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The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1

2007-10-28T14:09:38Z

76.187.186.121: /* Real-World references */

{{episodenav|g1|season=3|29|prev=The Burden Hardest to Bear|next=The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}

'''The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1''' is the first part of the two-part season finale of Season 3 of the ''[[Generation 1 (cartoon)|Generation 1 animated series]]''.

==Detailed synopsis==
While on a deep-space mission to test a new [[Impervious Alloy|heat- and radiation-resistant alloy]] that they have developed, scientists [[Jessica Morgan]] and [[Greggory Swafford]] detect a ship carrying Optimus Prime's body (see ''[[Dark Awakening]]'') on a collision course with a planetoid orbitting a star they are researching nearby. Despite Greggory's reservations (his face was scarred in a previous scuffle between Optimus and Megatron, which he blames on Optimus), he is talked into helping Jessica rescue Prime's body before the ship collides with the planetoid, the impact of which also sets off the star into a supernova and coating their ship with unusual spores. Upon return to Earth, Jessica's father studies the spores and learns that they are not only alive, but are an [[Hate Plague|incredibly contagious viral agent]] that induces hatred and destructive urges into whoever they contaminate. After a new scuffle between the Technobots and Terrorcons over the new alloy gravely injures Jessica, her father is convinced by Greggory to try and resurrect Prime's body as a carrier of the spores against the Autobots, a sentiment exacerbated when it's learned Jessica was paralyzed from the waist down in the accident and now needs a special exosuit to walk. However, when reviving Prime's body turns out to be impossible for them, Greggory and Jessica's father decide to use it as bait for the other Autobots, forcing Jessica into luring them into a spore trap at the lab.

The trap goes off without a hitch, mostly due to Rodimus' reckless haste in recovering his predecessor's corpse in lieu of caution, and several Autobots - including Superion and Defensor, two of the most powerful Autobot gestalts - are infected. However, the Decepticons had learned about Optimus Prime's recovery as well, and have shown up to terminate the once Autobot leader permanently, but are instead infected themselves. Fortunately, Rodimus, Jessica, and Galvatron manage to escape unharmed, the former two with Optimus' body; a few other Autobots manage to escape infection as well, but are badly wounded while attempting to subdue a sickened and crazed Superion. Back at Autobot City, Rodimus pleads to Wreck-Gar to try and repair Prime, but Prime is too far gone even for Junkion medical experience. Desperate, Rodimus contacts Sky Lynx and orders him to locate and bring back a Quintesson, remembering that they had [[Dark Awakening|once before restored Optimus to life]], before disconnecting Metroplex, keeping the city-former from becoming infected. However, just as he finishes the final steps to do so, an infected Ultra Magnus appears and has a short chase with Rodimus before being temporarily subdued by Wreck-Gar...who ends up becoming infected, and infecting Rodimus in return, for his efforts.

Now, with the Hate Plague, as it's now called, rampaging even to the ends of the galaxy, Sky Lynx finds an uninfected Quintesson who he's able to convince to help revive Optimus, even though he warns that - should anything go too awry during the process - there's a good chance that Optimus will never live again. It's touch-and-go for a while, but eventually, the Quintesson manages to pull through and Optimus is restored to full life, declaring that "no force in the Universe can stop me."

[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2|To be continued]]...

==Stats==
'''Original airdate:''' February 24, 1987

===Featured characters===
*Featured characters

==Notable quotes==
''"Computron thinks too much!"'' 
:-- '''Abominus''' after which he shoots Computron.

''"Where's that punk Rodimus Prime?! I want him!"'' 
:-- infected '''Ultra Magnus'''.

''"There you are, you wimp!"'' 
:-- infected '''Ultra Magnus'''.

''"The Autobots are acting like madmen!"'' 
''"Its a madness plague, Galvatron. If one of those Transformers touches you, you're infected."'' 
''"You're lying!"'' 
''"Fine, don't believe me. Whatever makes you a happy Decepticon. Just watch your rear thruster."'' 
:-- '''Galvatron''' as he sees his troops get infected by Autobots and '''Rodimus Prime''' explaining the threat they are facing.

''"I'm a doctor, not a forklift!"'' 
:-- '''Wreck-gar''' as he examines Optimus Prime.

''"His engines, they cannae take the strain!"'' 
- '''Wreck-gar''' as he examines Optimus Prime.

''"He's dead, Jim."'' 
:-- '''Wreck-gar''' medical conclusion of Optimus's condition.

''"Its over kid; I've won!"'' 
''"Don't believe it, old friend!" 
:-- infected '''Ultra Magnus''' as he blocks the path and '''Rodimus Prime''' who manages to evade the trap.

