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The Core

2012-06-07T10:54:37Z

1.162.57.96: /* Trivia */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=28
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=49
|prev2=Cosmic Rust (episode)
|next2=Blaster Blues
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=7
|prev3=The Autobot Run
|next3=Dinobot Island, Part 1
|image=TheCore Devastator zapped.jpg
|caption=
|title="The Core"
|production code=#700-27
|airdate=[[October 29]], 1985
|written by=[[Dennis Marks]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron tries to drill his way to the center to the Earth, while the Autobots take control of Devastator with mind-controlling Dominator Discs.'''

:''Japanese title:'' デバスターを倒せ! (''Devastor o Taose!'', "Defeat Devastor!")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:''' "'''Erde in Gefahr'''" ("Earth in Danger")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''O Núcleo'''
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Al centro della Terra''' ("To the center of Earth")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il nucleo''' ("The core")
:''Russian title'': '''Ядро''' (''Yadro'', "The Core" )
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Coredevastatorattacks.jpg|left|175px|thumb|"Devastator use boulder as ball and Autobots as pins!"]]

At an underground cavern near a waterfall, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] are digging with a massive drill. However, the rock they're drilling through breaks, and only some quick work on [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]'s part plugs it up. [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders Mixmaster to look over [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]]'s sensory equipment, while [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] does his daily whine-about-Megatron's-nefarious-plan bit. Megatron counters that if they manage to tap into the Earth's molten core, it will give the [[Decepticon]]s geothermal energy, a limitless power source. Starscream counters that if they breach the core, the Earth runs the risk of exploding. However, Megatron doesn't care: he's placed a [[space bridge]] near the drilling site, which will take the Decepticons to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] if the Earth's stability should be threatened.

[[Image:Coreautobotsinnet.jpg|right|175px|thumb|This is the worst tent ever!]]

Meanwhile, [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Gears (G1)|Gears]], [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]], and [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] are driving around in that general area, when Sunstreaker realizes that there should be a river where they're driving through. The Autobots head to investigate, and see Mixmaster and Scavenger. The Autobots [[Transformation|transform]] to attack, only to see that the Constructicons have disappeared, and to fail to notice [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] above them. Informed by [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]], Megatron orders the Constructicons to destroy the Autobots and form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The Decepticon [[combiner]] knocks the Autobots off the cliff, but Mirage goes invisible on them. He remains undetected as Devastator attacks the others, and finds the drill. As Mirage rejoins the group, Jazz does a [[sound and light show]] which distracts Devastator, allowing Mirage and Sunstreaker to lasso his legs with a rope, allowing the Autobots to escape.

[[Image:Coredevastator%26prime.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Devastator has no idea how to start transforming 20th Anniversary Prime.]]

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], the Autobots use [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] to calculate what will happen if the drill hits the Earth's core. The result will be total annihilation, but the Autobots have little hope of defeating the Decepticons with Devastator. [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Chip Chase]] present [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] with their new [[dominator disc]]s, which will be placed on the individual Constructicons and take control of them when they form Devastator. Convinced, Optimus Prime orders a commando team to plant the discs on the Constructicons. Heading for the drilling site, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] freezes the falls, causing the drill to heat up. [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] orders the Constructicons to the surface, during which the Autobots plant a disc on each Constructicon. As the commandos are pulled out, Starscream has them dead to rights, but Megatron orders him to let them pass, saying that he knows of their plan to control Devastator. As Megatron positions the Decepticons, he orders the Decepticons to attack. The Decepticons fire on the still moving Autobots, who break formation, as the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] transform to [[bring the rain]] on the Autobots. Megatron orders the Constructicons to form Devastator, who grabs Prime. Wheeljack activates the discs, and Optimus orders Devastator to release him. Devastator follows the Autobot leader's orders, and attack the Decepticons. Megatron orders the Decepticons to retreat to the cave, and Devastator seals them in. Optimus orders the Autobots to break off, as they can finish the Decepticons at their leisure.

[[Image:Corediagramscene.jpg|right|175px|thumb|I didn't know the Earth's centre was made from green layers.]]

Within the caverns, Starscream whines about being trapped, not having enough water to keep drilling, and so on. However, Megatron reveals that this was all part of his plan: he has a device that will override the dominator discs and stored enough water to continue drilling for some time. He just didn't tell Starscream because he's a terrible actor. At the Autobot base, the Constructicons are helping with repairs, when an earthquake hits. Realizing that the Decepticons are still drilling, the Autobots head to put them out of commission. However, Megatron is aware of their coming, watching them through the Constructicons' eyes. The Autobots and Devastator head for the cave, and Devastator is set to destroy it, at which point Megatron uses his control switch to deactivate the discs. Devastator begins attacking the Autobots, so Wheeljack tries to boost power to the discs. Unfortunately, this fries Devastator's [[Circuits|logic circuits]] and sends him into a killing frenzy, attacking both Autobot and Decepticon alike.

[[Image:Coremegs%26wheeljack.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Take off your clothes and come on in!]]

Finally, the drill hits the core, and the cave—and the earth itself—begin to come apart. Unfortunately, Devastator's rampage has damaged the drill's controls. Megatron orders the Decepticons to the space bridge, but Devastator damages it. Optimus convinces Megatron to give his control switch to Wheeljack, who uses it to deactivate the discs and bring Devastator back to normal. Devastator then heads to destroy the drill, while the Decepticons flee for their [[Spark|lives]]. Devastator succeeds, but is surprised by Megatron's absence. Chip tells Devastator that he ran, but Devastator believes that "Noble Megatron" merely left to plan their next attack and leaves (he really is as dumb as a post). Chip is somewhat saddened, as he was hoping that Devastator would join the Autobots. Optimus tells him not to let go of his dreams.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (8)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (9)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (10)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (11)
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (12)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (17)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (19)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (20)
* [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (24)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (25)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (26)
|c2=
* [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (1)
* [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (2)
* [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (3)
* [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
* [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (5)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (7)
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (13)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (14)
* [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (15)
* [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (16)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (21)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (22)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (23)
|c3=
* [[Chip Chase]] (18)
}}

==Quotes==
"Autobots, move out!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', thinking he outranks Jazz and Prowl.

"It's like shooting [[dynametal duck]]s in a beryllium barrel."
:—'''Starscream''' wonders if they store [[beryllium baloney]] in beryllium barrels.

"Traitor!"
:—'''Starscream''' to Megatron. No, you read that right.

"I do this only for the benefit of my Decepticons. It grieves me that you may also profit."
:—'''Megatron''', agreeing to ally with the Autobots and lying through his teeth (he's doing it to save his own chassis).

"What's the matter, Chip?" 
"I guess I was hoping Devastator might join the Autobots for good, but that's probably just a dumb old dream." 
"Hang on your dreams, Chip. The future is built on dreams. Hang on."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' gives '''Chip Chase''' valuable words to live by.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
This being one of the Season 2 AKOM episodes, many characters have unusual color schemes which persist through the entire episode. This includes:
* Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray.
* Gears' truck mode is red with blue fenders instead of blue with a red camper top. His white robot bits are colored light gray.
* Prowl is a light gray instead of white.
* Optimus Prime's backpack is white instead of red.
* Chip has a blue jacket instead of brown. This is ''good'', though. It means that, unlike a lot of cartoon humans, he actually changes clothes.
* The circle on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow.

Errors not attributable to model sheets include:
* It seems unlikely that the metal ring surrounding the drill would fracture in exactly the same way as the rock surrounding it.
* Hook's first transformation is bizarre. His crane-mode cab just kind of disappears into his stomach... only to reappear as his foot a second later.
* Scavenger's voice gives the "emergency!" lines that follow, but Scrapper is shown. It's not clear from the animation who's actually speaking, though.
* When the Constructicons are all shown zapping the fissure shut, all the other cracks are gone.
* Subsequent shots of the drill show no trace of the Constructicons' ad hoc ground repairs. Did they pave them over??
* Missing Seeker insignia:
** When he's first seen sitting at the console, Starscream is missing the Decepticon emblems on his wings.
** Starscream has only one wing emblem as he watches Megatron walk through the holographic rock wall.
** The Seekers are all missing their wing emblems as the Decepticons launch their counterattack on the approaching Autobots in the canyon.
** Starscream's missing his wing emblems yet again as he turns and says "You thought of everything".
** Starscream's got only one emblem as he runs crying to Devastator for help. Seriously, how hard is it to keep track of two emblems?
* It's not indisputably an error, but Starscream's hand makes none of the typical whirring/sliding noises as he retracts it and replaces it with the drill (which, holy cow, where does he ''keep'' that thing?)
* The animation of the Autobots driving up the slope out of the riverbed is crude and mistimed—Mirage drives all the way into the slope before he tilts to start climbing it. The other Autobots all tilt up as a group, even though they're in a line.
* Laserbeak's missing his transformation sound as he returns to Soundwave's chest compartment after sighting the Autobots.
* As Laserbeak plays back the Autobots' words, a second voice seems to be echoing Jazz's "Constructicons!"
* As the Constructions all transform to vehicle mode, both Hook and Mixmaster suffer from their feet failing to become the corresponding part of their vehicle modes. All of the Constructicons have completely changed positions from where they were standing in the preceding shot.
* The boulder that Devastator uses against the Autobots is never seen to hit bottom.
* As usual, Devastator's combination sequence is screwed up. In addition to lacking any transformation noise, Long Haul only forms about half of his actual contribution, with Hook getting the rest. At least they got the other four guys correct!
* Three of the Constructicons are shown monitoring the drill, while at the same time Devastator is outside fighting the rest of the Autobots. In the same scene, Starscream's missing one of his wing emblems yet again.
* As Devastator falls from Sunstreaker and Mirage's snare, he has two eyes instead of his usual visor.
* Wheeljack has some strange white areas on his head when he's first seen inside Autobot Headquarters.
* The center line on Scrapper's face mask disappears as he orders the Constructicons to the surface.
* The Constructicons' elevator isn't animated, making them appear to just levitate into the air in vehicle mode. A whirring effects noise, and a lack of glow effects, makes it seem that this was ''not'' supposed to be the levitation beam used earlier by Starscream and Megatron. A second later, however, they ''do'' drive off the levitation beam, complete with glow effect.
* There is ''no way'' Ironhide has room for that much of the water-freezing liquid inside him.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
** Ironhide is shown retreating into the cage at the bottom of the cliff, even though he was never shown to have left the top of the cliff. He seems to have taken Sunstreaker's place. As the cage begins to rise, Sunstreaker reappears (with a strangely miscolored or off-model head), but Jazz is missing.
** The roster of Autobots on the return mission to the cave fluctuates all over the place. Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide and Sideswipe are shown leaving Autobot HQ (and Devastator apparently just sits there while the Autobots move out!) When they arrive at the cave, Hound and Wheeljack have replaced Prowl and Ironhide. After Chip is trapped in the cave, Ratchet shows up among Devastator's victims. After the commercial break, Ironhide is back with the group. As the earthquakes begin, Sunstreaker shows up out of nowhere to rescue Chip.
* Five Autobots fit inside Prime's pyramid cage, which then fits inside his trailer. Huge trailer, or tiny Autobots?
* As he ejects Ravage, the inside of Soundwave's chest compartment is bright yellow.
* Devastator's second combination sequence contains the same visual errors as the first one; plus, Hook's mass includes Bonecrusher's scoop.
* Once the Autobots subjugate Devastator, he's seen swatting Skywarp, but the next shot is of Thundercracker spinning out of control. Then Thundercracker immediately flies back in ''again'' and is swatted off, screaming in Starscream's voice. The shot following that has Skywarp standing with the other Decepticons.
* Wheeljack's roof is orange instead of white as Chip leans out his window.
* As Devastator blasts the Decepticons' cave shut, the frozen falls spontaneously unfreeze for no apparent reason.
* Bumblebee is with the cheering Autobots as Devastator flies out of the canyon, despite not being seen anywhere else in the episode.
* Again, the metal in Autobot Headquarters splits as though it were rock.
* After Hook repairs Jazz, he drives over to Devastator and transforms into ''nothing but his head''.
* When Devastator blasts the cave entrance open again, the falls are once again frozen!
* Skywarp and Starscream both have yellow nosecones as they transform back into robot mode en route to the space bridge.
* When the combined doohickeys zap Devastator back under control causing the Constructicons to disengage, the left arm transforms into Scrapper, while the right leg transforms into Bonecrusher.
* Megatron has a red Decepticon symbol when he orders the Constructicons to stop the drill.
* Third Devastator sequence: worst one yet! Scrapper's not really visible at all. ''Scavenger'' and Mixmaster form not only the legs but also half of Long Haul's bits (the same incomplete half that Long Haul himself formed the first time around!) Long Haul then ''splits in two'' to become the rest of Devastator's torso, including everything formed by Hook, ''and'' Bonecrusher and Scavenger's vehicle treads. Bonecrusher and ''Hook'' then form the arms. When he's finished forming, Devastator's torso plate is green instead of purple.
* Wheeljack's ears don't flash as he and Prime snicker at Chip's "Mr. Nobility" line.
* Though maintaining a consistent scale has [[Scale|never been a particularly important issue]] in Transformers fiction, this episode is a particularly notable offender, with Devastator's relative size fluctuating wildly: in some scenes Megatron appears to be almost half his height, whilst at other times the Autobots barely come up to the top of his ''foot''. In one scene, vehicle mode Bonecrusher seems to be almost as high as robot-mode Megatron. Chip's scaling is also wildly variable: when Sunstreaker rescues him from the cave, he appears knee-high to the Autobots, but in the very next scene he has suddenly become as large as Wheeljack.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron's assertion that the Earth's core is the richest source of energy in [[Milky Way|the galaxy]] is not even remotely true, even within the bizarre realm of the cartoon's physics. Heck, just within our own little [[solar system]], the [[Sun]] is immeasurably more potent.
* Why the heck is Sunstreaker giving orders to a group that includes Prowl and Jazz?
* What kind of tree branch (growing out of a cliff, no less) is strong enough to support a falling Transformer?
* Jazz and Sunstreaker both use wrist-rockets to lower themselves into the canyon. According to the tech specs, that's really supposed to be Wheeljack's schtick.
* How does freezing the waterfall stop the whole river? Wouldn't it make more sense to break the dam that's diverting the river upstream?
* How did the Constructions not notice the Autobots as they were placing the Dominator Disks on them?
* How ''did'' Megatron figure out the Autobots' strategy?
* Is Devastator ''really'' the only one who can stop the drill? Can't anybody just shoot the thing at its source?
* Why do the Constructicons all feel the need to simultaneously transform to robot mode (then have a little out-of-character heroic chat) when ordered to transform to Devastator? This is one of the episodes where they are assumed to need to be in vehicle mode—which they are already in—to combine.
* The whole countdown to the Earth's core, down to the ''second'', is patently ridiculous. The boundary of the Earth's core is not nearly so neatly defined. And penetrating it with such a comparatively tiny drill would be unlikely to shatter the planet.
* While counting down the time before the drill hits the Earth's core, Prime says 10 seconds, then Megatron says 1 second immediately thereafter. Somehow, 9 seconds disappear without any editing or time lapse. A lot more than 1 second elapses before Devastator destroys the drill.
* How did Devastator get all the way from near the earth's surface to near its core so quickly? How did he slow himself at the end to avoid crashing? And how did he withstand the heat down there, when his component parts [[Heavy_Metal_War|are not even very keen on ordinary lava]]?
* Where did the fleeing Decepticons think they were ''going'', anyway?

