MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

User talk:94.170.56.95

2009-05-31T09:50:12Z

81.106.171.213:

One Thing 81.106.171.213 IS ME I am just on a different computer ask me any question I Should know if iwas him for proof I was saying that the people who annoyed me on the different computer were scumbags why would I call myself a Scumbag? And How did I Harass Anyone or be mean Please dont block me for longer and if you stop the block i will do ANYTHING Just dont block my other account like Roscrucian Did that RUNT! Was it Roscrucian? One minute{{unsigned|94.170.56.95|17:00, 2 May 2009}}
:I blocked you for a week. Your original block ''already expired'' and if you'd come back on your best behavior you would have been ''fine'' as you'd served your time. Instead, you went and made harassing messages on talkpages and Abates blocked you for three months. So you really shot yourself in the foot there, dude. You were already in the clear, and now you messed it up for yourself again.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 17:46, 2 May 2009 (EDT)
I Know That Dumbo

U will not find out my account on transformers wiki and Ban me HAHAH

*facepalms* IP adress, dude.--[[User:Sunjumper|Sunjumper]] 14:58, 12 May 2009 (EDT)

So what u can NEVER BAN ME ON TRANSFORMERS WIKI HAHAHAHAHA I DARE YOU TO.

HI EVERYONE, INCLUDING THOSE SPAMMERS I AM BACK ON THE OTHER ACCOUNT AND YOU CANNOT BAN ME AGAIN!!

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T17:00:13Z

81.106.171.213:

Hello, My edits are being deleted by this bumbling person called Professor Icepick and dont edit this page, please GOT IT ICEPICK.{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:26, 10 April 2009}}
: Cry some more. Your edits weren't needed, so they were reverted. [[User:Antimatter|Antimatter]] 12:33, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:: DONT EDIT THIS PAGE EITHER ANTIMATTER! GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

::Never edit my page unless you are going to say something nice so i welcome nice people.{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:37, 10 April 2009}}

Hey, that's not how talkpages work. Now settle down or I'm giving you a time-out.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:41, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:Sorry about the tude its just prof. icepick and antimatter get on my nerves{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:45, 10 April 2009}}
::Well, let me clarify. Your talkpage is there for people pointing out issues with your editing, first and foremost. Just because people ''can'' say nice things to you here doesn't mean they ''have to'', and you can't dictate that unless they're being genuinely abusive. For the most part, it's a no-no to erase people's comments.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:51, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

Your edits are being reverted because they are not good additions to the pages. The SUV "trivia" bit in particular is particularly speculative and not even relevant to the episode. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 12:43, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:M sipher you are a rude person you are a damn bad idiot NEVER GET ME ANGRY{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:47, 10 April 2009}}
::...okay, you're out of chances. You get to cool off for a week.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:51, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

You ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME. Nice people, Please go on to deviantArt and go on iamowendabest by typing it in and please look at my problems{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:52, 10 April 2009}}
:I ''really'' hope you have a more level head in a week's time.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:54, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

Fine i will calm down just im angry at people who are nasty to me so sorry but prof. icepick and antimatter and also M Sipher need to cool down too.

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:53:38Z

81.106.171.213:

Hello, My edits are being deleted by this bumbling person called Professor Icepick and dont edit this page, please GOT IT ICEPICK.{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:26, 10 April 2009}}
: Cry some more. Your edits weren't needed, so they were reverted. [[User:Antimatter|Antimatter]] 12:33, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:: DONT EDIT THIS PAGE EITHER ANTIMATTER! GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

::Never edit my page unless you are going to say something nice so i welcome nice people.{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:37, 10 April 2009}}

Hey, that's not how talkpages work. Now settle down or I'm giving you a time-out.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:41, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:Sorry about the tude its just prof. icepick and antimatter get on my nerves{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:45, 10 April 2009}}
::Well, let me clarify. Your talkpage is there for people pointing out issues with your editing, first and foremost. Just because people ''can'' say nice things to you here doesn't mean they ''have to'', and you can't dictate that unless they're being genuinely abusive. For the most part, it's a no-no to erase people's comments.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:51, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

Your edits are being reverted because they are not good additions to the pages. The SUV "trivia" bit in particular is particularly speculative and not even relevant to the episode. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 12:43, 10 April 2009 (EDT)
:M sipher you are a rude person you are a damn bad idiot NEVER GET ME ANGRY{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:47, 10 April 2009}}
::...okay, you're out of chances. You get to cool off for a week.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|Talk]] 12:51, 10 April 2009 (EDT)

You ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME
Nice people, Please go on to deviantArt and go on iamowendabest by typing it in and please look at my problems

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:52:36Z

81.106.171.213:

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:47:42Z

81.106.171.213:

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:45:45Z

81.106.171.213:

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:37:50Z

81.106.171.213:

Hello, My edits are being deleted by this bumbling person called Professor Icepick and dont edit this page, please GOT IT ICEPICK.{{unsigned|81.106.171.213|12:26, 10 April 2009}}
: DONT EDIT THIS PAGE EITHER ANTIMATTER! GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never edit my page unless you are going to say something nice so i welcome nice people.

User talk:81.106.171.213

2009-04-10T16:26:44Z

81.106.171.213: New page: Hello, My edits are being deleted by this bumbling person called Professor Icepick and dont edit this page, please GOT IT ICEPICK.

Hello, My edits are being deleted by this bumbling person called Professor Icepick and dont edit this page, please GOT IT ICEPICK.

User talk:Professor Icepick

2009-04-10T16:23:39Z

81.106.171.213: /* Fanzone's car */

==Fanzone's car==
Gratzi beaucoup for the [[Captain Fanzone's car|scan]]. [[User:JW|JW]] 17:58, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

My Life I Always Delete someones edits on SUV Society Of Ultimate Villiany and i will stop it

SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy

2009-04-10T16:14:24Z

81.106.171.213: Undo revision 267355 by Professor Icepick (Talk)

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=24
|image=SUV.jpg
|caption=Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!
|title="SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy"
|airdate=[[May 31]], 2008
|written by=[[Dean Stefan]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]], [[Ciro Nieli]] and [[Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}
'''Aided by a mysterious benefactor, Detroit's B-level villains team up to take down the Autobots once and for all.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Bumblebee Slo Mo.jpg|thumb|left|Tell me, Doctor, where are we goin' this time? Is it the '50s, or 1999?]]

[[Nanosec]] is on the loose again and leading the [[Autobot]]s for a merry chase. As they pursue him, they wonder how and why he's young again. They're no closer to catching him, so [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] instructs [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] to head off down a side street and come back around to cut off his escape. Bumblebee disregards this order, reasoning that he's the "star player" and is more than fast enough to get Nanosec on his own. As he speeds up, a mysterious force hits him and stops him in his tracks, which leaves the other Autobots no room to react. Nanosec escapes, and before Bumblebee can snap out of it, the Autobots crash into him. Optimus Prime expresses his disappointment in the little yellow one and orders him back to base so that [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] can run a diagnostic on his drivetrain.

Bumblebee ignores this order as well, resolving to find Nanosec again to prove to Optimus that he isn't malfunctioning. His search proves fruitless until [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] discovers that due to his scanning of [[Captain Fanzone]]'s car, Bumblebee has a built-in police scanner. Hearing a report of a robbery in progress, he reasons it's Nanosec and heads over. He's wrong, though, as it turns out to be the [[Angry Archer]]. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decides to capture the ''other'' villain. Again, he is about to pursue when mysterious blue energy skids him to a halt. Sari urges him to have Ratchet check him out, but he still believes it's nothing serious. A third and final crime scene turns out to be [[Professor Princess]] trying to level a video arcade. Yet again, Bumblebee is stopped by the blue energy, and since it affects him in his robot mode, he finally admits he has a problem. However, Sari has noticed that her key reacts when the energy lashes out, and she surmises that an AllSpark fragment may be at fault. As she deduces this, a shady figure on a rooftop skulks off.

[[Image:Clock hideout.jpg|thumb|right|The <s>Bat</s> Clock Cave]]

Soon, that same figure meets with the other three villains at her lair, introducing herself as [[Slo-Mo]]. She reveals that she has aided each of them on their respective heists recently by using her timepiece, which can disable machines, even Transformers. She and Nanosec hit it off immediately, due in no small part to the fact that her time-based superpowers are what restored him to the prime of youth. She proposes to all of them that they make a great team and should form a crime syndicate. Professor Princess protests that she is not a criminal, but is quickly convinced.

[[Image:SUV.jpg|thumb|left|Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!]]
Soon, news reports are everywhere regarding the new crime wave and its perpetrators. Bumblebee is quite frustrated at being repeatedly thwarted by Slo-Mo, but is soon hopeful when he hears a burglar alarm. This time, the criminals have bitten off more than they can chew, having loaded themselves down with too much loot. They try to escape and are initially successful, stopping Bumblebee. However, the cops soon have them surrounded without any getaway car. Slo-Mo receives a call on her watch phone and gets an offer from an anonymous benefactor. Taking the deal, the gang pile into a dull-yellow Hummer and peel out. With the police in hot pursuit, their patron speaks through the vehicle's console and tells them he's a big fan of their weird, wacky adventures. He says to consider the Hummer a down payment on what he hopes will be a beautiful business relationship. Slo-Mo seems less than impressed, as she considers herself the leader of the cartel, and it's just a truck. The voice then tells her to press the red button. A humongous turret rises from the back of the Hummer, blasting the police to smithereens. Having gotten their attention, their newfound benefactor mentions a scheme of heists that should make them all fabulously rich, as they will be stealing components to a weapon they can sell on the open market.

Definitely interested, the gang heads to a Sumdac Systems factory. Angry Archer attempts to blast the lock open with an explosive arrow, but Professor Princess announces that she has defused all of his weapons because she disapproves of violence...unless it is really colorful and pretty. Gleefully blasting an even ''bigger'' hole in the fence, she leads them in. The voice instructs them on what to steal, which is quickly rounded up by Nanosec while Slo-Mo takes care of the police robots.

[[Image:Watching SUVs.jpg|thumb|left|Bee: Where are the donuts? Sari: Huh? Bee: You can't have a stakeout without donuts!]]

Bumblebee and Sari spot them and speculate on what they're up to based off of the items they stole, but hang back as they realize they'll never catch the crooks if they get blasted by Slo-Mo again. Shadowing the cartel from a safe distance, they follow them to the roof of a parking garage. The gang's unseen patron instructs them on how to assemble the device in spite of their skepticism. Archer and Nanosec ask the purpose of the device and how it's going to make them money. The voice explains that it's ultimately useless without the final piece: Slo-Mo's superpowered timepiece. The crazy doll refuses to give up her superpowers, which angers her benefactor, who reveals himself to ''be'' their getaway vehicle, the Decepticon [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]].

Swindle makes it clear to them that he isn't about to take "no" for an answer, and he isn't above using his multitude of weapons systems against the puny fleshlings either. Blasting the floor out from under her cohorts, he squares off against Slo-Mo. She's initially confident that her timepiece will take care of him, but a useful purchase from the Vok proves more than enough to deflect it. Bumblebee races to intervene, but the debilitating blasts ricocheting off of Swindle's force field mean he can't get near the battle. Realizing he's in over his head, with much haranguing from Sari, he calls in Optimus and the other Autobots. Leveling his main cannon at Slo-Mo, Swindle is reminded by the dame that if he blasts her, he risks destroying her watch as well. Feeling a bit silly, the Decepticon recovers quickly and reveals he could simply take it using his integrated tractor beam. The MacGuffin retrieved, he then blasts the floor out from under ''her'' too.

[[Image:TFASwindlefullyarmed.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Swindle is the reason the Autobots of ''Animated'' don't have guns. He stole them all.]]

Slipping the timepiece into its intended slot in the device, Swindle quickly dials up his favorite warmonger, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Expressing how glad he is that the old despot is still functional (and looking well), he brags about a weapon that would easily turn the tide against the Autobots and consign them to a fate worse than being offlined. Though his interest is piqued, Megatron is nonetheless dubious as to whether Swindle could pull it off. The arms dealer proves only too eager to show off the many merits of his wondrous new invention, and pulls a "But wait, that's not all!" that succeeds in blacking out every mechanical device in Detroit...even the Autobots!