''"You can't escape, Rodimus! I can track your gas fumes anywhere!"'' 
:-- infected '''Ultra Magnus''' as he chases Rodimus Prime.

''"It's as I said before, kid: It's all over. What...? ARGH!"'' 
''"And as I said before: Don't believe it."'' 
:-- infected '''Ultra Magnus''' cornering '''Rodimus Prime''' in an alley when a rope suddenly is thrown around Magnus by Wreck-gar.

''"I'm a pepper! Wouldn't you like to be a pepper, too?"'' 
:-- '''Wreck-gar''' as he got infected and asked if he was "ok" by Rodimus Prime.

''"The world needs a leader, now!"'' 
:-- '''Sky Lynx''' on the reactivation of Optimus Prime.

''"I've done it! Optimus Prime lives!"'' 
''"It's true; our leader is back."'' 
''"Yes, Sky Lynx, and this time, no force in the universe can stop me."'' 
:-- '''Quintesson''' and '''Sky Lynx''' as '''Optimus Prime''' is revived and comments on his resurrection.

==Other notes==

===Animation and/or technical glitches===
[[Image:Swindle_TROOP.jpg|right|250px|thumb|"So we bought your daughter's exosuit from a Decepticon . . . what's so bad about that?"]]
*When Rodimus is done talking to Optimus's statue, his head slides backwards. Twice.
*When Greggory and Jessica's father rush at the hospital and find the Autobots, [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] is amongst them.
*When Soundwave looks down after having Ratbat inserted into him, his faceplate stays in its old position of looking upwards.
*Also pertaining to Soundwave, those wacky voice editors forgot to use the [[vocoder]] on his voice in this ep, again [[Roll For It|making him sound like Dr. Claw]]
*In one scene, Bruticus is the same size as all the regular Decepticons, or the regular Decepticons are the same size as Bruticus.
* Before entering the lab to retrieve Prime's body, Rodimus gives orders to Defensor...though Defensor is shown as the one making all of those orders.
*In the same scene as above, Goldbug is somehow right in front of Defensor, but Bumblebee wasn't rebuilt into him yet.

===Continuity Errors===
*Optimus Prime's body is shown to be in perfect condition despite him having lost an arm and half of his face at the end of [[Dark Awakening]]. In addition, when his body is rescued, the ship is not being fired upon as it was shown to be previously.
*When Jessica Morgan asks who built Optimus Prime in the first place, Rodimus Prime responds by saying the Quintessons did so yet Optimus was modified from this [[Orion Pax|chap]] who was repaired by [[Alpha Trion]] though he might have meant who built him in his original form.

===Transformers references===
*References

===Real-World references===
*Wreck-Gar's lines: "I'm a doctor, not a forklift!" and "He's dead, Jim." Reference popular quotes from Star Trek medic [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Leonard_H._McCoy/ Dr. Leonard H. McCoy].
**Similarly "His engines, they cannae take the strain!" comes from another Star Trek character, namely [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Montgomery_Scott/ Montgomery Scott] (AKA Scotty), though this is often claimed to not be attributed to the character except for its use in parodies.
*Wreck-Gar's comment: "I'm a pepper! Wouldn't you like to be a pepper, too?" is a reference to an old Dr. Pepper ad campaign in the late 70's to mid 80's.

===Miscellaneous trivia===
*Trivia

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes|Return of Optimus Prime, The]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>

Astrotrain (G1)

2007-10-14T20:43:56Z

76.187.186.121:

{{disambig3|Astrotrain }}
{{picsneeded|one or two screen captures from cartoon}}
:''Astrotrain is a [[Decepticon]] in the [[Generation 1]] continuity family.''

[[Image:Astrotraing1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The original Choo Choo Rocket!]]

'''Astrotrain''' loves to sow confusion. To this end, his [[Triple Changer]] abilities serve him well. Nothing pleases him more than confronting an Autobot in a dark corner and making him wonder if he's up against one Decepticon or two. He craves having this power over others. Single-minded, you may say, but when most of your time is spent transporting troops around, you have to take your jollies where you can.

He also craves having power over a massive army of train drones. Follow your dreams, Astrotrain. Follow your dreams.

