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TransWarped

2010-10-11T05:05:43Z

75.61.69.66: /* Technical or animation errors */ vaped

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|image=TFA TransWarped Sari hands.jpg
|caption="WhY mY hAnDs HuRt?"
|prev=A Bridge Too Close, Part II
|next=Three's a Crowd
|ep=30, 31 and 32
|ep2=27, 28 and 29
|prev2=A Bridge Too Close, Part II
|next2=Three's a Crowd
|title="TransWarped"
|airdate=[[March 14]], 2009
|written by=[[Marty Isenberg]] [[Michael Ryan]] [[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Matt Youngberg]] [[Yoshio Frank Chatani]] [[Tetsuro Moronuki]] [[Yutaka Kagawa]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''In the aftermath of the battle at the mine, Sari and her father’s relationship takes a strange turn; the Autobots have their work cut out for them trying to contact Cybertron; and Megatron and Starscream find a new opportunity'''

==Synopsis==
===Part I===
[[Image:TransWarpedRodimusCosmicRust.jpg|thumb|left|180px|No fair, I just got here!]]

Somewhere along the outer rim of the galaxy, the [[Autobot]] group, [[Team Athenia]], led by [[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Rodimus Prime]] defends [[space bridge 687-030]] against the [[Decepticon]]s' "[[Team Chaar]]," led by [[Strika (Animated)|Strika]]. She, [[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]] and [[Cyclonus (Animated)|Cyclonus]] strafe [[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]], [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and [[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]], badly injuring Hot Shot's leg and forcing team medic [[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] to perform an amputation. Before she can do so, however, she is swallowed up by [[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]], who explosively vomits her back at her team. Rodimus contacts the [[Elite Guard]] for backup, but the Autobot forces are spread much too thin, defending space bridges from Decepticon attacks all across the galaxy. Oil Slick and Cyclonus proceed to take down Brawn and Ironhide, leaving Rodimus on his own, at which point Blackout arrives and all but finishes the fight with a huge electromagnetic pulse. Rodimus still has some fight left in him, but it drains away when Oil Slick offlines him with a vial of [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|Cosmic Rust]]. Strika contacts [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], who informs her that nobody is to TransWarp to the planet until [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] himself arrives. But Megatron was supposed to be there megacycles ago...

[[Image:TransWarpedStarscreamsScream.jpg|thumb|right|180px|I'mma firin' my lazhar!.]]

Off in the depths of space, the disembodied head of [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] attempts to remove Megatron's stasis cuffs with his teeth as the Decepticon leader berates him all the while. As Starscream begins bellowing back at Megatron, the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] fragment in his forehead begins to glow, and he undergoes a surprising transformation: His mouth converts into a sonic blaster that shoots the cuffs clean off Megatron's wrists. There is no time for the two villains to celebrate, however, as the giant form of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] materializes above them. But after a moment, Megatron realizes that the colossus is offline...

[[Image:TransWarpedProtoform.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Hush little baby, don't say a word. Sumdac's gonna build you a mockingbird.]]

On [[Earth]], as the Autobots return to [[Detroit]], [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] explains [[Sari Sumdac|Sari's]] origins to her as best he can, revealing that he discovered her in his laboratory years ago, in the form of a small, liquid metal robot. Sari finds the story hard to believe, and her strained patience reaches its end when the group returns to [[Sumdac Tower]] and confronts [[Porter C. Powell]] and [[Henry Masterson]]. Powell tries to smooth things over with Isaac, but Masterson's belligerent attitude dispels any attempts at peace, which is further ruined when he demands the Autobots return his Headmaster, or "heads will roll." Having entered the lab from the elevator behind them, Optimus picks up Masterson and asks for clarification on his threat. Isaac immediately fires both Powell and Masterson, but Masterson refuses to vacate the premises, and Powell takes another shot at Sari's disputed parentage. In a moment of anger, Sari's hands transform into energy projectors that hurl the two men into the building's elevator. This newest revelation pushes Sari over the edge, and she walks out on the man she can no longer even think of as her father, returning to the Autobots' base with her "fellow machines." While [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] examines Sari—deducing that she's basically human, but partially Cybertronian—Prowl departs to carry out some research of his own. With Ratchet lost in his memories of [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]], [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] head back to the Decepticons' destroyed mine base to salvage some equipment that will let them contact Cybertron and inform the Autobots there of the traitor in their midst.

On a small planetoid somewhere in space, [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] is still trapped in a cement blob with Starscream's [[Thundercracker (Animated)|egomaniacal]] and [[Skywarp (Animated)|cowardly]] clones. Blurr proposes using sonic pulses to dissolve the glue, and the egomaniac takes the idea for his own and successfully frees them. Blurr immediately speeds off, launching into space and literally running across the galaxy, ricocheting off everything in his path (including the egomaniac) to get back to Cybertron and inform the Elite Guard of Megatron's invasion plan.

Megatron and Starscream force their way into Omega Supreme's body, but this action brings the giant Autobot back online, and his internal systems immediately seize the Decepticons. Megatron exploits Omega's simple processor and convinces the titan to take him back to Cybertron "to face justice." Omega transforms back into ship mode and TransWarps off toward Cybertron.

Back on Earth, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are searching through the ruins of the mine when Bumblebee discovers a [[Plasmadynamic thruster|plasmadynamic thruster]] space bridge component that abruptly TransWarps him away. While Bulkhead is wondering where his buddy went, he is suddenly attacked by Henry Masterson, who recovered his Headmaster unit and Starscream's headless body from the mine the night before.

At Sumdac Tower, Prowl shadows Sumdac into his laboratory, quickly accesses his computers, and scans the scientist in an attempt to learn more about Sari's origins. Ratchet is having distinctly less luck back at the Autobot base, where Sari refuses to let him perform an exploratory surgery. The whole unpleasant affair reminds Ratchet of his past on Cybertron, when he performed open-processor surgery on Arcee and discovered she was carrying the codes that were key to the creation of Omega Supreme. Prime snaps Ratchet out of his flashback with the news that he cannot contact Bumblebee and Bulkhead, and Ratchet heads out to the mine to investigate.

[[Image:TFA TransWarped Headmaster Starscream power up.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|Here we go again...]]]]
With the other Autobots busy, Optimus Prime tries to patch up the Sumdac family feud by surreptitiously opening a comm channel to Professor Sumdac's laboratory and explaining loudly and at length to Sari that he is going to take her to [[Burger Bot]]. Sumdac catches on and heads out to meet them there, but Sari is furious at being set up and refuses to talk to him. Unfortunately, the Headmaster soon arrives, having picked up Prime's phone call through bugs left in Sumdac Tower, and threatens to unleash t0t47 0wN4ge!

===Part II===
[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Headmaster PWN3D.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Heads out.]]
Optimus Prime engages the Headmaster, binding him with his grapplers and dragging him around the Burger Bot parking lot before taking a moment to usher the Sumdacs to safety behind a dumpster. The fight carries the two combatants to an overhead roadway and back, with the Headmaster eventually downing Prime with a slab of concrete. Sumdac is forced to take action, and he hides Sari within the dumpster so that he can draw the Headmaster's attention and keep her safe. Touched by this, Sari unleashes her energy projectors on the Headmaster in defence of her father, though they do little to the villain other than draw his attention. Prime rejoins the battle just in time, ramming the villain in truck mode and goading the Headmaster into trying to transform Starscream's body as well. Infuriated by Prime's claim that a n00b such as he would find it difficult, the Headmaster tries to meet the challenge... only to find his Headmaster unit squeezed clean off Starscream's body by the transformation process. As Starscream's lifeless carcass spirals off into the river, the Headmaster is apprehended by Prime and handed over to [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]].

Back at Sumdac tower, Prowl reveals his findings to Prime, Sari and Sumdac: He believes that the body Sumdac found in his lab was, in fact, a Cybertronian [[protoform]] that scanned Professor Sumdac's genetic data. Sari takes the revelation in stride, although everyone else remains mystified as to how a protoform wound up on Earth in the first place. There is no time to dwell on the subject, however, as Ratchet radios Prime to inform him of Bulkhead's injuries and Bumblebee's disappearance.

Out in space, Omega Supreme re-emerges from TransWarp, and his systems all power down, having been sapped of energy by the effort of the teleport. Megatron attempts to escape from the confines of the giant Autobot's body, but without his weapons, he is unable. Starscream's new sonic blaster is similarly ineffective, and Megatron instead schemes to take control of Omega's very body.

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Blurr Crushed.jpg|180px|right|thumb|"We... are going... to die!"]]
On Cybertron, Shockwave (in the form of Longarm Prime) is informed by [[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] that the space bridge network has been shut down to prevent a Decepticon invasion of the planet. Suppressing his frustration, Shockwave is promptly presented with an outlet for his anger when Blurr comes streaking out of the sky and crashes at his feet. Blurr informs him of the double-agent on Cybertron, whom he plans to identify by cross-referencing his voice-print with the Cybertron intelligence database, and Shockwave immediately attacks the speedster, intent on silencing him before his cover can be blown. Blurr streaks off into a series of nearby corridors, but his speed fails to carry him beyond Shockwave's reach: Using a control console, Shockwave seals off the tunnels, and Blurr is crushed between two walls.

Back on Earth, Ratchet's treatment of Bulkhead is interrupted by Sari, who volunteers use of her Key to fix the larger Autobot's wounds. Ratchet is indignant, insisting that just because something is new, it doesn't make it better, but Bulkhead requests the Key. While Sari goes to work on Bulkhead's injuries, the sullen medic is overtaken by his memories; he recalls the creation of Omega Supreme and how he was partnered with the newborn titan to serve as his mentor, teacher and friend. Ratchet is roused from his unpleasant trip down memory lane when discussion turns to the whereabouts of Bumblebee, and before long, Bulkhead figures out that the plasmadynamic thruster has TransWarped Bumblebee off across the galaxy. Bulkhead suggests using a retrieval beacon generator recovered from the mine ruins to pinpoint Bumblebee's location, and Sari uses her Key to fix it before Ratchet can even begin examining it.

Aboard Omega Supreme, Megatron uses his stasis cuffs to "hotwire" Omega's body and bring it back online. However, when the light from Omega's "headlights" falls upon a nearby asteroid, Megatron and Starscream are shocked to see the rock react to the light, transforming into a humanoid monster that immediately attacks the ship! As more asteroids transform around him, Omega transwarps away to safety...only for Bumblebee, cruising on the tail end of Omega's TransWarp field, to materialize in his place, right in the midst of the [[Rock Lord]]s! The largest creature swallows the tiny Autobot with a single gulp.

Simultaneously, on Earth, Bulkhead locks in on Bumblebee's position and teleports him back, but the Rock Lord he is inside comes with him and is immediately driven to a rampage by the blinding light of the [[Sun]]. Optimus Prime detects Bumblebee's signature within the creature, and the Autobots prepare to give chase as the alien stomps off through the city. Prowl is rather taken aback to see Ratchet wearing his EMP generator on his arm once more, while Prime has to deal with Sari's demands that she be allowed to join them in the fight now that she has powers. Prime refuses, and the Autobots zoom off after the rock monster, but Sari won't take no for an answer and is struck with inspiration: Give herself an upgrade! Sari concentrates, and a port opens in her chest, into which she inserts her Key...and in an explosion of energy, Sari's whole body transforms into a taller, older form, suited in combat armor!

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Screamer Hotwire OmegaSupreme.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Name: Starscream Function: Jumper Cable]]
Meanwhile, Megatron has discovered that Omega Supreme has again expended all his power, and his stasis cuffs do not have the energy left to rectify the situation. He grabs Starscream's head and jams it into the circuits, where the traitor's AllSpark fragment energizes Omega's systems once more.

[[Image:TransWarpedBumblebeeSari.jpg|thumb|right|180px|So, kids, don't play with too many knives!]]
Back in Detroit, the Autobots are attempting to figure out how to stop the Rock Lord without hurting Bumblebee, when the upgraded Sari comes streaking onto the scene on jet skates. As the Autobots look on in shock, Sari begins attacking the alien with arm-blades and an energy-hammer that morph out of her arms. A single strike of the hammer reduces the alien to boulders, freeing Bumblebee, who is immediately struck by Sari's new look, but then shouts a warning: The smaller boulders surrounding the pair have transformed into small creatures. But the creatures pose no threat to Sari, and she pounds them into pebbles. As Sari basks in her triumph, Ratchet realizes with horror that she has used the Key on herself. The elderly Autobot's concern is soon proven valid, as the Key overloads Sari's systems, and she loses control of her body. With Sari attacking everything and everyone around her, the Autobots attempt to stop her with a variety of non-lethal strategies, but Sari counters everything they throw at her, including Prowl's processor-over-matter technique. Even as Prime and Sari tell Bumblebee to keep back, the young Autobot races to his friend's side...only for the out-of-control Sari to stab him through the chest! Frozen for a horrific moment, Bumblebee is then hurled back by an energy discharge, and the light dims from his optics...

===Part III===
Ratchet leaps to Bumblebee's aid, but without Sari's Key, Bulkhead fears his little buddy is done for. Ratchet denies that he requires the key to do his job, but his memories of when he was forced to place the dying Omega Supreme in stasis haunt him as he begins to operate on Bumblebee.

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Ratchet Repairs Bumblebee.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Operator, what's the number for Nine-One-One?]]
Sari, meanwhile, is storming through the city streets, causing objects to explode when she comes into contact with them, and the Autobots head after her, seeking to remove the Key in hopes of bringing her back under control. They corral her with a wall of steel girders, affording Prowl the chance to get the drop on her and rip the Key from her chest, but Sari continues to rampage. With Bumblebee fading, Ratchet goes back on his previous claim and requests the Key be brought to him, but when Prowl complies, he discovers that the energy of the Key has been completely drained. Prowl assures Ratchet that he can accomplish the task without the Key, and the old medic gravely takes up the challenge and manages to bring Bumblebee back online.

Back with Sari, Prime and Bulkhead, Sari's energies are growing increasingly more out of control, as the street beneath her explodes with every step she takes. Bulkhead suggests just trying to "hold it in," but when Sari tries, things get even worse, as she begins to glow with so much energy that she is on the verge of exploding. Optimus summons Ratchet so that he can use his EMP generator to take Sari down, and while Ratchet is hesitant to do so, Sari begs him to stop her. Ratchet fires, and Sari collapses, her energy fading.

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped LongArm Cliffjumper Cube.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Kid's meal premiums aren't what they used to be.]]
On Cybertron, Longarm Prime has Cliffjumper dispose of the crushed remains of Blurr and is then contacted by Megatron. Learning that the space bridge network is down and that the Earth-based Autobots are poised to blow Shockwave's cover, Megatron orders the Decepticons to cease their attacks on the space bridges so that he can solve both problems his own way. Team Chaar receive the transmission and fall back, much to the Elite Guard's surprise.

In the Autobots' base, Ratchet completes a rewiring of Sari's systems, bypassing the circuits that caused her to run out of control. Professor Sumdac soon arrives, having been informed of the location of the base by Optimus Prime. The Autobots are a little upset by this, but Prime makes it clear that there are to be no more secrets in this "family". The Autobots step outside the plant to give the Sumdacs some time together, and are in the middle of catching Bumblebee up on recent events when the small Autobot suddenly begins to glow with TransWarp energies once more. Bulkhead quickly deactivates the plasmadynamic thruster, but the source of the TransWarp wave the thruster was picking up soon becomes apparent, as Omega Supreme materializes in the sky overhead. Much to the Autobots' surprise, the titan fires upon them before transforming to robot mode, revealing a projected image of Megatron's face upon his visor! The Decepticon leader is in complete control of Omega's body and begins attacking the Autobots, forcing Optimus Prime to consider unleashing an uncontrollable Sari on the giant. Before resorting to this desperate last resort, the Autobots attempt to lure Megatron away from the city. Ratchet even upgrades Bumblebee's stingers to a more powerful battle grade for the mission.

[[Image:TFAni TransWarped Prowl Megs OSFight.jpg|left|thumb|180px|I'm going to have to put you on the game grid.]]
Taking refuge in the nearby river, the Autobots attack Omega's legs, forcing open an access hatch through which Prime and Prowl enter Omega's body. Battling Omega's internal defences, Prowl taps into Omega's processor in order to help him fight off Megatron's control, and they succeed in forcing Megatron out of the system. Prime engages Megatronin order to keep Prowl safe, but as their battle rages, Starscream seizes control of Omega's mind and forcibly disconnects Prowl from Omega's processor. Prime and Prowl are unceremoniously ejected from Omega Supreme's body, but Starscream is not finished there; he uses Omega's internal defences to seize Megatron, and resumes attacking the Autobots all around him. Megatron manages to talk Starscream into an alliance, suggesting they forget Earth and conquer Cybertron together. Starscream struggles to activate Omega's TransWarp system, and while his attention is occupied with this task, Omega's consciousness fights its way to the surface and begs Ratchet to shut him down again. Ratchet regretfully unleashes his EMP generator upon Omega, but it has no effect, and Starscream transforms Omega into starship mode in order to begin the TransWarp. Bulkhead and Bumblebee hit upon the idea to plant the plasmadynamic thruster on Omega Supreme, and they hand it off to Prime to complete the task. Prime plants the thruster at the last second before Omega disappears into TransWarp, and Ratchet catches Prime with his magnets as he falls out of the sky.

Back at the Autobot base a little later, Sari comes to and admits to Ratchet that he was right about taking it slow. Sumdac apologizes for holding back the truth from Sari for so long, and Bumblebee thanks Ratchet for saving his tailpipe. Unfortunately, Bulkhead brings the mood down by reminding everyone that they still have to find a way to contact Cybertron.