===Continuity notes===
*Megatron takes a jab at Starscream's acting abilities, which we witnessed just [[A Prime Problem|one episode ago]]. He's no [[Shia LaBeouf|Beef]], but hey, he's just starting [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|his]] [[Starscream's Ghost|career]] at this point.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Everyone's arms are completely hollow in this episode. One character after the next retracts their hands into their wrists:
*** Starscream reveals an improbably large drill in place of his retracted hand.
*** Mirage has a tow cable in his wrist.
*** Ironhide retracts his hands to fire an improbably huge torrent of blue liquid that freezes the waterfall.
*** Sunstreaker, Jazz, and Wheeljack all retract their hands and replace them with wrist-rockets. Wheeljack is ''supposed'' to be able to do this according to his tech spec, but it's never been explicitly shown before (he flew without retracting his wrists in "[[A Plague of Insecticons]]" and "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]".)
*** Jazz also has a grappling hook/tow line. Of all these gimmicks, this is the only one that's actually appeared before, way back in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]" and [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3|Part 3]].
** Hook uses his crane-mode hook as a welding tip.
** Starscream has a hand-held rifle which he attempts to use on the retreating Autobots after they place Dominator Disks on Devastator.

===Real-world references===
* ''Star Wars'' sound effects:
** As often happens, Laserbeak gets the TIE Fighter engine sound just after he flies over the Autobots.

===Trivia===
* Prime sure goes along with the notion of enslaving one of his enemies pretty readily, huh? What happened to his ol' "Freedom is the Right of All Sentient Beings" schtick?
* After all the fuss the others go through while getting into the canyon (wrist rockets, grappling hook slides), Prowl just ''jumps'' down.
* Jazz skips his dominator disk onto Scavenger, like skipping a rock on water. Stylish!
* When Megatron orders a retreat, cat-mode Ravage flies off into the air alongside his comrades.
* Megatron stops Starscream from sniping the Autobots as Optimus Prime reels them up the cliff, arguing that killing six Autobots would be pointless since he plans on having Devastator destroy all the Autobots at the right moment. When that moment comes, there are still only (give or take) six Autobots to be had. Should have gone with your gut, Starscream.
* This episode is one of a trio, including "[[City of Steel]]" and "[[The Autobot Run]]", that was animated by the Korean studio [[AKOM]]. They are distinguished by simplistic art, prominent use of the Constructicons, surprisingly high frame rates, some Hanna-Barbara-style animation shortcuts, and various character model oddities, such as Optimus Prime's white backpack (which would show up again in "[[The Rebirth, Part 1|The Rebirth]]") and Chip Chase's blue jacket... not to mention a ''crapload'' of animation errors. Sheesh, AKOM.
* Optimus Prime's last lines in this episode "The Future is Built on Dreams" is notable as [[Peter Cullen]]'s words of encouragement to a young fan of Optimus Prime in real lfe, dying of a terminal illness. To this day, when interviewed about this line, Cullen will invariably be moved to tears by it's memory. A true man amongst men, if there ever was one.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_core.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Core}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

The Core

2012-06-07T10:52:37Z

1.162.57.96: /* Trivia */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=28
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=49
|prev2=Cosmic Rust (episode)
|next2=Blaster Blues
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=7
|prev3=The Autobot Run
|next3=Dinobot Island, Part 1
|image=TheCore Devastator zapped.jpg
|caption=
|title="The Core"
|production code=#700-27
|airdate=[[October 29]], 1985
|written by=[[Dennis Marks]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron tries to drill his way to the center to the Earth, while the Autobots take control of Devastator with mind-controlling Dominator Discs.'''

:''Japanese title:'' デバスターを倒せ! (''Devastor o Taose!'', "Defeat Devastor!")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:''' "'''Erde in Gefahr'''" ("Earth in Danger")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''O Núcleo'''
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Al centro della Terra''' ("To the center of Earth")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Il nucleo''' ("The core")
:''Russian title'': '''Ядро''' (''Yadro'', "The Core" )
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Coredevastatorattacks.jpg|left|175px|thumb|"Devastator use boulder as ball and Autobots as pins!"]]

At an underground cavern near a waterfall, the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] are digging with a massive drill. However, the rock they're drilling through breaks, and only some quick work on [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]'s part plugs it up. [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders Mixmaster to look over [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]]'s sensory equipment, while [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] does his daily whine-about-Megatron's-nefarious-plan bit. Megatron counters that if they manage to tap into the Earth's molten core, it will give the [[Decepticon]]s geothermal energy, a limitless power source. Starscream counters that if they breach the core, the Earth runs the risk of exploding. However, Megatron doesn't care: he's placed a [[space bridge]] near the drilling site, which will take the Decepticons to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] if the Earth's stability should be threatened.

[[Image:Coreautobotsinnet.jpg|right|175px|thumb|This is the worst tent ever!]]

Meanwhile, [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Gears (G1)|Gears]], [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]], and [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] are driving around in that general area, when Sunstreaker realizes that there should be a river where they're driving through. The Autobots head to investigate, and see Mixmaster and Scavenger. The Autobots [[Transformation|transform]] to attack, only to see that the Constructicons have disappeared, and to fail to notice [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] above them. Informed by [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]], Megatron orders the Constructicons to destroy the Autobots and form [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The Decepticon [[combiner]] knocks the Autobots off the cliff, but Mirage goes invisible on them. He remains undetected as Devastator attacks the others, and finds the drill. As Mirage rejoins the group, Jazz does a [[sound and light show]] which distracts Devastator, allowing Mirage and Sunstreaker to lasso his legs with a rope, allowing the Autobots to escape.

[[Image:Coredevastator%26prime.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Devastator has no idea how to start transforming 20th Anniversary Prime.]]

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], the Autobots use [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] to calculate what will happen if the drill hits the Earth's core. The result will be total annihilation, but the Autobots have little hope of defeating the Decepticons with Devastator. [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Chip Chase]] present [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] with their new [[dominator disc]]s, which will be placed on the individual Constructicons and take control of them when they form Devastator. Convinced, Optimus Prime orders a commando team to plant the discs on the Constructicons. Heading for the drilling site, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] freezes the falls, causing the drill to heat up. [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] orders the Constructicons to the surface, during which the Autobots plant a disc on each Constructicon. As the commandos are pulled out, Starscream has them dead to rights, but Megatron orders him to let them pass, saying that he knows of their plan to control Devastator. As Megatron positions the Decepticons, he orders the Decepticons to attack. The Decepticons fire on the still moving Autobots, who break formation, as the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] transform to [[bring the rain]] on the Autobots. Megatron orders the Constructicons to form Devastator, who grabs Prime. Wheeljack activates the discs, and Optimus orders Devastator to release him. Devastator follows the Autobot leader's orders, and attack the Decepticons. Megatron orders the Decepticons to retreat to the cave, and Devastator seals them in. Optimus orders the Autobots to break off, as they can finish the Decepticons at their leisure.

[[Image:Corediagramscene.jpg|right|175px|thumb|I didn't know the Earth's centre was made from green layers.]]

Within the caverns, Starscream whines about being trapped, not having enough water to keep drilling, and so on. However, Megatron reveals that this was all part of his plan: he has a device that will override the dominator discs and stored enough water to continue drilling for some time. He just didn't tell Starscream because he's a terrible actor. At the Autobot base, the Constructicons are helping with repairs, when an earthquake hits. Realizing that the Decepticons are still drilling, the Autobots head to put them out of commission. However, Megatron is aware of their coming, watching them through the Constructicons' eyes. The Autobots and Devastator head for the cave, and Devastator is set to destroy it, at which point Megatron uses his control switch to deactivate the discs. Devastator begins attacking the Autobots, so Wheeljack tries to boost power to the discs. Unfortunately, this fries Devastator's [[Circuits|logic circuits]] and sends him into a killing frenzy, attacking both Autobot and Decepticon alike.

[[Image:Coremegs%26wheeljack.jpg|left|175px|thumb|Take off your clothes and come on in!]]

Finally, the drill hits the core, and the cave—and the earth itself—begin to come apart. Unfortunately, Devastator's rampage has damaged the drill's controls. Megatron orders the Decepticons to the space bridge, but Devastator damages it. Optimus convinces Megatron to give his control switch to Wheeljack, who uses it to deactivate the discs and bring Devastator back to normal. Devastator then heads to destroy the drill, while the Decepticons flee for their [[Spark|lives]]. Devastator succeeds, but is surprised by Megatron's absence. Chip tells Devastator that he ran, but Devastator believes that "Noble Megatron" merely left to plan their next attack and leaves (he really is as dumb as a post). Chip is somewhat saddened, as he was hoping that Devastator would join the Autobots. Optimus tells him not to let go of his dreams.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (8)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (9)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (10)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (11)
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (12)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (17)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (19)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (20)
* [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (24)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (25)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (26)
|c2=
* [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (1)
* [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (2)
* [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (3)
* [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
* [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (5)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (7)
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (13)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (14)
* [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (15)
* [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (16)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (21)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (22)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (23)
|c3=
* [[Chip Chase]] (18)
}}

==Quotes==
"Autobots, move out!"
:—'''Sunstreaker''', thinking he outranks Jazz and Prowl.

"It's like shooting [[dynametal duck]]s in a beryllium barrel."
:—'''Starscream''' wonders if they store [[beryllium baloney]] in beryllium barrels.

"Traitor!"
:—'''Starscream''' to Megatron. No, you read that right.

"I do this only for the benefit of my Decepticons. It grieves me that you may also profit."
:—'''Megatron''', agreeing to ally with the Autobots and lying through his teeth (he's doing it to save his own chassis).

"What's the matter, Chip?" 
"I guess I was hoping Devastator might join the Autobots for good, but that's probably just a dumb old dream." 
"Hang on your dreams, Chip. The future is built on dreams. Hang on."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' gives '''Chip Chase''' valuable words to live by.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
This being one of the Season 2 AKOM episodes, many characters have unusual color schemes which persist through the entire episode. This includes:
* Megatron's gun barrel is dark gray.
* Gears' truck mode is red with blue fenders instead of blue with a red camper top. His white robot bits are colored light gray.
* Prowl is a light gray instead of white.
* Optimus Prime's backpack is white instead of red.
* Chip has a blue jacket instead of brown. This is ''good'', though. It means that, unlike a lot of cartoon humans, he actually changes clothes.
* The circle on Bumblebee's back is dark gray instead of yellow.

