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Optimal Situation

2013-07-30T22:00:32Z

Jamdigger: /* Animation and technical errors */

{{episode
|series=BWtoon
|ep=40
|series2=Metals
|ep2=13
|next2=Where Is the Banana?
|title="Optimal Situation"
|image=Optimal Optimus.JPG
|caption=[[Trukk not munky|Trukk ''and'' munky]].
|production code=
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|writer=[[Bob Forward]]
|director=[[Steve Sacks]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[October 24]], 1998
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}
'''With Optimus Prime in critical condition after Megatron's attack, Optimus Primal takes on his spark to save the timestream.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Smelt Prime.JPG|left|150px|thumb|Smelts in your mouth, not in your hand.]]
As a time storm ravages reality, [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] gloats to the fading [[Maximal]]s, since his attack on [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] ensures that the [[Autobot]]s lose to the [[Decepticon]]s, resulting in the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] having control of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. However, [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]], having been a Maximal protoform, is also affected by the time storm. She uses the information from the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Golden Disk]] to activate [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]]'s security system, forcing Megatron out of the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]].

[[Image:OptimusPrimal OpSit Matrixspark.jpg|right|150px|thumb|It's not the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]. We swear.]]
Blackarachnia and [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] activate the Ark's repair systems to help stabilize Optimus Prime's condition, but the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] is still dying, and "reality is still in flux". The other Maximals arrive, and upon seeing Prime, realize that they must save him. However, his spark is fading. Believing there is no other choice, [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] merges his spark with Prime's to save it. He succeeds, and [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] summons an [[Autobot repair device]] to begin restoring Prime's body. Holding Prime's spark causes Primal to expand into a new, larger body.

Megatron and [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] arrive and attack, though Primal manages to save the Maximals and convince the Predacons to leave, while Blackarachnia uses the commotion to escape. Outside, [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] provides cover fire by shooting the rocks above the Ark. The Predacons destroy the cave entrance and flee, but Megatron notices a trapped Blackarachnia. Enraged by her betrayal, Megatron shoots her as the Maximals break free. Knowing that they are heading for the unprotected ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', Primal and [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] race off.

[[Image:BWSilverbolt Blackarachnia OptimalSituation.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Ug, gag unto me with a spoon.]]
As Silverbolt cradles the damaged Blackarachnia, he begs her to fight on and praises her defiance of Megatron. She maintains that what she did was self-preservation, but Silverbolt points out that she also saved him and the universe. He openly admits to Blackarachnia that he loves her, shocking her. While there's still time, Silverbolt asks her one last time to join the Maximals. Although she maintains that she's still a Predacon, Blackarachnia joins the Maximals for him, then goes off-line. However, Rhinox reveals that she's merely in [[Stasis lock|stasis lock]].

Primal and Cheetor manage to down Megatron, Inferno, and Waspinator, but Primal discovers that [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] and the [[Arachnoid]]s are literally trying to drag the base away. Optimus manages to sever the lines and dispatch Rampage, but not before Rampage fires a missile which deflects off Primal and hits the ''Axalon''. The ''Axalon'' plummets off the cliff and crashes into the river. Knowing that he must return Prime's spark, Optimus withdraws with Cheetor to rejoin the Maximals.

[[Image:Optimusx2.JPG|right|150px|thumb|And in four million years, he'll tell [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] he had the strangest [[Humanization#Sleep|dream]].]]
Back in the Ark, the repairs are finished. Returning the spark causes Optimus Prime to reactivate briefly, but he almost immediately returns to stasis lock. [[Rattrap]] is less than happy, as they now have the difficult task of protecting the Ark from the Predacons. With the time stream safe—for the moment—Optimus orders the Maximals, including Blackarachnia (who still maintains she's a Predacon), to begin rounding up every piece of salvage and make fortifications.

They're moving into [[Mount St. Hilary]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (1)
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (2)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (4)
*[[Rattrap]] (5)
*[[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]](6)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (3)
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (7)
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (9)
*[[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] (10)
*[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] (11)
*[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] (12)
*[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (13)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (14)

|h3=[[Autobot]]s|c3=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (8)
}}

==Quotes==
"Well, that's just prime." 
"Or what's left of him, anyway."
:-'''Optimus Primal''' and '''Rattrap''' on seeing the damage Megatron dealt to Optimus Prime.