[[Image:TFA TransWarped lost in space.JPG|thumb|right|180px|[[Ripped Up Space]]]]
On Cybertron, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] holds an Autobot council and announces that all the evidence points to a double agent on Cybertron. Longarm Prime implicates escaped convict [[Wasp]], and Ultra Magnus instructs [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] to put together a unit to hunt the fugitive down. Magnus also notes that he has to make contact with Optimus's crew on Earth, and Longarm hastily demands that all contact with them be filtered through him, responding to the council's wary looks by adding that it will be purely for security reasons.

In the sky above Cybertron, Omega Supreme materializes, and Starscream howls with glee...only for the Autobot spaceship to TransWarp away immediately to another random point in space...and another...and another...
{{--}}
==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Shot (Animated)|Hot Shot]] (2)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (3)
*[[Brawn (Animated)|Brawn]] (4)
*[[Red Alert (Animated)|Red Alert]] (7)
*[[Rodimus Prime (Animated)|Rodimus Prime]] (9)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (10)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (11)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (12)
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] (17)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (18)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (19)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (20)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (21)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (22)
*[[Mainframe (Animated)|Mainframe]] (27)
*[[Highbrow (Animated)|Highbrow]] (28)
*[[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] (29)
*[[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] (31)
*[[Wheeljack (Animated)|Wheeljack]] (33)
*[[Perceptor (Animated)|Perceptor]] (34)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (36)
*[[Alpha Trion (Animated)|Alpha Trion]] (37)
|c2=
*[[Cyclonus (Animated)|Cyclonus]] (1)
*[[Oil Slick (Animated)|Oil Slick]] (5)
*[[Strika (Animated)|Strika]] (6)
*[[Spittor (Animated)|Spittor]] (8)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime / Shockwave]] (13)
*[[Blackout (Animated)|Blackout]] (14)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (15)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (16)
*[[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]] (30)
*[[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]] (32)
|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (24)
*[[Headmaster (Animated)|The Headmaster]] (25)
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (26)
*[[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (35)
|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (23)
*[[Rock Lord]]s (38)
}}

==Quotes==
"'Bulkhead' and 'genius' in the same sentence? I'll never get used to that."
:—'''Bumblebee''' shows his high opinion of his best friend.

"I'll warn them even if I have to run halfway across the galaxy to Cybertron to do it!" 
:—'''Blurr''', who apparently does just that.

"Sari, I don't pretend to fully understand humans, but from what I've seen, being a father is far more than a simple organic bond. It has much more to do with the spark. With the heart."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' muses on the nature of family. Sadly, the [[fandom]] desires more [[Relatives|concrete answers]].

"Prepare for TOT! Total Ownage Time!"
:—'''Headmaster''' to Optimus Prime and the Sumdacs.

"You taught me to protect like an Autobot, but all I did was destroy like a Decepticon." 
"We do what we must, even if it sometimes doesn't make sense." 
:—'''Omega Supreme''' and '''Ratchet''', before the former is put into modified stasis

'''Ratchet''': Omega, what are you doing?! Don't you recognize your old friend?! 
'''Megatron''': The question should be, "Don't you recognize your old enemy?" 
'''Optimus Prime''': Megatron?! 
'''Megatron''': Ah, then you ''do'' remember my name. Pity I can't remember yours.
:—The Autobots learn that Megatron has taken control of Omega Supreme

"It appears you and I are destined to battle aboard this ship once more, Autobot." 
"Bring it on, Decepticon."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime'''

"Starscream too powerful. Please, shut me down! I want to sleep again." 
"I already had to use this thing once today when I didn't want to. Don't make me use it again." 
"We do what we must, even if it sometimes doesn't make sense."
:—'''Omega Supreme''' tries to convince '''Ratchet''' to use his EMP Generator

"Someday I really have to learn how to fly."
:—Someday will come [[Endgame, Part I|soon]], '''Optimus Prime'''

==Notes==
===Technical or animation errors===
* When Megatron is first seen in space, parts of his helmet are miscolored red.
* Just before Omega Supreme is activated Ultra Magnus accompanies High Brow and Ratchet on a lift, in this shot the part of the Magnus Hammer's handle is missing.
* When Sari removes her key in order to place it in the homing beacon generator, the string doesn't actually go over her head... It just phases through her neck. Somehow.
* The damage to Starscream's body disappears during the commercial break.
* When Bumblebee tells Sari to watch out, her back kibble disappears for a moment. It reappears in the next shot.
* Once the key has been removed from Sari, the vaporized string attached to it mysteriously reappears.
* When Ratchet is talking to Bumblebee about Sari's condition, the side of his head is miscolored white.
* When Blackout attacks Rodimus, his chest is miscolored gray.
* After Bumblebee is slashed, there's a red spot on Bulkhead with an Autobot symbol inside it.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron finds both of his rotors/swords after being freed from the stasis cuffs, despite leaving ''at least'' one behind when he was sucked into the space bridge in "A Bridge Too Close".
* When Bumblebee gets blown away in "Part II" after being stabbed by Sari, he lands on his back. When we cut back to him in "Part III", he appears on his side.
* Bumblebee’s rocket boosters seemingly appear out of nowhere. With Ratchet's upgrading of his stingers and now this, it seems that <s>Hasbro</s> the Autobots have gotten over their "Upgrades are bad, m'kay" phase. Spending two seasons out-gunned will probably do that to you.
* If Sumdac was wearing gloves at the time he touched the protoform, how did it get his DNA? For that matter, how did Sari end up female?
*It is revealed that the streak of white in Isaac's hair came from the shock he received when he approached the protoform that would become Sari. Pay no attention to the streak in the hair of his younger self appearing in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", please...

===Continuity notes===
*As Sari dismisses Isaac Sumdac's story of her origin, she suggests that he should have told her how he found her "in a cabbage patch", or how "the stork" brought her. Similar ideas were suggested by Professors Bumblebee and Bulkhead in "[[The Return of the Headmaster]]". In that episode, the professors also suggested that Sari was really a robot, that she came to Earth in an egg, or that she could have fallen through a portal, ''all'' of which seem to have some nugget of truth to them: She ''is'' part-robot, she was contained in a strange pod, and she appeared in Sumdac's lab out of thin air. ''Foreshadowing!''
*After Sari mentions those theories, Optimus Prime recalls how Sari told him of human manufacturing, which occurred in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]".
*Starscream says Omega Supreme is "more powerful than I imagined...well, not AllSpark-powerful...", in reference to his use of the same phrase to describe the AllSpark way back in "Transform and Roll Out!"

===Transformers references===
*Bar Oil Slick, every member of the new squads harkens back to a previous series. Rodimus, Ironhide, Brawn and Cyclonus are heavily based off their Generation One counterparts. Red Alert and Hot Shot take after their Unicron Trilogy incarnations. Spittor and Strika are both modeled after Beast Era characters, and Blackout's design is heavily influenced by the live-action movie version.
*While lecturing her on taking it slow with her powers, Ratchet says that there's "more than meets the vis-scanners" on having powers, a clear reference to the time-honored Transformers tagline "[[More than Meets the Eye (disambiguation)|more than meets the eye]]".
*Arcee's open head [[:Image:Spotlight Arcee b.jpg|looks ''waaay'' too much]] like [[Alex Milne]]'s cover for [[IDW Publishing]]'s "[[Spotlight: Arcee]]" to be a coincidence.
*Blurr races along a Saturn-style planetary ring, as [[Blurr (G1)|his namesake]] had done in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 3|Generation 1 season 3]] opening credits.
*The building in which the [[Autobot High Council]] have their meeting looks [[Metroplex (G1)|somewhat familiar]].
*Blackout seems to have retained his seismic stomp that was used by his [[Blackout (Movie)|movie counterpart]].
*Team Chaar gets its name from [[Chaar|the planet of the same name]].

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Porte stellaire'''" ("Stargate")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''Japanese (Part 1)'''
:*''Title:'' '''サリの秘密''' (''Sari no Himitsu'', "Sari's Secret")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 2|2 October]] [[2010]]

'''Japanese (Part 2)'''
:*''Title:'' '''サリ、トランスフォーム!?''' ("Sari, Transform!?")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 9|9 October]] [[2010]]

'''Japanese (Part 3)'''
:*''Title:'' '''メガトロンの襲来''' (''Megatron no Shōrai'', "Megatron's Invasion")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 16|16 October]] [[2010]]

===Real-world references===
* Megatron tells Optimus, "You have persistence, Autobot. I hate persistence." This is based on Lou Grant's well-known dialogue from the first episode of ''[[:wikipedia:The Mary Tyler Moore Show|The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''—"You know what, you've got spunk! … I hate spunk!"
* Sari's transformation sequence upon absorbing the power of the key is a nod to the transformation sequence of the title robot in ''Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann''.
* Sari's use of a large hammer, sending it down with her buttocks in the air, references back to... about ninety billion different anime shows. Although they usually involve an upskirt of sorts that's very thankfully absent here.
* As Sari dismisses Isaac Sumdac's story of her origin, she suggests that he should have told her how he found her "in a cabbage patch", which is a reference to [[:wikipedia:Cabbage Patch Kids|popular 80s toy]].

===Trivia===
*[[Derrick J. Wyatt]] confirmed via. Twitter after the show aired that like the series pilot, "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", "TransWarped" was made "as one 70 minute movie", although it was also cut into 22-minute episodes for syndication.<ref>[[Derrick J. Wyatt]] — http://twitter.com/DerrickJWyatt/status/1329673450 — "We made it as one 70 minute movie, but it has also been cut into three 22s".</ref> Unlike the pilot, however, "TransWarped" counts as three episodes out of the thirteen alotted for the show's third season. While Cartoon Network aired all three episode in movie form for their premiere, Canadian network YTV opted to debut them in episodic form, airing only the first two in a double-bill, and then screening the final part the following week.
* The creatures that turn into rocks may be a reference to the Rock Lords from the [[Tonka GoBots]] movie ''[[wikipedia:GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords]]''
*Starscream gains a "sonic scream" as a head-mounted weapon in this episode. Coincidentally (or not?), in the initial [[Cartoon Network]] press release for Transformers Animated, Starscream's profile claimed that he had a sonic scream he could use to send foes spinning through the air. This ability is never seen again.
*The Headmaster's appearance in this episode marks the only time a human villain is used in Season 3. And even then, he's relatively minor compared to a Decepticon-controlled Omega Supreme.
*In his last line, Shockwave seems to forget to use his American accent. Probably because he's getting worried about getting caught.
*This episode marks the first live appearance of Cybertron.
*This episode marks the last time Blurr, Thundercracker, and Skywarp appear in the series.
*This is also the last appearance of 'Longarm's' crane mode. All subsequent appearances of Shockwave involve him transforming only into his Decepticon tank mode.

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transwarped}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

A Bridge Too Close, Part I

2010-10-11T03:49:28Z

75.61.69.66: /* Continuity errors */ add

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|ep=28
|ep2=25
|prev2=Black Friday (episode)
|next2=A Bridge Too Close, Part II
|image=TFA ABTC1 Space Bridge operational.JPG
|caption=Closer... closer...
|title="A Bridge Too Close, Part I"
|airdate=[[June 28]], 2008
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]] [[Christopher Berkeley]] [[Shunji Ōga|Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''The Decepticons kidnap Bulkhead to aid in Megatron's ultimate plan to take over Cybertron.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Megatron branding.jpg|thumb|left|"Can't you just paint the insignia on our chest?" "Now, where's the fun in that?"]]

Now serving under [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]] have completed construction of the villain’s [[space bridge]]. They are rewarded for their efforts by being officially inducted into the [[Decepticon]] army in a small ceremony led by Megatron, with [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] serving as witnesses (and, for some reason, holding candles). After the Constructicons have recited the oath of allegiance, Megatron [[branding|brands]] them, quite literally, with a [[Redeco|color-change]] for their armor and eyes thrown into the bargain. At Megatron’s instruction, [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] fires up the bridge, but when it fails to activate due to the professor’s simple lack of understanding of the technology, Megatron realizes that he will require additional help...

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Screamer Clones Argue.jpg|thumb|"There's something in your [[optic]]." "No, there isn't!"]]

On [[Earth]]'s [[Moon (moon)|moon]], [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] gloats over five new [[Starscream clone (Animated)|clones]] of himself, to which he is in the process of putting the finishing touches. The final clone is completed and, like its fellows, brought online with a tiny chip of the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] that gives Starscream life. Immediately, however, Starscream has to wrestle with the various wacky personalities the clones have wound up with, each one an exaggerated aspect of his own: a coward, a sycophant, an egomaniac, a pathological liar... and a short-tempered female who insists that Starscream not ask what aspect of his personality gave birth to her.

Megatron contacts [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in order to have him [[DataNet|track down]] the top space bridge engineer on the planet. Shockwave is surprised to report that the engineer in question is on Earth—it’s [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]]! Megatron decides to capture Bulkhead personally and instructs Lugnut and Blitzwing to pick up an item from [[Sumdac Tower]] to aid in “convincing” the Autobot to help them. When Lugnut points out that Sumdac cannot be trusted in the base alone with the Constructicons, Megatron decides to take the professor with him. As all this scheming goes on, however, someone else is listening in—the mysterious “Blue Racer” that [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] recently encountered.

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 painting time.JPG|thumb|left|Optimus Prime has deemed this image in need of a caption!]]

At the Autobot base, Bulkhead is working on his latest painting, an abstract rendition of [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]]. Unfortunately, backseat artistry from the other Autobots winds up ruining the painting, and Bulkhead goes for a walk with Sari to vent a little. Bumblebee follows to apologize, but just as he catches up to them, Megatron appears in the sky overhead and opens fire. Using Sumdac as a human shield to stop the Autobots from firing back, Megatron continues to rain destruction down on the Autobots as Bumblebee and Sari argue over whether or not Sumdac has been working with Megatron.

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Megatron Sumdac Hostage.jpg|thumb|right|...dads?]]
Suddenly, the Blue Racer speeds onto the scene, and Bumblebee, believing the enigmatic speedster to be working with Megatron, chases him off through the city and manages to run him off the road. When he attempts to report his success to Bulkhead, though, there’s no response—because Megatron has captured Bulkhead and is airlifting him away. Bumblebee’s failure is compounded by the next turn of events: The Blue Racer reveals himself to be [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]], a fast-talking member of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] who has been covertly monitoring Megatron’s activities.

Back at the Decepticon headquarters, Bulkhead refuses to help Megatron, so the villain unveils the fruit of Blitzwing and Lugnut’s labor: a [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] unit! Faced with the threat of once again having his body taken over and being used to destroy his fellow Autobots, and failing to elicit any help from [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] or [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]], Bulkhead relents and agrees to work on the space bridge.

At the Autobots’ base, Blurr relates his mission to [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] and company and brings them up to speed, quite literally. While Prime leads the rest of the team to the Decepticon base, the location of which is provided by Blurr, [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] and Sari head for Teletran-1 to try to get it online one last time. Just like [[Lost and Found (episode)|last time]], their efforts lead to nothing, forcing Ratchet to attempt one last drastic approach: using the AllSpark fragments the Autobots have gathered to jump-start the ship’s systems.

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Bulkhead Sumdac.JPG|thumb|left|Merry Christmas!]]

Prime’s team is led by Blurr into the Decepticons’ coal mine base, where they are immediately attacked by Lugnut and Blitzwing. The fight is a brief one, as Blurr uses his super-speed to bind the odd couple with [[stasis cuffs]]. Meanwhile, as the space bridge nears completion, Bulkhead insists on modifying many aspects of Sumdac’s design, and winds up in an argument with the human, which Sumdac interprets as Bulkhead trying to sabotage the bridge deliberately. When the bridge is activated, however, it functions perfectly—Bulkhead knew full well that Sumdac’s design was wrong, and he corrected it!

[[Image:TFA ABTC1 Screamer Clones Emerge.jpg|thumb|right|Why, I'm beside myself! And myself! And...]]
As the bridge flares into life, Prime’s team bursts into the main chamber, but they are instantly immobilized by cement booties, courtesy of Mixmaster. With the Autobots out of the picture, it seems there is nothing to stop Megatron now...until the roof of the cavern explodes, and Starscream and his clone army make their grand entrance!

[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|To be continued…]]
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (14)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (15)
*[[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] (16)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (17)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (18)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (19)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (2)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (3)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (4)
*[[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] (5)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (7)
*[[Thundercracker (Animated)|Thundercracker]] (8)
*[[Sunstorm (Animated)|Sunstorm]] (9)
*[[Ramjet (Animated)|Ramjet]] (10)
*[[Skywarp (Animated)|Skywarp]] (11)
*[[Slipstream (Animated)|Slipstream]] (12)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] (13)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (15)
}}

==Quotes==
"Ah, never before have I seen such an impressive group of lethal fighting machines! And pretty good-looking, if I do say so myself."
:—The ever-humble '''Starscream''' comments on his clone army.