Errors not attributable to model sheets include:
* It seems unlikely that the metal ring surrounding the drill would fracture in exactly the same way as the rock surrounding it.
* Hook's first transformation is bizarre. His crane-mode cab just kind of disappears into his stomach... only to reappear as his foot a second later.
* Scavenger's voice gives the "emergency!" lines that follow, but Scrapper is shown. It's not clear from the animation who's actually speaking, though.
* When the Constructicons are all shown zapping the fissure shut, all the other cracks are gone.
* Subsequent shots of the drill show no trace of the Constructicons' ad hoc ground repairs. Did they pave them over??
* Missing Seeker insignia:
** When he's first seen sitting at the console, Starscream is missing the Decepticon emblems on his wings.
** Starscream has only one wing emblem as he watches Megatron walk through the holographic rock wall.
** The Seekers are all missing their wing emblems as the Decepticons launch their counterattack on the approaching Autobots in the canyon.
** Starscream's missing his wing emblems yet again as he turns and says "You thought of everything".
** Starscream's got only one emblem as he runs crying to Devastator for help. Seriously, how hard is it to keep track of two emblems?
* It's not indisputably an error, but Starscream's hand makes none of the typical whirring/sliding noises as he retracts it and replaces it with the drill (which, holy cow, where does he ''keep'' that thing?)
* The animation of the Autobots driving up the slope out of the riverbed is crude and mistimed—Mirage drives all the way into the slope before he tilts to start climbing it. The other Autobots all tilt up as a group, even though they're in a line.
* Laserbeak's missing his transformation sound as he returns to Soundwave's chest compartment after sighting the Autobots.
* As Laserbeak plays back the Autobots' words, a second voice seems to be echoing Jazz's "Constructicons!"
* As the Constructions all transform to vehicle mode, both Hook and Mixmaster suffer from their feet failing to become the corresponding part of their vehicle modes. All of the Constructicons have completely changed positions from where they were standing in the preceding shot.
* The boulder that Devastator uses against the Autobots is never seen to hit bottom.
* As usual, Devastator's combination sequence is screwed up. In addition to lacking any transformation noise, Long Haul only forms about half of his actual contribution, with Hook getting the rest. At least they got the other four guys correct!
* Three of the Constructicons are shown monitoring the drill, while at the same time Devastator is outside fighting the rest of the Autobots. In the same scene, Starscream's missing one of his wing emblems yet again.
* As Devastator falls from Sunstreaker and Mirage's snare, he has two eyes instead of his usual visor.
* Wheeljack has some strange white areas on his head when he's first seen inside Autobot Headquarters.
* The center line on Scrapper's face mask disappears as he orders the Constructicons to the surface.
* The Constructicons' elevator isn't animated, making them appear to just levitate into the air in vehicle mode. A whirring effects noise, and a lack of glow effects, makes it seem that this was ''not'' supposed to be the levitation beam used earlier by Starscream and Megatron. A second later, however, they ''do'' drive off the levitation beam, complete with glow effect.
* There is ''no way'' Ironhide has room for that much of the water-freezing liquid inside him.
* Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
** Ironhide is shown retreating into the cage at the bottom of the cliff, even though he was never shown to have left the top of the cliff. He seems to have taken Sunstreaker's place. As the cage begins to rise, Sunstreaker reappears (with a strangely miscolored or off-model head), but Jazz is missing.
** The roster of Autobots on the return mission to the cave fluctuates all over the place. Prowl, Jazz, Ironhide and Sideswipe are shown leaving Autobot HQ (and Devastator apparently just sits there while the Autobots move out!) When they arrive at the cave, Hound and Wheeljack have replaced Prowl and Ironhide. After Chip is trapped in the cave, Ratchet shows up among Devastator's victims. After the commercial break, Ironhide is back with the group. As the earthquakes begin, Sunstreaker shows up out of nowhere to rescue Chip.
* Five Autobots fit inside Prime's pyramid cage, which then fits inside his trailer. Huge trailer, or tiny Autobots?
* As he ejects Ravage, the inside of Soundwave's chest compartment is bright yellow.
* Devastator's second combination sequence contains the same visual errors as the first one; plus, Hook's mass includes Bonecrusher's scoop.
* Once the Autobots subjugate Devastator, he's seen swatting Skywarp, but the next shot is of Thundercracker spinning out of control. Then Thundercracker immediately flies back in ''again'' and is swatted off, screaming in Starscream's voice. The shot following that has Skywarp standing with the other Decepticons.
* Wheeljack's roof is orange instead of white as Chip leans out his window.
* As Devastator blasts the Decepticons' cave shut, the frozen falls spontaneously unfreeze for no apparent reason.
* Bumblebee is with the cheering Autobots as Devastator flies out of the canyon, despite not being seen anywhere else in the episode.
* Again, the metal in Autobot Headquarters splits as though it were rock.
* After Hook repairs Jazz, he drives over to Devastator and transforms into ''nothing but his head''.
* When Devastator blasts the cave entrance open again, the falls are once again frozen!
* Skywarp and Starscream both have yellow nosecones as they transform back into robot mode en route to the space bridge.
* When the combined doohickeys zap Devastator back under control causing the Constructicons to disengage, the left arm transforms into Scrapper, while the right leg transforms into Bonecrusher.
* Megatron has a red Decepticon symbol when he orders the Constructicons to stop the drill.
* Third Devastator sequence: worst one yet! Scrapper's not really visible at all. ''Scavenger'' and Mixmaster form not only the legs but also half of Long Haul's bits (the same incomplete half that Long Haul himself formed the first time around!) Long Haul then ''splits in two'' to become the rest of Devastator's torso, including everything formed by Hook, ''and'' Bonecrusher and Scavenger's vehicle treads. Bonecrusher and ''Hook'' then form the arms. When he's finished forming, Devastator's torso plate is green instead of purple.
* Wheeljack's ears don't flash as he and Prime snicker at Chip's "Mr. Nobility" line.
* Though maintaining a consistent scale has [[Scale|never been a particularly important issue]] in Transformers fiction, this episode is a particularly notable offender, with Devastator's relative size fluctuating wildly: in some scenes Megatron appears to be almost half his height, whilst at other times the Autobots barely come up to the top of his ''foot''. In one scene, vehicle mode Bonecrusher seems to be almost as high as robot-mode Megatron. Chip's scaling is also wildly variable: when Sunstreaker rescues him from the cave, he appears knee-high to the Autobots, but in the very next scene he has suddenly become as large as Wheeljack.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron's assertion that the Earth's core is the richest source of energy in [[Milky Way|the galaxy]] is not even remotely true, even within the bizarre realm of the cartoon's physics. Heck, just within our own little [[solar system]], the [[Sun]] is immeasurably more potent.
* Why the heck is Sunstreaker giving orders to a group that includes Prowl and Jazz?
* What kind of tree branch (growing out of a cliff, no less) is strong enough to support a falling Transformer?
* Jazz and Sunstreaker both use wrist-rockets to lower themselves into the canyon. According to the tech specs, that's really supposed to be Wheeljack's schtick.
* How does freezing the waterfall stop the whole river? Wouldn't it make more sense to break the dam that's diverting the river upstream?
* How did the Constructions not notice the Autobots as they were placing the Dominator Disks on them?
* How ''did'' Megatron figure out the Autobots' strategy?
* Is Devastator ''really'' the only one who can stop the drill? Can't anybody just shoot the thing at its source?
* Why do the Constructicons all feel the need to simultaneously transform to robot mode (then have a little out-of-character heroic chat) when ordered to transform to Devastator? This is one of the episodes where they are assumed to need to be in vehicle mode—which they are already in—to combine.
* The whole countdown to the Earth's core, down to the ''second'', is patently ridiculous. The boundary of the Earth's core is not nearly so neatly defined. And penetrating it with such a comparatively tiny drill would be unlikely to shatter the planet.
* While counting down the time before the drill hits the Earth's core, Prime says 10 seconds, then Megatron says 1 second immediately thereafter. Somehow, 9 seconds disappear without any editing or time lapse. A lot more than 1 second elapses before Devastator destroys the drill.
* How did Devastator get all the way from near the earth's surface to near its core so quickly? How did he slow himself at the end to avoid crashing? And how did he withstand the heat down there, when his component parts [[Heavy_Metal_War|are not even very keen on ordinary lava]]?
* Where did the fleeing Decepticons think they were ''going'', anyway?

===Continuity notes===
*Megatron takes a jab at Starscream's acting abilities, which we witnessed just [[A Prime Problem|one episode ago]]. He's no [[Shia LaBeouf|Beef]], but hey, he's just starting [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|his]] [[Starscream's Ghost|career]] at this point.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Everyone's arms are completely hollow in this episode. One character after the next retracts their hands into their wrists:
*** Starscream reveals an improbably large drill in place of his retracted hand.
*** Mirage has a tow cable in his wrist.
*** Ironhide retracts his hands to fire an improbably huge torrent of blue liquid that freezes the waterfall.
*** Sunstreaker, Jazz, and Wheeljack all retract their hands and replace them with wrist-rockets. Wheeljack is ''supposed'' to be able to do this according to his tech spec, but it's never been explicitly shown before (he flew without retracting his wrists in "[[A Plague of Insecticons]]" and "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]".)
*** Jazz also has a grappling hook/tow line. Of all these gimmicks, this is the only one that's actually appeared before, way back in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]" and [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3|Part 3]].
** Hook uses his crane-mode hook as a welding tip.
** Starscream has a hand-held rifle which he attempts to use on the retreating Autobots after they place Dominator Disks on Devastator.

===Real-world references===
* ''Star Wars'' sound effects:
** As often happens, Laserbeak gets the TIE Fighter engine sound just after he flies over the Autobots.

===Trivia===
* Prime sure goes along with the notion of enslaving one of his enemies pretty readily, huh? What happened to his ol' "Freedom is the Right of All Sentient Beings" schtick?
* After all the fuss the others go through while getting into the canyon (wrist rockets, grappling hook slides), Prowl just ''jumps'' down.
* Jazz skips his dominator disk onto Scavenger, like skipping a rock on water. Stylish!
* When Megatron orders a retreat, cat-mode Ravage flies off into the air alongside his comrades.
* Megatron stops Starscream from sniping the Autobots as Optimus Prime reels them up the cliff, arguing that killing six Autobots would be pointless since he plans on having Devastator destroy all the Autobots at the right moment. When that moment comes, there are still only (give or take) six Autobots to be had. Should have gone with your gut, Starscream.
* This episode is one of a trio, including "[[City of Steel]]" and "[[The Autobot Run]]", that was animated by the Korean studio [[AKOM]]. They are distinguished by simplistic art, prominent use of the Constructicons, surprisingly high frame rates, some Hanna-Barbara-style animation shortcuts, and various character model oddities, such as Optimus Prime's white backpack (which would show up again in "[[The Rebirth, Part 1|The Rebirth]]") and Chip Chase's blue jacket... not to mention a ''crapload'' of animation errors. Sheesh, AKOM.
* Optimus Prime's last lines in this episode "The Future is Built on Dreams" is notable as [[Peter Cullen]]'s words of encouragement to a young child who was a fan of Optimus Prime in real lfe, dying of a terminal illness. To this day, when interviewed about this line, Cullen will invariably be moved to tears by it's memory. A true man amongst men, if there ever was one.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 03: Stagione Due Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_core.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Core}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Heavy Metal War

2012-06-07T10:45:35Z

1.162.57.96: /* Art and character model errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=16
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=10
|prev2=Countdown to Extinction (episode)
|next2=Autobot Spike
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=5
|prev3=S.O.S. Dinobots
|next3=The Autobot Run
|image=HeavyMetalWar Primedefeated.jpg
|caption=The agony of defeat.
|title="Heavy Metal War"
|production code=#700-13
|airdate=[[December 15]], 1984
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to a one on one battle to end the war.'''

:''Japanese title:'' セイバートロン星の掟 (''Cybertron-sei no Okite'', "The Laws of Planet Cybertron")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Der Zweikampf'''" ("The Duel")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Guerra dos Metaleiros''' ("War of Metalheads")
:''Serbian title:'' '''Сукоб металних ратника''' (''Sukob metalnih ratnika'', "Battle of the metal warriors")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il duello''' ("The duel")
:''Russian title'': '''Война тяжёлого металла''' (''Voyna tyazhelogo metalla'', "Heavy Metal War")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron invitation.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Silly Megs, tricks are for kids!]]
A busy construction site is attacked by driver-less construction equipment, and several components are stolen. The construction vehicles return to Decepticon headquarters and are revealed to be the newly built [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. The components they stole are parts to a machine that will allow [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to absorb the [[power chip rectifier]]s from his [[Decepticon]] warriors.

While the final preparations are completed on the machine, Megatron flies to [[Autobot]] headquarters and makes [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] an offer he cannot refuse. Megatron offers the Autobot leader a one on one battle with the winner staying on [[Earth]] to do as he pleases, and the loser taking his army and exiling themselves to deep space. Confident in his own abilities, Prime accepts the challenge and sets the match.

[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron powerup.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Fear me, for I have the power of... poo gas!!]]

Knowing that Prime would be unable to resist a chance to honorably end their conflict, Megatron returns to the Decepticon base and uses the newly completed machine to gain all of the special powers of his warriors. [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]'s teleportation, [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]]'s sonic boom, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]'s seismic attack, etc. Knowing that Megatron would now be unbeatable, [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] voices concerns that the Autobot computer [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] would be able to detect what Megatron had done. Anticipating this problem, Megatron dispatches the Constructicons to take care of the computer.

The two armies arrive at the battle site, and the contest begins. Megatron unleashes a barrage of powers (while Starscream gives a running commentary), and Prime is outclassed at every step. Not knowing that he has been deceived, Prime concedes the fight and comments that he underestimated Megatron. The shocked Autobots begin the trek back to base, and the Decepticons follow to make sure they leave.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Devastator.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Not Brawl.]]

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have nearly tunneled their way into the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] and Teletraan I. Sensing the imminent danger, Teletraan I activates the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. The Dinobots respond and start pounding on the Constructicons, opening up a lava channel in the process. The battle not going in their favor, the Constructicons pull out one last trick and combine into the super warrior, [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The returning Autobots see the battle, but are unable to help. Inside the Ark, Teletraan I is able to show that Megatron cheated, and the Autobots rush outside to help the Dinobots.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Decepticons beat.JPG|right|200px|thumb|You'd think Starscream would be used to this, but no...]]

Despite the arrival of the rest of the Autobots to the fight, Devastator is still too powerful to be defeated, so [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] distracts the monstrous Decepticon with a [[hologram]] of [[Halonix Maximus|a colossal Autobot]]. Stunned at the sudden appearance of a robot even bigger than he is, Devastator is shot by Optimus Prime and falls apart. The Constructicons try to drive away, but the Dinobots blast them into the lava. The other Decepticons are routed by the Autobots and also pushed or knocked back by gunfire into the lava. There is much rejoicing.

...Until Megatron rises from the lava, vowing that the Decepticons will rise again.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (16)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (20)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (21)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (24)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (25)
*[[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (26)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (27)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (28)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (29)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (30)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (31)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (32)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (33)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (37)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (38)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (39)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (40)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (41)
*[[Halonix Maximus]] hologram (43)
|c2=
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (2)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (3)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (4)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (5)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (6)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (7)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (10)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (11)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (12)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (22)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (23)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (35)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (42)

|c3=
*Construction Workers (1)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (17)
*[[Chip Chase]] (18)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Forgive me, but I believe your boast sounds vaguely familiar."
:—'''Starscream''', after hearing another of Megatron's promises to destroy the Autobots.

"Let's see how he likes my new [[Shock blast cannon|shockblast cannon]]! ''[The cannon explodes in his hands]'' Uhh... hnh... that's a shock, all right."
:—'''Wheeljack'''

"But I need my power chip rectifier. Besides, the Cybertron Code of Combat requires each warrior to fight as he is, without additional reinforcement. You wouldn't want to cheat, would you, Megatron?" 
"I will win by any means! At any cost! Even if it means terminating ''you'', Starscream!" 
"I was only raising a legal point..."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron'''

"Doesn't this remind you of the gladiatorial combats in ancient Rome?" 
"Maybe it would if I knew what you were talkin' about." 
"It's Earth history, Ironhide! Skip it!"
:—'''Chip''' and '''Ironhide''' on the duel between Optimus and Megatron.

"No destroy Teletraan I. Dinobots destroy you!"
:—'''Grimlock''' after hearing the Constructicons' plans to destroy Teletraan I.

'''Sludge''': "Sludge not see these Decepticons before." 
'''Snarl''': "Not see again either. Because we dino-mite them to pieces!" 
'''Slag''': "Dinobots, no fool around!" 
'''Grimlock''': "Right! Dinobots transform!"
:—'''Sludge''', '''Snarl''', '''Slag''', and '''Grimlock''' carrying on a conversation while fighting the Constructicons.

"It's bad news, Scrapper. They've brought out the heavy artillery." 
"Then it's time we did the same! Only heavier!" 
"Constructicons! Transform, Phase One! Now, transform, Phase Two!"
:—'''Hook''' and '''Scrapper''' as the Constructicons prepare to merge into Devastator for the first time

"Prepare to meet your doom. Nothing can withstand the might of... Devastator!"
:—'''Devastator''' speaking to the Dinobots.

