Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 3 – Hrothgar

Hrothgar and the other slaves reach the spaceship hangars, but are met by Boazanian soldiers. They fight their way through with Hrothgar getting into one ship while Magus and other remaining slaves hop into another one. They take off, but fighter ships pursue them over the capital city.

Magus’ ship is hit and badly damaged, so he pleads with Hrothgar to go on without them. Hrothgar refuses to leave them behind, but Magus says he is their only hope so he must survive. Magus’ ship explodes and Hrothgar vows to return to free the alipins.

Hrothgar flies into space and away from Boazan. He prays to his dead wife and mother to guide him to where he needs to be.

As he zooms through the galaxy, Hrothgar flashes back to Boazan.

He is speaking with his mother Fadsa and Doctor Baden who are concerned Hrothgar’s helping of the slaves will run afoul of the other maharlikas. But Hrothgar just can’t stand by and watch the slaves be continually mistreated, especially when he is one of them.

Hrothgar’s mother asks him to lower his voice, lest someone hears them. But Hrothgar yanks his horns off and says this is his truth, that he is a horn-less alipin as well. Mama Fadsa pleads with her son to put the horns back on and Doctor Baden asks him to think about them as they will also be in trouble for having kept the secret.

Just then, Rozalia comes across the scene and is shocked by what she has just witnessed. Hrothgar tries to explain and says everything that she knows of him is true, expect for his horns. Doctor Baden had made the false horns for Hrothgar so that he would not be seen as an alipin by others.

Doctor Baden explains that they did this not to deceive, but to protect Hrothgar.

Hrothgar says he understands if Rozalia decides to leave him or even report him to the authorities. But Rozalia, in tears, says she would never leave the man she loves with all her heart.

Hrothgar abruptly awakens from his dream when the ship’s alarms go off. He is in an asteroid field and must quickly maneuver his way to safety. But the ship hits one of the asteroids and begins a freefall toward Planet Earth.

On the ground, a woman is walking by the seashore when she sees the spaceship crash into the water. She hurries over and finds Hrothgar on the beach.

The woman is shocked to see that aliens are real. She approaches Hrothgar who regains consciousness. In Boazanian language, Hrothgar asks for help and tries to assure her that he has no bad intentions. Realizing the woman cannot understand him, Hrothgar presses a button behind his ear and can now speak perfect Tagalog before he loses consciousness again.

Meanwhile on the other side of the galaxy, Zambojil has Baron Zander searching for Hrothgar on other nearby planets. Currently on the planet Helios, Baron Zander reports no sign of him. But Zambojil still orders his forces to kill every single being on Helios in order to serve as a warning to other planets who might even think of harboring Hrothgar.

Back on Earth, Hrothgar wakes up in an isolation unit on a Philippine military base. When Hrothgar attempts to get up from the bed, one of the soldiers keeping watch over him shoots at his arm.

The woman who saved Hrothgar, a doctor, comes running in and orders the soldiers to lower their weapons. The soldier is shocked to hear Hrothgar speaking Tagalog and he explains that his peoples are able to understand any language because of their high intellect. The doctor tells the soldiers to call the general.

The doctor asks Hrothgar if he is hurt, but he says he was only grazed by the bullet and is unharmed. In fact, he is able to pull it right out of his arm. The doctor is fascinated with everything about Hrothgar. She assures him that he is safe here on Earth and introduces herself as Mary Ann.

Hrothgar introduces himself and says he is from Boazan, his home planet that has been turned into an oppressive world by a greedy emperor. He warns Dr. Mary Ann that Earth is in danger of being one of the planets the Boazanian Empire intends to conquer.

Later, Dr. Mary Ann and Hrothgar head to the New Defense Group headquarters where they meet Dr. Richard Smith, a leading expert in alien studies and advanced robotics and Colonel Oscar Robinson, deputy commander of the New Defense Group.

Hrothgar says Earth’s defenses, right now, are no match for the Boazanians. That’s why they will work together to develop a new form of defense against the impending invasion.

Episode Thoughts

A good episode. I definitely enjoyed the battle at the start and all the spaceship action too.

But again with my nitpick from yesterday, the grunts and groans from the dead soldiers were louder than the explosions and blasts. I mean, I don’t think the reason it bothers me is just that I’m used to Koichi Sakamoto’s toku explosions. But there’s just something off with the way the impact sounds are muffled or even muted compared to the other sounds. And I think that’s definitely something in post-production. Obviously, considering blasters don’t actually exist in real life lol

But I think to make the action scenes really more blood-pumping and exciting, the sounds have to match the visuals. And that hasn’t happened in these two episodes so far.

But other than that, everything else has been solid. I liked the flashback to Rozalia finding out about Hrothgar. And also a little bit more about where Hrothgar is coming from with his empathy for fellow slaves.

Though it was short, it was a great performance from Max Collins. Together with her short moment in Episode 2 also, it’s great to see how Hrothgar had a strong woman who loved him behind him and supporting him as well. It’s those kinds of character moments that help to add the emotional depth that will in turn support the big action.

But wait, why spoil the Zardoz plot point in the preview! Come on now! lol

It was good to see how horrible Zambojil is with him ordering the genocide of entire planets. Being able to truly hate a villain like him makes their ultimate demise all the more satisfying!

And seeing Dennis Trillo and Carla Abellana together again was great and really helped to forge that instant connection between the kind doctor and Hrothgar. I look forward to seeing their relationship develop. And Dr. Mary Ann seems like a fun character too. I love that she has that kind of eagerly fascinated personality. A little quirky, but well-meaning. It should help add a lot to when she becomes a mother and then to the moment when she… well. I mean, it’s in the trailer so. Lol

Overall, a good Episode 3. They need to stop putting spoilers in the previews though! But otherwise, I am enjoying the world building so far.

Voltes V: Legacy Episode 3 is available on GMA Network’s official YouTube channel:

However it is restricted to the Philippines only. Hopefully it will be made available worldwide soon!