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Decepticon Air

2009-09-16T11:13:24Z

190.59.150.237: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni Decepticon Air Decepticons Freed.jpg
|caption=So which one of them is John Malkovich?
|ep=39
|title="Decepticon Air"
|airdate=[[May 2]], 2009
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Shigeharu Takahashi]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''The Decepticons aboard the Elite Guard ship decide to take down the Autobots that turned them in.'''

==Synopsis==
On [[Earth]], [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] have completed a [[space bridge]] terminal in record time, for which [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] congratulates them. However, the [[transwarp]] field sequencers still have to be recalibrated, and Sumdac and Bulkhead argue over whose fault that is. [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] insists she could have helped get it right, but both builders politely rebuff her as insufficiently knowledgeable. As they continue arguing about getting the resequencing done, she takes matters into her own hands—almost literally. Using her new abilities, she fixes the terminal's calibrations and gets it to activate, to the surprise of the others.

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Sentinel Typing.jpg|thumb||180px|left|"[[Ravage (SG)|Ravage]] has poked me on Facebook ''how many'' times?"]]
Meanwhile, out in space, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] fruitlessly attempts to interrogate his [[Decepticon]] prisoners for info on the military cells that have been attacking space bridge outposts. He returns to the bridge after [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] tells him there's an incoming message from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. [[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]], [[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] and [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] indicate that the [[Autobot High Council]] has decided to make public the news of the assault on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]]. Sentinel tries to pull rank on them, since he's now technically the ''pro tempore'' [[Magnus]], and advises them to keep it quiet, but Alpha Trion makes it clear that they don't quite recognize his authority. Frustrated, Sentinel tries to pull rank on Jazz instead, commanding him to take the ship at full thrust through an energy cloud, despite any risks, as that heading will be the shortest route to Cybertron. Jazz complies despite objections, and of course, his worries prove justified: The energy strikes and flows through the ship, re-energizing [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] and bringing him out of time-stasis. Swindle soon frees and re-arms the other Decepticons, even if they don't have payment up front for it, as they work for [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], his best customer. With the alarms muted by Swindle's [[Sonic Jammer 3000]], the Decepticons strike at the ship's bridge just after the ship emerges from the energy cloud. Swindle quickly takes out [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] and [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] with a demo of the SJ3K's other function, a [[stasis suspension ray]]. Sentinel and Jazz put up a fight, but to little avail, and finally, Sentinel sends a brief, encrypted call for help to his old buddy, Optimus Prime (as he's too embarrassed to call Cybertron). Shortly afterward, [[Lugnut]] strikes him down, but Swindle convinces the massive Decepticon to spare their prisoners' lives: Not only could selling off their [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] parts earn a fortune, but they could be a bargaining chip in finding Megatron.

On Earth, Optimus receives Sentinel's message, which decrypts to "[[Broken Lance]]", a coded call for help that Sentinel used with him back in their [[Autobot Academy|academy]] days. Bulkhead notes the space bridge terminal detects an unusual transwarp field aboard the Elite Guard's ship. With Sari's help, the terminal locks onto the field, providing stable coordinates for an arrival point. [[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Swindle Optimus Hand.jpg|thumb||180px|right|HUNGER GETS WHAT HUNGER WANTS.]] The space bridge is activated, and Optimus steps through... only to emerge from Swindle's chest, having arrived via the private storage dimension he uses for holding all his stock.

Rather than attack against overwhelming odds and attempt to free Sentinel and the others, Optimus takes off down the ship's corridors to better his situation. Most of the Decepticons give pursuit, with Lugnut ordering Swindle to watch the prisoners in the meantime. Taking an elevator to the ship's energon storage chamber, Optimus perforates a group of energon cubes with his axe, destabilizing them just enough. He then puts them in the elevator car and slices its cables, so it explodes near the bottom just as the Decepticons pry open the doors. Slightly charred from the backblast, Optimus enters one of the service ducts and works his way back to the brig area, grumbling as he does.

Meanwhile, Swindle's greed is still holding sway, and the arms dealer leaves his prisoners unguarded so he can raid the ship's stores. Prime arrives almost immediately afterward and frees his fellow Autobots, earning no gratitude from the power-tripping Sentinel. The Decepticons then return, so Optimus tells Jazz to rewire the decontamination unit on the bridge into a freezing chamber to trap them, his Autobot emblem blinking all the while. Optimus severs a steam duct, giving Jazz cover to escape, but then Lugnut punches a hole in the hull, sending everyone else in the brig out into space.

The Jet Twins prove far more capable in space combat than anticipated, giving the Decepticons a fair amount of trouble. Noting their predicament through a porthole in the storage depot, Swindle metaphorically shrugs and goes back to looting. Meanwhile, despite Sentinel's continued objections and struggling, Optimus uses him as a living spiked slingshot against Lugnut. Sentinel insists he be obeyed as leader, but this only prompts [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] to freeze him and hold him hostage. Sentinel demands they don't surrender, but Optimus convinces the Jet Twins to follow his lead instead, and they capitulate.

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Optimus Jazz HighFive.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Slip me some metal, O.P.!]]
On the bridge, Blitzwing, [[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]], and [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] put Sentinel, Optimus and the Jet Twins in the decontamination unit with Jazz. Blitzwing sneers that Optimus shouldn't have blabbed his plan where all could hear it, as now the Autobots will suffer freezing instead. However, when he activates the chamber, the freezing tubes reverse direction, icing all the Decepticons on the bridge and leaving the Autobots safe. Optimus explains to a surprised Sentinel that back in the brig, he'd used his blinking emblem to send a different message to Jazz in Cybertronian [[cybertronian optical code|optical code]]. They all pause as they hear a roar of engines, courtesy of a loot-filled Swindle taking off in one of the ship's shuttles. As the Decepticons are imprisoned again, Sentinel offers Optimus the Elite Guard spot that will be opening when Sentinel becomes Magnus, but Prime demurs, as he's still got plenty to do on Earth.

At [[Sumdac Tower]], Bulkhead frets as Swindle's transwarp signal moves too far away to warp Optimus back. Sari offers to help fix it, but her father points out it won't be necessary, as the Elite Guard ship has come to them. Optimus steps off the ship, and he and Sentinel trade salutes before it departs.

On Cybertron, Sentinel has a victory parade, displaying his prisoners to a cheering crowd and vowing to hunt down and offline [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] and any other Decepticon if they accept him as the new Magnus. Perceptor and Alpha Trion exchange dubious glances, but say nothing.

[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air Lugnut Megatron.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Ugh...I'll get the squeegee...]]
Out in space, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] warps into place near a drifting Lugnut, who abruptly finds himself plastered on the front window—right in front of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (2)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (12)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (13)
*[[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]] (14)
*[[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]] (17)
*[[Dug Base]] (18)
*[[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]] (19)
*[[Carerra (Animated)|Carerra]] (20)
*[[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]] (21)
*[[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]] (22)
*[[Furao]] (23)
*[[Freeway (Animated)|Freeway]] (24)
*[[Beachcomber (Animated)|Beachcomber]] (25)
*[[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] (26)
*[[Huffer (Animated)|Huffer]] (27)
*[[Powerglide (Animated)|Powerglide]] (28)
*[[Seaspray (Animated)|Seaspray]] (29)
*[[Rattletrap]] (30)
*[[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]] (31)
*[[Rosanna (Animated)|Rosanna]] (32)
*[[Autotrooper]] (33)
*[[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]] (34)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (35)
*[[Cosmos (Animated)|Cosmos]] (36)
*[[Tracks (Animated)|Tracks]] (37)
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] (38)
|c2=
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Lugnut]] (7)
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] (10)
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (11)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (39)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (40)
|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (3)
|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (4)
|}}

==Quotes==
'''Sentinel Prime''': All due respect, Alpha Trion, the Council should concern itself with more important matters, like beefing up security for the Decepticon prisoners that...ahem...''I'' captured. 
'''Cliffjumper''': I thought that was [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]].
:—Actually, they're [[Lockdown (Animated)|both wrong]].

