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Blackarachnia (Animated)

2009-12-15T15:44:15Z

216.57.30.2: /* Animated cartoon */ Welcome to the Wasp

{{disambig3|Blackarachnia}}
{{disambig3|Elita One}}
{{factions|autobot|decepticon}}
:''Blackarachnia is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]]. She was previously an [[Autobot]] known as '''Elita-1'''.

:[[Image:FinalAniBlackarachnia.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Welcome to [[wikipedia:Goth Talk|Goth Talk]]!]]

In another life, she was '''Elita-1''', an energetic, spunky Autobot Academy cadet. That was until a fateful trip to [[Archa Seven]], where [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|her]] [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|teammates]] abandoned her to a horde of alien spiders. Now calling herself '''Blackarachnia''', she hates her new body with a passion. Her loathing of her organic parts is slowly driving her insane, and she will do ''anything'' to get rid of them, no matter whom she has to crush in her path. Her mutation fueled a newfound hatred of the [[Autobot]] cause and a quest for revenge that led her to join [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] in his war against them. However, she does not appear overly loyal to her leader.

In her mutant [[technorganic]] form, she makes use of her newfound '[[cyber venom]]' to paralyze her enemies, and combines this with her natural ability to download and mimic other [[Transformer]]s' traits and weaponry for a limited amount of time with a simple touch. Hope nobody told [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]].

{{quote|It'll be a long time before I ever trust another Autobot. Especially you, Optimus.|Blackarachnia|"[[Along Came a Spider]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{note|Events from [[IDW Publishing]] comic books are in italics.}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Cree Summer]] (English), [[Christin Marquitan]] (German), [[Marcella Silvestri]] (Italian)

[[Image:TFA Elita-1.JPG|left|175px|thumb|Girlfriend in a coma, I know, I know it's serious.]]

Blackarachnia was previously known as Elita-1. A thousand [[Units of time|stellar cycles]] ago Elita and her teammates were exploring [[Archa Seven]], looking for a Decepticon [[Twilight (Animated)|ship]] filled with [[Energon (fuel)|energon]]. They accidentally fell into a series of caves. They were ambushed by giant spiders and, when escaping the massive energon explosion caused by the battle, Elita ended up being left behind. When she tried using her ability to borrow powers from other beings, she was injected by the spiders' venom, turning her into the hideous freak she is now. Because of her new, semi-organic nature, her signal did not appear on Optimus's radar, leading him and Sentinel to believe that she had perished in the explosion. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

When the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] was found by a group of Autobots, Blackarachnia was aboard the [[Nemesis (Animated)|''Nemesis'']] with the other Decepticons, annoyed at [[Lugnut]]'s emphatic, vocal loyalty to Megatron. She even suggested that Lugnut's speech of praise was hardwired into his mind. She also had conflict with [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], who touched a sore point by insulting her organic mode. Her retort to "blow it out your actuator, three-face" angered Blitzwing to the point that he... began to express his feelings in song. Later, at Megatron's orders, she scanned the Autobots' ship to determine the nature of their high-energy cargo. She confirmed the Autobots were carrying the AllSpark, or at least something just as powerful. When the Autobots escaped and it became clear the ''Nemesis'' was going to crash into an exploding space bridge, Blackarachnia fled in an escape pod. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

''Fifty stellar cycles later, while searching space for any trace of the AllSpark in the hope that she could use its power to purge herself of her organic mode, Blackarachnia stumbled across [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], still operating out of the battered shell of the ''Nemesis''. Realizing that Starscream was searching for the AllSpark as well, Blackarachnia proposed an alliance, but Starscream proved uninterested in sharing power and promptly booted her out into space. Before being ejected, however, Blackarachnia was able to plant a homing device on Starscream, {{storylink|Dispatches}} and eventually tracked the beacon to [[Earth]]. At first setting down on Earth's [[Moon (moon)|moon]] to investigate the crashed hulk of the ''Nemesis'', Blackarachnia ran afoul of the bounty hunter [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], who had been hired by Blitzwing to hunt down Optimus Prime. Not willing to risk the bounty hunter finding the AllSpark before her, Blackarachnia attempted to dissuade him from investigating Earth, but Lockdown didn't take kindly to her interference, and the pair wound up battling. During the fight, Blackarachnia used her download ability on Lockdown, knocking him out, but she was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of powers and modifications she wound up taking from him, and passed out herself. Blackarachnia was first to awake, however, and hid herself aboard Lockdown's [[Death's Head (Animated)|ship]], so that when the bounty hunter finally came to and headed for Earth, she was able to hitch a free ride to the planet. {{storylink|A Few Loose Strands}}'' At some unknown point in the future, Blackarachnia was interviewed by the trans-dimensional magazine ''[[Venus (magazine)|Venus]]'' and recounted this adventure for the publication's readers. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac|The AllSpark Almanac}}

