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Day of the Machines

2011-08-11T13:22:06Z

118.209.54.54: /* Trivia */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=25
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=74
|prev2=Attack of the Autobots
|next2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=29
|prev3=Attack of the Autobots
|next3=Enter the Nightbird
|image=Dayofmachinesprimeandtorq.jpg
|caption=Big Brother is watching you!
|title="Day of the Machines"
|production code=#700-24
|airdate=[[October 10]], 1985
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron's latest scheme involves using the most powerful computer on Earth to control machinery remotely.'''

:''Japanese title:'' コンピュータの反乱 (''Computer no Hanran'', "The Rebellion of the Computer")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Dia das Máquinas''' ("Day of the Machines")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il giorno delle macchine''' ("Day of the machines")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Dayofmachinesmegsinacase.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Megatron! What are you doing in my [[Laserbeak (Animated)|cousin's]] house?!"]]

[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (the former disguised in a guitar case!) not-so-silently infiltrate [[Quantum Laboratories]], a top-secret facility where the world’s most powerful computer, [[TORQ III]], is housed. Megatron reprograms the computer with his own personality and gives it the power to control remotely dangerous machines of all types through the use of "[[Remote Control Circuit Linker]] cards."

At the same time, scientist Dr. [[Paul Gates]] of Quantum Labs muses with a colleague about the dangers of machine sentience and that, in the wrong hands, TORQ III might be too powerful. Since Fate is both cruel and timely, the very scenario they were discussing comes true when TORQ III locks them in their office and announces that he’s taking over.

Megatron is using TORQ and the circuit linker cards to remotely control fleets of [[oil tanker]]s. This alerts [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], who notifies [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Prime then receives Dr. Gates’ distress signal; Gates fills him in on TORQ III’s rebellion and asks to be rescued.

[[Image:Dayofmachinesautossurround.jpg|right|225px|thumb|The Autobots play "Monkey in the Middle" with a bunch of Brawls.]]

[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] and [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] are assigned to investigate the tankers, and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] tags along. Prime leads a group to Quantum Labs, where they immediately come under attack by machines controlled by TORQ. Overwhelmed, Prime orders in the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] (minus [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]]) to come help, and they smash, chomp and melt down all of the machines. [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] makes his usual pompous comment about having to save Prime’s bacon when things get rough. Afterward, Prime rescues Dr. Gates and they advance toward the buildings, meeting lots of resistance from TORQ’s machines.

Meanwhile, Hound, Spike and Skyfire sneak aboard an oil tanker and infiltrate the [[Decepticon]]s' oil platform. Their attack falls short when Spike is captured and they are forced to surrender.

After smashing more remote-controlled machines at Quantum, Prime decides to explore inside TORQ’s maze-like complex alone. As Optimus moves in closer, one of the machines places a circuit linker card on him, making him Torq’s slave, and he is brought into the computer’s domain. But—surprise, surprise—Prime rips the card off his body, saying it was a dud he placed in the robot’s claw, and he disables TORQ with a well-placed punch to the control panel. At the oil platform, Soundwave senses TORQ's demise; Megatron takes over control of the tankers with a gargantuan remote control device.

[[Image:DayOfMachines Megatron remote control.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"So this is what a human Cell Phone looks like."]]

Dr. Gates lends the Autobots a high-speed hydrofoil to reach the Decepticons. Back at the oil platform, Spike has hatched an idea to use an electromagnet (which happened to be in their cell) to immobilize [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]. Skyfire easily smashes through the cell door and Hound disables the force dome that was protecting the platform. The rest of the Autobots arrive and a battle ensues. Prime faces down Megatron and manages to wrest a remote control device from his hands, then tosses it back to him. Megatron lands on it, crushing it, and comes back up spitting mad. He retaliates by activating the self-destruct mechanism on the platform.

The [[Autobot]]s escape, but Prime stays behind to find Hound, Skyfire and Spike. He rips apart the platform deck, revealing the missing team members, and Skyfire flies them out of danger.

Finally, Prime says goodbye to Dr. Gates, who makes a parting comment about machines being unreliable, and then quickly retracts the statement when he realizes his gaffe. The Autobots laugh at the ungrateful human's hubris.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (10)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (11)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (12)
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] (13)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (15)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (16)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (17)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (18)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (19)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (20)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (21)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (22)

|c2=
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (2)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (3)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (4)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (8)
* [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (9)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (25)
* [[Hook (G1) |Hook]]

|c3=
*Security guard (1)
* Dr. [[Andrews]] (6)
* Dr. [[Paul Gates]] (7)
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (14)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (23)
* Oil tanker captain (24)

|c4=
* [[TORQ III]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"Illegal access! Illegal access!" 
"It certainly is."
:—'''TORQ III''' is reprogrammed by '''Megatron'''

"Good grief. More bad news. This isn’t one of our shining days."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' as TORQ's machines surround his troops.

"We help! ...Hmm. Always get Autobots out of messes they get into."
:—'''Grimlock''' laments at yet another Autobot bungle he is called upon to resolve. Forcefully.

"It's a safe bet those doors are locked." 
"Fortunately, I have a delicate lock-picking technique."
:—'''Dr. Gates''' and '''Optimus Prime''', right before Prime "delicately" blasts his way into TORQ's building.

"Come and get me you metal-headed dumb-dumb." 
"That's one stupid Decepticon."
:—'''Skyfire''' and '''Hound''' accurately assess Frenzy's level of intelligence.

"What do you say, guys? Can you bash it down?" 
"With a smile on our lip components!"
:—'''Spike''' and '''Hound''' discuss the finer points of Cybertronian facial structure.

"I'll take that transmitter, please." 
"The transmitter is mine!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' is always polite. '''Megatron''', not so much.

"You took the word right out of my mouth. It was in there with my foot."
:—'''Dr. Paul Gates''' after he tells the ''Autobots'' that all machines are unreliable.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* As the security guard closes the Lost and Found cage's gate, his hand phases through the cage door.
* Soundwave's cassette door is blue instead of white before he releases Laserbeak.
* The access hatch in Megatron's head simply appears out of nowhere on his forehead, and likewise vanishes after closing.
* There's no evidence of the bizarre war machines in the Hall of TORQ when Megatron and Soundwave arrive. They suddenly appear once they're needed for the plot.
* After Megatron attaches the first Circuit Linker card, TORQ appears with his original neutral face rather than his reprogrammed "evil" face.
* The sign on the front of Dr. Gates' building reads "Research and Develop'''e'''ment".
* Teletraan I has the radio-transmission muffle on its voice as it reports the oil tanker movements to Optimus Prime.
* Prime comments that the tankers are converging near [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon Headquarters]], but the graphics show them in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Decepticon HQ is somewhere near the Pacific coast.
* After he transforms, Prime's cab wheels are somehow in ''front'' of his trailer. (Sure is a pretty sequence otherwise, though!)
* Prowl's face changes from gray to white as he turns to look at Wheeljack after the first commercial break.
* Snarl's tail is white instead of gold as he smashes the tank.
* Slag sure does spend a long time staring at the machines, growling and very pointedly moving his mouth. Was he supposed to have some dialog? Sludge does nearly the same thing before Prime uses him as a ladder.
* Prime's whole face is the same blue color as his helmet as he offers the humans a lift down from their window.
* "Personnel" is spelled with only one "n" on the TORQ Project's building sign.
* Is that supposed to be Hook lowering the cargo pipe onto the tanker? 'Cause he's colored yellow instead of green, and has an inexplicably radioed-in voice, and isn't quite on-model, and he never actually transforms, and... maybe it's not supposed to be Hook. Hound does however refer to him by name.
* Laserbeak's feet aren't fully drawn as he carries Spike past the camera.
* Laserbeak is shown outside the force field as he flies over Hound. He should be inside.
* Skyfire's chest cockpit is white instead of blue as he drops his gun.
* Sideswipe's head is colored red instead of black as he flees from a Torq-controlled machine.
* The claws holding Sideswipe's wrists just kind of randomly let him go for no reason.
* Prime's eyes are red instead of blue as the tentacle machine drags him toward its spinny things.
* Soundwave reports that "ORQ" {{sic}} is no longer functional.
* The Decepticons sure take their time getting yanked back by the electromagnet, whose effect should be instantaneous. It also doesn't seem to bother the Autobots, who run right through the spot where the Decepticons were standing when the magnet grabbed them.
* Hound's missile, supposedly removed by the Decepticons, is suddenly back in place as they run out of the cell. (In a nice bit of continuity, his launcher does remain empty after he destroys the force field generator.)
* Soundwave's optics are white when he notifies Megatron that the force field is down.
* Sparkplug is suddenly standing, unsheltered, in the middle of the Autobots, who were in a raging firefight just seconds before.
* Skyfire's chest is missing his Autobot symbol as he and Hound react to the platform's explosions. The same error repeats in the episode's closing scene.
* The bottom of Prime's waist is about twice its normal size as he and the other Autobots react to Dr. Gates' "unreliable" comment.

===Continuity errors===
* Dr. Gates' friend walks around with a remote that can open a single filing cabinet. In Dr. Gates' office, no less!
* Considering how easily they move around the complex, blowing holes in stuff, it's not at all clear why the Decepticons needed to go through the trouble of sneaking into the place in their alternate modes.
* How do the remote linker cards grant control of machines just by being hooked to random parts of them, not their computer circuits?
* Since when do oil tankers travel in enormous fleets? Is this World War II?
* The Dinobots disappear from the story after their one battle, despite the fact that the Autobots meet more resistance before they reach TORQ III. Also curious is Swoop's total absence.
* Hound and Skyfires' cell has a bunch of scrap metal and a usable magnet in it...for some reason.
* Hound and Skyfire suddenly have their weapons back after busting out of the "cell."
* Prime claims that he inserted a dead circuit linker into the claw of TORQ's "friend". However, the animation basically allows no opportunity for this to happen. Furthermore, the circuit linker that he took from Sparkplug earlier sure didn't appear to be "dead"!
* Superhuman Spike: Spike picks up a metal electro-magnet which is nearly as big as he is.

===Continuity notes===
* Gadgets and powers:
** Megatron's gun mode actually shrinks to a human adequate scale, the only time we see him do this.
** Skyfire once again uses his jet-with-legs half-transformation.
** Ironhide destroys one of TORQ's machines by ''walking right through the blast'' it's emitting and sticking his finger in its hose. He is old because he is '''hard'''!
** Hound fires his shoulder missile for the first and only time ever.
* This is one of Optimus Prime's shining episodes. He defeats TORQ III almost singlehandedly; he destroys Megatron's remote control device and foils the tanker stealing plan; and he saves Spike, Skyfire and Hound from sinking with the oil platform. No wonder he's in charge!