"Those bureaucratobots couldn't find their own [[Anatomic euphemism#Diode|diode]]s with a bitmap and a homing beacon."
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' talks behind the council's back.

"The Sonic Jammer 3000! Don't leave Cybertron without it! But wait—there's more! It also has a stasis suspension ray, handy for those tight spots. Picked this baby up on [[Quintessa]]. Nice folks, the [[Quintesson]]s; give you a good deal and all the oil you can drink."
:—'''Swindle''', ready as ever with a sales pitch.

"Guard the prisoners, or... loot the ship? It's a no-processor...er."

"Maybe I should help them.... or maybe I should just help myself!"

"Nothing beats a shopping spree... especially when it's all ''free!''"
:—The Tao of '''Swindle'''.

"Maybe that energon was a little ''too'' unstable!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' realizes he may not have thought his plan through very well.

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===
* When Sentinel calls for Jetfire and Jetstorm, the prisoners do not have their facemasks.

* Character heights vary wildly throughout the episode, mostly with the non-Swindle Decepticons being various levels of undersized. The kneeling Decepticons still tower over Swindle as he first talks to them (which seems correct, as Swindle is small), but do not appear to gain any height on him once they're upright. The final scene in particular, Blitzwing and the two clones are downright tiny, looking to be about as big as the average Autobot.

* In the crowd scenes towards the end of this episode, characters change positions relative to each other every time the camera angle switches. Beachcomber, in particular, appears in literally four different places at once.

* When Lugnut crashes against Omega Supreme at the end of the episode, his Deception insignia is missing.

===Continuity errors===
* Safeguard is able to create a tornado in outer space?
* Why would an Autobot ship need air ducts?

===Transformers references===
[[Image:TFAni Decepticon Air BoxScream ConeScream.jpg|thumb|180px|right|"Your conehead makes my ears look silly in comparison!" "No it doesn't!"]]
* Swindle claims to have had business dealings on [[Quintessa]], suggests they could make enough from Elite Guard parts to "retire to a beach island on [[Nebulos]]", and swears by "the fifth moon of [[Pz-Zazz]]".

* His reference to a "personal storage dimension" from which accessories can be pulled at a moments' notice hearkens back to the concept of [[subspace]].

* To help tell the Starscream clones apart, Swindle gives the Ramjet a [[conehead]] accessory and Sunstorm a boxy helmet resembling those of the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]]. The new cone-head is topped with a drill. Cool.

* Sentinel's adoring public consists of a seriously crazy amount of cameos, a great many of which have not been seen before this episode. While many of them could be identified right away, it would take a further few episodes, and some more crowd scenes in "[[This Is Why I Hate Machines]]" and "[[Endgame, Part II]]", before some of the more obscure characters could all be named and shamed. The crowd includes [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Carerra (Animated)|Carerra]], [[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]], [[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]], [[Furao]], [[Freeway (Animated)|Freeway]], [[Beachcomber (Animated)|Beachcomber]], [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]], [[Huffer (Animated)|Huffer]], [[Powerglide (Animated)|Powerglide]], [[Seaspray (Animated)|Seaspray]], [[Rattletrap]], [[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]], [[Rosanna (Animated)|Rosanna]], [[Autotrooper]] (based on [[Autrooper]]), [[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]], [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]], [[Cosmos (Animated)|Cosmos]] and [[Tracks (Animated)|Tracks]]. The widescreen-to-fullscreen crop also manages to cut off an unnamed orange female robot (her forearm can be seen for a split-second poking into shot over Rosanna's head) who would reappear in "Endgame, Part II", an unknown, tall blue-and-white robot (behind the second Beachcomber, above Hot Shot) and an equally-mysterious skinny red-and-orange robot (behind Hot Shot). Recolored [[generic]] robots in the crowd include a Tracks-colored Mainframe, a red-white-and-blue Warpath, and a [[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]]-colored Cosmos, sans nacelles.

* Sentinel and the Autobot Council are carried upon [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]]. Behind them, the Decepticon prisoners are carried by a [[Dug Base|Grandus lookalike]] with yellow detailing; Derrick Wyatt stated that this was supposed to represent Grandus's ''[[Brave]]'' [[redeco]], Dag Base.

* The "Lance" in "[[Broken Lance]]" refers to Sentinel's weapon of choice.

===Real-world references===
* The title is a play on ''[[wikipedia:Con Air|Con Air]]'', a Nicolas Cage movie where prisoners being transported by plane get free and do bad things.

* Sentinel's phrase "[[Broken Lance]]" is similar to the [[United States of America|U.S.]] military term "[[wikipedia:United States military nuclear incident terminology#Broken Arrow|Broken Arrow]]", which is used to describe a cock-up involving nuclear weapons. In this context, it is more likely to be a reference to the 1996 action film [[wikipedia:Broken Arrow (1996 film)|of the same name]], in which John Travolta hijacks a stealth bomber (in order to sell the nuclear missiles on board).

* Speaking of action movies, Optimus crawling through an air shaft, while sarcastically complaining about how much fun he's having, is very similar to a famous sequence from ''[[wikipedia:Die Hard|Die Hard]]''. The exploding elevator trick also appears in the film.

* When Optimus drops out of the air shaft suspended by a wire harness, it's similar to a famous sequence from the Tom Cruise version of ''[[wikipedia:Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]''.

* Optimus claiming to have a small chamber that can trap his foes, only for them to doublecross him and force him inside it, only for him to ''triplecross'' them when the chamber is the only place safe from the real trap, is similar to a famous sequence from ''[[wikipedia:Superman II|Superman II]]''.

* Sari's fingers extending and separating when she types are a reference to ''[[wikipedia:Ghost in the Shell|Ghost in the Shell]]''.

* When Sentinel uses his remote to unlock and re-lock Lugnut's mouth clamps, it makes the same noise as a car alarm remote.

* When Swindle first hears Megatron's name, his facial expression changes with the sound of a cash register.

* Swindle's personal storage dimension features old Hanna-Barbera stock sound effects, typically used to denote magic spells.

* Swindle's "Don't leave Cybertron without it!" is a variation of the American Express credit card slogan "Don't leave home without it." He immediately follows that up with "But wait, there's more!", one of TV huckster [[wikipedia:Ron Popeil|Ron Popeil]]'s most famous catchphrases.

===Trivia===
*Sentinel Prime went through the space disturbance to gain some time, but in the end, agreed to go all the way back to Earth to drop off Optimus Prime. So the whole thing ended up being a rather pointless act. Lesson learned, Sentinel?
*Sentinel seems to have decided to keep his Earth alt-mode [[Autoboot Camp|this time]].

*At the end of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]", Captain Fanzone claimed that Swindle would be stripped down for parts. But other than his weapons (which would have been confiscated by the Elite Guard if the Detroit Police hadn't already taken them), nothing obvious seems to be missing from his person. Maybe Fanzone was just trying to freak him out?

*When he's giving the helmets to Sunstorm and Ramjet, Swindle mentions in a very casual manner that he "never could get the hang of cloning." Thinking back, no one was really shocked to see the army of clones that Starscream created. So maybe, cloning is something fairly common among Decepticons, or at least was at some point.

*This episode marks the last appearance of Blitzwing, Sunstorm, Ramjet, and Swindle. They were some of the most loved Decepticons as well!

