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A Fistful of Energon

2009-07-15T22:34:56Z

24.190.83.96: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=23
|image=AFistfulofEnergon-StarscreamPurpleclone.jpg
|caption=Has the Allspark Power line ended yet? Is it safe for redecos to come out now?
|title="A Fistful of Energon"
|airdate=[[May 24]], 2008
|written by=[[Andrew Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]] [[Matt Youngberg]] [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Prowl goes off on his own to capture the fugitive Starscream, but finds some competition in the form of a Decepticon bounty hunter. '''
:''Polish title:'' "'''Garść Energonu'''" ("A Fistful opf Energon")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Starscream escape.JPG|thumb|left|"Okay, Starscream farted on us and escaped during our confusion. Let's never talk about this again." "Agreed."]]

As the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]'s ship proceeds on its journey, an explosion rocks the hull, and out flies [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], declaring vengeance against [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] once again.

On [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on the lookout for their feral friends in response to reports of some rampaging going on. Prowl has been sent along with [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet's]] EMP generator and some [[stasis cuffs]], but doubts he will need them since the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] are such gentle spirits when left alone and he has always been able to reason with them. [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] soon contradicts Prowl's perspective by charging into the clearing like an angry rhino. Prowl is still determined to take it easy on the big guy until Grimlock's jaws get dangerously close to a nest filled with adorable little baby birdies. Using an EMP blast, Prowl quickly incapacitates Grimlock.

[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-ProwlEMPGenerator.jpg|thumb|We can use my wrist thingy to track Bender's [[Personality component|brain]].]]

Prowl and Bulkhead are both surprised that it came to that, but Prowl rationalizes that he did what he had to do to save the little birds. At this point, he notices a thorn stuck in Grimlock's paw as the likely source of the Dinobot's extra aggression. With some advice from Ratchet over the comm, Prowl uses controlled bursts from the EMP to stabilize the affected area, and Bulkhead yanks out the spike. Grimlock sighs in relief, and everything is all better.

Before they can head home, however, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] contacts the [[Autobot]] base with a message that Starscream has escaped and was last seen headed back to Earth. They would have sent that message sooner, but it seems [[Mission Accomplished|their tachyon transmitter has gone missing]]. Megatron, who has been intercepting the message, takes a look at his own tachyon transmitter and sarcastically wonders where the Autobots' could have gone. He then wastes no time putting out a bounty on the escaped [[Decepticon]] traitor.

Back on the island, Prowl is feeling pretty tough after taking down the big, bad Grimlock all by himself and is already contemplating a similar hunt for Starscream. At the very least, while they're in the neighborhood, he and Bulkhead use [[Teletran-1]]'s sensitive scanners to locate Starscream's [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] fragment...on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]]. Prowl believes they have everything they need to go after him right away, but Bulkhead reminds him that Starscream is a little out of their league if it's just the two of them. Prowl agrees, but as soon as Bulkhead is off the ship and his back is turned, Prowl takes off in the [[Autobot ship (Animated)|ship]]'s [[emergency shuttle]] by himself and heads for the Moon.

Prowl tracks the AllSpark fragment to the remains of the Decepticon warship. Optimus and Ratchet try to warn him how crazy his plan is and order him to return, but Prowl disregards them with some unconvincing fake static and heads inside the ship. He believes the mission of apprehending Starscream is best suited to a single bot built for stealth. Then, as he's sneaking around, his target finds him first. Way to use that stealth.

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Prowl vs Lockdown.JPG|thumb|left|"Prowl told Starscreem and Lockdown to cut it out, but even then he's going to have to do all their work for them".]]

Before Starscream can fire his null ray, a well-placed shuriken disables it. The fight begins, and thanks to the EMP, Prowl manages to hold his own. Starscream eventually gets in a direct hit, but on a hologram. The real Prowl gets into position, and an EMP blast knocks out the Decepticon. As soon as the fugitive is stasis-cuffed, a newcomer walks up and offers to take the bounty off his hands. It's [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]]...wearing a poncho? He and Prowl start to fight over the prize while Starscream comes to and heckles them from the sidelines. Neither combatant appreciates Starscream's comments, and both yell at him to shut up. He does, but as he's silent for about two seconds, they look back to notice it's because he escaped. Outside, Starscream (who is strangely brown-coloured) blasts Prowl's shuttle and flies off toward Earth. Lockdown decloaks his own ship and takes pursuit, with Prowl hitching a ride on the hull.

Lockdown is finding it difficult to locate Starscream's Decepticon signal when Prowl ambushes him, deflecting a counter-attack with a shield mod borrowed from Lockdown's own display case. Once they're at a standstill, Prowl points out that he knows how to track Starscream's AllSpark fragment, but he'll need Lockdown's sensors to do it. Thus a partnership is created, and Lockdown offers his new friend a few more upgrades to make sure they get the job done right.

