Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 17 – “Please pray for us. Please pray for me.”

Recap: Voltes V: Legacy, Episode 17 – Rise Armstrong Brothers

The Voltes teams’ biosigns are heading into the critical stage as CBF is taking on more direct hits. Dr. Mary Ann makes her way through the chaos and out onto the tarmac. She thinks of Papa Armstrong as she finds a vacant fighter jet to hop into.

In the command center, Major Kelly tells Dr. Smith that all their available pilots have been deployed. But they detect one fighter jet with an unidentified pilot flying straight towards the Beastfighter. Dr. Smith is shocked when they contact the pilot and it is Dr. Mary Ann on the other end.

Dr. Mary Ann apologizes to Dr. Smith for not being able to follow his orders this time. But she says she must help Voltes V and especially her children. Commander Robinson orders her to return to base, but Dr. Mary Ann says not to discount what a mother can do. She cannot leave her children on their own like this and she will do everything she can to help them.

Dr. Mary Ann asks Dr. Smith and Commander Robinson to tell her children she loves them. She closes the communication line.

Tomas asks Dr. Smith if they can override the autopilot system of the fighter jet. But Dr. Smith and Commander Robinson say she has alpha clearance and cannot be stopped.

Meanwhile, the Voltes team continues to struggle against Vaizanger while the shield at CBF has now completely failed. The Voltes team gain some hope when they see the fighter jet approaching them. Steve tries to contact the pilot, “Whoever you are, you’re just putting yourself in danger.”

Dr. Smith can suddenly contact the Voltes team and informs them the pilot is their mama.

“Let my sons go!”

Mama Armstrong unleashes a barrage of missiles at Vaizanger. She maneuvers around Voltes V as the Armstrong Bros beg Dr. Smith to call her back to base. Dr. Smith and Commander Robinson try contacting Dr. Mary Ann once more. But she pushes forward. “Don’t do it! It’s suicide!”

Vaizanger shoots lasers out of its eyes and hits the tail wing of Dr. Mary Ann’s jet. Dr. Smith pleads with her to abort mission. But the Voltes team watches as her damaged fighter jet glides in front of them.

Mama Armstrong finally opens the communication lines to tell her children that she loves them. The Armstrong Bros are bawling their eyes out as they see their mother fly the fighter jet right into Vaizanger’s mouth.

The impact explodes in the Beastfighter’s face and is enough to break its hold on the chains wrapping Voltes V.

Major Kelly informs Dr. Smith that they have lost the signal from the fighter jet. “What did you do?!” Dr. Smith asks. Commander Robinson says Dr. Mary Ann did what any mother would do; save her children.

Jamie says it’s kahanga-hanga to see what a mother was able to do for her children. Mark, however, says she did not have to do that.

The Voltes team turns their attention back to Vaizanger. Steve tells Little Jon to cry later. Right now, they must be even stronger.

Steve channels his anger at the Beastfighter. Voltes V bodyslams Vaizanger as Steve tells his brothers they will avenge their mother.

They whip out the Laser Sword, charge up and deliver the final blow before Vaizanger can deliver a decisive attack on Camp Big Falcon.

Vaizanger is destroyed, much to the shock of the Boazanians.

The Armstrong Bros resume their crying, the Voltes team absorbing what has just happened.

Zardoz is enraged. He asks if their new palace is complete and Zuhl says yes. They retreat back to their home away from home. CBF lets out a few missiles as the Skull flies away.

Later, the Voltes teams arrives back at CBF. They look out at the sunset, crying for their dead mother.

Commander Robinson and Major Kelly watch the brothers, saying they feel sorry for them. Major Kelly says they must be losing heart. But Commander Robinson says he is sure they will rise up after they let out all their tears. They will avenge their mother and protect their planet.

The brothers stand up and look out over the ocean. Jamie and Mark join them as CBF honors Dr. Mary Ann.

Episode Thoughts

It’s the big episode everyone’s been waiting for… dreading. Both! A movie edit might have been a bit better without the very obvious commercial cuts stifling the feels. But the episode nonetheless captured the heavy emotions of a mother’s sacrifice and her children’s grief.

Having the episode focused on that without any extra stuff like unnecessary cuts back to the Boazanians or some random quips from minor characters was good.

This episode was all about the Armstrong Family. What’s interesting is Mama Armstrong stubbornly, though valiantly hopping into a fighter jet to sure death is very much something she’d do, based on what we’ve seen from her in the 16 episodes previous. She’s the kind of person who would do everything for her family even if she wishes they can just live quiet, normal lives.

Like they’ve discussed before, it’s destiny and fate for their family. And this was just one piece of that destiny. A tragic piece, but an important one at that.

Also nice to see some foreshadowing with Mark’s character it seems.

Bravo to Ms. Carla Abellana. Perfectly cast as Mama Armstrong. And the Voltes team did great as well with their reactions. The right amount of heft too from Albert Martinez and Gabby Eigenmann. So great performances all around. And excellent visuals, of course.

Overall, definitely one of the stronger episodes of Voltes V: Legacy. It’s not going to be the kind of episode we’ll see often. But certainly will be a high point in the series.

Voltes V: Legacy Episode 17 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!

I’ve seen people talk about how people worldwide should subscribe to GMA Pinoy TV in order to watch the series. I’d recommend that if you are interested in watching lots of Filipino programming. But if you only want to watch Voltes V: Legacy, I don’t think it’d be a good investment. Especially since you can’t watch the series on demand anyway. GMA Pinoy TV is a linear, premium TV channel on most cable and satellite systems.