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Five Servos of Doom

2009-09-16T10:56:37Z

190.59.150.237: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Five Servos Yoketron vs Prowl.JPG
|caption=Wax on, wax off.
|ep=35
|title="Five Servos of Doom"
|airdate=[[April 4]], 2009
|written by=[[Andrew Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Yoshio Frank Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Sentinel Prime has incredible success capturing fugitive Decepticons, leading Prowl to suspect he's getting help. '''

==Synopsis==

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedDecepticons.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"We're gonna need a bigger shelf..."]]

In the dead of night, the [[Autobot]]s steal through the streets of [[Detroit]], on the trail of a [[Decepticon]] energy signature. With the source of the signal cornered, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] makes his move and dives through a window, only to find that the signal is coming from a beacon and that the Autobots have been tricked. To make matters worse, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] has disappeared, and the Autobots spread out to search for him. During the search, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] spots an unfamiliar shadow and follows it around a corner...to find the [[Sunstorm (Animated)|sycophantic Starscream clone]], captured and [[stasis cuffs|stasis-cuffed]] by Sentinel Prime. They take the prisoner back to the [[Elite Guard]]'s ship, where Optimus is stunned to discover that Sentinel has also recently captured [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] as well.

[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] and [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] are eager to know how Sentinel managed to apprehend the Starscream clone, as is Optimus, but Sentinel gets defensive and tells Optimus it does not concern him. Prime confides in Prowl his suspicion that Sentinel is hiding something, and tells about the strange shadow he saw. Back at the Autobot plant, the pair consult computer records to see if Optimus can identify the distinctive helmet the robot was wearing, and when they find one that fits the bill, the stunned Prowl flashes back to his past on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]…

[[Image:TFA Five Servos Prowl meets Yoketron.JPG|thumb|right|200px|"Blam! Pow! You want I should leave this here?"]]

:''The helmet belongs to [[Yoketron]], the ninja master who trained Prowl centuries ago. Attempting to dodge the draft during the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], Prowl was apprehended by Elite Guardsman [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] and placed into the care of Yoketron, who saw potential in him and offered to train him in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.''

Optimus pulls Prowl out of his ruminations, and the ninja-bot silently speeds back to the Elite Guard ship to converse with [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]], another of Yoketron's old students. The pair suspect that their old sensei may somehow be on Earth, capturing Decepticons, and that Sentinel is taking the credit. Sentinel walks in on the middle of the discussion and laughs off the notion that Yoketron is even still online, before departing on another patrol. Knowing that something is not right, Jazz and Prowl shadow Sentinel, but when Sentinel rounds a corner and disappears, Prowl lapses into his memories once again, recalling when Yoketron taught him that it was the robot himself, not his tools, that made the ninja. With nothing left to do, the pair return to the Elite Guard's ship, where Jetfire and Jetstorm are working to repair their communications system.

[[Image:Jetstormpose.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Say cheeeeeese!]]

The two brothers tell the ninjas that Sentinel is waiting for them in the brig, and Jazz and Prowl are amazed to see that Sentinel has brought in [[Lugnut]]! As Sentinel gloats, Prowl calls him on the unlikelihood of the whole scenario and accuses him of having "help". The ninja-bot points out the missing weapons on all the Decepticons, and notes that [[Lockdown (Animated)|only one bot]] that he knows of takes trophies from his victims, but Sentinel silences him by revealing that he has removed Lugnut's "[[Punch of Kill Everything]]" and placed it in a storage compartment in that very hallway. Embarrassed, Prowl leaves, and Sentinel turns on Optimus, telling him to keep Prowl in line, lest he "bust him back to protoform". The word echoes down the hallway, and Prowl pauses…

:''As Prowl's skills increase under Yoketron's tutelage, he is deemed worthy of a weapon by his master and is given his shuriken. Yoketron leads Prowl into a chamber containing holographic busts of his greatest students, but one plinth is empty—a spot, Yoketron reveals, previously held by a former student who disgraced the cyber-ninja corps. Prowl is amazed when Yoketron uses a technique known as "[[processor-over-matter]]" to open the far wall of the chamber with the power of his mind, revealing a greater chamber beyond, its walls lined with [[protoform]]s that the [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]] has been charged with protecting. Yoketron challenges Prowl to close the chamber using processor-over-matter, but Prowl is unable to accomplish the task, and Yoketron sends him on an "optics quest" to find his center and become a true cyber-ninja.''

Prowl's trip down memory lane is cut off as Sentinel comes down the hallway. He uses his hologram projector to disguise himself as a cabinet and listen in as Sentinel talks with parties unknown over his communicator. Prowl alerts Jazz before trailing Sentinel to [[Tigatron Stadium]], where he learns that his suspicions were correct: Sentinel is working with [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], who is wearing Yoketron's helmet! Prowl busts up the prisoner exchange, but it is soon revealed that Lockdown has double-crossed Sentinel, having been made a better offer by [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]]. Lockdown and Prowl engage in battle, and Lockdown reveals that he was also a student of Yoketron...

:''Returning from his unsuccessful optics quest, Prowl discovers that Yoketron's dojo has been attacked, the protoforms almost all stolen, and Yoketron himself fatally wounded. As Yoketron's spark begins to fade, Prowl recovers one of the remaining protoforms and places his master's spark in it, saving Yoketron's life. Yoketron, however, is appalled by his student's actions; one must never sacrifice a piece of the future in order to save a piece of the past. When Prowl's time comes, Yoketron tells him, he too will understand. As Prowl looks on, Yoketron allows his spark to fade out.''

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-Yoketron%27sDeath.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"You must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past." "But the seeds of the future lie buried in the past!" "... shut up, boy."]]

At last, all is clear to Prowl: Lockdown led the attack on the dojo and took the protoforms! Prowl pins Lockdown and demands the return of Yoketron's helmet; Lockdown appears to comply, but the helmet has been booby-trapped and binds Prowl in a tangle of cables. The captured Prowl is taken to [[Death's Head (Animated)|Lockdown's ship]], where the bounty hunter intends to remove his jump jets and holo-projector in order to complete a duplicate set of the armor that he loaned Prowl during their [[A Fistful of Energon|last encounter]]. Lying on Lockdown's "operating table", Prowl concentrates, and at last masters processor-over-matter, freeing his body from the cables with the power of his mind.

[[Image:Sentinel-derp.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Sentinel displays his ''Unfortunate Accident'' mode.]]

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Jetfire and Jetstorm have arrived to rescue Sentinel Prime from the clutches of the Starscream clone, but the fight is not going well, as the clone uses Sentinel for a shield most of the time. The clone takes to the air, but Prime blinds him with a faceful of foam, and he crashes into the middle of the stadium field, dropping Sentinel head-first into the ground.

Back aboard Lockdown's ship, the bounty hunter turns to discover that Prowl has freed himself and donned both Yoketron's helmet and the armor, knowing that he will be able to handle its power this time because of the lesson he has finally learned: It is the ninja-bot, not the weapon. The two engage in battle once more, and their fight soon carries them out of the ship and into the middle of the other fight going on in the field outside. Optimus Prime and Jazz are in the process of dropping the stadium's scoreboard onto the Starscream clone, but Prowl and Lockdown get in the way at the last second, before they can stop the giant screen's tumble. As the dust clears, Optimus and Jazz discover that Prowl has used processor-over-matter to protect the combatants from the debris. Optimus quickly stasis-cuffs the Starscream clone, but Lockdown gets away.

[[Image:TFA Five Servos processor over matter.JPG|right|thumb|200px|...Show-off.]]
A little later, everyone has returned to the Elite Guard ship, where Jetstorm and Jetfire open a communications channel with [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] on Cybertron. Cliffjumper tells the Autobots about [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'s attack on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], and rather than add to the trouble, Prime refrains from reporting Sentinel's misconduct, instead simply informing Cliffjumper of the capture of the Decepticons on [[Earth]], crediting Prowl. Sentinel thanks Optimus for covering for him, but Optimus promises that once everything is done, he and Sentinel will have it out.