"You wouldn't dare fire in here! It might upset history." 
"We'd have four million years to clean you off the walls, Megatron. I ''might'' risk it."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Primal''' are badasses.

'''Megatron:''' This is not the end of it, Optimal Optimus. Nooo. The universe cowered once at the name of Megatron, and it shall do so again! 
'''Optimus:''' Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, Megatron. 
'''Megatron:''' Then they'd better stay out of my way! 
'''Rattrap:''' Oh, fer bootin' up cold! Will you just shoot him? 
'''Optimus:''' I'm trying not to resort to that.
:—The 'bots talk smack.

"Stay close, Maximals; it's time to [[Transform and roll out|transform and ROLL OUT!]]"
:—'''Optimus Primal''' saying '''Optimus Prime's''' iconic phrase (though it could be interpreted that it's actually Prime saying this and not Primal).

"Jumping gyros, Optimus sure learns a new body fast!" 
"Well wha'd ya expect? He ''changes'' 'em often enough!"
:—'''Cheetor''' and '''Rattrap''', who gets a rim shot.

"Blackarachnia, dark poison of my heart, abide with me yet a while." 
"You got a way with words there, Rover. You almost make me wish I was a better girl."
:—'''Silverbolt''' and '''Blackarachnia''' have a touching moment. Rattrap is probably on the verge of puking or shooting them.

==Notes==
*There is a real-life reason why the ''Axalon'' was destroyed; Optimus' new "Optimal" form simply would not ''fit'' in it. When the salvaged remains of the base have been set up, Optimus is easily twice as tall as the bridge.
*Optimus runs through all four of his new body's modes within a few minutes of its debut. (His beast mode is easy to miss, but he uses it when he shields the other Maximals from the Predacons' weapons fire.)
*Primal's voice becomes noticeably deeper when he takes on his new form, as well as gaining an additional flanging effect. One might think the change is related to having old John Wayne-voice Optimus Prime within him, but both changes remain after Prime's spark is restored, so apparently it's just from being bigger and more metally. The deeper voice would vanish in future episodes, however.
*Blackarachnia opposes Megatron's plan to wipe the Autobots from history because she was a Maximal protoform. Technically, Quickstrike, Inferno, and (arguably) Rampage all count as Maximal protoforms too, but they don't oppose Megatron's plan because Quickstrike's ignorant, Inferno's crazy, and Rampage doesn't have a say in the matter (and is also crazy).

===Animation and technical errors===
*When Rhinox slaps Rattrap for cracking wise over Optimus Prime's ruined state, his green understructure clips through the gold surface of the lower rhinoceros jaw that covers his chest.
*When the camera pans around Prime to show the repairs starting to be made, the Autobot insignia inside his chest is upside-down.
*When Primal first gets up in his new body, his left fist goes through the floor.
*When Megatron and Inferno fire at the Maximals inside the ''Ark'', their projectiles move at an extremely slow speed - enough to let Primal throw his arm shields in the air, transform, catch them, leap in front of his comrades and provide cover for them.
*When Primal first transforms into his jet mode, the cockpit is empty, but it ''should'' house Optimus Prime's spark.
*Prime's spark is missing its nucleus in some scenes.
*After the Predacons leave the ''Ark'', Inferno, who looked like a zombie in the scene before (and after being apparently vaporized two episodes prior), is now in mint condition.
*During Primal and Cheetor's aerial attack on the fleeing Predacons, the cat's flight-mode jets are not deployed as he swoops closer to "camera" in the medium shot following his initial approach, but well before he transforms.
*As the ''Axalon'' is being dragged off of the cliff, the bottom of it can be seen. However it is completely flat at the rear; the engines are not there at all.
*In the Brazilian dub, Rampage is called "Destruição", but his name is "Violência". "Destruição" is Ravage's name.