Both Bumblebee and the Autobots speeding to the scene are left frozen, unable to move or talk, but aware of their surroundings. Sari notices, however, that [[Sumdac Tower]] is still powered up, and she deduces that its emergency forcefield kicked in, protecting it from the device as long as the emergency generators held. Unfortunately, being a little girl, Sari has no real chance of dragging Bumblebee to the safety of the tower. She receives aid from an unexpected source: the spurned cartel, who want to even the score with Swindle. Aiding her in transporting Bumblebee, they watch as she uses her key to gain access to the tower and suffers dismay when the Reception Bot announces their location as [[Porter C. Powell|Powell Tower]]. Once within the shield, both Bumblebee and Powdered Sugar are quickly revived, and Sari is able to use her key to jury-rig personal force fields for both the Autobot and his new, reluctantly accepted team of villainous backup. She also reprograms the Reception Bot's greeting to her satisfaction.

[[Image:Swindle gettin towed.jpg|left|thumb|And this is why [[Captain Fanzone|I]] ''like'' tow trucks!]]

Though Swindle proves quite ready for the big payback, the villains manage to buy enough time for Bumblebee to sucker-punch the Decepticon with his stingers, whilst Sari deactivates the device with her key. Slo-Mo attempts to retrieve her timepiece, and a scuffle ensues, resulting in it falling over the ledge and directly into Swindle's hands. All seems lost, but the rest of the Autobots arrive on the scene. Swindle is about to turn the timepiece upon Bumblebee's backup, but the little yellow Autobot charges in and lets his forcefield deflect the Decepticon's shot, paralyzing Swindle. Optimus Prime once again scolds the young hot shot, but Bumblebee gloats, shooting out Swindle's tires. Meanwhile the villains, showing ''why'' they're B-grade, attempt to escape in Swindle, only to be apprehended by the timely arrival of Captain Fanzone and the police. Fanzone notes that Swindle will be stripped at a police impound lot and sold for parts. He seems quite confident that the police department will get their Christmas bonus checks this year.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)

|c2 =
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (10)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

|c3 =
*[[Nanosec]] (1)
*[[Angry Archer]] (7)
*[[Professor Princess]] (8)
*[[Slo-Mo]] (9)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (13)

|c4 =
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
}}

==Quotes==

"An Autobot. Verily, the arrows of outrageous misfortune seek to pierce me to the quick. ''Exeunt!''"
:—'''Angry Archer'''. Yon criminal maketh his escape...or something.

"Explosions aren't nice...except when they look like ''BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!''"
:—'''Professor Princess''', ever the fashion plate.

"Ooh, I like a man who works fast!" 
"And I like a girl who takes it slow."
:—'''Slo-Mo''' and '''Nanosec''' go over the target audience's heads. Hopefully.

"Negatronic force field emitter. A little something I picked up in an arms deal with the Vok of Nexus Zero. Nice creatures, the Vok. If you're ever in the Nexus Zero area, do yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be sorry."
:—'''Swindle''' thinks the Vok are quite nice. It probably helps if they're not [[Planet Buster|destroying your planet]].

"Megatron, you old warmonger! It's been stellar cycles. I can't tell you how tickled I was to learn that my favorite customer was still online. You look great by the way." 
"Oh, spare me the platitudes, Swindle. How did you get this frequency?" 
"A mutual bounty-hunting friend provided it in exchange for a weapon or two. Professional scruples prevent me from revealing his name." 
"Scruples? You'd sell your own motherboard to the highest bidder."
:—'''Swindle''' pours on the charm while '''Megatron''' pours on the acid.

"Are you seeing this? Are you loving this? Every machine, every robot in Detroit, inoperable! I could spring a leak, I'm so excited!"
:—'''Swindle''' about to sell you some Ginsu knives.

"Welcome to Sumdac Tower. Porter C. Powell is a booger-head."
:—'''Receptionist-Bot''' calls it like it is...with a little help from Sari Sumdac.

"Where's the off switch on this thing? Oh yeah, right here."
:—'''Sari.''' Yep, she found the right thing.

'''Optimus''': You should have called us sooner. If that weapon had gotten into Megatron's hands{{m-}} 
'''Bumblebee''': I know. I guess I just wanted to prove that I still had my touch. 
'''Ratchet''': Well, I hope you've learned something about team work. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh, yeah. Even the star player needs backup sometimes.
:—Bumblebee learns the value of teamwork. Humility? Not so much...

==Notes==

===Continuity errors===
* Angry Archer uses an arrow that looks like a magnet to catch the bus. Except that it's the window, which wouldn't BE metal, that it sticks to.

* Nanosec's mugshot should either have a long beard, as he was [[Nanosec (episode)|apprehended]] right after Bumblebee had run him into old age, or be out of his costume, as he was also apprehended ''before'' he became a super-speedster.

* It was shown throughout the episode that the watch's slowdown effect was only temporary. It only gained the ability to "freeze" its targets permanently when it was put into Swindle's machine. Yet later, Swindle is said to be frozen "permanently" by a reflected blast from just the watch itself. Maybe it was holding a last fully charged shot?

* On the other hand, Swindle did seem to 'charge' his shot longer than the short bursts Slo-Mo was using, so the shot that reflected back at him had a longer effect. And maybe Bumblebee was just wrong. (Imagine that!)

* Swindle is all impressed by Vok forcefield technology, but apparently forcefields designed by [[Isaac Sumdac]] are just as powerful. Though Sumdac did steal all his technology from Megatron; perhaps a deal with the Vok was just (much, ''much, MUCH'') safer for Swindle.

* Either the S.U.V. team knew Swindle was time-blocked and they should have known he wouldn't move, or they thought he was still fully functional and were ready to climb into the Decepticon that tried to kill them 5 minutes ago. So what was their plan, exactly?

* Furthermore, when Angry Archer opens the window to ask for a push, it's clearly an electric window and even sounds like one. Which shouldn't have worked at all.

* While it's explained why Nanosec had the accelerated aging reversed, there's no given reason for the effect to have ''stopped'' once he was young again. Possibly Slo-Mo gave him "booster shots" off-camera.

* While selling Swindle's parts is a nice piece of poetic justice, realistically, his parts won't sell for much, if anything at all since they're all shut down. It's probably why [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] [[Five Servos of Doom|could have just bought him with a fine]].

===Transformers references===
* The final numbers on the cards the villains hold up in their mugshots correspond to the episodes in which they first appeared.

* Swindle mentions having dealings with the [[Vok]] on [[Nexus Zero]].

* Swindle mentions that he got Megatron's frequency from a "mutual bounty-hunting friend" in exchange for new weaponry. Gee, who could [[Lockdown|THAT]] be?

* Fanzone mentions Swindle will be stripped and sold as parts. [[B.O.T. (episode)|How ironic]]...

* When Swindle holds up the time piece at one point, it bears a striking resemblance to the Matrix of Leadership

* [[Slo-Mo]]'s watch functions similarly to [[The Immobilizer]], including how Autobots turn gray when frozen by it.

===Real-world references===
* Nanosec and the Archer's team name suggestions of "The Fast and the Villainous" and "The League of Extraordinary Criminals" are references to ''[[Wikipedia:The Fast and the Furious|The Fast and the Furious]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', respectively.

* Nanosec calls the Archer "William Smell", referencing legendary Swiss archer [[Wikipedia:William Tell|William Tell]].

* Nanosec says he is "tanned, rested, and ready," which was a slogan attached to a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DB103DF932A25754C0A961948260 fake 1988 presidential campaign] for Richard Nixon.

===Trivia===
* This episode was first shown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It made its English language debut in Canada, one week before its American debut.

* This episode has the most "guest" voice actors yet, at three: [[Brian Posehn]] (Nanosec), [[Kath Soucie]] (Professor Princess), and [[Fred Willard]] (Swindle).

* Bulkhead appears, but has no dialogue.

* Professor Princess... flowers in a wide spread attack beam? Seriously?

* Bumblebee's stingers actually knock Swindle down{{m-}}the first time in the entire series that this weapon hasn't just bounced ineffectually off a Decepticon's hide. Maybe Swindle should trade off some of his weapons for a little more armor.

* That... or Bumblebee's stingers plus the assault of Angry Archer and Professor Princess gave him enough power.

* When Professor Princess falls butt-first on Nanosec's face, there's an odd squishy sound, followed by her looking very surprised. Either this is a case of cartoon sound-effects gone wrong, or that fall REALLY scared her.

* In the end, Swindle is trapped in a state that Bumblebee could not stand being in for less than an hour, ''forever'', and the Autobots don't seem to object to him being ripped apart and sold for spare parts. That seems a ''tad'' excessive.

* Bumblebee and Sari discover that he has a built-in police scanner, which makes sense, since Bumblebee scanned Captain Fanzone's car for his vehicle mode.

*The Society members all put their seat belts on when they clamber into their getaway SUV. Even among villains, safety must always come first! [[Public service announcement|Now you know...]]

*In a later episode, When Lockdown seems to have stole Swindle and given him to Sentinel, He might have been jumping up and down after hearing about Swindle's Gear but was Probably Pissed when it was deactivated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suv: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

A Fistful of Energon

2009-04-10T16:04:17Z

81.106.171.213: /* Synopsis */

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

'''Prowl goes off on his own to capture the fugitive Starscream, but finds some competition in the form of a Decepticon bounty hunter. '''

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Prowl vs Lockdown.JPG|thumb|left]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Decepticons turbulence.JPG|thumb|left|Quick, We have to fly faster to win the Megathon.

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

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

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

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

{{-}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*So...where did Starscream get the clones from? Ultra Magnus' comment suggests Starscream's escape actually happened some time ago [[Units of time|(depending on how long a deca-cycle is in ''Animated'')]]. Then again, Starscream did have 50 years of spare time on his hands.

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

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

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

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

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

*Exactly WHY does Lockdown wear a poncho?

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

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

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

==References==
<references/>

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

A Fistful of Energon

2009-04-10T16:03:26Z

81.106.171.213: /* Synopsis */

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

'''Prowl goes off on his own to capture the fugitive Starscream, but finds some competition in the form of a Decepticon bounty hunter. '''

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Prowl vs Lockdown.JPG|thumb|left]]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[[Image:TFA Fistful Energon Decepticons turbulence.JPG|thumb|left|]] Quick, We have to fly faster to win the Megathon.

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

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

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

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

{{-}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*So...where did Starscream get the clones from? Ultra Magnus' comment suggests Starscream's escape actually happened some time ago [[Units of time|(depending on how long a deca-cycle is in ''Animated'')]]. Then again, Starscream did have 50 years of spare time on his hands.

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

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

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

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

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

*Exactly WHY does Lockdown wear a poncho?

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

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

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

==References==
<references/>

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

SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy

2009-04-10T15:57:47Z

81.106.171.213: /* Trivia */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=24
|image=SUV.jpg
|caption=Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!
|title="SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy"
|airdate=[[May 31]], 2008
|written by=[[Dean Stefan]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]], [[Ciro Nieli]] and [[Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}
'''Aided by a mysterious benefactor, Detroit's B-level villains team up to take down the Autobots once and for all.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Bumblebee Slo Mo.jpg|thumb|left|Tell me, Doctor, where are we goin' this time? Is it the '50s, or 1999?]]

[[Nanosec]] is on the loose again and leading the [[Autobot]]s for a merry chase. As they pursue him, they wonder how and why he's young again. They're no closer to catching him, so [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] instructs [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] to head off down a side street and come back around to cut off his escape. Bumblebee disregards this order, reasoning that he's the "star player" and is more than fast enough to get Nanosec on his own. As he speeds up, a mysterious force hits him and stops him in his tracks, which leaves the other Autobots no room to react. Nanosec escapes, and before Bumblebee can snap out of it, the Autobots crash into him. Optimus Prime expresses his disappointment in the little yellow one and orders him back to base so that [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] can run a diagnostic on his drivetrain.