"Nothing defeats the Devastator! Nothing!" 
"Nothing, little one? Ha ha ha! What would you say about ''me''? HAHAHAHAHA!"
:—'''Devastator''' and a '''"Giant Autobot"'''

"It is ended." 
"Is it really over, Optimus? I mean, have we seen the end of this war? Forever?" 
"Who can say, Spike? In this vast universe, is anything truly forever?"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Spike''', with a question that is quickly answered, at least for the audience

"Uhhh... we shall rise... AGAIN."
:—'''Megatron''' floating in lava

==Notes==
===Technical or animation glitches===
====Minor coloring errors====
* As Long Haul deploys his missiles, his Decepticon symbol is red, and missing its "cheeks".
* The top of Hook's head is green as Scrapper bows to Megatron... and again in the very next shot.
* Scavenger's face is colored all-green as he welds. If it was a stylistic decision to show the light from his welding, then it should flicker along with the welding lights.
* As Scrapper directs the others working on the infuser, his head is green instead of black, and Mixmaster's drum and torso are purple instead of green.
* The top of Wheeljack's chest is colored glass-blue instead of white after the shock cannon blows up.
* During the pan across the Decepticons before the strength transfer, Soundwave is missing the line in the middle of his mask, and his yellow stripes are mostly colored blue.
* Megatron's waist is red instead of silver after the transfer.
* When Megatron talks to Starscream after that, Starscream's air vent "boobs" are colored white instead of black.
* The front of Scrapper's head is red instead of black as Megatron orders him to move out.
* As Scrapper transforms, his whole helmet is green.
* As Optimus explains the code to Spike, Ironhide's forehead isn't fully drawn in.
* "Defeat, Megatron?" Megatron's fusion cannon is white instead of black during this line.
* At the end of the across the Decepticons seating themselves, Soundwave's optic visor is blue instead of red.
* Laserbeak's head is light gray as he ejects from Soundwave.
* Megatron's faction emblem is missing before he teleports.
* And it's missing again as he says the Autobots must exile themselves.
* Starscream's right arm is colored dark gray for a moment, while he talks to Skywarp about the rectifiers.
* Wheeljack's missing one of the lines on his "ears" as he and the others listen to Optimus say he was not prepared.
* Prime's tires are light gray as he transforms to truck mode, and his headlights aren't colored in.
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Oh, and Scavenger's chest shouldn't be purple, either.]]
* Scrapper's helmet is green in two shots as he and the others run into Autobot Headquarters.
* Scavenger's back is purple as he and the others back away from the Dinobots.
* Snarl's helmet is the same medium gray as his body as he joins Sludge.
* As Devastator walks toward the Dinobots, Swoop's head is white, while Sludge and Slag are block-colored gray.
* Devastator's hand is green instead of purple as he throws Grimlock.
* The top of Starscream's chest is red instead of gray as Megatron rants about the hologram.

====Art and character model errors====
* When Megatron comes to <s> lure Optimus into a trap </s> talk and Wheeljack and Ironhide fire their missiles, they exchange lines.
* It seems the artists might have had only script directions to go by when drawing the Constructicons' vehicular attack modes, and not actual character models. Both Long Haul and Mixmaster deploy weapons that are of similar description to their toys' attack forms (cab-mounted cannon, twin missile launchers), but look nothing like them.
* "Besides, the Cybertron code of combat requires..." Starscream's hand phases behind the transfer machine's light during his monologue.
* There's a discontinuity between shots as Megatron is infused; in one shot he's moving and reacting in visible pain to the power transfer; in the next, he's just standing there like a statue.
* Also in the above scene, when Megatron says "I now possess all your powers in addition to my own" his "helmet" is significantly wider than his usual onscreen character model's, and in the NEXT shot ("Optimus Prime and the Autobots... are FINISHED!! Huhuhwarhahahahaha!!") his helmet suddenly shrinks back to it's usual narrow width. It would therefore be reasonable to surmise the animators were using Megatron's G1 Toy as a drawing reference for the former shot, as his helmet IS significantly wider than the "normal" Megatron's onscreen model.
* After Megatron talks of the Constructicons destroying Teletraan I, he's suddenly no longer attached to the machine.
* When Megatron laughs maniacally after being infused with the power of the other Decepticons, his head is disproportionately small, and his Decepticon insignia moves independently of his body.
* When Starscream lands behind Megatron before the latter's duel with Optimus Prime, the animators forgot to animate the dust Starscream's feet stir up, so we can see that his legs are not fully drawn, and instead of feet, they end in paint blotches.
* Chip is drawn speaking Spike's line "It's Earth history, Ironhide!"
* During the duel, what are the Autobots supposed to be sitting on? Air?
* After the boulder Prime threw at Meagtron splits in two, it completely disappears before the shot ends.
* Huffer is drawn with six wheels instead of four as he takes Prime's trailer.
* How long's it take for the animators to forget that Prime isn't towing his own trailer? All of one shot! Huffer is nowhere to be seen as the 'bots leave the battlefield.
* Mixmaster's cab-weapon changes color and form between scenes (it's a gray sphere when the Constructicons start tunneling; it's a green gun when they reach Autobot Headquarters.)
* Mixmaster's acid-laser changes from pink to orange between shots. The weapon that fires it has gone back to gray in the second shot.
* The animation doesn't really show a hole ''melting'' in the floor; a section of the floor just vanishes and is replaced with a melted hole.
* Grimlock has his original head design in this episode, rather than the later, toy-based one he normally is drawn with.
* The Dinobots' voices are ''heavily'' processed in his episode, far beyond the norm, giving them a crunchy, gravely sound.
* The inside of Sludge's robot-mode mouth is glowing orange ''again''. Clearly this is part of his character model, but why and how did such a bizarre choice come about in the first place?
* As Scrapper clutches his wounded shoulder, he has two small eyes instead of a visor. (It makes him look a lot like [[Rewind]].)
* Much like [[A Plague of Insecticons|Kickback's insect head]], the cartoon could never quite make up its mind whether Devastator was supposed to have two small eyes or one big visor. This episode shows him with eyes as he monologues, then the visor shows up just a shot or two later.
* When the Autobots cheer inside their headquarters, [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]]'s insignia is missing, Wheeljack's ears aren't flashing, and Jazz's mouth is blinking on and off.
* As the hologram fades out, Hound isn't shown in the nearby cave from which he's supposed to be projecting it.
* When [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] finds out the "Giant [[Autobot]]" is a hologram, his cannon [[kibble]] is gone for a brief second.
* In the final closeup of Megatron's face, several of the lava streams are flowing ''behind'' his eyes and back out. OUCH!

===Rhino DVD release===
More than most episodes, the [[Kid Rhino]] DVD version of this episode is full of animation errors that do not appear in the original broadcast version or prior home video releases (as a result of incomplete film masters being used for the DVD), as well as crude attempts made by Rhino to fix some of these errors.

Some are merely aesthetic complaints:
* In one shot, the camera pans sideways to follow the Constructicons, however they aren't moving, so they actually lag behind the screen. Then, as they round a corner, they are animated above the animation cel of the building they drive around, and you can see they are not fully drawn. Their vehicle modes end in unfinished lines and paint blotches until they come fully into view.
* As the Constructions make their big introductory transformations, the camera doesn't pan up with Bonecrusher, Long Haul, and Mixmaster, leaving them cut out of the shot from the thighs upward. Bonecrusher is also visibly floating above the ground.
* After Long Haul transforms, the equipment he's supposedly carrying simply pops into view. As the outlines tell us, it has been retroactively shopped into the image.
* The Rhino DVD portrays the power-chip smelter as a featureless rectangular smear, lacking all the light effects and animation that should be present.
* When Megatron says "Scrapper, you have your orders...", the Constructicons' eyes / eye visors no longer glow red in response.
* As he drives up to start digging, [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] is constantly jumping a bit back and forth while driving, as if the animation frames are not ordered properly.
* When the Autobots transform to leave base for the battlefield, Optimus Prime's left headlight blinks in and out a couple of times.
* Then, as they all drive out of the Ark, the screen freezes for a moment. The Autobots seem to have teleported after the animation finally continues.
* The sky behind Ironhide, when he is informing us of his ignorance of Earth's history, jumps noticeably at the beginning of the shot, and the shadowy outlines around him vibrate wildly.
* The audience isn't actually sitting on the edge of the pit, rather they are all somehow seated on the slopes.
* At two points during the duel with Optimus Prime (one of them recycled as him landing at Autobot Headquarters), Megatron is colored dark gray.
* When the miscolored Megatron blasts Prime away, the background isn't moving to simulate the camera pan, whereas Prime's animation is.
* The humans in one shot are drawn horribly off-model, with terrible looking teeth, may we add. Spike shows his pre-final print uppers again in a later shot.
* When Skywarp boasts that Megatron acquired the power of teleportation from him, he is colored like Starscream, who is seen sitting right next to him.
* During the Dinobots' fight scene with the Constructicons, some of the laser-firing animation is missing, leaving the characters with huge "holes" and gaps on their bodies where said laser shots should have been animated. This also renders the shot of Sludge firing his eye-beams completely pointless.
* And as Swoop fires his missiles, the background art isn't moving, making it look like he is floating.
* Also in one shot, the rock covering the Constructicons is missing from the foreground, and again, we see incomplete drawings instead of fully-drawn robots.
** However a later shot has a cave mouth drawn over the screen's outer rim, which shouldn't be there, as the scene takes place outside.

However, some of the screwups actually confuse the plot:
* When Rhino DVD Optimus Prime hurls a boulder at Megatron, Megatron still lights up to use Skywarp's teleportation ability to get out of the way... but after the teleporation glow effect fades, Megatron is ''still standing there''. The boulder ''flies straight through him'' with nobody seeming to care, including Megatron himself.
* When Megatron is talking to Starscream while the Constructicons are building the infuser machine, Starscream is colored like Skywarp.
** Speaking about the Constructicons being hard at work, this sequence is completely missing. We are instead treated to a shot of Megatron and Starscream standing silently for seconds.
* When [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] runs up and uses his [[glass gas]], he is coloured like [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]].
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Mixmaster spray.JPG|thumb|right|200px|That sure isn't a cave you're in there, Mixmaster.]]
* The animation sequence of Megatron landing at the Autobot base ''is missing entirely'', and is replaced by looped animation from later in the episode of Megatron landing after a jump, along with a recycled snippet of Cliffjumper looking elated after encasing Megatron in ice from just a few seconds earlier.
* When Megatron lands, there are two Optimus Primes and Ironhides there to greet him.
* As the Autobots help Prime make his decision, the camera pans are missing, and the scene is instead shown as multiple, separate shots. Secondly, Wheeljack's light effects are mis-aligned. Finally, the added lens-effects in Prime's optics makes him look like he's about to cry.
* When the Constructicons move out to dig the passage to the Autobot headquarters, they're all shown outdoors instead of inside the base.
* A transformation sequence for Trailbreaker, recycled from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", still retains its exterior background even though it's supposed to happen inside Autobot Headquarters.
* When the Autobots arrive at the pit in vehicle mode, Ironhide is seen transforming from robot mode to vehicle mode. Then, he is back in his robot form.
* Instead of using the finished shot, we see recycled animation of a standing Prime being hit when Megatron delivers his final blow. He should be lying on the ground.
* The animation of the lava is absent in a couple of shots.

But, uhhh, hey, that silver DVD case sure is shiny and pretty!

===Shout! Factory DVD release===
* Like "[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction]]" before it, the sound effects of this episode are cranked down to near-inaudibility, compared to the music and vocal tracks.
* This episode is also one of several affected by Shout!'s inability to obtain complete master reels to restore the incomplete animation used in the Kid Rhino releases, resulting in 1-inch tape versions being used instead. Picture quality is thus all over the map. The scenes of Megatron approaching Autobot Headquarters are noticeably under-lit. Several scenes are in visibly softer focus compared to shots before and after, such as the pan of Autobots as Cliffjumper says "I don't trust 'im!"

===Continuity errors===
* This episode gives the first of [[Constructicon (G1)|three contradictory origins]] for the Constructicons.

* The building site that the Constructicons raid is a power plant. One of the construction workers states that it will be able to provide the whole planet with limitless energy, begging the question of why the Decepticons didn't raid such a powerful energy source for energon.

* So this head worker guy sees driverless, talking construction vehicles, that turn into giant malevolent thieving robots with the Decepticon symbol on 'em... but somehow he only figures out that they're Decepticons when Scrapper says they work for Megatron. Is Megatron's name more famous than all the defining aspects of his faction?

* Ironhide is apparently able to detect the Decepticons by himself, without relying on Teletraan I. However, in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]", the Autobots were unable to detect the approaching Decepticons with Teletraan I sabotaged.

* Optimus Prime takes out Devastator with a single shot from his laser rifle, something rather at odds with the later portrayal of combiners as nigh-invulnerable. Maybe they were upgraded?

* It's a bit strange that Starscream of all mechs should be concerned with legalities and suggest that Megatron try to fight honorably... but there ''is'' a touch of sarcasm when he says "You wouldn't want to ''cheat'', would you, Megatron?"

* There is a rather ''huge'' hole in Megatron's "Destroy Teletrann I" plot: When the Autobots come back from Optimus Prime's defeat, wouldn't a burning-and-smoking Teletran I ''immediately'' scream "Megatron DID cheat" rather than cover that fact up?

* The Autobots return to headquarters as the Dinobots have begun their battle with Devastator. They have time enough to repair Optimus Prime and detect the Decepticon deception, and meanwhile, the Dinobots are ''still'' fighting Devastator.
** On that note the Autobots don't even try to tell the Dinobots that they were leaving and the fight was over. Were the Autobots going to leave the Dinobots behind and strand them on Earth!?

* Speaking of which, didn't anybody notice the big flaming hole in the floor of Autobot Headquarters?

* So the Decepticons couldn't '''FLY''' out of the lava when they fell in? Doesn't anybody notice Megatron down there floating in the lava?

===Continuity notes===
* This episode introduces the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]].
[[Image:Heavymeatlwar megatron powers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This fist of mine glows with an awesome power chip rectifier!]]
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Scavenger.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This shovel of mine glows with an awesome sensor reading!]]
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This computer of mine glows with an awesome lollipop!]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** The Constructicons show off a variety of armaments and abilities, such as Mixmaster melting a whole steam roller into goop and later firing a stream of rock-melting liquid, Long Haul having dump truck-mode missile launchers (perhaps a nod to his toy's "attack mode"), and Scavenger's shovel-based sensors.
** Long Haul has the rather ''amazing'' ability to fill up his cargo bed with a payload, transform to robot mode, then convert back to dump truck mode... and still have the cargo be there!
** Ironhide detects Megatron's approach using a sensor that displays on his chest, not unlike abilities he displayed in "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]" and "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]".
** Cliffjumper's [[glass gas]], if that's what it's supposed to be, acts a lot more like Ironhide's liquid nitrogen. He shoots a huge stream of it from his retracted wrists, and it encases Megatron in ice.
** Speaking of which, being encased in ice does not affect Megatron's ability to fly.
** Ironhide doesn't even bother retracting his fists; he just shoots lasers right out of them. It's an unusual conceit for ''Transformers'', though [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|not]] [[Dinobot Island, Part 2|unheard of]].
** As explained in this episode, [[power chip rectifier]]s are what give Transformers their unique special abilities.
** The episode gives us a showcase of the Decepticons' most notable abilities, as Megatron uses Starscream's cluster bombs and null rays, Reflector's light-generating abilities, Rumble's earthquakes, Skywarp's teleportation, and Thundercracker's sonic abilities.
*** Incidentally, this is the first time said sonic abilities have been used explicitly. And it's not even by the guy they belong to.
** Optimus shows the strange ability to fire lasers out of his palm. He's blocking Megatron's shot with the other arm at the same time, almost like he's [[Optimus_Primal#Beast_Machines_cartoon|absorbing the energy and shooting it back]].
** Teletraan-1 can make up its own mind to wake up the Dinobots when a threat is detected.
** Snarl's sword can fire energy blasts from its tip.
*** This is also the first appearance of ''any'' of the Dinobots' swords in the cartoon, something that doesn't happen often. Instead of being red, as per the toy and comics, it uses the gray coloring it has in Snarl's package art.
** Hound projects one of his holograms out of both fists.
** Hey, turns out the Constructicons can turn themselves all into one big robot! Wonder if the toys can do that??
* When the Constructicons are tunneling, Scrapper refers to [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] as "[[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]". In their [[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|''More Than Meets The Eye'']] bio, Dreamwave would paint this as a deliberate derogatory term other Decepticons sometimes refer to him as.
* Soundwave totally pets Ravage on the head like a kittycat. Adorable!
* This episode is also the "source" of the aborted "Lava Bath Safety" deco for the original Megatron toy.
* The ''Law of Cybertron'' will be invoked again many years later, to resolve the Generation 2 War. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!}}

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst/whine as the Constructions take off from the construction site.
** Same effect as Megatron leaves Autobot Headquarters.
** Lightsaber ignition sound when Megatron activates Reflector's light powers.
* Chip provides the episode's requisite dose of "Oh, it's ''educational''" by likening the leaders' combat to the gladiatorial matches of ancient Rome.
* Mixmaster gets in on the act by naming a couple of acids by formula: H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) and HCl (hydrochloric acid).
* Oh, and the construction site will make energy from the earth's magnetic field. "Magnetic field" sounds like science, right??