[[Image:Samprowl.jpg|thumb|Okay, let's '''ignore''' the fact that Samurai and Ninja are polar opposites, and bask in the '''total''' awesomeness that is Samurai Prowl.]]

Lockdown's ship touches down in Detroit and disguises itself as a building again. Lockdown and Prowl transform and roll out, with Prowl enjoying the feel of his new samurai armor/sidecar. They track the signal to a highway where Starscream is cowering beneath a bridge. When they confront him, they notice he's acting considerably more cowardly than usual, and is painted considerably more purple. Prowl shows off his upgrades, flying circles around the fleeing Decepticon and eventually taking him down with an EMP blast. Lockdown is impressed. With the bounty secured, he contacts Megatron and sets up a meeting at an abandoned warehouse. Prowl is shocked to learn the two-faced bounty hunter he'd partnered with had been working for someone evil and attempts to cross him. However, Lockdown ''double''-crosses Prowl, tying him up with a bola, and drives off with his bounty in tow.

The other Autobots show up to untie their errant companion and chew him out, but Prowl is more interested in continuing pursuit of Starscream. The rest of the team follow, but point out that Prowl is starting to sound too much like Lockdown, as the mods are going to his head.

They almost catch up with Lockdown and the purple Starscream when they're stopped on the road by the arrival of ''another'' Starscream. This one sports a brown and off-white color scheme and a sneaky, manipulative personality. He attempts to negotiate a pact with the Autobots to work together and destroy Megatron, but Prowl turns down the offer and attacks. Using his new arsenal, he leads, disarms, and disables the brown Screamer. It's a cool but messy victory. Ratchet scolds Prowl for not just taking him out with a single EMP blast. Prowl attests that his way was more fun, but Ratchet points out all the collateral damage he caused, including a knocked down bird's nest with its eggs broken all over the sidewalk. Prowl feels awful upon realizing what he has done, but puts it aside. Chasing Lockdown is still more important.

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Decepticons turbulence.JPG|thumb|left|"Augh, Primus! Even his CLONES' gas is rancid!"]]

The Autobots crash the Decepticons' warehouse meeting, and a Cybertronian standoff occurs. Then, when Megatron notices there are two Starscreams, he demands an explanation. The clones open their cockpits to reveal a pair of ticking time bombs. The real Starscream's voice announces that it was all part of his plan to take his enemies all out at once. Megatron isn't about to sit around and be blown up, though, so he shoots the skylight and calls for the Decepticons to transform and rise up. The bad guys escape, but the good guys can't let the bombs just explode or the blast would take out half the city. Prowl gets an idea and uses his mods to weld the Starscreams together and jam their jets on so they rocket straight up into the atmosphere. The explosion doesn't harm the city (besides setting off a lot of car alarms) but does do a number on the fleeing Decepticons.

While Lockdown is escaping from the planet again, he contacts Prowl and offers a permanent partnership, since they're so much alike. Prowl turns down the offer, claiming it was fun while it lasted, but the super-charged bounty hunter life just wasn't his style. With all his upgrades shorted out or gone, Prowl detaches the one mod that got out without a scratch, Ratchet's EMP generator, and returns it to its rightful owner.

[[image:Lotta starscreams.jpg|right|thumb|[[Star Wars|Begun, the Clone War has.]]]]

Later, Starscream sits within his new base aboard the wreckage of the [[Nemesis (Animated)|Decepticon warship]] and watches an announcement from Megatron stating that the bounty on the fugitive has been increased, but whoever captures him had better make sure it's the real deal. Starscream himself is furious that his trap failed, but it doesn't matter, as he has plenty more decoys where that came from...

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (1)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (2)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (3)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (9)
*[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (10)
*[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (11)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (4)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Lugnut]] (13)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Icy Blitzwing]] (14)<ref>Yes, it's true. Blitzwing went the entire episode without switching personalities.</ref>
*[[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] (15)
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sycophant Starscream I]] (16)
*[[Skywarp (Animated)|Coward Starscream I]] (17)
}}

==Quotes==
''[Ratchet and Prime are communicating with Prowl and Bulkhead over the radio]'' 
'''Ratchet''': Prowl, any sign of the Dinobots? 
'''Prowl''': Negative, Ratchet. I'm starting to think those reports of rampages were nothing but exaggeration. 
'''Optimus''': We're not taking any chance, Prowl. That's why I had Ratchet lend you his EMP generator and those stasis cuffs. 
'''Prowl''': Still, I hardly think they're necessary. The Dinobots are territorial, but if left alone, they're perfectly happy. 
''[Grimlock roars, then runs out of the forest, charging the Autobots]'' 
'''Bulkhead''': He doesn't look too happy to me!
:—The Autobots are Dinobot hunting...and things are not going well.

