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Armada (episode)

2012-04-24T23:38:07Z

108.11.46.36:

{{disambig3|Armada}}
{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 36
|prev=Grill
|next=Flying Mind
|image=Armada-clonessurroundMegatron.jpg
|caption=Megatron remembers seeing this scenario on Tumblr.
|title="Armada"
|airdate=[[April 21]], [[2012]]
|written by=[[Matt Wayne]]
|directed by=[[Vinton Heuck]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Bulkhead is trapped on the ''Nemesis'' amid dual attempts on Megatron's life.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] recovers consciousness, and realizes he's on the ''[[Trypticon (Prime)|Nemesis]]''. Unable to contact base, he begins to explore, but while hiding from [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]], he runs into [[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]]. Starscream is reluctant to help, and strikes at Bulkhead, so Bulkhead returns the favor by jumping on Starscream and literally beating the life out of him. Guiltily justifying his actions by muttering that Starscream left him no choice, Bulkhead returns to his exploration.

[[Image:Armada-protoforms.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Quick! Reprogram them into Combaticons!]]

Some 24 hours before, Starscream reaches the wreck of the ''[[Harbinger]]'' in his search for [[energon]]. Instead, he finds a laboratory containing five [[protoform]]s. Elsewhere, Bulkhead picks up a strong energon reading. Starscream finds information in the ''Harbinger''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> computer on cloning, and fires up the lab equipment. Soon, five [[Starscream clone (Prime)|duplicates of himself]] stand before him. Meanwhile Bulkhead, clambering into a hole he's found, realizes there's boxed energon at the bottom of it, and that the ''Nemesis'' is arriving overhead, ready to pick it up. As he struggles, he falls among the energon and, losing consciousness, is transported up to the Decepticon ship with it.

Starscream discovers that his clones are complete duplicates of himself, personality, memories, and all. The one significant difference seems to be that the clones have intact [[Transformation Cog]]s, and thus can fly. As the ''Harbinger'' is able to track where the ''Nemesis'' is, he sends his clones to eliminate [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] once and for all. The five clones board the ''Nemesis'' and split up, one of them running into Bulkhead, who terminates the clone. The original Starscream is dismayed to discover that he feels the same pain his clones feel. Bulkhead locates a comm unit and attempts to use it to contact the other Autobots, only to set off an alarm and bring Vehicons running. As he escapes, the Vehicons are distracted by another Starscream clone, but unbeknownst to anyone, Bulkhead has inadvertently triggered a Decepticon beacon.

The beacon is detected by [[Airachnid]], who releases her [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]] army from their [[stasis pod]]s to go terminate Megatron. The activity is detected by the Autobots, and [[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]], [[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] and [[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] [[GroundBridge]] to the location to investigate, discovering Airachnid in the middle of sending her troops. She sets some of the Insecticons after the trio, but Arcee bursts through the explosions and begins pursuing her. Optimus and Bumblebee begin mowing down Insecticons.

Bulkhead crawls through a service duct, and spots Megatron. Megatron starts heading for the bridge in response to reports that Starscream's there.

Arcee continues her pursuit of Airachnid, despite having to contend with two Insecticons. After the Insecticons are taken out, Airachnid disappears underground, and Arcee follows.

On the ''Nemesis'' bridge, Megatron finds himself face-to-faces with the four remaining Starscream clones. He offers to make them all [[second-in-command]] if they terminate Starscream for him, but the clones are stable enough to keep to the mission. Before they can open fire, the ship is attacked by Insecticons. The distraction is all Megatron needs, and he starts taking out clones. The last of the clones manages to escape as the Insecticon attack intensifies, and Megatron finally checks on what's going on outside.

[[Image:Armada-armadasurroundMegatron.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Megatron also remembers ''this'' from Tumblr.]]

Optimus and Bumblebee finish off the last of the Insecticons that were attacking them, and start looking for Arcee. Their comrade is currently deep underground hunting Airachnid. Arcee exchanges fire with her foe, and manages to manoeuvre Airachnid onto one of the open stasis pods, which promptly closes and puts the rogue Decepticon on ice. The Insecticons attacking the ''Nemesis'' all immediately stop their attack, drop on to the ship's hull, and proclaim their loyalty to a bemused Megatron.

Within the ''Nemesis'', Bulkhead finds the ship's power core, and hits it very hard, causing it to explode. The ship slowly begins its descent. As he runs to the exit, Bulkhead encounters the Starscream clone, who promptly takes off. Bulkhead is puzzled at the fact that Starscream is alive and can transform. Once the ''Nemesis'' has crashed to earth, Bulkhead is able to drive off and speed away. He soon reaches base, where the Autobots are inspecting the stasis-locked Airachnid.