===Trivia===
[[Image:SnarlG1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And we don't just mean the "horrible rape-related imagery" aspect, either.]]
* The art style of this episode has a distinctively Japanese flavor to it, similar to that of "[[Roll for It]]". [[wikipedia:Masami Obari|Masami Obari]]'s believed to be involved with this episode.<ref>http://mimizun.com/log/2ch/ranime/1118994758/</ref>
* The animation pretty much gets Devastator's transformation spot-on. Enjoy it while you can; it [[The Core|won't]] [[The Autobot Run|last]].
* Storyboards for this episode indicate that at one point in the scripting process, power chip rectifiers were also tied into the ability to transform. Upon giving up their rectifiers, the Decepticons lose their ability to transform, and during the fight, Megatron transforms into a jet! <ref>[http://cartoonpaperwork.com/network/dt/003.shtml "Heavy Metal War" storyboards at CartoonPaperwork.com]</ref>
* Scenes and dialogue deleted from this episode include Wheeljack showing off the latest improvements he has made to the Dinobots outside Autobot Headquarters (during which Megatron arrives), Scavenger referring to Scrapper with the misnomer of "[[Gravedigger]]", and Megatron using Soundwave's mind-reading powers on Optimus Prime during their fight.
** An extended portion of dialogue is also cut from Megatron's address to Optimus Prime, resulting in the rather clumsy line in the finished episode, "Our war has gone on for millions of years — Decepticons fighting Autobots — in which opposing leaders — you and I, Optimus Prime — may do battle." In the episode's dialogue script, following "Decepticons fighting Autobots," Megatron finishes his first sentence by lamenting the endless nature of the war. Prime shares in his regret, but deems it necessary as long as Megatron continues his pursuit of conquest. Megatron then speaks again, raising the topic of the "age-old law of combat," then picking up the finished line from "in which opposing leaders..."
[[Image:RumbleisRed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The "red robot" is clearly blue.]]
* During Teletraan I's montage of the sources of Megatron's acquired powers, the descriptions for the individual Decepticons are verbatim quotes from the [http://transformers.winterchill.com/bible/biblepage34.html Transformers Series Bible's "Decepticon Rollcall" page], albeit including several lost-in-translation typographical errors ("Decepticon Lider", "Decepticon Commicator", "Sky Warp"). The most notable of those is [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (misspelled as "Runble") being identified as a [[FIRRIB|"red robot"]]. Furthermore, the seemingly random numbers listed on those screens are actually Hasbro's product codes for the respective toys. Interestingly enough, [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] is given a product number, even though he was never released at mass retail. However, the renditions of the Decepticons are ''not'' the official [[character model]] poses for those characters, but rather all-new drawings.
* The head construction worker's cry as Scavenger drops him is recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]" (from when Laserbeak kidnaps two security guards.)
* The episode's ending sure seems intended as a potential conclusion to the series, just in case it wasn't renewed for a second season. Turns out that ''Transformers'' was a bit of a hit, so that whole falling-into-lava thing was ignored.
* The hologram image Hound projected went anonymous for 26 years until it received an identity at [[BotCon 2010]] as the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard member]] [[Halonix Maximus]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 10: "Heavy Metal War" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1987 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1989 — ''Transformers'' — A Ghost in the Machine / Heavy Metal Wars (Tempo Video) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video|Abbey Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2000 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 6: Evolution Revolution ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Three (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume Three (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 02: Stagione Uno Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/heavy_metal_war.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Heavy Metal War

2012-06-07T09:05:05Z

1.162.57.96: /* Art and character model errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=16
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=10
|prev2=Countdown to Extinction (episode)
|next2=Autobot Spike
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=5
|prev3=S.O.S. Dinobots
|next3=The Autobot Run
|image=HeavyMetalWar Primedefeated.jpg
|caption=The agony of defeat.
|title="Heavy Metal War"
|production code=#700-13
|airdate=[[December 15]], 1984
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to a one on one battle to end the war.'''

:''Japanese title:'' セイバートロン星の掟 (''Cybertron-sei no Okite'', "The Laws of Planet Cybertron")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Der Zweikampf'''" ("The Duel")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Guerra dos Metaleiros''' ("War of Metalheads")
:''Serbian title:'' '''Сукоб металних ратника''' (''Sukob metalnih ratnika'', "Battle of the metal warriors")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il duello''' ("The duel")
:''Russian title'': '''Война тяжёлого металла''' (''Voyna tyazhelogo metalla'', "Heavy Metal War")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron invitation.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Silly Megs, tricks are for kids!]]
A busy construction site is attacked by driver-less construction equipment, and several components are stolen. The construction vehicles return to Decepticon headquarters and are revealed to be the newly built [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. The components they stole are parts to a machine that will allow [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to absorb the [[power chip rectifier]]s from his [[Decepticon]] warriors.

While the final preparations are completed on the machine, Megatron flies to [[Autobot]] headquarters and makes [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] an offer he cannot refuse. Megatron offers the Autobot leader a one on one battle with the winner staying on [[Earth]] to do as he pleases, and the loser taking his army and exiling themselves to deep space. Confident in his own abilities, Prime accepts the challenge and sets the match.

[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron powerup.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Fear me, for I have the power of... poo gas!!]]

Knowing that Prime would be unable to resist a chance to honorably end their conflict, Megatron returns to the Decepticon base and uses the newly completed machine to gain all of the special powers of his warriors. [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]'s teleportation, [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]]'s sonic boom, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]'s seismic attack, etc. Knowing that Megatron would now be unbeatable, [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] voices concerns that the Autobot computer [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] would be able to detect what Megatron had done. Anticipating this problem, Megatron dispatches the Constructicons to take care of the computer.

The two armies arrive at the battle site, and the contest begins. Megatron unleashes a barrage of powers (while Starscream gives a running commentary), and Prime is outclassed at every step. Not knowing that he has been deceived, Prime concedes the fight and comments that he underestimated Megatron. The shocked Autobots begin the trek back to base, and the Decepticons follow to make sure they leave.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Devastator.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Not Brawl.]]

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have nearly tunneled their way into the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] and Teletraan I. Sensing the imminent danger, Teletraan I activates the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. The Dinobots respond and start pounding on the Constructicons, opening up a lava channel in the process. The battle not going in their favor, the Constructicons pull out one last trick and combine into the super warrior, [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The returning Autobots see the battle, but are unable to help. Inside the Ark, Teletraan I is able to show that Megatron cheated, and the Autobots rush outside to help the Dinobots.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Decepticons beat.JPG|right|200px|thumb|You'd think Starscream would be used to this, but no...]]

Despite the arrival of the rest of the Autobots to the fight, Devastator is still too powerful to be defeated, so [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] distracts the monstrous Decepticon with a [[hologram]] of [[Halonix Maximus|a colossal Autobot]]. Stunned at the sudden appearance of a robot even bigger than he is, Devastator is shot by Optimus Prime and falls apart. The Constructicons try to drive away, but the Dinobots blast them into the lava. The other Decepticons are routed by the Autobots and also pushed or knocked back by gunfire into the lava. There is much rejoicing.

...Until Megatron rises from the lava, vowing that the Decepticons will rise again.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (16)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (20)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (21)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (24)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (25)
*[[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (26)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (27)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (28)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (29)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (30)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (31)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (32)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (33)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (37)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (38)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (39)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (40)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (41)
*[[Halonix Maximus]] hologram (43)
|c2=
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (2)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (3)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (4)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (5)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (6)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (7)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (10)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (11)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (12)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (22)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (23)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (35)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (42)

|c3=
*Construction Workers (1)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (17)
*[[Chip Chase]] (18)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Forgive me, but I believe your boast sounds vaguely familiar."
:—'''Starscream''', after hearing another of Megatron's promises to destroy the Autobots.

"Let's see how he likes my new [[Shock blast cannon|shockblast cannon]]! ''[The cannon explodes in his hands]'' Uhh... hnh... that's a shock, all right."
:—'''Wheeljack'''

"But I need my power chip rectifier. Besides, the Cybertron Code of Combat requires each warrior to fight as he is, without additional reinforcement. You wouldn't want to cheat, would you, Megatron?" 
"I will win by any means! At any cost! Even if it means terminating ''you'', Starscream!" 
"I was only raising a legal point..."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron'''

"Doesn't this remind you of the gladiatorial combats in ancient Rome?" 
"Maybe it would if I knew what you were talkin' about." 
"It's Earth history, Ironhide! Skip it!"
:—'''Chip''' and '''Ironhide''' on the duel between Optimus and Megatron.

"No destroy Teletraan I. Dinobots destroy you!"
:—'''Grimlock''' after hearing the Constructicons' plans to destroy Teletraan I.

'''Sludge''': "Sludge not see these Decepticons before." 
'''Snarl''': "Not see again either. Because we dino-mite them to pieces!" 
'''Slag''': "Dinobots, no fool around!" 
'''Grimlock''': "Right! Dinobots transform!"
:—'''Sludge''', '''Snarl''', '''Slag''', and '''Grimlock''' carrying on a conversation while fighting the Constructicons.

"It's bad news, Scrapper. They've brought out the heavy artillery." 
"Then it's time we did the same! Only heavier!" 
"Constructicons! Transform, Phase One! Now, transform, Phase Two!"
:—'''Hook''' and '''Scrapper''' as the Constructicons prepare to merge into Devastator for the first time

"Prepare to meet your doom. Nothing can withstand the might of... Devastator!"
:—'''Devastator''' speaking to the Dinobots.

"Nothing defeats the Devastator! Nothing!" 
"Nothing, little one? Ha ha ha! What would you say about ''me''? HAHAHAHAHA!"
:—'''Devastator''' and a '''"Giant Autobot"'''

"It is ended." 
"Is it really over, Optimus? I mean, have we seen the end of this war? Forever?" 
"Who can say, Spike? In this vast universe, is anything truly forever?"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Spike''', with a question that is quickly answered, at least for the audience

"Uhhh... we shall rise... AGAIN."
:—'''Megatron''' floating in lava

==Notes==
===Technical or animation glitches===
====Minor coloring errors====
* As Long Haul deploys his missiles, his Decepticon symbol is red, and missing its "cheeks".
* The top of Hook's head is green as Scrapper bows to Megatron... and again in the very next shot.
* Scavenger's face is colored all-green as he welds. If it was a stylistic decision to show the light from his welding, then it should flicker along with the welding lights.
* As Scrapper directs the others working on the infuser, his head is green instead of black, and Mixmaster's drum and torso are purple instead of green.
* The top of Wheeljack's chest is colored glass-blue instead of white after the shock cannon blows up.
* During the pan across the Decepticons before the strength transfer, Soundwave is missing the line in the middle of his mask, and his yellow stripes are mostly colored blue.
* Megatron's waist is red instead of silver after the transfer.
* When Megatron talks to Starscream after that, Starscream's air vent "boobs" are colored white instead of black.
* The front of Scrapper's head is red instead of black as Megatron orders him to move out.
* As Scrapper transforms, his whole helmet is green.
* As Optimus explains the code to Spike, Ironhide's forehead isn't fully drawn in.
* "Defeat, Megatron?" Megatron's fusion cannon is white instead of black during this line.
* At the end of the across the Decepticons seating themselves, Soundwave's optic visor is blue instead of red.
* Laserbeak's head is light gray as he ejects from Soundwave.
* Megatron's faction emblem is missing before he teleports.
* And it's missing again as he says the Autobots must exile themselves.
* Starscream's right arm is colored dark gray for a moment, while he talks to Skywarp about the rectifiers.
* Wheeljack's missing one of the lines on his "ears" as he and the others listen to Optimus say he was not prepared.
* Prime's tires are light gray as he transforms to truck mode, and his headlights aren't colored in.
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Oh, and Scavenger's chest shouldn't be purple, either.]]
* Scrapper's helmet is green in two shots as he and the others run into Autobot Headquarters.
* Scavenger's back is purple as he and the others back away from the Dinobots.
* Snarl's helmet is the same medium gray as his body as he joins Sludge.
* As Devastator walks toward the Dinobots, Swoop's head is white, while Sludge and Slag are block-colored gray.
* Devastator's hand is green instead of purple as he throws Grimlock.
* The top of Starscream's chest is red instead of gray as Megatron rants about the hologram.