[[Image:Blackarach anim beast.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Itchy Bitchy Spider crawled up the water spout...]]

After arriving on Earth, Blackarachnia stalked [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], and [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] on [[Halloween]] night. Once she took out the boys, she attempted to sweet-talk Sari into handing over her [[AllSpark Key]], but Optimus Prime arrived to intervene. Using Bulkhead and Bumblebee's stolen powers to overcome Optimus, Blackarachnia captured Sari and web-swung her way to the top of a skyscraper, with Prime in hot pursuit. In the ensuing fight, Prime finally realized who Blackarachnia truly was. Exploiting the opening, Blackarachnia bound Prime in her web and seized Sari's key, activating its power in hopes of become fully mechanical. However, the energies unleashed caused any organic life in range, including Sari (and presumably any other [[Human|fleshy]]), to shrivel and sicken. It almost killed Blackarachnia, but Optimus Prime pulled the Key out, restoring the organics. Prime tried to reason with "Elita", asking her to come with them in the hopes of curing her, but Blackarachnia stabbed him, saying that it would be a long time before she trusted him again. After she knocked out Prime, she cried her four eyes out. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

Later, she again kidnapped Sari, who was running away after having the AllSpark Key taken away from her. When she heard about the Key and how Sari felt totally mistrusted by the Autobots, Blackarachnia played on the girl's sympathies by saying she knew how Sari felt. Blackarachnia noted how she was not a Decepticon until after the Autobots turned their backs on her, and how the AllSpark's power was the only thing that could cure her current form. Despite being kidnapped again and nearly being killed by Blackarachnia's previous use of the Key, Sari appeared to start seeing eye to eye with her captor. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

[[Image:Megatron Rising Blackarachnia farewell.JPG|left|175px|thumb|Here's hoping her organic half can withstand impact.]]

At least, that was what she wanted Blackarachnia to believe. Leading her around in circles over the frozen [[Lake Erie]], Sari was finally forced to admit that the [[Teletran-1|Autobots' ship]], which contained the AllSpark, was underwater. Blackarachnia's organic half couldn't survive the icy water; incensed, she prepared to kill Sari. [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] brought the ship up through the ice, and Sari bit Blackarachnia's hand, showing that her organic half couldn't withstand teeth, causing her to drop Sari and allow Ratchet to grab her and get in the ship. As Blackarachnia tried to force the door open, the vessel accelerated, and Blackarachnia was thrown off the ship. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

[[Image:TFA Black Friday ME GRIMLOCK IN LOVE.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Me Grimlock be kisser for you!]]

Washing ashore on [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], Blackarachnia was taken in by the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]], who gave her [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]]'s former base as a home. Using her charms, Blackarachnia was able to manipulate the Dinobots into doing anything she wanted. [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] was particularly attached to her, and reminded the other Dinobots of this through violence. Going over Meltdown's notes, she realized that he would be able to remove the organic half from her body. She sent the Dinobots to release him from prison, causing the Autobots to come investigating. Blackarachnia then poisoned Bumblebee and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] with her venom, and used the "promise" of an anti-venom to blackmail Optimus into helping Grimlock find the [[genetic modifier]] Meltdown needed for the experiment. Unfortunately, Meltdown turned the tables on them when the modifier was his, planning on removing Blackarachnia's technological half and leaving him with an organic transformer. Optimus was able to stop Meltdown before he succeeded, but the modifier was damaged and Meltdown presumed killed. Needing to escape, Blackarachnia urged Optimus to hold her, causing Grimlock to attack in jealousy, and Blackarachnia fled. However, it appears that Blackarachnia left the anti-venom needed to save Bumblebee and Prowl beside them. This gave Optimus hope that beneath all of Blackarachnia's anger and manipulation, there was still something left of Elita-1 in there. {{storylink|Black Friday (episode)|Black Friday}}