===Real-world references===
* Pre-Megatron TORQ III bears some passing resemblance to Oz, the Great and Powerful!
* Paul Gates, the scientist of Quantum Labs, could be a nod to the co-founders of Microsoft, Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

===Trivia===
* The original name for this episode was "The Machine Rebellion". {{fact}}
* This is the only episode in which both Skyfire and the Dinobots appear.
* Like a handful of other Season 2 episodes ("[[Autobot Spike]]", "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"), this one begins with a short narrative voiceover from [[Victor Caroli]]. Unlike the others, this one actually conveys some information that isn't immediately conveyed by the animation (namely, what Quantum Laboratories does.)
* Script writer David Wise had previously used the concept of a computer able to remote-control machinery being taken over by a villain in a ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode also named "Day of the Machines". The same episode also featured a small energy-based creature and Man-At-Arms shrinking himself to fix the computer.
*This is one of two episodes (the other being "[[Attack of the Autobots]]") not initially aired in Japan during the run of ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]''. The episode was eventually dubbed in 1990 and released on [[Pioneer]]'s laserdisk set of the series. As such, it was retroactively added to the series official episode list as episode 74, a numbering reflected in ''[[Transformers Generations]]''.
*Having been dubbed several years after ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' had ended, not all the original cast members were able to return. [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (originally voiced by [[Ken Shiroyama]]), [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (originally voiced by [[Kōki Kataoka]]) and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (originally voiced by [[Osamu Saka]]) were replaced by [[Katsumi Suzuki]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[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 UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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/day_of_the_machines.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

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

Day of the Machines

2011-08-11T12:53:36Z

118.209.54.54: /* Animation or technical glitches */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=25
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=74
|prev2=Attack of the Autobots
|next2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=29
|prev3=Attack of the Autobots
|next3=Enter the Nightbird
|image=Dayofmachinesprimeandtorq.jpg
|caption=Big Brother is watching you!
|title="Day of the Machines"
|production code=#700-24
|airdate=[[October 10]], 1985
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron's latest scheme involves using the most powerful computer on Earth to control machinery remotely.'''

:''Japanese title:'' コンピュータの反乱 (''Computer no Hanran'', "The Rebellion of the Computer")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Dia das Máquinas''' ("Day of the Machines")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il giorno delle macchine''' ("Day of the machines")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Dayofmachinesmegsinacase.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Megatron! What are you doing in my [[Laserbeak (Animated)|cousin's]] house?!"]]

[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (the former disguised in a guitar case!) not-so-silently infiltrate [[Quantum Laboratories]], a top-secret facility where the world’s most powerful computer, [[TORQ III]], is housed. Megatron reprograms the computer with his own personality and gives it the power to control remotely dangerous machines of all types through the use of "[[Remote Control Circuit Linker]] cards."

At the same time, scientist Dr. [[Paul Gates]] of Quantum Labs muses with a colleague about the dangers of machine sentience and that, in the wrong hands, TORQ III might be too powerful. Since Fate is both cruel and timely, the very scenario they were discussing comes true when TORQ III locks them in their office and announces that he’s taking over.

Megatron is using TORQ and the circuit linker cards to remotely control fleets of [[oil tanker]]s. This alerts [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], who notifies [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Prime then receives Dr. Gates’ distress signal; Gates fills him in on TORQ III’s rebellion and asks to be rescued.

[[Image:Dayofmachinesautossurround.jpg|right|225px|thumb|The Autobots play "Monkey in the Middle" with a bunch of Brawls.]]

[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] and [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] are assigned to investigate the tankers, and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] tags along. Prime leads a group to Quantum Labs, where they immediately come under attack by machines controlled by TORQ. Overwhelmed, Prime orders in the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] (minus [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]]) to come help, and they smash, chomp and melt down all of the machines. [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] makes his usual pompous comment about having to save Prime’s bacon when things get rough. Afterward, Prime rescues Dr. Gates and they advance toward the buildings, meeting lots of resistance from TORQ’s machines.

Meanwhile, Hound, Spike and Skyfire sneak aboard an oil tanker and infiltrate the [[Decepticon]]s' oil platform. Their attack falls short when Spike is captured and they are forced to surrender.

After smashing more remote-controlled machines at Quantum, Prime decides to explore inside TORQ’s maze-like complex alone. As Optimus moves in closer, one of the machines places a circuit linker card on him, making him Torq’s slave, and he is brought into the computer’s domain. But—surprise, surprise—Prime rips the card off his body, saying it was a dud he placed in the robot’s claw, and he disables TORQ with a well-placed punch to the control panel. At the oil platform, Soundwave senses TORQ's demise; Megatron takes over control of the tankers with a gargantuan remote control device.

[[Image:DayOfMachines Megatron remote control.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"So this is what a human Cell Phone looks like."]]

Dr. Gates lends the Autobots a high-speed hydrofoil to reach the Decepticons. Back at the oil platform, Spike has hatched an idea to use an electromagnet (which happened to be in their cell) to immobilize [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]. Skyfire easily smashes through the cell door and Hound disables the force dome that was protecting the platform. The rest of the Autobots arrive and a battle ensues. Prime faces down Megatron and manages to wrest a remote control device from his hands, then tosses it back to him. Megatron lands on it, crushing it, and comes back up spitting mad. He retaliates by activating the self-destruct mechanism on the platform.

The [[Autobot]]s escape, but Prime stays behind to find Hound, Skyfire and Spike. He rips apart the platform deck, revealing the missing team members, and Skyfire flies them out of danger.

Finally, Prime says goodbye to Dr. Gates, who makes a parting comment about machines being unreliable, and then quickly retracts the statement when he realizes his gaffe. The Autobots laugh at the ungrateful human's hubris.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (10)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (11)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (12)
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] (13)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (15)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (16)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (17)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (18)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (19)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (20)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (21)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (22)

|c2=
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (2)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (3)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (4)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (8)
* [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (9)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (25)
* [[Hook (G1) |Hook]]

|c3=
*Security guard (1)
* Dr. [[Andrews]] (6)
* Dr. [[Paul Gates]] (7)
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (14)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (23)
* Oil tanker captain (24)

|c4=
* [[TORQ III]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"Illegal access! Illegal access!" 
"It certainly is."
:—'''TORQ III''' is reprogrammed by '''Megatron'''

"Good grief. More bad news. This isn’t one of our shining days."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' as TORQ's machines surround his troops.

"We help! ...Hmm. Always get Autobots out of messes they get into."
:—'''Grimlock''' laments at yet another Autobot bungle he is called upon to resolve. Forcefully.

"It's a safe bet those doors are locked." 
"Fortunately, I have a delicate lock-picking technique."
:—'''Dr. Gates''' and '''Optimus Prime''', right before Prime "delicately" blasts his way into TORQ's building.

"Come and get me you metal-headed dumb-dumb." 
"That's one stupid Decepticon."
:—'''Skyfire''' and '''Hound''' accurately assess Frenzy's level of intelligence.

"What do you say, guys? Can you bash it down?" 
"With a smile on our lip components!"
:—'''Spike''' and '''Hound''' discuss the finer points of Cybertronian facial structure.

"I'll take that transmitter, please." 
"The transmitter is mine!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' is always polite. '''Megatron''', not so much.

"You took the word right out of my mouth. It was in there with my foot."
:—'''Dr. Paul Gates''' after he tells the ''Autobots'' that all machines are unreliable.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* As the security guard closes the Lost and Found cage's gate, his hand phases through the cage door.
* Soundwave's cassette door is blue instead of white before he releases Laserbeak.
* The access hatch in Megatron's head simply appears out of nowhere on his forehead, and likewise vanishes after closing.
* There's no evidence of the bizarre war machines in the Hall of TORQ when Megatron and Soundwave arrive. They suddenly appear once they're needed for the plot.
* After Megatron attaches the first Circuit Linker card, TORQ appears with his original neutral face rather than his reprogrammed "evil" face.
* The sign on the front of Dr. Gates' building reads "Research and Develop'''e'''ment".
* Teletraan I has the radio-transmission muffle on its voice as it reports the oil tanker movements to Optimus Prime.
* Prime comments that the tankers are converging near [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon Headquarters]], but the graphics show them in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Decepticon HQ is somewhere near the Pacific coast.
* After he transforms, Prime's cab wheels are somehow in ''front'' of his trailer. (Sure is a pretty sequence otherwise, though!)
* Prowl's face changes from gray to white as he turns to look at Wheeljack after the first commercial break.
* Snarl's tail is white instead of gold as he smashes the tank.
* Slag sure does spend a long time staring at the machines, growling and very pointedly moving his mouth. Was he supposed to have some dialog? Sludge does nearly the same thing before Prime uses him as a ladder.
* Prime's whole face is the same blue color as his helmet as he offers the humans a lift down from their window.
* "Personnel" is spelled with only one "n" on the TORQ Project's building sign.
* Is that supposed to be Hook lowering the cargo pipe onto the tanker? 'Cause he's colored yellow instead of green, and has an inexplicably radioed-in voice, and isn't quite on-model, and he never actually transforms, and... maybe it's not supposed to be Hook. Hound does however refer to him by name.
* Laserbeak's feet aren't fully drawn as he carries Spike past the camera.
* Laserbeak is shown outside the force field as he flies over Hound. He should be inside.
* Skyfire's chest cockpit is white instead of blue as he drops his gun.
* Sideswipe's head is colored red instead of black as he flees from a Torq-controlled machine.
* The claws holding Sideswipe's wrists just kind of randomly let him go for no reason.
* Prime's eyes are red instead of blue as the tentacle machine drags him toward its spinny things.
* Soundwave reports that "ORQ" {{sic}} is no longer functional.
* The Decepticons sure take their time getting yanked back by the electromagnet, whose effect should be instantaneous. It also doesn't seem to bother the Autobots, who run right through the spot where the Decepticons were standing when the magnet grabbed them.
* Hound's missile, supposedly removed by the Decepticons, is suddenly back in place as they run out of the cell. (In a nice bit of continuity, his launcher does remain empty after he destroys the force field generator.)
* Soundwave's optics are white when he notifies Megatron that the force field is down.
* Sparkplug is suddenly standing, unsheltered, in the middle of the Autobots, who were in a raging firefight just seconds before.
* Skyfire's chest is missing his Autobot symbol as he and Hound react to the platform's explosions. The same error repeats in the episode's closing scene.
* The bottom of Prime's waist is about twice its normal size as he and the other Autobots react to Dr. Gates' "unreliable" comment.