:''Italian name:'' '''Triplex Uno'''

==Fiction==
===Animated continuity===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Jack Angel]] (US), [[Takurō Kitagawa]] (Japan)

With the help of [[Blitzwing]], Astrotrain froze [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] and [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] in a sewer system in order to take over the Decepticons. He then created an army of trains to help him rule, thinking it was a good idea. Although he managed to amass a surprisingly large amount of [[Energon cube]]s, the productive day ended with him flooding the entire city, after bursting a water main. Worse, Megatron thawed out. The embarrassment of these incidents forced Astrotrain to creep back into the Decepticon ranks quietly. At [[fusion cannon]] point. {{Storylink|Triple Takeover}}

Astrotrain transported Megatron, Starscream and [[Rumble]] to the lost Autobot colony of [[Antilla]], where they discovered the entire civilization had been wiped out by the deadly [[Cosmic Rust]]. Not heeding a holographic warning from the Autobots, Megatron ventured further into the colony and seized an advanced heat ray weapon from its storage chamber. As they left Antilla, a Cosmic Rust spore-filled asteroid appeared to chase after Astrotrain, prompting Megatron to test out of the power of the 'lightning bug' weapon on the space rock. The blast obliterated the asteroid, but the shrapnel from the explosion pierced Astrotrain's hull and punctured Megatron's chest plate, infecting him with Cosmic Rust. Oddly enough, Astrotrain was never infected. {{Storylink|Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust}}

One of his notable achievements was to be worshiped by the people of [[Titan]]. While tracking [[Cosmos]], he shot down the Autobot, who had been on a fuel scouting mission, and managed to trick the people of Titan into believing that he was a God, so that they would mine the energy crystals for him, via [[Jero]], a corrupt High Priest who was as fanatical as he was ruthless. However, the Autobots [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] and [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] arrived, and soon managed to refuel [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. Knowing that they couldn't beat Omega Supreme, Astrotrain destroyed detonated the crystals before flying off. {{storylink|The God Gambit}}

He also transported the Decepticons away after getting their aft-sections handed to them at Autobot City. He couldn't make it back to Cybertron with the amount of weight on board, so they tossed [[Megatron (G1)|some]] [[Insecticon (G1)|dead]] [[Thundercracker (G1)|weight]] overboard. Apparently, they all made it back fine. Astrotrain was then the person to crown Starscream during his coronation as the new Deception leader.{{Storylink|The Transformers: The Movie (1986)}}

====''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform: The Transformers'' manga====

Astrotrain photographed the incomplete [[Autobot City]], with the aid of [[Reflector]]'s camera mode, so that Megatron could decipher whether or not it was powerful enough to stand up to [[Trypticon]].

===Marvel Comics continuity===
====Generation 1====

''Astrotrain was one of Lord Straxus' warriors on Cybertron, operating out of Darkmount in Polyhex. At Megatron's demand, he called a group of Decepticons back from a planned assassination attempt on Emirate Xaaron and the Autobot leaders, leaving all the Decepticons unaware that it was actually a ploy by the Autobots to wipe them out.''

Astrotrain and his fellow Triple Changers were commissioned by Ratbat to investigate the loss of his [[Wash and Roll|priceless cargo]] that had arrived on Earth via a low-cost freighter, but hadn't checked in as scheduled. Upon making contact with the crashed ship, Astrotrain and his companions were infected with [[Scraplet|Scraplets]], and began to slowly waste away. Lucky for them, the Autobot [[Blaster]] was also infected, and his friends managed to re-discover the [[water|strange and wonderous chemical]] that acted as a cure. In saving Blaster, the Triple Changers were incidentally saved as well.

Having gathered the cargo and hypnotically secured the aid of a useful human, [[G.B. Blackrock]], the Triple Changers linked up with Shockwave's Decepticons on Earth, which soon fell into the hands of their former superior on Cybertron, Ratbat. The Triple Changers were eventually destroyed battling Starscream in the Underbase Saga.

====Generation 2====
Astrotrain shows up among a crowd of Decepticons all fired up to tackle the armies of [[Jhiaxus]], just before they're pretty much slaughtered.

====Classics====
{{coming soon|fanclub}}

===Dreamwave comics continuity===
[[Image:Astrotrain_warwithin.jpg|thumb|100px|right|Finally, I get to fight instead of carry people.]]

Astrotrain accompanied [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]'s troops during their attack on [[Iacon]] in the first ''[[The War Within]]'' volume issued by [[Dreamwave Productions]]. He was briefly seen in robot mode and did not have triple-changing abilities at this time. At some point between the ''War Within'' series and the present day, Shockwave modified the triple-changers to have 3 forms.