[[Image:TFA-PredaconsRising-SentinelBlackArachnia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dark Designs (episode)|Better dead than Pred!]]]]
Still taking refuge in Meltdown's abandoned laboratory, Blackarachnia began experimenting with [[transwarp]] energy to create new techno-organic beings to experiment on in an attempt to purge her organic elements, the idea being if she could turn another techno-organic purely robotic, she could do the same to herself. Most of her early attempts proved fruitless, until [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] was able to capture the perfect test subject: the renegade Autobot [[Wasp]]. Tempting him with both her feminine wiles and promises of power great enough to achieve revenge on the bots who betrayed him, she coaxed him into being experimented on, fittingly merging him with the DNA of a wasp.

[[Image:TFAni Predacons Rising Blackarachina sans Helmet.jpg|thumb|I'd hit it.]]

While Wasp was being turned techno-organic, her old friend Sentinel Prime stumbled upon the lab and was disgusted to find a robot with an organic mode. He was even more shocked when she revealed that they had a past: she was his old friend Elita-1. Disgusted by her mutation, Sentinel was willing to "put her out of her misery", and during a scuffle knocked Blackarachnia's helmet off, allowing him to see her true, partially organic face. After Wasp's transformation into Waspinator was complete, Blackarachnia revealed her plans to Sentinel and Optimus.

[[Image:PredaconsRising-WaspinatorBlackarachnia.jpg|thumb|left|Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the [[Wasp]].]]

Unfortunately, Waspinator was within earshot when she revealed what little regard she had for his life. Hurt by this betrayal, the now physically unstable Waspinator issued Blackarachnia an ultimatum: either fix him or be destroyed. She tried to escape, but once it was revealed that the transwarp energies responsible for his creation were going critical and about to cause a huge explosion, Blackarachnia surrounded herself and Waspinator in her webbing, shielding the Autobots from the explosion and seemingly leading to her final demise.

However, when she awoke, she was in a strange jungle, in front of a [[Maximal|group of organic creatures]] that looked rather surprised to see their new guests. {{storylink|Predacons Rising}}

===Titan Magazines===

Realising that the Autobots also win due to the power of teamwork, Blackarachnia decided to isolate one of them from the rest of the team. She stuck a tracer on Bumblebee so she could listen in on the crew and find out the best opportunity, while she roped Blitzwing and Lugnut into helping her. By the next day, when Bumblebee and Prowl were having a race at [[Crazy Coyote Canyon]], the Decepticons had set up a trap and were able to capture Prowl. To Blackarachnia's annoyance though, Bumblebee turned up and somehow her comrades failed to pursue him even ''with'' the tracer.

She commanded Lugnut to fire on the Autobots as they sped across the cave roof, realising too late this would cause a cave-in. To add insult to injury, she found the tracer couldn't track Bumblebee any more because it was stuck on Lugnut's butt... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|The Race}}

==Toys==
===Animated===
[[Image:Blackarachniaanimateddeluxe.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Hideously mutated into this sexy, sexy figure.]]
*'''Blackarachnia''' (Deluxe, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Grapnel-hook

:Blackarachnia transforms into a mechanical spider with some organic aesthetic. Many of her pointier parts are [[For safety reasons|molded in softer plastic]] to keep unfortunate children from putting their eyes out. She comes with a [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grapnel grapnel] hook accessory. This is spring-loaded, with a jointed claw at the end of it. Pressing a button causes it to retract along the string. It may be mounted under her abdomen in spider mode or on her back in robot mode, via two different sets of pegs. There is also a peg hole in each wrist, for [[Spider-Man|web-slinging]] action.

:The spider's head is mis-transformed in the package, making the first step of her instructions initially confusing. Furthermore, the pedipalps will easily come off if manipulated too much, and her transformation requires that they be turned around completely. Because of this, they will often fall off over, and over, and ''over''...

