Endgame, Part I

2009-05-18T19:32:25Z

75.66.6.39: /* Trivia */

{{disambig2|the ''Animated'' episode|the ''Beast Machines'' episode|Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral}}

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=TFAni EndgamePart1 Autobots Ready.jpg
|caption=You're telling us this entire series was just to get Prime a jetpack? ''Again''?
|ep=41
|title="Endgame, Part I"
|airdate=[[May 16]], 2009
|written by=[[Rich Fogel]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]] [[Kentaro Mizuno]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}
'''The Autobots race to find an advantage over Megatron's control of Omega Supreme.'''

==Synopsis==
At the plant, [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] are working on Prowl's [[processor-over-matter]] by having Prowl lift some oil cans. Jazz is impressed with Prowl's skills, and wonders why he never completed his training. Suddenly, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] come tearing in, causing Prowl to lose his concentration and drop the oil can. Bumblebee and Bulkhead skid on the spilled oil across the floor, crashing into the wall. As the two bots collect themselves, Prowl says that they're two reasons he never completed his training. Bulkhead and Bumblebee then explain why they came in so quickly: They've found [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]]'s energy signature, and it's on Earth's [[moon (moon)|moon]].

[[Image:TFAni EndgamePart1 Lugnut vs Shockwave.jpg|thumb|left|200px|And to think, this dance scene almost got cut.]]
On the Moon, [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] continues his efforts to probe [[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]]'s memory banks for the [[activation code]]s to Omega Supreme. However, all he's found so far are some prewar datatrax of her school-teaching days. [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] is convinced that his "most loyal servant" can find it in time. [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] takes a moment to goad [[Lugnut]] that Megatron has another favorite, and Lugnut bashes Shockwave aside in protest, citing his great loyalty and never-ending search for Megatron. Shockwave counters that while Lugnut was fawning at Megatron's stabilizing servos, he risked his [[spark]] by going spying on the Autobots for stellar cycles. The two get into a fight, much to Megatron's annoyance, while Starscream gloats and rolls his head out of the room...

At the plant, the Autobots debate their options. [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] says that they need to act now, and that they need to use the [[Magnus Hammer]]. Optimus is hesitant, and thinks back to his past...

:''At the [[Autobot High Council|High Council]] chambers, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reviews Cadet Optimus and [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Cadet Sentinel]]'s recent unauthorized visit to an organic world, which resulted in the loss of Cadet [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]]. Sentinel makes a final statement that he wanted to go back for Elita, but Optimus prevented him. Ultra Magnus again asks whose idea it was to go to the planet, and Optimus takes full responsibility as the senior Cadet. Ultra Magnus had high hopes for Optimus, even believing he could one day be [[Magnus]], but now that will never be. Ultra Magnus pronounces his judgment: Optimus is to be expelled from the [[Autobot Academy]] and be ineligible for service in the [[Cybertron Elite Guard]].''

Snapped back to the present, Optimus reaffirms that they don't need to use the Magnus Hammer. Instead, he was considering a flight mechanism to keep up with Megatron. Ratchet is resistant, but the other Autobots point out various examples of Autobot flight, and Ratchet finally relents. Optimus says that they need more information, so Prowl volunteers to go and spy on the Decepticons. Jazz vetoes this, saying that Prowl is on the verge of a major training breakthrough, so someone else must go. Bumblebee gets volunteered, much to his own annoyance.

[[Image:TFA-Endgame-ShockwavePointsAndLaughs.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Statement: LOL]]
In the ruins of the [[Nemesis (Animated)|Decepticon warship]], Starscream creates a new body for himself from the shell of a [[Starscream clone|clone]] and a [[protoform]]. However, as soon as the process is complete and Starscream's head is attached, Megatron reveals his presence and destroys the already complete clones. Starscream begs for mercy, saying he planned to make an army for the Decepticon cause, but Megatron has bigger plans in mind for the protoforms: Not to clone himself, nor even Lugnut. No, even bigger—about the size of Omega Supreme...

