From the very beginning of Voltron: Legendary Defender, we’ve known that the lions were created by the Altean King Alfor, the late father of Princess Allura, and that they were scattered all across the galaxy in order to avoid being found and utilized by the evil Galra Emperor Zarkon. We also learned that Alfor and Zarkon were both paladins themselves, piloting the red and black lions, respectively. What we didn’t know is what it was like when Voltron was new, nor did we know why the broke apart and Zarkon went crazy.

Luckily, thanks to Voltron season three‘s final episode, “The Legend Begins,” we got all of this delicious backstory, summed up by our trusty/weird Altean consigliere, Coran (voiced by Rhys Darby). In the following clip from the episode, we find out what happened.

(Be warned, this clip is the literal ending of season three, so obviously there are spoilers.)

Zarkon sat out almost the entirety of the season (due to having his butt handed to him by Voltron in the season two finale) but “The Legend Begins” finally gave him some screen time, and some much needed backstory. Up to this point, Zarkon was just an angry bad guy, who wanted universal dominion, and wanted the black lion–and by extension Voltron itself–back in his clutches. But this episode shows that he wasn’t always that way, that the paladins of Voltron were once friends from different planets, and that Zarkon, even if he was a bit intense, wanted peace in the universe.

But like most good villains, he was corrupted, and in this case it was his addiction to Quintessence, the mystical power that binds the universe together. He and his wife became dependent on it, and thus were lost, becoming the evil emperor and Haggar the witch that we know. Honestly, finding out Haggar’s devotion to Zarkon is because she was his wife, lost to the power of the Quintessence, is as major a revelation as finding out last season that she’s part Altean.

Voltron started out with such good intentions, but was lost, and two planets were destroyed because of a rift between two friends. Let’s hope that no such rift besets our heroes in current times, especially not the rift between universes that Prince Lotor hopes to exploit. We’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out what happens, and we truly can’t wait for it!

How have you liked Voltron season three? What do you expect to happen in season four? Let us know in the comments below!