'''Skywarp, the Coward Starscream''': Us? Against Megatron?!? ARE YOU INSANE?!? ''[Meekly]'' Ah, I think I just sprang an oil leak... 
'''Thundercracker, the Egomaniac Starscream''': Silence, you fool! Megatron is a worthless pile of scrap metal compared to ''my'' genius. 
'''Sunstorm, the Sycophant Starscream''': Brilliant observation! Brilliant! But your genius pales in comparison to the genius of our leader, the [[Starscream (G1)|original]] Starscream. 
'''Starscream''': Mmm, I could listen to this one all day! 
'''Ramjet, the Liar Starscream''': What are you talking about? ''I'' am the [[Geewun|original]] Starscream! 
'''Starscream''': Liar! ''I'' am the original Starscream. 
'''Ramjet''': I never said I was the original Starscream. 
'''Starscream''': You just did right now. 
'''Ramjet''': No, I didn't. 
'''Starscream''': Yes, you did. 
'''Ramjet''': No, I didn't. 
'''Starscream''': Yes, you did! 
'''Ramjet''': No. I. Didn't. 
'''Slipstream, the Female Starscream''': Ohh, haven't you figured it out yet? He's a pathological liar. Each of us clones represents one aspect of your personality. [''points to each clone in turn''] He's a coward... he's an egomaniac... he's a suck-up... he's a liar. 
'''Ramjet''': I am not! 
'''Starscream''': So, which part of me did you come from? 
'''Slipstream''': Don't ask. 
'''Starscream''': ''[sigh]'' This is going to be a long orbital cycle.
:—Best [[introdump]] ever?

"I just didn't think my head was so big." 
"That's your leg."
:—'''Sari''' and '''Bulkhead'''. Oh, the irony!

'''Sari''': No, don't shoot! You'll hit my dad! 
'''Bulkhead''': She's right! 
'''Bumblebee''': So what are we supposed to do? Fight him with snappy comebacks?
:—'''Bumblebee''' conveniently forgets his normal attack strategy.

'''Bumblebee''': All right, Zippy, start talking! 
''[Blurr transforms from vehicle mode to robot mode]'' 
'''Blurr''': First of all, the name's not "Zippy"! As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've ever met another bot named Zippy, so one can only assume that you came up with "Zippy" in reference to my speed, which may be technically accurate, but lacks a certain creativity! 
'''Bumblebee''': Eh...eh-eh... 
'''Blurr''': More to the point, the name's Blurr! I'm an Autobot intelligence agent, sent to this planet by the Elite Guard to keep an eye on Optimus Prime and his crew as well as monitor the Decepticon activity, and ''you'', my friend, have just blown a decacycle of covert surveillance designed to uncover Megatron's plot to conquer Cybertron. Everything was going according to plan when I intercepted a communication between the Decepticon leader and an unknown double agent! They were in the midst of plotting the abduction of an unsuspecting Autobot, which now, from the status of the current ground situation, appears to have been successful. Got that so far? 
'''Bumblebee''': Uh...could you repeat the last part? 
'''Blurr''': Which last part? 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh, everything after "The name's not Zippy."
:—It took Bumblebee a long time to get Blurr to start talking. From this point on, he doesn't shut up.

'''Bumblebee''': Woah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up! 
'''Prowl''': Did he just say Bulkhead? 
'''Optimus Prime''': ''Our Bulkhead?'' 
'''Ratchet''': ''An expert?'' On anything?!
:—The Autobots aren't terribly impressed with Bulkhead.

"I must be a bigger pain in the gearshaft than I thought." 
"Well, well, well, look who just got to the party!" 
"Don't ''start'' with me, woman!" 
:—'''Starscream''' [[Total War!#Quotes|openly admits]] one of his primary faults, much to '''Slipstream's''' annoyance.

"Okay, I give. I'm officially no longer the fastest thing on wheels."
:—'''Bumblebee''' is humbled after seeing Blurr's speedy takedown of Blitzwing and Lugnut.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical errors===
*When Mixmaster encases Optimus and Prowl in concrete, his colors shift back to his neutral, pre-Decepticon color scheme.
*When Megatron attacks the Autobots, his cockpit changes from black to grey for a brief moment, then back.
*Blurr's mouth disappears for a frame after he introduces himself to Bumblebee and is pointing at him for the second time.

===Continuity errors===
*Not so much an error as a quirk: During the engagement in the mines, Icy Blitzwing is scowling noticeably, while Hothead Blitzwing is...''smiling???''
*When Bulkhead is brought into Decepticon HQ, Prof. Sumdac says his name as if he is surprised to see the Autobot, despite the fact that Sumdac was ''there'' when Bulkhead was kidnapped by Megatron.
*It's odd that while Bumblebee wasn't fast enough to catch up with Blurr with his turbo boosters in "[[Velocity]]", he can catch up to him and hit him while he hasn't got them on in this episode. Maybe he was doing the speed limit?
*Prof. Sumdac is kept in Megatron's vehicle mode cockpit, which rests on Megatron's back in robot mode. Yet when Megatron transforms, Sumdac has suddenly moved to Megatron's chest, tied there by a very long rope which wasn't there before.

===Transformers references===
[[Image:ABridgeTooClosePart1-MegatronHandExtendtion.jpg|thumb|right|His special hand! There's none other like it!]]
*Shockwave's report on Bulkhead appears to be in the form of [[Tech Spec]]s.
*After branding, the Constructicons' colour schemes match those of their Generation 1 counterparts.
*Megatron shoots off his middle and index finger which isn't [[Scrounge (G1)|something]] [[Elita One#Classics|new]].
*Ironically, what Starscream says about his clones is similar to what [[Starscream (G1)|his Generation 1 counterpart]] remarked on [[Starscream clone (G1)|his clone]].

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Le portail d'à côté 1/2'''" ("The Portal Next Door 1/2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die Weltraumbrücke, Teil 1'''" ("The Spacebridge, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 30|30 July]] [[2008]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' '''それぞれの思惑''' (''Sorezore no Omowaku'', "Respective Expectations")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 18|18 September]] [[2010]]

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''O Jeden Most Za Blisko, Część 1'''" ("A Bridge Too Close, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
*In ''[[Wikipedia:The Bridge on the River Kwai|The Bridge on the River Kwai]]'', [[Obi-Wan Kenobi|Alec Guinness]] is a prisoner of war who is forced to build a bridge. Even though the bridge will help his enemies, he builds the bridge to the best of his ability just to demonstrate how capable he is. In "A Bridge Too Close"...replace "Alec Guinness" with "Bulkhead".
*The title is a reference to the movie ''[[Wikipedia:A Bridge Too Far (film)|A Bridge Too Far]]''.
*Among the parts needed for a space bridge are "hollow cathode tubes", parts which until recently made up computer monitor displays.

===Trivia===
*So in all the months that Isaac Sumdac has been missing, it never occurred to anyone that the Decepticons kidnapped him? Perhaps everyone thought he was dead.
*All of the heavy exposition is given to the guy who talks really, really fast. Handy.
*Megatron initiates new Decepticons by [[branding]] the symbol onto them with cattle brands. How bovine.
*This is not the first time Bulky has transformed his [[Total Meltdown|kibble into a chair]].
*Starscream opens a hatch on his head to pick parts from his AllSpark fragment to bring the clones to life, suggesting that in all of the episodes when you do see it, he has his hatch open, exposing the AllSpark fragment.

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season Two ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Sechs: Schwarzer Freitag (Paramount) — English and German audio.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Too Close, Part I}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Ultra Magnus (Animated)

2010-10-09T05:07:39Z

75.61.69.66: /* Animated cartoon */ fix

{{factions|autobot|eliteguard}}
{{disambig3|Ultra Magnus}}
:''Ultra Magnus is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:TFA Ultra Magnus promoimage.JPG|right|350px|thumb|He can deal with you. He'd just rather not.]]

Wise{{fact}}, powerful, and utterly committed to keeping the peace of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] at any cost, '''Ultra Magnus''' is the [[Magnus]] and [[Supreme Commander]] of the Autobots and the leader of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]]. A veteran of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], Magnus is exceptionally straightforward in his dealings on every level. He makes no bones about some of the [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|questionable]] [[Safeguard (Animated)|projects]] he's enacted in order to counter the threat of the more heavily-armed [[Decepticon]]s, and doles out both praise and admonishments to his subordinates without hesitation. Magnus may not be the most likable bot around, but he is completely honest at every level.

Magnus is no slouch when it comes to combat, either. When he needs to enter the fray, the [[Magnus Hammer]]—his symbol of office—can call down devastating lightning from the sky.

{{bigquote|Whoa... now I get why they call you 'Ultra' Magnus.|Bumblebee is impressed|"[[The Elite Guard]]"}}

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Jeff Glen Bennett]] (English), [[Banjō Ginga]] (Japanese), [[Gerald Paradies]] (German), [[Riccardo Rovatti]] (Italian), [[Marcelo Pissardini]] (Portuguese)
''In [[Autobot boot camp|boot camp]], [[Impactor Major|Impactor]] gave Ultra his name. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2}}''

During the Great War, an Autobot intelligence agent named [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] was in danger of falling into [[Decepticon]] hands. Ultra Magnus sent Ratchet to recover her so the access codes she held in her data banks couldn't be used to deal a devastating blow to the Autobots. He specifically ordered Ratchet to bring Arcee back in one piece, but due to a run-in with [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]], her memory was erased by Ratchet's EMP generator. {{storylink|The Thrill of the Hunt}}

Desperate for the access codes she'd been carrying, Magnus had Ratchet perform open-processor surgery on her. When Ratchet's proximity triggered a failsafe data transfer, Magnus assigned the medic to take her place as the activator/mentor to the Autobots' ultimate weapon: [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

''Long after the end of the war, Ultra Magnus took a strong interest in [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Cadet Optimus]], noting his combat simulator scores were higher than anyone else had ever managed.'' {{storylink|The Arrival issue 5|Survival Skills}} He had high hopes, believing Optimus could even become a Magnus, but then Optimus, [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Cadet Sentinel]], and Cadet [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] took an unauthorised trip to an organic planet. Elita-1 was MIA, Sentinel blamed Optimus for the loss, and Optimus took full responsibility for the screw-up. Ultra Magnus' judgement was that the offending cadet was to be expelled from the Autobot Academy and be ineligible for service in the Cybertron Elite Guard. However, still impressed by Optimus' service, he had him bumped up to [[Prime (rank)|Prime rank]] and given a ship to command. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

Later, Optimus attempted to contact Magnus to report that 1) he and his maintenance ship crew had discovered the legendary [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], and 2) they were now being pursued by Decepticons. Though nearly denied by [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus Prime got patched through to Ultra Magnus to report on the discovery. Magnus still didn't believe the Decepticons would pose much of a threat, but agreed to dispatch some ships to escort [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Optimus's ship]]. He warned Prime not to pull any heroics, as it wasn't in Prime's programming.

This, of course, would all go out the window once it was discovered that the Decepticons in pursuit were in [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron's]] [[Nemesis (Animated)|flagship]], at which point the Autobots decided that they should book it. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

[[Image:Eliteguardleaveshuttle.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Airport management, the FAA and the airlines—they're all cheats and liars. All right, let's get outta here.]]

Eventually, Ultra Magnus located Earth with Sentinel Prime and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]]. Upon landing on [[Earth]], Magnus seemed to trust Sentinel's judgment regarding the planet. This might well have been because the big blue lug wouldn't let anyone else get a word in edgewise. Hearing that the AllSpark had been supposedly destroyed, Magnus announced that he intended to take these charges very seriously and investigate. Adopting the vehicle mode suggested by his subordinate, the Autobot Supreme Commander proceeded to drive around downtown [[Detroit]] as a massive military vehicle. Smooth.

[[Image:Ani Ultra Magnus alt.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Not just heavy duty. Ultra heavy duty.]]
However, once he was led to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]], he had to bail out that same subordinate, who had angered the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]]. After a distress call from [[Sumdac Systems]] was answered, he turned the tide in a battle against malfunctioning [[police drone]]s. As Optimus Prime acted bravely, loyally, and with sound tactical judgment during that incident, he commended the wayward Academy bot, simultaneously putting Sentinel in his place, much to Sentinel's chagrin. Seeing evidence that the AllSpark indeed still existed scattered about the city, he settled in for the long haul. {{storylink|The Elite Guard}}

Ultra Magnus was unable to come to the press meeting, so Sentinel Prime went in his place. Supreme Commander Magnus wanted a report about the reported Decepticon activity, and about Sentinel "losing [his] head". Optimus covered for Sentinel, stretching the truth in front of him. Magnus left to report to [[Cybertron Command]] on "a matter of great importance". {{storylink|The Return of the Headmaster}}

Upon his return, Magnus received a report from [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] that there was an increased amount of Decepticon activity at the galaxy's rim, particularly targeting [[space bridge]]s. Ironhide was unable to report further, as the Decepticon attack destroyed the transmitter. Since Magnus had still not seen any evidence of Decepticon activity on Earth, he reasoned that resources were better dedicated to the defense of Cybertron and its colonies, and thus ordered Optimus and his crew to prepare for departure.

Taking Optimus Prime aside, he expressed concern that should the general population come to believe that Megatron was still alive, it would incite a panic and embolden the Decepticons. Optimus objected, but Magnus felt that easing the concerns of the civilians was their duty to Cybertron. Optimus continued to drag his heels until Magnus was alerted to AllSpark activity on a commuter train. Ordering Sentinel to remain behind to keep an eye on Optimus, he left with Jazz to investigate.

After his hammer proved insufficient to dislodge the AllSpark shard, he was ultimately saved by the insubordinate Optimus and his crew, particularly the intervention of [[Sari Sumdac|the little organic]] with the [[AllSpark Key]]. Optimus insisted that the whole event was a Decepticon trap, just as Sentinel Prime arrived with charges of assaulting a fellow officer. Finally having enough of the insubordinate repairbot, Magnus was about to give Optimus Prime a serious reprimand—right when evidence of Decepticon activity quite literally fell into his lap as [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] was knocked from the sky. As Starscream rebooted, Magnus turned and ordered his subordinates to stay back while he dealt with Starscream. He was rather surprised to find Starscream pointing a blaster in his face when he decided to turn around again, and even more so when the flying traitor blasted him point-blank. Magnus was repaired by Ratchet and Sari while the remainder of the Autobots brought Starscream into custody. Once all was said and done, Magnus apologized for doubting Optimus Prime's claims of Decepticon activity, and again praised Optimus's decision-making skills and scolded Sentinel for insisting that things be done "by the book". He also decided that while he was needed to direct the war effort on Cybertron, the Decepticons on Earth had to be dealt with as well. Therefore, Ultra Magnus and the Elite Guard left for Cybertron, while Optimus Prime's crew remained on Earth to locate the AllSpark shards and capture the Decepticons. Magnus helpfully left a box of stasis cuffs to make their jobs somewhat easier. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}

Ultra Magnus later witnessed Starscream's escape from his ship and contacted Optimus Prime to inform him of the breakout. {{storylink|A Fistful of Energon}}

Ultra Magnus contacted the Earth Autobots to inform them that a convicted traitor named [[Wasp]] had escaped from prison. After finding out [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] had some history with him, Magnus requested he keep an optic out, on the off chance the traitor showed up on Earth. {{storylink|Autoboot Camp}}

In the wake of Megatron's return, Magnus found himself faced with ever-mounting attacks by Decepticons on space bridge outposts all over the galactic rim. As a security measure, he ordered the entire space bridge nexus on Cybertron shut down, much to the consternation of Intel Chief [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime]]. He then convened a meeting of the Autobot High Council, at which he announced that the level of coordination in the Decepticon uprisings indicated an inside source, a Decepticon double agent on Cybertron. Longarm Prime was quick to assert that the agent in question was Wasp, as the Decepticon activity had occurred following the fugitive's escape. Magnus assigned Sentinel Prime and Jazz to assemble an Elite Guard unit to track down Wasp, then ordered that they contact Optimus Prime, as the Earth Autobots had been out of touch for [[units of time|decacycles]]. He was a bit nonplussed at Longarm Prime's insistence that all communications with Earth be filtered through Longarm himself first—Longarm assured him this was for security reasons. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

[[Image:WhereIsThySting-UltraMagnusDamaged.jpg|left|thumb|250px|"I can drop mine down a staircase and it's perfectly fine."]]
Despite Longarm's request, Magnus ordered Jazz and Sentinel Prime to pursue Wasp to Earth without letting Longarm know, lest word of the pursuit somehow reach Wasp and give him warning. Unfortunately, Magnus was preparing against the wrong traitor. Caught off-guard by a desperate Shockwave, Magnus was left heavily damaged and bereft of his hammer, barely able to tell [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] who was responsible. {{storylink|Where Is Thy Sting?}}

[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] informed Sentinel Prime of the details, noting that the Autobots had been thrown into shock and despair. {{storylink|Five Servos of Doom}}

Though Ultra Magnus survived the attack, he was left incapacitated and on [[spark support]]. Sentinel Prime returned to Cybertron to assume command as a "temporary Magnus," though the other members of the Autobot Council disapproved of his rush to take control and his penchant for secrecy. In his inaugural parade, Sentinel swore that Ultra Magnus would be avenged, and the crowd cheered approvingly. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

[[Image:TFA-ThisIsWhyIHateMachines-UltraMagnusSparkSupport.jpg|thumb|210px|"I will deal with you now."]]
His image was used—kind of gratuitously—in an anti-Decepticon propaganda ad by [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]]. Comatose in the [[Cybertron Central Infirmary]], he was seen by [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] and the Decepticon spy [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] as their fight spilled over into the room he was being held in. With a final goodbye to his former boss, Shockwave was preparing to deal the fatal blow with Magnus' hammer, when Ratchet blasted it and then Shockwave with his EMP Generator, saving Ultra Magnus (for the time being). {{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}}
{{-}}

===''The Cool'' comic===

[[Image:TheCoolEliteGuard01.jpg|thumb|200px|left|]]

Ultra Magnus and the Elite Guard journeyed to Earth in order to extract an explanation from Optimus Prime regarding why he had yet to return to Cybertron with his crew. {{storylink|The Cool issue 5}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Transformers Animated===
[[Image:Leaderanimatedultramagnus.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Mild-mannered alter-ego mode.]]
* '''Ultra Magnus''' (Leader, 2008)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TA-27'''
**''Accessories'': Hammer

:Having broken free of his forefathers' reliance on [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|redecos]], Ultra Magnus transforms into an 8-wheeled [[wikipedia:Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck|Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck]], and if his ''twelve'' guns aren't quite enough, he wields a giant hammer with which to... hammer things. He can simply grip it in his hand or one can attach it by inserting the tab on the handle into the slot in his palm. Pressing the red switch on the side of the vehicle mode activates laser sound effects and causes his guns to light up yellow. Rotating his shoulders down or up activates transformation noises. In robot mode, pressing his Autobot symbol will make his mouth move, and he will say one of three phrases: "Don't be a hero, Optimus. It's not in your programming," "Ultra Magnus here," and "We must return the Allspark to Cybertron." Unlike his fellow speaking ''Animated'' toys, however, he is ''not'' voiced by Magnus's in-show actor Jeff Glen Bennett—although somewhat ironically, whoever is providing the toy's voice actually does a ''better'' [[Robert Stack]] impression than Bennett does. His guns can be hidden in both modes for show-accuracy, or deployed for Blowing-Everything-Up-accuracy. And to make it even better, he's compatible with the [[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] accessory! (But just like Leader class Megatron, it does nothing.)