"Me Grimlock...''better''."
:—'''Grimlock''' after Bulkhead removes the spike, but before he passes out.

"I'm afraid Sari and Bumblebee left on an important fact-finding mission this morning. To someplace called... 'Five Banners Roller Coaster Kingdom'."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' gets duped.

"Personally, I've always found Bumblebee's fake static to be a lot more convincing."
:—'''Ratchet''' doesn't get duped.

'''Starscream''': You call this a fight? I'll rust before someone wins! And I'm in a vacuum. 
'''Prowl''' and '''Lockdown''': Will you keep quiet?!
:—Prowl and Lockdown tell Starscream where to stick it.

"No! No, please! Leave me alone!" 
"Maybe it's me, but that doesn't sound like the Starscream I know..."
:—His reaction to '''Coward Starscream I's''' plea for mercy leaves one wondering if '''Lockdown''' has ever met the real Screamer...

'''Sycophant Starscream''': Well, if it isn't my favorite band of plucky little Autobots. 
'''Optimus''': Autobots, prepare for battle! 
'''Sycophant Starscream''': Wait, you misunderstand. Noble Optimus Prime, wise Ratchet, stealthy Prowl and ''mighty''...eh... 
'''Bulkhead''': Bulkhead! 
'''Sycophant Starscream''': Ooh, that's too bad.
:—'''Starscream''' pulls a [[Transform and Roll Out#Quotes|Bumblebee]]

"Did you really think I would offer so little a challenge? I allowed you to capture these ''clones'' to fulfill my plan to eliminate you all! Especially you, MegaFOOL! Mwa-hah-ha-ha-ha! In moments you will be blown to bits, and I will become the Supreme Leader of ALL DECEPTICONS!"
:—Speaking through his clones, the real '''Starscream'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s speech-making tendencies are undimmed, even if he now prefers to do it from a safe distance.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-Grimlockfootshard.jpg|right|thumb|So painful, resting in between my toes harmlessly!]]
* The large spike stuck in Grimlock's foot is nowhere to be seen in the full-body shots previous to Prowl discovering it.
* The dialogue suggests that the spike is jammed through Grimlock's foot, but the animation shows it merely stuck between his toes.
* When Lockdown first appears, his head is missing the design across his forehead.
* Just after mud-coloured Starscream tells the Autobots of his plan in joining forces, his mouth disappears.
* Ratchet's war wound disappears when he's telling Prowl to get rid of his mods, just after his showy (and destructive) capture of the red Starscream clone.
* When Lockdown is talking to Megs, via hologram, you can see a black Autobot insignia on his chest.

===Continuity errors===
*When Starscream tells them he'll rust, in a ''vacuum'', Lockdown and Prowl tell him to shut up, an action that should be impossible, given that sound cannot carry in space. In fact, during all the time spent in space, the characters interact with each other as if they were under atmospheric conditions - of course, they could have open commlinks to each other.

===Transformers references===
* The Starscream clones are, of course, a reference to the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] of [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]], most notable for being [[Air Warrior|hordes of disposable Decepticons]] in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|More than Meets the Eye]]" (and then kinda vanishing save for [[Rainmakers|rare appearances later]]).

===Real-world references===
[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-Lockdowninponcho.jpg|right|thumb|Space banditos? Never heard of them.]]
*This episode contains numerous references to [[Wikipedia:Fistful of Dollars|''A Fistful of Dollars'']], including the title, Lockdown wearing a poncho in his first appearance, and the Mexican standoff scene in the warehouse.

*''A Fistful of Dollars'' is, in turn, a Western adaptation of ''[[Wikipedia:Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo]]'', which also accounts for Prowl's samurai armor.

*Grimlock's foot problem recalls "The Lion and the Mouse", an Aesop's fable about a mouse who befriends a lion by pulling a thorn out of his paw. Or the tale of the Christian Saint Jerome, whose life was saved by the lion he'd helped when he later encountered it in a Roman circus. Or the story of Androcles and the Lion...it's been done a lot.

*Five Banners Roller Coaster Kingdom is a reference to the [[Wikipedia:Six Flags|Six Flags]] chain of amusement parks and possibly [[Wikipedia:Magic Kingdom|Magic Kingdom]] as well.

===Trivia===
* This episode was first aired in Dubai.

*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] are absent from this episode, with Optimus saying that they're on an "important fact-finding mission" (an amusement park). Therefore, we don't get to see if Sari's hair grew back since [[Rise of the Constructicons|last episode]].

*It seems that since the [[Rise of the Constructicons|events of the last episode]] Bulkhead has grown a taste for oil, as he can be seen drinking it when he and Prowl are first on [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]].