Back at the Autobot base, Jazz compliments Prowl on his armor, and tells him that Yoketron would be proud to have him wear his helmet. Prowl vows to do everything he can to be worthy of it.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Yoketron]] (10) (Flashback)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (11) (Flashback)
*[[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)

|c2=
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (7)
*[[Lugnut]] (12)
*[[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] (13)
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] (14)

}}

==Quotes==
'''Jetfire''': Sentinel Prime, sir, tell please. 
'''Jetstorm''': How did you making to capture this badness bot? 
'''Optimus''': Yes, Sentinel. How did you capture this badness bot?
:—Optimus Prime and the twins question Sentinel and butcher the English language.

'''Warpath''': Ask me, he should rust in the stockade. Any Autobot who won't fight the Decepticons is no better than a Con himself. We're at war. 
'''Prowl''': It's not my war! 
'''Warpath''': Then maybe I should take you out back and ''make it'' your war! 
'''Yoketron''': I believe I can take it from here. 
'''Warpath''': Bam pow! Lousy draft-dodgin' peacenik.
:—Warpath has no time for draft-dodgers.

"Give. Me. Yoketron's. Helmet."
:—'''Prowl''', not pissing around.

"Couldn't resist that old armor, though, could ya? What makes you think you can handle it this time?" 
"I've learned something since then. It's the ninja-bot, not the weapon."
:—'''Lockdown''' and '''Prowl'''

"Whoa, bro. P-over-M."
:—'''Jazz''', impressed with Prowl's processor-over-matter mastery.

"Diggin' the new armor, specially Yoketron's helmet. He'd be proud to have you wear it." 
"Thank you. I plan to do everything in my power to be worthy of it."
:—'''Jazz''' and '''Prowl'''

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===

*When the scoreboard crashes onto Prowl, Lockdown, and Ramjet, Prowl is missing his samurai armor.
*When Prowl readies himself to kick Lockdown, his animation model doesn't have Yoketron's helmet, but rather, the helmet from the episode "[[A Fistful of Energon]]". This error reappears when Prowl charges at Lockdown a few seconds later.

===Continuity errors===
*It's not ''technically'' an error, since Prowl has always remained quiet on his history and could just have been holding back from correcting anyone, but this episode reveals that he was online during the Great War, prior to the creation of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], where previous episodes have suggested that none of the main ''Animated'' Autobot cast, except for [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], were around back then. Notably, this makes Prowl older than Optimus Prime, which... sits ill, at best. Then again, it is possible Prime and possibly a few others were online during the war as well, but were merely still being trained at the time and were too "young" to take part.
*The dialogue exchanged between Prowl, Jazz and later on Sentinel Prime, suggests that Master [[Yoketron]] mysteriously disappeared, and nobody apparently knew whether or not he was online for sure. Later on in the episode, (during Prowl's final flashback), Master Yoketron ''clearly'' dies in the presence of Prowl, making one wonder why the Autobots seem to be in the dark with his status. Did Prowl acknowledge his death, bury the body and keep this knowledge to himself to preserve his master's dignity? Or was this information covered up by Autobot Intelligence to prevent planet-wide panic? Sadly, now, [[Endgame, Part II|we may never know for sure.]]
*On a related note, this also means that Jazz was active in the Cyber-Ninja Corps during the war, apparently long before Sentinel even came online (much less joined the Elite Guard). Even ignoring Sentinel's various flaws, this raises legitimate questions about just how promotions are handed out in the Elite Guard.
*Swindle is still in one piece, despite [[Fanzone|a certain cop]] telling the Autobots he would be stripped down and sold at an auction. Foreshadowing of his return, or just exaggeration on Fanzone's part?
*Lockdown has never mentioned Prowl's fighting before, referred to any cyber-ninja training, or, perhaps most noticeably, worn Yoketron's helmet prior to this episode. The latter may have been meant to be explained by Lockdown's stated interest in Prowl's use of the samurai armor during their last encounter, however it's still a little clunky.
*The [[protoform]] in this episode is a whole lot different than the one featured in [[Transwarped]] (then again, perhaps the robot originally coming from that type of protoform would be different from [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]], so it may not be a error at all. Still, is weird). Maybe it means that Sari was not a normal protoform.

===Transformers references===
*Prowl performed the titular "Five Servos of Doom" technique back in "[[The Elite Guard]]".

*Swindle is still stuck in vehicle mode after the events of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]".

*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-TempleCameos.jpg|thumb|right|250px|For those who thought getting [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] just wasn't good enough...]]

*In addition to Yoketron and Jazz, the busts in Yoketron's little "hall of fame" depict ''Animated'' incarnation of various Transformers that have otherwise not appeared in the series (yet?). Those clearly visible onscreen include [[Springer (Animated)|Springer]], [[Sky Garry (Animated)|Sky Garry]], [[Devcon (Animated)|Devcon]], [[Dai Atlas (Animated)|Dai Atlas]], [[Heavy Load (Animated)|Heavy Load]], [[Star Upper (Animated)|Star Upper]] and [[Roadhandler (Animated)|Roadhandler]], but there are many more busts in the room that are only seen from a distance, and are essentially unidentifiable. [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has identified the other Transformers as [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Star Saber (Animated)|Star Saber]], [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Kick-Off (Animated)|Kick-Off]], [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]], [[Motorarm (Animated)|Motorarm]], [[Powerhug (Animated)|Powerhug]] and [[Road Rocket (Animated)|Road Rocket]].
** Additionally, Wyatt classifies the characters as being specialists in different categories, namely Fencing/Swordfighting/Melee Weapons (Star Saber, Magnus, Dai Atlas, Springer) , Boxing/Kick-Boxing/Street-Fighting (Tap-Out, Star Upper, Sky Garry, Kick-Off, Devcon), Sumo/Wrestling (Grandus, Motorarm, Powerhug and Roadhandler) and Martial Arts/Ninja (Yoketron, Jazz, Heavy Load and Road Rocket). These classifications speak for themselves more often than not (no explanation is needed for the melee-weapon characters, nor for someone like Star Upper, who was all about boxing), but sometimes the rationale is a bit more obscure (Heavy Load, for instance, was only ever noted to be a martial artist in his [[bio]]; it never came across in the cartoon), or is a reference to some past fiction (Roadhandler being classified as a wrestler is the main example, being that it's a reference to his stint in the squared circle from the Marvel Comics story, "[[The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!]]"). Conversely, sometimes it's just a joke—Grandus as a sumo, for instance, is purely a gag based on the fact that he's a big fatty fat-fat.

*[[Tigatron]] Stadium!

*Lockdown identifies Prowl's techniques as [[Metallikato]] and [[Circuit-Su]].

*Prowl's samurai armor was previously seen in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", in which Lockdown last appeared. Additionally, it was in that episode that Starscream escaped from the Elite Guard flagship, which is the "last time" that Sentinel refers to while arguing with Optimus.

*Yoketron's Spark container is similar to design to [[Big Convoy]]'s Matrix, with two L-shaped handles instead of U-shaped ones. Fitting, when one considers Yoketron's Japanese-based aesthetic.

*One of the upgrades seen on Lockdown's shelves is [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave's]] G1 shoulder-mounted missile launcher.

*The protoform Prowl takes from the room is has a design similar to the ones in [[Beast Wars]].

*Also, the protoform-pods-or-whatever-it-is-called on the walls looks like the [[stasis pods]] from [[Beast Wars (franchise)|the same franchising]]...where the protoforms were guarded as well! Coincidence? Perhaps...

*Master Yoketron's dying words to Prowl are [[Endgame, Part II|rather foreshadowing....]]