===Continuity errors===
* Dr. Gates' friend walks around with a remote that can open a single filing cabinet. In Dr. Gates' office, no less!
* Considering how easily they move around the complex, blowing holes in stuff, it's not at all clear why the Decepticons needed to go through the trouble of sneaking into the place in their alternate modes.
* How do the remote linker cards grant control of machines just by being hooked to random parts of them, not their computer circuits?
* Since when do oil tankers travel in enormous fleets? Is this World War II?
* The Dinobots disappear from the story after their one battle, despite the fact that the Autobots meet more resistance before they reach TORQ III. Also curious is Swoop's total absence.
* Hound and Skyfires' cell has a bunch of scrap metal and a usable magnet in it...for some reason.
* Hound and Skyfire suddenly have their weapons back after busting out of the "cell."
* Prime claims that he inserted a dead circuit linker into the claw of TORQ's "friend". However, the animation basically allows no opportunity for this to happen. Furthermore, the circuit linker that he took from Sparkplug earlier sure didn't appear to be "dead"!
* Superhuman Spike: Spike picks up a metal electro-magnet which is nearly as big as he is.

===Continuity notes===
* Gadgets and powers:
** Megatron's gun mode actually shrinks to a human adequate scale, the only time we see him do this.
** Skyfire once again uses his jet-with-legs half-transformation.
** Ironhide destroys one of TORQ's machines by ''walking right through the blast'' it's emitting and sticking his finger in its hose. He is old because he is '''hard'''!
** Hound fires his shoulder missile for the first and only time ever.
* This is one of Optimus Prime's shining episodes. He defeats TORQ III almost singlehandedly; he destroys Megatron's remote control device and foils the tanker stealing plan; and he saves Spike, Skyfire and Hound from sinking with the oil platform. No wonder he's in charge!

===Real-world references===
* Pre-Megatron TORQ III bears some passing resemblance to Oz, the Great and Powerful!
* Paul Gates, the scientist of Quantum Labs, could be a nod to the co-founders of Microsoft, Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

===Trivia===
* The original name for this episode was "The Machine Rebellion". {{fact}}
* Like a handful of other Season 2 episodes ("[[Autobot Spike]]", "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"), this one begins with a short narrative voiceover from [[Victor Caroli]]. Unlike the others, this one actually conveys some information that isn't immediately conveyed by the animation (namely, what Quantum Laboratories does.)
* Script writer David Wise had previously used the concept of a computer able to remote-control machinery being taken over by a villain in a ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode also named "Day of the Machines". The same episode also featured a small energy-based creature and Man-At-Arms shrinking himself to fix the computer.
*This is one of two episodes (the other being "[[Attack of the Autobots]]") not initially aired in Japan during the run of ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]''. The episode was eventually dubbed in 1990 and released on [[Pioneer]]'s laserdisk set of the series. As such, it was retroactively added to the series official episode list as episode 74, a numbering reflected in ''[[Transformers Generations]]''.
*Having been dubbed several years after ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' had ended, not all the original cast members were able to return. [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (originally voiced by [[Ken Shiroyama]]), [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (originally voiced by [[Kōki Kataoka]]) and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (originally voiced by [[Osamu Saka]]) were replaced by [[Katsumi Suzuki]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[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 UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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/day_of_the_machines.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

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

Day of the Machines

2011-08-11T12:50:44Z

118.209.54.54: /* Animation or technical glitches */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=25
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=74
|prev2=Attack of the Autobots
|next2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=29
|prev3=Attack of the Autobots
|next3=Enter the Nightbird
|image=Dayofmachinesprimeandtorq.jpg
|caption=Big Brother is watching you!
|title="Day of the Machines"
|production code=#700-24
|airdate=[[October 10]], 1985
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Megatron's latest scheme involves using the most powerful computer on Earth to control machinery remotely.'''

:''Japanese title:'' コンピュータの反乱 (''Computer no Hanran'', "The Rebellion of the Computer")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''Dia das Máquinas''' ("Day of the Machines")
:''Italian title:'' '''Il giorno delle macchine''' ("Day of the machines")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Dayofmachinesmegsinacase.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"Megatron! What are you doing in my [[Laserbeak (Animated)|cousin's]] house?!"]]

[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (the former disguised in a guitar case!) not-so-silently infiltrate [[Quantum Laboratories]], a top-secret facility where the world’s most powerful computer, [[TORQ III]], is housed. Megatron reprograms the computer with his own personality and gives it the power to control remotely dangerous machines of all types through the use of "[[Remote Control Circuit Linker]] cards."

At the same time, scientist Dr. [[Paul Gates]] of Quantum Labs muses with a colleague about the dangers of machine sentience and that, in the wrong hands, TORQ III might be too powerful. Since Fate is both cruel and timely, the very scenario they were discussing comes true when TORQ III locks them in their office and announces that he’s taking over.

Megatron is using TORQ and the circuit linker cards to remotely control fleets of [[oil tanker]]s. This alerts [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], who notifies [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Prime then receives Dr. Gates’ distress signal; Gates fills him in on TORQ III’s rebellion and asks to be rescued.

[[Image:Dayofmachinesautossurround.jpg|right|225px|thumb|The Autobots play "Monkey in the Middle" with a bunch of Brawls.]]

[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] and [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] are assigned to investigate the tankers, and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] tags along. Prime leads a group to Quantum Labs, where they immediately come under attack by machines controlled by TORQ. Overwhelmed, Prime orders in the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] (minus [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]]) to come help, and they smash, chomp and melt down all of the machines. [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] makes his usual pompous comment about having to save Prime’s bacon when things get rough. Afterward, Prime rescues Dr. Gates and they advance toward the buildings, meeting lots of resistance from TORQ’s machines.

Meanwhile, Hound, Spike and Skyfire sneak aboard an oil tanker and infiltrate the [[Decepticon]]s' oil platform. Their attack falls short when Spike is captured and they are forced to surrender.

After smashing more remote-controlled machines at Quantum, Prime decides to explore inside TORQ’s maze-like complex alone. As Optimus moves in closer, one of the machines places a circuit linker card on him, making him Torq’s slave, and he is brought into the computer’s domain. But—surprise, surprise—Prime rips the card off his body, saying it was a dud he placed in the robot’s claw, and he disables TORQ with a well-placed punch to the control panel. At the oil platform, Soundwave senses TORQ's demise; Megatron takes over control of the tankers with a gargantuan remote control device.

[[Image:DayOfMachines Megatron remote control.jpg|left|250px|thumb|"So this is what a human Cell Phone looks like."]]

Dr. Gates lends the Autobots a high-speed hydrofoil to reach the Decepticons. Back at the oil platform, Spike has hatched an idea to use an electromagnet (which happened to be in their cell) to immobilize [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]. Skyfire easily smashes through the cell door and Hound disables the force dome that was protecting the platform. The rest of the Autobots arrive and a battle ensues. Prime faces down Megatron and manages to wrest a remote control device from his hands, then tosses it back to him. Megatron lands on it, crushing it, and comes back up spitting mad. He retaliates by activating the self-destruct mechanism on the platform.

The [[Autobot]]s escape, but Prime stays behind to find Hound, Skyfire and Spike. He rips apart the platform deck, revealing the missing team members, and Skyfire flies them out of danger.

Finally, Prime says goodbye to Dr. Gates, who makes a parting comment about machines being unreliable, and then quickly retracts the statement when he realizes his gaffe. The Autobots laugh at the ungrateful human's hubris.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (10)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (11)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (12)
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] (13)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (15)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (16)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (17)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (18)
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (19)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (20)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (21)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (22)

|c2=
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (2)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (3)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (4)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (8)
* [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (9)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (25)
* [[Hook (G1) |Hook]]

|c3=
*Security guard (1)
* Dr. [[Andrews]] (6)
* Dr. [[Paul Gates]] (7)
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (14)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (23)
* Oil tanker captain (24)

|c4=
* [[TORQ III]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"Illegal access! Illegal access!" 
"It certainly is."
:—'''TORQ III''' is reprogrammed by '''Megatron'''

"Good grief. More bad news. This isn’t one of our shining days."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' as TORQ's machines surround his troops.

"We help! ...Hmm. Always get Autobots out of messes they get into."
:—'''Grimlock''' laments at yet another Autobot bungle he is called upon to resolve. Forcefully.

"It's a safe bet those doors are locked." 
"Fortunately, I have a delicate lock-picking technique."
:—'''Dr. Gates''' and '''Optimus Prime''', right before Prime "delicately" blasts his way into TORQ's building.

"Come and get me you metal-headed dumb-dumb." 
"That's one stupid Decepticon."
:—'''Skyfire''' and '''Hound''' accurately assess Frenzy's level of intelligence.

"What do you say, guys? Can you bash it down?" 
"With a smile on our lip components!"
:—'''Spike''' and '''Hound''' discuss the finer points of Cybertronian facial structure.

"I'll take that transmitter, please." 
"The transmitter is mine!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' is always polite. '''Megatron''', not so much.

"You took the word right out of my mouth. It was in there with my foot."
:—'''Dr. Paul Gates''' after he tells the ''Autobots'' that all machines are unreliable.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* As the security guard closes the Lost and Found cage's gate, his hand phases through the cage door.
* Soundwave's cassette door is blue instead of white before he releases Laserbeak.
* The access hatch in Megatron's head simply appears out of nowhere on his forehead, and likewise vanishes after closing.
* There's no evidence of the bizarre war machines in the Hall of TORQ when Megatron and Soundwave arrive. They suddenly appear once they're needed for the plot.
* After Megatron attaches the first Circuit Linker card, TORQ appears with his original neutral face rather than his reprogrammed "evil" face.
* Teletraan I has the radio-transmission muffle on its voice as it reports the oil tanker movements to Optimus Prime.
* Prime comments that the tankers are converging near [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon Headquarters]], but the graphics show them in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Decepticon HQ is somewhere near the Pacific coast.
* After he transforms, Prime's cab wheels are somehow in ''front'' of his trailer. (Sure is a pretty sequence otherwise, though!)
* Prowl's face changes from gray to white as he turns to look at Wheeljack after the first commercial break.
* Snarl's tail is white instead of gold as he smashes the tank.
* Slag sure does spend a long time staring at the machines, growling and very pointedly moving his mouth. Was he supposed to have some dialog? Sludge does nearly the same thing before Prime uses him as a ladder.
* Prime's whole face is the same blue color as his helmet as he offers the humans a lift down from their window.
* "Personnel" is spelled with only one "n" on the TORQ Project's building sign.
* Is that supposed to be Hook lowering the cargo pipe onto the tanker? 'Cause he's colored yellow instead of green, and has an inexplicably radioed-in voice, and isn't quite on-model, and he never actually transforms, and... maybe it's not supposed to be Hook. Hound does however refer to him by name.
* Laserbeak's feet aren't fully drawn as he carries Spike past the camera.
* Laserbeak is shown outside the force field as he flies over Hound. He should be inside.
* Skyfire's chest cockpit is white instead of blue as he drops his gun.
* Sideswipe's head is colored red instead of black as he flees from a Torq-controlled machine.
* The claws holding Sideswipe's wrists just kind of randomly let him go for no reason.
* Prime's eyes are red instead of blue as the tentacle machine drags him toward its spinny things.
* Soundwave reports that "ORQ" {{sic}} is no longer functional.
* The Decepticons sure take their time getting yanked back by the electromagnet, whose effect should be instantaneous. It also doesn't seem to bother the Autobots, who run right through the spot where the Decepticons were standing when the magnet grabbed them.
* Hound's missile, supposedly removed by the Decepticons, is suddenly back in place as they run out of the cell. (In a nice bit of continuity, his launcher does remain empty after he destroys the force field generator.)
* Soundwave's optics are white when he notifies Megatron that the force field is down.
* Sparkplug is suddenly standing, unsheltered, in the middle of the Autobots, who were in a raging firefight just seconds before.
* Skyfire's chest is missing his Autobot symbol as he and Hound react to the platform's explosions. The same error repeats in the episode's closing scene.
* The bottom of Prime's waist is about twice its normal size as he and the other Autobots react to Dr. Gates' "unreliable" comment.