*[[Lugnut]] and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], on the other hand, appear but say nothing, as do [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] and even [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]]. Result!

*The clones seem to embody elements of Starscream's personality, the purple Starscream representing Starscream's cowardice and the reddish-brown Starscream representing Starscream's sycophantic, flattering nature.

*Both altered-color clones use Starscream's original colors as a base, but the sycophantic one runs towards "hotter" colors playing up the red and white (a little devilish, perhaps?), while the cowardly one has colors more on the "cold" end, leaning into purple and stony grey.

[[Image:AFistfulofEnergon-Lockdownwithhelmet.jpg|right|thumb|I can't believe they ran out of voice-changer helmets!]]
*While you could be forgiven for assuming Prowl's armor was a Hasbro idea, it actually predates the toy. Hasbro decided to make a toy of it after watching the episode.<ref>http://community.livejournal.com/tf_animated/271043.html</ref>

* The other Autobots, and eventually Prowl as well, treat his upgrades as a bad thing. In the story, this makes sense because Lockdown acquires his trophies by hacking them off other Transformers, a practice the other characters had [[The Thrill of the Hunt|previously shown]] to find extremely distasteful (at best). Oddly, this goes against [[retool|everything Hasbro wants us to believe]].

*So...where did Starscream get the clones from? Ultra Magnus' comment suggests Starscream's escape actually happened some time ago [[Units of time|(depending on how long a deca-cycle is in ''Animated'')]]. Then again, Starscream did have 50 years of spare time on his hands. The answer, however would finally be revealed in "[[Endgame, Part I]]", where the protoforms stolen back in "[[Five Servos of Doom]]" were used to create clones, or, in that particular case, spare bodies for Starscream.

*How exactly did Prowl and Lockdown find the Starscream clones with the Allspark scanners? As far as we know, it's only Starscream (the real one) that's influenced by the Allspark fragment. Could he have found more Allspark fragments to build his clone army or is he a lot smarter than we thought by fooling even the scanners looking for Allspark energy?

*While Ratchet seems to be the moral compass of this episode, the day is only saved by Prowl's use of his upgrades.

*Apparently Starscream put a few extra zeros in when programming the timer on the clones. His plot might have worked if he hadn't given Megatron three minutes to run away.

*How come both the Autobots and the Decepticons failed to tell the differences between the clone Starscreams and the real deal? Are they colour-blind?

*It's not the first time in ''Animated'' that an Autobot [[Nanosec (episode)|sacrifices a new upgrade to launch a bomb that could destroy Detroit into upper atmosphere]].

*Exactly WHY does Lockdown wear a poncho?

*[[Michael Bay|Because it's AWESOME, that's why. *kaboom*]]

*[[Cheetor (BW)|Bumblebee]] likes a theme park featuring [[Six Lasers Over Cybertron|''six'']] of [[The Agenda (Part 1)|something]]...

* When the probe from ''Teletran-1'' deploys there is a Star Trek communicator chirp clearly heard

==External links==
*[http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/dlink/index.html?episodeID=8a25c3921fc6a295011fc99e7233016a "A Fistful of Energon" streaming video at Cartoon Network] (link functional until 3/03/10)

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fistful of Energon}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Linkup

2009-07-07T23:36:28Z

24.190.83.96: /* Animation and/or technical glitches */

{{picsneeded}}

{{episode|
|series=Armada
|series2=Micron Legend
|ep=26
|prev=Tactician
|next=Detection
|title=Link Up
|japanese=合身 (りんくあっぷ) - link up
|romaji=Gasshin [Link Up]
|translation=Fusion (Link Up)
|image=
|caption=
|production code=TF: A-26
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]]
|writer=[[Isao Shizuya]]
|director=[[Osamu Kamijō]]
|animation studio=[[Actas]]
|airdate=[[January 29]], 2003 (UK) [[January 31]], 2003 (US) [[July 4|4 July]] 2003 (Japan)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy]]
}}

'''With Optimus in the repair bay, Jetfire is the Autobots' best hope against the Decepticons.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] has been badly damaged in a recent battle with the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]], and the prognosis is uncertain. [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] tells the kids that [[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] will take over Optimus's role while the leader is in the repair bay. [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] is not impressed by Jetfire's overconfident bragging, and neither are the kids.

[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] is also unimpressed, but at the failure of [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]]'s plan. [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] and [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] are merely amused by its failure, and Thrust blames it on a miscalculation in the form of Jetfire. He says he'll come up with a new plan and takes some shooting stars as a sure sign of victory.