:[[Image:Leaderclass_animated_ultramagnus_battlemode.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Too... awesome... should've sent... a poet...]] Unfortunately, there are reports of problems with the sounds on several units. Some have partial sounds or no sounds at all, while others have overly sensitive sensors for the shoulder joints, leading to transformation sounds every time you move the arms. Also, an inordinate number of units suffer from notably poor quality control of the face's paint applications. (At least this can be checked before you buy, since the toy is packaged in robot mode.)

:This version has yet to be released in the UK and Germany, seemingly passed over in favour of the Roadbuster variant below with no explanation from Hasbro.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2008/Autobot/UltraMagnus/ultramagnus.htm More information on Ultra Magnus at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Roadbuster}}
[[Image:RBAniMagnus.jpg||250px|thumb|Finish the fight.]]
* '''Roadbuster Ultra Magnus''' (Leader)
**''Accessories'': Hammer

: Part of the fourth wave of ''Animated'' Ultras, Magnus gains a new coloration based on the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] character [[Roadbuster]] (hence the name). He retains all of his previous [[gimmick]]ry and sound effects from the original release.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Autobot/RoadbusterUltraMagnus/ultramagnus.htm More information on Roadbuster Ultra Magnus at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
* In voicing Magnus, Jeff Glen Bennett seems to be channeling [[Robert Stack]], who voiced [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|the original Ultra Magnus]] in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''.

* He actually isn't the [[Ultra Magnus (RID)|first]] full-sized Ultra Magnus not to be an Optimus Prime redeco, though he's the first one in about 7 years.

* In ''Animated'' continuity, "Magnus" is a rank. It is unknown what Ultra Magnus's name was before he reached said rank. The ranking schema established in "[[Autoboot Camp]]" suggests that Ultra Magnus may at one point have been "Ultra Prime", "Ultra Minor", and before those, simply "Ultra". Since we know little of his past, we cannot yet say which of these levels he may have actually achieved. However, in "[[The Elite Guard]]", Bumblebee suggests that, until a certain point, he was unsure why "Ultra" had been part of Ultra Magnus's name, only understanding it after witnessing a display of heavy firepower. This is in keeping with Autobots receiving their names in boot camp.

* Ultra Magnus was planned to go off-line in season 4.<ref>''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2]]''</ref>

* Derrick J. Wyatt has confirmed that one of the unidentifiable busts of Yoketron's star pupils is, in fact, Ultra Magnus.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Animated characters]]
[[Category:Autobots]]
[[Category:Autobot leaders]]
[[Category:Elite Guard]]

Human Error, Part II

2010-10-09T04:18:25Z

75.61.69.66: /* Continuity errors */ add

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni Human Error Part2 Substitute Autobots.jpg
|caption=That tiny thing at their feet? Yeah, that's right, that's their leader...
|ep=38
|title="Human Error, Part II"
|airdate=[[April 25]], 2009
|written by=[[Tom Pugsley]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Yosuke Hatta]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''While the Autobots are held captive by one of their deadliest foes, Sari must recruit a team of "Substitute Autobots" to rescue them.'''
==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Human Error Part II Ratchet fleshbag.jpg|thumb|left|180px|"No, this big, I swear!"]]
In Soundwave's virtual reality, the Autobots struggle to get themselves free of the giant Soundwave, only for a wire damaged by Sari's recent attack to sever Soundwave's connection to them. As Soundwave makes repairs, Prowl is briefly able to escape the virtual world using [[processor-over-matter]]. However, his attempt to free Optimus Prime is interrupted as Soundwave plugs him back into the VR computer. His control reestablished, Soundwave reverts the Autobots to their human forms. Recognizing that reprogramming will take longer now, Soundwave instructs his [[Sound Wave|toy replicas]] to begin hypnotizing the humans of Detroit.

In the virtual world, Bulkhead has taken to smashing things in the hopes that it will get them out. Ratchet says that the only way they can do that is to find Soundwave's interface, a virtual icon with his representation. Bumblebee quickly notices a potential icon: Soundwave's vehicle mode, which nearly runs them down. Optimus orders the Automen to follow Soundwave in vehicles on which their own [[alternate mode]]s are based, including the virtual [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Upon looking at the driving equipment, however, Optimus realizes that he may be in a little over his head.

Heading back to Sumdac Tower, Sari seeks out her father's help. She is briefly found by a Sound Wave toy, but knocks it aside. Observing that she is immune to his hypnotics, Soundwave decides that she must be terminated. Finding her father in the lab, Sari is horrified when he tries to attack her, but is able to delay him by burying him under a fallen shelf. Sari quickly takes flight, hoping to find help elsewhere.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Electrostatic Soundwave Reprogramming.jpg|thumb|right|180px|"Now you will watch as I complete ''Through the Fire and Flames'' on EXPERT!"]]
In the virtual reality, the Autobots are following Soundwave's avatar, but not very well: Bulkhead and Bumblebee keep ramming into other drivers, Optimus's fire-suppressant equipment is out of control, Ratchet is driving backwards, and Prowl is having trouble avoiding popping wheelies. Cornering Soundwave at a dilapidated drive-in movie, Ratchet is convinced that they have the Decepticon right where they want him—only for a dozen of the Soundwave vehicle modes to appear and surround them. It's a trap! As the Automen try to flee, Soundwave appears on the movie screen and begins broadcasting a reprogramming frequency. Prowl begins another processor-over-matter attempt, but one by one, the Autobots' optics begin to turn red...

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Beachbum Scrapper.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Surprised he didn't name the Dinobot "Friday". Or "Wilson".]]
On Dinobot Island, Sari looks for the Dinobots, but they find her when Swoop knocks her out of the air. Grimlock shows up and declares her an intruder. Sari says that she wants their help, but Grimlock informs Sari that Dinobots don't help puny humans—they ''destroy'' puny humans! The two Dinobots transform and Grimlock attacks, only for Sari to return fire with a blast from her weapon as well. Grimlock decides against destroying her, but says that they won't help either. Sari then notices that the triceratops is missing and asks where he is, but Grimlock says that they aren't talking to him, as Dinobots aren't pets. Heading to the shore, Sari finds Scrapper, who has been marooned for almost seven weeks, separated from [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]] after their last misadventure. Scrapper reveals that he's taken the triceratops as a pet and named him Snarl (as the Dinobot didn't take kindly to [[Slag (G1)|Slag]]). Scrapper also points out that even if he wanted to help, they're stuck on the island. Sari asks why he doesn't make himself a boat. Scrapper admits that he never thought of that.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Evil Autobots.jpg|180px|right|thumb|Quick! [[Attack of the Autobots|Drain their evil and recharge their good!]]]]
On the way to the mainland, Sari says that the three of them will need to rescue the Autobots immediately, but Scrapper reminds her that he never said he'd help. He plans to take Snarl up north, having heard it's good oil country. Sari angrily tells him that it's time to be a hero, and a voice from underwater answers, jumping onto the raft—it's [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]]! Reluctantly, Sari takes him. As the [[Substitute Autobot]]s reach the mainland, Sari tells them to [[transform and roll out|roll out]], but they quickly leave without her. Once she catches up to them, Sari and the Substitutes are quickly confronted by Soundwave, when the Autobots appear as well. Sari is relieved at the sight of her friends, as she had little hope for the Substitute Autobots. But her cheer turns to horror as she realizes that the Autobots are under Soundwave's control.

[[Image:PrimeReadyToRock.jpg|thumb|left|180px|"Autobots, transform and ''rock out!''"]]
Converting to battle mode, Sari instructs the Substitute Autobots to attack. However, the Substitutes are not up to the Autobots' own skills. Wreck-Gar follows the orders of everyone too literally, Scrapper's snowball attack is just plain ineffective, and Snarl barely does anything. Sari is amazed that mindless zombies are more effective than her own team, until Scrapper comments that it's because they're being controlled by one guy. Sari realizes that he's right, and orders the Substitute Autobots to attack on their own. Sure enough, it works: Soundwave begins having trouble multitasking, and the Substitute Autobots' effectiveness begins to wear them down. One of Prowl's attacks even saves Sari from being blasted by Bumblebee. Soundwave eventually decides to use just Optimus Prime instead, and he is able to take down each Substitute Autobot until only Sari is left. Prime nearly slices her in half before Prowl throws his shuriken at Soundwave, knocking his keytar out of his hands and freeing the Autobots. Sari had suspected that he had been faking, but Prowl admits that it took a great deal of effort to fight off Soundwave's control.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Soundwave Destroyed.jpg|thumb|right|175px|The day the music died.]]
Furious at Prowl's deception, Soundwave orders Laserbeak and Ratbat, the keytar, to attack. Ratbat dispatches Prowl, while Laserbeak goes for Sari. Soundwave himself tackles Prime and knocks Optimus's axe out of his hands, so Prime decides to use Soundwave's other axe—Laserbeak. The two engage in what may be the most epic rock-off of all time as they try to counter each other's harmonics. Ultimately, Optimus Prime uses the instrument-locked Laserbeak to shatter Soundwave and Ratbat, freeing the humans from Soundwave's control. However, Laserbeak grabs Soundwave's remaining functional piece and flies off.

Later, it's a very merry Christmas indeed for the Autobots and the Sumdacs: Not only are they freed of Soundwave's control, but Porter C. Powell is about to be financially ruined by the impending Sound Wave refunds. Scrapper decides to call it quits and head back to Dinobot Island for a long vacation, but Snarl refuses to let the Constructicon ride him. Wreck-Gar, however, chooses to stay and help clean up the mess from the battle, ending the fine career of the Substitute Autobots. Sari also has a better appreciation for what Optimus goes through being in command, while the Autobots understand the rigors of being human. As the Autobots reflect on their newfound understanding, Wreck-Gar begins distributing garbage to all the good little girls and boys.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (5)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (6)
*[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (18)
*[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (19)
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] (1)
*[[Ratbat (Animated)|Ratbat]] (7)
*[[Laserbeak (Animated)|Laserbeak]] (23)
|c3=
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (8)
*[[Carmine Fanzone]] (9)
*[[Augustus Edsel]] (10)
*[[Miss Adrias]] (11)
*[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike Witwicky]] (12)
*[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]] (13)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]] (14)
*[[Nancy Witwicky]] (15)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (17)
|h4=[[Substitute Autobot]]s|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (16)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (20)
*[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (21)
*[[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] (22)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Driver''': Hey! Take it easy, leadfoot! 
'''Bulkhead''': What, it's not lead any more! 
''[Bumblebee's car hits Bulkhead's car]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Virtual Fanzone's gonna be ticked! 
'''Optimus''': I have to hand it to the humans, driving is much more difficult than it looks. 
'''Ratchet''': ''[Driving backwards]'' This ain't so hard. 
'''Prowl''': It's merely a matter of becoming one with the machiAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ''[Begins popping a wheelie]''
:—The Autobots take their turn at driving... and fail miserably.

"Hey, weren't there three of you? Where's the other one?" 
"Me Grimlock not talking to him. Him traitor. Dinobots not pets."
:—'''Sari Sumdac''' and '''Grimlock''' on the status of the Dinobots.

''[Writing in the sand]'' "Day 48: Still no sign of my collea-...my buds. I have befriended and trained one of the local wildlife." ''[Tide comes up and erases writing]'' "Oh, not again!"
:—'''Scrapper''' just can't win.

'''Sari''': All right. Substitute Autobots, transform and roll out! 
'''Wreck-Gar''': Transform. What a good idea! 
''[Transforms and drives off]'' 
'''Scrapper''': ''[Riding Snarl]'' Hi-ho, Snarl! 
''[Snarl slips on some ice, knocking off Scrapper, who transforms and follows]'' 
'''Scrapper''': Hey, Snarl, wait for Daddy! 
'''Sari''': Hey, wait for me! I'm your leader!
:—The Substitute Autobots aren't getting off to a good start.

'''Sari''': All right, big guy. I'd hate to do this, but.. 
''[Sari fires a blast at Optimus, but he uses Wreck-Gar as a shield, causing some of his junk to fly out and hit him]'' 
'''Wreck-Gar''': ''[Dazed]'' Ha ha! The mighty Wreck-Gar is no match for...the mighty Wreck-Gar. Wait, whose side am I on?
:—Wreck-Gar, actually more confused than usual.

"Time to change your tune, Soundwave. Operation: face the music."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', being awesome.

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===
[[Image:Laserbreak.jpg|right|thumb|To be precise, one has no frets.]]
* After Soundwave catches up to the Autobots at the drive-in theater, Optimus' arm is missing as he leans out of the window.
* Human Ratchet has his scar on the wrong side of his face in one scene.
* After Sari says, "Well, I sure am glad that's over," Snarl begins to walk off, and puts some good distance between himself and the group as Scrapper talks. Immediately after Scrapper hits the floor when Snarl kicks him off, Snarl appears close up again to the group, almost as if he's just ''now'' leaving
* After Wreck-Gar is thrown to the ground by Optimus the hole in his backpack is missing although that AllSpark fragment could have fixed that.
* When Optimus delivers his final strike with Laserbeak, the force of the blow snaps off the Decepticon bird's frets, leaving a jagged break (circled in the image at right). When Laserbeak pops back up a few moments later to carry Soundwave off, however, he's still in one piece; at the very least, he should be missing his tail.
{{--}}

===Continuity errors===
* Sari's upgrade sequence from "[[TransWarped]]" is used as stock footage for her transformation sequence, even though she grows taller during the sequence.

===Transformers references===
* While it's unclear if the reference is intentional, "Soundwave hypnotises humans using miniature duplicates of himself" was also the plot of TakaraTomy's ''[[Music Label]]'' toyline. A definite ''Music Label'' reference, though, is the coloration of Soundwave's virtual form at the beginning of the episode: it's based on the line's"[[Soundwave (G1)/toys#Music Label|Sonic White]]" Soundwave MP3 player figure.
* Soundwave's virtual avatars are depicted in the color scheme of the [[Soundwave (Animated)#Electrostatic Soundwave|Electrostatic Soundwave]] toy.
* The traffic light [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] swings around is based on the weapon that came with [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl's]] first toy.
* Dinobot Island is missing a huge chunk of itself after the events of "[[Predacons Rising]]".
* Scrapper is revealed to have survived the explosion the Constructicons were caught in back in "[[Three's a Crowd]]". According to him, it's been forty-eight days since the events of that episode. The fates of [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]], however, are less certain.
[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Laserbeack&Soundwave Flee.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Next time, Gadget! Next time!]]
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] names the triceratops [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]] "Snarl" as a second choice after the Dinobot took offense to "[[Slag (G1)|Slag]]", referencing the [[Snarl (Animated)#Notes|real-life name change]] for Snarl. This is the first time Snarl has been given a name in the cartoon—[[Swoop (Animated)|the pteranodon]] has still not been named in the show itself.
* Wreck-Gar has been at the bottom of the lake since his debut episode, "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]".

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Erreur humaine 2/2'''" ("Human Error 2/2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
* The "castaway" Scrapper is dressed in [[wikipedia:Robinson Crusoe|Robinson Crusoe]] garb, including a rust beard.
* Both Wreck-Gar and his voice actor, [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], play the [[:Image:WeirdAl.jpg|accordion]].
* Optimus refers to Laserbeak as an "axe" (a common nickname for guitars) before forcibly transforming him into his alt mode.
* Scrapper's cry of "Hi-ho, Snarl!" is a reference to the Lone Ranger's cry of "Hi-ho, Silver!"
* The Christmas carols continue in this episode, as Scrapper starts singing a bit of "[[Wikipedia:Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!|Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!]]" and Wreck-Gar offers up his own unique version of "[[Wikipedia:Deck the Halls|Deck the Halls]]" (given his voice actor, this isn't much of a surprise). Sari's comment, "It's supposed to be a 'Silent Night.'" as she shuts Soundwave off refers to the carol of the same name. As in the previous episode, "[[Wikipedia: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen|God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]" is incorporated into the background music of this episode's final scene.
* Some of the sound effects used when Optimus attacks Soundwave with Laserbeak date back to Hanna-Barbara's ''Quickdraw McGraw'', whose title character's alter ego, El Kabong, used a guitar as a melee weapon.
* Meanwhile, Ratbat's shrieks are taken directly from the original ''[[wikipedia:Scooby Doo|Scooby Doo, Where Are You!]]'' intro.
* The stylized animation of Optimus Prime's final strike with Laserbeak is highly reminiscent of [[wikipedia:Haruhara_Haruko|Haruko Haruhara's]] attacks with her guitar in ''[[wikipedia:FLCL|FLCL]]''—one of Derrick J. Wyatt's admitted influences for this show.
* When Soundwave breaks apart and his mind control power dissipates, the sound effect is of a dial-up modem.