Bumblebee ignores this order as well, resolving to find Nanosec again to prove to Optimus that he isn't malfunctioning. His search proves fruitless until [[Sari Sumdac|Sari]] discovers that due to his scanning of [[Captain Fanzone]]'s car, Bumblebee has a built-in police scanner. Hearing a report of a robbery in progress, he reasons it's Nanosec and heads over. He's wrong, though, as it turns out to be the [[Angry Archer]]. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decides to capture the ''other'' villain. Again, he is about to pursue when mysterious blue energy skids him to a halt. Sari urges him to have Ratchet check him out, but he still believes it's nothing serious. A third and final crime scene turns out to be [[Professor Princess]] trying to level a video arcade. Yet again, Bumblebee is stopped by the blue energy, and since it affects him in his robot mode, he finally admits he has a problem. However, Sari has noticed that her key reacts when the energy lashes out, and she surmises that an AllSpark fragment may be at fault. As she deduces this, a shady figure on a rooftop skulks off.

[[Image:Clock hideout.jpg|thumb|right|The <s>Bat</s> Clock Cave]]

Soon, that same figure meets with the other three villains at her lair, introducing herself as [[Slo-Mo]]. She reveals that she has aided each of them on their respective heists recently by using her timepiece, which can disable machines, even Transformers. She and Nanosec hit it off immediately, due in no small part to the fact that her time-based superpowers are what restored him to the prime of youth. She proposes to all of them that they make a great team and should form a crime syndicate. Professor Princess protests that she is not a criminal, but is quickly convinced.

[[Image:SUV.jpg|thumb|left|Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No. Are we there yet? No! Are we there yet? NO!]]
Soon, news reports are everywhere regarding the new crime wave and its perpetrators. Bumblebee is quite frustrated at being repeatedly thwarted by Slo-Mo, but is soon hopeful when he hears a burglar alarm. This time, the criminals have bitten off more than they can chew, having loaded themselves down with too much loot. They try to escape and are initially successful, stopping Bumblebee. However, the cops soon have them surrounded without any getaway car. Slo-Mo receives a call on her watch phone and gets an offer from an anonymous benefactor. Taking the deal, the gang pile into a dull-yellow Hummer and peel out. With the police in hot pursuit, their patron speaks through the vehicle's console and tells them he's a big fan of their weird, wacky adventures. He says to consider the Hummer a down payment on what he hopes will be a beautiful business relationship. Slo-Mo seems less than impressed, as she considers herself the leader of the cartel, and it's just a truck. The voice then tells her to press the red button. A humongous turret rises from the back of the Hummer, blasting the police to smithereens. Having gotten their attention, their newfound benefactor mentions a scheme of heists that should make them all fabulously rich, as they will be stealing components to a weapon they can sell on the open market.

Definitely interested, the gang heads to a Sumdac Systems factory. Angry Archer attempts to blast the lock open with an explosive arrow, but Professor Princess announces that she has defused all of his weapons because she disapproves of violence...unless it is really colorful and pretty. Gleefully blasting an even ''bigger'' hole in the fence, she leads them in. The voice instructs them on what to steal, which is quickly rounded up by Nanosec while Slo-Mo takes care of the police robots.

[[Image:Watching SUVs.jpg|thumb|right|Bee: Where are the donuts? Sari: Huh? Bee: You can't have a stakeout without donuts!]]

Bumblebee and Sari spot them and speculate on what they're up to based off of the items they stole, but hang back as they realize they'll never catch the crooks if they get blasted by Slo-Mo again. Shadowing the cartel from a safe distance, they follow them to the roof of a parking garage. The gang's unseen patron instructs them on how to assemble the device in spite of their skepticism. Archer and Nanosec ask the purpose of the device and how it's going to make them money. The voice explains that it's ultimately useless without the final piece: Slo-Mo's superpowered timepiece. The crazy doll refuses to give up her superpowers, which angers her benefactor, who reveals himself to ''be'' their getaway vehicle, the Decepticon [[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]].

Swindle makes it clear to them that he isn't about to take "no" for an answer, and he isn't above using his multitude of weapons systems against the puny fleshlings either. Blasting the floor out from under her cohorts, he squares off against Slo-Mo. She's initially confident that her timepiece will take care of him, but a useful purchase from the Vok proves more than enough to deflect it. Bumblebee races to intervene, but the debilitating blasts ricocheting off of Swindle's force field mean he can't get near the battle. Realizing he's in over his head, with much haranguing from Sari, he calls in Optimus and the other Autobots. Leveling his main cannon at Slo-Mo, Swindle is reminded by the dame that if he blasts her, he risks destroying her watch as well. Feeling a bit silly, the Decepticon recovers quickly and reveals he could simply take it using his integrated tractor beam. The MacGuffin retrieved, he then blasts the floor out from under ''her'' too.

[[Image:TFASwindlefullyarmed.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Swindle is the reason the Autobots of ''Animated'' don't have guns. He stole them all.]]

Slipping the timepiece into its intended slot in the device, Swindle quickly dials up his favorite warmonger, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. Expressing how glad he is that the old despot is still functional (and looking well), he brags about a weapon that would easily turn the tide against the Autobots and consign them to a fate worse than being offlined. Though his interest is piqued, Megatron is nonetheless dubious as to whether Swindle could pull it off. The arms dealer proves only too eager to show off the many merits of his wondrous new invention, and pulls a "But wait, that's not all!" that succeeds in blacking out every mechanical device in Detroit...even the Autobots!

Both Bumblebee and the Autobots speeding to the scene are left frozen, unable to move or talk, but aware of their surroundings. Sari notices, however, that [[Sumdac Tower]] is still powered up, and she deduces that its emergency forcefield kicked in, protecting it from the device as long as the emergency generators held. Unfortunately, being a little girl, Sari has no real chance of dragging Bumblebee to the safety of the tower. She receives aid from an unexpected source: the spurned cartel, who want to even the score with Swindle. Aiding her in transporting Bumblebee, they watch as she uses her key to gain access to the tower and suffers dismay when the Reception Bot announces their location as [[Porter C. Powell|Powell Tower]]. Once within the shield, both Bumblebee and Powdered Sugar are quickly revived, and Sari is able to use her key to jury-rig personal force fields for both the Autobot and his new, reluctantly accepted team of villainous backup. She also reprograms the Reception Bot's greeting to her satisfaction.

[[Image:Swindle gettin towed.jpg|right|thumb|And this is why [[Captain Fanzone|I]] ''like'' tow trucks!]]

Though Swindle proves quite ready for the big payback, the villains manage to buy enough time for Bumblebee to sucker-punch the Decepticon with his stingers, whilst Sari deactivates the device with her key. Slo-Mo attempts to retrieve her timepiece, and a scuffle ensues, resulting in it falling over the ledge and directly into Swindle's hands. All seems lost, but the rest of the Autobots arrive on the scene. Swindle is about to turn the timepiece upon Bumblebee's backup, but the little yellow Autobot charges in and lets his forcefield deflect the Decepticon's shot, paralyzing Swindle. Optimus Prime once again scolds the young hot shot, but Bumblebee gloats, shooting out Swindle's tires. Meanwhile the villains, showing ''why'' they're B-grade, attempt to escape in Swindle, only to be apprehended by the timely arrival of Captain Fanzone and the police. Fanzone notes that Swindle will be stripped at a police impound lot and sold for parts. He seems quite confident that the police department will get their Christmas bonus checks this year.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (2)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (12)

|c2 =
*[[Swindle (Animated)|Swindle]] (10)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (11)

|c3 =
*[[Nanosec]] (1)
*[[Angry Archer]] (7)
*[[Professor Princess]] (8)
*[[Slo-Mo]] (9)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (13)

|c4 =
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
}}

==Quotes==

"An Autobot. Verily, the arrows of outrageous misfortune seek to pierce me to the quick. ''Exeunt!''"
:—'''Angry Archer'''. Yon criminal maketh his escape...or something.

"Explosions aren't nice...except when they look like ''BEAUTIFUL RAINBOWS!''"
:—'''Professor Princess''', ever the fashion plate.

"Ooh, I like a man who works fast!" 
"And I like a girl who takes it slow."
:—'''Slo-Mo''' and '''Nanosec''' go over the target audience's heads. Hopefully.

"Negatronic force field emitter. A little something I picked up in an arms deal with the Vok of Nexus Zero. Nice creatures, the Vok. If you're ever in the Nexus Zero area, do yourself a favor and check them out. You won't be sorry."
:—'''Swindle''' thinks the Vok are quite nice. It probably helps if they're not [[Planet Buster|destroying your planet]].

"Megatron, you old warmonger! It's been stellar cycles. I can't tell you how tickled I was to learn that my favorite customer was still online. You look great by the way." 
"Oh, spare me the platitudes, Swindle. How did you get this frequency?" 
"A mutual bounty-hunting friend provided it in exchange for a weapon or two. Professional scruples prevent me from revealing his name." 
"Scruples? You'd sell your own motherboard to the highest bidder."
:—'''Swindle''' pours on the charm while '''Megatron''' pours on the acid.

"Are you seeing this? Are you loving this? Every machine, every robot in Detroit, inoperable! I could spring a leak, I'm so excited!"
:—'''Swindle''' about to sell you some Ginsu knives.

"Welcome to Sumdac Tower. Porter C. Powell is a booger-head."
:—'''Receptionist-Bot''' calls it like it is...with a little help from Sari Sumdac.

"Where's the off switch on this thing? Oh yeah, right here."
:—'''Sari.''' Yep, she found the right thing.

'''Optimus''': You should have called us sooner. If that weapon had gotten into Megatron's hands{{m-}} 
'''Bumblebee''': I know. I guess I just wanted to prove that I still had my touch. 
'''Ratchet''': Well, I hope you've learned something about team work. 
'''Bumblebee''': Oh, yeah. Even the star player needs backup sometimes.
:—Bumblebee learns the value of teamwork. Humility? Not so much...

==Notes==

===Continuity errors===
* Angry Archer uses an arrow that looks like a magnet to catch the bus. Except that it's the window, which wouldn't BE metal, that it sticks to.

* Nanosec's mugshot should either have a long beard, as he was [[Nanosec (episode)|apprehended]] right after Bumblebee had run him into old age, or be out of his costume, as he was also apprehended ''before'' he became a super-speedster.

* It was shown throughout the episode that the watch's slowdown effect was only temporary. It only gained the ability to "freeze" its targets permanently when it was put into Swindle's machine. Yet later, Swindle is said to be frozen "permanently" by a reflected blast from just the watch itself. Maybe it was holding a last fully charged shot?

* On the other hand, Swindle did seem to 'charge' his shot longer than the short bursts Slo-Mo was using, so the shot that reflected back at him had a longer effect. And maybe Bumblebee was just wrong. (Imagine that!)

* Swindle is all impressed by Vok forcefield technology, but apparently forcefields designed by [[Isaac Sumdac]] are just as powerful. Though Sumdac did steal all his technology from Megatron; perhaps a deal with the Vok was just (much, ''much, MUCH'') safer for Swindle.

* Either the S.U.V. team knew Swindle was time-blocked and they should have known he wouldn't move, or they thought he was still fully functional and were ready to climb into the Decepticon that tried to kill them 5 minutes ago. So what was their plan, exactly?

* Furthermore, when Angry Archer opens the window to ask for a push, it's clearly an electric window and even sounds like one. Which shouldn't have worked at all.

* While it's explained why Nanosec had the accelerated aging reversed, there's no given reason for the effect to have ''stopped'' once he was young again. Possibly Slo-Mo gave him "booster shots" off-camera.

* While selling Swindle's parts is a nice piece of poetic justice, realistically, his parts won't sell for much, if anything at all since they're all shut down. It's probably why [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] [[Five Servos of Doom|could have just bought him with a fine]].

===Transformers references===
* The final numbers on the cards the villains hold up in their mugshots correspond to the episodes in which they first appeared.

* Swindle mentions having dealings with the [[Vok]] on [[Nexus Zero]].