In the woods, Jazz guides Prowl in meditation, directing him to commune with the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]]. His efforts succeed, collecting the ambient dispersed AllSpark energy in the area and forming it into a solid AllSpark fragment. Meanwhile, Bumblebee is transwarped to the Moon. He manages to avoid being seen, but the transmitter he brought is destroyed when he avoids some construction work that Shockwave and Lugnut are doing. Making his way into Omega Supreme, he finds Arcee and realizes that she isn't quite functioning right. Since he doesn't know how to disconnect her without deactivating her, Bumblebee decides to activate her communicator to allow them to listen in on the Decepticons, and he quickly transwarps out. On Earth, the Autobots are unable to get the specifics of what's going on, but it quickly becomes obvious that Megatron is building something.

[[Image:EndGamePart1-Autobotscantfly.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Wingblade Prime]]
At the plant, Ratchet, [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]], and [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] work on the jet pack they're building for Prime. Ratchet is having trouble, so Sari scans the device and discovers the problem. Once it's ready, they have Optimus take it for a test run. After he loses control, flies around the city, and crashes in front of the plant, all on five percent power, Ratchet and Sari decide to add some stabilizers. Once those are ready, Optimus conducts another test run. This one is much more successful, and Optimus actually enjoys his flying, thinking back to a conversation with Ultra Magnus...

:''Despite being expelled from the Academy, Optimus still impressed Ultra Magnus with the considerable skills he'd already shown in his stellar cycles of service. Managing to pull some strings, Ultra Magnus has been able to get Optimus promoted to [[Prime (rank)|Prime]] and get him a ship to command. Although Optimus is grateful, he soon sees his ship, ''[[Teletran-1]]'', a rusted out piece of junk. Ratchet is performing maintenance and tells Optimus to ignore the appearance of the ship. Indicating Bumblebee and Bulkhead, he notes it's the young bots Optimus should be worried about...''

[[Image:TFAni EndgamePart1 Optimus FemScream.jpg|right|thumb|left|200px|"What the hell is that noise?" "Oh, that? I'm just driving with the top down."]]

While Optimus flies around the city, he attracts the attention of the [[female Starscream]] clone, who thinks that he's Starscream returned to Earth. Her overriding (and still unexplained) hatred of Starscream compels her fly and attack him. Optimus takes a hit and crashes into the river, while she flies off as she realizes he's not her progenitor.

On the Moon, Shockwave is finally able to bring Arcee's memory to the point where she and Ratchet were attacked by [[Lockdown]]. Posing as Longarm Prime, he asks if she still has the activation codes for Project: Omega, which she does. Pleased, Shockwave pulls her wires and takes her to Megatron. Bulkhead and Bumblebee alert Optimus, who is in quite a funk after being beaten by a "Starscream wannabe".

[[Image:TFAni EndgamePart1 Screamer NotAgain.jpg|left|thumb|200px|De agony of de feet.]]

Finally, the time has come to implant the protoforms into their base shells. They scan Omega Supreme, assuming his form. Longarm reawakens Arcee and instructs her to transfer the access code to Megatron, but she recognizes him and refuses. Shockwave thus deactivates her and prepares to upload the information to his leader. However, Starscream knocks Megatron aside to take the codes, but Lugnut knocks ''him'' aside and receives the codes instead{{m-}}just as Megatron wanted. He knew that imprinting his personality onto the clones risked making them too ambitious, but there is no such threat from Lugnut, Megatron's "most loyal lieutenant"—a description which pleases Lugnut greatly. Furthermore, with the AllSpark fragments from Omega Supreme, they no longer have need of Starscream, whom Megatron immediately shoots, breaking his new body into several pieces.

At the plant, Optimus is being repaired, and Ratchet insists that he must use the Magnus Hammer. Optimus still believes that using it isn't in his programming. Prowl, however, believes that fate makes its own programming, prompting Optimus to think back...

:''Working on repairing the space bridge where it all started, Bumblebee and Bulkhead stumble upon Prowl meditating in a cavern, having failed to commune with the AllSpark so far despite trying for a thousand stellar cycles. Unfortunately, one of the [[energon cube]]s Ratchet was setting up falls into Prowl's cavern. They barely make it out, but Prowl's ship is destroyed. Optimus offers to take him back to Cybertron in about fifty stellar cycles, after the crew finishes there, but notes that with Prowl's help, it could be sooner. Prowl bemoans how he has strayed so far from his path, and Optimus says that he can sympathize.''