===Trivia===
*Several questions were left unanswered in this two-parter, including how Soundwave was rebuilt after the destruction of his body in "[[Sound and Fury]]", and where Laserbeak and Ratbat come from.
*This episode marks the return of [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Even in the virtual world, it's still absolutely filthy, inside and out.
*Soundwave says he "reprograms" the Autobots into Decepticons. However, it seems more like he put a receiver in their bodies and used them as puppets. If they were properly processor-washed, then they would do what he says on their own, not need directions from a remote. Perhaps the reprogramming is simply to make them easier to control.
*This episode marks the last appearance of quite a few characters, namely, Wreck-Gar, Scrapper, Soundwave, all three Dinobots, Porter C. Powell, Mayor Edsel and his aide, and the Witwickies.
*Captain Fanzone appears several times in the episode, but has no speaking lines. Even after coming out of hypnosis, he doesn't make a remark about his reasons for disliking mechanical entities.
*The tag on Fanzone's present reads "A machine even you could love."
*Who knew Optimus could shred?
*Angry Archer was meant to make his Season 3 debut in this episode, but the scene was cut during production. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2}}

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Decepticon Air

2010-10-09T04:02:49Z

75.61.69.66: /* Continuity errors */ add

{{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 (Animated)|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)
*[[Carrera (Animated)|Carrera]] (20)
*[[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]] (21)
*[[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]] (22)
*[[Furão]] (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 (Animated)|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.

* While convincing Lugnut to let the elite guard live, Swindle's bolo tie suddenly disappears.

* When Sunstorm and Ramjet trap the Autobots in the chamber, Sunstorm's chin seems like it's been cut down, and looks similar to the G1 Seekers' chin size.

* 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===
* Up until the part where [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] orders [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] to guard the prisoners, all of the captive Autobots were confined within the prison cells. Later, when Swindle contemplates whether to stay to guard the prisoners or loot the ship, all of the captured Autobots are now ''outside'' of their cells. Unless this was an oversight by the animators, why would Swindle let them out in the first place?

* Safeguard is able to create a tornado in outer space?

* Optimus transforms into his full firetruck vehicle mode to escape the Decepticons when he first arrives, yet is able to detach the cab section several seconds before he actually transforms into robot mode. The cab slides down an adjacent hall as he reaches the elevator.

===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.

* 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]], [[Carrera (Animated)|Carrera]], [[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]], [[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]], [[Furão]], [[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 [[Autorooper]]), [[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 (ROC)|''Return of Convoy'' Grandus]]'s ''[[Brave (franchise)|Brave]]'' [[redeco]], Dag Base.

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

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Prise en Otage'''" ("Taking Hostage")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===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.

* When Swindle uses the stasis suspension ray, the sound effect is identical to that of the Zat Guns used in ''Stargate SG-1''.

===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.
** Later, [[Dirge (Animated)|he does get]] [[Thrust (Animated)|the hang of cloning]].
* Ramjet and Sunstorm are pretty quiet throughout this episode, probably because their strange speech patterns make it nigh-impossible for them to have a normal conversation.
* This episode marks the last appearance of Blitzwing, Sunstorm, Ramjet, and Swindle.

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Decepticon Air

2010-10-09T03:59:05Z

75.61.69.66: /* Continuity errors */ add

{{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 (Animated)|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)
*[[Carrera (Animated)|Carrera]] (20)
*[[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]] (21)
*[[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]] (22)
*[[Furão]] (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 (Animated)|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.

* While convincing Lugnut to let the elite guard live, Swindle's bolo tie suddenly disappears.

* When Sunstorm and Ramjet trap the Autobots in the chamber, Sunstorm's chin seems like it's been cut down, and looks similar to the G1 Seekers' chin size.

* 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===
* Up until the part where [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] orders [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] to guard the prisoners, all of the captive Autobots were confined within the prison cells. Later, when Swindle contemplates whether to stay to guard the prisoners or loot the ship, all of the captured Autobots are now ''outside'' of their cells. Unless this was an oversight by the animators, why would Swindle let them out in the first place?

* Safeguard is able to create a tornado in outer space?

* Optimus transforms into his full firetruck vehicle mode to escape the Decepticons when he first arrives, yet is able to detach the cab section, which he does prior to transforming back into robot mode at the elevator.

===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.

* 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]], [[Carrera (Animated)|Carrera]], [[Searchlight (Animated)|Searchlight]], [[Flareup (Animated)|Flareup]], [[Furão]], [[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 [[Autorooper]]), [[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 (ROC)|''Return of Convoy'' Grandus]]'s ''[[Brave (franchise)|Brave]]'' [[redeco]], Dag Base.

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

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Prise en Otage'''" ("Taking Hostage")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===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.

* When Swindle uses the stasis suspension ray, the sound effect is identical to that of the Zat Guns used in ''Stargate SG-1''.

===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.
** Later, [[Dirge (Animated)|he does get]] [[Thrust (Animated)|the hang of cloning]].
* Ramjet and Sunstorm are pretty quiet throughout this episode, probably because their strange speech patterns make it nigh-impossible for them to have a normal conversation.
* This episode marks the last appearance of Blitzwing, Sunstorm, Ramjet, and Swindle.

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Human Error, Part II

2010-10-08T20:42:38Z

75.61.69.66: /* Animation or technical errors */ add

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni Human Error Part2 Substitute Autobots.jpg
|caption=That tiny thing at their feet? Yeah, that's right, that's their leader...
|ep=38
|title="Human Error, Part II"
|airdate=[[April 25]], 2009
|written by=[[Tom Pugsley]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Yosuke Hatta]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''While the Autobots are held captive by one of their deadliest foes, Sari must recruit a team of "Substitute Autobots" to rescue them.'''
==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Human Error Part II Ratchet fleshbag.jpg|thumb|left|180px|"No, this big, I swear!"]]
In Soundwave's virtual reality, the Autobots struggle to get themselves free of the giant Soundwave, only for a wire damaged by Sari's recent attack to sever Soundwave's connection to them. As Soundwave makes repairs, Prowl is briefly able to escape the virtual world using [[processor-over-matter]]. However, his attempt to free Optimus Prime is interrupted as Soundwave plugs him back into the VR computer. His control reestablished, Soundwave reverts the Autobots to their human forms. Recognizing that reprogramming will take longer now, Soundwave instructs his [[Sound Wave|toy replicas]] to begin hypnotizing the humans of Detroit.

In the virtual world, Bulkhead has taken to smashing things in the hopes that it will get them out. Ratchet says that the only way they can do that is to find Soundwave's interface, a virtual icon with his representation. Bumblebee quickly notices a potential icon: Soundwave's vehicle mode, which nearly runs them down. Optimus orders the Automen to follow Soundwave in vehicles on which their own [[alternate mode]]s are based, including the virtual [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Upon looking at the driving equipment, however, Optimus realizes that he may be in a little over his head.

Heading back to Sumdac Tower, Sari seeks out her father's help. She is briefly found by a Sound Wave toy, but knocks it aside. Observing that she is immune to his hypnotics, Soundwave decides that she must be terminated. Finding her father in the lab, Sari is horrified when he tries to attack her, but is able to delay him by burying him under a fallen shelf. Sari quickly takes flight, hoping to find help elsewhere.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Electrostatic Soundwave Reprogramming.jpg|thumb|right|180px|"Now you will watch as I complete ''Through the Fire and Flames'' on EXPERT!"]]
In the virtual reality, the Autobots are following Soundwave's avatar, but not very well: Bulkhead and Bumblebee keep ramming into other drivers, Optimus's fire-suppressant equipment is out of control, Ratchet is driving backwards, and Prowl is having trouble avoiding popping wheelies. Cornering Soundwave at a dilapidated drive-in movie, Ratchet is convinced that they have the Decepticon right where they want him—only for a dozen of the Soundwave vehicle modes to appear and surround them. It's a trap! As the Automen try to flee, Soundwave appears on the movie screen and begins broadcasting a reprogramming frequency. Prowl begins another processor-over-matter attempt, but one by one, the Autobots' optics begin to turn red...

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Beachbum Scrapper.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Surprised he didn't name the Dinobot "Friday". Or "Wilson".]]
On Dinobot Island, Sari looks for the Dinobots, but they find her when Swoop knocks her out of the air. Grimlock shows up and declares her an intruder. Sari says that she wants their help, but Grimlock informs Sari that Dinobots don't help puny humans—they ''destroy'' puny humans! The two Dinobots transform and Grimlock attacks, only for Sari to return fire with a blast from her weapon as well. Grimlock decides against destroying her, but says that they won't help either. Sari then notices that the triceratops is missing and asks where he is, but Grimlock says that they aren't talking to him, as Dinobots aren't pets. Heading to the shore, Sari finds Scrapper, who has been marooned for almost seven weeks, separated from [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]] after their last misadventure. Scrapper reveals that he's taken the triceratops as a pet and named him Snarl (as the Dinobot didn't take kindly to [[Slag (G1)|Slag]]). Scrapper also points out that even if he wanted to help, they're stuck on the island. Sari asks why he doesn't make himself a boat. Scrapper admits that he never thought of that.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Evil Autobots.jpg|180px|right|thumb|Quick! [[Attack of the Autobots|Drain their evil and recharge their good!]]]]
On the way to the mainland, Sari says that the three of them will need to rescue the Autobots immediately, but Scrapper reminds her that he never said he'd help. He plans to take Snarl up north, having heard it's good oil country. Sari angrily tells him that it's time to be a hero, and a voice from underwater answers, jumping onto the raft—it's [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]]! Reluctantly, Sari takes him. As the [[Substitute Autobot]]s reach the mainland, Sari tells them to [[transform and roll out|roll out]], but they quickly leave without her. Once she catches up to them, Sari and the Substitutes are quickly confronted by Soundwave, when the Autobots appear as well. Sari is relieved at the sight of her friends, as she had little hope for the Substitute Autobots. But her cheer turns to horror as she realizes that the Autobots are under Soundwave's control.

[[Image:PrimeReadyToRock.jpg|thumb|left|180px|"Autobots, transform and ''rock out!''"]]
Converting to battle mode, Sari instructs the Substitute Autobots to attack. However, the Substitutes are not up to the Autobots' own skills. Wreck-Gar follows the orders of everyone too literally, Scrapper's snowball attack is just plain ineffective, and Snarl barely does anything. Sari is amazed that mindless zombies are more effective than her own team, until Scrapper comments that it's because they're being controlled by one guy. Sari realizes that he's right, and orders the Substitute Autobots to attack on their own. Sure enough, it works: Soundwave begins having trouble multitasking, and the Substitute Autobots' effectiveness begins to wear them down. One of Prowl's attacks even saves Sari from being blasted by Bumblebee. Soundwave eventually decides to use just Optimus Prime instead, and he is able to take down each Substitute Autobot until only Sari is left. Prime nearly slices her in half before Prowl throws his shuriken at Soundwave, knocking his keytar out of his hands and freeing the Autobots. Sari had suspected that he had been faking, but Prowl admits that it took a great deal of effort to fight off Soundwave's control.

[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Soundwave Destroyed.jpg|thumb|right|175px|The day the music died.]]
Furious at Prowl's deception, Soundwave orders Laserbeak and Ratbat, the keytar, to attack. Ratbat dispatches Prowl, while Laserbeak goes for Sari. Soundwave himself tackles Prime and knocks Optimus's axe out of his hands, so Prime decides to use Soundwave's other axe—Laserbeak. The two engage in what may be the most epic rock-off of all time as they try to counter each other's harmonics. Ultimately, Optimus Prime uses the instrument-locked Laserbeak to shatter Soundwave and Ratbat, freeing the humans from Soundwave's control. However, Laserbeak grabs Soundwave's remaining functional piece and flies off.

Later, it's a very merry Christmas indeed for the Autobots and the Sumdacs: Not only are they freed of Soundwave's control, but Porter C. Powell is about to be financially ruined by the impending Sound Wave refunds. Scrapper decides to call it quits and head back to Dinobot Island for a long vacation, but Snarl refuses to let the Constructicon ride him. Wreck-Gar, however, chooses to stay and help clean up the mess from the battle, ending the fine career of the Substitute Autobots. Sari also has a better appreciation for what Optimus goes through being in command, while the Autobots understand the rigors of being human. As the Autobots reflect on their newfound understanding, Wreck-Gar begins distributing garbage to all the good little girls and boys.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (5)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (6)
*[[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (18)
*[[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (19)
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]] (1)
*[[Ratbat (Animated)|Ratbat]] (7)
*[[Laserbeak (Animated)|Laserbeak]] (23)
|c3=
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (8)
*[[Carmine Fanzone]] (9)
*[[Augustus Edsel]] (10)
*[[Miss Adrias]] (11)
*[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike Witwicky]] (12)
*[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly Witwicky]] (13)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]] (14)
*[[Nancy Witwicky]] (15)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (17)
|h4=[[Substitute Autobot]]s|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (16)
*[[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] (20)
*[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (21)
*[[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] (22)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Driver''': Hey! Take it easy, leadfoot! 
'''Bulkhead''': What, it's not lead any more! 
''[Bumblebee's car hits Bulkhead's car]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Virtual Fanzone's gonna be ticked! 
'''Optimus''': I have to hand it to the humans, driving is much more difficult than it looks. 
'''Ratchet''': ''[Driving backwards]'' This ain't so hard. 
'''Prowl''': It's merely a matter of becoming one with the machiAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ''[Begins popping a wheelie]''
:—The Autobots take their turn at driving... and fail miserably.

"Hey, weren't there three of you? Where's the other one?" 
"Me Grimlock not talking to him. Him traitor. Dinobots not pets."
:—'''Sari Sumdac''' and '''Grimlock''' on the status of the Dinobots.

''[Writing in the sand]'' "Day 48: Still no sign of my collea-...my buds. I have befriended and trained one of the local wildlife." ''[Tide comes up and erases writing]'' "Oh, not again!"
:—'''Scrapper''' just can't win.

'''Sari''': All right. Substitute Autobots, transform and roll out! 
'''Wreck-Gar''': Transform. What a good idea! 
''[Transforms and drives off]'' 
'''Scrapper''': ''[Riding Snarl]'' Hi-ho, Snarl! 
''[Snarl slips on some ice, knocking off Scrapper, who transforms and follows]'' 
'''Scrapper''': Hey, Snarl, wait for Daddy! 
'''Sari''': Hey, wait for me! I'm your leader!
:—The Substitute Autobots aren't getting off to a good start.

'''Sari''': All right, big guy. I'd hate to do this, but.. 
''[Sari fires a blast at Optimus, but he uses Wreck-Gar as a shield, causing some of his junk to fly out and hit him]'' 
'''Wreck-Gar''': ''[Dazed]'' Ha ha! The mighty Wreck-Gar is no match for...the mighty Wreck-Gar. Wait, whose side am I on?
:—Wreck-Gar, actually more confused than usual.

"Time to change your tune, Soundwave. Operation: face the music."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', being awesome.

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===
[[Image:Laserbreak.jpg|right|thumb|To be precise, one has no frets.]]
* After Soundwave catches up to the Autobots at the drive-in theater, Optimus' arm is missing as he leans out of the window.
* Human Ratchet has his scar on the wrong side of his face in one scene.
* Scrapper defeats Bulkhead by spraying him with water from a fire hydrant, which somehow freezes into solid ice in less than a second.
* After Sari says, "Well, I sure am glad that's over," Snarl begins to walk off, and puts some good distance between himself and the group as Scrapper talks. Immediately after Scrapper hits the floor when Snarl kicks him off, Snarl appears close up again to the group, almost as if he's just ''now'' leaving.
* After Wreck-Gar is thrown to the ground by Optimus, the hole in his backpack is missing although that AllSpark fragment could have fixed that.
* When Optimus delivers his final strike with Laserbeak, the force of the blow snaps off the Decepticon bird's frets, leaving a jagged break (circled in the image at right). When Laserbeak pops back up a few moments later to carry Soundwave off, however, he's still in one piece; at the very least, he should be missing his tail.
{{--}}

===Continuity errors===

===Transformers references===
* While it's unclear if the reference is intentional, "Soundwave hypnotises humans using miniature duplicates of himself" was also the plot of TakaraTomy's ''[[Music Label]]'' toyline. A definite ''Music Label'' reference, though, is the coloration of Soundwave's virtual form at the beginning of the episode: it's based on the line's"[[Soundwave (G1)/toys#Music Label|Sonic White]]" Soundwave MP3 player figure.
* Soundwave's virtual avatars are depicted in the color scheme of the [[Soundwave (Animated)#Electrostatic Soundwave|Electrostatic Soundwave]] toy.
* The traffic light [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] swings around is based on the weapon that came with [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl's]] first toy.
* Dinobot Island is missing a huge chunk of itself after the events of "[[Predacons Rising]]".
* Scrapper is revealed to have survived the explosion the Constructicons were caught in back in "[[Three's a Crowd]]". According to him, it's been forty-eight days since the events of that episode. The fates of [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Dirt Boss (Animated)|Dirt Boss]], however, are less certain.
[[Image:TFAni Human Error Part2 Laserbeack&Soundwave Flee.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Next time, Gadget! Next time!]]
* [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] names the triceratops [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobot]] "Snarl" as a second choice after the Dinobot took offense to "[[Slag (G1)|Slag]]", referencing the [[Snarl (Animated)#Notes|real-life name change]] for Snarl. This is the first time Snarl has been given a name in the cartoon—[[Swoop (Animated)|the pteranodon]] has still not been named in the show itself.
* Wreck-Gar has been at the bottom of the lake since his debut episode, "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]".