The last Starscream clone returns to the ''Harbinger'' and lets the original Starscream know the mission failed. He's about to shoot his progenitor, when Starscream turns and blasts him, complaining as the clone dies about the pain he shared with him.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] (8)
*[[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] (9)
*[[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] (10)
|c2=
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicons]] (2)
*[[Airachnid]] (5)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (6)
*[[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] (11)
|c4=
*[[Starscream clone (Prime)|Starscream clones]] (3)
*[[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] (4)
}}

==Quotes==
"This is for [[Cliffjumper (Prime)|Cliffjumper]]! For Bumblebee! For ''everything''."
:—'''Bulkhead''' delivers some much-deserved payback unto Starscream. Well, actually his clone, but what's the difference?

"You left me no choice."
:—'''Bulkhead''' pulling an [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus]].

"My genetic code provides my clones with a T-Cog I no longer possess and all I get is their agony?!"
:—'''Starscream''' laments over the side-effects of cloning.

"Exterminating you was so gratifying the first three times."
:—'''Megatron''' approaching the last of Starscream's clones.

"When you extinguish my spark, make it hurt. You know I would extend that courtesy to you."
:—'''Airachnid''', creepy to the last.

'''Bulkhead''' (rushing inside the Autobot's base)''':''' Guys, you are not gonna believe the day I had! 
''Bulkhead spots Airachnid in stasis, then looks at Ratchet and Arcee'' 
'''Bulkhead:''' You too, huh?
:—It's been a busy day for everyone.

"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHH! ''Scrap'', that hurt!"
:—'''Starscream''' after killing the last clone.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* The Insecticons magically disappear from the top of the ''Nemesis'' after Bulkhead destroys the Power Station.

===Continuity errors===
* Previously, one Insecticon was so powerful that it was able to fight toe-to-toe with Megatron. (Keep in mind that Megatron's gun was disabled with webbing during that first fight, stopping him from making an easy kill.) The Insecticons in this episode are considerably weaker, enough that several go down in one hit and another is taken out by crashing into a tree. Not that this downgrade is anything special or even really surprising—it's a widely observed phenomenon with armies of generic henchmen in fiction of all kinds. If one simply ''has'' to rationalise it, though, it could be pointed out that the Autobots being able to fight them in an open battlefield with full mobility and access to ranged weapons would probably be a lot easier than trying to fight one in a closed arena with your [[fusion cannon|most powerful weapon]] disabled.
*So where does Starscream keep getting those replacement missiles from, anyway?

===Continuity notes===
* Starscream returns to the ''[[Harbinger]]'', first seen in "[[Partners]]", the episode in which he defected.
* Starscream references sneaking on board the ''Nemesis'' and meeting Optimus Prime in "[[Orion Pax, Part 1]]".
* Starscream mentions [[Darkness Rising, Part 1|killing Cliffjumper]] and [[Crossfire|sparing Arcee's life]]... again.
* Bulkhead pounds Starscream (well, his clone really, but still...) for killing Cliffjumper and damaging Bumblebee's T-cog in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 2]]".
* Starscream laments over losing his T-cog in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2".
* Airachnid loses [[Crossfire|another limb]].

===Transformers references===
*[[Starscream clone (G1)|Starscream]] [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]].
*Starscream's clones are mentally linked to him via [[binary bonding]].
*We see protoforms again.

===Real-world references===
* Starscream's activation of the clones, with all the electricity and cackling, seems inspired by [[Frankenstein|''Frankenstein'']].
* The Nemesis has [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Jefferies_tube Jefferies tubes].

===Trivia===
* The Insecticons speak for the first time. They're still vermin, though.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Talk:Decapitation

2012-04-04T23:29:05Z

108.11.46.36:

==Any real death==
So Brawl's, Blackout's, Megatron's, Ravage's, Optimus', Mixmaster's, Jetfire's, Jazz's and the protoforms deaths don't count as real? [[User:Eire|Eire]] 00.30 July 3 09 (UTC)
: "Decapitation seems to only cause any real death in the movie continuity. With just a few instances leading to death in previous continuities." That means that the movie continuity is the only place where decapitation actually regularly results in death. In others, it's usually simply an inconvenience. --[[User:FortMax|FortMax]] 20:00, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

== Why do we have this page? ==

Seriously... Is there any real point to it? While we're at it, why not make a page on Melting, or Disembowelment, or Crushing or Exploding? --[[User:Ascendron|Ascendron]] 21:48, 2 July 2009 (EDT)
:Decapitation is an oddity. Because sometimes it kills Transformers, but other Transformers have an entire gimmick based on removing their heads!
:Plus, there's a lot of marginal errata on the subject, established in letters pages and such asking questions about where a Transformer's brain or spark is located, and how-why they survive/don't survive decapitation. In short- Decapitation is more ''interesting'' than crushing or melting because it has implications for Transformers anatomy. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 21:53, 2 July 2009 (EDT)
::Meh, that's not limited to decapitation. Crushing Animated Blurr killed him (maybe), but lotsa Neo and RID guys transform by basically crushing themselves. TFs die when they get dropped into Unicron's gut-furnace, but dropping BW Megatron into lava made him into a dragon, and dropping G1 Megatron into lava did nothing at all. I'm not seeing why this wouldn't just be a subsection on [[To sell toys]] and/or [[Death/Archive|Death]]. --[[User:Thylacine 2000|Thylacine 2000]] 23:20, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