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:Sparkholderprimevaldawn.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Geekery.]]
*The "spark container" which held Optimus Prime's spark was hauntingly similar to the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. According to [[Ben Yee]]'s [http://www.bwtf.com/bw/tvshow/episodes/seasonthree/os/ site], the Mainframe animators used Optimus Prime's death sequence from "[[The Transformers: The Movie]]" as a visual reference and used the Matrix's design as a spark container because they didn't know its significance. This, of course, leads us to ask the question: How do you get involved with ''Transformers'' and not know the most important McGuffin in the entire continuity?
** "[[Primeval Dawn]]" later explained the Matrix-shaped spark container as being a [[Decoy|decoy]] Matrix constructed to sit in front of the real Matrix.
** Or Rhinox's "his spark has the Matrix with it" line could suggest that while he held the Matrix, the Matrix seen in ''Beast Wars'' was the Matrix and not a decoy. Consider that in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', Prime didn't give the Matrix to Ultra Magnus until after he had died. Look, just watch the episode, okay?
** Though the designs are similar, the "spark container" is much smaller, small enough that Primal's hands can grip both handles comfortably. The actual Matrix is large enough for an Autobot the size of Prime to do that. It's also missing the handy finger holes.
*Optimus was briefly knocked out after deflecting the missile and falling to the ground. However he is awake to watch the ''Axalon'' teeter back and forth and eventually fall off the cliff. One wonders why he couldn't have stopped it. After all, in his original form, he was able to slow the ship's descent to keep it from crashing in the episode "[[Victory (episode)|Victory]]". One would think that his much larger and more powerful form would be enough actually to lift the ship up.
**On the other hand, he may not have wanted to leave himself (or more importantly, Prime's spark) exposed to Rampage. Considering the fact that the ''Axalon'' fell in the first place because Primal was trying to protect his ancestor's spark, it seems like the most logical in-universe explanation.
* Although the kinds of relative damage that can cause [[Death|fatal]] injury is [[Waspinator (BW)|notoriously]] [[Dinobot (BW)|inconsistent]] in ''Beast Wars'' (and the wider franchise in general), it is particularly strange that Ravage is killed outright by the explosion that traveled the length of the ship before consuming him, whereas Tarantulas was literally at the epicenter of the blast and yet was easily cobbled back together by his [[Arachnoid]]s. To be fair, perhaps Ravage could have been just as readily reassembled had anyone bothered to do so, although if so this raises the question of why no-one did... (or, at least, not until [[Ravage_%28G1%29#3H_Universe_comics|the]] [[Ravage_%28G1%29#IDW_Beast_Wars_comics|comics]]).

===Transformers references===
[[Image:OptimalSituation Tarantulas insignia.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* The [[Arachnoid]]s seen in this episode sport a special Tarantulas [[insignia]], which they possess in all of their appearances from now on.
*After Optimus Prime's spark is returned to him, he reactivates, but almost immediately returns to [[stasis lock]]. The [[Binaltech#Binaltech_2|''Binaltech'' story]] chapter supplied with BT-22 Convoy establishes that Optimus Prime was at least partly aware of both the spark transfer and Optimus Primal.
*When confronting Megatron on the ''Ark'''s bridge, Optimus Primal tells Megatron, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings," the motto of Optimus Prime. When informed by [[Ben Yee]] about this fact during the [[Madman Entertainment]] ''Beast Wars'' Season 3 DVD commentary for this episode, writer Bob Forward confessed that up to this point he had no idea, and the phrase was simply something he'd picked up from the alt.toys.transformers newsgroup.
* Later, Optimus Primal tells the Maximals to "transform and [[Roll out|roll out]]."

===Real-world references===
* The [[Autobot repair device]] used that fits over Prime's head unfurls in a distinctively layered fashion reminiscent of the exploding mask worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film ''[[wikipedia:Total Recall| Total Recall]]''.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Situation Optimal'''" (Canada, "Optimal Situation")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''L'alba di una nuova era'''" ("The Dawn of a New Age")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ōkiku Na~re'''" (大きくな～れ, "Gro~w Bigger")

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Situação Optimal'''" ("Optimal Situation")

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Situación Óptima'''" ("Optimal Situation")

:*''Title:'' "'''Situación Optima'''" (America, "Optimal Situation")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers: Metals'' — Groooww Bigger ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Free Video ([[Universal]])
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (Universal) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Third Season ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 3 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''[[The Transformers: The Movie|Transformers: The Movie]] — Special Edition'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)

[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]

More than Meets the Eye, Part 1

2013-06-26T00:57:08Z

Jamdigger: /* Animation and technical errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=1
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=1
|next2=More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=1
|next3=More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
|image=FHE-MTMTE.jpg
|caption=Admit it. As a kid, you longed to own this, and were only marginally satisfied if your parents instead merely dubbed it from the rental tape.
|title="More than Meets the Eye, Part 1"
|production code=4023
|airdate=[[September 17]], 1984
|written by=[[George Arthur Bloom]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|packaged with=[[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Universe (2008)|Optimus Prime]]
}}

'''In search of energy, the Autobots leave Cybertron and are pursued by the Decepticons.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:MTMtE Part1 Cybertron.jpg|left|200px|thumb|[[Star Wars (franchise)|A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...]]]]