In 2003, Astrotrain, along with [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]], [[Blitzwing]], [[Sandstorm (Autobot)|Sandstorm]] and [[Octane]] arrived with Shockwave on [[Earth]] to place the Earth-bound Transformers under arrest for war crimes and take them back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. When Shockwave was eventually defeated and his control of Cybertron lost, Astrotrain and Blitzwing remained his loyal servants until the return of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] caused Astrotrain to switch loyalties while Blitzwing was destroyed.

===IDW comics continuity===

Astrotrain is part of a Decepticon insurgent cell that has operated covertly on Earth for at least four years, working to destabilize Earth's governing organizations and create global anarchy. He oversees the extraction and refinement of the mysterious, Energon-like substance, [[Ore-13]], but despite having sampled its power, he is unwilling to stand alongside Starscream against Megatron.

Later on, he takes Starscream's place as the Earthbound Decepticon Infiltration Unit's second-in-command under Megatron. The wire in his forehead nearly explodes when [[Sixshot]] is ordered to come to Earth, but Megatron tells him to shut up.

===IDW ''[[Hearts of Steel]]'' continuity===
Referred to as ''the'' Astrotrain, the Decepticons built (or modified) Astrotrain to be the locomotive engine pulling their battle train to New York City. {{Storylink|Hearts of Steel, Part 3}} Astrotrain never speaks or transforms out of train mode during the story, but the cover of issue 4 appears to depict him in robot mode, and he clearly has some airplane components, so he is apparently a triple-changing Transformer in this continuity as in most. He is tough enough to ram through an Army blockade undamaged, but ends up driving off a cliff, and apparently falling to his destruction, despite having wings. {{Storylink|Hearts of Steel, Part 4}} His train mode is a black-and-purple locomotive, with a retracted propellor on the front, and batwings along the side.

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Generation 1===
* '''Astrotrain''' (1985, 1986, 2004, 2005)
: ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-48''', '''TFC-11'''

[[Image:G1Astrotrain_toy.jpg|thumb|left|And then I transform into a train and a rocket and a Transformer again...]]

: Astrotrain was one of the two Triple Changer toys released in 1985. He transforms into both a purple steam locomotive and a gray space shuttle. Like [[Perceptor (G1)|several]] [[Thrust (G1)|other]] [[Bluestreak|characters]] from Generation 1, the pre-production toy shown in [[Hasbro]] catalogs and stock photography does not match the final product.

: In Japan, the 1985 release of Astrotrain had a color scheme based upon the real-life versions of the vehicles he transformed into, with a white space shuttle and a black steam locomotive. In 1986, Takara released Astrotrain in his US toy colors.

: In 2004, Takara reissued Astrotrain his original Japanese white color scheme, but with ''NASA'' stickers changed to ''ASTR'', and with white paint on the shuttle side of the die-cast front. In 2005, Hasbro released this version of Astrotrain on the Hasbro Toy Shop.

* '''Astrotrain''' (2004)
: ''Japanese ID number:'' '''D-48'''

: Often referred to as 'Anime Astrotrain' by collectors, this version was decorated in colors used on the original 1986 toy's packaging as well as the ''Generation 1'' animation model. He was an [[e-Hobby]] [[exclusive]].

===Classics===
*'''Astrotrain''' (Deluxe, 2006)

[[Image:ClassicsAstrotrain.jpg|thumb|right|...and a rocket and a train and a Transformer and man it's hard work!]]

: ''Classics'' Astrotrain, like much of the ''Classics'' line, is an extensive update of the original Astrotrain designed based heavily upon their cartoon appearances and using modern toy engineering techniques. He still transforms into a NASA space shuttle, though there are two rather obvious locomotive front halves on the sides of the rear hull, and instead of a steam engine, his secondary vehicle mode is a bullet train locomotive. His robot mode is based heavily upon his ''Generation 1'' cartoon animation model design, and is armed with a large purple laser rifle similar to the original toy's rifle. However, purple highlights aside, his deco's color scheme is predominantly based on the original Takara toy.

: As with all ''Classics'' toys, he has a heat-sensitive [[rubsign]].

==Trivia==
*Not only did early catalogs show the infamous prototype/show accurate Astrotrain, but some also showed different moldings. Slightly different feet and different headsculpt, but most impressively, apparent intent that Astrotrain's arms were to extend on a slide joint and be more in proportion to his body.

==External links==
*[http://www.tfu.info/1985/Decepticon/Astrotrain/astrotrain.htm Astrotrain at TFU.info]

{{stub}}
[[Category: Classics characters]]
[[Category: Decepticons]]
[[Category: E-Hobby]]
[[Category: Generation 1 characters]]
[[Category: Generation 2 characters]]
[[Category: Triple Changers]]<div id="wikia-credits"> From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</div>