===Continuity errors===
* Dr. Gates' friend walks around with a remote that can open a single filing cabinet. In Dr. Gates' office, no less!
* Considering how easily they move around the complex, blowing holes in stuff, it's not at all clear why the Decepticons needed to go through the trouble of sneaking into the place in their alternate modes.
* How do the remote linker cards grant control of machines just by being hooked to random parts of them, not their computer circuits?
* Since when do oil tankers travel in enormous fleets? Is this World War II?
* The Dinobots disappear from the story after their one battle, despite the fact that the Autobots meet more resistance before they reach TORQ III. Also curious is Swoop's total absence.
* Hound and Skyfires' cell has a bunch of scrap metal and a usable magnet in it...for some reason.
* Hound and Skyfire suddenly have their weapons back after busting out of the "cell."
* Prime claims that he inserted a dead circuit linker into the claw of TORQ's "friend". However, the animation basically allows no opportunity for this to happen. Furthermore, the circuit linker that he took from Sparkplug earlier sure didn't appear to be "dead"!
* Superhuman Spike: Spike picks up a metal electro-magnet which is nearly as big as he is.

===Continuity notes===
* Gadgets and powers:
** Megatron's gun mode actually shrinks to a human adequate scale, the only time we see him do this.
** Skyfire once again uses his jet-with-legs half-transformation.
** Ironhide destroys one of TORQ's machines by ''walking right through the blast'' it's emitting and sticking his finger in its hose. He is old because he is '''hard'''!
** Hound fires his shoulder missile for the first and only time ever.
* This is one of Optimus Prime's shining episodes. He defeats TORQ III almost singlehandedly; he destroys Megatron's remote control device and foils the tanker stealing plan; and he saves Spike, Skyfire and Hound from sinking with the oil platform. No wonder he's in charge!

===Real-world references===
* Pre-Megatron TORQ III bears some passing resemblance to Oz, the Great and Powerful!
* Paul Gates, the scientist of Quantum Labs, could be a nod to the co-founders of Microsoft, Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

===Trivia===
* The original name for this episode was "The Machine Rebellion". {{fact}}
* Like a handful of other Season 2 episodes ("[[Autobot Spike]]", "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"), this one begins with a short narrative voiceover from [[Victor Caroli]]. Unlike the others, this one actually conveys some information that isn't immediately conveyed by the animation (namely, what Quantum Laboratories does.)
* Script writer David Wise had previously used the concept of a computer able to remote-control machinery being taken over by a villain in a ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' episode also named "Day of the Machines". The same episode also featured a small energy-based creature and Man-At-Arms shrinking himself to fix the computer.
*This is one of two episodes (the other being "[[Attack of the Autobots]]") not initially aired in Japan during the run of ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]''. The episode was eventually dubbed in 1990 and released on [[Pioneer]]'s laserdisk set of the series. As such, it was retroactively added to the series official episode list as episode 74, a numbering reflected in ''[[Transformers Generations]]''.
*Having been dubbed several years after ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' had ended, not all the original cast members were able to return. [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (originally voiced by [[Ken Shiroyama]]), [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (originally voiced by [[Kōki Kataoka]]) and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (originally voiced by [[Osamu Saka]]) were replaced by [[Katsumi Suzuki]].

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[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 UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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/day_of_the_machines.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

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

Atlantis, Arise!

2011-08-11T11:41:50Z

118.209.54.54: /* Animation or technical glitches */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=24
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=16
|prev2=The Immobilizer
|next2=Enter the Nightbird
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=15
|prev3=War of the Dinobots
|next3=Auto Berserk
|image=SubAtlantica Undersea.jpg
|caption=There's fire burning... underwater. Don't ask.
|title="Atlantis, Arise!"
|production code=#700-23
|airdate=[[October 3]], 1985
|written by=[[Douglas Booth]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons ally with the undersea realm of Sub-Atlantica. But they may be more treacherous than Megatron expected.'''

:''Japanese title:'' アトランティス浮上! (''Atlantis Fujō!'', "Atlantis, Arise!")
:''German'' Generation 2 ''title:'' "'''Die Unterwasserstadt'''" ("The Underwater City")
:''Russian title:'' '''"Воскресшая Атлантида"''' (''Voskresshaya Atlantida'', "Atlantis Is Resurrected")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Il segreto di Atlantide''' ("Secret of Atlantis")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Atlantide risorge''' ("Atlantis arises")
==Synopsis==
[[Image:Atlantis Arise Sub-Atlanticans Decepticons.JPG|left|150px|thumb|And when you see Aquaman, tell him his superpower sucks.]]

[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] summons [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to the control room, saying that [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]] have detected massive energy readings underwater. The Decepticons investigate and encounter the [[Sub-Atlantica|Sub-Atlanticans]], a race who hope to conquer the surface world one day. Megatron negotiates a deal with [[Nergill]], King of Sub-Atlantica, offering Decepticon military technology in exchange for access to their [[geothermal]] storehouses. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] distrusts the Sub-Atlanticans, who communicate with each other telepathically.

[[Image:Atlantis Arise Autobots football.JPG|right|150px|thumb|R U READY 4 SUM FOOTBALL?]]

Near the [[Autobot]] [[Ark (G1)|base]], [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] are playing a game of [[football]] with the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]]. [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] arrives before the Dinobots accidentally kill anyone, telling them there is a massive energy reading emanating from near the [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon base]]. [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] dispatches Bumblebee, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]], Hound, and Wheeljack to investigate, with Spike tagging along. The Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans attack and take Wheeljack prisoner. After raising the city from the bottom of the ocean, the Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans prepare to attack [[Washington, D.C.]] as a sign of their new alliance. Nergill communicates with his soldiers, telling Megatron that they will imprison Wheeljack in his dungeons. However, at Starscream's orders, Soundwave unscrambles the message and learns that Wheeljack is to be taken to their laboratory to develop weapons against the Autobots and Decepticons alike.

The Autobots head for Washington, hoping to stop the Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans. Prime has Spike and Bumblebee head for Sub-Atlantica, hoping to rescue Wheeljack, while the Autobot leader takes the others to Washington. The Sub-Atlanticans raise a [[force field]] over Washington, trapping the Autobots inside. In Sub-Atlantica, Nergill has developed a [[magnetic dysfunction ray]] which will shut down [[Transformer|Transformers]]; he's tested it on Wheeljack, leaving him immobile. Starscream discovers this and is shot by Nergill, who learns that it is less effective on Decepticons. As Nergill leaves, Starscream attempts to drain power from Wheeljack, but Bumblebee and Spike stop arrive just in time to stop the Decepticon and restore Wheeljack.

[[Image:Atlantis Arise Megs Lincoln memorial.JPG|left|150px|thumb|Four score and seven million years ago, I founded a [[Decepticon Empire|new nation]]...]]

Nergill strolls into Washington, with Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Spike sneaking in behind him. Nergill uses the disruptor to defeat Prime's team of Autobots, bringing the battle to an end. As the Sub-Atlanticans secure the Capitol building, his soldiers ask when to move against the Decepticons, but Nergill decides to wait a little while longer. Meanwhile, Megatron (sitting at the [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln Memorial]]) tells [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] that they will deal with the Sub-Atlanticans soon enough.

Wheeljack calls in the Dinobots, who manage to penetrate the force field and come to blows with the Decepticons. As Megatron and [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] grapple, Nergill is on the verge of shooting them both until Starscream arrives and bashes Nergill aside, declaring that he is now an enemy. Grimlock grabs the disruptor and destroys it, causing the Autobots to revive. The Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans retreat back to their own city, with the Autobots in pursuit.

[[Image:SubAtlantica Asplode.jpg|right|150px|thumb|But the others chose to stay, sitting in their porches with their shotguns, and eventually evolved into mermaids. And they would sing and dance, and ring in the new...]]

Back at Sub-Atlantica, Megatron demands an answer to Starscream's treason charge against Nergill, but Nergill informs him that the Autobots are coming. They invade the city, and the Dinobots begin smashing everything in sight.

Nergill decides to destroy the city, hoping to destroy the Transformers as well. Spike, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee follow, hoping to stop Nergill, with [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] in pursuit. The two [[Mini-Cassette|Mini-Cassettes]] realize Nergill's intentions, and Rumble tries to bury him in rubble, but it's not enough. Wheeljack likewise tries to stop the sub-aquatic king, but it's too late. Nergill throws a device into his energy containers, which starts a chain reaction that begins to destroy the city. The Decepticons retreat; Prime orders the Autobots to clear out, then rescues Wheeljack's team (and strangely finds Grimlock there as well). Prime and the others escape, watching from the nearby sea as the Sub-Atlanticans and their home disappear under the waves. Prime says they probably won't see Nergill again for a long time.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (10)
* [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (11)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (12)
* [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (13)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (14)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (15)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (16)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (17)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (18)
* [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (19)
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (20)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (21)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (22)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (23)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (25)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (26)

|c2=
* [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]] (1)
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (2)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (3)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (4)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (5)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (6)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (7)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (27)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (28)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (9)

|c4=
*[[Nergill]] (8)
*Sub-Atlantican General (24)
}}

==Quotes==
"Are you sure humans do this for fun?"
:—'''Hound''', after playing a game of football with the Dinobots

"No! That could ruin Wheeljack's function circuits!" 
"So... what? Ruining Autobots is my life!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Starscream'''

"Autobots bite off more than they can chew, then send for Dinobots! Come, Snarl, Sludge. We go!"
:—'''Grimlock''', responding to the SOS call by Wheeljack. Apparently he does not want Slag or Swoop.