On [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], many [[MYA|millions of years ago]], the [[Autobot|Autobots]] are on the verge of extinction. Eons of war with the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]], their bitter enemies, have drained the planet's once plentiful resources. Autobots [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] are scraping together [[Conductor|energy conductors]], and narrowly avoid capture by a Decepticon patrol. They arrive at [[Great Dome|Iacon]], the Autobots' headquarters. There, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]], confers with his lieutenants [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] on the plan to leave Cybertron on a mission to search for new sources of energy. This plot is overheard by the Decepticon spies [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] and [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]].

[[Image:MTMtE Part1 Arkcrash.jpg|left|200px|thumb|One does not simply walk into Mordor... one apparently rams one's ship into it.]]

Inside [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Cybertron)|their base]], [[Decepticon leader]] [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] plots to intercept the Autobots, and leaves his [[second-in-command| first lieutenant]] [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] in charge of Cybertron.

The Autobots blast off aboard an [[Ark (G1)|Autobot spaceship]], followed by the [[Nemesis (G1)|Decepticon cruiser]]. An asteroid collision forces them to use up most of their energy clearing a path through the resulting storm. The Decepticons take advantage of this vulnerability and attack. Both ships spin out of control, crashing on nearby [[Earth]].

Four million years pass. It is the year 1984, and volcanic activity stirs the half-buried ''Ark'', awakening the computer systems aboard. [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] sends out a [[Sky Spy]] satellite to reconnoiter this new world, and scans examples of terrestrial machinery in order to reformat the Transformers into new [[Alternate mode|alt modes]]. The Decepticon [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] is awakened first, and he revives Megatron, and the other Decepticons follow. Megatron observes that much time has passed since the crash. An impudent [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] leaves a parting shot at the dormant Autobots, unwittingly knocking Optimus Prime into the repair beam and causing him to be the first Autobot to be revived.

[[Image:MTMtE Part1 Prime repair.jpg|left|200px|thumb|The light! It burns!]]

Megatron decrees that their mission is to drain Earth of its resources in order to build an ultimate weapon and conquer the universe (as you do). To start, they'll need a base of operations, so he puts Starscream in charge of converting the area for the construction of a [[Victory (G1)|new star cruiser]]. The Decepticon [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] trashes a nearby power station to serve as raw materials.

Meanwhile, Optimus Prime dispatches [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] to scout the area. They find the Decepticons, and Cliffjumper brashly takes a shot at Megatron. He misses, and the Decepticons unleash Laserbeak in pursuit. Hound is blasted and injured.

[[Image:MTMtE Part1 OilRig battle.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Do yourself a favor, don't smoke at a Cybertronian waterpark.]]
Autobot medic [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] and [[Hauler]] come to fetch Hound. Meanwhile, Decepticons [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] spot an Earth vehicle coming to investigate the destruction of the power station. [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] intercepts the vehicle, frightening the human workers away.

Hound is repaired, and reports what he overheard: that the Decepticons are on the hunt for energy. Prime has Jazz assemble a battle group to go after them. The Decepticons attack an off-shore oil rig, where [[Sparkplug Witwicky|William "Sparkplug" Witwicky]] and his son [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] work. They begin gathering energon cubes, but are interrupted by the Autobots.

A battle erupts on the drilling platform. Megatron blasts the rig's supports, tipping it into the ocean. It bursts into flames. Realizing the humans are in danger, Optimus Prime tries to save Spike and Sparkplug while the Decepticons retreat with their energon plunder.

'''[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2|To be continued...]]'''

