only one planet with Veradera Beach, ^[sic] pizza shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots and... my mom's hugs..."

[LANCE starts to tear up.]

LANCE: "I'm sorry. I think this Nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go."

[LANCE leaves HUNK confused; CORAN witnesses.]

The Detective Princess

[ALLURA approaches PIDGE who is followed by ROVER.]

ALLURA: "So, Pidge, we haven't had a chance to really... talk. Tell me about yourself."

PIDGE: "Hmm... Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I hate peanuts. They're so dry. Also, I sweat a lot. I-I mean, in general, unrelated to the peanuts."

[PIDGE tries to walk away. ALLURA intervenes.]

ALLURA: "I-I suppose I was thinking of something a little more personal?"

[ALLURA winks.]

ALLURA: "We have a lot in common."

[PIDGE is unimpressed.]

PIDGE: "Like what?

ALLURA: "Oh, well... Both of us had our fathers taken away by Zarkon."

PIDGE: "Yeah, but I'm going to get mine back."

[ALLURA looks pained. PIDGE realizes how harsh that that statement was.]

PIDGE: "Augh... Sorry. I-I really didn't mean to—"

ALLURA: "No, I understand. I just want you to know that you can confide in me. If there's anything you ever want to talk about..."

[PIDGE is silent.]

ALLURA: "... Anything."

PIDGE: "Huh? ... Okay. I do have something to tell you."

[ALLURA is overjoyed.]

ALLURA: "I had a feeling~! What is it?"

PIDGE: "I'm leaving Team Voltron."

[ALLURA is a about to speak, expecting something else entirely. She stops.]

ALLURA: "Wait, what?!"

PIDGE: "I decrypted the information from the Galra ship about where my family might be, or at least where they were. I've made up my mind. I'm leaving tonight."

ALLURA: "Pidge, you can't. You're one of five Paladins. You have a sacred trust to defend the universe."

PIDGE: "My first priority is to find my family! I thought you of all people would understand. If you had a chance to get your father back, wouldn't you?"

[ALLURA frowns.]

PIDGE: "I'm sorry. I should go tell everyone else."

[PIDGE walks away and finds SHIRO outside the Castle.]

PIDGE: "Shiro? I need to talk to you."

[PIDGE approaches SHIRO. HAXUS hides among the rocks nearby and scans ROVER for its code.]

HAXUS: "Signature code cloned."

[SHIRO is led inside by PIDGE. HAXUS reconfigures the bomb drone with ROVER's signature.]

HAXUS: "Bomb activated."

[HAXUS leaves as the bomb drone heads inside the Castle.]

The Galra Strike

Where to Call Home

[LANCE sits forlornly in the Bridge of the Castleship. CORAN approaches.]

CORAN: "Mind if I join you?"

LANCE: "How far away from Earth do you think we are, Coran?"

CORAN: "Let's take a look."

[CORAN brings up a holographic map of the universe to show LANCE.]

CORAN: "Earth is over here. And we're aaaaaaall... the waaaaay... oveeeeer..."

[CORAN moves the map and still does not reach ARUS.]

LANCE: "You ever notice how far the planets are from each other, Coran?"

CORAN: "Yes. Haven't you been paying attention?"

[LANCE approaches the map; Coran stops.]

LANCE: "Yeah, but I mean, like, they're really, really far away. Like, say, Earth? It's so far, I can't even see it. The... The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass... I c—-I-I... I can't see any of it."

CORAN: "You miss Earth. I understand. I miss Altea."

LANCE: "I know we're supposed to be brave Paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever, but, honestly? I just want to go home."

CORAN: "If I could go home, I would."

LANCE: "I miss rain, and splashing in puddles."

CORAN: "Rain?"

LANCE: "Yeah. It's water that falls from the sky?"

CORAN: "Oh, we had that on Altea. Only, it wasn't water, more like rocks. Razor-sharp and boiling-hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head."

LANCE: "Sounds fun."

CORAN: "Yeah."

[The bomb drone moves through the Castle. PIDGE is speaking with the rest of the team in the halls.]

SHIRO: "Pidge, no...!"