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Erreur humaine 2/2'''" ("Human Error 2/2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
* The "castaway" Scrapper is dressed in [[wikipedia:Robinson Crusoe|Robinson Crusoe]] garb, including a rust beard.
* Both Wreck-Gar and his voice actor, [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], play the [[:Image:WeirdAl.jpg|accordion]].
* Optimus refers to Laserbeak as an "axe" (a common nickname for guitars) before forcibly transforming him into his alt mode.
* Scrapper's cry of "Hi-ho, Snarl!" is a reference to the Lone Ranger's cry of "Hi-ho, Silver!"
* The Christmas carols continue in this episode, as Scrapper starts singing a bit of "[[Wikipedia:Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!|Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!]]" and Wreck-Gar offers up his own unique version of "[[Wikipedia:Deck the Halls|Deck the Halls]]" (given his voice actor, this isn't much of a surprise). Sari's comment, "It's supposed to be a 'Silent Night.'" as she shuts Soundwave off refers to the carol of the same name. As in the previous episode, "[[Wikipedia: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen|God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen]]" is incorporated into the background music of this episode's final scene.
* Some of the sound effects used when Optimus attacks Soundwave with Laserbeak date back to Hanna-Barbara's ''Quickdraw McGraw'', whose title character's alter ego, El Kabong, used a guitar as a melee weapon.
* Meanwhile, Ratbat's shrieks are taken directly from the original ''[[wikipedia:Scooby Doo|Scooby Doo, Where Are You!]]'' intro.
* The stylized animation of Optimus Prime's final strike with Laserbeak is highly reminiscent of [[wikipedia:Haruhara_Haruko|Haruko Haruhara's]] attacks with her guitar in ''[[wikipedia:FLCL|FLCL]]''—one of Derrick J. Wyatt's admitted influences for this show.
* When Soundwave breaks apart and his mind control power dissipates, the sound effect is of a dial-up modem.

===Trivia===
*Several questions were left unanswered in this two-parter, including how Soundwave was rebuilt after the destruction of his body in "[[Sound and Fury]]", and where Laserbeak and Ratbat come from.
*This episode marks the return of [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Even in the virtual world, it's still absolutely filthy, inside and out.
*Soundwave says he "reprograms" the Autobots into Decepticons. However, it seems more like he put a receiver in their bodies and used them as puppets. If they were properly processor-washed, then they would do what he says on their own, not need directions from a remote. Perhaps the reprogramming is simply to make them easier to control.
*This episode marks the last appearance of quite a few characters, namely, Wreck-Gar, Scrapper, Soundwave, all three Dinobots, Porter C. Powell, Mayor Edsel and his aide, and the Witwickies.
*Captain Fanzone appears several times in the episode, but has no speaking lines. Even after coming out of hypnosis, he doesn't make a remark about his reasons for disliking mechanical entities.
*The tag on Fanzone's present reads "A machine even you could love."
*Who knew Optimus could shred?
*Angry Archer was meant to make his Season 3 debut in this episode, but the scene was cut during production. {{storylink|Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2}}

==Home video releases==
This episode has yet to be released on home video.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Energon cube

2010-10-08T20:26:54Z

75.61.69.66: /* Animated cartoon */ fix

{{disambig2|garden-variety cubes of energon|the really big cube of energon|Energon Cube}}

The '''energon cube''' is the safest form of [[Energon (fuel)|energon]], used for transportation and storage.

:''[[Omni Productions]] dub name:'' '''Power packs''' (also used for [[Matrix of Leadership|the Matrix]])

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon===
[[Image:EnergonCubesCartoon1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[N.R.G.|NRG]].]]
The energon cubes could be created by [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}, who generated the empty cube framework from his similarly-shaped chest; several other Decepticons were able to produce them as well. The [[Autobot]]s were apparently unaware of them until their reawakening on [[Earth]] in 1984, when [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] described them to [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prime]] as simply "some kind of cube". (This is a little perplexing in light of the fact that energon cubes were also shown to have existed by the time of Optimus Prime's creation at the end of Cybertron's [[Golden Age]]. {{storylink|War Dawn}}) By 2005, however, the Autobots had begun to use energon cubes for power as well.

Exactly how an energon cube operates is unclear, especially as their framework appears to be some sort of self-sustaining force field with no internal mechanisms. Most frequently, the empty cube is simply attached to or placed near the energy source from which it is to drain power, and the energy in question is automatically converted into liquid energon that fills the cube. Energon cubes have proven able to transform a vast array of resources into energon, including electricity, magma, oil and steam. Energon seems to have a much higher energy potential than carbon-based fuel sources: 1000 barrels of oil are needed to fill a single energon cube, {{storylink|Thief in the Night}} and the electrical energy within the synapses of the human brain are insufficient to generate even a few drops. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}}

The liquid energon within energon cubes is a glowing pink color, although the cubes could also be compressed for easy storage and transport, causing them to take on an iridescent rainbow effect.

===Marvel Comics===
[[Image:Energoncubesrockandrollout.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Energon cubes come in Grande...]]
[[Image:Marvel52 concentratedenergoncubes.jpg|right|200px|thumb|...and Tall!]]
[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] builds an energy converter that's capable of converting both [[oil]] and the sonic energy from a [[Brick Springhorn]] concert into large purple energon cubes. Unfortunately when these cubes are exposed to x-ray energy from Shockwave's weaponry, they detonate in a blinding flash of light. {{storylink|Rock and Roll-Out!}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] invented the [[Geothermal Generator]] which converted the [[Earth]]'s underground heat into energon cubes. {{storylink|Used Autobots}}

'''Concentrated energon cubes''' are a highly valuable form of universally accepted currency among alien cultures. These tiny green non-glowing cubes measure approximately 6 inches (15.2cm) on a side and are easily transportable, as well as being less combustible than normal energon cubes. {{storylink|Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?}}

===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
The naturally-occurring energon on prehistoric [[Earth]] appeared only in an unstable, highly-explosive raw [[Energon crystal|crystalline form]]. However, after the [[Planet Buster]] baked Earth's surface, the crystals were all either incinerated or somehow "converted" into more stable cubes. These cubes no longer emitted the dangerous radiation which prompted the Beast Warriors to adopt their beast modes in the first place. They were significantly smaller than Transformers from after the [[Great Upgrade]] and colored blue.

[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] threatened to detonate an energon cube near her head if [[Tarantulas]] would not remove the mind-link he had with her. The explosion would have killed them both via the link, so Tarantulas did remove it. {{storylink|Tangled Web}}

===''Animated'' cartoon===
Energon cubes are purple. During the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], the Decepticons hoarded them in mass quantities on their battleships. However many centuries of neglect they suffered left them unstable.

They are also apparently delicious ''and'' nutritious to newborn giant spiders. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

Energon becomes unstable if cut in its cube form, which combined with an elevator makes for a handy bomb in tight quarters. It is suggested that one not stare down the shaft while attempting this. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

There also exists 'demolition-grade' energon, which appears as palm-sized cubes and utilizes the potentially explosive properties of full-size energon. When used properly, they are very useful in clearing away rubble from Space Bridges. But using them ''in''correctly could lead to a messy accident—say, like the destruction of a small spaceship. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

==Games==
===''War for Cybertron''===
[[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] was capable of producing energon cubes. Both the Autobots and Decepticons used the cubes to regain energy they had lost in the heat of battle. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|Transformers: War for Cybertron}}

==Things that look like energon cubes but aren't==
*[[Personality component]]s for some reason look like small energon cubes. {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}}
*Refined [[Cybertonium]] looks like a green colored energon cube. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}}
*The refined heat resistant alloy developed by [[Jessica Morgan]]'s father resembles yellow colored energon cubes. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

The reason why all share the shape of energon cubes is a mystery that plagues us to this day....

==Toy==
[[Image:EnergonCubeToy1.jpg|right|100px|thumb|Rubik, the Amazing Cube!]]
Energon Cubes were available with Takara's "TF Collection" reissue of the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]], and the set's [[redeco]], the Collector's Edition [[Insecticon (G1)|Insectron Clone Army]] ([[Shothole]], [[Salvo]] and [[Zaptrap]]) box set released in Japan in 2004.

There were also "energon cube" accessories available with the fast-food kids meal premiums in European McDonald's restaurants. These cubes were little more than a cheap, battery powered gimmick (the battery couldn't be replaced; the triangle-headed screws used by McDonald's are notoriously impossible to remove) that would make sound or light the toy up. The cubes were interchangeable, but not all of them were "compatible", so to speak—Unicron's light-up feature didn't work on the more opaque plastic of the other toys.

==Merchandise==
Released along side the Movie Preview protoform figures, Energon now takes on the delicious form of candy! Held inside clear, plastic containers, the "energon" inside is more or less flavorless balls of condensed sugar with articial colors. The cubes are held together by stickers, depicting scenes from Generation 1. The larger cube, made of 8 smaller ones, can be open and folded, in one direction, until it returns to its original position.

Out of the eight cubes, only two have candy in them. Most of the art on the cube is taken from Dreamwave art by [[Pat Lee|Superstar Funana]], with the exception of two parts that feature art by [[Don Figueroa]].

==Notes==
*Thanks to [[Abdul Fakkadi (G1)|the exalted leader]] of [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]], we know 1000 barrels of oil makes a single energon cube. {{storylink|Thief in the Night}} This means each cube contains the equivalent power of 42,000 US Gallons of crude oil. If refined into gasoline (with a conservative 30% yield ratio) that much oil would keep [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee's]] Volkswagen alt-mode (with a rough value of 40MPG) going for approximately half a million miles without needing to refuel! That's enough to circumnavigate the [[Earth]] over seventeen times without stopping! No wonder a few cubes of the stuff got [[Megatron (G1)|ol' Megsy]] [[Microbots|drunk off his rocker!]]

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Power sources]]
[[Category:Prime]]
[[Category:Substances]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Energon cube

2010-10-08T20:24:32Z

75.61.69.66: /* Animated cartoon */ add

{{disambig2|garden-variety cubes of energon|the really big cube of energon|Energon Cube}}

The '''energon cube''' is the safest form of [[Energon (fuel)|energon]], used for transportation and storage.

:''[[Omni Productions]] dub name:'' '''Power packs''' (also used for [[Matrix of Leadership|the Matrix]])

==Fiction==
===Generation 1 cartoon===
[[Image:EnergonCubesCartoon1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[N.R.G.|NRG]].]]
The energon cubes could be created by [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] {{storylink|More than Meets the Eye, Part 1}}, who generated the empty cube framework from his similarly-shaped chest; several other Decepticons were able to produce them as well. The [[Autobot]]s were apparently unaware of them until their reawakening on [[Earth]] in 1984, when [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] described them to [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prime]] as simply "some kind of cube". (This is a little perplexing in light of the fact that energon cubes were also shown to have existed by the time of Optimus Prime's creation at the end of Cybertron's [[Golden Age]]. {{storylink|War Dawn}}) By 2005, however, the Autobots had begun to use energon cubes for power as well.

Exactly how an energon cube operates is unclear, especially as their framework appears to be some sort of self-sustaining force field with no internal mechanisms. Most frequently, the empty cube is simply attached to or placed near the energy source from which it is to drain power, and the energy in question is automatically converted into liquid energon that fills the cube. Energon cubes have proven able to transform a vast array of resources into energon, including electricity, magma, oil and steam. Energon seems to have a much higher energy potential than carbon-based fuel sources: 1000 barrels of oil are needed to fill a single energon cube, {{storylink|Thief in the Night}} and the electrical energy within the synapses of the human brain are insufficient to generate even a few drops. {{storylink|The Ultimate Doom, Part 3}}

The liquid energon within energon cubes is a glowing pink color, although the cubes could also be compressed for easy storage and transport, causing them to take on an iridescent rainbow effect.

===Marvel Comics===
[[Image:Energoncubesrockandrollout.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Energon cubes come in Grande...]]
[[Image:Marvel52 concentratedenergoncubes.jpg|right|200px|thumb|...and Tall!]]
[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] builds an energy converter that's capable of converting both [[oil]] and the sonic energy from a [[Brick Springhorn]] concert into large purple energon cubes. Unfortunately when these cubes are exposed to x-ray energy from Shockwave's weaponry, they detonate in a blinding flash of light. {{storylink|Rock and Roll-Out!}}

[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] invented the [[Geothermal Generator]] which converted the [[Earth]]'s underground heat into energon cubes. {{storylink|Used Autobots}}

'''Concentrated energon cubes''' are a highly valuable form of universally accepted currency among alien cultures. These tiny green non-glowing cubes measure approximately 6 inches (15.2cm) on a side and are easily transportable, as well as being less combustible than normal energon cubes. {{storylink|Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?}}

===''Beast Wars'' cartoon===
The naturally-occurring energon on prehistoric [[Earth]] appeared only in an unstable, highly-explosive raw [[Energon crystal|crystalline form]]. However, after the [[Planet Buster]] baked Earth's surface, the crystals were all either incinerated or somehow "converted" into more stable cubes. These cubes no longer emitted the dangerous radiation which prompted the Beast Warriors to adopt their beast modes in the first place. They were significantly smaller than Transformers from after the [[Great Upgrade]] and colored blue.

[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] threatened to detonate an energon cube near her head if [[Tarantulas]] would not remove the mind-link he had with her. The explosion would have killed them both via the link, so Tarantulas did remove it. {{storylink|Tangled Web}}

===''Animated'' cartoon===
Energon cubes are purple. During the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], the Decepticons hoarded them in mass quantities on their battleships. However many centuries of neglect they suffered left them unstable.

They are also apparently delicious ''and'' nutritious to newborn giant spiders. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

Energon becomes unstable if cut in its cube form, which combined with an elevator makes for a handy bomb in tight quarters. It is suggested that one not stare down the shaft while attempting this. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

There also exists 'demolition-grade' energon, which appears as palm-sized cubes and utilizes the potentially explosive properties of full-size energon. When used properly, they are very useful in clearing away rubble from Space Bridges. But using them ''in''correctly could lead to a messy accident—say, like the destruction of a small spaceship. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}}

==Games==
===''War for Cybertron''===
[[Soundwave (Prime)|Soundwave]] was capable of producing energon cubes. Both the Autobots and Decepticons used the cubes to regain energy they had lost in the heat of battle. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|Transformers: War for Cybertron}}

==Things that look like energon cubes but aren't==
*[[Personality component]]s for some reason look like small energon cubes. {{storylink|Starscream's Brigade}}
*Refined [[Cybertonium]] looks like a green colored energon cube. {{storylink|Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2}}
*The refined heat resistant alloy developed by [[Jessica Morgan]]'s father resembles yellow colored energon cubes. {{storylink|The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

The reason why all share the shape of energon cubes is a mystery that plagues us to this day....

==Toy==
[[Image:EnergonCubeToy1.jpg|right|100px|thumb|Rubik, the Amazing Cube!]]
Energon Cubes were available with Takara's "TF Collection" reissue of the [[Insecticon (G1)|Insecticons]], and the set's [[redeco]], the Collector's Edition [[Insecticon (G1)|Insectron Clone Army]] ([[Shothole]], [[Salvo]] and [[Zaptrap]]) box set released in Japan in 2004.

There were also "energon cube" accessories available with the fast-food kids meal premiums in European McDonald's restaurants. These cubes were little more than a cheap, battery powered gimmick (the battery couldn't be replaced; the triangle-headed screws used by McDonald's are notoriously impossible to remove) that would make sound or light the toy up. The cubes were interchangeable, but not all of them were "compatible", so to speak—Unicron's light-up feature didn't work on the more opaque plastic of the other toys.

==Merchandise==
Released along side the Movie Preview protoform figures, Energon now takes on the delicious form of candy! Held inside clear, plastic containers, the "energon" inside is more or less flavorless balls of condensed sugar with articial colors. The cubes are held together by stickers, depicting scenes from Generation 1. The larger cube, made of 8 smaller ones, can be open and folded, in one direction, until it returns to its original position.

Out of the eight cubes, only two have candy in them. Most of the art on the cube is taken from Dreamwave art by [[Pat Lee|Superstar Funana]], with the exception of two parts that feature art by [[Don Figueroa]].

==Notes==
*Thanks to [[Abdul Fakkadi (G1)|the exalted leader]] of [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]], we know 1000 barrels of oil makes a single energon cube. {{storylink|Thief in the Night}} This means each cube contains the equivalent power of 42,000 US Gallons of crude oil. If refined into gasoline (with a conservative 30% yield ratio) that much oil would keep [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee's]] Volkswagen alt-mode (with a rough value of 40MPG) going for approximately half a million miles without needing to refuel! That's enough to circumnavigate the [[Earth]] over seventeen times without stopping! No wonder a few cubes of the stuff got [[Megatron (G1)|ol' Megsy]] [[Microbots|drunk off his rocker!]]