The [[Autobot|Autobots]] discuss Thrust and how he led the Decepticons to victory on the planets [[Vector]], Orga and Duke, almost wiping out the Autobots. [[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] thinks that while they have Jetfire on their team, they don't have anything to worry about on that score. [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] attempts to report to Jetfire, but the Autobot doesn't speak [[Mini-Con]], and [[Rad White|Rad]] has to translate that there's a suspicious bot flying over the base. They soon recognise Thrust, and Jetfire immediately runs off to confront the Decepticon.

Thrust takes off as soon as he sees Jetfire coming, goading the Autobot into following. Unsurprisingly, they reach a zone where the Decepticons are waiting, and the kids plead with Jetfire not to fire on the swarm of Mini-Cons accompanying them. He assures them he won't and shoots at Cyclonus, who protests that Thrust said the Autobot wouldn't fire with the Mini-Cons around. Thrust orders the Mini-Cons to attack, and soon Jetfire is being strafed with laser fire. Starscream closes in, but Jetfire is able to dodge the null laser cannon.

At base, the Autobots puzzle over how they're going to help Jetfire, when [[Alexis]] spots an island near where the battle is taking place. [[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]], Hot Shot and [[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]] warp to the island, and Smokescreen prepares to fire his longarm cannon, but is blasted by Demolishor and [[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]]. Demolishor boasts that Thrust's plan is to steal the Skyboom shield and opens fire on the Autobots, who are forced to use the shield for cover.

[[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]], still at base, admires the Decepticons' trap, but the kids think he should take action. Rad contacts Red Alert in the repair bay, informs him of the situation, and lets him know they need Optimus.

[[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] arrives on the island and tells his men to get on with it and demand the Shield from the Autobots. At Hot Shot's goading, Megatron calls the Star Saber to him and begins the attack anew. Hot Shot suggests they should withdraw. Smokescreen is confident the Skyboom Shield will protect them, but the other two Autobots talk him into withdrawing. The trio begin their escape, hampered by the Decepticons' weapons fire.

Jetfire attempts to come to their aid, but is surrounded by the [[Air Military Mini-Con Team]] and is again almost blasted by Starscream. He flies towards the Decepticon, but is grazed by a blast from the null laser cannon. Again surrounded by the Mini-Cons, he's unable to take a shot at Thrust.

Red Alert reports that Optimus is almost combat ready, and Carlos stresses the urgency of the situation.

On the island, Megatron has Smokescreen pinned down while Blurr and Hot Shot are busy with Demolishor and Sideways.

While Red Alert and Scavenger are about to join the battle, an alarm indicates that someone's in the launch area: Optimus Prime! Though Red Alert and the kids protest that he's not ready, Optimus asks to be warped to Jetfire's coordinates.

As Thrust and Starscream prepare to finish off Jetfire, Optimus appears overhead. The Autobot leader freefalls towards Jetfire, and the pair [[Powerlinx|combine]]. After making short work of Starscream, Optimus flies to the island and knocks Megatron into the ocean. For an encore, he picks up Demolishor and drops the protesting Decepticon into the water as well. Sideways wisely retreats. The impressed kids cheer.

Optimus suggests to Jetfire that he might want to be a bit more cautious next time, to which the Autobot says he's learnt his lesson.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] (1)
*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] (3)
*[[Jetfire (Armada)|Jetfire]] (4)
*[[Smokescreen (Armada)|Smokescreen]] (15)
*[[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] (16)
*[[Blurr (Armada)|Blurr]] (17)
*[[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] (21)

|c2=
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (10)
*[[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] (11)
*[[Megatron (Armada)|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] (13)
*[[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]] (14)
*[[Sideways (RID)|Sideways]] (24)

|c3=
*[[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] (5)
*[[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] (6)
*[[Carlos Lopez]] (7)
*[[Alexis]] (8)
*[[Rad White]] (9)

|h4=[[Mini-Con|Mini-Cons]]|c4=
*[[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (18)
*[[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (19)
*[[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (20)
*[[Air Military Mini-Con Team]] (22)
*[[Air Defense Mini-Con Team (Armada)|Air Defense Mini-Con Team]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==

"He'll be signing autographs later."
:—'''Hot Shot''' on Jetfire's smug boasting

"It's time for you to taste my plasma blaster. See if this makes your teeth whiter and brighter."
:—'''Jetfire''', shooting at Cyclonus

"I am Demolishor, the fierce Decepticon warrior!"
:—'''Demolishor''' introduces himself 26 episodes too late.

"In your dreams! If you want it, why don't you come and get it? That is, unless you're a little bit of a wimp. Well, are ya?"
:—'''Hot Shot''' taunts Megatron. Brave lad.