[[Image:TFA-Endgame-LugnutsSupreme.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Great, so now we know what the children would look like.]]

Optimus is snapped back to reality when Bulkhead says that he's getting several signals from the Moon. Meanwhile, Lugnut has finished uploading the codes, but a glitch forces him to remain on Omega Supreme with Shockwave to coordinate. Megatron, meanwhile, says that he will take the clones on a test run by destroying [[Detroit]]. As they launch, the Autobots head out to get a visual, while Optimus reluctantly grabs the Magnus Hammer. He asks Ratchet if they can still reason with Omega Supreme, but Ratchet doubts it, as the [[Lugnut Supreme|Lugnut Supremes]] transform and touch down.

[[Endgame, Part II|To be concluded...]]
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (1)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (2)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (4)
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] (5)
*[[Arcee (Animated)|Arcee]] (6)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (11)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (14, flashback)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Cadet Sentinel]] (15, flashback)

|c2=
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave/Longarm Prime]] (7)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (8)
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (10)
*[[Female Starscream]] (17)
*Three [[Lugnut Supreme|Lugnuts Supreme]] (18–20)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (16)

|c4=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (13)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Megatron''': Can't you shut [[Arcee (Animated)|her]] up? She makes [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] sound like he has his head screwed on straight. 
'''Starscream''': You see? He even likes Blitzwing better than you. 
''[Lugnut bashes Shockwave aside while making his way to Starscream]'' 
'''Lugnut''': No! ''I'' am the most faithful! 
'''Shockwave''': Have you blown a diode?! I'm trying to work here! 
''[A scuffle insues]'' 
'''Megatron''': Oh, for spark's sake...
:—You get what you pay for, Megatron. And these guys are free.

'''Prowl''': I'll transwarp to the Moon and spy on him. 
'''Jazz''': And take five on your Cyber-Ninja training? No dice. You're close to a real breakthrough. And I got a vibe that says we're gonna need every advantage we can get our servos on. 
'''Optimus''': Agreed. We'll send someone else. 
'''Bumblebee''': Who'd be crazy enough to volunteer for ''that'' mission? ''[Everyone looks at Bumblebee]'' Why's everyone looking at me? Why's everyone ''always'' looking at me?!
:—Bumblebee gets tired of all his suicide missions.

"Get with it, Prowl. The AllSpark ain't just in your circuits, dig. It's grooving all around us. Reach out and hook yourself into it. 
:—'''Jazz''', being all mystical ''and'' hip at the same time.

'''Sari''': ''[Scans the boosters]'' You're right. We need to add a microaerator to the fuel line. 
'''Ratchet''': And I suppose the rocket boosters just told you that? 
'''Sari''': Kinda. 
'''Ratchet''': That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever— 
''[Ratchet checks the rocket boosters]'' 
'''Ratchet''': Wait! I've got it! We'll add a microaerator to the fuel line! 
'''Sari''': Hmm, now why didn't I think of that? 
:—Ratchet is either a glory hog or going senile. Possibly both.

"Instilled with my own powerful personality, the clones might try to overthrow me. But not so my ''most loyal'' lieutenant..." 
''[to Megatron]'' "Ah. I am honoured, my Lord." ''[to Shockwave]'' "Hah. Megatron trusts '''me''' the most!"
:—'''Megatron''' makes all '''Lugnut'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s dreams come true. Lugnut responds by showing what a child he is.

==Notes==

===Transformers references===

* Prowl's failure to complete his [[Cyber-Ninja Corps|Cyber-Ninja]] training, as previously mentioned in "[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II]]", is again brought up. We learn in this episode that his failure is partially due to the fact that while trying to commune with the AllSpark, he was interrupted by Optimus Prime's crew and wound up joining up with them out of necessity, bridging the storytelling gap between "[[Five Servos of Doom]]" and "[[Transform and Roll Out]]".