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Decepticon/Blackarachnia/blackarachnia.htm More information on Blackarachnia at TFU.info]''

{{anchor|Prime2pack}}
*'''The Revenge of Blackarachnia''' (2-pack, 2008)
**''Accessories'': Grapnel-hook

: The Blackarachnia toy was released again in a Wal-Mart [[exclusive]] two-pack with the "Battle Damaged" [[Optimus Prime (Animated)#DVDpack|Optimus Prime from the a DVD 2-pack with Megatron]]. Both toys are identical to their original releases.

{{-}}

==Notes==
[[Image:AniBlackarachniaPromoModel.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Black belly is, like, so last season.]]
* A non-final [[character model]] for Blackarachnia was included in the initial ''Transformers Animated'' press kit from [[Cartoon Network]], was used briefly (in silhouette) for her first appearance in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", and appears on the Deluxe figure's packaging. Though the toy shares the non-final model's spider-leg placement in robot mode, black belly, dark purple skin, and yellow Decepticon symbol, the rest of the toy adheres much more closely to the finished model.
*The initial ''Transformers Animated'' press kit from Cartoon Network also said that Blackarachnia's techno-organic state was caused by "an encounter with the [[AllSpark (Animated)|ALLSPARK]]" in the past. Given her actual in-show origin, either this was an early idea for the character, or the press release writer was misinformed.
* As Blackarachnia, what seemed to be her new head is actually a helmet that was lying around in the wrecked Decepticon warship where she had her accident. After seeing her without it in "[[Predacons Rising]]", you can see why she wore it.
* So far, Blackarachnia's the only major ''Transformers'' character not to have [[stock footage|a detailed on-screen transformation]].
* Blackarachnia can swing off of tall, unseen buildings, with webbing that shoots out of her hands. Wow, we've never seen that befo—[[Spider-Man|wait a minute...]]
* As Elita-1, her head seems to be based on the pony-tailed Ariel, the younger form of [[Elita One]], while her body's ornamentation homages Elita One herself.
* According to [[Derrick J. Wyatt]], Elita-1's [[alternate mode]] is a "Cybertronian car". [https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21975298&postID=2344351953813555694&isPopup=true]
* Apparently, Blackarachnia was quite the scientist even before she was introduced to Prometheus Black's genetics experiments. According to the [[AllSpark Almanac]], Blackarachnia introduced the concept of [[Triple Changer|Triple-Changing]] to the Decepticon ranks, when she rebuilt [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] after the Great War.
* Blackarachnia has a [[faceplate]], which is only ever seen in [[The Arrival]] issues [[Dispatches|1]] and [[The Arrival issue 4|4]] but never in the show itself.
*Blackarachnica is the only member of the "main cast" Decepticons who was never blown up into pieces during the show's run, most likely due to her partially organic nature, or her gender.

[[Category:Animated characters]]
[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Decepticons]]
[[Category:Female Transformers]]
[[Category:Turncoats]]

Autoboot Camp

2009-06-16T15:20:09Z

216.57.30.2: /* Synopsis */ - "Scarper"?

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=25
|image=Autobot Cadets.jpg
|caption=Class of 2008. The ENTIRE Class of 2008.
|title="Autoboot Camp"
|airdate=[[June 3]], 2008
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Salute.jpg|thumb|left|"Sayonara, suckerzzz."]]
Somewhere in space, an Autobot shuttle streaks through the solar night and crash-lands on an asteroid, where its lone occupant races off across the barren ground in vehicle mode. Hot on his trail is [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who chases him to a [[space bridge]] node on the asteroid. The green-armoured escapee triggers the space bridge with a blast from a familiar pair of stingers, and Sentinel loses his quarry as the portal explodes with light.

On Earth, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reports the news of the escapee to the [[Autobot]]s. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] immediately recognizes the criminal in question as [[Wasp]], a 'bot sharing his bodyform whom he met when during his [[Elite Guard]] training days.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Bee Sentinel.jpg|thumb|right|Living rooms of America, do you catch my drift? Do... you... dig?]]
In the [[Decepticon]]s' underground lair, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] contacts his double-agent on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and congratulates him on orchestrating Wasp's breakout. The double-agent is concerned that they are speaking so freely on the subject, but Megatron assures him that nobody will be able to listen in on the broadcast. [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] has other plans, though, as he secretly taps into the communication frequency and bounces it to the Autobots' base. Bumblebee and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on monitor duty at the time, and the message comes through exceedingly scrambled, but they are at least able to comprehend the existence of a double-agent. Naturally, Bumblebee immediately assumes it to be Wasp, and he decides to settle his old score, with Bulkhead tagging along. Bumblebee remembers how it all went down...