* Swindle mentions that he got Megatron's frequency from a "mutual bounty-hunting friend" in exchange for new weaponry. Gee, who could [[Lockdown|THAT]] be?

* Fanzone mentions Swindle will be stripped and sold as parts. [[B.O.T. (episode)|How ironic]]...

* When Swindle holds up the time piece at one point, it bears a striking resemblance to the Matrix of Leadership

* [[Slo-Mo]]'s watch functions similarly to [[The Immobilizer]], including how Autobots turn gray when frozen by it.

===Real-world references===
* Nanosec and the Archer's team name suggestions of "The Fast and the Villainous" and "The League of Extraordinary Criminals" are references to ''[[Wikipedia:The Fast and the Furious|The Fast and the Furious]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', respectively.

* Nanosec calls the Archer "William Smell", referencing legendary Swiss archer [[Wikipedia:William Tell|William Tell]].

* Nanosec says he is "tanned, rested, and ready," which was a slogan attached to a [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DB103DF932A25754C0A961948260 fake 1988 presidential campaign] for Richard Nixon.

===Trivia===
* This episode was first shown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It made its English language debut in Canada, one week before its American debut.

* This episode has the most "guest" voice actors yet, at three: [[Brian Posehn]] (Nanosec), [[Kath Soucie]] (Professor Princess), and [[Fred Willard]] (Swindle).

* Bulkhead appears, but has no dialogue.

* Professor Princess... flowers in a wide spread attack beam? Seriously?

* Bumblebee's stingers actually knock Swindle down{{m-}}the first time in the entire series that this weapon hasn't just bounced ineffectually off a Decepticon's hide. Maybe Swindle should trade off some of his weapons for a little more armor.

* That... or Bumblebee's stingers plus the assault of Angry Archer and Professor Princess gave him enough power.

* When Professor Princess falls butt-first on Nanosec's face, there's an odd squishy sound, followed by her looking very surprised. Either this is a case of cartoon sound-effects gone wrong, or that fall REALLY scared her.

* In the end, Swindle is trapped in a state that Bumblebee could not stand being in for less than an hour, ''forever'', and the Autobots don't seem to object to him being ripped apart and sold for spare parts. That seems a ''tad'' excessive.

* Bumblebee and Sari discover that he has a built-in police scanner, which makes sense, since Bumblebee scanned Captain Fanzone's car for his vehicle mode.

*The Society members all put their seat belts on when they clamber into their getaway SUV. Even among villains, safety must always come first! [[Public service announcement|Now you know...]]

*In a later episode, When Lockdown seems to have stole Swindle and given him to Sentinel, He might have been jumping up and down after hearing about Swindle's Gear but was Probably Pissed when it was deactivated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suv: Society of Ultimate Villainy}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Autoboot Camp

2009-04-10T15:53:52Z

81.106.171.213: /* Notes */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=25
|image=Autobot Cadets.jpg
|caption=Class of 2008. The ENTIRE Class of 2008.
|title="Autoboot Camp"
|airdate=[[June 3]], 2008
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]], [[Christopher Berkeley]], & [[Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Salute.jpg|thumb|left|"Sayonara, suckerzzz."]]
Somewhere in space, an Autobot shuttle streaks through the solar night and crash-lands on an asteroid, where its lone occupant races off across the barren ground in vehicle mode. Hot on his trail is [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who chases him to a [[space bridge]] node on the asteroid. The green-armoured escapee triggers the space bridge with a blast from a familiar pair of stingers, and Sentinel loses his quarry as the portal explodes with light.

On Earth, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reports the news of the escapee to the [[Autobot]]s. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] immediately recognizes the criminal in question as [[Wasp]], a 'bot sharing his bodyform whom he met when during his [[Elite Guard]] training days.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Bee Sentinel.jpg|thumb|right|Living rooms of America, do you catch my drift? Do... you... dig?]]
In the [[Decepticon]]s' underground lair, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] contacts his double-agent on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and congratulates him on orchestrating Wasp's breakout. The double-agent is concerned that they are speaking so freely on the subject, but Megatron assures him that nobody will be able to listen in on the broadcast. [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] has other plans, though, as he secretly taps into the communication frequency and bounces it to the Autobots' base. Bumblebee and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on monitor duty at the time, and the message comes through exceedingly scrambled, but they are at least able to comprehend the existence of a double-agent. Naturally, Bumblebee immediately assumes it to be Wasp, and he decides to settle his old score, with Bulkhead tagging along. Bumblebee remembers how it all went down...

''Stellar cycles ago, on Cybertron, Bumblebee meets Bulkhead for the first time when they both attend boot camp to train under Sentinel Minor, alongside Wasp, super-durable [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and telescopic-limbed [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm]]. The two B's immediately earn Sentinel's ire{{m-}}Bumblebee for his impetuous bungling, and Bulkhead for his desire to be nothing more than a space bridge technician{{m-}}and the pair gets saddled with oil cleanup. Of course, Bumblebee begins goofing off, which results in a stack of oil drums collapsing on Sentinel, which results in Bumblebee being made to stand in the middle of the courtyard in the dead of night, holding up oil drums and repeatedly declaring himself a “worthless oil stain.”''

[[Image:AutobootCamp-Sentinelgetsowned(Secondtime).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hardly a relaxing oil bath.]]
''After a while, though, Bumblebee calls it quits, but as he is walking by a warehouse, he spots a shadowy figure speaking into a communicator, with the voice of Megatron responding! After a moment's hesitation, Bumblebee pops his stingers and commands the spy-bot to show himself...but the figure has vanished. When Bumblebee turns to leave, however, he spots Wasp walking out of the warehouse.''

''Unsure of how to proceed, Bumblebee confides in Longarm, who encourages him to gather some evidence and present it to Sentinel. Bumblebee tries setting up a trap, planting a box with the Elite Guard symbol on it in the open, hoping Wasp will grab it...except Sentinel is the first to come upon it, and it explodes, covering him in paint. Next, Bumblebee tries a listening device, but accidentally winds up broadcasting Sentinel over the camp's loudspeakers as he jokes about Ultra Magnus being too old to hack the commander role. In traditional boot camp manner, Sentinel makes the whole team suffer for Bumblebee's mistakes, and Wasp and Ironhide take it out on the little 'bot by disconnecting his legs and stuffing him in a locker. Longarm comes to Bumblebee's rescue, and urges Bumblebee not to give in.''

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Oh Slag.jpg|thumb|Optimus must be kicking himself for having missed this.]]
''But the bullying doesn't stop, as Wasp hits Bumblebee with a burst of “friendly fire” in a simulated combat training exercise. Of course, it's just a paint grenade, but when Bulkhead offers to help Bumblebee up, Bumblebee snaps and insults Bulkhead's lack of ambition before storming off. Turning a corner, Bumblebee yelps as he finds several auto-cannons pointed in his face, but then laughs as he remembers that they're only loaded with paint rounds for the simulated combat. Or rather, they ''were'', as the shadowy figure from the warehouse slinks by the cannons and switches them to active ammunition. As the cannons open fire on Bumblebee, Bulkhead speeds to his rescue and takes out the cannons by dropping a building on them with his wrecking ball...only for Sentinel to get squashed under it as well. Bumblebee encourages Bulkhead to scarper, rather than risk his career by owning up.''

Tracking the message Sumdac broadcast to them, Bumblebee and Bulkhead wander through the wilderness, reminiscing about the old days. When Bumblebee stumbles into a patch of quicksand, Bulkhead plucks him out, but the conflict between the pair from their boot camp days starts bubbling back to the surface, and Bulkhead leaves Bumblebee to the mission himself. Angrily stomping up a mountain, Bumblebee loses his footing and falls off a cliff, becoming buried in an avalanche.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Captured.jpg|thumb|left|Will go on to star in [[Wikipedia:The Count of Monte Cristo|''The Count of Monte Cristo'']].]]

''Longarm informs Bumblebee that Sentinel is about to conduct a surprise locker examination, meaning that it's his last chance to find evidence on Wasp before Sentinel can take credit for it himself. Using his extensible limbs to trip up Wasp, Longarm allows Bumblebee to "help him up" and finger his locker key in the process. As Bumblebee quickly opens Wasp's locker, Sentinel appears behind him, demanding to know what he's doing, only to be quickly silenced when Bumblebee presents him with a Decepticon communicator. Impressed with Bumblebee's work, Sentinel plans to recommend him for an Elite Guard position. After Wasp is carted off, screaming his innocence all the way, Sentinel brings up the matter of the building being dropped on him. Since nobody has owned up, he decides to kick out whoever he feels like—and he feels like Bulkhead. Before he can give Bulkster the boot, however, Bumblebee steps forward and claims responsibility, sheepishly asking if it will affect his Elite Guard position.''

[[Image:TFA_Shockwave_DoubleAgent.jpg|thumb|Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, it stares right back.]]
''Some time later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on an asteroid, working on a space bridge node, as Bulkhead cheerfully announces "I have arrived!"''

Buried under the rockslide, Bumblebee reflects on his friendship with Bulkhead out loud, and about how he saved Bulkhead's career, even ''if'' the his friend never dreamed big. But Bulkhead ''did'' dream big; as the bulky bot appears above Bumblebee and hauls him out from beneath the boulders, he announces that he dreamed of being Bumblebee's friend. Bumblebee thanks his big buddy, and the pair drive off...having only been mere feet from the secret entrance to the Decepticon base.

Out in space, it turns out that Wasp didn't escape to Earth at all, and that he is still on the asteroid, huddled up in a ball. His mind clearly broken, the insectoid 'bot buzzes and twitters to himself about how he will find Bumblebee and make him pay for ruining his life.

Back at the Autobot base, our heroes contact Cybertron to alert the Autobots there about Megatron's double-agent. As it turns out, Bumblebee's old boot camp buddy Longarm is now Longarm ''Prime'', head of Cybertronian Intelligence, and he promises to root out the traitor no matter what.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron communicates once again with his double-agent... Longarm Prime! But the deception is a dual-layered one, for Longarm is, in fact, the shape-shifting [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wasp]] (1)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (11)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (14)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (voice only) (13)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime/Shockwave]] (12)
|c3 =
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (10)
}}

==Quotes==
"Hey there, little buddy. You mind scanning me next to these tall buildings? They'll never believe me back home." 
"Mhm. First time off the energon farm?" 
"How'd you know?"
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''', together for the first time.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Wipe that smile off your face, dullspark! 
'''Bulkhead''': Uh, I'm not smiling, sir! My jaw is just tempered that way, sir! 
'''Bumblebee''': Forget Mudflap's jaw, check out the asteroid-sized chin on Sarge! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': YOU GOT A COMMENT, FUNNY-BOT?! 
'''Bumblebee''': No, sir!
:—The future Sentinel Prime is a little sensitive about his chin. Maybe it's why he's such a jerk.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Now here's a bot who knows his place. You should try to be more like your friend here. 
'''Bumblebee''': He's not my friend, sir! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
:—Mr. Personality does it again.

"You are nothing but a BUMBLER! From now on, your name is...BUMBLEBEE!"
:—And lo, a legend was born, thanks to '''Sentinel Minor'''

''[stands in the middle of an empty yard, holding up oil drums, reciting...]'' 
"I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain...why am I even doing this?"
:—Sentinel Minor's punishment of '''Bumblebee''' could be considered "cruel and unusual".

"You would not '''believe''' the glitches the Commander's saddled me with this time. I'm starting to think that Ultra Magnus is a few circuits shy of a full processor, know what I mean? Oh, sure, he was The Bot back in the day, but now? Ultra Magnus is just a rusted-out, obsolete model sorely in need of an upgrade."
:—'''Sentinel Minor''' is a suck-up only to the boss's face. ''Quelle surprise''.

"But I'm innocent, I tell you! You're making a big mistake, all of you!" 
"Mute it, traitor!" 
''[Sentinel strips Wasp of his Autobot insignia]'' 
"I'll get you, Bumblebee, '''if it's the last thing I do'''!
:—'''Wasp''' proclaims his innocence as he's wheeled away in restraints, while '''Sentinel Minor''' acts much as ever.