"Mmm, we are ''here''."
:—'''Grimlock''' is a master of subtle and astute observation

"Me Grimlock here again, Optimus Prime, to pull your diodes out of laser fire."
:—'''Grimlock''' is getting a little tired of rescuing Optimus Prime

"Okay, Grimlock. Time for you and the Dinobots to ''act'' prehistoric!"
:—'''Optimus Prime'''

"You don't frighten me, you mechanical throwbacks!" 
"Good, Megatron! We love stupid enemies!"
:—'''Grimlock''' has no grasp of irony.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Someone mistook the strange glint of sunlight reflecting off of Buzzsaw for a laser beam, and inserted a Decepticon laser sound effect accordingly.
* Soundwave has some extra black shading around his eyeband as he reports to Megatron.
* As Megatron pontificates about "an underwater city of such size", a strangely-timed edit has the scene cut to an exterior shot of [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|Decepticon Headquarters]], as if ''that'' were supposed to be the underwater city in question. If it's meant to be an establishing shot, why isn't it at the beginning of the scene?
* The Decepticon Headquarters docking tower appears to be listing about 15 degrees or so as it emerges from the water, as if a stock view from one point-of-view angle was copied onto a new background drawn at a different point-of-view angle.
*When the Decepticons leave their base, Starscream's jet mode has a yellow underbelly. For an animation error, it's unusually appropriate!
* As he orders Soundwave to unscramble Nergill's message, Starscream's left pectoral is colored gray instead of red, and isn't really drawn in correctly, almost as if the animators intended his arm to be covering it during the scene.

[[Image:SubAtlantica Undersea.jpg|thumb|right|200px|]]
* Considering how bright and well-lit everything is, Sub-Atlantica must be in about 25 feet of water.
* As Hound's camper roof unfolds, his turret gun clips right through it.
* Bumblebee appears to be using one of the Sub-Atlanticans' weapons as he fires at Starscream and company.
* During Wheeljack's "But nobody else is gonna follow you either" line, only the front side of his "ears" flash.
* Soundwave is drawn with a totally transparent tape door as Starscream has him unscramble Nergill's second message. It appears to be a deliberate choice to show the cassette mechanism within, but it conflicts with the usual white coloration of his chest panel.
* As Megatron makes his dramatic proclamation of Sub-Atlantica's destination, the bottom of Starscream's cockpit cowling is colored yellow instead of gray.
* Starscream is shown among the Decepticons leaving Sub-Atlantica to conquer D.C. The very next shot shows him lurking within the city as Nergill exposits to himself.
* As the Autobots drive toward Washington, Optimus mispronounces their foes' names as "Sub-[[Atlanta]]-cans".
* The "highway" that the Autobots use to drive to D.C. has an "exit" for the Chesapeake Bay that's more like a T-shaped intersection. Bumblebee somehow manages to negotiate it at full speed without flying out of control.
* The animation is very inconsistent as to whether the little red bulb on the Sub-Atlanticans' headwear is supposed to flash when they talk.
* The Dome Of Invulnerability guy is missing his telepathic waves as he refuses Megatron's order.
* Laser bolts bounce right off the Washington Monument without leaving so much as a burn mark. With weapons that ineffectual, it's no wonder nobody ever dies in this show!
* Laserbeak's attack on Hound is strangely truncated; Laserbeak fires non-glowing lasers, and then suddenly vanishes out of the shot.
* The shot that Hound fires at Laserbeak doesn't line up with his gun barrel.
* The electrical bolts enveloping Starscream right after Nergil blasts him are not animated to jigger for the first few seconds.
* While calling to warn Optimus about Nergil's weapon, the Autobot insignia on Wheeljack's roof/chest is upside-down.
* The inside of Sludge's robot-mode mouth is white when he says "Alright!"
* When the Dinobots break through the force field, Starscream is among the group fighting them off, even though he is still lying inert within Sub-Atlantica at this point.
[[Image:Optimus prime doppelgaenger.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Prime uses [[budding]] to hold up the Washington Monument.]]

* Before Megatron bashes the Washington Monument, Prime and Prowl are standing there watching. After Megatron bashes the Monument, the shot returns to the same Prowl-and-Prime angle. But Prowl is gone, and the earlier artwork of Prime is still there watching as ''another'' Prime runs to catch the monument!
* The Autobots shown entering the city and attacking Megatron include Prime, Hound, Brawn, Prowl, Ironhide, and Sunstreaker. Sunstreaker and Ironhide disappear after the battle begins; only Hound, Brawn, Prowl and Prime are shown being disabled by Nergill and being revived later on. Ironhide finally shows up again after the battle is over; Ratchet and Trailbreaker appear out of nowhere as the Autobots roll out of D.C. During the Sub-Atlantica battle, Sideswipe appears (also out of nowhere), and Sunstreaker finally reappears.
* Slag's face is white instead of red as he exits Prime's trailer. In the next shot, his whole head is gray.
* A strangely angled shot, looking up from below the water, is supposed to show Prime, Wheeljack, Bumblebee and Grimlock swimming out of Sub-Atlantica. It's ''very'' easy to mistake it for a shot showing them flying through the air. They don't move any of their limbs, they move across the screen very rapidly, and the water itself is backlit by the sunset colored sky.
* Spike's declaration that "Nergill's gone!" doesn't mean much, since the animation never actually makes it clear that Wheeljack carried him out of Sub-Atlantica.
* What are Prime and the others standing on after they evacuate Sub-Atlantica? Even Spike is above water almost to his waist!
* The sign that the Autobots past says 'New York' (Right Arrow) 'Baltimore' (Forward Arrow)and Washington DC (Left Arrow). It is also backwards.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron refers to Laserbeak and Buzzsaw as "vultures". They're supposed to be condors.
* If Nergill "communicates telepathically", as Soundwave claims, why is his mouth moving all the time?
[[Image:Spike SemiNude.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Then again, look at how ripped his pecs are. Maybe he really ''is'' a superhuman!]]
* Superhuman Spike:
** Spike can survive in the "deepest part of the Atlantic ocean" wearing only a bathing suit and using a simple oxygen tank and goggles. Amazing that he isn't crushed under the weight of the ocean or frozen to death.
** Spike can somehow speak clearly to the Autobots without removing the mouthpiece for his breathing apparatus from his mouth; hell, he can even perform this trick ''underwater''.
* How can Bumblebee calculate Sub-Atlantica's destination from watching it sail along the coast for like two seconds? It could be going anywhere!
* The "conquest" of Washington is incredibly half-hearted. The Decepticons and the squiddy guys run around in the street for a bit, scare some tourists, blow up a couple of cars, and put up a force field. About the only conquery thing they do is set up a giant vacuum tube computer in the capital building.

[[Image:SubAtlantican SurfaceGear.jpg|thumb|right|150px| ]]
* The Sub-Atlanticans have to wear aquatic masks over their faces when they're on dry land. Yet they don't wear them inside their city, which appears to be just as water-free as the surface.
* The water-based Sub-Atlanticans don't think to create a force field that extends under the water?
* More an omission than an error, but it's never explained just what Starscream was trying to do to Wheeljack.
* Wheeljack says that they'd better warn Prime about the dysfunction ray... then proceeds to say something totally vague and uninformative ("There is great danger! Nergill must be stopped!")
* [[Microbots|How]] [[The Agenda (Part III)|many]] times do cartoons have to be told that it's not a ''force field'' if it ''shatters like glass''? (Does this mean that the streets of D.C. are now covered with piles of shattered force field bits?)
* Some "dome of ''invulnerability''". The Dinobots get through it in about five seconds flat.
* Starscream's third appearance in DC isn't an animation error; he's central to the plot! How did he get free of the dysfunction ray?!
* Who knew that destroying a gun could un-shoot the gun's prior victims? That's exactly what happens — Grimlock destroys the dysfunction gun, and suddenly the Autobots are un-dysfunctionalized!
* Fire under water? really?

===District of Columbia errors===
[[Image:Megatron hates lincoln.jpg|thumb|right|200px|It also survives being carelessly tossed aside without a scratch.]]
* Despite the Autobots being near the Chesapeake Bay, the backgrounds show huge rocks and expanses of sand, as if they were in the desert.
* As Hound fights near the reflecting pool, there's lots of tall buildings behind him. D.C. doesn't really have many tall buildings, certainly not near the Mall.
* Both the plot and the animation seem to imply that DC sits on a major body of water. Or did Sub-Atlantica just sail right up the Potomac?
* The Lincoln Memorial is strangely [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]-[[Scale|sized]]. Also, the statue part apparently just comes right off. Who knew?
* Somehow, the rotational forces involved in the Washington Monument's partial fall do not cause the masonry structure to snap like a dry twig.
* Apparently, damaged masonry structures like the Washington Monument can be ''melted'' back together. Who knew?

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Atlantis Arise Hound roof.JPG|right|150px|thumb|Whoops! can't get my fancy cushions wet!]]
[[Image:AtlantisArise Bumblebee spygear.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Bumblebee had GPS before it existed!]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** Two groups of Autobots drive on the water, using the water ski-like hydrofoils that showed up in several other episodes. (At most points, the hydrofoils are not shown, but Bumblebee's can be glimpsed after the first commercial break.)
** [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] has a folding sunroof. That is awesome. His toy did not. That is not awesome.
** Bumblebee has a bizarre direction calculator thing that comes out of his back.
** Shoulder artillery: Wheeljack uses a missile from his shoulder launcher to seal the cave shut behind the other Autobots. The only other time he actually fires missiles (instead of laser beams from the tip of the missile) is in "[[A Plague of Insecticons]]".
* Grimlock also grumbled about having to save the Autobots in "[[Day of the Machines]]". It'll finally come to a head in "[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1]]".
* Hey, that shot of Soundwave ejecting Laserbeak during the DC battle sure looks familiar... why, it's copied from "[[Transport to Oblivion]]"! [[Changing Gears|Again!]]
* In the Decepticon campaign of ''[[Transformers The Game]]'' and ''[[Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon]]'', [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] also takes the Lincoln Memorial throne as his own.

===Real world references===
* As the obligatory "conquer Washington" episode (''G.I. Joe'' had one too), "Atlantis, Arise!" features several D.C. landmarks, including the Washington Monument, the White House (where the Decepticons first land), the US Capitol Building, and the Lincoln Memorial and its Reflecting Pool, as well as a mention of the Chesapeake Bay.
* ''Star Wars'' sound effects:
** The gouts of fire that burst from the sea as SubAtlantica sinks are soundtracked with various explosions from the Death Star battle, possibly exploding X-Wing fighters.