''Stellar cycles ago, on Cybertron, Bumblebee meets Bulkhead for the first time when they both attend boot camp to train under Sentinel Minor, alongside Wasp, super-durable [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and telescopic-limbed [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm]]. The two B's immediately earn Sentinel's ire{{m-}}Bumblebee for his impetuous bungling, and Bulkhead for his desire to be nothing more than a space bridge technician{{m-}}and the pair gets saddled with oil cleanup. Of course, Bumblebee begins goofing off, which results in a stack of oil drums collapsing on Sentinel, which results in Bumblebee being made to stand in the middle of the courtyard in the dead of night, holding up oil drums and repeatedly declaring himself a “worthless oil stain.”''

[[Image:AutobootCamp-Sentinelgetsowned(Secondtime).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hardly a relaxing oil bath.]]
''After a while, though, Bumblebee calls it quits, but as he is walking by a warehouse, he spots a shadowy figure speaking into a communicator, with the voice of Megatron responding! After a moment's hesitation, Bumblebee pops his stingers and commands the spy-bot to show himself...but the figure has vanished. When Bumblebee turns to leave, however, he spots Wasp walking out of the warehouse.''

''Unsure of how to proceed, Bumblebee confides in Longarm, who encourages him to gather some evidence and present it to Sentinel. Bumblebee tries setting up a trap, planting a box with the Elite Guard symbol on it in the open, hoping Wasp will grab it...except Sentinel is the first to come upon it, and it explodes, covering him in paint. Next, Bumblebee tries a listening device, but accidentally winds up broadcasting Sentinel over the camp's loudspeakers as he jokes about Ultra Magnus being too old to hack the commander role. In traditional boot camp manner, Sentinel makes the whole team suffer for Bumblebee's mistakes, and Wasp and Ironhide take it out on the little 'bot by disconnecting his legs and stuffing him in a locker. Longarm comes to Bumblebee's rescue, and urges Bumblebee not to give in.''

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Oh Slag.jpg|thumb|Optimus must be kicking himself for having missed this.]]
''But the bullying doesn't stop, as Wasp hits Bumblebee with a burst of “friendly fire” in a simulated combat training exercise. Of course, it's just a paint grenade, but when Bulkhead offers to help Bumblebee up, Bumblebee snaps and insults Bulkhead's lack of ambition before storming off. Turning a corner, Bumblebee yelps as he finds several auto-cannons pointed in his face, but then laughs as he remembers that they're only loaded with paint rounds for the simulated combat. Or rather, they ''were'', as the shadowy figure from the warehouse slinks by the cannons and switches them to active ammunition. As the cannons open fire on Bumblebee, Bulkhead speeds to his rescue and takes out the cannons by dropping a building on them with his wrecking ball...only for Sentinel to get squashed under it as well. Bumblebee encourages Bulkhead to scamper, rather than risk his career by owning up.''

Tracking the message Sumdac broadcast to them, Bumblebee and Bulkhead wander through the wilderness, reminiscing about the old days. When Bumblebee stumbles into a patch of quicksand, Bulkhead plucks him out, but the conflict between the pair from their boot camp days starts bubbling back to the surface, and Bulkhead leaves Bumblebee to the mission himself. Angrily stomping up a mountain, Bumblebee loses his footing and falls off a cliff, becoming buried in an avalanche.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Captured.jpg|thumb|left|Will go on to star in [[Wikipedia:The Count of Monte Cristo|''The Count of Monte Cristo'']].]]