PIDGE: "The download from the Galra ship was enough to at least get me in the right direction to start my search. I have a pod all ready to go."

[KEITH approaches PIDGE.]

KEITH: "You can't leave!"

PIDGE: "You can't tell me what to do!"

KEITH: "If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family. All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families."

HUNK: "Yeah, I have a family. They live on Earth. I want to be with them. Is that—Is that, like, a thing that can happen?"

ALLURA: "You want to leave, too?"

HUNK: "Of course I do. Look, Voltron is super-cool, don't get me wrong, but I never signed up for a lifetime in space fighting aliens."

[KEITH is enraged and aggressively closes in on PIDGE.]

KEITH: "YOU'RE PUTTING THE LIVES OF TWO PEOPLE OVER THE LIVES OF EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY—!"

[SHIRO grabs KEITH by the arm.]

SHIRO: "—Keith! That's not how a team works. People have to want to be a part of it. They can't be forced."

[KEITH silently relents. SHIRO turns to PIDGE.]

SHIRO: "If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you. But, please, just think about what you're doing."

[PIDGE looks conflicted, but remains firm.]

PIDGE: "I'm sorry. You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion."

[PIDGE leaves with ROVER.]

ALLURA: "I can't believe it. This team is falling apart. How will we ever form Voltron?"

Crippled Power

[The Galra bomb drone enters the Bridge; LANCE and CORAN are leaving.]

LANCE: "Hey, Rover."

[The Galra bomb drone ignores LANCE and heads to the Power Crystal. LANCE stops.]

LANCE: "Wait... Where's Pidge?"

[LANCE looks at the drone and gasps as it prepares to explode.]

LANCE: "Coran, look out!"

[LANCE launches himself at CORAN as the drone explodes and destroys the Power Crystal so the Castle loses power. The blast is felt throughout the Castle of Lions. The Arusians flee to their village. The rest of the team gathers in the Bridge to find CORAN unharmed.]

SHIRO: "What happened?!"

CORAN: "Ugh... I'm not sure."

[Smoke clears; ALLURA sees the Power Crystal destroyed.]

ALLURA: "The Crystal!"

[The team sees LANCE unconscious.]

ALLURA: "Lance!"

[SHIRO holds LANCE.]

SHIRO: "Lance...? Lance!"

PIDGE: "We have to get Lance to the infirmary!"

ALLURA: "Without the Crystal, the Castle has no power."

SHIRO: "He doesn't look good."

[The ARUSIAN KING enters.]

Arusian King: "Lion warriors, our village is under attack! We need help!"

KEITH: "Let's get to the Lions!"

ALLURA: "You can't. They're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless."

Arusian King: "Will you not help us?"

KEITH: "We'll help you. We just—"

[LANCE groans in pain.]

HUNK: "This is bad."

CORAN: "We have to get a new Crystal to get the Castle working again. But, to get a new Crystal, we need a ship."

PIDGE: "The pod I was loading, we can use that! I left the bay door open."

CORAN: "I can use the scanner in the pod to see if there's a Balmera nearby. Hunk, you come with me. I'll need someone big to help me carry the Crystal."

HUNK: "A Balmera?"

CORAN: "It's where the Crystals come from. I'll tell you about it on the way!"

[HUNK, PIDGE, and CORAN leave for the flight pod.]

KEITH: "I'll go see what's happening at the Arusian village."

ALLURA: "I'll go with you, Keith. I brought this on the poor Arusians."

SHIRO: "I'll tend to Lance and stand watch over the Castle."

[ALLURA and KEITH leave with the ARUSIAN KING. In the Flight Pod Hangar, CORAN and HUNK are in a flight pod.]

CORAN: "It's our first bit of luck. There's a source not too far. We won't need a Wormhole to get there, thankfully."

PIDGE: "I made some modifications to the shuttle. The first change is a cloaking device that I reverse-engineered from the invisible walls on the Training Deck. The second is a tank of booster fuel that I mounted on the fuel line."

CORAN: "Using that during flight would turn the whole pod into a bomb!"

[HUNK looks terrified.]