"They don't call him Starscream for nothing."
:—'''Optimus''' after Starscream falls screaming through the clouds

==Other notes==
===Animation and/or technical glitches===
*In the overhead shot of Hot Shot, Blurr and Smokescreen retreating, Smokescreen doesn't have the Skyboom Shield.
*Thrust refers to the Air Military Mini-Con Team as the Air ''Defence'' Mini-Con Team (who are busy being the Star Saber).
*The combined form of Optimus and Jetfire is referred to throughout as "Jet Convoy", the Japanese name for Jet Optimus.
*There are two times when Jet Optimus is drawn incorrectly. A Chest shot shows him with his regular red coloring, while his chest is Jetfire's white shield. A second shot is when Jet Optimus is landing on the island, in which he is shown with his lower body being his trailer, instead of it being Jetfire
*When Optimus is shown firing at Starscreem, his symbol is a decepticon symbol instead of Autobot, so hes actually nemisis prime in disguise...

===Continuity errors===
*Optimus didn't really seem so badly damaged at the end of "[[Tactician]]" that he'd require a whole episode in the repair bay.
*Starscream fires his null laser cannon without powerlinking with [[Swindle (Armada)|Swindle]].

===Transformers references===
===Real-world references===
===Miscellaneous trivia===
*Shooting stars on the moon are not possible, because it has no atmosphere for objects to burn up in.

[[Category:Articles in need of images]]
[[Category:Armada episodes]]

Three's a Crowd (episode)

2009-03-29T00:10:30Z

24.190.83.96: /* Synopsis */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni Threes a Crowd Constructicons.jpg
|caption="''[[wikipedia:Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10: Alien Force]]'' has nothing on these guys."
|ep=33
|title="Three's a Crowd"
|airdate=[[March 21]], 2009
|written by=[[Rich Fogel]]
|directed by= [[Kalvin Lee]], [[Tetsuro Moronuki]]
|animation studio=
}}

'''Bulkhead seeks the help of the Constructicons for a vital construction project, but, thanks to their new leader, the Constructicons have bigger and deadlier plans.'''

==Synopsis==
At [[Sumdac Tower]], [[Isaac Sumdac]] and [[Bulkhead]] are spending the night working to construct a new [[space bridge]], although Isaac is a bit distracted by the damaged [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster unit]] sitting in the lab. Bulkhead is eager to get the job done, but Sumdac is tired, having spent the previous night overriding the signal dampeners he created for the [[Decepticon]]s.

Elsewhere in [[Detroit]], the other Autobots are taking advantage of the overridden dampeners, and are on the trail of a Decepticon energy signature at that very moment. Unfortunately, the Decepticon in question turns out to be [[Lugnut]], who doesn't shy away from a fight, and drops out of the sky on the pursuing Autobots, unleashing his "[[Punch of Kill Everything]]".

Back at Sumdac Tower, Sumdac loads the power core for the space bridge onto a forklift, as Bulkhead fits a few [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] fragments into it in order to give it a boost. When Bulkhead reclines against the core, however, the floor beneath them gives out, and the core, the forklift and the Headmaster unit go tumbling down, taking out a few more floors on their way. Luckily, Sumdac is saved from the fall by Bulkhead's wrecking ball, and retires to bed to recover from the shock. Bulkhead examines the damage, and decides that he knows just the experts to help him fix it... but as he departs, at the bottom of the pit, the Headmaster, the forklift, and the power core begin creeping towards each other, as the familiar glow of an AllSpark fragment lights up the darkness...

[[Image:TFAni Threes a Crowd Stop Hitting Yourself.jpg|thumb|left|180px|]]
Across town, [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] are enjoying the "show" at an automotive disassembly plant when Bulkhead, having tracked them down through their energy signatures, arrives to ask them for help. The two [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] refuse to work for the Autobots, until Bulkhead promises to keep the job "off the books". The trio return to Sumdac Tower, and Scrapper begins clearing the debris when suddenly, something grabs the other end of his shovel. The Constructicons reel in the offending item, which turns out to be a forklift... which promptly transforms into a diminutive robot that introduces itself as [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]]. Bulkhead realizes that the forklift has fused with the Headmaster unit and the AllSpark fragment, and the perpetually cranky Dirt Boss quickly announces his intention to take charge of the Constructicons. Scrapper is amused by this prospect, but Dirt Boss brings him around to his way of thinking by launching a shell from his forehead which burrows into Scrapper's head and gives the tiny terror control of Scrapper's motor functions. Bulkhead contacts the other Autobots to inform them of the new problem, but they are too busy battling Lugnut to offer any help. Bulkhead is struggling to figure out what to do when Sumdac appears to find out what the commotion is all about. In order to keep his human friend safe from Dirt Boss, Bulkhead introduces Sumdac as his servant, and barks an order at the scientist to get back to work finishing the [[plasmadynamic thruster]] they require. Sumdac, of course, completely fails to understand Bulkhead's ruse, and becomes genuinely afraid of the big Autobot, scampering off in terror to complete his task. With that taken care of, Dirt Boss announces his plan to take back the city that machines like he helped build, by stealing the its oil. That, as it turns out, is a plan Mixmaster and Scrapper can definitely get behind! The Constructicons commence Dirt Boss's plan by hijacking a tanker truck, but when Bulkhead tries to talk them out of it, Mixmaster turns on him and glues him to the road with a pair of cement galoshes. The evil trio proceed to go on a crime spree, stealing oil from all over the city.
The other Autobots, meanwhile, have managed to get a pair of [[stasis cuffs]] on Lugnut, but find themselves lacking in the physical strength necessary to haul his paralyzed body out of the crater his punch had created earlier. The cable they are using to haul the huge Decepticon soon snap, putting them right back where they started.