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (1)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (2)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (9)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (10)
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (11)
* [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (12)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (15)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (16)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (17)
* [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] (18)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (21)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (22)
* [[Hauler]] (23)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (28)
* [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (29)
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (30)
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (31)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (32)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (33)
* [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (34)
|c2=
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (3)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (4)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (5)
* [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]] (6)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (7)
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (8)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (13)
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (14)
* [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (19)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (20)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (25)
|c3=
* [[Joe (MTMTE)|Joe]] and his coworker (24)
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (26)
* [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (27)
}}

==Quotes==
[[Image:MTMTE1-JazzProwlPrimeTrailbreaker.jpg|right|thumb|250px|]]
"Prime told me there'd be days like this." 
"And you didn't believe him?" 
"I do now!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Wheeljack''' under fire.

"When do we start the search mission?" 
"Soon as you're ready to launch."
:—'''Prowl''' is told to hurry up by '''Optimus Prime'''.

"Fear not, Megatron. Cybertron shall remain as you leave it."
:—'''Shockwave''', more accurate than he realizes.

"Leakin' lubricant!"
:—'''Ironhide'''

"What about materials?" 
"Use your imagination!"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron'''

"Here's something to keep you warm."
:—'''Megatron''' as he ignites the oil spill.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
'''Minor art and coloring errors'''
* Soundwave's mouthplate doesn't move during his "Autobots are set to launch" line.
* As Megatron gives Shockwave his orders, Starscream is missing his canopy lines, and Soundwave's eject button is blue, while his backpack is white.
* The retracting segments of Iacon's dome appear to come out of solid, unbroken metal. The interior shot of the bridge also shows the segments retracting incorrectly. Since the ship is upright at a 90-degree angle, the retracting segments should go from camera-right to camera-left, down the length of the ship.
* Sideswipe's missing his shoulder launcher as he mans an Ark console.
* The Decepticon insignia on the Nemesis is missing its "eyes" as the Ark blasts off.
* Starscream has a red "collar" around his neck as he prepares the tractor beam.
* When Soundwave tosses Ratchet into a console aboard the Ark, the Autobot Medic is sporting a Decepticon symbol in the center of his chest windshield, most likely the result of the animator carrying over Soundwave's design.
* As Starscream fires on the Autobot ship, the top segment of his canopy is red instead of gray in some frames.
* As the gathered Decepticons gaze at the desert from atop the volcano, Skywarp's arm cannon is colored teal.
* Part of Megatron's fusion cannon is white as he says "we'll set up here".
* Soundwave's eject button is blue instead of white as Megatron orders him to plan the new space cruiser.
* Megatron is missing his barrel as he speaks to his newly revived troops. In a close-up, he has a "five o'clock shadow", as the central segment of his face is a darker shade than the rest of it.
[[Image:Mtmte1 prepare the energon cubes.jpg|thumb|right|200px|]]
* After landing at the power plant, Soundwave's eject button is blue, instead of... y'know what? Let's just say the colorists screwed up this little detail ''all the freaking time'', and leave it at that.
* As Starscream talks about his plans with Soundwave and Rumble standing behind him, the tip of Soundwave's shoulder cannon is colored entirely black.
* Cliffjumper's mirror housings are white instead of red as he delivers his "moonbeam" line.
* Ratchet's Autobot symbol is gray before he jumps off the cliff.
* Prime's running light housings are white instead of red as he orders Jazz to organize a battle unit.
* In the pan across the battle unit, Sideswipe's helm is red instead of black, and the top of Trailbreaker's chest is white instead of black.
* The center segment of Megatron's fusion cannon is white as the wrenches & etc. bounce off of him.
* Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of white as he starts making energon cubes.
* Starscream is missing his wing insignia as Megatron returns to his robot form.