''Longarm informs Bumblebee that Sentinel is about to conduct a surprise locker examination, meaning that it's his last chance to find evidence on Wasp before Sentinel can take credit for it himself. Using his extensible limbs to trip up Wasp, Longarm allows Bumblebee to "help him up" and finger his locker key in the process. As Bumblebee quickly opens Wasp's locker, Sentinel appears behind him, demanding to know what he's doing, only to be quickly silenced when Bumblebee presents him with a Decepticon communicator. Impressed with Bumblebee's work, Sentinel plans to recommend him for an Elite Guard position. After Wasp is carted off, screaming his innocence all the way, Sentinel brings up the matter of the building being dropped on him. Since nobody has owned up, he decides to kick out whoever he feels like—and he feels like Bulkhead. Before he can give Bulkster the boot, however, Bumblebee steps forward and claims responsibility, sheepishly asking if it will affect his Elite Guard position.''

[[Image:TFA_Shockwave_DoubleAgent.jpg|thumb|Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, it stares right back.]]
''Some time later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on an asteroid, working on a space bridge node, as Bulkhead cheerfully announces "I have arrived!"''

Buried under the rockslide, Bumblebee reflects on his friendship with Bulkhead out loud, and about how he saved Bulkhead's career, even ''if'' his friend never dreamed big. But Bulkhead ''did'' dream big; as the bulky bot appears above Bumblebee and hauls him out from beneath the boulders, he announces that he dreamed of being Bumblebee's friend. Bumblebee thanks his big buddy, and the pair drive off...having only been mere feet from the secret entrance to the Decepticon base.

Out in space, it turns out that Wasp didn't escape to Earth at all, and that he is still on the asteroid, huddled up in a ball. His mind clearly broken, the insectoid 'bot buzzes and twitters to himself about how he will find Bumblebee and make him pay for ruining his life.

Back at the Autobot base, our heroes contact Cybertron to alert the Autobots there about Megatron's double-agent. As it turns out, Bumblebee's old boot camp buddy Longarm is now Longarm ''Prime'', head of Cybertronian Intelligence, and he promises to root out the traitor no matter what.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron communicates once again with his double-agent... Longarm Prime! But the deception is a dual-layered one, for Longarm is, in fact, the shape-shifting [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wasp]] (1)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (11) (Flashback)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (14) (Flashback)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (13, voice only)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime/Shockwave]] (12)
|c3 =
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (10)
}}

==Quotes==
"Hey there, little buddy. You mind scanning me next to these tall buildings? They'll never believe me back home." 
"Mhm. First time off the energon farm?" 
"How'd you know?"
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''', together for the first time.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Wipe that smile off your face, dullspark! 
'''Bulkhead''': Uh, I'm not smiling, sir! My jaw is just tempered that way, sir! 
'''Bumblebee''': Forget Mudflap's jaw, check out the asteroid-sized chin on Sarge! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': YOU GOT A COMMENT, FUNNY-BOT?! 
'''Bumblebee''': No, sir!
:—The future Sentinel Prime is a little sensitive about his chin. Maybe it's why he's such a jerk.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Now here's a bot who knows his place. You should try to be more like your friend here. 
'''Bumblebee''': He's not my friend, sir! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
:—Mr. Personality does it again.

"You are nothing but a BUMBLER! From now on, your name is...BUMBLEBEE!"
:—And lo, a legend was born, thanks to '''Sentinel Minor'''

''[stands in the middle of an empty yard, holding up oil drums, reciting...]'' 
"I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain...why am I even doing this?"
:—Sentinel Minor's punishment of '''Bumblebee''' could be considered "cruel and unusual".

"You would not '''believe''' the glitches the Commander's saddled me with this time. I'm starting to think that Ultra Magnus is a few circuits shy of a full processor, know what I mean? Oh, sure, he was The Bot back in the day, but now? Ultra Magnus is just a rusted-out, obsolete model sorely in need of an upgrade."
:—'''Sentinel Minor''' is a suck-up only to the boss's face. ''Quelle surprise''.

"But I'm innocent, I tell you! You're making a big mistake, all of you!" 
"Mute it, traitor!" 
''[Sentinel strips Wasp of his Autobot insignia]'' 
"I'll get you, Bumblebee, '''if it's the last thing I do'''!
:—'''Wasp''' proclaims his innocence as he's wheeled away in restraints, while '''Sentinel Minor''' acts much as ever.

"I couldn't leave you all alone out here like that. I should've, but I didn't."
:—'''Bulkhead''' is loyal, but not stupid.

"Bumblebot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swears he find Bumblebot. Wasp make Bumblebot pay for RUINING WASP'S LIFE!"
:—There lies a broken '''Wasp'''...