===Trivia===
* This episode is one of a handful that begins with a (rather pointless) narrative voiceover from [[Victor Caroli]].
*When played back at a slower speed, Nergill says telepathically to his people:
** "Never mind. Put your weapons away. We don't want to put them on guard."
** "Take no aggressive action. They suspect."
* They have in fact seen the last of Nergill.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;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 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 UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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/atlantis_arise.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

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

The Immobilizer

2011-08-11T09:43:41Z

118.209.54.54: /* Animation or technical glitches */

{{disambig3|Immobilizer}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=22
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=15
|prev2=Birth of the Transformers!
|next2=Atlantis, Arise!
|image=Immobilizerep6.jpg
|caption="See? We can shoot him right in the nads!" "Television doesn't work that way, you doofus."
|title="The Immobilizer"
|production code=#700-21
|airdate=[[September 24]], 1985
|written by=[[Earl Kress]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons steal Wheeljack's latest invention, which immobilizes stuff, and Ironhide attempts to retrieve it.'''

:''Japanese title:'' イモビライザー (''Immobilizer'')
:''Brazilian title:'' '''O Imobilizador'''
:''Italian title:'' '''L'immobilizzatore''' ("The immobilizer")

==Synopsis==
At [[Autobot]] headquarters, [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] gathers everyone around for a demonstration of his newest invention, the [[Wheeljack Instant Immobilizer]]. Walking in late, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] sees [[Hound (G1)|Hound]]’s hologram of [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and, thinking it’s real, fires wildly at it, scattering the Autobots and nearly bringing down the roof. As Ironhide apologizes, Wheeljack reveals that the Immobilizer was damaged and needs a replacement [[polarizer]]. [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] volunteer to go into town to retrieve it.

[[Image:Immbolizerep4.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Before ''Dance Dance Revolution'', there was...''Robot Resource''.]]

While on their mission, 'Bee and Spike stop for a few rounds of ''Robot Resource'' at the [[Robots Video Arcade|local arcade]]. A young woman named [[Carly]] introduces herself to the pair and admits her fondness for the "cute Autobot". A somewhat jealous and awkward Spike reminds Bumblebee that they need to leave, and the pair take off, only to be stopped a few moments later by a sarcastic policeman. As they are being busted for speeding, [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] attacks Bumblebee and secretly plants a [[Micro-bug|miniature video camera]] on the Autobot. Spike electrocutes Ravage with jumper cables, and the [[Decepticon]] retreats. The officer lets the pair go with a warning.

With the Immobilizer repaired, Wheeljack starts the demonstration again, unaware his every word is being caught by the microbug camera on Bumblebee and relayed to [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons aren’t too keen on the idea of being permanently immobilized by the invention, and Megatron promises to steal it.

[[Image:Ladybreakeandfatjazzr.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Trailbreaker has a great ass. Who knew?]]

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] decides to move the test outdoors for safety. As the Autobots approach the location, Prime directs Ironhide to guard the perimeter. The rest proceed toward a fast-moving river, which Wheeljack immobilizes with the device. In the commotion caused by the success of the test, Spike messes with the Immobilizer and is almost zapped, but Wheeljack throws him out of the way, takes the blast himself, and winds up stiff as a board.

Still patrolling the perimeter, Ironhide catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure and fires his weapon. He discovers that the figure was Carly, whom he scolds for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The distant sound of gunfire cuts their conversation short, and Ironhide rushes off. He reaches the clearing to find the Decepticons have the Autobots at gunpoint, and blames the ambush on himself.

Megatron demands that Prime hand over the Immobilizer, and a battle ensues. The device gets knocked about and winds up in Megatron's hands, but just as he starts issuing another threat, the river, on which he and the Decepticons are now standing, re-mobilizes and sweeps them downstream.

[[Image:Immobilizerep7.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ratchet puts the finishing touches on his resin-cast Wheeljack model.]]

While undergoing repairs back at headquarters, Ironhide criticizes his performance in the field. Concluding that he’s too old to be of use, he resigns from active service, and nothing [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] or Prime says dissuades him. Carly blames herself for Ironhide's attitude and tries to convince him not to quit. Ironhide gives her a tour of the base, and she pockets a grenade when they visit the armory.

Some time later, Wheeljack unfreezes, and Spike notices that Carly is missing. Suspecting she’s emotional and going to do something rash ('cuz she ''is'' a girl), Spike and Bumblebee set out to look for her. Turns out he’s right. Carly has driven a boat out into the ocean and, using SCUBA gear, swims down to Decepticon headquarters to plant the stolen grenade on their outer wall. However, she’s detected by [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]], kidnapped by Laserbeak, and brought into the base to face Megatron’s judgment.

Luckily for Carly, her abduction was caught by the [[Sky Spy]]. Ironhide rushes off to find Spike and Bumblebee and start a rescue mission.

Back under the ocean, the grenade Carly planted earlier goes off, and seawater starts rushing into Decepticon headquarters. They manage to fix the damage and contain the water, except in the cell where Carly is being held. With disturbing glee, Megatron and the others watch Carly struggle as water fills the cell to the ceiling. Assuming she’s dead, they leave the cell unguarded. This lets Ironhide swim through the hole in the wall, grab the girl and bring her back to the surface.

[[Image:Immobilizerep8.jpg|right|200px|thumb|You hit me! Kong never hit me!]]

After thanking Ironhide for the rescue, Carly rides off with Spike and Bumblebee, but when Ironhide doesn’t follow, they realize that he’s been immobilized. The Decepticons and Autobots square off, with [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] in control of the Immobilizer and freezing most of the Autobot forces. Following a plan of Carly’s design, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] tunnels under the ground with her and Spike so they come up near the Immobilizer's position. As [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] distracts the Decepticons with a [[sound and light show]], Carly crosses some wires in the device and the trio escapes. When Rumble tries to immobilize Optimus Prime, the device starts to re-mobilize the frozen Autobots instead. Ironhide grabs the Immobilizer from Laserbeak, and when all the Autobots are unfrozen, he smashes the device. With his toy in pieces, Megatron swears to return, and the Decepticons retreat.

[[Image:Immobilizerep1.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This early version of ''Thelma and Louise'' never took off.]]

Back at headquarters, Ironhide asks to return to active duty, and Optimus heartily welcomes him back. Carly explains how she switched around the wires in the Immobilizer, since she does have a science scholarship at [[MIT]]. Confronted by both brains and beauty, Spike has no choice but to ask Carly on a date. Sparkplug watches them drive off and smiles in approval, despite the fact that his son is going out with a college student while he's too young to have a driver’s license.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (1)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (2)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (3)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (4)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (6)
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (8)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (9)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (10)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (12)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (21)
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] (25)

|c2=
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (11)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (14)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (15)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (16)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (17)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (22)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (23)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (24)

|c3=
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (5)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
* [[Carly]] (13)
}}

==Quotes==
"We should vaporize those Autobot fools and fuse their carcasses into slag!"
:—So, '''Starscream''', you're planning to, uh, fuse their vaporized carcasses? It'd be worth paying to see you attempt it.

"Give me the device now, Optimus Prime." 
"Try and take it, Mega-turkey!"
:—'''Megatron''' and the oh-so-witty '''Trailbreaker'''

'''Optimus Prime''': "You’re losing your warriors, Megatron." 
'''Megatron''': "Warriors are expendable! The most important thing is I get what I deserve! And I always do." 
''[The river unfreezes; the Decepticons fall in and are swept away]'' 
'''Trailbreaker''': "You deserved ''that'', all right, Mega-jerk. Rust in peace!"
:—Megatron makes the mistake of tempting fate.

"This is where we store our ammo. Course, uh, we'd rather not have any of this stuff around. But until the Decepticons change, or we pacify 'em once and for all..." 
"Someone ''should'' pacify those Decepticons...''and'' their underwater headquarters."
:—'''Ironhide''' finds that '''Carly''' is a girl after his own heart

"The show’s over. Back to work."
:—A leering '''Megatron''' takes glee in Carly’s apparent drowning.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Gears's shoulders/torso is all blue as the Autobots gather around Wheeljack. Only his truck roof should be blue; the rest should be red.
* Wheeljack is missing the lines on his "ears" when they stop flashing during "a clever little creation I call..."
* Cliffjumper has a completely wrong voice as he asks what the Immobilizer does. It sounds like a professorial type or something. Same thing happened to him in "[[Changing Gears]]", too.
* Brawn is suddenly with the gathered Autobots as they duck from Ironhide's random firing, despite not being in any of the establishing shots of the group.
* Ironhide's arm is layered in front of Spike as Spike dusts himself off, making them appear the same size.
* Ironhide's helmet rim is partly light gray instead of red as Wheeljack speaks to him. The same error will recur throughout the episode.
* Bumblebee's arm is layered behind one of the onlookers in [[Robots Video Arcade|the arcade]] as he bows. Said onlooker and his buddies continue their huge-mouthed gaping long after the cheering has stopped.
* The background behind Bumblebee changes between shots; when he bows, there's just the Robot Resource game, but in the next shot, two consoles have appeared, neither of them Robot Resource.
[[Image:Arcade Front.jpg|thumb|right|250px|So the car and the characters are drawn at one scale, and the hydrant and the buildings are drawn at a completely different scale.]]
* Carly's car is just sitting there half on the sidewalk. It's next to a fire hydrant that's almost as big as the car. And Robots Video Arcade apparently has a ''huge'' front door.
* Bumblebee has two random black rectangles on the back of his VW Bug mode as he transforms outside the arcade.
* Ravage's eye is randomly glowing white before he attacks Bumblebee. It could be an intentional effect to show emotion or recognition or something, but it's an odd choice.
* Some have claimed that Trailbreaker and Jazz are off-model as they help clean up the mess in Autobot Headquarters (too thin and too fat, respectively). Others find this claim to be rather dubious.
* When Wheeljack screws the polarizer on his new doohickey, his hand and lower arm pass through the polarizer. He also has random orange on his shoulders where there should only be white.
* Megatron appears to have an extra right forearm segment as he speaks his first line.
* Ravage's rear paws are light grey instead of black as he leaps to transform.
* Bits of Brawn's helmet are yellow instead of gray during the bizarre sequence of partial transformations.
* Jazz is off-model during his sequence a second later, with no fenders, no stripes, and an extra window.
* As Prime orders Ironhide to take the first watch, his headlights aren't colored in. In the background, a whole line of misshapen Autobot cars is driving past, including what looks like an off-model Cliffjumper colored entirely blue.
* Prime has a huge crotch as the camera pans down to Bumblebee.
* Missing Seeker insignias:
** In the first pan of the Decepticons surrounding the Autobots, Starscream's missing his wing insignia, and Soundwave's visor is white instead of red (and again when the shot is recycled after the first commercial break.)
** Starscream is missing his wing emblems as he falls over from Ironhide's goop.
** As he wanders into the trees, Starscream only has one of his wing insignia.
** Thundercracker only has one insignia as he climbs out of the river.
* Starscream has an all-yellow nosecone as he transforms to fly over the force field.
* As he dives at the Autobots, Starscream's air intakes are the same light gray as the rest of him, instead of red.
* Megatron has no transformation sound effect as he transforms to destroy the [[bouncer bomb]].
* Prime's left exhaust stack disappears into thin air as he turns toward the falling tree. He also has a random white segment above his grille.
* Prime's thighs are red instead of silver as Trailbreaker makes his "rust in peace" gag.
* Trailbreaker's force field projector is missing as the Autobots prepare to return to base.
* Ironhide clips through the corner of the wall as he walks off to "retire".
* Bumblebee leaves base to look for Carly... then is shown in the very next shot with the Autobots gathered around Prime in the base.
* Prowl is shown rolling out, even though he hasn't been in a single shot so far. Ironhide is also shown rolling out even though he "retired", and more problematically, is still at the base when Sparkplug detects Carly's kidnapping.
* Improbable viewpoints:
** Sparkplug shows Ironhide a visual that's supposedly from the [[Sky Spy]]. Somehow, the ''orbital satellite'' shows a tracking pan view of Laserbeak that's ''right beside him'' — below him, in fact. If the entire sequence is taken as Sky Spy's footage, Laserbeak flies within ''inches'' of Sky Spy's camera, as Carly's face fills the screen at one point.
* Ironhide's observation that Laserbeak has taken Carly is muffled as if it were coming over a radio transmission.
* Skywarp's arm laser, and Soundwave's head vents, are both white after Starscream gives the order to attack.