"I couldn't leave you all alone out here like that. I should've, but I didn't."
:—'''Bulkhead''' is loyal, but not stupid.

"Bumblebot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swears he find Bumblebot. Wasp make Bumblebot pay for RUINING WASP'S LIFE!"
:—There lies a broken '''Wasp'''...

"Our long stellar cycles of planning will now come to fruition. I knew your size-altering power would allow you to blend in perfectly with the Autobots. Well done, my loyal servant...[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]."
:—'''Megatron''' really knows how to introduce a major <s>plot point</s> Decepticon.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In the scene after Sentinel Prime rips off Wasp's insignia you can see him still wearing it.

===Continuity errors===
* Bumblebee's stingers are shown to be powerful enough to knock down a building; yet in prior episodes they were only useful for zapping debris and bouncing uselessly off Decepticon armor. The discrepancy is somewhat explained in "[[TransWarped]]" when Ratchet gives Bumblebee battle-grade stingers to boost his power. Maybe when he was demoted to space bridge duty, his stingers were downgraded.
* If Professor Sumdac can reroute a Decepticon message between Earth and Cybertron to the Autobots on Earth, why can't he call for help too?
* If Cybertronians live on a planet with no organic life-forms, how does Sentinel know that wasps and bumblebees exist?

===Transformers references===
* Sentinel's speech about his troops being "cogs in a machine" is very similar to Optimus's comment at the beginning of "[[Transform and Roll Out!]]" (although Optimus gets the message across without the attitude); it may be a standard message from the Autobot Academy.
* Clearly, when Bumblebee and Bulkhead noted that Sentinel Prime didn't remember them back in "[[The Elite Guard]]", they were referring to their boot camp days.
* It was explained back in "The Elite Guard" that "Prime" was a rank, and this episode reveals that before attaining the rank, Sentinel was known as "Sentinel Minor". [[Optimus Minor|Sounds a little familiar]].
[[Image:A25 cliffjumper.jpg|thumb|right|"Traitors? Fancy that."]]
* In the final moments of the episode, the addled Wasp (who has spoken perfectly normally throughout the flashbacks) begins speaking in the buzzing, third-person style of ''[[Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator]].

===Trivia===
* Marty Isenberg has revealed that the other boot-campers being [[repaint]] characters was an idea of [[Derrick J. Wyatt]]'s, that the inclusion of Shockwave was a late decision, and that originally ''Cliffjumper'' was going to be the falsely accused. [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/tfw2005-interviews-transformers-animated-story-editor-marty-isenberg-165509/]
* Sentinel Prime has switched back to his Cybertronian alt-form, presumably since arriving back on Cybertron (since he still had his Earth form in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]"). Considering what he thought of Earth, it's not really a surprise that he'd want to change back as soon as possible. Also, as of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots, bar Prowl.
* This episode certainly explains a lot about Bumblebee's independent streak. His very first "team" effort was basically people being colossal jerks to him for no reason (well, except for Sentinel, really...drill sergeants are ''supposed'' to be like that) except for the big goofy country-bot...and standing up for said bot basically led to his dreams being crushed.
* On the other hand, if names get assigned by drill sergeants, you have to wonder exactly to what levels Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] stooped in order to get those names...
* Lugnut is not shown, but is briefly heard saying "Megatron will speak to you now," when Megatron is contacted by Shockwave in the flashback, ten minutes into the episode.
* Shockwave's power is referred to as size altering. This might be the reason why his Longarm alias has his power, although it has yet to reveal whether or not he is able to control where the size is changed, or whether it is merely a power integrated into his Longarm robot mode, akin to [[Punch|Punch/Counterpunch]].
* In this episode, when Sentinel gives Bumblebee his name, Bumblebee reacts as if he doesn't like it. However, in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", when Bumblebee tells Sari his name and she responds, "I'm Sari," Bumblebee then says, "Oh, don't be. I like my name." Maybe he got over it?
*Bulkhead used to have a "hick" accent while in boot camp that he lost sometime after starting work on space bridges with Bumblebee and the others.
*What, exactly, was the point of Sentinel Prime keeping one arm in a bandage and sling? And for that matter, why do robots have slings?
*When commenting on Sentinel's chin, Bumblebee looks directly at the "camera", so to speak, making this one of the few occasions where animated ''Transformers'' media break the fourth wall.
*How come The Tick... I Mean the Jerk.. I mean Sentinel Minor is a Prime if he is only "Prime" at being a Jerk.
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Where Is Thy Sting?

2009-04-10T14:58:04Z

81.106.171.213: /* Trivia */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|image=WhereIsThySting-reflectingface.jpg
|caption=Get out of my head!
|ep=34
|title="Where Is Thy Sting?"
|airdate=[[March 28]], 2009
|written by=[[Todd Casey]]
|directed by=[[Kalvin Lee]], [[Shigeharu Takahashi]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''A crazed Wasp finds his way to Earth to exact his revenge on Bumblebee... but he doesn't count on the Elite Guard following him.'''

==Synopsis==
Drawing closer to [[Earth]] in their pursuit of the presumed traitor [[Wasp]], [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] are at their stations on the bridge of the [[Elite Guard]]'s ship when [[Shockwave (Animated)|Longarm Prime]] contacts them and demands to know what they are doing in Earth Sector. [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] joins the conference call to apologize for not letting Longarm know of the situation, pointing out that they couldn't risk tipping off Wasp when he stands poised to lead them to his Decepticon contact on the planet. Except, as Jazz points out, Wasp isn't headed for the [[Decepticon]]s... he's making a <s>bee</s>waspline for the [[Autobot]]s' base!

In the Autobots' headquarters, [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] is immersed in a game of ''[[Ninja Gladiator]]'' when [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] shuts the television off and reprimands Bumblebee for neglecting his monitor duty. In mid-argument, the base computers detect a [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]] signal nearby, but no other information can be obtained due to interference caused by recent torrential rain. Prime and the other Autobots thus have to depart to investigate firsthand. Bumblebee, of course, returns to playing his video game.

The Elite Guard ship touches down in Detroit, and Sentinel and Jazz disembark. Sentinel is immediately disgusted by the notion of liquid falling from the sky, and he finds himself all but incapable of driving on the slick roads, but Jazz just rolls with it.

[[Image:WhereIsThySting-Bumblebeecreepilydefeated.jpg|left|thumb|200px|We enjoyed that together.]]
Back at the base, Bumblebee continues playing games until the base is suddenly plunged into darkness. As the red emergency lights come on, Bumblebee finds himself staring into the all-too-familiar face of Wasp, now sporting an Earth-mode body styled after Bumblebee's own. Bumblebee tries to explain that they had both been set up by Longarm, but the insane Wasp doesn't care. He downs Bumblebee with a blast of his stingers and takes off his own helmet, revealing a wound on the top of his head. Just before passing out, Bumblebee sees Wasp standing over him, holding a strange gun fitted with a glowing green canister and vowing to make Bumblebee lose everything, just like he did...

A little later, Bumblebee awakens to find the other Autobots all staring down at him, including...himself? Looking down at himself, Bumblebee is horrified to discover that Wasp has repainted his armor, swapped their helmets, and exchanged their vocal synthesizers, making each a dead ringer for the other. As Wasp stands there, with Bumblebee's [[battle mask]] "stuck" up, Bumblebee attempts to convince the other Autobots that he is himself, but they aren't sold. When [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] attempts to [[stasis cuffs|stasis cuff]] him, Bumblebee is forced to shoot out the lights and make a break for it. He zooms out of the plant, right past Sentinel Prime and Jazz, who intercept Prime and the other Autobots when they try to pursue him. Sentinel demands to know why Optimus's Autobots haven't checked in in so long, but when Optimus tries to explain, Sentinel refuses to listen, informing them he is here to bring in Wasp...who, Optimus points out, just drove right past him. Sentinel ignores Optimus when he tries to tell him that Longarm is the real traitor, and departs immediately to hunt down "Wasp". Optimus instructs his Autobots to locate Wasp first, and they head out to search, while the true Wasp tells them he will stay behind in case Bumblebee comes back.

On Cybertron, Shockwave desperately makes another attempt to contact the missing [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]. He transmits a message to him alerting him to the direness of the situation, adding that Shockwave is about to take matters into his own hands...

[[Image:WhereIsThySting-obligatorymisunderstanding.jpg|right|thumb|200px|I has logos-Autobot on my shoulders, da?]]
Back on Earth, Optimus and Ratchet are discussing how odd "Bumblebee" has been behaving when two jets suddenly come roaring by overhead. Knowing that no organic could pilot a plane the way these two crafts fly, the two Autobots assume they are dealing with Decepticons and zoom after them in hot pursuit. The two jets soon track down "Wasp", who is desperately attempting to rub his green paint off with a discarded couch cushion, and transform to robot mode to attack him with blasts of flame and roaring hurricane winds. Ratchet and Optimus arrive to hold off these apparent Decepticons, who reveal a remarkable power to combine into [[Safeguard (Animated)|one mighty robot]], but before the fighting can get too intense, Sentinel and Jazz arrive to reveal that these two are, in fact, Autobots! Sentinel introduces [[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] and [[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]], Elite Guard warriors created using specs from [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]], and orders the duo to resume their mission.

In the Autobots' base, Wasp is playing (and losing) ''Ninja Gladiator'', and he decides that he could get used to being Bumblebee. In order to complete the illusion, Wasp scans the Autobots' computer files, so that he can learn everything about Bumblebee and better pass himself off as his old rival.

[[Image:WhereIsThySting-hotdogbot.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Bumblebee needs a lesson in kitbashing.]]
Racing through the city streets, Bumblebee discovers a hot dog cart and desperate tries slathering his armor in mustard to make him look more like himself. He is caught in the act by [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]], but he is finally able to convince Bulkhead of his true identity when he tells him something only he could know: namely, that he took the blame for Bulkhead knocking a tower over on Sentinel Prime at [[Autobot boot camp|boot camp]]. Jetfire and Jetstorm arrive just in time to witness this happy scene, but get the wrong end of the stick and assume that Bulkhead and Prowl are traitors as well! The twins report this to Sentinel, and he, Optimus, Jazz and Ratchet head for their position, with Sentinel obstinately refusing to listen to Optimus's attempts to explain the numerous misunderstandings that have happened. When everyone reunites, Bulkhead explains that Bumblebee is definitely Bumblebee, and Optimus orders everyone back to the plant to straighten everything out.

[[Image:WhereIsThySting-UltraMagnusDamaged.jpg|thumb|right|200px|He's Been Dealt With. A little later, back at the plant, Wasp cheerily denies Bumblebee's accusations, using the information he has gleaned from the Autobots' files to "prove" he is who he claims. When interrogation yields no results, Bulkhead comes up with the best way to figure out who's who: a versus match on ''Ninja Gladiator''! Before the game even starts, Wasp chokes and grabs Bumblebee, holding his stinger to 'Bee's neck. Wasp insists that he was always a good bot, but Bulkhead says that isn't true; he might not be a traitor, but he was always mean to Bulkhead and Bumblebee and was hardly good. Wasp blasts out the lights to cover his escape, and when the emergency lights kick in, both Wasp and Bumblebee are gone. The Autobots head outside, where they spot what looks like Bumblebee lying on the ground. Bulkhead assumes it is Wasp and leaps upon the prone figure, pummeling him and ripping off his helmet...only to find out that it really is Bumblebee underneath. Prowl examines Bumblebee's helmet and discovers that their colors were switched so quickly because Wasp had hit him with an electronic paintjob that he could turn off with the press of a button. As things begin to calm down, the truth of the whole matter hits Jazz—if Wasp really was innocent, that means that Longarm Prime really is a Decepticon spy!

Sometime later, on Cybertron, [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] is searching for Longarm in order to apprehend him. Entering the council chamber, Ironhide is horrified to discover the mangled, barely-alive body of Ultra Magnus. He asks the Supreme Commander where [[Stormbringer (Animated)|his hammer]] is and who was responsible. Before collapsing, Ultra Magnus manages to choke out, "Shock...wave..."