'''Not-so-minor errors'''
[[Image:Sunstorm Cartoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Then again, Thundercracker has ''two'' wings.]]
* The Decepticon "welcoming committee" is often stated to contain a constantly-changing roster, but close examination reveals that it's ''almost'' consistent:
** The initial shot shows [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]], and [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]].
** The second shot shows a vaguely Thundercracker-colored Seeker (the blue is deeper than Thundercracker's color, and there's extra bits of white and gray) alongside two completely different Seekers (a purple one with a flamethrower, and an orange one).
** The third shot, as Wheeljack barrels through them, shows a total of five Seekers, too small to be identified. If that darker blue guy from the second shot was supposed to be Thundercracker, and you're willing to believe that several of the Decepticons managed to be off-camera in all the other shots, then the numbers actually add up. (Your wiki editors acknowledge that this probably ''was'' a goof.)
** The final shot of the group shows Starscream ordering Skywarp and Thundercracker to pursue the Autobots; both have lines in their normal voice, so they were clearly supposed to be there.
* Starscream's two lines during this scene are performed by two different actors in two different voices, neither resembling the high rasp he'll shortly establish as his normal voice. The second voice is clearly Frank Welker, sounding close to his Megatron voice.
* Bumblebee steps out of Wheeljack and immediately fires a shot in the completely opposite direction from their attackers. Was he testing his gun??
* Bumblebee is repeatedly shown to be a hovercar... yet somehow he's got wheels and an axle when the Seekers manage to hit him.
* Bumblebee is repeatedly shown to be ''wider'' than Wheeljack in vehicle mode, yet he has no trouble driving right into Wheeljack's cargo compartment. He ''keeps'' driving in until he's completely out of sight, even though we can see at least half of the compartment.
[[Image:ArkCartoon1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|If it's supposed to be transparent, then it probably shouldn't be blocking out the scenery behind it.]]
* The Ark's exhaust comes from ''behind'' the thruster ports.
* Bluestreak is colored like Prowl as the Autobots stumble around in the wake of the asteroid collision; Trailbreaker, meanwhile, has one white and one gray hand.
* Presumably, an impact is supposed to be knocking Jazz out of the pilot's seat; what the animation actually shows, however, is Prime saying "Jazz!", to which Jazz responds by spontaneously flying out of his seat.
* Immediately after a shot of Optimus Prime rallying his troops to prepare to repulse Decepticon boarders ("Prepare for battle!"), the same animation is re-used, but this time with Megatron's voice urging his troops to "Attack! Attack!" When the episode was re-done for the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Generation 2]]'' series, this scene was amended by placing a shot of Megatron sitting on this throne from earlier in the episode over the image, shouting the command. (In the same shot, Prowl's eye is missing.)
* A shot of Soundwave being kicked out of frame by Ironhide is immediately followed by Soundwave sparring with Ratchet.
* After Ratchet is thrown into the console, Optimus Prime and Megatron enter the frame, struggling with each other. Megatron is missing his fusion cannon in this shot, but it reappears when the angle changes to show them grappling as Prime asks for a status report.
* Ratchet is shown being thrown by Soundwave, but after Optimus Prime asks for a status report, Ratchet is seen fighting with Thundercracker on the other side of the room.
* As the above shot pans across the bridge to the right, we see Soundwave has teleported from one side of the bridge to the other, slumped against a console.
* In the pan shot on the Ark when the Transformers find out they're going to crash, there are TWO Soundwaves and TWO Starscreams.
* As the Ark rocks and sends the combatants tumbling, the left arm of the second Soundwave turns into an extended smear of gray paint for a couple of frames.
* The voice that reports about g-forces is Prowl's, but he's struggling with Starscream and doesn't seem to have time to read a console or make a report or anything. Although it's hard to tell due to the ship shaking, Jazz's mouth seems to be moving, and he ''does'' seem to be looking at machinery.
* Quite a few generic robots are mixed in among the identifiable inert Transformers in the crashed ship.
* The land around the volcano changes frequently between shots. Sometimes it's rocky desert; other times it's got forests and a river, sometimes both at once. This trend would continue throughout the whole series.
* Starscream has no transformation sound as he lands at the power plant.
* When Optimus Prime assigns Hound his mission, the establishing shot has Cliffjumper with Bumblebee's yellow colors.
* Hound's voice carries a soundproof-roof echo as he comments on how different Earth is.
* In the long shot of the Decepticons building their base, Soundwave appears in Sideswipe's colors.
* Hound says that he got shot in the drive train, but Laserbeak shot him topside. Did the shot go straight through him??
* Reflector's three component robots are standing shoulder-to-shoulder as they turn to look at the truck, but are standing in a line in the next shot.
* After Thundercracker informs Soundwave about the approaching vehicle, there's a [[scene transition]]. The final frame of the scene transition is faded into an image of Sparkplug and Wheeljack working on Optimus Prime from "Divide and Conquer".
* Rumble isn't a big guy, but he should at ''least'' be a few feet taller than a human. He's shown the same height as Sparkplug.
* Ironhide and Starscream are shown sparring with poles, while Prowl and Thundercracker have a shootout from cover. In the very next shot, Ironhide is taking on Skywarp and Thundercracker, while Starscream is now busy with Huffer and Gears, and Prowl is grappling with a Reflector. In the shot after that, Prowl is suddenly free from Reflector and charging toward Skywarp.
* A red robot of indeterminate character model is shown retreating with the Decepticons. It looks a bit like an upside-down Sideswipe.
* When Rumble knocks Spike into the water, his father yells "Pike!" instead of "Spike". Perhaps he was meant to be warning his son about carnivorous fish, but ''of course'' pike live in fresh water, not salt.

