Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 8 – Destiny to Fulfill
Dr. Smith and Colonel Robinson stand in the hangar, marveling at the Voltes V robo. They wish Ned were here to see his creation almost complete. Dr. Smith offers to celebrate this moment with a bottle of whiskey, but Col. Robinson says he has a meeting to get to.
As they leave, Little Jon secretly teleports into the hanger using one of his inventions and gets a look at the big robo for the first time.
But soldiers catch him and bring him to Mama Mary Ann. She wants to know how he was able to get into a restricted area, but Little Jon asks her if Papa Ned created Voltes V.
Mama Armstrong asks the soldiers to leave and confirms to Little Jon that yes, Papa Armstrong is the brains behind the big robo.
Little Jon asks his mother to allow him to be part of the Voltes team. He wants to honor his father and even in this little way, wants to get to know him through working with the team.
Dr. Smith arrives in the room and hears Little Jon as he pleads with his mother, saying he is capable of undergoing training.
“Maliit lang ako, but my mind is not!”
Little Jon says he’s not like other kids. Mama Armstrong doesn’t like hearing him talk like this and reminds him there are protocols in place here at CBF. He can’t just waltz into restricted areas.
Dr. Smith says he’s not surprised Little Jon was able to make his way onto the viewing deck. Little Jon apologizes. Mama Armstrong asks Little Jon to step outside.
Dr. Mary Ann says Little Jon probably used one of his inventions to get in. And Dr. Smith points out that he’s inherited Ned’s intelligence. He asks if she’s noticed her other sons having special abilities too and she says no.
Dr. Smith says the Armstrong Bros are different from Jamie and Mark. They are special. And they must have a destiny to fulfill like Ned.
Back at the training bardagulan, the cadets are wrapping up by beating the specialists to a pulp. Mark swoops in to save Jamie from a specialist trying to sneak up on her. They and Bert hurry up the hill, thinking Steve has already reached the top.
But Steve is just waking up and sees the bullet stuck on the surface of his skin. He is able to pull it out of his shoulder and hurries up the hill.
Next day, the Armstrongs are having breakfast. Little Jon asks his brothers about training. Bert says it’s really hard so Little Jon should stay away from it. Mama Armstrong agrees and also hopes that Steve and Bert decide against becoming soldiers and choose to be a doctor or lawyer instead.
Steve takes this opportunity to tell his mother about being shot last night.
“Weh! Eh bakit buhay ka pa ngayon, kuya?”
Bert and Little Jon laugh at the idea. But Steve tosses the bullet on the table and sternly asks his mother what the meaning of it is.
Mama Armstrong gets up from the table to cut up some fruits, trying to avoid the conversation. Steve repeats the question and asks why he and Bert never get injured or even cuts or bruises when the other cadets all look like a mess. They even point out Little Jon’s intelligence. Little Jon adds that Bert is also good at eating a lot too.
Steve gets up and asks his mother why they are so different. Mama Armstrong says nothing is wrong with them. They should even be happy that they’re different and says maybe it’s the vaccines and booster shots they got when they were younger.
Little Jon said those are only to prevent them from getting sick, not to make them bullet and bugbog-proof.
Mama Armstrong says she, their father and Dr. Smith developed an experimental vaccine that would add strength in people. So they injected them with the vaccine since Papa Armstrong and Dr. Smith wanted to involve the boys in the EDF all along.
Steve asks if they injected others too, but Mama Armstrong says they had to stop when they realized it could be used for nefarious purposes. So that’s that. And she asks them to not tell anyone else about what she’s revealed.
Later when they’re alone, the Bros discuss how it’s hard to believe their mother’s explanation. Little Jon says he doesn’t believe it since their parents and Dr. Smith aren’t pharmaceutical scientists. Steve pretends that he thought exactly the same thing.
Steve merely thinks their mother is keeping secrets from them. Little Jon says the answers are in their genes.
Somewhere in the universe, Zardoz and Co. are slowly making their way to Erthu. Zandra reports to Zardoz that their journey will take six months, or four months Boazan time. Zardoz orders Zuhl to find an even faster way to arrive. He is eager to conquer Earth. Draco reminds Zardoz though that usually, the one that hurries too much often stumbles. Zardoz thanks him for the reminder.
Later, Zandra joins Zardoz and gives him some facts on Erthu like how it is mostly water compared to Boazan which is mostly land. She says it’s a beautiful planet and believes it will be of great use to them.
Zardoz reveals that Hrothgar hid on this planet and wonders where exactly he lived while away. Zandra wonders if Hrothgar had a family on Erthu, especially since he shares many similarities with the people of the planet and would be able to blend in.
Zardoz takes a moment to process these new thoughts. But Zandra takes this opportunity to get even closer to him. She asks Zardoz to call her Najme, or star, when they’re alone together. He likes it.
Later, Zandra and Zuhl have found a way to speed up travel time to just one month.
Zardoz is looking forward to finally arriving on the planet that served as the haven for the father he hates so much.
Episode Thoughts
Okay! A much more palatable episode today. Lol I think this was probably the best non-action focused episode so far.
A lot of great character moments for pretty much all of the characters.
First, I think it was the best display of who Zardoz is so far. In a way, you aren’t too sure about his true feeling deep down. But you can see that he is a motivated leader who wants to take charge and will not back down from what he sets his mind to. At the same time, there’s that little, tiny space where his hesitation and possible feelings of longing for his father reside. And I hope the series is able to pry open that space in the future. It would really add a lot to Zardoz’s story and definitely give a lot of material for (here we go again!) the rest of the 80 episodes.
Meanwhile, again, the best scenes of the episode though were anything with Little Jon. It was really great to see him sneak into the hangar and then plead his case to Mama Armstrong. Him being a cute little kid definitely endears himself to us the audience. You can’t help but root for him. But at the same time, you of course understand what Mama Armstrong is thinking and feeling too. So it’s a great dynamic. And add in Dr. Smith being BFF, it’s really fun to watch.
With Steve and Bert, they take a step back from their KP ways. And while you can argue that Steve was being pretty bratty to his Mama during breakfast, it’s a reasonable concern to have after just being shot.
Also, did anyone else notice Bert going MMA on an unconscious soldier behind Mark and Jamie. Like WTF bro!
Now, my nitpick is they should have showed them getting beat up or knocked down last episode a little more and then showed that they weren’t getting injured or cut or anything like that. Maybe spread that out over a few episodes to foreshadow the big moment that Steve gets shot, but not get hurt. Then that would make Steve’s worry or confusion feel more urgent. And have them wonder about themselves more.
Also, I’m happy to have found there’s a small contingent of Mark and Jamie fans on the internets! Team #MaMie it is! Woohoo! It was great to see that little moment between them at the training. I would love to see Jamie save Mark next and then Mark save Jamie again and rinse and repeat! Yay!
Elsewhere, there’s no need to point out the excellent visuals every day. That’s already a given. So every episode, there’s wonderful things to appreciate in terms of creative direction and production.
Overall, this was the strongest episode of the last couple of days.
Voltes V: Legacy Episode 8 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!
As of this post, they’ve posted the episode in three parts:
The single video upload of the episode (again, available only in the Philippines) will come tomorrow, Philippine time. I guess.
You might be able to watch the episode via the recorded GMA livestream on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9o4imIZBbo
But it’s also now been restricted to the Philippines only. They’re trying their hardest to prevent people from watching the show! lololol