===Real-world references===
*The title of the episode is apparently derived from the 1972 Hong Kong martial arts movie [[wikipedia:Five Fingers Of Death|''Five Fingers Of Death'']]. The movie's name is a regular source of recycling, including wrestler Bret Hart's "Five Moves Of Doom" and the mockumentary ''18 Fingers Of Death'' to name a few.
*Tigatron Stadium is named after and largely based on [[wikipedia:Tiger Stadium|Tiger Stadium]], the former home field of the [[wikipedia:Detroit Tigers|Detroit Tigers]], which has been partially demolished.

===Trivia===
*Like [[Where Is Thy Sting?|the previous episode]], this episode received an early online debut when a copy loaded onto the Cartoon Network website server, intended to go live after the episode premiered, was leaked out on [[March 27]], over a week before the episode premiered on television.

*The voice cast for this episode does not credit [[David Kaye]] with the role of Cliffjumper.

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedBlitzwingFaces.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Watch out, it bites!]]

*Having three faces warrants three mouth clamps, it seems, as the animation depicts the mouth clamps on Blitzwing's faces rotating when he switches personality.

*While trying to identify the helmet Optimus Prime saw, Prowl brings up the images of the helmets worn by Ultra Magnus and Blitzwing on the computer.

*As of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots.

*Prowl's keeping of his new armor continues the trend started in "[[Transwarped]]" with Bumblebee and Ratchet that upgrades are okay now because damnit, this is war. This is a notable turnaround from the position of the first two seasons.

*As of the end of this episode, most of the originally Earth-based Decepticons have been destroyed, captured, or scattered, with exceptions including [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] and maybe a [[Slipstream (Animated)|clone]] or two.

*This is the last episode to feature Lockdown.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Five Servos of Doom

2009-09-16T10:55:36Z

190.59.150.237: /* Animation or technical errors */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFA Five Servos Yoketron vs Prowl.JPG
|caption=Wax on, wax off.
|ep=35
|title="Five Servos of Doom"
|airdate=[[April 4]], 2009
|written by=[[Andrew Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Yoshio Frank Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Sentinel Prime has incredible success capturing fugitive Decepticons, leading Prowl to suspect he's getting help. '''

==Synopsis==

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedDecepticons.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"We're gonna need a bigger shelf..."]]

In the dead of night, the [[Autobot]]s steal through the streets of [[Detroit]], on the trail of a [[Decepticon]] energy signature. With the source of the signal cornered, [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] makes his move and dives through a window, only to find that the signal is coming from a beacon and that the Autobots have been tricked. To make matters worse, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] has disappeared, and the Autobots spread out to search for him. During the search, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] spots an unfamiliar shadow and follows it around a corner...to find the [[Sunstorm (Animated)|sycophantic Starscream clone]], captured and [[stasis cuffs|stasis-cuffed]] by Sentinel Prime. They take the prisoner back to the [[Elite Guard]]'s ship, where Optimus is stunned to discover that Sentinel has also recently captured [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] as well.

[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] and [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] are eager to know how Sentinel managed to apprehend the Starscream clone, as is Optimus, but Sentinel gets defensive and tells Optimus it does not concern him. Prime confides in Prowl his suspicion that Sentinel is hiding something, and tells about the strange shadow he saw. Back at the Autobot plant, the pair consult computer records to see if Optimus can identify the distinctive helmet the robot was wearing, and when they find one that fits the bill, the stunned Prowl flashes back to his past on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]…

[[Image:TFA Five Servos Prowl meets Yoketron.JPG|thumb|right|200px|"Blam! Pow! You want I should leave this here?"]]

:''The helmet belongs to [[Yoketron]], the ninja master who trained Prowl centuries ago. Attempting to dodge the draft during the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], Prowl was apprehended by Elite Guardsman [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] and placed into the care of Yoketron, who saw potential in him and offered to train him in exchange for the charges against him being dropped.''

Optimus pulls Prowl out of his ruminations, and the ninja-bot silently speeds back to the Elite Guard ship to converse with [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]], another of Yoketron's old students. The pair suspect that their old sensei may somehow be on Earth, capturing Decepticons, and that Sentinel is taking the credit. Sentinel walks in on the middle of the discussion and laughs off the notion that Yoketron is even still online, before departing on another patrol. Knowing that something is not right, Jazz and Prowl shadow Sentinel, but when Sentinel rounds a corner and disappears, Prowl lapses into his memories once again, recalling when Yoketron taught him that it was the robot himself, not his tools, that made the ninja. With nothing left to do, the pair return to the Elite Guard's ship, where Jetfire and Jetstorm are working to repair their communications system.

[[Image:Jetstormpose.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Say cheeeeeese!]]

The two brothers tell the ninjas that Sentinel is waiting for them in the brig, and Jazz and Prowl are amazed to see that Sentinel has brought in [[Lugnut]]! As Sentinel gloats, Prowl calls him on the unlikelihood of the whole scenario and accuses him of having "help". The ninja-bot points out the missing weapons on all the Decepticons, and notes that [[Lockdown (Animated)|only one bot]] that he knows of takes trophies from his victims, but Sentinel silences him by revealing that he has removed Lugnut's "[[Punch of Kill Everything]]" and placed it in a storage compartment in that very hallway. Embarrassed, Prowl leaves, and Sentinel turns on Optimus, telling him to keep Prowl in line, lest he "bust him back to protoform". The word echoes down the hallway, and Prowl pauses…

:''As Prowl's skills increase under Yoketron's tutelage, he is deemed worthy of a weapon by his master and is given his shuriken. Yoketron leads Prowl into a chamber containing holographic busts of his greatest students, but one plinth is empty—a spot, Yoketron reveals, previously held by a former student who disgraced the cyber-ninja corps. Prowl is amazed when Yoketron uses a technique known as "[[processor-over-matter]]" to open the far wall of the chamber with the power of his mind, revealing a greater chamber beyond, its walls lined with [[protoform]]s that the [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]] has been charged with protecting. Yoketron challenges Prowl to close the chamber using processor-over-matter, but Prowl is unable to accomplish the task, and Yoketron sends him on an "optics quest" to find his center and become a true cyber-ninja.''

Prowl's trip down memory lane is cut off as Sentinel comes down the hallway. He uses his hologram projector to disguise himself as a cabinet and listen in as Sentinel talks with parties unknown over his communicator. Prowl alerts Jazz before trailing Sentinel to [[Tigatron Stadium]], where he learns that his suspicions were correct: Sentinel is working with [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], who is wearing Yoketron's helmet! Prowl busts up the prisoner exchange, but it is soon revealed that Lockdown has double-crossed Sentinel, having been made a better offer by [[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]]. Lockdown and Prowl engage in battle, and Lockdown reveals that he was also a student of Yoketron...

:''Returning from his unsuccessful optics quest, Prowl discovers that Yoketron's dojo has been attacked, the protoforms almost all stolen, and Yoketron himself fatally wounded. As Yoketron's spark begins to fade, Prowl recovers one of the remaining protoforms and places his master's spark in it, saving Yoketron's life. Yoketron, however, is appalled by his student's actions; one must never sacrifice a piece of the future in order to save a piece of the past. When Prowl's time comes, Yoketron tells him, he too will understand. As Prowl looks on, Yoketron allows his spark to fade out.''

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-Yoketron%27sDeath.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"You must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past." "But the seeds of the future lie buried in the past!" "... shut up, boy."]]

At last, all is clear to Prowl: Lockdown led the attack on the dojo and took the protoforms! Prowl pins Lockdown and demands the return of Yoketron's helmet; Lockdown appears to comply, but the helmet has been booby-trapped and binds Prowl in a tangle of cables. The captured Prowl is taken to [[Death's Head (Animated)|Lockdown's ship]], where the bounty hunter intends to remove his jump jets and holo-projector in order to complete a duplicate set of the armor that he loaned Prowl during their [[A Fistful of Energon|last encounter]]. Lying on Lockdown's "operating table", Prowl concentrates, and at last masters processor-over-matter, freeing his body from the cables with the power of his mind.