===Continuity errors===
[[Image:MTMtE Part1 Cybertron.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* Later episodes will go to some length to establish that Cybertron is outside of our galaxy. There's even some implication that it's not inside ''any'' galaxy, but that unlikely notion is put to the lie by the very first shots of this episode, which show its surface illuminated by an unseen sun, and the space around it filled with stars.
* Whether for reasons of cost (unlikely considering how much effort was expended on this episode's artwork) or to avoid confusing the kiddies, hardly any of the Transformers were designed to have Cybertronian robot modes (Laserbeak is the sole exception). Thus we get the strange phenomena of, for example, Jazz having a Porsche 911 bumper on his chest, four million years before Porsches were invented. This also leads to some strange transformations, with guys like Bumblebee and Wheeljack not having a single part from their vehicle forms visible in their robot modes.
* Soundwave is in robot mode outside of Iacon, not transforming back to lamppost mode until Jazz is practically on top of him. How could Jazz have failed to notice the big blue Decepticon right in front of him?
[[Image:Shockwave Hands.jpg|thumb|200px|''My honey my baby Don't put Shockwave upon no shelf She said don't gimme no lines And keep your hands... hand... whatever... to yourself!'']]
* During the scene in [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Cybertron)|Decepticon Headquarters]], Shockwave is consistently drawn with two hands. This may not be an error ''per se'', as he shows up a couple of other times with two hands, and plenty of characters can retract their hands and replace them with various gadgets and weapons, but it goes against his toy design and his established character model.
* Two asteroids in deep space just show up out of nowhere and collide? Right by the passing ship? The cosmic improbability beggars the imagination.
* Oddly enough, nobody opens fire during the scuffle when the Decepticons board the Ark... not even Megatron.
* The Transformers' interplanetary cruise is ''incredibly'' short. At no point do they engage any kind of faster-than-light drive, yet somehow they go from Cybertron to Earth in what seems to be a matter of minutes. The only possible gap that might account for this is the scene cut between the Decepticon launch and the asteroid collision.
* The animation would have us believe that the Autobot spacecraft has just been sticking out of the side of this active volcano for ages, without anybody noticing. The intended gist might have been that the eruption uncovered it, but the animation doesn't show it.
[[Image:Cliffgun.JPG|thumb|right|200px|"You see the size of that gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him!"]]
* Cliffjumper somehow stores on his person a cannon that's as big as he is.
* Okay, maybe it's not an actual error. But considering how many ordinary Transformers are shown to have enhanced visual abilities (Hot Rod, Rumble, Arcee, etc.) it seems a tad ridiculous that Thundercracker needs to use Reflector's camera mode to zoom in a little bit on the approaching truck. It's ''insanely'' ridiculous that Reflector produces Polaroid prints. He's not even that kind of camera! (More to the point, he should just be able to see what's visible through his own viewfinder.)
* While he is getting repaired by Ratchet, Hound refers to an Energon cube as "some kind of cube", implying that the Autobots don't know what Energon cubes are. The inference that energon cubes are a Decepticon invention holds true for almost the entirety of the pre-movie cartoon, during which time they are never used by the Autobots (something that is even made a plot point in "[[Traitor]]"). We say "almost" because of a contradictory flashback in "[[War Dawn]]" that shows what appear to be energon cubes being used by Autobots nine million years in the past. By the time of the movie, the Autobots are shown to have begun using the cubes, and continue to do so throughout the third season. It's possible that Hound is a younger Autobot and was not created until after Autobots stopped using Energon cubes. Optimus would know what they are, since he was there back then in "War Dawn".
* How do the Autobots know where the Decepticons are planning to attack? They organize their battle unit before the Decepticons even learn about the oil platform!
* During Jazz's roll-call of the Autobots, he neglects to call out Cliffjumper's name. The little red guy transforms anyway.
* The large cast frequently gave the animators trouble in remembering which secondary characters should or should not be present, especially concerning the Autobots. Thus, we frequently must catalog appearing/disappearing Autobots:
** Jazz's battle group consists of Prowl, Cliffjumper, Trailbreaker, Wheeljack, Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Ironhide. Even before they've left headquarters, the problems start, as Ironhide disappears and Ratchet takes his place. Ratchet is still with the group when they arrive.
** Bluestreak joins the group as they fly toward the oil rig.
** Huffer and Brawn are with them as they land on the platform.
** Gears is visible in a wide shot of the battle.
* In what ''universe'' is it legal for a fourteen-year-old American kid to be working on an oil rig, even ''with'' his father?
* Until the oil platform attack, the episode has consistently portrayed the Decepticon forces as Megatron, Soundwave, 3 tapes, 3 jets, and 3 Reflectors. Things start to fall apart here, as a dark blue jet is shown diving alongside Thundercracker. It gets ''much'' worse in the following episodes.
* ''The Transformers'' had a tendency to frequently exaggerate the capabilities of humans to survive being dropped, punched, swatted, hit, etc. As a main protagonist, Spike Witwicky was especially susceptible to this treatment; thus we catalog the adventures of ''Superhuman Spike!'':
** Spike punches Rumble in the back without breaking or even seeming to hurt his fist.
** Spike survives being bashed aside by Rumble's metal fist without even bruising a rib.
* When Starscream fires his [[Null-ray|null-ray]], ice appears on the machinery that the ray hits. However, a null ray only stops the flow of electricity; it doesn't cause freezing. (Megatron prompts him with the strange command to "activate the null ray", as if it's some external piece of equipment.)
* Flying Autobots:
** In this and the following two episodes, the Autobots are all shown flying just as easily as the Decepticons. Once the show went into full production, this ability mostly disappeared, with occasional exceptions due to special abilities (Wheeljack, Sideswipe, the Dinobots), and some [[Roll for It|scripting]], [[Attack of the Autobots|animation]] and [[The Master Builders|sound]] [[Fire on the Mountain|effect]] screw-ups. The change was, in part, to help distinguish the two forces (and perhaps because it doesn't make sense for the Autobots to drive places if they can just fly there instead).