====Art and character model errors====
* When Megatron comes to <s> lure Optimus into a trap </s> talk and Wheeljack and Ironhide fire their missiles, they exchange lines.
* It seems the artists might have had only script directions to go by when drawing the Constructicons' vehicular attack modes, and not actual character models. Both Long Haul and Mixmaster deploy weapons that are of similar description to their toys' attack forms (cab-mounted cannon, twin missile launchers), but look nothing like them.
* "Besides, the Cybertron code of combat requires..." Starscream's hand phases behind the transfer machine's light during his monologue.
* There's a discontinuity between shots as Megatron is infused; in one shot he's moving and reacting in visible pain to the power transfer; in the next, he's just standing there like a statue.
* Also in the above scene, when Megatron says "I now have all your powers in addition to my own" his "helmet" is significantly wider than his usual onscreen character model's, and in the NEXT shot ("Optimus Prime and the Autobots... are FINISHED!! Huhuhwarhahahahaha!!") his helmet suddenly shrinks back to it's usual narrow width. It would therefore be reasonable to surmise the animators were using Megatron's G1 Toy as a drawing reference for the former shot, as his helmet IS significantly wider than the "normal" Megatron's onscreen model.
* After Megatron talks of the Constructicons destroying Teletraan I, he's suddenly no longer attached to the machine.
* When Megatron laughs maniacally after being infused with the power of the other Decepticons, his head is disproportionately small, and his Decepticon insignia moves independently of his body.
* When Starscream lands behind Megatron before the latter's duel with Optimus Prime, the animators forgot to animate the dust Starscream's feet stir up, so we can see that his legs are not fully drawn, and instead of feet, they end in paint blotches.
* Chip is drawn speaking Spike's line "It's Earth history, Ironhide!"
* During the duel, what are the Autobots supposed to be sitting on? Air?
* After the boulder Prime threw at Meagtron splits in two, it completely disappears before the shot ends.
* Huffer is drawn with six wheels instead of four as he takes Prime's trailer.
* How long's it take for the animators to forget that Prime isn't towing his own trailer? All of one shot! Huffer is nowhere to be seen as the 'bots leave the battlefield.
* Mixmaster's cab-weapon changes color and form between scenes (it's a gray sphere when the Constructicons start tunneling; it's a green gun when they reach Autobot Headquarters.)
* Mixmaster's acid-laser changes from pink to orange between shots. The weapon that fires it has gone back to gray in the second shot.
* The animation doesn't really show a hole ''melting'' in the floor; a section of the floor just vanishes and is replaced with a melted hole.
* Grimlock has his original head design in this episode, rather than the later, toy-based one he normally is drawn with.
* The Dinobots' voices are ''heavily'' processed in his episode, far beyond the norm, giving them a crunchy, gravely sound.
* The inside of Sludge's robot-mode mouth is glowing orange ''again''. Clearly this is part of his character model, but why and how did such a bizarre choice come about in the first place?
* As Scrapper clutches his wounded shoulder, he has two small eyes instead of a visor. (It makes him look a lot like [[Rewind]].)
* Much like [[A Plague of Insecticons|Kickback's insect head]], the cartoon could never quite make up its mind whether Devastator was supposed to have two small eyes or one big visor. This episode shows him with eyes as he monologues, then the visor shows up just a shot or two later.
* When the Autobots cheer inside their headquarters, [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]]'s insignia is missing, Wheeljack's ears aren't flashing, and Jazz's mouth is blinking on and off.
* As the hologram fades out, Hound isn't shown in the nearby cave from which he's supposed to be projecting it.
* When [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] finds out the "Giant [[Autobot]]" is a hologram, his cannon [[kibble]] is gone for a brief second.
* In the final closeup of Megatron's face, several of the lava streams are flowing ''behind'' his eyes and back out. OUCH!

===Rhino DVD release===
More than most episodes, the [[Kid Rhino]] DVD version of this episode is full of animation errors that do not appear in the original broadcast version or prior home video releases (as a result of incomplete film masters being used for the DVD), as well as crude attempts made by Rhino to fix some of these errors.

Some are merely aesthetic complaints:
* In one shot, the camera pans sideways to follow the Constructicons, however they aren't moving, so they actually lag behind the screen. Then, as they round a corner, they are animated above the animation cel of the building they drive around, and you can see they are not fully drawn. Their vehicle modes end in unfinished lines and paint blotches until they come fully into view.
* As the Constructions make their big introductory transformations, the camera doesn't pan up with Bonecrusher, Long Haul, and Mixmaster, leaving them cut out of the shot from the thighs upward. Bonecrusher is also visibly floating above the ground.
* After Long Haul transforms, the equipment he's supposedly carrying simply pops into view. As the outlines tell us, it has been retroactively shopped into the image.
* The Rhino DVD portrays the power-chip smelter as a featureless rectangular smear, lacking all the light effects and animation that should be present.
* When Megatron says "Scrapper, you have your orders...", the Constructicons' eyes / eye visors no longer glow red in response.
* As he drives up to start digging, [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] is constantly jumping a bit back and forth while driving, as if the animation frames are not ordered properly.
* When the Autobots transform to leave base for the battlefield, Optimus Prime's left headlight blinks in and out a couple of times.
* Then, as they all drive out of the Ark, the screen freezes for a moment. The Autobots seem to have teleported after the animation finally continues.
* The sky behind Ironhide, when he is informing us of his ignorance of Earth's history, jumps noticeably at the beginning of the shot, and the shadowy outlines around him vibrate wildly.
* The audience isn't actually sitting on the edge of the pit, rather they are all somehow seated on the slopes.
* At two points during the duel with Optimus Prime (one of them recycled as him landing at Autobot Headquarters), Megatron is colored dark gray.
* When the miscolored Megatron blasts Prime away, the background isn't moving to simulate the camera pan, whereas Prime's animation is.
* The humans in one shot are drawn horribly off-model, with terrible looking teeth, may we add. Spike shows his pre-final print uppers again in a later shot.
* When Skywarp boasts that Megatron acquired the power of teleportation from him, he is colored like Starscream, who is seen sitting right next to him.
* During the Dinobots' fight scene with the Constructicons, some of the laser-firing animation is missing, leaving the characters with huge "holes" and gaps on their bodies where said laser shots should have been animated. This also renders the shot of Sludge firing his eye-beams completely pointless.
* And as Swoop fires his missiles, the background art isn't moving, making it look like he is floating.
* Also in one shot, the rock covering the Constructicons is missing from the foreground, and again, we see incomplete drawings instead of fully-drawn robots.
** However a later shot has a cave mouth drawn over the screen's outer rim, which shouldn't be there, as the scene takes place outside.

However, some of the screwups actually confuse the plot:
* When Rhino DVD Optimus Prime hurls a boulder at Megatron, Megatron still lights up to use Skywarp's teleportation ability to get out of the way... but after the teleporation glow effect fades, Megatron is ''still standing there''. The boulder ''flies straight through him'' with nobody seeming to care, including Megatron himself.
* When Megatron is talking to Starscream while the Constructicons are building the infuser machine, Starscream is colored like Skywarp.
** Speaking about the Constructicons being hard at work, this sequence is completely missing. We are instead treated to a shot of Megatron and Starscream standing silently for seconds.
* When [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] runs up and uses his [[glass gas]], he is coloured like [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]].
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Mixmaster spray.JPG|thumb|right|200px|That sure isn't a cave you're in there, Mixmaster.]]
* The animation sequence of Megatron landing at the Autobot base ''is missing entirely'', and is replaced by looped animation from later in the episode of Megatron landing after a jump, along with a recycled snippet of Cliffjumper looking elated after encasing Megatron in ice from just a few seconds earlier.
* When Megatron lands, there are two Optimus Primes and Ironhides there to greet him.
* As the Autobots help Prime make his decision, the camera pans are missing, and the scene is instead shown as multiple, separate shots. Secondly, Wheeljack's light effects are mis-aligned. Finally, the added lens-effects in Prime's optics makes him look like he's about to cry.
* When the Constructicons move out to dig the passage to the Autobot headquarters, they're all shown outdoors instead of inside the base.
* A transformation sequence for Trailbreaker, recycled from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", still retains its exterior background even though it's supposed to happen inside Autobot Headquarters.
* When the Autobots arrive at the pit in vehicle mode, Ironhide is seen transforming from robot mode to vehicle mode. Then, he is back in his robot form.
* Instead of using the finished shot, we see recycled animation of a standing Prime being hit when Megatron delivers his final blow. He should be lying on the ground.
* The animation of the lava is absent in a couple of shots.

But, uhhh, hey, that silver DVD case sure is shiny and pretty!

===Shout! Factory DVD release===
* Like "[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction]]" before it, the sound effects of this episode are cranked down to near-inaudibility, compared to the music and vocal tracks.
* This episode is also one of several affected by Shout!'s inability to obtain complete master reels to restore the incomplete animation used in the Kid Rhino releases, resulting in 1-inch tape versions being used instead. Picture quality is thus all over the map. The scenes of Megatron approaching Autobot Headquarters are noticeably under-lit. Several scenes are in visibly softer focus compared to shots before and after, such as the pan of Autobots as Cliffjumper says "I don't trust 'im!"

===Continuity errors===
* This episode gives the first of [[Constructicon (G1)|three contradictory origins]] for the Constructicons.

* The building site that the Constructicons raid is a power plant. One of the construction workers states that it will be able to provide the whole planet with limitless energy, begging the question of why the Decepticons didn't raid such a powerful energy source for energon.

* So this head worker guy sees driverless, talking construction vehicles, that turn into giant malevolent thieving robots with the Decepticon symbol on 'em... but somehow he only figures out that they're Decepticons when Scrapper says they work for Megatron. Is Megatron's name more famous than all the defining aspects of his faction?

* Ironhide is apparently able to detect the Decepticons by himself, without relying on Teletraan I. However, in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]", the Autobots were unable to detect the approaching Decepticons with Teletraan I sabotaged.

* Optimus Prime takes out Devastator with a single shot from his laser rifle, something rather at odds with the later portrayal of combiners as nigh-invulnerable. Maybe they were upgraded?

* It's a bit strange that Starscream of all mechs should be concerned with legalities and suggest that Megatron try to fight honorably... but there ''is'' a touch of sarcasm when he says "You wouldn't want to ''cheat'', would you, Megatron?"

* There is a rather ''huge'' hole in Megatron's "Destroy Teletrann I" plot: When the Autobots come back from Optimus Prime's defeat, wouldn't a burning-and-smoking Teletran I ''immediately'' scream "Megatron DID cheat" rather than cover that fact up?

* The Autobots return to headquarters as the Dinobots have begun their battle with Devastator. They have time enough to repair Optimus Prime and detect the Decepticon deception, and meanwhile, the Dinobots are ''still'' fighting Devastator.
** On that note the Autobots don't even try to tell the Dinobots that they were leaving and the fight was over. Were the Autobots going to leave the Dinobots behind and strand them on Earth!?

* Speaking of which, didn't anybody notice the big flaming hole in the floor of Autobot Headquarters?

* So the Decepticons couldn't '''FLY''' out of the lava when they fell in? Doesn't anybody notice Megatron down there floating in the lava?

===Continuity notes===
* This episode introduces the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]].
[[Image:Heavymeatlwar megatron powers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This fist of mine glows with an awesome power chip rectifier!]]
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Scavenger.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This shovel of mine glows with an awesome sensor reading!]]
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This computer of mine glows with an awesome lollipop!]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** The Constructicons show off a variety of armaments and abilities, such as Mixmaster melting a whole steam roller into goop and later firing a stream of rock-melting liquid, Long Haul having dump truck-mode missile launchers (perhaps a nod to his toy's "attack mode"), and Scavenger's shovel-based sensors.
** Long Haul has the rather ''amazing'' ability to fill up his cargo bed with a payload, transform to robot mode, then convert back to dump truck mode... and still have the cargo be there!
** Ironhide detects Megatron's approach using a sensor that displays on his chest, not unlike abilities he displayed in "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]" and "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]".
** Cliffjumper's [[glass gas]], if that's what it's supposed to be, acts a lot more like Ironhide's liquid nitrogen. He shoots a huge stream of it from his retracted wrists, and it encases Megatron in ice.
** Speaking of which, being encased in ice does not affect Megatron's ability to fly.
** Ironhide doesn't even bother retracting his fists; he just shoots lasers right out of them. It's an unusual conceit for ''Transformers'', though [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|not]] [[Dinobot Island, Part 2|unheard of]].
** As explained in this episode, [[power chip rectifier]]s are what give Transformers their unique special abilities.
** The episode gives us a showcase of the Decepticons' most notable abilities, as Megatron uses Starscream's cluster bombs and null rays, Reflector's light-generating abilities, Rumble's earthquakes, Skywarp's teleportation, and Thundercracker's sonic abilities.
*** Incidentally, this is the first time said sonic abilities have been used explicitly. And it's not even by the guy they belong to.
** Optimus shows the strange ability to fire lasers out of his palm. He's blocking Megatron's shot with the other arm at the same time, almost like he's [[Optimus_Primal#Beast_Machines_cartoon|absorbing the energy and shooting it back]].
** Teletraan-1 can make up its own mind to wake up the Dinobots when a threat is detected.
** Snarl's sword can fire energy blasts from its tip.
*** This is also the first appearance of ''any'' of the Dinobots' swords in the cartoon, something that doesn't happen often. Instead of being red, as per the toy and comics, it uses the gray coloring it has in Snarl's package art.
** Hound projects one of his holograms out of both fists.
** Hey, turns out the Constructicons can turn themselves all into one big robot! Wonder if the toys can do that??
* When the Constructicons are tunneling, Scrapper refers to [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] as "[[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]". In their [[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|''More Than Meets The Eye'']] bio, Dreamwave would paint this as a deliberate derogatory term other Decepticons sometimes refer to him as.
* Soundwave totally pets Ravage on the head like a kittycat. Adorable!
* This episode is also the "source" of the aborted "Lava Bath Safety" deco for the original Megatron toy.
* The ''Law of Cybertron'' will be invoked again many years later, to resolve the Generation 2 War. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!}}

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst/whine as the Constructions take off from the construction site.
** Same effect as Megatron leaves Autobot Headquarters.
** Lightsaber ignition sound when Megatron activates Reflector's light powers.
* Chip provides the episode's requisite dose of "Oh, it's ''educational''" by likening the leaders' combat to the gladiatorial matches of ancient Rome.
* Mixmaster gets in on the act by naming a couple of acids by formula: H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) and HCl (hydrochloric acid).
* Oh, and the construction site will make energy from the earth's magnetic field. "Magnetic field" sounds like science, right??