[[Image:Sentinel-derp.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Sentinel displays his ''Unfortunate Accident'' mode.]]

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Jetfire and Jetstorm have arrived to rescue Sentinel Prime from the clutches of the Starscream clone, but the fight is not going well, as the clone uses Sentinel for a shield most of the time. The clone takes to the air, but Prime blinds him with a faceful of foam, and he crashes into the middle of the stadium field, dropping Sentinel head-first into the ground.

Back aboard Lockdown's ship, the bounty hunter turns to discover that Prowl has freed himself and donned both Yoketron's helmet and the armor, knowing that he will be able to handle its power this time because of the lesson he has finally learned: It is the ninja-bot, not the weapon. The two engage in battle once more, and their fight soon carries them out of the ship and into the middle of the other fight going on in the field outside. Optimus Prime and Jazz are in the process of dropping the stadium's scoreboard onto the Starscream clone, but Prowl and Lockdown get in the way at the last second, before they can stop the giant screen's tumble. As the dust clears, Optimus and Jazz discover that Prowl has used processor-over-matter to protect the combatants from the debris. Optimus quickly stasis-cuffs the Starscream clone, but Lockdown gets away.

[[Image:TFA Five Servos processor over matter.JPG|right|thumb|200px|...Show-off.]]
A little later, everyone has returned to the Elite Guard ship, where Jetstorm and Jetfire open a communications channel with [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] on Cybertron. Cliffjumper tells the Autobots about [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]'s attack on [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], and rather than add to the trouble, Prime refrains from reporting Sentinel's misconduct, instead simply informing Cliffjumper of the capture of the Decepticons on [[Earth]], crediting Prowl. Sentinel thanks Optimus for covering for him, but Optimus promises that once everything is done, he and Sentinel will have it out.

Back at the Autobot base, Jazz compliments Prowl on his armor, and tells him that Yoketron would be proud to have him wear his helmet. Prowl vows to do everything he can to be worthy of it.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (8)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (9)
*[[Yoketron]] (10) (Flashback)
*[[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] (11) (Flashback)
*[[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (16)

|c2=
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (5)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (6)
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (7)
*[[Lugnut]] (12)
*[[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] (13)
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] (14)

}}

==Quotes==
'''Jetfire''': Sentinel Prime, sir, tell please. 
'''Jetstorm''': How did you making to capture this badness bot? 
'''Optimus''': Yes, Sentinel. How did you capture this badness bot?
:—Optimus Prime and the twins question Sentinel and butcher the English language.

'''Warpath''': Ask me, he should rust in the stockade. Any Autobot who won't fight the Decepticons is no better than a Con himself. We're at war. 
'''Prowl''': It's not my war! 
'''Warpath''': Then maybe I should take you out back and ''make it'' your war! 
'''Yoketron''': I believe I can take it from here. 
'''Warpath''': Bam pow! Lousy draft-dodgin' peacenik.
:—Warpath has no time for draft-dodgers.

"Give. Me. Yoketron's. Helmet."
:—'''Prowl''', not pissing around.

"Couldn't resist that old armor, though, could ya? What makes you think you can handle it this time?" 
"I've learned something since then. It's the ninja-bot, not the weapon."
:—'''Lockdown''' and '''Prowl'''

"Whoa, bro. P-over-M."
:—'''Jazz''', impressed with Prowl's processor-over-matter mastery.

"Diggin' the new armor, specially Yoketron's helmet. He'd be proud to have you wear it." 
"Thank you. I plan to do everything in my power to be worthy of it."
:—'''Jazz''' and '''Prowl'''

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===

*When the scoreboard crashes onto Prowl, Lockdown, and Ramjet, Prowl is missing his samurai armor.
*When Prowl readies himself to kick Lockdown, his animation model doesn't have Yoketron's helmet, but rather, the helmet from the episode "[[A Fistful of Energon]]".

===Continuity errors===
*It's not ''technically'' an error, since Prowl has always remained quiet on his history and could just have been holding back from correcting anyone, but this episode reveals that he was online during the Great War, prior to the creation of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], where previous episodes have suggested that none of the main ''Animated'' Autobot cast, except for [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], were around back then. Notably, this makes Prowl older than Optimus Prime, which... sits ill, at best. Then again, it is possible Prime and possibly a few others were online during the war as well, but were merely still being trained at the time and were too "young" to take part.
*The dialogue exchanged between Prowl, Jazz and later on Sentinel Prime, suggests that Master [[Yoketron]] mysteriously disappeared, and nobody apparently knew whether or not he was online for sure. Later on in the episode, (during Prowl's final flashback), Master Yoketron ''clearly'' dies in the presence of Prowl, making one wonder why the Autobots seem to be in the dark with his status. Did Prowl acknowledge his death, bury the body and keep this knowledge to himself to preserve his master's dignity? Or was this information covered up by Autobot Intelligence to prevent planet-wide panic? Sadly, now, [[Endgame, Part II|we may never know for sure.]]
*On a related note, this also means that Jazz was active in the Cyber-Ninja Corps during the war, apparently long before Sentinel even came online (much less joined the Elite Guard). Even ignoring Sentinel's various flaws, this raises legitimate questions about just how promotions are handed out in the Elite Guard.
*Swindle is still in one piece, despite [[Fanzone|a certain cop]] telling the Autobots he would be stripped down and sold at an auction. Foreshadowing of his return, or just exaggeration on Fanzone's part?
*Lockdown has never mentioned Prowl's fighting before, referred to any cyber-ninja training, or, perhaps most noticeably, worn Yoketron's helmet prior to this episode. The latter may have been meant to be explained by Lockdown's stated interest in Prowl's use of the samurai armor during their last encounter, however it's still a little clunky.
*The [[protoform]] in this episode is a whole lot different than the one featured in [[Transwarped]] (then again, perhaps the robot originally coming from that type of protoform would be different from [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]], so it may not be a error at all. Still, is weird). Maybe it means that Sari was not a normal protoform.

===Transformers references===
*Prowl performed the titular "Five Servos of Doom" technique back in "[[The Elite Guard]]".

*Swindle is still stuck in vehicle mode after the events of "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]".

*Yoketron is named for [[Takara]]'s lead designer, [[Hideaki Yoke]].

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-TempleCameos.jpg|thumb|right|250px|For those who thought getting [[Warpath (Animated)|Warpath]] just wasn't good enough...]]

*In addition to Yoketron and Jazz, the busts in Yoketron's little "hall of fame" depict ''Animated'' incarnation of various Transformers that have otherwise not appeared in the series (yet?). Those clearly visible onscreen include [[Springer (Animated)|Springer]], [[Sky Garry (Animated)|Sky Garry]], [[Devcon (Animated)|Devcon]], [[Dai Atlas (Animated)|Dai Atlas]], [[Heavy Load (Animated)|Heavy Load]], [[Star Upper (Animated)|Star Upper]] and [[Roadhandler (Animated)|Roadhandler]], but there are many more busts in the room that are only seen from a distance, and are essentially unidentifiable. [[Derrick J. Wyatt]] has identified the other Transformers as [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], [[Star Saber (Animated)|Star Saber]], [[Tap-Out (Animated)|Tap-Out]], [[Kick-Off (Animated)|Kick-Off]], [[Grandus (Animated)|Grandus]], [[Motorarm (Animated)|Motorarm]], [[Powerhug (Animated)|Powerhug]] and [[Road Rocket (Animated)|Road Rocket]].
** Additionally, Wyatt classifies the characters as being specialists in different categories, namely Fencing/Swordfighting/Melee Weapons (Star Saber, Magnus, Dai Atlas, Springer) , Boxing/Kick-Boxing/Street-Fighting (Tap-Out, Star Upper, Sky Garry, Kick-Off, Devcon), Sumo/Wrestling (Grandus, Motorarm, Powerhug and Roadhandler) and Martial Arts/Ninja (Yoketron, Jazz, Heavy Load and Road Rocket). These classifications speak for themselves more often than not (no explanation is needed for the melee-weapon characters, nor for someone like Star Upper, who was all about boxing), but sometimes the rationale is a bit more obscure (Heavy Load, for instance, was only ever noted to be a martial artist in his [[bio]]; it never came across in the cartoon), or is a reference to some past fiction (Roadhandler being classified as a wrestler is the main example, being that it's a reference to his stint in the squared circle from the Marvel Comics story, "[[The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!]]"). Conversely, sometimes it's just a joke—Grandus as a sumo, for instance, is purely a gag based on the fact that he's a big fatty fat-fat.