===Continuity errors===
* For his initial Immobilizer demonstration, Wheeljack asked Hound to project a hologram. Was he actually going to immobilize the hologram? How's that even possible?
* Spike suddenly has a wristwatch when he needs to check the time in the arcade. The watch is never seen before or after.
* Megatron knows which one is Bumblebee. [[A Prime Problem|Later]], he doesn't.
* Carly apparently knows where the Decepticon base is located. How she knows is anyone's guess.
* In addition to the Immobilizer, she also has a great understanding of technology she's seen for the first time in her life. In the armoury, Ironhide only refers to storing ammunition yet Carly seems to recognize a bomb, or had the knowledge to convert alien ammunition into a timed explosive. MIT obviously gave that scholarship to the right candidate!
* Would Ironhide really have prevented the Decepticon sneak attack if he hadn't moved the hundred feet or so from his station? Couldn't the 'cons have just come from the other direction?
* Carly's another pressure-proof super human, [[Atlantis, Arise!|just like Spike]]. She swims at least a few hundred feet underwater to Decepticon Headquarters with no pressurized diving equipment at all. At least the animators were kind enough to give her a wet suit!
* In addition, since Ironhide isn't shown to have any SCUBA gear for Carly, he had to have made an extremely rapid ascent to the surface so she wouldn't drown. However, an ascent that fast would have given her decompression sickness, or worse.
* "It's a theory I've had ever since I accepted my science scholarship at MIT," says Carly about Wheeljack's immobilizer, which she just encountered for the first time like, earlier that same day. Did she accept the scholarship while imprisoned in Decepticon Headquarters?

===Continuity notes===
* This episode is Carly's introduction to the series.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Brawn uses the same tunneling drill he had in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]".
** Ironhide has a jet pack that pretty much fills the back of his torso. That same space contained a missile launcher in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]".
** Ironhide fires one of his liquids out of his totally-retracted wrist. It's a brownish-red stuff which appears to act like glue — very different than the whitish glue stuff he fired from tri-barreled wrist weapons back in "[[Divide and Conquer]]".
* This episode marks the '''second time''' that Ratchet has threatened to shut Ironhide up by ''physically removing his ability to speak'' (the first was in [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]). Yeesh, someone needs to work on their bedside manner.
*If this episode's dialogue is taken seriously, it would mean that Spike is at least 13-15 years old (depending on the particular state). This raises disturbing questions about why Sparkplug allows his son to date a woman who's old enough to at least be starting college. Then again, Sparkplug had Spike working on a remote oil platform in the middle of the ocean, so family dynamics within the Witwickys are certainly... unconventional, Carly also could be clever enough to have graduated high school early.
* '''[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron got shot and fell down! '''[[Dinobot Island, Part 2|> >]]'''

===Real-world references===
* It was the 80s. [[Robots Video Arcade|Video arcades]] were ''the'' hot thing.
** ''[[Robot Resource]]'' uses sounds from ''Galaga''.
* Carly is or will be a student at [[MIT]].
* Spike describes a chocolate soda as "an emulsified CO2 with lactic acid".

===Trivia===
* Stores on the street: [[Vincenzo's Pizza]], [[Rose Beauty Saloon]], Meat, and [[Robots Video Arcade]].
* Video games in the arcade: Pan!!, Oh!!, Chu, Ha Ha Ha, SFX, Hot, and [[Robot Resource]].
* No wonder the cops pull Bumblebee over. His entrance into traffic is ''terrible''; he swerves between lanes, and totally cuts off some poor driver.
*The Japanese dubbing of the episode had been edited to remove Skyfire (due to the fact that Takara were unsure about using Skyfire/Jetfire at the time because he was based off a Bandai toy), which is pretty obvious as there are jumps in the background music. Skyfire did eventually appear in the Japanese dub near the end of its run.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;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 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. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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_immobilizer.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immobilizer}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]

The Immobilizer

2011-08-11T09:09:47Z

118.209.54.54: /* Continuity errors */

{{disambig3|Immobilizer}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=22
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=15
|prev2=Birth of the Transformers!
|next2=Atlantis, Arise!
|image=Immobilizerep6.jpg
|caption="See? We can shoot him right in the nads!" "Television doesn't work that way, you doofus."
|title="The Immobilizer"
|production code=#700-21
|airdate=[[September 24]], 1985
|written by=[[Earl Kress]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''The Decepticons steal Wheeljack's latest invention, which immobilizes stuff, and Ironhide attempts to retrieve it.'''

:''Japanese title:'' イモビライザー (''Immobilizer'')
:''Brazilian title:'' '''O Imobilizador'''
:''Italian title:'' '''L'immobilizzatore''' ("The immobilizer")

==Synopsis==
At [[Autobot]] headquarters, [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] gathers everyone around for a demonstration of his newest invention, the [[Wheeljack Instant Immobilizer]]. Walking in late, [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] sees [[Hound (G1)|Hound]]’s hologram of [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and, thinking it’s real, fires wildly at it, scattering the Autobots and nearly bringing down the roof. As Ironhide apologizes, Wheeljack reveals that the Immobilizer was damaged and needs a replacement [[polarizer]]. [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] volunteer to go into town to retrieve it.

[[Image:Immbolizerep4.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Before ''Dance Dance Revolution'', there was...''Robot Resource''.]]

While on their mission, 'Bee and Spike stop for a few rounds of ''Robot Resource'' at the [[Robots Video Arcade|local arcade]]. A young woman named [[Carly]] introduces herself to the pair and admits her fondness for the "cute Autobot". A somewhat jealous and awkward Spike reminds Bumblebee that they need to leave, and the pair take off, only to be stopped a few moments later by a sarcastic policeman. As they are being busted for speeding, [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] attacks Bumblebee and secretly plants a [[Micro-bug|miniature video camera]] on the Autobot. Spike electrocutes Ravage with jumper cables, and the [[Decepticon]] retreats. The officer lets the pair go with a warning.

With the Immobilizer repaired, Wheeljack starts the demonstration again, unaware his every word is being caught by the microbug camera on Bumblebee and relayed to [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons aren’t too keen on the idea of being permanently immobilized by the invention, and Megatron promises to steal it.

[[Image:Ladybreakeandfatjazzr.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Trailbreaker has a great ass. Who knew?]]

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] decides to move the test outdoors for safety. As the Autobots approach the location, Prime directs Ironhide to guard the perimeter. The rest proceed toward a fast-moving river, which Wheeljack immobilizes with the device. In the commotion caused by the success of the test, Spike messes with the Immobilizer and is almost zapped, but Wheeljack throws him out of the way, takes the blast himself, and winds up stiff as a board.

Still patrolling the perimeter, Ironhide catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure and fires his weapon. He discovers that the figure was Carly, whom he scolds for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The distant sound of gunfire cuts their conversation short, and Ironhide rushes off. He reaches the clearing to find the Decepticons have the Autobots at gunpoint, and blames the ambush on himself.

Megatron demands that Prime hand over the Immobilizer, and a battle ensues. The device gets knocked about and winds up in Megatron's hands, but just as he starts issuing another threat, the river, on which he and the Decepticons are now standing, re-mobilizes and sweeps them downstream.

[[Image:Immobilizerep7.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Ratchet puts the finishing touches on his resin-cast Wheeljack model.]]

While undergoing repairs back at headquarters, Ironhide criticizes his performance in the field. Concluding that he’s too old to be of use, he resigns from active service, and nothing [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] or Prime says dissuades him. Carly blames herself for Ironhide's attitude and tries to convince him not to quit. Ironhide gives her a tour of the base, and she pockets a grenade when they visit the armory.

Some time later, Wheeljack unfreezes, and Spike notices that Carly is missing. Suspecting she’s emotional and going to do something rash ('cuz she ''is'' a girl), Spike and Bumblebee set out to look for her. Turns out he’s right. Carly has driven a boat out into the ocean and, using SCUBA gear, swims down to Decepticon headquarters to plant the stolen grenade on their outer wall. However, she’s detected by [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]], kidnapped by Laserbeak, and brought into the base to face Megatron’s judgment.

Luckily for Carly, her abduction was caught by the [[Sky Spy]]. Ironhide rushes off to find Spike and Bumblebee and start a rescue mission.

Back under the ocean, the grenade Carly planted earlier goes off, and seawater starts rushing into Decepticon headquarters. They manage to fix the damage and contain the water, except in the cell where Carly is being held. With disturbing glee, Megatron and the others watch Carly struggle as water fills the cell to the ceiling. Assuming she’s dead, they leave the cell unguarded. This lets Ironhide swim through the hole in the wall, grab the girl and bring her back to the surface.

[[Image:Immobilizerep8.jpg|right|200px|thumb|You hit me! Kong never hit me!]]