===Trivia===
[[Image:SnarlG1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And we don't just mean the "horrible rape-related imagery" aspect, either.]]
* The art style of this episode has a distinctively Japanese flavor to it, similar to that of "[[Roll for It]]". [[wikipedia:Masami Obari|Masami Obari]]'s believed to be involved with this episode.<ref>http://mimizun.com/log/2ch/ranime/1118994758/</ref>
* The animation pretty much gets Devastator's transformation spot-on. Enjoy it while you can; it [[The Core|won't]] [[The Autobot Run|last]].
* Storyboards for this episode indicate that at one point in the scripting process, power chip rectifiers were also tied into the ability to transform. Upon giving up their rectifiers, the Decepticons lose their ability to transform, and during the fight, Megatron transforms into a jet! <ref>[http://cartoonpaperwork.com/network/dt/003.shtml "Heavy Metal War" storyboards at CartoonPaperwork.com]</ref>
* Scenes and dialogue deleted from this episode include Wheeljack showing off the latest improvements he has made to the Dinobots outside Autobot Headquarters (during which Megatron arrives), Scavenger referring to Scrapper with the misnomer of "[[Gravedigger]]", and Megatron using Soundwave's mind-reading powers on Optimus Prime during their fight.
** An extended portion of dialogue is also cut from Megatron's address to Optimus Prime, resulting in the rather clumsy line in the finished episode, "Our war has gone on for millions of years — Decepticons fighting Autobots — in which opposing leaders — you and I, Optimus Prime — may do battle." In the episode's dialogue script, following "Decepticons fighting Autobots," Megatron finishes his first sentence by lamenting the endless nature of the war. Prime shares in his regret, but deems it necessary as long as Megatron continues his pursuit of conquest. Megatron then speaks again, raising the topic of the "age-old law of combat," then picking up the finished line from "in which opposing leaders..."
[[Image:RumbleisRed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The "red robot" is clearly blue.]]
* During Teletraan I's montage of the sources of Megatron's acquired powers, the descriptions for the individual Decepticons are verbatim quotes from the [http://transformers.winterchill.com/bible/biblepage34.html Transformers Series Bible's "Decepticon Rollcall" page], albeit including several lost-in-translation typographical errors ("Decepticon Lider", "Decepticon Commicator", "Sky Warp"). The most notable of those is [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (misspelled as "Runble") being identified as a [[FIRRIB|"red robot"]]. Furthermore, the seemingly random numbers listed on those screens are actually Hasbro's product codes for the respective toys. Interestingly enough, [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] is given a product number, even though he was never released at mass retail. However, the renditions of the Decepticons are ''not'' the official [[character model]] poses for those characters, but rather all-new drawings.
* The head construction worker's cry as Scavenger drops him is recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]" (from when Laserbeak kidnaps two security guards.)
* The episode's ending sure seems intended as a potential conclusion to the series, just in case it wasn't renewed for a second season. Turns out that ''Transformers'' was a bit of a hit, so that whole falling-into-lava thing was ignored.
* The hologram image Hound projected went anonymous for 26 years until it received an identity at [[BotCon 2010]] as the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard member]] [[Halonix Maximus]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 10: "Heavy Metal War" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1987 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1989 — ''Transformers'' — A Ghost in the Machine / Heavy Metal Wars (Tempo Video) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video|Abbey Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2000 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 6: Evolution Revolution ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Three (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume Three (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 02: Stagione Uno Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/heavy_metal_war.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Heavy Metal War

2012-06-07T09:03:37Z

1.162.57.96: /* Art and character model errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=16
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=10
|prev2=Countdown to Extinction (episode)
|next2=Autobot Spike
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=5
|prev3=S.O.S. Dinobots
|next3=The Autobot Run
|image=HeavyMetalWar Primedefeated.jpg
|caption=The agony of defeat.
|title="Heavy Metal War"
|production code=#700-13
|airdate=[[December 15]], 1984
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to a one on one battle to end the war.'''

:''Japanese title:'' セイバートロン星の掟 (''Cybertron-sei no Okite'', "The Laws of Planet Cybertron")
:''German ''Generation 2'' title:'' "'''Der Zweikampf'''" ("The Duel")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Guerra dos Metaleiros''' ("War of Metalheads")
:''Serbian title:'' '''Сукоб металних ратника''' (''Sukob metalnih ratnika'', "Battle of the metal warriors")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il duello''' ("The duel")
:''Russian title'': '''Война тяжёлого металла''' (''Voyna tyazhelogo metalla'', "Heavy Metal War")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron invitation.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Silly Megs, tricks are for kids!]]
A busy construction site is attacked by driver-less construction equipment, and several components are stolen. The construction vehicles return to Decepticon headquarters and are revealed to be the newly built [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]]. The components they stole are parts to a machine that will allow [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to absorb the [[power chip rectifier]]s from his [[Decepticon]] warriors.

While the final preparations are completed on the machine, Megatron flies to [[Autobot]] headquarters and makes [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] an offer he cannot refuse. Megatron offers the Autobot leader a one on one battle with the winner staying on [[Earth]] to do as he pleases, and the loser taking his army and exiling themselves to deep space. Confident in his own abilities, Prime accepts the challenge and sets the match.

[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Megatron powerup.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Fear me, for I have the power of... poo gas!!]]

Knowing that Prime would be unable to resist a chance to honorably end their conflict, Megatron returns to the Decepticon base and uses the newly completed machine to gain all of the special powers of his warriors. [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]]'s teleportation, [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]]'s sonic boom, [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]'s seismic attack, etc. Knowing that Megatron would now be unbeatable, [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] voices concerns that the Autobot computer [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] would be able to detect what Megatron had done. Anticipating this problem, Megatron dispatches the Constructicons to take care of the computer.

The two armies arrive at the battle site, and the contest begins. Megatron unleashes a barrage of powers (while Starscream gives a running commentary), and Prime is outclassed at every step. Not knowing that he has been deceived, Prime concedes the fight and comments that he underestimated Megatron. The shocked Autobots begin the trek back to base, and the Decepticons follow to make sure they leave.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Devastator.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Not Brawl.]]

Meanwhile, the Constructicons have nearly tunneled their way into the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] and Teletraan I. Sensing the imminent danger, Teletraan I activates the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. The Dinobots respond and start pounding on the Constructicons, opening up a lava channel in the process. The battle not going in their favor, the Constructicons pull out one last trick and combine into the super warrior, [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. The returning Autobots see the battle, but are unable to help. Inside the Ark, Teletraan I is able to show that Megatron cheated, and the Autobots rush outside to help the Dinobots.

[[Image:Heavy Metal War Decepticons beat.JPG|right|200px|thumb|You'd think Starscream would be used to this, but no...]]

Despite the arrival of the rest of the Autobots to the fight, Devastator is still too powerful to be defeated, so [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] distracts the monstrous Decepticon with a [[hologram]] of [[Halonix Maximus|a colossal Autobot]]. Stunned at the sudden appearance of a robot even bigger than he is, Devastator is shot by Optimus Prime and falls apart. The Constructicons try to drive away, but the Dinobots blast them into the lava. The other Decepticons are routed by the Autobots and also pushed or knocked back by gunfire into the lava. There is much rejoicing.

...Until Megatron rises from the lava, vowing that the Decepticons will rise again.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (16)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (20)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (21)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (24)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (25)
*[[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (26)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (27)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (28)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (29)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (30)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (31)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (32)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (33)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (36)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (37)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (38)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (39)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (40)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (41)
*[[Halonix Maximus]] hologram (43)
|c2=
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (2)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (3)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (4)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (5)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (6)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (7)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (8)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (10)
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (11)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (12)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (22)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (23)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (34)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (35)
*[[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (42)

|c3=
*Construction Workers (1)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (17)
*[[Chip Chase]] (18)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Forgive me, but I believe your boast sounds vaguely familiar."
:—'''Starscream''', after hearing another of Megatron's promises to destroy the Autobots.

"Let's see how he likes my new [[Shock blast cannon|shockblast cannon]]! ''[The cannon explodes in his hands]'' Uhh... hnh... that's a shock, all right."
:—'''Wheeljack'''

"But I need my power chip rectifier. Besides, the Cybertron Code of Combat requires each warrior to fight as he is, without additional reinforcement. You wouldn't want to cheat, would you, Megatron?" 
"I will win by any means! At any cost! Even if it means terminating ''you'', Starscream!" 
"I was only raising a legal point..."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron'''

"Doesn't this remind you of the gladiatorial combats in ancient Rome?" 
"Maybe it would if I knew what you were talkin' about." 
"It's Earth history, Ironhide! Skip it!"
:—'''Chip''' and '''Ironhide''' on the duel between Optimus and Megatron.

"No destroy Teletraan I. Dinobots destroy you!"
:—'''Grimlock''' after hearing the Constructicons' plans to destroy Teletraan I.

'''Sludge''': "Sludge not see these Decepticons before." 
'''Snarl''': "Not see again either. Because we dino-mite them to pieces!" 
'''Slag''': "Dinobots, no fool around!" 
'''Grimlock''': "Right! Dinobots transform!"
:—'''Sludge''', '''Snarl''', '''Slag''', and '''Grimlock''' carrying on a conversation while fighting the Constructicons.

"It's bad news, Scrapper. They've brought out the heavy artillery." 
"Then it's time we did the same! Only heavier!" 
"Constructicons! Transform, Phase One! Now, transform, Phase Two!"
:—'''Hook''' and '''Scrapper''' as the Constructicons prepare to merge into Devastator for the first time

"Prepare to meet your doom. Nothing can withstand the might of... Devastator!"
:—'''Devastator''' speaking to the Dinobots.

"Nothing defeats the Devastator! Nothing!" 
"Nothing, little one? Ha ha ha! What would you say about ''me''? HAHAHAHAHA!"
:—'''Devastator''' and a '''"Giant Autobot"'''

"It is ended." 
"Is it really over, Optimus? I mean, have we seen the end of this war? Forever?" 
"Who can say, Spike? In this vast universe, is anything truly forever?"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Spike''', with a question that is quickly answered, at least for the audience

"Uhhh... we shall rise... AGAIN."
:—'''Megatron''' floating in lava

==Notes==
===Technical or animation glitches===
====Minor coloring errors====
* As Long Haul deploys his missiles, his Decepticon symbol is red, and missing its "cheeks".
* The top of Hook's head is green as Scrapper bows to Megatron... and again in the very next shot.
* Scavenger's face is colored all-green as he welds. If it was a stylistic decision to show the light from his welding, then it should flicker along with the welding lights.
* As Scrapper directs the others working on the infuser, his head is green instead of black, and Mixmaster's drum and torso are purple instead of green.
* The top of Wheeljack's chest is colored glass-blue instead of white after the shock cannon blows up.
* During the pan across the Decepticons before the strength transfer, Soundwave is missing the line in the middle of his mask, and his yellow stripes are mostly colored blue.
* Megatron's waist is red instead of silver after the transfer.
* When Megatron talks to Starscream after that, Starscream's air vent "boobs" are colored white instead of black.
* The front of Scrapper's head is red instead of black as Megatron orders him to move out.
* As Scrapper transforms, his whole helmet is green.
* As Optimus explains the code to Spike, Ironhide's forehead isn't fully drawn in.
* "Defeat, Megatron?" Megatron's fusion cannon is white instead of black during this line.
* At the end of the across the Decepticons seating themselves, Soundwave's optic visor is blue instead of red.
* Laserbeak's head is light gray as he ejects from Soundwave.
* Megatron's faction emblem is missing before he teleports.
* And it's missing again as he says the Autobots must exile themselves.
* Starscream's right arm is colored dark gray for a moment, while he talks to Skywarp about the rectifiers.
* Wheeljack's missing one of the lines on his "ears" as he and the others listen to Optimus say he was not prepared.
* Prime's tires are light gray as he transforms to truck mode, and his headlights aren't colored in.
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Oh, and Scavenger's chest shouldn't be purple, either.]]
* Scrapper's helmet is green in two shots as he and the others run into Autobot Headquarters.
* Scavenger's back is purple as he and the others back away from the Dinobots.
* Snarl's helmet is the same medium gray as his body as he joins Sludge.
* As Devastator walks toward the Dinobots, Swoop's head is white, while Sludge and Slag are block-colored gray.
* Devastator's hand is green instead of purple as he throws Grimlock.
* The top of Starscream's chest is red instead of gray as Megatron rants about the hologram.

====Art and character model errors====
* When Megatron comes to <s> lure Optimus into a trap </s> talk and Wheeljack and Ironhide fire their missiles, they exchange lines.
* It seems the artists might have had only script directions to go by when drawing the Constructicons' vehicular attack modes, and not actual character models. Both Long Haul and Mixmaster deploy weapons that are of similar description to their toys' attack forms (cab-mounted cannon, twin missile launchers), but look nothing like them.
* "Besides, the Cybertron code of combat requires..." Starscream's hand phases behind the transfer machine's light during his monologue.
* There's a discontinuity between shots as Megatron is infused; in one shot he's moving and reacting in visible pain to the power transfer; in the next, he's just standing there like a statue.
* Also in the above scene, when Megatron says "I now have all your powers in addition to my own" his "helmet" is significantly wider than his usual onscreen character model's, and in the NEXT shot ("Optimus Prime and the Autobots... are FINISHED!! Huhuhahahahahaha!!") his helmet suddenly shrinks back to it's usual narrow width. It would therefore be reasonable to surmise the animators were using Megatron's G1 Toy as a drawing reference for the former shot, as his helmet IS significantly wider than the "normal" onscreen Megatron's onscreen model.
* After Megatron talks of the Constructicons destroying Teletraan I, he's suddenly no longer attached to the machine.
* When Megatron laughs maniacally after being infused with the power of the other Decepticons, his head is disproportionately small, and his Decepticon insignia moves independently of his body.
* When Starscream lands behind Megatron before the latter's duel with Optimus Prime, the animators forgot to animate the dust Starscream's feet stir up, so we can see that his legs are not fully drawn, and instead of feet, they end in paint blotches.
* Chip is drawn speaking Spike's line "It's Earth history, Ironhide!"
* During the duel, what are the Autobots supposed to be sitting on? Air?
* After the boulder Prime threw at Meagtron splits in two, it completely disappears before the shot ends.
* Huffer is drawn with six wheels instead of four as he takes Prime's trailer.
* How long's it take for the animators to forget that Prime isn't towing his own trailer? All of one shot! Huffer is nowhere to be seen as the 'bots leave the battlefield.
* Mixmaster's cab-weapon changes color and form between scenes (it's a gray sphere when the Constructicons start tunneling; it's a green gun when they reach Autobot Headquarters.)
* Mixmaster's acid-laser changes from pink to orange between shots. The weapon that fires it has gone back to gray in the second shot.
* The animation doesn't really show a hole ''melting'' in the floor; a section of the floor just vanishes and is replaced with a melted hole.
* Grimlock has his original head design in this episode, rather than the later, toy-based one he normally is drawn with.
* The Dinobots' voices are ''heavily'' processed in his episode, far beyond the norm, giving them a crunchy, gravely sound.
* The inside of Sludge's robot-mode mouth is glowing orange ''again''. Clearly this is part of his character model, but why and how did such a bizarre choice come about in the first place?
* As Scrapper clutches his wounded shoulder, he has two small eyes instead of a visor. (It makes him look a lot like [[Rewind]].)
* Much like [[A Plague of Insecticons|Kickback's insect head]], the cartoon could never quite make up its mind whether Devastator was supposed to have two small eyes or one big visor. This episode shows him with eyes as he monologues, then the visor shows up just a shot or two later.
* When the Autobots cheer inside their headquarters, [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]]'s insignia is missing, Wheeljack's ears aren't flashing, and Jazz's mouth is blinking on and off.
* As the hologram fades out, Hound isn't shown in the nearby cave from which he's supposed to be projecting it.
* When [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] finds out the "Giant [[Autobot]]" is a hologram, his cannon [[kibble]] is gone for a brief second.
* In the final closeup of Megatron's face, several of the lava streams are flowing ''behind'' his eyes and back out. OUCH!