[[Image:TFAni Threes a Crowd Lugnut Ratchet.jpg|thumb|right|180px|"Oh, glorious Megatron!! I fear that your humble servant has fallen and can't [[rise up]]!!"]]
Back at the Constructicons' plant, Mixmaster and Scrapper celebrate their successful run of heists by enjoying a tipple, but Dirt Boss promptly smacks the barrels from their hands, telling them they didn't steal the oil to drink it. Bulkhead, meanwhile, is snooping on the Constructicons through a nearby window when Professor Sumdac comes running up to him, with the plasmadynamic thruster completed as requested. Bulkhead struggles to make the human understand that he was merely acting before, but when the Constructicons hear the noise outside and come to investigate, Bulkhead has to start acting again and sends Sumdac away. This time, however, Sumdac has grasped Bulkhead's deception, and eavesdrops as Dirt Boss reveals his plan to blow up fossil fuel refinery, thereby giving him control of the largest supply of oil in the city. Bulkhead decides that he cannot let things go any further and attacks the Constructicons, but when his wrecking ball becomes jammed in Mixmaster's arm-cannon, the three Decepticons simply walk off, dragging the helpless Bulkhead behind them. They soon arrive at the refinery, where Bulkhead is able to give Scrapper and Mixmaster pause by asking them where they'll get any oil to drink if they blow up the refinery. With Mixmaster wavering, Dirt Boss takes control of his body, and orders him to finish Bulkhead off. The resulting fight is a bit on the awkward side, given that the two combatants are stuck together, and Bulkhead is able to open a comm channel to the other Autobots, transmitting the noise of the fight to them. Realizing their friend is in trouble, the other Autobots leave Lugnut lying in his crater, and race off to aid Bulkhead in battle.

The fight between Mixmaster and Bulkhead winds up damaging the refinery's main fuel tank, which begins leaking oil everywhere. Dirt Boss proceeds to remove his control shell from Mixmaster, and plants it in Bulkhead instead, intending to use the Autobot to ignite the oil and send the refinery up in flames. Mixmaster is distressed at this prospect, given that he is still stuck to Bulkhead, but neither Dirt Boss nor Scrapper are particularly bothered.

[[Image:Three'saCrowdConstructiconsOilrefinery.jpg|thumb|left|180px|"Ahhh... brotherly love, don't you see."]]
The other Autobots soon arrive at the refinery and nearly run over Professor Sumdac, who quickly brings them up to speed. Suddenly, Bulkhead comes storming towards the Autobots, whirling his wrecking ball (and Mixmaster) as he and Scrapper follow Dirt Boss's command to attack. Luckily, Ratchet is able to magnetically extract Dirt Boss's control shell, and Bulkhead uses some of the spill oil to loosen his wrecking ball and disconnect himself from Mixmaster. He then hurls the Constructicon at Scrapper, but when the two collide, their metal bodies create a spark that sets the refinery ablaze. Worse yet, Scrapper's fist has become lodged in Mixmaster's chest drum, but as the pair struggle to free themselves from each other so they can make themselves scarce, Dirt Boss leaps on Scrapper's head and takes manual control of his body, refusing to let either of them chicken out. The Constructicons wind up on top of the main fuel tank as the Autobots try to fight the fire below, but it soon becomes apparent that the heroes can't stop the tank from blowing. Sumdac suggests using the plasmadynamic thruster to [[transwarp|TransWarp]] the tank away, and Bulkhead reprograms the device to do the job. Bulkhead hurls the thruster onto the top of the tank, and it and the Constructicons are warped away, materializing just off the shores of [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] seconds before the tank explodes.