[[Category:Animated]]
[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]
[[Category:Power sources]]
[[Category:Prime]]
[[Category:Substances]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Sari Sumdac (Animated)

2010-10-08T20:15:00Z

75.61.69.66: /* Notes */ fix

{{factions|autobot}}
:''Sari Sumdac is a techno-organic humanoid from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Sari_Animated.JPG|thumb|150px|[[Isaac Sumdac|Daddies]], don't let your babies grow up to be [[Kiss Player]]s.]]
'''Sari Sumdac''', the [[technorganic]] daughter of robotics genius [[Isaac Sumdac]], used to not get out much. She spent all her time within her father's laboratories, receiving her education from [[Tutor Bot|robots]]. Despite this, she doesn't seem like a shut-in. She's curious, excitable, adventurous, and knows that crying can sometimes get her what she wants. She's just never known what it's like to be around other kids. Fortunately, she has [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] to help with that, and she claims that 'Bee is the best friend she's ever had. In fact, she's become very possessive of all her robotic friends.

It was believed that Sari was a normal human, until it was revealed that she was made from a [[protoform]] and her father's DNA. Hence, the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] viewed her with great regard, bestowing upon her a [[AllSpark Key|key]] with miraculous powers (though her guardian, the robotic dog [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]], thought it was just another chew toy).

Since discovering her true origin, she has absorbed the power of her AllSpark-powered Key to gain incredible Cybertronian powers and abilities such as enhanced strength, speed, and the ability to create destructive spheres of pure white glowing energy with her hands, as well as the power and ability to transform into an armoured form with several technological weaponry (most of which [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] was forced to seal away after she proved unable to control it). She also owns a scooter which can transform into a jet pack.

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
{{Idw-tfa}}
:''Voice actor:'' [[Tara Strong]] (English), [[Satomi Akesaka]] (Japanese), [[Tanja Schmitz]] (German), [[Agnieszka Wajs]] (Polish), [[Tosawi Piovani]] (Italian)

[[Image:TransWarpedProtoform.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Megatron was also a cute little protoform like this once. Makes you think, doesn't it?]]
Sari's origins are shrouded in mystery. She came into existence when a [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]] [[protoform]] appeared in Isaac Sumdac's laboratory. The baffled scientist reached out to touch the small, liquid metal creature, and received an electric shock that knocked him unconscious. When he awoke, the protoform had scanned his [[DNA]] and reconfigured into a techno-organic creature that appeared to be a human baby. Sumdac "adopted" the robot child and named it "Sari", and raised it as his own daughter over the next eight years. Understandably, Sumdac was reluctant to let Sari out into the world, and instead kept her mostly confined to [[Sumdac Tower]], educating her with [[Tutor Bot|robot tutors]] and creating robotic companions like her pet Sparkplug to keep her company. {{storylink|TransWarped}} Precisely ''how'' the protoform that became Sari appeared in Sumdac's lab is unknown; Sari herself seems to believe that she was one of the protoforms stolen from the [[Cyber-Ninja Corps]] by [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] millions of years ago and stored aboard the ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]'', but given that those protoforms were [[blank]]s, and that it was a different size and shape to all the other protoforms seen, this seems unlikely. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

[[Image:SariLayingDown1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Yūki Ōshima]] is drooling as we speak.]]
One day, when Sparkplug stole her security key card, Sari chased it outside and was confronted by the Autobots [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], who hadn't quite yet fathomed what humans were, and spoke to her as if she were Sparkplug's pet. Naturally, she freaked out, but quickly befriended Bumblebee once he saved her from a giant bug that had grown from her father's nanite experiment gone awry. Stowing away on Bumblebee and coming aboard the [[Teletran-1|Autobots' ship]], she came across the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]], which infused part of its power into her security key, creating the [[AllSpark Key]]. This allowed her to heal [[Transformer]]s, such as the injured [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], earning her brownie points with the 'Bots. She also managed to talk the police down from shooting the Autobots, saying they were friendly (except [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]], who was grumpy, but not evil). Sari later helped teach the Autobots about [[Earth]] and [[human]]s, explaining their method of reproduction to a ''very'' startled [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]].

[[Image:Sariprime.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Prime was never the same after this.]]
During the unveiling of her father's new transit system, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] arrived and attacked. Bumblebee took a shot meant for Sari, allowing Starscream to capture him, Professor Sumdac, the Mayor, and [[Captain Fanzone]]. Sari came up with the idea to distract Starscream while she and Prowl rescued the others (even faking some tears to make it happen). The Key later saved Optimus Prime's life when she used it, in concert with the AllSpark itself, to revive his [[Spark]]. {{storylink|Transform and Roll Out}}

Sari would go on to be Bumblebee's usual partner in crime, encouraging him to engage in such questionable activities as high-profile wrestling matches {{storylink|Total Meltdown}} and installing rocket boosters to make him go faster. {{storylink|Nanosec (episode)|Nanosec}} Sari likely hangs out with Bumblebee because she knows she can scare the holy be[[Primus]] out of him. {{storylink|Along Came a Spider}}

[[Image:Saricostume.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Trivia: Transformers [[Generation 1 (franchise)|used to]] look like this.]]
On Sari's eighth birthday, the only other kids who turned up were the children of her dad's employees. None of them really wanted to be there and soon focused their attention on the Autobots. Sari was left alone and shunned along with Bulkhead, both morose that the kids didn't like them. Her father's present, a music robot called [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]], cheered her up, and she soon began neglecting her friendship with Bulkhead in favour of her new toy. Repeated uses of the Key turned Soundwave into a malevolent, sentient being who tried to enslave Humanity, and she learnt she'd been wrong to ignore her friend. {{storylink|Sound and Fury}}

When the [[Decepticon]]s [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] arrived on Earth, the two Decepticons manhandled the Autobots. Although they survived, it made apparent the fact that more would come looking for the AllSpark, so the Autobots decided to repair their ship and leave Earth. Sari's reaction to this was displeasure (in the form of a high pitch shout of NO!). However, they needed the Key to assist Ratchet in repairing the ship. Sari was unwilling to help them leave, and neither was she pleased to work with a grouch like Ratchet (who was not that keen on working with a [[Protoform]]), but they managed to get her to the ship. While alone with the AllSpark, Sari decided to try and sabotage the ship, thereby keeping the Autobots on Earth (and dooming her species to enslavement and/or extinction) but the Key repaired the damage. After that, the AllSpark showed her an image of [[Megatron (Animated)|a giant Transformer]]. In her panic, Sari opened the air lock, nearly drowning, but Ratchet saved her. Ratchet then explained that they were leaving because they couldn't risk anything happening to Earth or her. Swayed by his compassion, Sari used the Key to reactivate the Autobot ship's decommissioned weapons, reducing Blitzwing and Lugnut to pieces. {{storylink|Lost and Found (episode)|Lost and Found}}

Eventually, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] decided that the Key was no longer safe in Sari's hands, and he ordered Ratchet to take it from her. Distraught, Sari ran off crying, only to be captured later by [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], who was looking for the Key herself. Sari basically told her "too little, too late," and the two seemed to have a heart-to-heart about their gripes with the Autobots. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 1}}

[[Image:Megatron_Rising_Sari_chomp.JPG|thumb|left|175px|Isaac isn't the world's best dad, but he does know a good dentist.]]
While Sari was actually misleading Blackarachnia in circles around the frozen [[Lake Erie]], she was grabbed by Ratchet as he brought the Autobots' ship out of the lake. She was ticked that Ratchet had lost the Key and that her dad had helped rebuild [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], but the blame game ceased after the ship crashed on [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]]. Prime told the Sumdacs to stay with the ship while they went to fight off Megatron. Fearing that they might die, Isaac Sumdac said that there was something that he needed to tell Sari, but she was more interested in finding something else the AllSpark could charge. The AllSpark refused to respond, other than cryptically displaying an image of a DNA strand. Suddenly, Megatron and Prime burst through the hull of the ship, and during their fight, the Key once again fell into her hands. Sari tossed it to Optimus Prime, who used the Key to partially destroy the AllSpark and disperse its energy. Acknowledging that he had been wrong in taking from her, Optimus Prime gave the Key back to Sari, saying that it was the strongest most powerful Cybertronian artifact in existence, it was too important to be left in the hands of an Autobot.

Unfortunately, all was not well, for Sari could not find her dad... as he was now a prisoner of Megatron. {{storylink|Megatron Rising - Part 2}}

[[Image:Dramatic_change_in_plot.jpg|thumb|The tide has turned!]]
After her father's disappearance, Sari took over running [[Sumdac Systems]]. Board chairman [[Porter C. Powell]] opposed her, saying that she was too young and wasting company resources searching for her father. When the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]] arrived, Sari was cut off from the Autobots and her only source of emotional support. She soon needed them, as police drones coming out of a Sumdac assembly line began to malfunction, and Powell was unwilling to do anything about it. Sneaking aboard the [[Steelhaven (Animated)|Elite Guard flagship]], Sari put the fear of god into [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] before Bulkhead explained that Sari was okay (and Bumblebee explained that [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] was a jerk). With Optimus, Prowl, and Jazz's help, Sari managed to get into the plant's assembly line and shut down the systems. When she returned home, she found that she had been locked out of her office, as Powell was now CEO and Chairman of Sumdac Systems. Insisting that it was still her company, Sari was shocked when Powell revealed that she had no birth certificate, no adoption papers, and no social security number. Powell's smug revelation made Sari realize that not only was there no proof that she was Sumdac's daughter, there was no legal proof she even existed. {{storylink|The Elite Guard}}

After that, Powell kicked Sari out of Sumdac Tower, took Tutor Bot and Sparkplug, and gave her room to [[Headmaster (Animated)|Henry Masterson]] as an office. With nowhere else to go, she went to Autobot headquarters. Bumblebee and Bulkhead tried their best to cheer her up, employing such methods as loud music, inedible food, and unedifying teaching lesson. All they did was make things worse. Eventually, Prowl put the two bots in their place and told them to ''listen'' to her. Sari opened up about all her frustrations, such as her missing father, being kicked out of her home, her fear of Powell ruining her father's company, and the fact that there was no record of her existence. Bumblebee promised that they were there for her, no matter what, and Sari finally started to feel a little better. {{storylink|The Return of the Headmaster}}

[[Image:MissionAccomplished-Fanzoneindressinggown.jpg|thumb|left|Peekaboo!]]
And then [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] decided that the Autobots couldn't be there for her, as the Decepticons had begun attacking the fringes of Autobot space, so Prime's crew were needed elsewhere. The Autobots decided that Captain Fanzone was the best human with whom to leave her. (Granted, their list of known humans was rather short and included [[Meltdown (Animated)|Prometheus Black]] and [[Nanosec]].) Before anything close to adoption could occur, they managed to convince Magnus that there were Decepticons on Earth (mostly because Starscream fell out of the sky and landed about ten feet in front of them), allowing them to stay on planet. {{storylink|Mission Accomplished}}

Sari amused herself after settling in with the Autobots by hooking up illegal satellite TV, which she used to watch pay-per-view races. (The races were also illegal, as the Autobots found out from Fanzone.) When Bumblebee wanted to join the races to compete against a mysterious blue car, Sari came along with him. Sari discovered that man in charge of the races, [[Master Disaster]], had a remote control containing an AllSpark fragment, which he used to control the blue car. Blitzwing showed up to take the fragment, so and Bumblebee had to run for their lives. Eventually, she used the remote to get rid of Blitzwing, allowing the Autobots to get the AllSpark fragment. After that, Bumblebee severed her satellite connection, saying that he had to set a better example for her. Sari advised him not to try too hard, or she wouldn't recognize him. {{storylink|Velocity}}

[[Image:Rise_Constructicons_Sari_no_pigtails.jpg|thumb|Don't mess the 'do.]]
Sari was awakened from her night's rest by the loud cavorting of the [[Constructicon (Animated)|"Constructobots"]]. A game of flattened-oil-barrel frisbee severed her trademark pigtails, which left her none too pleased. {{storylink|Rise of the Constructicons}} Subsequently she proved that she was still more mature than Bumblebee in a number of ways, warning him off of taking on villains solo just to prove a point. Sadly he wouldn't realize this until the Decepticon behind the villains' success, [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] was revealed. By then it was too late, and she had to team up with those same villains to take his immobilized chassis to Sumdac Tower. Alarmed that the receptionist robot was now declaring it to be Powell Tower, she utilized the Key to rectify that little situation before heading off and successfully disabling Swindle's technology jamming device. {{storylink|SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}

A while after, Prowl and Sari were honing their agility using the factory's old assembly line. Sari claimed she could complete the exercise at full speed, like Prowl, but it was set to a quarter-speed, which proved to be too much for her at that and got a massive whack upside the head for her pains. After the Autobots discovered the return of the [[Constructicon (Animated)|Constructicons]], Sari was left at the base at the command of Optimus, who told reminded her that they had almost decapitated her [[Rise of the Constructicons|the last time they met]]. Also, he doubted she would be able to take on a pair of two-story robots. At first Sari sulked at her situation, before realizing that she was completely alone in the base and did what any eight-year-old kid would do in an abandoned factory: raid the vending machines, use cranes as miniature G-force slings and try to take on Prowl's obstacle course at full speed (which went as well as last time).

[[Image:SariNoOne%27sHome-Mixmaster%2CScrapperandSari.jpg|thumb|left|200px|They're here to kick aft and drink oil. And they're all out of oil.]]
While listening to her music, Sari failed to notice the alarms going off, which heralded the invasion of the Constructicons who were looking for [[Oil|a drink]]. After the two louts accidentally crushed her cell phone and left her with the option of sneaking to the communications room to call the Autobots for help, Sari decided—after a council of war with her teddy bear—to take on the two bots using her trusty hockey stick (which shatters soon after she strikes them with it). She escaped and made it to the communication room, contacting Bumblebee who told her to hide and wait until they finish fighting off the recently appeared [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]], who was also looking for the Constructicons. Sari concluded that it would be too long and set up a trap for the two invaders, using three barrels of oil to trip them up and the plant's assembly line to knock them around for a while, forcing [[Mixmaster (Animated)|Mixmaster]] and [[Scrapper (Animated)|Scrapper]] to flee. The Autobots returned to find the place in ruins, but Sari showed them that she was all right. Optimus both apologized for his previous comments and lauded her for her bravery, and all was well for Sari—if she could just explain away the mountain of candy wrappers Optimus discovered.... {{storylink|Sari, No One's Home}}

Sari later posed for a Picasso-style picture done by Bulkhead. The results were...interesting, to say the least. After criticism by the Autobots, a depressed Bulkhead walked out, and Sari and Bumblebee went to cheer him up. During a walk in the park, Megatron attacked them, carrying an imprisoned Isaac Sumdac with him, and Sari realized that Megatron had kidnapped him all those months ago. (Apparently, that hadn't occurred to anyone else.) While she looked on helplessly, Megatron managed to kidnap Bulkhead. When she returned to the plant, she heard the Autobot [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]] reveal that Professor Sumdac was helping the Decepticons build a [[space bridge]] to conquer Cybertron. Sari refused to believe that her father was willingly helping the Decepticons and got a promise out of Optimus Prime to bring him home alive. Heading to Dinobot Island, Ratchet and Sari worked to bring the Autobots' ship back online. Ratchet realized that they would need riskier repairs to bring achieve their goal. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part I}}

[[Image:TFA_ABTC_Sari_spoilers.jpg|thumb|150px|It's a strange thing when the human companion's story arc is more interesting than the robots.]]
As Ratchet worked, he explained that the ship was an Autobot who had sacrificed his spark two million years ago. Sari was doubtful that it would come back online... until it spoke to her. She proceeded to use the Key on several of the ship's systems, under Ratchet's direction, until it was able to take off. Taking it to the mine where the Decepticons were based, Sari managed to give the ship enough power to transform into its robot mode, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]. The massive Autobot turned the tide of the battle, but sacrificed himself to save the others from being sucked into the space bridge. The Autobots managed to escape, with both Sari and Isaac in tow, and Isaac revealed that he had been forced to work with the Decepticons. Overjoyed that her father was safe and still a good guy, Sari dubbed Isaac Sumdac the most honest and trust-worthy guy that anyone could hope to find. It was at that point that everyone assembled noticed that the skin on Sari's elbow had torn away, revealing robotic circuitry underneath. {{storylink|A Bridge Too Close, Part II}}

Although Sari was at first scared by this strange discovery, her fear quickly gave way to anger at her father for having kept the secret that she was a robot from her for years. As they returned to Detroit, Sumdac explained how he had found Sari in his lab years before, but the girl remained incredulous, and things only got worse when the pair confronted Porter C. Powell and Henry Masterson back in Sumdac Tower. When the two men refused to vacate the building, Sari's strained patience snapped, and her hands suddenly transformed into energy projectors, which created a shock wave that knocked the pair of do-badders into the elevator. Struggling to comprehend her true nature, Sari went with the Autobots to their headquarters, unable even to be in the same building as the man she could no longer even think of as her father. Optimus Prime did his best to patch up the damaged family relationship by tricking Sari into meeting with Sumdac at [[Burger Bot]], but it wasn't until Masterson returned with his Headmaster unit attached to Starscream's body that the bonds between father and daughter were repaired, as Sari and Sumdac defended each other from the villain.

