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Toxicity

2012-05-29T20:23:04Z

71.255.161.201: /* Transformers references */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 41
|prev=Triage
|next=
|image=
|caption=
|title="Toxicity"
|airdate=[[May 26]], [[2012]]
|written by=[[Steven Melching]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

{{picsneeded}}
'''Bulkhead encounters life-threatening danger during the last relic hunt.'''

==Synopsis==
With other teams dispatched to find relics, [[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] visits the [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]] hive and calls for a volunteer. [[Hardshell]] steps forward and Megatron sends him and three others to find the fourth and final relic. The four Insecticons arrive in a volcanic region on the equator and immediately split up.

At the Autobot base, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] watches [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] leave with her team before he is dispatched to the area at the equator. Though he arrives at the correct coordinates, there's no relic there, but he's soon alerted to the approach of Hardshell. The Insecticon attacks Bulkhead and, after a brief exchange of words, the pair fight. The Wrecker flattens Hardshell, knocking a mandible off the Insecticon in the process. Bulkhead then heads downhill, realizing that an old lava flow may have taken the relic in the same direction. He keeps [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]] updated back at base via radio. Hardshell comes to and heads with the other Insecticons to find their target.

Though leaking energon from his fight, Bulkhead manages to find the relic, which turns out to be a toxic form of [[Energon]] known as [[Tox-En]]. Though Fowler suggests bringing it to base, Bulkhead realizes that he's going to have to dispose of it himself "Wrecker style". Hardshell and the other Insecticons find the vessel shortly after, but as one of them goes to grab the small piece of Tox-En within, the grenade Bulkhead left behind explodes, leaving him fatally riddled with Tox-En shrapnel. Hardshell lets Megatron know about the Tox-En, but Megatron wants to know why Hardshell doesn't have the stuff yet.

Bulkhead, meanwhile, runs away from the volcano with the rest of the Tox-En, leaving a trail of leaking energon to throw off the Insecticons. As he turns and starts to head up the volcano, Bulkhead strikes up a conversation with Fowler about their past war-time careers and discovers they've more in common than they'd previously thought. However, as Bulkhead continues his journey, he begins to feel the effects of the toxic energon and almost succumbs to its spark-sapping properties. After Agent Fowler convinces him to keep going for the sake of duty and family, namely Miko, Bulkhead trudges on.

Meanwhile, Hardshell figures out the false trail, and he and the other Insecticons fly uphill. They catch up to Bulkhead, who has just arrived at the volcano's mouth, and surround him. Bulkhead throws a grenade at one Insecticon and jabs the Tox-En into Hardshell. The third Insecticon charges in bug mode, but Bulkhead decks it with the Tox-En and jabs the chunk into its shell before turning back to face Hardshell. Receiving the news that Miko is safe, Bulkhead begins sparring with Hardshell, though they are both now weakened from the toxic energon. Though Hardshell manages to get the better of Bulkhead, as he moves to finish the Wrecker off, Bulkhead works up the strength to throw Hardshell over to the Tox-En before flinging the monster towards a hole in the caldera crust leading down into the molten lava. Bulkhead then throws the Tox-En to Hardshell, and the dizzied Insecticon falls into the volcano, destroying the toxic relic. As Bulkhead heads for the [[GroundBridge]], Hardshell climbs out of the volcano and shoots the Autobot in the back, sending him flying through the GroundBridge to land within the Autobot base, his back burning. Ratchet, Raf, and Fowler see the smoke coming out of Bulkhead and run to his aid.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Prime)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Prime)|Bumblebee]] (5)
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (6)
*[[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] (7)
*[[Ratchet (Prime)|Ratchet]] (8)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (Prime)|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (2)
*[[Hardshell]] (3)
*[[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] (13)
|c3=
*[[Miko Nakadai]] (9)
*[[Jack Darby]] (10)
*[[Raf Esquivel]] (11)
*[[William Fowler]] (12)
}}

==Quotes==
"I can has cheeseburger!"
:— Yes, '''Agent Fowler''' actually said that.

"Leave it to Megatron to send a bug to do his dirty work."<br>
"You would know a thing or two about dirty work yourself, Wrecker."
:— '''Bulkhead''' receives a "right-back-at-you" from '''Hardshell'''.

"Now, you see, the thing about bugs your size: You make a bigger mess when I SMASH 'EM!"
:— '''Bulkhead''' being true to his wrecking nature.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In "[[Triangulation]]", Bulkhead is shown running through the GroundBridge for his mission. However, in this episode he is shown just walking through the bridge.
* Both of Bulkhead's maces silently transform during his first fight with Hardshell.
* In the establishing shot of the Tox-En before the commercial break, there are two samples in the container; the larger one which Bulkhead takes with him, and the smaller one he leaves as a booby trap. After the commercial break, the same shot shows only the larger sample.