===Rhino DVD release===
More than most episodes, the [[Kid Rhino]] DVD version of this episode is full of animation errors that do not appear in the original broadcast version or prior home video releases (as a result of incomplete film masters being used for the DVD), as well as crude attempts made by Rhino to fix some of these errors.

Some are merely aesthetic complaints:
* In one shot, the camera pans sideways to follow the Constructicons, however they aren't moving, so they actually lag behind the screen. Then, as they round a corner, they are animated above the animation cel of the building they drive around, and you can see they are not fully drawn. Their vehicle modes end in unfinished lines and paint blotches until they come fully into view.
* As the Constructions make their big introductory transformations, the camera doesn't pan up with Bonecrusher, Long Haul, and Mixmaster, leaving them cut out of the shot from the thighs upward. Bonecrusher is also visibly floating above the ground.
* After Long Haul transforms, the equipment he's supposedly carrying simply pops into view. As the outlines tell us, it has been retroactively shopped into the image.
* The Rhino DVD portrays the power-chip smelter as a featureless rectangular smear, lacking all the light effects and animation that should be present.
* When Megatron says "Scrapper, you have your orders...", the Constructicons' eyes / eye visors no longer glow red in response.
* As he drives up to start digging, [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] is constantly jumping a bit back and forth while driving, as if the animation frames are not ordered properly.
* When the Autobots transform to leave base for the battlefield, Optimus Prime's left headlight blinks in and out a couple of times.
* Then, as they all drive out of the Ark, the screen freezes for a moment. The Autobots seem to have teleported after the animation finally continues.
* The sky behind Ironhide, when he is informing us of his ignorance of Earth's history, jumps noticeably at the beginning of the shot, and the shadowy outlines around him vibrate wildly.
* The audience isn't actually sitting on the edge of the pit, rather they are all somehow seated on the slopes.
* At two points during the duel with Optimus Prime (one of them recycled as him landing at Autobot Headquarters), Megatron is colored dark gray.
* When the miscolored Megatron blasts Prime away, the background isn't moving to simulate the camera pan, whereas Prime's animation is.
* The humans in one shot are drawn horribly off-model, with terrible looking teeth, may we add. Spike shows his pre-final print uppers again in a later shot.
* When Skywarp boasts that Megatron acquired the power of teleportation from him, he is colored like Starscream, who is seen sitting right next to him.
* During the Dinobots' fight scene with the Constructicons, some of the laser-firing animation is missing, leaving the characters with huge "holes" and gaps on their bodies where said laser shots should have been animated. This also renders the shot of Sludge firing his eye-beams completely pointless.
* And as Swoop fires his missiles, the background art isn't moving, making it look like he is floating.
* Also in one shot, the rock covering the Constructicons is missing from the foreground, and again, we see incomplete drawings instead of fully-drawn robots.
** However a later shot has a cave mouth drawn over the screen's outer rim, which shouldn't be there, as the scene takes place outside.

However, some of the screwups actually confuse the plot:
* When Rhino DVD Optimus Prime hurls a boulder at Megatron, Megatron still lights up to use Skywarp's teleportation ability to get out of the way... but after the teleporation glow effect fades, Megatron is ''still standing there''. The boulder ''flies straight through him'' with nobody seeming to care, including Megatron himself.
* When Megatron is talking to Starscream while the Constructicons are building the infuser machine, Starscream is colored like Skywarp.
** Speaking about the Constructicons being hard at work, this sequence is completely missing. We are instead treated to a shot of Megatron and Starscream standing silently for seconds.
* When [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] runs up and uses his [[glass gas]], he is coloured like [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]].
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Mixmaster spray.JPG|thumb|right|200px|That sure isn't a cave you're in there, Mixmaster.]]
* The animation sequence of Megatron landing at the Autobot base ''is missing entirely'', and is replaced by looped animation from later in the episode of Megatron landing after a jump, along with a recycled snippet of Cliffjumper looking elated after encasing Megatron in ice from just a few seconds earlier.
* When Megatron lands, there are two Optimus Primes and Ironhides there to greet him.
* As the Autobots help Prime make his decision, the camera pans are missing, and the scene is instead shown as multiple, separate shots. Secondly, Wheeljack's light effects are mis-aligned. Finally, the added lens-effects in Prime's optics makes him look like he's about to cry.
* When the Constructicons move out to dig the passage to the Autobot headquarters, they're all shown outdoors instead of inside the base.
* A transformation sequence for Trailbreaker, recycled from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", still retains its exterior background even though it's supposed to happen inside Autobot Headquarters.
* When the Autobots arrive at the pit in vehicle mode, Ironhide is seen transforming from robot mode to vehicle mode. Then, he is back in his robot form.
* Instead of using the finished shot, we see recycled animation of a standing Prime being hit when Megatron delivers his final blow. He should be lying on the ground.
* The animation of the lava is absent in a couple of shots.

But, uhhh, hey, that silver DVD case sure is shiny and pretty!

===Shout! Factory DVD release===
* Like "[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|Countdown to Extinction]]" before it, the sound effects of this episode are cranked down to near-inaudibility, compared to the music and vocal tracks.
* This episode is also one of several affected by Shout!'s inability to obtain complete master reels to restore the incomplete animation used in the Kid Rhino releases, resulting in 1-inch tape versions being used instead. Picture quality is thus all over the map. The scenes of Megatron approaching Autobot Headquarters are noticeably under-lit. Several scenes are in visibly softer focus compared to shots before and after, such as the pan of Autobots as Cliffjumper says "I don't trust 'im!"

===Continuity errors===
* This episode gives the first of [[Constructicon (G1)|three contradictory origins]] for the Constructicons.

* The building site that the Constructicons raid is a power plant. One of the construction workers states that it will be able to provide the whole planet with limitless energy, begging the question of why the Decepticons didn't raid such a powerful energy source for energon.

* So this head worker guy sees driverless, talking construction vehicles, that turn into giant malevolent thieving robots with the Decepticon symbol on 'em... but somehow he only figures out that they're Decepticons when Scrapper says they work for Megatron. Is Megatron's name more famous than all the defining aspects of his faction?

* Ironhide is apparently able to detect the Decepticons by himself, without relying on Teletraan I. However, in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]", the Autobots were unable to detect the approaching Decepticons with Teletraan I sabotaged.

* Optimus Prime takes out Devastator with a single shot from his laser rifle, something rather at odds with the later portrayal of combiners as nigh-invulnerable. Maybe they were upgraded?

* It's a bit strange that Starscream of all mechs should be concerned with legalities and suggest that Megatron try to fight honorably... but there ''is'' a touch of sarcasm when he says "You wouldn't want to ''cheat'', would you, Megatron?"

* There is a rather ''huge'' hole in Megatron's "Destroy Teletrann I" plot: When the Autobots come back from Optimus Prime's defeat, wouldn't a burning-and-smoking Teletran I ''immediately'' scream "Megatron DID cheat" rather than cover that fact up?

* The Autobots return to headquarters as the Dinobots have begun their battle with Devastator. They have time enough to repair Optimus Prime and detect the Decepticon deception, and meanwhile, the Dinobots are ''still'' fighting Devastator.
** On that note the Autobots don't even try to tell the Dinobots that they were leaving and the fight was over. Were the Autobots going to leave the Dinobots behind and strand them on Earth!?

* Speaking of which, didn't anybody notice the big flaming hole in the floor of Autobot Headquarters?

* So the Decepticons couldn't '''FLY''' out of the lava when they fell in? Doesn't anybody notice Megatron down there floating in the lava?

===Continuity notes===
* This episode introduces the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]].
[[Image:Heavymeatlwar megatron powers.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This fist of mine glows with an awesome power chip rectifier!]]
[[Image:HeavyMetalWar Scavenger.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This shovel of mine glows with an awesome sensor reading!]]
[[Image:Heavymetalwar constructicons target teletraan.jpg|thumb|right|200px|This computer of mine glows with an awesome lollipop!]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** The Constructicons show off a variety of armaments and abilities, such as Mixmaster melting a whole steam roller into goop and later firing a stream of rock-melting liquid, Long Haul having dump truck-mode missile launchers (perhaps a nod to his toy's "attack mode"), and Scavenger's shovel-based sensors.
** Long Haul has the rather ''amazing'' ability to fill up his cargo bed with a payload, transform to robot mode, then convert back to dump truck mode... and still have the cargo be there!
** Ironhide detects Megatron's approach using a sensor that displays on his chest, not unlike abilities he displayed in "[[S.O.S. Dinobots]]" and "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]".
** Cliffjumper's [[glass gas]], if that's what it's supposed to be, acts a lot more like Ironhide's liquid nitrogen. He shoots a huge stream of it from his retracted wrists, and it encases Megatron in ice.
** Speaking of which, being encased in ice does not affect Megatron's ability to fly.
** Ironhide doesn't even bother retracting his fists; he just shoots lasers right out of them. It's an unusual conceit for ''Transformers'', though [[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|not]] [[Dinobot Island, Part 2|unheard of]].
** As explained in this episode, [[power chip rectifier]]s are what give Transformers their unique special abilities.
** The episode gives us a showcase of the Decepticons' most notable abilities, as Megatron uses Starscream's cluster bombs and null rays, Reflector's light-generating abilities, Rumble's earthquakes, Skywarp's teleportation, and Thundercracker's sonic abilities.
*** Incidentally, this is the first time said sonic abilities have been used explicitly. And it's not even by the guy they belong to.
** Optimus shows the strange ability to fire lasers out of his palm. He's blocking Megatron's shot with the other arm at the same time, almost like he's [[Optimus_Primal#Beast_Machines_cartoon|absorbing the energy and shooting it back]].
** Teletraan-1 can make up its own mind to wake up the Dinobots when a threat is detected.
** Snarl's sword can fire energy blasts from its tip.
*** This is also the first appearance of ''any'' of the Dinobots' swords in the cartoon, something that doesn't happen often. Instead of being red, as per the toy and comics, it uses the gray coloring it has in Snarl's package art.
** Hound projects one of his holograms out of both fists.
** Hey, turns out the Constructicons can turn themselves all into one big robot! Wonder if the toys can do that??
* When the Constructicons are tunneling, Scrapper refers to [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] as "[[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]]". In their [[More Than Meets The Eye (G1)|''More Than Meets The Eye'']] bio, Dreamwave would paint this as a deliberate derogatory term other Decepticons sometimes refer to him as.
* Soundwave totally pets Ravage on the head like a kittycat. Adorable!
* This episode is also the "source" of the aborted "Lava Bath Safety" deco for the original Megatron toy.
* The ''Law of Cybertron'' will be invoked again many years later, to resolve the Generation 2 War. {{storylink|Transformers: G-2 (story page)|The Autobots Triumph in the Battle of Good Vs. Evil!}}

===Real-world references===
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** ''Millennium Falcon'' engine burst/whine as the Constructions take off from the construction site.
** Same effect as Megatron leaves Autobot Headquarters.
** Lightsaber ignition sound when Megatron activates Reflector's light powers.
* Chip provides the episode's requisite dose of "Oh, it's ''educational''" by likening the leaders' combat to the gladiatorial matches of ancient Rome.
* Mixmaster gets in on the act by naming a couple of acids by formula: H2SO4 (sulfuric acid) and HCl (hydrochloric acid).
* Oh, and the construction site will make energy from the earth's magnetic field. "Magnetic field" sounds like science, right??

===Trivia===
[[Image:SnarlG1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|And we don't just mean the "horrible rape-related imagery" aspect, either.]]
* The art style of this episode has a distinctively Japanese flavor to it, similar to that of "[[Roll for It]]". [[wikipedia:Masami Obari|Masami Obari]]'s believed to be involved with this episode.<ref>http://mimizun.com/log/2ch/ranime/1118994758/</ref>
* The animation pretty much gets Devastator's transformation spot-on. Enjoy it while you can; it [[The Core|won't]] [[The Autobot Run|last]].
* Storyboards for this episode indicate that at one point in the scripting process, power chip rectifiers were also tied into the ability to transform. Upon giving up their rectifiers, the Decepticons lose their ability to transform, and during the fight, Megatron transforms into a jet! <ref>[http://cartoonpaperwork.com/network/dt/003.shtml "Heavy Metal War" storyboards at CartoonPaperwork.com]</ref>
* Scenes and dialogue deleted from this episode include Wheeljack showing off the latest improvements he has made to the Dinobots outside Autobot Headquarters (during which Megatron arrives), Scavenger referring to Scrapper with the misnomer of "[[Gravedigger]]", and Megatron using Soundwave's mind-reading powers on Optimus Prime during their fight.
** An extended portion of dialogue is also cut from Megatron's address to Optimus Prime, resulting in the rather clumsy line in the finished episode, "Our war has gone on for millions of years — Decepticons fighting Autobots — in which opposing leaders — you and I, Optimus Prime — may do battle." In the episode's dialogue script, following "Decepticons fighting Autobots," Megatron finishes his first sentence by lamenting the endless nature of the war. Prime shares in his regret, but deems it necessary as long as Megatron continues his pursuit of conquest. Megatron then speaks again, raising the topic of the "age-old law of combat," then picking up the finished line from "in which opposing leaders..."
[[Image:RumbleisRed.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The "red robot" is clearly blue.]]
* During Teletraan I's montage of the sources of Megatron's acquired powers, the descriptions for the individual Decepticons are verbatim quotes from the [http://transformers.winterchill.com/bible/biblepage34.html Transformers Series Bible's "Decepticon Rollcall" page], albeit including several lost-in-translation typographical errors ("Decepticon Lider", "Decepticon Commicator", "Sky Warp"). The most notable of those is [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (misspelled as "Runble") being identified as a [[FIRRIB|"red robot"]]. Furthermore, the seemingly random numbers listed on those screens are actually Hasbro's product codes for the respective toys. Interestingly enough, [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] is given a product number, even though he was never released at mass retail. However, the renditions of the Decepticons are ''not'' the official [[character model]] poses for those characters, but rather all-new drawings.
* The head construction worker's cry as Scavenger drops him is recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]" (from when Laserbeak kidnaps two security guards.)
* The episode's ending sure seems intended as a potential conclusion to the series, just in case it wasn't renewed for a second season. Turns out that ''Transformers'' was a bit of a hit, so that whole falling-into-lava thing was ignored.
* The hologram image Hound projected went anonymous for 26 years until it received an identity at [[BotCon 2010]] as the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard member]] [[Halonix Maximus]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 10: "Heavy Metal War" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1987 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1989 — ''Transformers'' — A Ghost in the Machine / Heavy Metal Wars (Tempo Video) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Heavy Metal Wars / The Girl Who Loved Powerglide ([[Tempo Video|Abbey Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2000 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 6: Evolution Revolution ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Three (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume Three (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 02: Stagione Uno Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/heavy_metal_war.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]