:::Well it's nothing worth losing your head over. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 23:21, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

:::It ''does'' have implications as far as Transformer biology goes... If decapitating a TF in one reality is fatal and not in another, we have to ask why? --[[User:Abates|abates]] 00:13, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

I can only assume that decapitation is a more visceral way of dying than having characters be shot. Think about it, this media is written for people (Cpt. Obvious, again) and the main thing we associate with decapitation is death. Besides, would you rather see a character slice off another's head, or would you rather see them just get shot and die?--[[User:AWT88|AWT88]] 23:38, 2 July 2009 (EDT)
:Can't they just hug? :~( --[[User:Abates|abates]] 00:13, 3 July 2009 (EDT)
::Probably not. Can anyone agree with me that Prime cut off a couple heads in [[The Veiled Threat]]? I know I read it, but am too tired, and lazy to look for it (also, I've had a few too many after work, if you catch my drift).--[[User:AWT88|AWT88]] 01:55, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

== Live-action fatality ==

"but in the movie continuity it generally results in death, with Frenzy being the exception due to his decentralized nervous system." - From article. 
I'm not seeing tons of evidence for that in this article so far. Barricade was decapitated in the comics and lived in the later comics, Bonecrusher was decapitated and assumed to have died off screen based primarily on the fact that decapitation is assumed to be fatal in this universe. The Fallen and Grindor had their face ripped off, but also suffered severe injuries to the torso. There may be more evidence out there, but right now I don't know why I should believe that. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 10:38, 10 July 2009 (EDT)
:Barricade was killed in the adaption, but this was later retconed in the Reign of Starscream where he was just badly hurt after crashing into the pillar. Grindor didn't have his face ripped off, he had his head ripped apart.[[User:Dead Metal|Dead Metal]] 06:41, 11 July 2009 (EDT)
:: Wait, wait, I've been going through the wiki for a bit now, looking up some more information on this particular subject, and I just have to ask... Where is this assumption coming from? I mean, it seems that attacking the spark directly is a lot more effective, considering the second movie... Depending on how you see it, it looks like Bonecrusher is still kicking in the second movie. And there seems to be a lot of weight on attacking the spark actually resulting in death, more so then the head; like Megatron's eating of sparks (in the novelization, at least). Putting the Allspark in the chest brought a lot of attention in the first movie, as Optimus was talking about sacrificing himself, and later when Sam did it to Megatron. And both the Fallen and Jetfire's death seemed more tied to ripping the spark out of their chest more then anything else. I mean, sure, they can die from pure trauma (which decapitation falls under) but like most other continuities, it just seems that it's the spark that's the Transformers' Achilles heel. --[[User:Ascendron|Ascendron]] 15:00, 20 July 2009 (EDT)
:::Grindor and The Fallen don't belong on this page. Grindor wasn't simply decapitated, his head was torn in half. The Fallen wasn't decapitated at all. Judging by the discussion here, saying that decapitation is generally fatal is unjustified when we have one example of a Transformer who was decapitated and ([[Buffalo MPV Decepticon|probably]]) stayed dead. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 23:21, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

== Marvel UK letters page info ==
As a follow-up to Derik's remark above, I've tracked down a couple of rather contradictory remarks made by 'Dreadwind'. In the letters page to issue 202, in response to someone asking why decapitation was fatal to Cyclonus but not Fortress Maximus et al., he replies:<blockquote>It's all a matter of how you remove your head. You see, even I - unh, there it goes - can take my head off. It's all a matter of how you do it. There's a whole set of mental commands that disconnect nerve endings and the like. If you just rip it off, fuel lines, neural connections and other vital bits are severed, as in the case of Cyclonus. Nine times out of ten it's fatal.</blockquote>In issue 228, when someone brings up the different fates of Cyclonus and Cloudburst, his answer is:<blockquote>Well, it's quite simple really: the 'stupid female' (!) in question kindly restored Cloudburst's head to its rightful place, i.e. on top of his shoulders. Cyclonus wasn't lucky enough to have somebody around to do the same.</blockquote>I don't know how much weight is attached to this sort of material, but it seems worth noting. --[[User:Tribimat|Tribimat]] 18:43, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

:Oh, YES. That is seriously worth putting in there -- maybe as a wholesale quote somewhere. -- [[User:Repowers|Repowers]] 18:52, 3 August 2009 (EDT)

::I too think it's noteworthy so I put it up in the Marvel comics section as quotes.[[User:Dead Metal|Dead Metal]] 13:47, 10 August 2009 (EDT)

== Rescope suggestion. ==

I think this page would be better if it were reworked and moved to "head" as a part of [[:category:Transformer anatomy]], then it can be described what a head is for and what happens when a Transformer becomes separated from his. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 23:36, 4 November 2009 (EST)

==Transformers Prime Decapitation?==
Both Breakdown and the Insecticon in Crossfire were decapitated.