PIDGE: "Okay. Maybe you shouldn't use that modification after all."

HUNK: "We ready to hit it?"

CORAN: "Right. Let's go."

[The flight pod prepares to take off. PIDGE gives HUNK and CORAN a thumbs-up.]

PIDGE: "Good luck."

[HUNK gives PIDGE a thumbs-up. The flight pod leaves the Castle.]

The Castle Taken

Shiro vs. Sendak

[SHIRO is carrying LANCE to the Castle's entrance. LANCE is unconscious.]

SHIRO: "Hang on, buddy. Help is on the way."

[SHIRO sees SENDAK approaching.]

SHIRO: "Sendak!"

[SHIRO lays LANCE down and meets SENDAK in front of the Castle.]

SENDAK: "Stand aside."

SHIRO: "No! You're not getting in."

[SHIRO activates his prosthetic arm and prepares to fight.]

SENDAK: "Yes, I am."

[SHIRO furiously battles SENDAK. Both throw a punch and end up locked at the knuckle.]

SENDAK: "I see you spent some time with the Druids. They do love to experiment. Too bad you didn't get the latest model."

[SENDAK launches his gauntlet to send SHIRO back inside the Castle. They continue to fight and end up poised with each other's glowing hand against their throats.]

HAXUS: "Let him go or your friend won't make it!"

[SHIRO sees LANCE is still unconscious and has been captured. SENDAK strikes SHIRO unconscious.]

SENDAK: "Voltron is ours."

[SENDAK leaves for the Bridge. PIDGE is still in the Castle and witnessed the fight.]

PIDGE: "Oh, no."

[PIDGE leaves to elsewhere in the Castle.]

The Castle Falls

[KEITH, ALLURA, and the ARUSIAN KING arrive at the burning Arusian village.]

ALLURA: "What's happening?"

Arusian King: "Look! Attackers!"

[The ARUSIAN KING points to Galra Sentries standing among the flames and explosions.]

KEITH: "I'll go in for a closer look. Stay here with them."

ALLURA: "Keith!"

[KEITH dives into the fray and approaches the Sentries. He sees they are broken decoys.]

KEITH: "What? Oh, no. They tricked us!"

[KEITH speaks to ALLURA through her communication earrings.]

KEITH: "It was just a diversion to separate us and thin the Castle defenses!"

[ALLURA looks in shock towards the Castle. Inside, the Galra hook up their own Power Crystal to the Castle of Lions.]

SENDAK: "Power up the Castle."

[The Castle of Lions powers up in Galra violet. A computer screen shows all the Voltron Lions are in place.]

SENDAK: "The Lions are all in their bays. Raising particle barrier. Begin launch sequence."

[The particle barrier activates, preventing KEITH and ALLURA from entering in time. KEITH slams his fist on the barrier.]

KEITH: "We're too late... No!"

ALLURA: "They have control of the Castle. They're taking Voltron!"

[SENDAK is in the Castle Bridge.]

SENDAK: "Make contact with Emperor Zarkon."

[HAXUS brings up ZARKON on screen.]

ZARKON: "Sendak."

SENDAK: "My mission is complete. I've captured the Altean castle, along with all of the Voltron Lions. I am currently preparing for launch and will be delivering them all to you shortly."

ZARKON: "This news is most pleasing. You have done your duty. Vrepit Sa!"

SENDAK: "Vrepit Sa!"

[The transmission ends.]

SENDAK: "Haxus, ready the Castle for takeoff."

HAXUS: "Yes, Commander."

[Outside, KEITH summons his Bayard into form.]

KEITH: "Can we break through the barrier?"

ALLURA: "No. And whoever has taken the Castle has a Crystal, which means they'll be able to fly the ship. We have to stop them."

KEITH: "How are we going to do that?"

[PIDGE contacts KEITH through his helmet.]

PIDGE: "Keith, can you hear me?"

KEITH: "Pidge! Is that you? Where are you?"

PIDGE: "I'm inside the Castle. Sendak has taken over and he's preparing for launch. He's got Lance and Shiro."

ALLURA: "Pidge, listen. If they've started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before liftoff to stop it."

