The Voltron Force is back! Voltron: Legendary Defender‘s sixth season arrives on Netflix this Friday, and the uneasy alliance between the Voltron Coalition and Prince Lotor’s Galra Empire means practically anything could happen in the coming episodes.
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ComicBook.com caught up with executive producers and showrunners Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos, who reminded us of where Voltron left off last season and hinted at where it’s heading next.
“So Lotor has now become the rightful emperor of the Galra Empire, but unfortunately not every citizen of the Galra Empire is on board with that,” Montgomery explains. “So they have a very fractured empire. It’s basically a civil war within the Galra. And the Voltron coalition is just trying to work with Lotor, to regain as much peace within the universe as they can.
“And that’s where we left things off,” Dos Santos chimes in. “Lotor obviously still has more to be revealed, and I think that was a big sort of element of his personality that we kind of left hanging, that we want people to feel a little uneasy as to what exactly his plans are.”
As an epic space opera with an ensemble cast of heroes, it isn’t hard to imagine the challenge of keeping track of every character’s personal story arc, and interweaving narrative threads, and making sure every fan’s favorite character gets ample screen time.
“Yeah, it’s difficult for sure,” Montgomery admits. “We just try to make sure that at least the most important foreground characters are getting service. We’re not gonna be able to give every single background character their whole arc, or anything. Unfortunately, we ended up with a show where we already had like seven main characters from day one.”
“Yeah, it’s tricky,” she continues. “We have some people kind of step into the spotlight for a moment. Some people kind of hang in the background for a while, but we try not to let anyone go too long without some sort of a moment.”
In fact, with Shiro now returned and Allura stepping up to become a Paladin of Voltron, the Voltron Force now actually has more Paladins than it does Lions to pilot. The trailer for the new season teased Keith’s return to active duty as a member of the Voltron Force. As to whether there’s a way for all of the Paladin’s to be active at the same time, Montgomery would only say, “I think there is a way. I think that way is very spoiler-filled, but I think Shiro is… He’s in the show, and he’s not going anywhere.”
“You know, it is tough with a show like this,” Dos Santos adds, “and with a fandom that sort of has the ability to kind of pick their favorite. You’re bound to kind of leave a little segment wanting more from their specific character. Luckily I will say that we’ve got media outside the show itself that can serve as some of that stuff. And if something really resonates, and lands within the fandom, I don’t think anybody would be opposed to seeing those storylines told in different mediums.”
Dos Santos specifically noted the Lion Forge Comics series and gestured towards a greater expansion of the Voltron media line. “Lion Forge, you know, and above and beyond. Who knows what else is to come? The sky’s kind of the limit with that stuff.”
He did clarify that this isn’t a tease of an upcoming announcement, but “just [him] being hopeful that they start making Voltron novels and stuff.” He specifically pointed to the Blade of Marmora as an example of something that could carry a line of novels.
But there’s still story left to be told on the Netflix series itself. Dos Santos says they’re “pretty far along” with the overall story they set out to tell, “but not so far along that we would give away how much more we have to go,” with Montgomery adding that “[t]here’s still some more story to be told is what we’re trying to say.”
In the meantime, Montgomery and Dos Santos just hope fans are enjoying the ride.
“I hope people really enjoy the upcoming season,” Montgomery says. “I know we’re really proud of where it ends up. I think there’s gonna be a lot of questions answered in these last seven episodes of this arc, and I hope it resonates with them on some level.”
“Yeah, agreed,” adds Dos Santos. “We’re super stoked that it’s happening. And we’re really, really proud of this one. We’re proud of them all, but this one, in particular, it’s got a bunch of really cool stuff coming up.”
Are you excited for more Voltron? Let us know in the comments section!
Voltron: Legendary Defender Season Six arrives on Netflix June 15th.