===Continuity notes===
* This is the final episode of the four-part relic-hunting arc, all four parts of which happen concurrently. This episode focuses on Bulkhead and Fowler. Fowler's handling of [[Vogel]] in "[[Tunnel Vision]]" and the Antarctic research base in "[[Triangulation]]" are shown from his point of view. Raf is also seen programming the virus that Ratchet installs in [[Laserbeak (Prime)|Laserbeak]] in "[[Triage]]". The ending scene is the same as in "Triage".
** All of the episodes in the relic-hunting arc begin with the letter T. Whether or not this has relevance beyond tying the episodes to each other remains to be seen.
* The room currently occupied by the Insecticon hive was previously used to store [[Dark Energon]] way back in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 2]]".
* Fowler makes mention of his old Army Ranger days, which he first mentioned in "[[Nemesis Prime (episode)|Nemesis Prime]]".
* Bulkhead flashes back to numerous episodes from the first season, first to battle scenes, then to scenes with Miko.
* Bulkhead's tactic of hiding a grenade in the Tox-En container is similar to the one proposed by Wheeljack in "Triage".

===Transformers references===
* Hardshell is the modern name for the G1 Insecticon [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]].

===Continuity errors===
* Soundwave appears on the ship when Hardshell calls Megatron to tell him about the Tox-En. What makes this an error is that the events of "[[Triage]]" are happening concurrently with the events of this episode, which would make it impossible for Soundwave to be on the ship. This may be an animation error in that it might have suppose to have been a Vehicon, but ended up being Soundwave.

===Real-world references===
* While still recovering from the shock he received in "[[Flying Mind]]", Fowler blurts out "I can has cheeseburger", a popular cat-based internet meme.
* Considering its green coloration, mineral-like composition, and fatal effects from prolonged exposure, Tox-En is essentially Cybertronian Kryptonite.

===Trivia===
* In the past, the Wreckers have generally been a small, closely knit unit (despite their horrific attrition rates). However, Hardshell's comment that he's faced Wreckers numerous times suggests the team is much larger in the Aligned continuity.

{{epstub}}
[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Talk:Toxicity

2012-05-29T19:53:04Z

71.255.161.201: /* Ep. 42 */

==Discrepancies with Triage==
I could be wrong about this, but it seems to me that there was a discrepancy between this episode and Triage concerning Bulkheads return through the Ground Bridge.<br>
In Triage, right before Bulkhead returns, I seem to remember Ratchet was all giddy, talking up a storm, and ready to brag to Bulkhead as he comes through the Bridge. He then turns around and is aghast to see Bulkhead's smoking back side.<br>
In this episode, Ratchet being all giddy, talking to Raf until he realizes something bad is going on and then waits in silence for Bulkhead to come through. He then gasps, "Oh No" as Bulkhead comes flying trough the bridge. [[User:Sarpiedon|Sarpiedon]] 12:16, 29 May 2012 (EDT)

==Insecticon sentience==

It seems that Hardshell is not the only Insecticon to have a name... which makes me wonder, can we consider the Insecticons to be sentient beings or not? (it's important because that'd make them have certain rights such as freedom and stuff) [[User:Rayqui|Rayqui]] 04:42, 28 May 2012 (EDT)
:I definitely do not agree that Hardshell is talking to someone named "Scurrydown". It sounds like "Stay down" to me, but almost any phrase with "---- down" there makes more sense than fabricating a name for a generic nonentity. -[[User:LV|LV]] 02:29, 29 May 2012 (EDT)
::Yeah, I think this is probably something we ought to wait for more concrete evidence on. Also, re the original question, I kinda assumed they were sentient when they all spoke at the end of Armada. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 03:54, 29 May 2012 (EDT)

== Ep. 42 ==

They still have not revealed what next week's episode os going to be about?[[Special:Contributions/71.255.161.201|71.255.161.201]] 22:48, 28 May 2012 (EDT)
:Next weekend's episode is a repeat of Orion Pax 1. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 22:58, 28 May 2012 (EDT)
::This is the last episode of season 2?[[Special:Contributions/71.255.161.201|71.255.161.201]] 15:53, 29 May 2012 (EDT)

== Lord of the Rings? ==

Think we should mention anything about the fact that this episode is similar in plot to the Lord of the Rings books/films?
I mean think about it: finding/recieving an object of doom if the enemy takes it, dropping it into a volcano, with one of the characters being knocked into a lava pit with said object of doom, while the main character gets injured by said enemy.
--[[Special:Contributions/94.171.163.95|94.171.163.95]] 06:06, 29 May 2012 (EDT)
: I think we should mention something about the fact that this episode is similar to ''Joe Versus the Volcano.'' --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 12:45, 29 May 2012 (EDT)

Talk:Toxicity

2012-05-29T02:48:48Z

71.255.161.201: /* Ep. 42 */ new section

==Insecticon sentience==

It seems that Hardshell is not the only Insecticon to have a name... which makes me wonder, can we consider the Insecticons to be sentient beings or not? (it's important because that'd make them have certain rights such as freedom and stuff) [[User:Rayqui|Rayqui]] 04:42, 28 May 2012 (EDT)

== Ep. 42 ==

They still have not revealed what next week's episode os going to be about?[[Special:Contributions/71.255.161.201|71.255.161.201]] 22:48, 28 May 2012 (EDT)

== Ep. 42 ==

They still have not revealed what next week's episode os going to be about?[[Special:Contributions/71.255.161.201|71.255.161.201]] 22:48, 28 May 2012 (EDT)

Talk:Toxicity

2012-05-29T02:48:47Z

71.255.161.201: /* Ep. 42 */ new section