After thanking Ironhide for the rescue, Carly rides off with Spike and Bumblebee, but when Ironhide doesn’t follow, they realize that he’s been immobilized. The Decepticons and Autobots square off, with [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] in control of the Immobilizer and freezing most of the Autobot forces. Following a plan of Carly’s design, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] tunnels under the ground with her and Spike so they come up near the Immobilizer's position. As [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] distracts the Decepticons with a [[sound and light show]], Carly crosses some wires in the device and the trio escapes. When Rumble tries to immobilize Optimus Prime, the device starts to re-mobilize the frozen Autobots instead. Ironhide grabs the Immobilizer from Laserbeak, and when all the Autobots are unfrozen, he smashes the device. With his toy in pieces, Megatron swears to return, and the Decepticons retreat.

[[Image:Immobilizerep1.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This early version of ''Thelma and Louise'' never took off.]]

Back at headquarters, Ironhide asks to return to active duty, and Optimus heartily welcomes him back. Carly explains how she switched around the wires in the Immobilizer, since she does have a science scholarship at [[MIT]]. Confronted by both brains and beauty, Spike has no choice but to ask Carly on a date. Sparkplug watches them drive off and smiles in approval, despite the fact that his son is going out with a college student while he's too young to have a driver’s license.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (1)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (2)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (3)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (4)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (6)
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (8)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (9)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (10)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (12)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (18)
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (19)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (20)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (21)
* [[Jetfire (G1)|Skyfire]] (25)

|c2=
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (11)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (14)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (15)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (16)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (17)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (22)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (23)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (24)

|c3=
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (5)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
* [[Carly]] (13)
}}

==Quotes==
"We should vaporize those Autobot fools and fuse their carcasses into slag!"
:—So, '''Starscream''', you're planning to, uh, fuse their vaporized carcasses? It'd be worth paying to see you attempt it.

"Give me the device now, Optimus Prime." 
"Try and take it, Mega-turkey!"
:—'''Megatron''' and the oh-so-witty '''Trailbreaker'''

'''Optimus Prime''': "You’re losing your warriors, Megatron." 
'''Megatron''': "Warriors are expendable! The most important thing is I get what I deserve! And I always do." 
''[The river unfreezes; the Decepticons fall in and are swept away]'' 
'''Trailbreaker''': "You deserved ''that'', all right, Mega-jerk. Rust in peace!"
:—Megatron makes the mistake of tempting fate.

"This is where we store our ammo. Course, uh, we'd rather not have any of this stuff around. But until the Decepticons change, or we pacify 'em once and for all..." 
"Someone ''should'' pacify those Decepticons...''and'' their underwater headquarters."
:—'''Ironhide''' finds that '''Carly''' is a girl after his own heart

"The show’s over. Back to work."
:—A leering '''Megatron''' takes glee in Carly’s apparent drowning.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
* Gears's shoulders/torso is all blue as the Autobots gather around Wheeljack. Only his truck roof should be blue; the rest should be red.
* Wheeljack is missing the lines on his "ears" when they stop flashing during "a clever little creation I call..."
* Cliffjumper has a completely wrong voice as he asks what the Immobilizer does. It sounds like a professorial type or something. Same thing happened to him in "[[Changing Gears]]", too.
* Brawn is suddenly with the gathered Autobots as they duck from Ironhide's random firing, despite not being in any of the establishing shots of the group.
* Ironhide's arm is layered in front of Spike as Spike dusts himself off, making them appear the same size.
* Ironhide's helmet rim is partly light gray instead of red as Wheeljack speaks to him. The same error will recur throughout the episode.
* Bumblebee's arm is layered behind one of the onlookers in [[Robots Video Arcade|the arcade]] as he bows. Said onlooker and his buddies continue their huge-mouthed gaping long after the cheering has stopped.
* The background behind Bumblebee changes between shots; when he bows, there's just the Robot Resource game, but in the next shot, two consoles have appeared, neither of them Robot Resource.
[[Image:Arcade Front.jpg|thumb|right|250px|So the car and the characters are drawn at one scale, and the hydrant and the buildings are drawn at a completely different scale.]]
* Carly's car is just sitting there half on the sidewalk. It's next to a fire hydrant that's almost as big as the car. And Robots Video Arcade apparently has a ''huge'' front door.
* Bumblebee has two random black rectangles on the back of his VW Bug mode as he transforms outside the arcade.
* Ravage's eye is randomly glowing white before he attacks Bumblebee. It could be an intentional effect to show emotion or recognition or something, but it's an odd choice.
* Some have claimed that Trailbreaker and Jazz are off-model as they help clean up the mess in Autobot Headquarters (too thin and too fat, respectively). Others find this claim to be rather dubious.
* When Wheeljack screws the polarizer on his new doohickey, his hand and lower arm pass through the polarizer. He also has random orange on his shoulders where there should only be white.
* Megatron appears to have an extra right forearm segment as he speaks his first line.
* Ravage's rear paws are light grey instead of black as he leaps to transform.
* Bits of Brawn's helmet are yellow instead of gray during the bizarre sequence of partial transformations.
* Jazz is off-model during his sequence a second later, with no fenders, no stripes, and an extra window.
* As Prime orders Ironhide to take the first watch, his headlights aren't colored in. In the background, a whole line of misshapen Autobot cars is driving past, including what looks like an off-model Cliffjumper colored entirely blue.
* Prime has a huge crotch as the camera pans down to Bumblebee.
* Missing Seeker insignias:
** In the first pan of the Decepticons surrounding the Autobots, Starscream's missing his wing insignia, and Soundwave's visor is white instead of red (and again when the shot is recycled after the first commercial break.)
** Starscream is missing his wing emblems as he falls over from Ironhide's goop.
** As he wanders into the trees, Starscream only has one of his wing insignia.
** Thundercracker only has one insignia as he climbs out of the river.
* Starscream has an all-yellow nosecone as he transforms to fly over the force field.
* As he dives at the Autobots, Starscream's air intakes are the same light gray as the rest of him, instead of red.
* Megatron has no transformation sound effect as he transforms to destroy the [[bouncer bomb]].
* Prime's left exhaust stack disappears into thin air as he turns toward the falling tree. He also has a random white segment above his grille.
* Prime's thighs are red instead of silver as Trailbreaker makes his "rust in peace" gag.
* Trailbreaker's force field projector is missing as the Autobots prepare to return to base.
* Ironhide clips through the corner of the wall as he walks off to "retire".
* Bumblebee leaves base to look for Carly... then is shown in the very next shot with the Autobots gathered around Prime in the base.
* Prowl is shown rolling out, even though he hasn't been in a single shot so far.
* Improbable viewpoints:
** Sparkplug shows Ironhide a visual that's supposedly from the [[Sky Spy]]. Somehow, the ''orbital satellite'' shows a tracking pan view of Laserbeak that's ''right beside him'' — below him, in fact. If the entire sequence is taken as Sky Spy's footage, Laserbeak flies within ''inches'' of Sky Spy's camera, as Carly's face fills the screen at one point.
* Ironhide's observation that Laserbeak has taken Carly is muffled as if it were coming over a radio transmission.
* Skywarp's arm laser, and Soundwave's head vents, are both white after Starscream gives the order to attack.

===Continuity errors===
* For his initial Immobilizer demonstration, Wheeljack asked Hound to project a hologram. Was he actually going to immobilize the hologram? How's that even possible?
* Spike suddenly has a wristwatch when he needs to check the time in the arcade. The watch is never seen before or after.
* Megatron knows which one is Bumblebee. [[A Prime Problem|Later]], he doesn't.
* Carly apparently knows where the Decepticon base is located. How she knows is anyone's guess.
* In addition to the Immobilizer, she also has a great understanding of technology she's seen for the first time in her life. In the armoury, Ironhide only refers to storing ammunition yet Carly seems to recognize a bomb, or had the knowledge to convert alien ammunition into a timed explosive. MIT obviously gave that scholarship to the right candidate!
* Would Ironhide really have prevented the Decepticon sneak attack if he hadn't moved the hundred feet or so from his station? Couldn't the 'cons have just come from the other direction?
* Carly's another pressure-proof super human, [[Atlantis, Arise!|just like Spike]]. She swims at least a few hundred feet underwater to Decepticon Headquarters with no pressurized diving equipment at all. At least the animators were kind enough to give her a wet suit!
* In addition, since Ironhide isn't shown to have any SCUBA gear for Carly, he had to have made an extremely rapid ascent to the surface so she wouldn't drown. However, an ascent that fast would have given her decompression sickness, or worse.
* "It's a theory I've had ever since I accepted my science scholarship at MIT," says Carly about Wheeljack's immobilizer, which she just encountered for the first time like, earlier that same day. Did she accept the scholarship while imprisoned in Decepticon Headquarters?

===Continuity notes===
* This episode is Carly's introduction to the series.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Brawn uses the same tunneling drill he had in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 1]]".
** Ironhide has a jet pack that pretty much fills the back of his torso. That same space contained a missile launcher in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]".
** Ironhide fires one of his liquids out of his totally-retracted wrist. It's a brownish-red stuff which appears to act like glue — very different than the whitish glue stuff he fired from tri-barreled wrist weapons back in "[[Divide and Conquer]]".
* This episode marks the '''second time''' that Ratchet has threatened to shut Ironhide up by ''physically removing his ability to speak'' (the first was in [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]). Yeesh, someone needs to work on their bedside manner.
*If this episode's dialogue is taken seriously, it would mean that Spike is at least 13-15 years old (depending on the particular state). This raises disturbing questions about why Sparkplug allows his son to date a woman who's old enough to at least be starting college. Then again, Sparkplug had Spike working on a remote oil platform in the middle of the ocean, so family dynamics within the Witwickys are certainly... unconventional, Carly also could be clever enough to have graduated high school early.
* '''[[Countdown to Extinction (episode)|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron got shot and fell down! '''[[Dinobot Island, Part 2|> >]]'''

===Real-world references===
* It was the 80s. [[Robots Video Arcade|Video arcades]] were ''the'' hot thing.
** ''[[Robot Resource]]'' uses sounds from ''Galaga''.
* Carly is or will be a student at [[MIT]].
* Spike describes a chocolate soda as "an emulsified CO2 with lactic acid".

===Trivia===
* Stores on the street: [[Vincenzo's Pizza]], [[Rose Beauty Saloon]], Meat, and [[Robots Video Arcade]].
* Video games in the arcade: Pan!!, Oh!!, Chu, Ha Ha Ha, SFX, Hot, and [[Robot Resource]].
* No wonder the cops pull Bumblebee over. His entrance into traffic is ''terrible''; he swerves between lanes, and totally cuts off some poor driver.
*The Japanese dubbing of the episode had been edited to remove Skyfire (due to the fact that Takara were unsure about using Skyfire/Jetfire at the time because he was based off a Bandai toy), which is pretty obvious as there are jumps in the background music. Skyfire did eventually appear in the Japanese dub near the end of its run.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;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 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. 1 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Bumper Collection Special (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_immobilizer.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immobilizer}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]