For Alteans, it is a good bit longer than a human lifespan; we can live for quite a few centuries easily. I imagine though that Zarkon had been using stolen quintessence- life energy- to extend his beyond normal means.
As for myself... [The air around Allura grows dimmer.] The Castle of Lions is equipped with healing pods. Not only can they repair extensive injuries within reason, they can be used to keep one in cryogenic statis for a very long time. When Altea was attacked, my father put me and our advisor Coran in two of the pods and sent the castle to a planet outside our solar system. Then hid the Lions of Voltron so Zarkon couldn't obtain Voltron. When the paladins found the Blue Lion and it brought them to the castle, they woke us up... We discovered that ten thousand years had passed... and that all the planets in Altea's solar system had been destroyed.
no subject
As for myself... [The air around Allura grows dimmer.] The Castle of Lions is equipped with healing pods. Not only can they repair extensive injuries within reason, they can be used to keep one in cryogenic statis for a very long time. When Altea was attacked, my father put me and our advisor Coran in two of the pods and sent the castle to a planet outside our solar system. Then hid the Lions of Voltron so Zarkon couldn't obtain Voltron. When the paladins found the Blue Lion and it brought them to the castle, they woke us up... We discovered that ten thousand years had passed... and that all the planets in Altea's solar system had been destroyed.