[[Image:TransWarpedSariFocus.jpg|thumb|left|Okay Sari, focus. Let go of old thinking, focus on the transformation within. The key is finding the balance in yourself. Then, and only then, can you truly say...]]
Sari quickly began to get a handle on her new Cybertronian powers and abilities, learning to channel and project beach ball-sized spheres of pure white lightning-like energy from her hands, but the Autobots still refused to allow her to accompany them into battle against a rock-like alien creature that had just [[transwarp]]ed into the middle of Detroit. Seeking a means to strengthen and increase her powers and abilities, Sari turned her Key upon herself and underwent a surprising metamorphosis: Her body was "aged" so that she appeared to be a thirteen-year-old teenager, and she sprouted powerful battle armor equipped with jet-skates, arm-blades and an energy sledge-hammer.

[[Image:TransWarpedSariUpgrade.jpg|thumb|150x200px|..."I am transformed!"]]
Although Sari's new powers and abilities amazed the Autobots when she made short work of the rock-alien, things soon started to go wrong, as the Key's energy began overloading Sari's circuitry, causing her to run out of control. Unable to control her own body and causing objects around her to explode with her merest touch, Sari nearly killed Bumblebee by stabbing him with one of her blades before the Autobots were able to remove the key from her system. Even with the Key extracted, Sari's energies were still running wild, and she was in danger of exploding and destroying the entire city before Ratchet knocked her out with his EMP generator. Once they returned to the Autobot base, he bypassed the circuitry responsible for her overload.

[[Image:TransWarpedBumblebeeSari.jpg|thumb|left|''You've been hit by/ You've been struck by/ A smooth criminal'']]

As Sari convalesced, her father at her side, Megatron returned to Earth in control of Omega Supreme. Optimus Prime was forced to contemplate undoing the repairs done to Sari and using her to stop the rampaging superweapon as a last-ditch desperation play. When Starscream took control of Omega away from Megatron and locked down all the entrance hatches to prevent the Autobots from infiltrating the robot (again), he came to the point of ordering Ratchet to do so. Fortunately for Sari's (and Detroit's) continued existence, Ratchet refused, and the Autobots ultimately transwarped the threat off Earth. Soon after, Sari awoke and apologized to her friends for her foolishness, while her father apologized to her for holding back the truth for so long. {{storylink|TransWarped}}

After convalescing, she was next seen on [[Christmas]] Eve, making some [[oilnog]] for the Autobots and warning them to stay off Santa's naughty list. When they went to bed early, thanks to a [[Sound Wave]] toy spiking the 'nog, she called them a bunch of party-poopers, but wished them a Merry Christmas and went home.

The next morning, she wasn't happy to receive another Sound Wave toy from her father, given [[Sound and Fury|what had happened with the last one]], and was further disappointed when she was given a motor scooter rather than a car... until she found out that it transformed into a jet pack. Overjoyed, she transformed to her robot mode and flew off to show Bumblebee. When she arrived at the Autobots' base, she found it apparently deserted, and was further puzzled when the base's scanners showed their energy signatures in the factory itself. The appearance of a [[Laserbeak (Animated)|creepy robot bird]], leading a number of Sound Wave toys from an elevator in the floor (which she'd not known about before), didn't help matters, so she used her palm blasters on them and took the lift down.

In the basement, she found the Autobots wired into a VR machine by a fully rebuilt Soundwave. With most of her weaponry offline, she was no match for him and his instruments when she tried to stop him. She was forced to retreat, promising to come back for her friends.... {{storylink|Human Error, Part I}}

While she was flying back to Sumdac Tower, Soundwave decided to take over the whole city of Detroit, using the small Sound Waves to carry his hypnotic tunes, since reprogramming the Autobots was taking too long. As such, she arrived back to find a Sound Wave toy blaring hypnotic music at her... and kicked it out of the way. Soundwave deduced that her techno-organic nature made her immune to the music, and he shifted focus to trying to force everyone ''else'' to kill her, starting with her father!

After reluctantly dropping a shelving unit on her dad to make her escape, she flew to Dinobot Island for help. Her initial foray met with little success, since [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] and [[Swoop (Animated)|his pteranadon comrade]] refused to help, tried to kill her, then left her alone when she blasted at them. Grimlock's mention that the third member of his group had been kicked out for becoming someone's "pet" raised her curiosity, though, and she soon found Scrapper, separated from the other two Constructicons by [[Three's a Crowd|a big explosion]], on the island's shore playing with "[[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]]", and she managed to conscript the two into rescuing the other Autobots.

On their way back to the mainland on a makeshift raft, [[Wreck-Gar (Animated)|Wreck-Gar]] abruptly popped up from the lake's bottom and immediately became the fourth member of the troupe of [[Substitute Autobot|Substitute Autobots]]. Once they were ashore, Sari's chaotic attempt to get them to transform and roll out nearly had them leave her behind, but it became moot before too long when Soundwave flew out of the ground, followed by the brainwashed Autobots. Initial attempts by her group at fighting them went badly, as the Substitute Autobots proved incapable of working at a team, while the zombie-Autobots acted as a single, elegant machine under Soundwave, and Soundwave could even control her own jet pack. Sari then changed tack, abandoning efforts to co-ordinate her group and ordering them to attack as individuals. Soundwave's single, elegant machine had trouble multitasking, apparently leading to Prowl saving Sari from death at Bumblebee's stingers in an attempt to deliver his own blow.

This lasted until, with four Autobots down, only Optimus Prime remained... whereupon Soundwave could concentrate on controlling just one Autobot properly. As a result, Sari was almost killed by the enslaved Optimus—but was saved again by Prowl, who openly revealed that he'd broken Soundwave's control in knocking Ratbat away from him. Shortly after, Soundwave was again shattered into many pieces, and Sari could once again concentrate on celebrating Christmas with her adopted family and her father. {{storylink|Human Error, Part II}}

[[Image:TFA-DecepticonAir-SariHands.jpg|thumb|Ghost in the Shell? Don't you mean [[Ghost in the Machine]]?]]
When Bulkhead and her father belatedly completed the space bridge they'd been working on (after the purpose they'd been making it for had been accomplished), Sari objected that they would have gotten it working sooner if they'd let her help. They scoffed and went back to bickering about the final tweaks... so Sari took it upon herself to head over to the console, where her eyes glowed white, her hands separated into wires, and she finished the setup in seconds. When Optimus asked just ''how'' she'd managed that, she replied that she didn't know how, she just... had. Further, when Sentinel Prime sent an encoded message to Optimus that things had gone horribly wrong on the Elite Guard's ship, Sari managed to lock onto the transwarp signature of Swindle's personal storage dimension to get Optimus aboard, after Bulkhead wasn't sure it was even possible.

[[Image:TFA-DecepticonAir-SariKnowsStuff.jpg|thumb|left|"I'm Sari Sumdac. I know stuff."]]
Later, after Swindle had departed the ship and Bulkhead wasn't sure he could retrieve Optimus, she claimed she could fix it and that she'd figured out why, guessing she must have upgraded her "processor... or brain or whatever" as part of her wider upgrade. However, putting it to the test wasn't necessary, as the ship dropped off Optimus at Sumdac Tower, safe and sound. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

When Optimus Prime abruptly decided he needed a jetpack of his own, Sari, along with Ratchet and her dad, was called into service to make it happen, which included Sari diagnosing a problem just by touching it. {{storylink|Endgame, Part I}} The flight pack soon got its baptism of fire when Megatron unleashed a trio of [[Lugnut Supreme]]s on Detroit. Initially, Sari wanted to confront the giant Decepticons with Optimus and Prowl, but Optimus told her no. As she began to throw a hissy-fit about being kept back for her own safety again, he cut her off and told her he wanted her to help protect her "fellow organics" with the other Autobots. Embarrassed, she backed down.

Later, when Ratchet, Bumblebee and Bulkhead were about to depart for the Moon in an attempt to take back the original Omega Supreme, she insisted on transwarping there with them. Her worried father attempted to forbid her, but she told him that she knew there was something there she needed to do, and flew into the space bridge. Once there, Sari could hardly believe she was really on the Moon, but her amazement was soon tabled when Ratchet spotted Arcee, leading to the quartet being ambushed by [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]. While Bumblebee and Bulkhead held the shape-shifting Decepticon off, Sari and Ratchet headed into Omega Supreme's inactive body with the damaged fembot and found the lab Shockwave had been using. Although slightly freaked out by the female robot's mindless repetition of lessons for young Cybertronian 'bots, Sari was able to use her technopathy to tell Ratchet how to restore her mind. Shortly after Arcee came fully back online, Bumblebee and Bulkhead came in with news for Sari. They took her down into the hold of the [[Nemesis (Animated)|Decepticons' ship]], where several blank protoforms lay. Believing that this was where she had come from, Sari reached out to touch one of the protoforms, confirming for herself that there really had been a reason for her to be there.

Meanwhile, Ratchet and Arcee had broken Lugnut's hold over Omega Supreme and reactivated the giant Autobot, and Sari joined the others in flying back to Earth aboard the ship. As he fought with his purple duplicates, those inside were shaken about. After a particularly hard hit from the last clone standing, which forced Omega to transform to ship mode and crash-land, he checked that those inside were all right, whereupon Sari noted that "all Autobots, half-bots and almost-bots" were present and accounted for. Shortly afterward, Prowl gave his spark to shield the city from the last Omega-clone's detonation, and Megatron was defeated and arrested. Sari accompanied the Autobots back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to share in their triumphant return and learn of her true origins. {{storylink|Endgame, Part II}}

===''Be the Hero'' books===
{{Note|As the following stories are [[multipath adventure]]s, details will vary depending on the path taken. See individual pages for information on alternate paths.}}
====''Prime Suspect''====
When Optimus Prime was framed for a break-in at [[HomeTech]], Sari had the idea to break into the police station to look for clues. Teamed up with [[You|another kid]], she was almost caught, but the Autobots rescued them at the last moment. The pair then entered HomeTech's laboratory to look for the security tape on which Prime's image had been captured, and they found a vital clue which led them to HomeTech's main warehouse. There Sari was interested in the [[Pixie-6]] robots HomeTech was due to release, but was menaced by Blitzwing, the real perpetrator of the break-in. She was able to utilize her key to zap Blitzwing via the controller he was using on the Pixie-6 'bots. {{storylink|Prime Suspect}}

====''Quest for the AllSpark''====
Distraught after the Autobots went missing without telling her, Sari visited their base on the urging of another kid she'd just met. After being attacked by a rogue cleaning 'bot, she found Bumblebee, who revealed that Megatron had taken control of Detroit's fleet of robot workers and the Autobots had come up with a plan to keep the AllSpark safe, but the rest of the Autobots hadn't reported back. Sari and her new friend helped Bumblebee track down the others and defeat [[Crush-A]], a clearance 'bot Megatron was using to try to obtain the AllSpark. {{storylink|Quest for the AllSpark}}

====''Web of Deception''====
Sari was testing one of her father's inventions, the [[Sumdac Aquaskimmer Mk 1]], on Lake Erie with a young friend when they were attacked by a [[Sparkseeker]] torpedo. After a quick rescue by the Autobots, the group found the Autobot ship offline and Optimus Prime missing. Ratchet's scans revealed the involvement of Lockdown, and Sari and her friend accompanied Bumblebee, Prowl and Bulkhead in an attempt to rescue their leader. After tangling with Lockdown, the two humans caught up with Blackarachnia, who'd hired the bounty hunter in order to get her revenge on Optimus. Sari used her key to shock the Decepticon before she could complete her plan. {{storylink|Web of Deception}}

===Titan Magazines===
[[Image:Bumblebeepizza_Titan25.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Why said pizza didn't fly out of the box is another story.]]

When Starscream and [[Starscream clone (Animated)|his clones]] seized the Autobot base, Sari immediately fled to Dinobot Island to get help. She found out the Dinobots were being made grouchy by the constant rain, so she promised they could stay in the Autobot base until it stopped if they drove out the Decepticons. That made Sari Grimlock's friend and left the Autobots crying when they saw the weather forecast. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 17|Dino-MIGHT!}}

Being present for [[Quake-Maker|Quake-Maker's]] first attack on Detroit, she got to see the arrival of shiny new hero [[Afterburn]]. She was smitten at first sight. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 1|Burnout}} She even got to hang with him on a mission to Dinobot Island! As well as be stunned by his ace moves, she used her Key to heal a wounded Grimlock and suffered emotional abuse when Ratchet faked his death to test Afterburn. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 2|Ratchet & Grimlock Are DEAD?}}

Later, while watching a basketball game, Sari had to help stop an attack on the city by the villainous [[Crossroads]]. She'd met the supervillain when he'd worked at [[Sumdac Systems]] but his awesome disguise of a blue strip of cloth on his head threw her for a few minutes. Once she'd worked it out, she was able to inform the Autobots he was heading for [[Sumdac Tower]] and helped see to his defeat. {{storylink|Animated Comic issue 3|Crossroads!}}

Sari hit on a solution to Bumblebee and Prowl's macho posturing, setting up a race between the two in [[Crazy Coyote Canyon]] to determine who was the fastest. And she drew [[:Image:CoyoteCanyonmap.jpg|an adorable little map]] of the race track. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 25|The Race}}

===''The Cool'' comic===

[[image:PrimeSaritheCoolHuggies01.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Hug Players]]

While roaming aimlessly around the middle of the street, Sari was nearly run over by a fleet of vehicles. To her astonishment, they transformed into robots. Terrified, she asked who they were, and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] introduced them as the heroic [[Autobot]]s. Suddenly, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], [[Lockdown (Animated)|Lockdown]] and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] attacked, attempting to steal the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]]. Prime scooped Sari up, protecting her from a violent explosion as the Autobots and the [[Decepticon]]s clashed. {{storylink|The Cool issue 1|The Cool #1}}

Starscream eventually succeeded in stealing the AllSpark from [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and nearly made off with it. Prime, however, stopped him by releasing all the energy within it. Prime plummeted to the ground and died, but was instantly revived by Sari's [[AllSpark Key|key]]. Sari and Prime then properly introduced themselves as Sari wept and gave Prime a big, snuggly hug. Unbeknownst to Sari, though, she was being observed via closed circuit TV by the disembodied head of [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], who was very interested in the power of her key. {{storylink|Intense AllSpark Competition!}}

{{storylink|The Cool issue 7|The Cool #7}}
{{-}}

==Notes==
[[Image:TFA_Sari_Sumdac_prelim_promo.JPG|thumb|left|120px|NOT show accurate.]]
[[Image:Sari_tbob_trike.jpg|thumb|right|I d-d-don't think th-this is s-such a g-g-good idea, Scott!]]
* A promotional image of Sari from the [[Cartoon Network]] ''Transformers Animated'' press kit showed her with different shoes, a different Key design, and a slightly darker skin tone.

* In a preliminary version of the opening credits, Sari appeared riding on a tricycle which she used the AllSpark Key to transform into a jet pack. The footage was dropped from the finished credits, but was screened at conventions and was later included on the DVD packaged with the Optimus Prime and Megatron "The Battle Begins" action figure two-pack. The concept was later recycled as a Christmas present from her father in "[[Human Error, Part I]]"; instead of a tricycle, she has an orange scooter which transforms into a jet pack compatible with her robotic body. She may have been gone for four episodes, but now she can fly!

* Sari's pigtails do ''not'' grow back overnight... or do they?

* Sari has a transformation noise shared only with her scooter/jetpack, likely because of her rather unique origin.

* Sari did not appear for four episodes in S3—between "[[Three's a Crowd]]" and "[[Predacons Rising]]"—after her almost-disastrous upgrade, the longest time she has been absent in the series so far. Well, considering the shift in focus... not to mention [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]]'s presence on Earth for three of those episodes, perhaps it's just as well. He'd probably have totally freaked out as soon as he saw her.

* Ever since her "[[TransWarped]]" upgrade, she has what appear to be [[articulation]] lines on her sleeves and stockings/socks.

* Sari's hands can transform into several different modes, two of which pay homage to the anime ''Ghost in the Shell'' and ''[[Iron Man]]''.

* From "[[TransWarped]]" onward, her human eyes are an inverted version of Autobot eyes, with the lighter shade of cyan as the "whites" and the darker shade as the "iris". Her robot form uses the regular color scheme.

* Despite the controversial [[AllSpark Key]] being written out of the series, it can be argued that in the third season, Sari was slowly turning into a ''deus ex machina'' just like it in her own right, merely by virtue of [[Decepticon Air|"knowing stuff" crucial to the storyline]] (often ''without'' a proper explanation), as well as being able to diagnose mechanical problems [[Endgame, Part I|merely by touching a given machine]].

* According to the panel at the 2009 Botcon, Sari's Cybertronian/robotic nature was planned from the very beginning.[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/236269-botcon-2009-animating-animated-panel-coverage.html]

* Sari is one of two Transformers with a [[Alice|human alt-mode]] and is one of three techno-organic Transformers in the ''Animated'' continuity, the other two being [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Wasp|Waspinator]].

* In "TransWarped", Sari showed off her skills with twin white energy blades that came from her forearms and an energy hammer. After being knocked out by Ratchet's EMP, those weapons vanished for the rest of the series, leaving her with only her energy sphere-throwing attack.

* According to ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac Volume 2]]'', Sari's post-upgrade weapons and tools include [[Master Blade (Animated)|Master Blades]] (a reference to [[Grand Maximus]]'s [[Master Blade (Masterforce)|weapon]] in ''[[Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Masterforce]]''), a Hyperspace Hammer, Azusa Skates (a reference to the ''[[Timelines (fiction)|Timelines]]'' [[Azusa|starship]]), and a [[Skyboom (Animated)|Skyboom Shield]] (which, like [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel's]], is a reference to the ''[[Armada (franchise)|Armada]]'' [[Skyboom (Armada)|macguffin]]). She also uses [[Micron Booster]]s to make powered jumps.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumdac, Sari}}
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