*[[Tigatron]] Stadium!

*Lockdown identifies Prowl's techniques as [[Metallikato]] and [[Circuit-Su]].

*Prowl's samurai armor was previously seen in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]", in which Lockdown last appeared. Additionally, it was in that episode that Starscream escaped from the Elite Guard flagship, which is the "last time" that Sentinel refers to while arguing with Optimus.

*Yoketron's Spark container is similar to design to [[Big Convoy]]'s Matrix, with two L-shaped handles instead of U-shaped ones. Fitting, when one considers Yoketron's Japanese-based aesthetic.

*One of the upgrades seen on Lockdown's shelves is [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave's]] G1 shoulder-mounted missile launcher.

*The protoform Prowl takes from the room is has a design similar to the ones in [[Beast Wars]].

*Also, the protoform-pods-or-whatever-it-is-called on the walls looks like the [[stasis pods]] from [[Beast Wars (franchise)|the same franchising]]...where the protoforms were guarded as well! Coincidence? Perhaps...

*Master Yoketron's dying words to Prowl are [[Endgame, Part II|rather foreshadowing....]]

===Real-world references===
*The title of the episode is apparently derived from the 1972 Hong Kong martial arts movie [[wikipedia:Five Fingers Of Death|''Five Fingers Of Death'']]. The movie's name is a regular source of recycling, including wrestler Bret Hart's "Five Moves Of Doom" and the mockumentary ''18 Fingers Of Death'' to name a few.
*Tigatron Stadium is named after and largely based on [[wikipedia:Tiger Stadium|Tiger Stadium]], the former home field of the [[wikipedia:Detroit Tigers|Detroit Tigers]], which has been partially demolished.

===Trivia===
*Like [[Where Is Thy Sting?|the previous episode]], this episode received an early online debut when a copy loaded onto the Cartoon Network website server, intended to go live after the episode premiered, was leaked out on [[March 27]], over a week before the episode premiered on television.

*The voice cast for this episode does not credit [[David Kaye]] with the role of Cliffjumper.

[[Image:FiveServosOfDoom-CapturedBlitzwingFaces.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Watch out, it bites!]]

*Having three faces warrants three mouth clamps, it seems, as the animation depicts the mouth clamps on Blitzwing's faces rotating when he switches personality.

*While trying to identify the helmet Optimus Prime saw, Prowl brings up the images of the helmets worn by Ultra Magnus and Blitzwing on the computer.

*As of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots.

*Prowl's keeping of his new armor continues the trend started in "[[Transwarped]]" with Bumblebee and Ratchet that upgrades are okay now because damnit, this is war. This is a notable turnaround from the position of the first two seasons.

*As of the end of this episode, most of the originally Earth-based Decepticons have been destroyed, captured, or scattered, with exceptions including [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] and maybe a [[Slipstream (Animated)|clone]] or two.

*This is the last episode to feature Lockdown.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Evel Knievel Jump

2009-09-14T12:58:14Z

190.59.150.237: /* Notes */

{{episode|
|seriess=[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] ''animated short''<nowiki></nowiki>
|image=Pic2.jpg
|caption=He knows the ways....of the Ninja.
|prev=Career Day
|next=Mime Time
|title="Evel Knievel Jump"
|airdate=N/A (the DVD containing this short was released on [[June 17]], 2008)
|written by= [[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= We'll get back to you on that.
|animation studio= [[Studio 4°C]]
}}

'''Prowl attempts a death-defying stunt, but is interrupted by Bumblebee's usual antics.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:AniX2 oops.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Some bots have no sense of humor...and others are big jerks.]]
The scene opens as [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] is silently meditating with only a single spotlight shining upon him. He quickly propels himself into the air and transforms to vehicle mode, taking off down a small roadway. The road reveals itself as a large ramp, whereby Prowl launches off the end flying through the air over his Autobot comrades, who are lined up in vehicle mode. However, just as he is about to clear the jump, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] transforms back to robot mode and jumps up, startling Prowl and causing him to lose concentration as he transforms back and crash lands on the opposite ramp. Bumblebee laughs at his ally's faceplant, mocking him, but Prowl throws a ninja star at the back of Bee's head and marches off angrily. Bumblebee rubs his head in pain and mutters about his friend's apparent lack of a sense of humor.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (1)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (5)}}

==Quotes==
"Man... some bots have no sense of humor!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' isn't laughing about Prowl not laughing

==DVD release==
"[[Transform and Roll Out]]" was released to DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on June 17, 2008. The DVD includes all three episodes of the pilot movie and two all-new animated shorts (this one and "[[Career Day]]"). Together, the two shorts run just under three minutes.

Target sold the DVD with a special bonus disc that included the episode "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]."

The short later appeared on [[Hasbro]]'s "Monkeybar TV" online video service (link below), where it was simply called "Prowl".

==Notes==
*The DVD containing this short does not list the title or feature any production credits. This information comes from ''Animated'' designer [[Derrick J. Wyatt]].

===Animation Errors===

* As Prowl makes the jump and the camera cuts to a first person view shot (presumably Prowl's), the angling seems to indicate that Prowl would have crashed into the ramp after passing Bumblebee, making Prowl appear really, ''really'' low to the ground. However, as Bumblebee leaps up and Prowl loses focus, he's extremely high over everyone's heads.

===Continuity errors===
* Prowl's ninja stars have cut through metal objects in previous episodes, so why isn't there a scratch on Bumblebee's head after the projectile connects?

===References===
* The title, of course, refers to world-famous daredevil [[wikipedia:Evel Knievel|Evel Knievel]] known for his death-defying motorcycle stunts. This isn't the first time that Knievel has been referenced in a Transformers series...[[The Autobot Run|far]] [[The Agenda (Part III)|from]] it, actually.

===Trivia===
* This is the most Japanesey-animated bit in all of ''Animated'' so far.
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], and [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] all appear in vehicle mode, but do not transform to robot mode or speak.

==External links==
* [http://www.hasbro.com/monkeybartv/default.cfm?page=Entertainment/Videos/VideoSelect&aid=3681 "Evel Knievel Jump" at Hasbro's Monkeybar TV site]

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Career Day

2009-09-14T12:52:34Z

190.59.150.237: /* Trivia */

{{episode|
|seriess=[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] ''animated short''<nowiki></nowiki>
|image=Animatedshort01.jpg
|caption=Because kids need more realistic role models these days.
|next=Evel Knievel Jump
|title="Career Day"
|airdate=N/A (the DVD containing this short was released on [[June 17]], 2008)
|written by= [[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= Who knows.
|animation studio= [[Studio 4°C]]
}}

'''Optimus Prime is forced to confront the most dangerous and horrifying force the world has ever known...''school children.'''

