Streaming sites have resurrected a lot of beloved properties over the years. Netflix isn’t just saving cancelled television shows; they’re also adapting fan favorite stories. They’re bringing the likes of The Baby-Sitters Club to a new generation, but they’ve also brought back familiar animated properties like She-Ra and Voltron.
For eight seasons, and just a few short years, Voltron: Legendary Defender brought a new version of the story to the streaming site. Five paladins became pilots of Voltron’s lions, learning about the surprising history of the universe while they fought to save it. One of those was Katie Holt, who used the alias Pidge Gunderson to get into the Galaxy Garrison - a deception that eventually led to Voltron’s green lion.
10 How Is Pidge Piloting The Green Lion Significant?
Each of the Voltron lions forms a connection with the paladins that pilot them. Over the course of the different versions of the series, many of the lions have been piloted by different alien races, and by both men and women. The green lion was one of the exceptions until the most recent season. It had never been piloted by a woman.
Pidge was originally a male character in the first version of the story - and every subsequent version of the story after that. Voltron: Legendary Defender marked the first time the character was a female character in disguise, but also marked the first time the green lion was ever piloted by a female character.
9 Why Have Fans Come To Consider The Character Non-Binary?
Pidge Gunderson was initially a disguise donned by Katie Holt to get back into the Galaxy Garrison and figure out what happened to Katie’s brother and father. Even after Pidge decided to come clean about their identity to the other members of Voltron, they never become the Katie Holt seen via flashback again, which is one reason some fans have come to see Pidge as a non-binary character.
The other major reason is that Bex Taylor-Klaus, the actor who provided Pidge’s voice for the series, publicly came out as non-binary in 2018, just as the series was coming to an end. Out of respect for the actor, many fans have begun to consider Pidge the same way.
8 Who Was The First Voltron Team Member To Know Pidge’s Real Identity?
Though Pidge agonized over whether keeping the truth about who they were a secret from the team, it turned out many of the paladins already knew. While Keith and Hunk both claimed to know the truth without being told, Allura learned that Pidge was Katie from the mice. One paladin knew even before that.
Shiro actually worked with both Sam and Matt Holt. He was on the mission in which they were all kidnapped by the Galra. Shiro was able to deduce Pidge’s real identity long before the others as a result, but never betrayed Pidge’s confidence to the rest of the team.
7 How Is Their Bayard’s Weapon Of Choice Different From The Other Paladins?
The bayards the paladins used in the series could be mentally transformed into any weapon they wanted. For the most part, the paladins stuck to using their one or two weapons of choice throughout the run of the series. All of the weapons had one thing in common: they were used offensively. The single exception was Pidge’s.
In addition to Pidge’s weapon having what was essentially a taser wand on it, it also acted as a grappling hook. The hook could be used defensively, allowing Pidge to escape their enemies or even restrain them.
6 What Is Their Star Sign?
Considering Pidge’s lion was the one most connected to the Earth, it’s surprising that Pidge wasn’t an earth sign. Instead, their April 3 birthday would make Pidge an Aries.
That particular sign has a personality marked by passion, motivation, and confidence. All of that seems pretty in line with someone who created a completely new identity to get into a military facility and find secret files about their family. It’s also pretty in line with someone who would decide to spend years in space to save their home planet from destruction.
5 Do They Actually Need Glasses?
Pidge was the only member of Team Voltron to wear glasses in the new series. Funnily enough, even Pidge didn’t need them!
Instead, the glasses were actually given to Pidge by Matt as a memento. When Matt began working for the Galaxy Garrison, he had a procedure done to repair his damaged eyesight. Pidge wore the glasses with fake lenses in Matt’s honor.
4 How Is Their Family Life Different In The Comics?
In the 2000s, a new version of the Voltron story was published in comic book form. That particular story still featured a teenage (and male) Pidge, but there was a big difference.
Instead of growing up on another planet with his brother (like in the previous cartoon), or being a member of a family tied to the space faring military (like in the modern version), Pidge was an orphan. This version of the character was abandoned outside of a convent at just six weeks old, though the series did hint that Pidge would eventually find some of his family if it had continued.
3 Why Is Pidge Building Chip Significant?
At the end of the series, Pidge was seen building a robot with Matt. They named him Chip and even gave him Matt’s old glasses. “Chip” could have been a reference to something like “microchip” given the Holt family’s love for technology, but it was actually an Easter egg for fans.
Chip was the name of Pidge’s brother in another incarnation of the series. In some versions, Chip and Pidge were twins. In the Devil’s Due comics, Chip and Pidge were teammates who joked about the possibility of being related.
2 What Is Their Age?
Pidge’s age was a bit of a head-scratcher for fans. Early discussion of the character by actors and critics put the character at 14-years-old when the series began. When The Paladin Handbook released, however, Pidge was listed as 15.
Shiro’s return to Earth marked a “one year later” time period for the series, and Pidge spent roughly another year traveling in space and helping save the universe. That would make the character 17-years-old at the end of the series if the book was correct. Regardless of whether fans placed the character at 14 or 15 when the series began, Pidge was still the youngest paladin.
1 Is Pidge Actually The Strongest Paladin?
Though Shiro and Keith were often lauded for their positions as the team leaders, Pidge could actually out maneuver both of them if necessary. Fans saw that first hand if they read the tie-in comics.
During the run of the series, three sets of comics that tied into the series were published. One in particular had all of the other paladins controlled by something that resembled a mushroom on Earth. Pidge was the only one not to be controlled, and they even managed to subdue all of their teammates. Pidge knew each member of Team Voltron well enough to be able to incapacitate them - even hacking into Shiro’s arm to use it against him.