* The events of "[[Along Came a Spider]]" are at last revealed to be the reason why Optimus was kicked out of the [[Autobot Academy]].

[[Image:GodGinrai_toy.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Now, that's some upgrade...]]
* While more viewers will likely be reminded of ''[[Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' [[Optimus Prime (Armada)|Optimus Prime]]'s super mode, ''Animated'' Optimus's new flight attachments (specifically, the colors and details of his wings and gauntlets) are based on [[Ginrai|God Ginrai]]'s flight-endowing [[Godbomber]] components. The flight pack itself, to which the wings attach, doesn't seem to owe as much to the ''[[Super-God Masterforce (franchise)|Masterforce]]'' character, appearing instead to resemble the booster pack from [[Jetfire (G1)|the original Jetfire]] (and thus the FAST Packs from ''Super-Dimensional Fortress Macross''). His shoulder cannons also appear to be based on his Voyager-class toy's water blaster.
** The wingless rocket pack also calls to mind final scenes of the original series episode "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3]]", in which [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] borrows [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]]'s rocket pack to chase [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]'s space cruiser.

* As he jets into the sky, Optimus shouts out [[Megatron (BW)|"Yessssss!" and "Excellent"]].

*The female Starscream clone returns for the first time since "A Bridge Too Close, Part II".

* The protoforms [[Lockdown]] stole in "Five Servos of Doom" return in this episode, when it is revealed that the bounty hunter appropriated them for Megatron, and that they have been in the remains of his crashed warship all this time. As many fans had suspected, the protoforms are confirmed to have been used by Starscream to create his [[Starscream clone|clones]] in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]" and "[[A Bridge Too Close, Part I]]". As the events of "Five Servos" suggested, the protoforms are shown to be blank, without [[spark]]s.

* Ratchet once again repeats the oft-heard mantra that "Autobots don't fly", a common (if frequently broken) rule throughout most of the Transformers fiction, and one that has received quite a bit of attention in ''Animated''. Like quite a lot of fans before them, Bulkhead and Bumblebee promptly confront Ratchet with the harsh reality: [[Jetfire (Animated)|quite a]] [[Jetstorm (Animated)|few ]] [[Prowl (Animated)|Animated]] [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Autobots]] have taken to the skies at this point.

* The creation of the Lugnut Supremes, evil clones of [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]], hearkens back to previous evil Omegas such as the [[Omega Sentinel (G1)|Omega Sentinel]] and the [[Dark Guardian]]s.

===Real-world references===
*The scene in which Optimus tests his jet pack for the first time appears to be a reference to a similar scene in the ''[[Iron Man]]'' motion picture, as he starts out using only a tiny percentage of the pack's power and still winds up shooting off out of control. When he achieves successful flight on his next test, he's also just as elated as Stark was. Amusingly, this isn't even the first time David Kaye's played the part of Iron Man, having voiced the character in the ''[[wikipedia: Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes|Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes]]'' animated series.

===Trivia===
* Prowl had been on his optics quest for at least "a million stellar cycles" before he joined up with Optimus...and had accomplished jack squat in all that time. Of course, he could have been exaggerating out of frustration, but still...slow going.

*Megatron purposely started the Shockwave/Lugnut feud, knowing Starscream would try to seize Omega Supreme's access codes, just to be sure Lugnut would be in his most loyal state at the moment of the transfer? Now, that's some sleeky fore-thinkings...

*Shockwave has enough of a sense of humor that he can laugh. Who knew?

*Interestingly, Megatron destroys all of the remaining (albeit inert) Starscream clone shells, instead of reprogramming them to serve him and boost the number of troops under his command. [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] even suggests this, but apparently Megatron prefers [[Lugnut Supreme|sheer brute force]] over numbers.
**Considering who they're clones of, this isn't really that surprising.

*After spending all of Season 3 as a disembodied head, Starscream finally regains his body....only to have Megatron blow it to smithereens at the end of the episode. ''Tough break'', Screamer.

* This is not the [[Matrix Blade|first time]] that an Optimus has taken up a huge, Matrix-related melee weapon for the final battle against a Megatron.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

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Endgame, Part I