"Our long stellar cycles of planning will now come to fruition. I knew your size-altering power would allow you to blend in perfectly with the Autobots. Well done, my loyal servant...[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]."
:—'''Megatron''' really knows how to introduce a major <s>plot point</s> Decepticon.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In the scene after Sentinel Prime rips off Wasp's insignia you can see him still wearing it.

===Continuity errors===
* Bumblebee's stingers are shown to be powerful enough to knock down a building; yet in prior episodes they were only useful for zapping debris and bouncing uselessly off Decepticon armor. The discrepancy is somewhat explained in "[[TransWarped]]" when Ratchet gives Bumblebee battle-grade stingers to boost his power. Maybe when he was demoted to space bridge duty, his stingers were downgraded.
* If Professor Sumdac can reroute a Decepticon message between Earth and Cybertron to the Autobots on Earth, why can't he call for help too?
* If Cybertronians live on a planet with no organic life-forms, how does Sentinel know that wasps and bumblebees exist?

===Transformers references===
* Sentinel's speech about his troops being "cogs in a machine" is very similar to Optimus's comment at the beginning of "[[Transform and Roll Out]]" (although Optimus gets the message across without the attitude); it may be a standard message from the Autobot Academy.
* Clearly, when Bumblebee and Bulkhead noted that Sentinel Prime didn't remember them back in "[[The Elite Guard]]", they were referring to their boot camp days.
* It was explained back in "The Elite Guard" that "Prime" was a rank, and this episode reveals that before attaining the rank, Sentinel was known as "Sentinel Minor". [[Optimus Minor|Sounds a little familiar]].
[[Image:A25 cliffjumper.jpg|thumb|right|"Traitors? Fancy that."]]
* In the final moments of the episode, the addled Wasp (who has spoken perfectly normally throughout the flashbacks) begins speaking in the buzzing, third-person style of ''[[Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]].

===Trivia===
* Marty Isenberg has revealed that the other boot-campers being [[repaint]] characters was an idea of [[Derrick J. Wyatt]]'s, that the inclusion of Shockwave was a late decision, and that originally ''Cliffjumper'' was going to be the falsely accused. [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/tfw2005-interviews-transformers-animated-story-editor-marty-isenberg-165509/]

* Sentinel Prime has switched back to his Cybertronian alt-form, presumably since arriving back on Cybertron (since he still had his Earth form in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]"). Considering what he thought of Earth, it's not really a surprise that he'd want to change back as soon as possible. Also, as of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots, bar Prowl.

* This episode certainly explains a lot about Bumblebee's independent streak. His very first "team" effort was basically people being colossal jerks to him for no reason (well, except for Sentinel, really...drill sergeants are ''supposed'' to be like that) except for the big goofy country-bot...and standing up for said bot basically led to his dreams being crushed.

* On the other hand, if names get assigned by drill sergeants, you have to wonder exactly to what levels Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] stooped in order to get those names...

* Lugnut is not shown, but is briefly heard saying "Megatron will speak to you now," when Megatron is contacted by Shockwave in the flashback, ten minutes into the episode.

* Shockwave's power is referred to as size altering. This might be the reason why his Longarm alias has his power, although it has yet to reveal whether or not he is able to control where the size is changed, or whether it is merely a power integrated into his Longarm robot mode, akin to [[Punch|Punch/Counterpunch]].

* In this episode, when Sentinel gives Bumblebee his name, Bumblebee reacts as if he doesn't like it. However, in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", when Bumblebee tells Sari his name and she responds, "I'm Sari," Bumblebee then says, "Oh, don't be. I like my name." Maybe he got over it?

*Bulkhead used to have a "hick" accent while in boot camp that he lost sometime after starting work on space bridges with Bumblebee and the others.

*What, exactly, was the point of Sentinel Prime keeping one arm in a bandage and sling? And for that matter, why do robots have slings?
**Most likely, for comedic effect, if nothing else.

*When commenting on Sentinel's chin, Bumblebee looks directly at the "camera", so to speak, making this one of the few occasions where animated ''Transformers'' media break the fourth wall.

==External links==
* [http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc9a121850188 "Autoboot Camp" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

[[Category:Animated episodes]]