With the Constructicon threat dealt with, the Autobots return to the crater to take Lugnut back into custody. Unfortunately, someone has beaten them to it: Lugnut has been liberated by the [[Liar Starscream|lying Starscream clone]], who ''promises'' he'll ''never'' speak a word of the whole embarrassing affair.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (2)
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (3)
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (4)
* [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (5)
* [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (6)
* [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (13)
* [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (14)
* [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (15)
|c2=
* [[Lugnut]] (7)
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (8)
* [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (9)
* [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]] (10)
* [[Liar Starscream|Liar Starscream clone]] (16)
|c3=
* [[Isaac Sumdac]] (1)
* [[Sparkplug (Animated human)|Sparkplug]] (11)
* [[Captain Fanzone]] (12)
|c4=

}}

==Quotes==
'''Bulkhead''': These AllSpark fragments should give the power core a boost. 
'''Sumdac''': Be careful, Bulkhead! We don't want to overload it. 
'''Bulkhead''': Relax. When it comes to space bridges, I know what I'm doing. 
''[The floor starts to give way beneath them]'' 
'''Bulkhead''': But I'm not so hot at structural integrity!
:—Bulkhead and Sumdac learn that there are flaws with building a giant space bridge in a tower.

"Tell 'em there's a new boss in town: Dirt Boss!"
:—'''Dirt Boss''', every chance he gets.

"Will you slag that annoying little pipsqueak already?!" 
"Who're you calling "pipsqueak", short stuff?
:—'''Dirt Boss''' and '''Bumblebee''' engage in height cracks.

"Oh, I so don't have time for this."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', in desperate need of some leave.

"Uh, you promise me you will, ahem, never speak of this to Megatron..." 
"Oh, I promise."
:—'''Lugnut''' and '''Liar Starscream''' engage in epic foreshadowing of something that, sadly, probably won't be brought up again.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
*Bulkhead is shown with the other Autobots as Lugnut crashes to the ground.
*One of the ''[[Detroit Powell Press]]'' editions has a headline typo: "RACKETEERS STRIKES OIL" should read "RACKETEERS STRIKE OIL".
*During Dirt Boss's debut scene, the position of his mouth switches several times from the middle of his face (at the "W" shape) to the bottom, and presumably correct, position.

===Continuity errors===
*When Bulkhead confronts Mixmaster and Scrapper, they speak to Bulkhead as if they remember the events that transpired in "[[Rise of the Constructicons]]", saying that they "don't work for no stinkin' Autobots anymore" and referring to Bulkhead as "Bulky". While nothing says they can't have regained those memories by some point, if that's the case, it wasn't shown when this happened.

*More AllSpark fragments are shown in the beginning of the episode, yet all the previously collected pieces the Autobots found were placed into Omega Supreme last season. It's possible the Autobots have found some more since then, off-screen, but it seems an odd thing to omit, plus they would have only had between the end of "[[TransWarped]]" and the start of this episode to do so, which doesn't seem like a long time.

===Transformers references===
[[Image:TFAni Threes a Crowd Sludge Sign.jpg|thumb|right|So cars & trucks ''do'' eat dinosaurs!]]

* At least one Detroit paper is titled the ''Detroit Powell Press''. [[Porter C. Powell]] has corporate investments everywhere, it seems.

* The Headmaster unit was recovered [[TransWarped|last episode]].

* The [[Fossil Fuel]] Oil Company's logo is [[Generation 1]] [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] doing an impression of the [[wikipedia:Sinclair Oil Corporation|Sinclair Oil]] logo.

* This isn't the first series to have [[Space bridge#Generation 1 cartoon|a space bridge in a tower.]]

===Real-world references===
*The ''Detroit Powell Press'' is a reference to a real-life Detroit paper, the ''Detroit Free Press''. Minus the freedom.

*Scrapper and Mixmaster are found drinking heavily in a manufacturing plant that is deconstructing luxury cars piece by piece. Striptease, anyone?

*The climactic scene with Dirt Boss on top of the oil tank is closely based on the ending of the gangster movie ''[[Wikipedia:White Heat|White Heat]]''.

===Trivia===
* The Detroit newspaper business is incredible; within what is apparently a single night of Constructicon rampage, the ''Detroit Powell Press'' puts out three separate editions announcing the new threat. Either that, or the Autobots spend a ''long'' time focusing on hauling Lugnut out of his crater and nothing else. (Though really, it's impressive that newspapers even still ''exist'' in the future...)

*It appears that Lugnut has accepted [[Starscream clone|Starscream's clones]] (or at least the liar) as part of the main Decepticon force. Apparently, being Starscream's duplicate is fine as long as you worship the GLORIOUS Megatron.

* What ''exactly'' did Dirt Boss hope to accomplish by climbing up to the top of the oil tank, again?

* An exploding oil tank in the middle of Lake St. Clair is probably going to be a real mess, isn't it?

* There is also a Decepticon forklift named [[Dirt Boss (ROTF)|Dirt Boss]] in the ''[[Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|toyline]].

[[Category:Animated episodes]]