PIDGE: "What do I have to do?"

ALLURA: "You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the Central Energy Chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system. That might give us enough time to find a way to stop them."

[PIDGE pulls up a map of the Castleship from the Paladin armor and heads off to do as instructed.]

A Living Planet

[CORAN and HUNK arrive at the Balmera.]

HUNK: "Is this the Balmera planet with the crystals?"

CORAN: "It's not a planet. Balmera are ancient animals. Petrified, but still alive. Their bodies naturally create the crystals that help power many Altean ships. I often accompanied my grandfather to visit these majestic creatures when he was building the Castle of Lions. I'll never forget the first time I saw the sparkling surface of a Balmera. You're in for quite a treat."

[The Balmera looks nothing like the sparkling image CORAN brings up on screen.]

CORAN: "Oh, no... This is horrifying. The Galra have turned this into a mining colony! Oh, they're completely destroying it! They have no regard for the poor creature!"

HUNK: "Uh-oh. We've been spotted."

[A patrolling Galra fighter jet detects them and tails them.]

FIGHTER JET: "Hailing unidentified craft. State your ship ID, entry code, and landing destination."

HUNK: "Oh, no. What do we do?"

CORAN: "Just stay calm."

[CORAN radios the fighter jet.]

CORAN: "We don't really need to land. Uh, we're just looking around, if that's okay."

FIGHTER JET: "Unidentified craft, land immediately and prepare to be boarded."

CORAN: "Okay. Uh, thank you. See you down below."

[CORAN ends the transmission and instantly takes off in reverse, pulling some crazy piloting to escape that makes HUNK scream. The fighter jet fires lasers.]

CORAN: "Not done yet. Hang on!"

[CORAN sends the flight pod diving into a mining hole at full speed. HUNK continues to scream.]

HUNK: "Coran! Coran!"

[The hole continues as HUNK screams. He finally calms as nothing happens.]

HUNK: "... ... How deep is this thing?"

[A Galra structure appears in their path.]

HUNK: "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no—!"

[The flight pod speeds too fast to avoid the structure and collides, spinning into a crash landing at the bottom of the hole. The flight pod opens; HUNK looks around and sees two pairs of glowing eyes staring at them.]

HUNK: "Coran, what lives at the bottom of these mines?"

The Last Paladin

[On Arus, PIDGE forces entry into an elevator shaft with the drone ROVER.]

PIDGE: "Hey, Rover."

[ROVER follows PIDGE inside the shaft and hovers in place.]

PIDGE: "Okay, Rover, here we go."

[ROVER follows PIDGE down the shaft to the bottom. SENDAK and HAXUS are still in the Bridge.]

SENDAK: "Run main cluster activation sequence."

HAXUS: "Activation sequence initiated. Powering up for launch."

[PIDGE reaches the Central Energy Chamber where the engine is.]

PIDGE: "Okay, Allura, I'm near the turbine. I think it's started."

ALLURA: "Then you'll have to hurry. Cross the catwalk to the main column in the center."

[PIDGE does as instructed.]

PIDGE: "Okay."

ALLURA: "Now, open the hatch. Find the central computer control hub and enter the following sequence..."

PIDGE: "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Which one is it? All the labels are in Altean!"

[In the Castle's Bridge.]

HAXUS: "Commander Sendak, we are ready for launch."

[The launch starts and energy swells the chamber, disrupting the communication channel between ALLURA and PIDGE.]

PIDGE: "I can't tell which one it is! Allura? Allura? Uh..."

[Outside, ALLURA and KEITH witness the impending launch of the Castleship.]

ALLURA: "I've lost connection with Pidge! Oh, no! It's taking off!"

[PIDGE panics to find a solution.]

PIDGE: "Uh... Uh... Whatever."

[PIDGE slams the Green Bayard into the engine turbine, being thrown back, but successfully interrupting the launch.]

HAXUS: "The main engine just shorted out!"

[SENDAK pulls up a feed of the Central Energy Chamber and sees PIDGE fleeing.]

SENDAK: "We have a saboteur. Find him and take him out."

[Episode ends.]