Friends! Paladins! Slipperies-Havers! Lend me your eyeballs! The following is a recap of Voltron: Legendary Defender season two episode eight, “The Blade of Marmora.” By its very nature it will be full of spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled, go watch the episode and then come back. If you do want to be spoiled, well then God bless you.

Well, “Space Mall” was a nice respite from all the dark stuff in season two of Voltron: Legendary Defender… for the most part. Sure, Shiro had his mental duel with Zarkon, but everybody else got to go be weird in a mall. But the rest was brief, because episode 8, “The Blade of Marmora,” finally put the Voltron crew in the lion’s den of seemingly the only group capable of being a true ally, or possibly a massive trap. Certainly Princess Allura believed the latter, but it ended up being much more about Keith than I or anyone else could have predicted.

As the episode opened, Castle Ship was heading toward the coordinates for the base of the Blade of Marmora given to them by Oolas. Pidge was particularly excited to meet the people who had created a fold in space time to hide just a tiny outpost; what would their whole base look like?! Astonishingly, the base was in maybe the most fortified place in the universe: nestled inside a blue star being held in place between two opposing black holes. Pretty cool place for a secret base, you gotta admit. They send a hail and the Blade says only two of them can go…unarmed. Keith and Lance argue about who gets to go with Shiro, but Keith ultimately won, because the Red Lion is the only one that can withstand the star’s heat.

In the Lion, Shiro asked Keith why he was so harsh with the others, and laid the bomb on him that Shiro wants Keith to lead should the worst happen—the worst, I feel, is DEFINITELY, going to happen, guys. Keith apologized for his outburst and swore to be better. BUT, that didn’t last too long at all, because when the two paladins stood before Kolivan, the leader of the Blade of Marmora, Keith’s anger flared up. See, the Blade were incredibly dubious of any newcomers, even if they’re the frigging PALADINS OF VOLTRON, and they immediately knew that Keith had brought the dagger to ask about his past. Keith won’t leave without answers, and Kolivan said the only way would be the Trials of Marmora. Only two possible outcomes of this: knowledge or death.

And these Trials of Marmora? Friends, they were intense. Keith first had to fight a single member of the Blade; when given the option to leave or continue, he naturally wanted to keep going, despite his disadvantage. He was met with “You are not meant to go through that door,” and then two Blade members appeared. After fighting them, same question, then three new ones appeared. This went on for some time, and eventually, after still refusing to give up, Keith made his way down one of the trap doors from which the Blades entered. Here, he was met with “Shiro,” who was actually another warrior wearing a hologram device which showed Keith exactly who he most wanted to see. The fake Shiro told him he was being selfish and should give up or be ousted from Voltron. Keith again wanted to know his true past.

That is some harsh crap, but he pressed on. Next, he was put into a hallucinatory world in which Keith was suddenly in his childhood home, and a vision of his father told him he’d learn all the truths he needed once his mother got home. But outside the house, the Galra fleet were attacking. The Red Lion, sensing its paladin was in danger, began attacking the base, which caused the Castle Ship folks up in space to get very nervous. Keith ultimately decided he had to leave, and he awoke from the dream to find the real Shiro helping him up. Kolivan appeared and told him once again to give up the dagger, and Keith finally said that this mission was about forging an alliance and alliances are built on trust (not hope, sorry Jyn Erso), and freely offers the dagger. However, this awakened the ancient Galra magic inside, causing the dagger to become a full sword. Kolivan was shocked, saying that the only way this would have happened is if Galra blood flowed through Keith’s veins. UHHHH WHAAAAAAAT?!?

Kolivan travels with Shiro and Keith back to the Castle Ship where the Blade of Marmora leader finally removes his mask and bows to Princess Allura. He tells them—which we saw earlier in the episode—that Witch Haggar had been interrogating the Galra brass looking for the spy. She interrogated Commander Thace, who is the actual spy, but he was able to fool her magic. However, Kolivan said they’d have to begin the next stage of their plan…right now.

This was one of the more plot-heavy episodes, but was incredibly satisfying. Keith hadn’t been the focus of any episodes thus far, but he kept asking questions and worrying about his dagger. The revelation that Keith must be part Galra is incredibly shocking; it means that the Galra at one point had reached Earth long before the moon incident that led to Shiro’s abduction. I’m also very certain Shiro will be on his way out and Keith will become the new leader. And what will the Galra-hating Allura do when she finds out Keith has that heritage? AH! So much.

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Images: DreamWorks/Netflix

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!