==Synopsis==
It is career day at [[Black River Elementary School]], and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] has stopped by to lecture the children. Prime is clearly a bit frazzled by the whole thing, and it doesn't help that [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|one particularly inquisitive child]] is barraging him with a series of questions, such as where his head goes when he turns into a fire truck and how he manages to see when it's tucked away. Before Prime can adequately answer these questions, however, Daniel and all the other students start excitedly demanding that he change into a fire truck. Optimus reluctantly complies and, one [[stock footage]] sequence later, assumes his [[Alternate mode|altmode]], much to the delight of the students. Prime then returns to robot mode eliciting yawns and groans of boredom from the others, and attempts to return to his original speech. But Daniel raises his hand once more and asks where Prime's [[trailer]] goes when he returns to robot mode. The scene fades out as Prime is seen stuttering, trying to figure out the answer to that question for himself.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)

|c3=
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] (2)
*Other unimportant children (3)
*and their teacher (4)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Daniel''': Can you turn into a fire truck right now? 
'''Optimus''': Uh, well, I wasn't planning on... 
'''Children''': *cheering* FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! 
'''Optimus''': *sighs* Fire truck...
:—Prime learns that there's just no pleasing some audiences...

==DVD release==
[[Image:Optimus Helmetdown Careerday.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Howedo Ya?]]
"[[Transform and Roll Out!|Transform and Roll Out]]" was released to DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on June 17, 2008. The DVD includes all three episodes of the pilot movie, and two all-new animated shorts (this one and "[[Evel Knievel Jump]]"). Together, the two shorts run just under three minutes.

Target sold the DVD with a special bonus disc that included the episode "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]."
{{-}}

==Notes==
*The DVD containing this short does not list the title or feature any production credits. This information comes from ''Animated'' designer [[Derrick J. Wyatt]].
*The short is also watchable on [http://www.hasbro.com/monkeybartv/default.cfm?page=Entertainment/Videos/VideoSelect&aid=3656 the video section of Hasbro's website].

===Animation or technical glitches===
* In the beginning, you can hear Optimus Prime speak, but his lips do not move until a close-up, unless he was wearing his face-plate. Kids can be a little germy.
* The first stock footage is reversed. As a result, Optimus has the Autobot insignia on his right shoulder.
* Optimus's firetruck mode is huge, with the kids being very small, and the teacher only coming up to the bottom of his front bumper.

===Transformers references===
* Fans have been wondering about just where Optimus Prime's trailer disappears to when he transforms for many, MANY years. In a way, though, it's relieving to know that Prime himself is just as in the dark as the rest of us. On the other hand, if even Prime himself doesn't know, then [[Furmanism|what chance do we have]] of finding out?
* On the other hand, it's only vaguely been discussed how Transformers "see" in their alternate modes, so it's nice to get (part) of an official explanation. (It sure beats [[The Great Car Rally|googly-eyes in the headlamps!]])

===Trivia===
* When Optimus transforms back to robot mode, the dramatic music played when he transforms to FIRE TRUCK! is played again, only ''backwards'' this time.

* When the crowd chants "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK!", take a close look at the person on the far-right hand of the screen, armed tucked behind his back as the others wave wildly. Guess he hates firetrucks. Also noteworthy is the fact that ''nobody'' seems to be waving when the scene cuts to a distance shot, despite the sound effects indicating that the crowd's still going wild.

* Listen closely as the crowd goes wild over Optimus changing into a firetruck. You'll hear a man (presumably the teacher, since he's the only adult there) saying (in a ''really'' hysterical voice) "YEAH! Did you see it? FIRE TRUCK!!"

* The kids in this century and setting are so used to robots, even giant ones that talk and originate from alien planets, that a fire truck is a lot more exciting to them. How times have changed.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Career Day

2009-09-14T12:50:32Z

190.59.150.237: /* Trivia */

{{episode|
|seriess=[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]] ''animated short''<nowiki></nowiki>
|image=Animatedshort01.jpg
|caption=Because kids need more realistic role models these days.
|next=Evel Knievel Jump
|title="Career Day"
|airdate=N/A (the DVD containing this short was released on [[June 17]], 2008)
|written by= [[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= Who knows.
|animation studio= [[Studio 4°C]]
}}

'''Optimus Prime is forced to confront the most dangerous and horrifying force the world has ever known...''school children.'''

==Synopsis==
It is career day at [[Black River Elementary School]], and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] has stopped by to lecture the children. Prime is clearly a bit frazzled by the whole thing, and it doesn't help that [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|one particularly inquisitive child]] is barraging him with a series of questions, such as where his head goes when he turns into a fire truck and how he manages to see when it's tucked away. Before Prime can adequately answer these questions, however, Daniel and all the other students start excitedly demanding that he change into a fire truck. Optimus reluctantly complies and, one [[stock footage]] sequence later, assumes his [[Alternate mode|altmode]], much to the delight of the students. Prime then returns to robot mode eliciting yawns and groans of boredom from the others, and attempts to return to his original speech. But Daniel raises his hand once more and asks where Prime's [[trailer]] goes when he returns to robot mode. The scene fades out as Prime is seen stuttering, trying to figure out the answer to that question for himself.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)

|c3=
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] (2)
*Other unimportant children (3)
*and their teacher (4)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Daniel''': Can you turn into a fire truck right now? 
'''Optimus''': Uh, well, I wasn't planning on... 
'''Children''': *cheering* FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCK! 
'''Optimus''': *sighs* Fire truck...
:—Prime learns that there's just no pleasing some audiences...

==DVD release==
[[Image:Optimus Helmetdown Careerday.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Howedo Ya?]]
"[[Transform and Roll Out!|Transform and Roll Out]]" was released to DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on June 17, 2008. The DVD includes all three episodes of the pilot movie, and two all-new animated shorts (this one and "[[Evel Knievel Jump]]"). Together, the two shorts run just under three minutes.

Target sold the DVD with a special bonus disc that included the episode "[[Home Is Where the Spark Is]]."
{{-}}

==Notes==
*The DVD containing this short does not list the title or feature any production credits. This information comes from ''Animated'' designer [[Derrick J. Wyatt]].
*The short is also watchable on [http://www.hasbro.com/monkeybartv/default.cfm?page=Entertainment/Videos/VideoSelect&aid=3656 the video section of Hasbro's website].

===Animation or technical glitches===
* In the beginning, you can hear Optimus Prime speak, but his lips do not move until a close-up, unless he was wearing his face-plate. Kids can be a little germy.
* The first stock footage is reversed. As a result, Optimus has the Autobot insignia on his right shoulder.
* Optimus's firetruck mode is huge, with the kids being very small, and the teacher only coming up to the bottom of his front bumper.

===Transformers references===
* Fans have been wondering about just where Optimus Prime's trailer disappears to when he transforms for many, MANY years. In a way, though, it's relieving to know that Prime himself is just as in the dark as the rest of us. On the other hand, if even Prime himself doesn't know, then [[Furmanism|what chance do we have]] of finding out?
* On the other hand, it's only vaguely been discussed how Transformers "see" in their alternate modes, so it's nice to get (part) of an official explanation. (It sure beats [[The Great Car Rally|googly-eyes in the headlamps!]])

===Trivia===
* When Optimus transforms back to robot mode, the dramatic music played when he transforms to FIRE TRUCK! is played again, only ''backwards'' this time.

* When the crowd chants "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK!", take a close look at the person on the far-right hand of the screen, armed tucked behind his back as the others wave wildly. Guess he hates firetrucks.

* Listen closely as the crowd goes wild over Optimus changing into a firetruck. You'll hear a man (presumably the teacher, since he's the only adult there) saying (in a ''really'' hysterical voice) "YEAH! Did you see it? FIRE TRUCK!!"

* The kids in this century and setting are so used to robots, even giant ones that talk and originate from alien planets, that a fire truck is a lot more exciting to them. How times have changed.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]