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters

|c1=
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (1)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Wasp]] (7)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (8)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (10)
*[[Jetfire (Animated)|Jetfire]] (11)
*[[Jetstorm (Animated)|Jetstorm]] (12)
*[[Safeguard (Animated)|Safeguard]] (13)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (14)

|c2=
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave/Longarm Prime]] (3)
|}}

==Quotes==
"Besides, if I'm playing ''Ninja Gladiator'', I'm at least getting valuable combat training." 
:—'''Bumblebee''' gives justification for slacking off.

"Liquid falling from the sky? What is ''wrong'' with this planet?!" 
"Crazy! It's like a planet ''and'' a car wash! You diggin' this or what?"
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' and '''Jazz''' share their thoughts on the rain.

"I hate this planet."
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' shares his thoughts on Earth.

"Wasp—I mean, Bumblebot—I mean, ''I'' will stay here in case Bumblebot—I mean, Wasp comes back." 
:—'''Wasp''' blows his cover several times, but the Autobots still don't pick it up.

'''Ratchet''': Come on! You're doing it wrong! Turn ''into'' the skid! 
'''Sentinel''': Into the skid? That's stupid! 
'''Jazz''': Just gotta go with the flow, S.P.! 
'''Optimus''': How do you put up with him? 
'''Jazz''': I just tune out half of everything he spits out. 
'''Optimus''': Only half?
:—The Autobots attempt to put up with the jerk, with no such luck.

"I don't care! Arrest 'em all and let Ultra Magnus sort 'em out!"
:—'''Sentinel Prime''', jerk.

"You're not arresting ''anyone'', Sentinel." 
"So you ''are'' in on it, Optimus." 
"No, Sentinel. I just have something you never will: respect for my teammates." 
:—'''Optimus Prime''' defines exactly ''how'' '''Sentinel Prime''' is a jerk.

"So hit me with that one more time. A robot in disguise swaps metal with a double agent, who is really on the level?" 
"Makes even less sense when you say it."
:—'''Jazz''' and '''Bulkhead''' try their best to fathom what's been going on.

"You were always mean to me and Bumblebee. You may not be a traitor...but you were ''never'' a good bot."
:-'''Bulkhead''' has a go at the traumatised, insane victim of a frame-job over something that happened back in school

==Notes==

===Animation or technical errors===
*When Bulkhead knocks Jetfire back, Jazz (who isn't even ''there'' yet), instead of Jetstorm, is standing next to Bumblebee.
*When Wasp is playing Bumblebee's video game (and liking it), the characters on screen switch sides as he loses.
*It seems that the animators can't decide which parts of the city are raining.
*Oddly, for a cartoon that tries to stay close to the transformation of the actual toys, Safeguard's transformation is nothing like the toy.
*When Wasp is on his own playing ''Ninja Gladiator'' and later, when he breaks character near the end, he has his original voice. How come Bumblebee couldn't do that?
*For that matter, after Wasp leaves Bumblebee behind, he has his original voice back too. Bumblebee is also still sporting a yellow version of Wasp's helmet.
*At certain points in the episode, Wasp (as Bumblebee) and Bumblebee (as Wasp) wear the design of their false identity's thighs.

===Continuity errors===
*This isn't an ''error'' as such, but just when did Wasp get an identical Earth form to Bumblebee's? And perhaps more to the point, ''how'' did he change form - both Optimus' crew and the Elite Guard reformatted on their well-equipped ships. Wasp was last seen beside a space bridge with no ship of any kind. Though it's possible that Wasp has the same ability as [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] and [[Lugnut]] to scan and adapt [[altmodes]] on his own.
*Given how close Ratchet is to [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] you'd think he'd know better than to say "no Autobot flies."

===Transformers references===
[[Image:WhereIsThySting-Bumblebeesvideogame.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Referenciality!]]

*We last saw Wasp in "[[Autoboot Camp]]", to which this episode is essentially a sequel. A brief flashback from the episode is shown after Bumblebee says he "took the rap" for Bulkhead for what happened to Sentinel Prime. In an attempt to maintain his ruse, Wasp also mentions all the things that Bumblebee had done then which accidentally embarrassed Sentinel Prime.

* Optimus' Autobots discovered that Wasp wasn't guilty in "[[A Bridge Too Close, Part II]]".

* The background of the ''Ninja Gladiator'' video game prominently features [[TORQ III]].

* In the scene before he switches places with "Bumble-Bot", Wasp is wearing a [[rubsign]] in place of a conventional Autobot insignia.

* Sentinel Prime discusses the modifications made to Jetfire and Jetstorm, which took place in the "[[Rise of Safeguard]]" comic book.

* Sentinel Prime still doesn't remember his time with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, as he did (didn't?) in "[[The Elite Guard]]".

* Wasp mentions the events in "[[SUV: Society of Ultimate Villainy]]" in an attempt to "prove" his fake identity.

* [[Tigatron]] Stadium, which will be seen in the next episode, can be seen in the background.

===Real-world references===
* The episode's title is a reference a Bible verse: namely, 1 Corinthians 15:55: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
* Sentinel Prime's cry of "Arrest 'em all and let Ultra Magnus sort 'em out!" is a reference to a supposed statement by Abbot Arnold Amaury before the massacre of Béziers during the Albigensian Crusade, the original statement being "Kill them all, let God sort them out."
** According to [[David Kaye]], [[Jeff Bennett]] once used this line in a recording session during the first season, causing the cast to burst into laughter and forcing them to take five.{{fact}}
* The four-armed insect from ''Ninja Gladiator'' is [http://www.micro-outpost.com/pictures/aliens/antron/antron.html Antron from the Micronauts]. According to Derrick Wyatt, the black figure the insect fights is [[Snake-Eyes]].[http://twitter.com/SentinelPrime/status/1418651506][http://twitter.com/DerrickJWyatt/status/1418656175]

===Trivia===
*This episode received an impromptu online debut on [[March 25]], [[2009]], when a copy loaded onto the [[Cartoon Network]] website's server, intended to go live after the episode aired a few days later, was pilfered and leaked by some ne'er-do-wells. The next episode, "[[Five Servos of Doom]]", was leaked a few days later. Something similar happened with much of the third season of ''The Venture Brothers''.
*Wasp has purple eyes, which were visible even with Bumblebee's battle mask up, and retained the striped design on his thighs. And Bumblebee still had his blue eyes and other retaining properties. The Autobots didn't notice this because...?
*You can also ask the same question with the Jet twins. Although their Elite Guard insignias are on their hips, Optimus and Ratchet should have seen the insignia on their shoulders when they merged into Safeguard.
*Not to mention that Optimus and Ratchet have very obvious Autobot symbols. Why didn't the twins try to introduce themselves before diving into battle with them? Course, if Sentinel trained them they might be bigger jerks then we realize and just assumed them traitors.
*When realizing "Wasp" is really Bumblebee, and later when attempting to explain this to the others, Bulkhead's jumping makes him sound like a squeaking toy.
*Where is Wreck-Gar when you need him to repair Ultra Magnus?

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Where Is Thy Sting?

2009-04-10T14:56:08Z

81.106.171.213: /* Synopsis */

The Return of the Headmaster

2009-04-09T15:27:48Z

81.106.171.213:

{{episode|
|series= Anitoon
|image= Sentinelprimeanimatedhumiliated.jpg
|caption= Alas Poor Sentinel, I knew him Bumblebee.
|ep=18
|title="The Return of the Headmaster"
|airdate=[[April 19]], 2008
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by= [[Ben Jones]], [[Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio= [[The Answer Studio]]
}}
'''Optimus Prime is forced to team up with his rival Sentinel Prime after Sentinel has a humiliating encounter with the Headmaster.'''

:''German title:'' "'''Headmasters Rückkehr'''" ("Headmaster's Return")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Returnofheadmaster sarisroom.jpg|left|200px|thumb|im in ur room, shackin in ur cribs]]
In Sari's room at [[Sumdac Tower]], Sari bitterly packs her things while grumbling about [[Porter C. Powell]] taking over her home and throwing her to the curb. She doesn't notice Powell enter as she badmouths him, but rather than get upset, the man smugly proves many of her points right and adds insult to injury by introducing her bedroom's new tenant, the freshly re-hired [[Headmaster (Animated)| Henry Masterson]]. As the Headmaster makes himself at home, Sari protests, pointing out the man's lack of sanity, but Powell merely rushes her out the door. Then, just as Sari's day can't get any worse, Powell claims [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] and [[Tutor Bot]] as company property. Harsh.

[[Image:Returnofheadmaster sentinelspeaks.jpg|right|200px|thumb|I am destined to be a superhero. To right wrongs and to pound two-fisted justice into the hearts of evildoers everywhere.]]

Meanwhile, the Primes [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus]] and [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel]] stand at a press conference along with the mayor and [[Captain Fanzone]]. Sentinel is his usual charming self, boasting the significance of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard's]] presence, condescending to the [[Human|icky organics]], showing complete ignorance of the planet's customs, and insulting his comrade's lowly position at every opportunity. Optimus tries his best to ignore all this and put the humans' minds at ease about the current situation, but finds it difficult to get a word in edgewise as Sentinel cuts him off, determined to do all the talking, refusing to let Optimus speak for him.

Powell and Masterson watch the press conference with intent. Powell says he expects great things from Masterson, intending to tap the lucrative military hardware market that Sumdac so foolishly ignored. Masterson is itching to get to work, but wants new robots on which to test his Headmaster units. The old Autobot crew won't cut it, however; he wants the new models, and he eagerly eyes Sentinel Prime's image on the screen.

Masterson calls up Fanzone with a false Decepticon sighting in Old Detroit. Fanzone relays the information to the Primes, and the heroes transform and roll out. Sentinel still hasn't gotten the hang of the city's traffic customs, however, and spends more time driving over other cars than on the road.

[[Image:AnimatedBumbleeBulkheadProfessor.jpg|left|150px|thumb|We tackle any topic, immense or microscopic!]]

Meanwhile, Sari is moving in with the Autobots at the old factory. Bulkhead and Bumblebee are eager to cheer up the sullen girl with loud TV, music, and a misguided tutoring session in which they end up throwing around theories about her mysterious origins. Predictably, everything they try only seems to make her more miserable.

Sentinel soon arrives at the scene of the supposed Decepticon sighting, prying a stop sign from his shoulder, and is quickly joined by Optimus and the police. Optimus starts making suggestions, but Sentinel shuts him up, opting to split up and search on his own, as he doesn't need help from a scrub.

The search drags on into the night, and Sentinel is jumping at shadows, turning the advanced weaponry of the Cybertron Elite Guard on such dire threats as [[Skippy|stray cats]]. This distracts him, and Masterson gets the jump on him with the Headmaster unit. Shortly afterwards, Sentinel contacts Optimus, telling him it was a false alarm and to send the police away. He then demands Optimus come to his position alone and promise not to laugh. Soon after, Optimus finds Sentinel's decapitated head and breaks out in laughter. Bitter and humiliated, Sentinel pleads with Optimus to help him get his body back without [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] finding out. Optimus guesses that the reason Sentinel is trusting him with the task is that he's just not important enough for his opinion to matter, but Sentinel is careful not to say something so insulting in his position. How about that.

[[Image:Returnofheadmaster optimuslaughs.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Haw-haw!]]

Optimus learns of Masterson's re-hiring thanks to a conveniently timed message from Bumblebee, reporting what he's heard from Sari. The next day, Optimus pays a visit to Sumdac Tower, hiding Sentinel's head under a tree trunk while he chats with Powell. The new manager makes it clear that the Autobots aren't free to waltz into his building as they please any more, but assures their leader that Masterson isn't there. However as soon as Optimus leaves, he phones the Headmaster with information on the new development, warning his employee not to jeopardize the company's image. Lucky for the Primes, Optimus thought ahead enough to intercept the phone call with his ear transceiver as soon as he was out of sight. He traces the call to a cargo ship at the docks.

It's night again when the 1.5 Primes arrive at the docks and start searching for Sentinel's body. They don't get far before a nearby crate bursts open, revealing a sinister Sparkplug and Tutor Bot outfitted with miniature Headmaster Units. Sentinel isn't too worried by the puny automatons until they reveal some powerful laser-shooting upgrades. They send Optimus scrambling for cover while Sentinel's head bounces around impotently on the ground. When the ship Masterson is supposedly on starts casting off, they can't play around any longer, and Optimus rushes through the laser fire, ramps off the deck, transforms in mid-air and rides a powerful burst from his rocket axe to hook into the side of the ship's hull. Awesome. His grappling hooks probably would have worked equally well, but dude, flying rocket axe!

[[Image:Returnofheadmaster headmastersvictim.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Oh, beware the other head of science, Arthur. It bites.]]

On the ship, Optimus and Sentinel try to find Sentinel's body...until it finds them. The Headmaster pushes Optimus down with Sentinel's shield. Sentinel is surprised that it's so powerful, to which Masterson gloats he upgraded his equipment. Pulling out Sentinel's beam lance and expanding the shield into a spikier version, the Headmaster clashes with Optimus while Sentinel bounces around impotently on the ground some more.

Masterson manages to knock Optimus's axe off the ship, leaving him unarmed. After being pinned to the ground with shield spikes inches from his face, Optimus returns the favor by ripping off Sentinel's arm, shield and all. Sentinel is mortified by the dismemberment, but Optimus feels it was justified. He then uses Sentinel's arm as a makeshift axe and fights back the body, eventually severing the Headmaster unit. The head quickly converts to robot mode and starts to run off, but this time Optimus stops him by kicking Sentinel's head into the fleeing villain like a soccer ball. Again, Sentinel is appalled. Optimus has less of an excuse this time.

[[Image:Headm anim.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Salut!]]

Back on land, Fanzone has Masterson in cuffs, and it looks like a happy ending until Powell shows up, pointing out that the ship was Sumdac Systems property, the assaulted robots don't have rights protected by the law, and the whole incident occurred over international waters between the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[Canada]]. Masterson is free to go, much to the chagrin of everybody else.

Meanwhile, at the factory, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are about to try another zany scheme to cheer up Sari, but Prowl stops them and tells them just to listen to her instead. When they try this last resort, Sari opens up about all her worries regarding her [[Isaac Sumdac|missing father]], her lost home and company, and her questioned existence. Bumblebee and Bulkhead aren't sure what to do, but they assure her they are there for her.

Finally, aboard the Elite Guard's ship the next day, Sentinel and Optimus report to Ultra Magnus, who has heard something about Sentinel "losing his head". Sentinel trembles uncomfortably in silence, but Optimus reports that they worked together to solve the crisis, effectively covering for his comrade, who really doesn't deserve it. Ultra Magnus congratulates both of them and takes his leave to contact [[Cybertron Command]] on an issue of great importance. As the Primes walk down the hallway, Sentinel struggles out a "thank you" to his compatriot. Optimus notes that it must have hurt to say that, and Sentinel acknowledges the fact and reaches out his hand.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (7)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (12)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (13)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (14)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (15)

|c3=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (1)
*[[Porter C. Powell]] (4)
*[[Headmaster (Animated)|Headmaster]] (5)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (8)
*[[Mayor Edsel]] (9)
*[[Press Secretary|Mayor Edsel's press secretary]] (10)

|c4=
* [[Tutor Bot]] (2)
* [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] (3)
* [[News Bot]] (11)
}}

==Quotes==
"Whoa, hey! Check it! Major cribbage! And it's mine. It's all mine!"
:—'''Masterson''', who is surprisingly okay with the fact that his new "facilities" are frilly, lacy, and painted pink.

"This is why I hate machines...especially arrogant, full-of-themselves machines!"
:—'''Captain Fanzone''', also saying what we're all thinking.

'''Optimus''': Sentinel, we should scramble our comlink frequencies in case the Decepticons are listening in! 
'''Sentinel''': What you ''should'' do is stick within the scope of your programming. If I need a trash can emptied or a floor mopped, I'll call on my buddy Optimus Prime. Or should I say...''Maintenance'' Prime? Hahahaha! 
''[Sentinel turns and walks away; Optimus does the same]'' 
'''Optimus''': 'Maintenance Prime'...then I'll just call you 'Pompous Gas-Bag Prime'. Yeah...that's what I should have said.
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Sentinel Prime''' match wits. Somehow, Optimus loses.

'''Sentinel''': Uhhh, Optimus. Tell the organic Fanzone that he can send his police force home. It's a false alarm. 
'''Optimus''': How do you know? 
'''Sentinel''': I just know, okay?! Now I need you to come to my position. ''ALONE''. And promise me one more thing... 
'''Optimus''': What? 
'''Sentinel''': That you won't laugh! 
''[Optimus looks around the rubble for Sentinel]'' 
'''Optimus''': Sentinel? Where are you? 
'''Sentinel''': ''[quietly]'' Look down... 
''[Optimus looks down to see Sentinel's head severed from his body]'' 
'''Optimus''': ''[lets out a hearty laugh]'' 
'''Sentinel''': You promised you wouldn't laugh!
:—'''Optimus Prime''' gets a kick out of '''Sentinel Prime''''s misfortune

'''Bumblebee''': Just because you don't have a tutor bot anymore doesn't mean you have to stop learning. 
'''Bulkhead''': Right. We can teach you. 
'''Bumblebee''': So, class, today's lesson is regarding...um...well, stuff, and how it works. Any questions? 
'''Sari''': Yeah. Why is there no record of my existence? 
'''Bumblebee''': Okay...a little bit outside the lesson plan. Professor Bulkhead, your thoughts? 
'''Bulkhead''': Maybe she came here from another planet in some kinda egg and crashed on Sumdac's doorstep. 
'''Bumblebee''': Or a portal could have opened and she fell through from another dimension. 
'''Bulkhead''': Or maybe she's really a robot. 
'''Bumblebee''': Or maybe Sumdac found her in a cabbage patch. 
'''Bulkhead''': Or that stork thing.
:—Professors '''Bumblebee''' and '''Bulkhead''' have obviously been visiting the fan forums...

"Yes! I am so 1337!" 
"Yeah? Well, I have no idea what that means!"
:—'''Headmaster''' boasts as '''Optimus Prime''' scores a blow against [[Floro Dery|over-sized egos everywhere]].

==Notes==
* This episode was first broadcast in Canada on April 19, one week before its United States premiere.

===Continuity errors===
* When Optimus stops Masterson's escape, he asserts the villain is going "back to prison", although the Headmaster has yet to serve time at all.

===Real-world references===
* Bumblebee mentions Sari could have come from a cabbage patch, a reference to the popular explanation of where babies come from - or to the [[wikipedia:Cabbage_Patch_Kids|Cabbage Patch Kids]] said explanation inspired.
* Powell makes a passing reference to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also known as "the Mounties".
* Bulkhead's "came here from another planet in some kind of egg" comment could be a reference to 1970s sitcom [[wikipedia:Mork_and_Mindy|''Mork and Mindy'']], or also a reference to the [[wikipedia:Superman|Superman: origin]] story.
* The appearance of [[Detroit]]'s real-life Wayne County Building and the Renaissance Center in this episode gives a firm location for [[Sumdac Tower]] -- it's on one of two blocks of Randolph Street, currently occupied by a parking garage and a surface parking lot.

===Trivia===
* Powell claims Optimus and Sentinel's clash with Masterson took place in "international waters". While the nation in which the incident occurred may be in question, there are no ''international'' waters in Lake St. Clair or Lake Erie, just American and Canadian waters. (But then, this is the future.) The "Mounties" remark is still relevant.
* Apparently, calling the police to report fabricated events (about Decepticons) doesn't constitute a crime in [[Detroit]]. Either that, or Fanzone didn't put two and two together as to Masterson being the caller of the faux incident.
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] and [[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] do not appear in this episode.
* When Sentinel asks for Optimus to cover for him, Optimus mentions how Sentinel "covered for him" all those years ago, presumably after the [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] [[Along Came a Spider|incident]]. Maybe this is the reason that Optimus washed out of the [[Autobot Academy]]?
* Either the events of this episode span at least two days and two nights, or the sun goes down roughly [[Transformers (2007)|every couple of hours]].
* Given they presumably had very little time to prepare, the Autobots have whipped up a surprisingly comfortable room for Sari in their factory, doubly surprising given the lack of proper materials to hand. Who wouldn't want to sleep in a bed made from a giant radial tire!?
* On the other hand, their idea of proper human cuisine needs some work, since the meal they provide for Sari consists of a bunch of acorns, a fish skeleton (with flies buzzing around it), a live rabbit, and some miniature barrels of [[oil]].
* Professors Bumblebee and Bulkhead seriously need their own show. Imagine [[Dinobot (Animated)|the teaching aids they'd bring to a paleontology class]].
* Porter C. Powell is shaping up to be a bigger villain than all the previous human bad guys in the series combined.
* To go with his Captain America-inspired shield, Sentinel turns out to have an energy lance and a very knight-like battle mask.
* Prowl is in this episode for less than thirty seconds, yet is still the one who ends up solving one of the episode's conflicts. He's that good.
* This is the only episode of Season Two where the Decepticons don't appear.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return of the Headmaster}}
[[Category:Animated episodes]]

Autoboot Camp

2009-04-09T15:25:06Z

81.106.171.213: /* Featured characters */

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|ep=25
|image=Autobot Cadets.jpg
|caption=Class of 2008. The ENTIRE Class of 2008.
|title="Autoboot Camp"
|airdate=[[June 3]], 2008
|written by=[[Michael Ryan]]
|directed by=[[Ben Jones]], [[Christopher Berkeley]], & [[Shunji Oga]]
|animation studio=[[The Answer Studio]]
}}

'''On the trail of an escaped Autobot traitor, Bumblebee flashes back to a previous encounter with the traitor when he first met Bulkhead in Autobot Boot Camp.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Salute.jpg|thumb|left|"Sayonara, suckerzzz."]]
Somewhere in space, an Autobot shuttle streaks through the solar night and crash-lands on an asteroid, where its lone occupant races off across the barren ground in vehicle mode. Hot on his trail is [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], who chases him to a [[space bridge]] node on the asteroid. The green-armoured escapee triggers the space bridge with a blast from a familiar pair of stingers, and Sentinel loses his quarry as the portal explodes with light.

On Earth, [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] reports the news of the escapee to the [[Autobot]]s. [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] immediately recognizes the criminal in question as [[Wasp]], a 'bot sharing his bodyform whom he met when during his [[Elite Guard]] training days.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Bee Sentinel.jpg|thumb|right|Living rooms of America, do you catch my drift? Do... you... dig?]]
In the [[Decepticon]]s' underground lair, [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] contacts his double-agent on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and congratulates him on orchestrating Wasp's breakout. The double-agent is concerned that they are speaking so freely on the subject, but Megatron assures him that nobody will be able to listen in on the broadcast. [[Isaac Sumdac|Professor Sumdac]] has other plans, though, as he secretly taps into the communication frequency and bounces it to the Autobots' base. Bumblebee and [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] are on monitor duty at the time, and the message comes through exceedingly scrambled, but they are at least able to comprehend the existence of a double-agent. Naturally, Bumblebee immediately assumes it to be Wasp, and he decides to settle his old score, with Bulkhead tagging along. Bumblebee remembers how it all went down...

''Stellar cycles ago, on Cybertron, Bumblebee meets Bulkhead for the first time when they both attend boot camp to train under Sentinel Minor, alongside Wasp, super-durable [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] and telescopic-limbed [[Shockwave (Animated)|LongArm]]. The two B's immediately earn Sentinel's ire{{m-}}Bumblebee for his impetuous bungling, and Bulkhead for his desire to be nothing more than a space bridge technician{{m-}}and the pair gets saddled with oil cleanup. Of course, Bumblebee begins goofing off, which results in a stack of oil drums collapsing on Sentinel, which results in Bumblebee being made to stand in the middle of the courtyard in the dead of night, holding up oil drums and repeatedly declaring himself a “worthless oil stain.”''

[[Image:AutobootCamp-Sentinelgetsowned(Secondtime).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Hardly a relaxing oil bath.]]
''After a while, though, Bumblebee calls it quits, but as he is walking by a warehouse, he spots a shadowy figure speaking into a communicator, with the voice of Megatron responding! After a moment's hesitation, Bumblebee pops his stingers and commands the spy-bot to show himself...but the figure has vanished. When Bumblebee turns to leave, however, he spots Wasp walking out of the warehouse.''

''Unsure of how to proceed, Bumblebee confides in LongArm, who encourages him to gather some evidence and present it to Sentinel. Bumblebee tries setting up a trap, planting a box with the Elite Guard symbol on it in the open, hoping Wasp will grab it...except Sentinel is the first to come upon it, and it explodes, covering him in paint. Next, Bumblebee tries a listening device, but accidentally winds up broadcasting Sentinel over the camp's loudspeakers as he jokes about Ultra Magnus being too old to hack the commander role. In traditional boot camp manner, Sentinel makes the whole team suffer for Bumblebee's mistakes, and Wasp and Ironhide take it out on the little 'bot by disconnecting his legs and stuffing him in a locker. LongArm comes to Bumblebee's rescue, and urges Bumblebee not to give in.''

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Oh Slag.jpg|thumb|Optimus must be kicking himself for having missed this.]]
''But the bullying doesn't stop, as Wasp hits Bumblebee with a burst of “friendly fire” in a simulated combat training exercise. Of course, it's just a paint grenade, but when Bulkhead offers to help Bumblebee up, Bumblebee snaps and insults Bulkhead's lack of ambition before storming off. Turning a corner, Bumblebee yelps as he finds several auto-cannons pointed in his face, but then laughs as he remembers that they're only loaded with paint rounds for the simulated combat. Or rather, they ''were'', as the shadowy figure from the warehouse slinks by the cannons and switches them to active ammunition. As the cannons open fire on Bumblebee, Bulkhead speeds to his rescue and takes out the cannons by dropping a building on them with his wrecking ball...only for Sentinel to get squashed under it as well. Bumblebee encourages Bulkhead to scarper, rather than risk his career by owning up.''

Tracking the message Sumdac broadcast to them, Bumblebee and Bulkhead wander through the wilderness, reminiscing about the old days. When Bumblebee stumbles into a patch of quicksand, Bulkhead plucks him out, but the conflict between the pair from their boot camp days starts bubbling back to the surface, and Bulkhead leaves Bumblebee to the mission himself. Angrily stomping up a mountain, Bumblebee loses his footing and falls off a cliff, becoming buried in an avalanche.

[[Image:TFA Autoboot Camp Wasp Captured.jpg|thumb|left|Will go on to star in [[Wikipedia:The Count of Monte Cristo|''The Count of Monte Cristo'']].]]

''LongArm informs Bumblebee that Sentinel is about to conduct a surprise locker examination, meaning that it's his last chance to find evidence on Wasp before Sentinel can take credit for it himself. Using his extensible limbs to trip up Wasp, LongArm allows Bumblebee to "help him up" and finger his locker key in the process. As Bumblebee quickly opens Wasp's locker, Sentinel appears behind him, demanding to know what he's doing, only to be quickly silenced when Bumblebee presents him with a Decepticon communicator. Impressed with Bumblebee's work, Sentinel plans to recommend him for an Elite Guard position. After Wasp is carted off, screaming his innocence all the way, Sentinel brings up the matter of the building being dropped on him. Since nobody has owned up, he decides to kick out whoever he feels like—and he feels like Bulkhead. Before he can give Bulkster the boot, however, Bumblebee steps forward and claims responsibility, sheepishly asking if it will affect his Elite Guard position.''

[[Image:TFA_Shockwave_DoubleAgent.jpg|thumb|Sometimes, when you stare into the abyss, it stares right back.]]
''Some time later, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are on an asteroid, working on a space bridge node, as Bulkhead cheerfully announces "I have arrived!"''

Buried under the rockslide, Bumblebee reflects on his friendship with Bulkhead out loud, and about how he saved Bulkhead's career, even ''if'' the his friend never dreamed big. But Bulkhead ''did'' dream big; as the bulky bot appears above Bumblebee and hauls him out from beneath the boulders, he announces that he dreamed of being Bumblebee's friend. Bumblebee thanks his big buddy, and the pair drive off...having only been mere feet from the secret entrance to the Decepticon base.

Out in space, it turns out that Wasp didn't escape to Earth at all, and that he is still on the asteroid, huddled up in a ball. His mind clearly broken, the insectoid 'bot buzzes and twitters to himself about how he will find Bumblebee and make him pay for ruining his life.

Back at the Autobot base, our heroes contact Cybertron to alert the Autobots there about Megatron's double-agent. As it turns out, Bumblebee's old boot camp buddy LongArm is now LongArm ''Prime'', head of Cybertronian Intelligence, and he promises to root out the traitor no matter what.

In the Decepticon base, Megatron communicates once again with his double-agent... LongArm Prime! But the deception is a dual-layered one, for LongArm is, in fact, the shape-shifting [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wasp]] (1)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (11)
*[[Cliffjumper (Animated)|Cliffjumper]] (14)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (9)
*[[Lugnut]] (voice only) (13)
*[[Shockwave (Animated)|LongArm Prime/Shockwave]] (12)
|c3 =
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (10)
}}
|c4 =
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)Sentinel Prime]] (2)

==Quotes==
"Hey there, little buddy. You mind scanning me next to these tall buildings? They'll never believe me back home." 
"Mhm. First time off the energon farm?" 
"How'd you know?"
:—'''Bulkhead''' and '''Bumblebee''', together for the first time.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Wipe that smile off your face, dullspark! 
'''Bulkhead''': Uh, I'm not smiling, sir! My jaw is just tempered that way, sir! 
'''Bumblebee''': Forget Mudflap's jaw, check out the asteroid-sized chin on Sarge! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': YOU GOT A COMMENT, FUNNY-BOT?! 
'''Bumblebee''': No, sir!
:—The future Sentinel Prime is a little sensitive about his chin. Maybe it's why he's such a jerk.

'''Sentinel Minor''': Now here's a bot who knows his place. You should try to be more like your friend here. 
'''Bumblebee''': He's not my friend, sir! 
'''Sentinel Minor''': WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
:—Mr. Personality does it again.

"You are nothing but a BUMBLER! From now on, your name is...BUMBLEBEE!"
:—And lo, a legend was born, thanks to '''Sentinel Minor'''

''[stands in the middle of an empty yard, holding up oil drums, reciting...]'' 
"I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain. I am a worthless oil stain...why am I even doing this?"
:—Sentinel Minor's punishment of '''Bumblebee''' could be considered "cruel and unusual".

"You would not '''believe''' the glitches the Commander's saddled me with this time. I'm starting to think that Ultra Magnus is a few circuits shy of a full processor, know what I mean? Oh, sure, he was The Bot back in the day, but now? Ultra Magnus is just a rusted-out, obsolete model sorely in need of an upgrade."
:—'''Sentinel Minor''' is a suck-up only to the boss's face. ''Quelle surprise''.

"But I'm innocent, I tell you! You're making a big mistake, all of you!" 
"Mute it, traitor!" 
''[Sentinel strips Wasp of his Autobot insignia]'' 
"I'll get you, Bumblebee, '''if it's the last thing I do'''!
:—'''Wasp''' proclaims his innocence as he's wheeled away in restraints, while '''Sentinel Minor''' acts much as ever.

"I couldn't leave you all alone out here like that. I should've, but I didn't."
:—'''Bulkhead''' is loyal, but not stupid.

"Bumblebot not hide from Wasp. Wasp swears he find Bumblebot. Wasp make Bumblebot pay for RUINING WASP'S LIFE!"
:—There lies a broken '''Wasp'''...

"Our long stellar cycles of planning will now come to fruition. I knew your size-altering power would allow you to blend in perfectly with the Autobots. Well done, my loyal servant...[[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]]."
:—'''Megatron''' really knows how to introduce a major <s>plot point</s> Decepticon.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* In the scene after Sentinel Prime rips off Wasp's insignia you can see him still wearing it.

===Continuity errors===
* Bumblebee's stingers are shown to be powerful enough to knock down a building; yet in prior episodes they were only useful for zapping debris and bouncing uselessly off Decepticon armor. The discrepancy is somewhat explained in "[[TransWarped]]" when Ratchet gives Bumblebee battle-grade stingers to boost his power. Maybe when he was demoted to space bridge duty, his stingers were downgraded.
* If Professor Sumdac can reroute a Decepticon message between Earth and Cybertron to the Autobots on Earth, why can't he call for help too?
* If Cybertronians live on a planet with no organic life-forms, how does Sentinel know that wasps and bumblebees exist?

===Transformers references===
* Sentinel's speech about his troops being "cogs in a machine" is very similar to Optimus's comment at the beginning of "[[Transform and Roll Out!]]" (although Optimus gets the message across without the attitude); it may be a standard message from the Autobot Academy.
* Clearly, when Bumblebee and Bulkhead noted that Sentinel Prime didn't remember them back in "[[The Elite Guard]]", they were referring to their boot camp days.
* It was explained back in "The Elite Guard" that "Prime" was a rank, and this episode reveals that before attaining the rank, Sentinel was known as "Sentinel Minor". [[Optimus Minor|Sounds a little familiar]].
[[Image:A25 cliffjumper.jpg|thumb|right|"Traitors? Fancy that."]]
* In the final moments of the episode, the addled Wasp (who has spoken perfectly normally throughout the flashbacks) begins speaking in the buzzing, third-person style of ''[[Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator]].

===Trivia===
* Marty Isenberg has revealed that the other boot-campers being [[repaint]] characters was an idea of [[Derrick J. Wyatt]]'s, that the inclusion of Shockwave was a late decision, and that originally ''Cliffjumper'' was going to be the falsely accused. [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/interviews-27/tfw2005-interviews-transformers-animated-story-editor-marty-isenberg-165509/]
* Sentinel Prime has switched back to his Cybertronian alt-form, presumably since arriving back on Cybertron (since he still had his Earth form in "[[A Fistful of Energon]]"). Considering what he thought of Earth, it's not really a surprise that he'd want to change back as soon as possible. Also, as of this episode, we've seen all the Cybertronian modes for the main Bots, bar Prowl.
* This episode certainly explains a lot about Bumblebee's independent streak. His very first "team" effort was basically people being colossal jerks to him for no reason (well, except for Sentinel, really...drill sergeants are ''supposed'' to be like that) except for the big goofy country-bot...and standing up for said bot basically led to his dreams being crushed.
* On the other hand, if names get assigned by drill sergeants, you have to wonder exactly to what levels Optimus and [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Elita-1]] stooped in order to get those names...
* Lugnut is not shown, but is briefly heard saying "Megatron will speak to you now," when Megatron is contacted by Shockwave in the flashback, ten minutes into the episode.
* Shockwave's power is referred to as size altering. This might be the reason why his LongArm alias has his power, although it has yet to reveal whether or not he is able to control where the size is changed, or whether it is merely a power integrated into his LongArm robot mode, akin to [[Punch|Punch/Counterpunch]].
* In this episode, when Sentinel gives Bumblebee his name, Bumblebee reacts as if he doesn't like it. However, in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", when Bumblebee tells Sari his name and she responds, "I'm Sari," Bumblebee then says, "Oh, don't be. I like my name." Maybe he got over it?
*Bulkhead used to have a "hick" accent while in boot camp that he lost sometime after starting work on space bridges with Bumblebee and the others.
*What, exactly, was the point of Sentinel Prime keeping one arm in a bandage and sling? And for that matter, why do robots have slings?
*When commenting on Sentinel's chin, Bumblebee looks directly at the "camera", so to speak, making this one of the few occasions where animated ''Transformers'' media break the fourth wall.

[[Category:Animated episodes]]