===Continuity notes===
* As the first pilot episode, this episode establishes several iconic aspects of the cartoon and the entire [[Transformers brand]]. The planet Cybertron and its city Iacon both appear in many other media and continuities. The crash of the Ark and the four-million-year slumber of its inhabitants likewise recur in several other versions of the Generation 1 story.
* The orange Seeker from the "welcoming committee", visible for all of about two seconds, was [[Retcon|retroactively established]] to be the neo-G1 character [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]].
[[Image:Cybertronlaserbeak.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* We get a look at Cybertronian vehicle forms for Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Skywarp and Thundercracker, Jazz, Soundwave and Laserbeak. Soundwave's toy can totally be configured into that lamp-post mode.
* Trailbreaker's presence alongside Jazz and Prowl on Cybertron is just about the ''only'' indication of his "defense strategist" [[function]] in the cartoon.
* Three episodes from now, we will see that Shockwave was true to his word, and Cybertron has not changed one iota in four million years.
* The Decepticon vessel is last seen spiraling out of control, unpiloted, toward Earth. It will be rediscovered in the Season 2 episode "[[Microbots]]". The unnamed ship would finally be given a title almost 15 years later, when it was referred to as the ''[[Nemesis (G1)|Nemesis]]'' in the [[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|''Beast Wars'']] episode "[[Nemesis Part 1]]".
* The events of the ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' cartoon take place during the 4 million years in which the Autobots and Decepticons lie dormant in the wreckage of the Ark... a time frame covered by about 5 seconds of footage in this episode.
[[Image:Sky Spy.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
* As the satellite-like probe (later dubbed a [[Sky Spy]]) leaves the Ark, we see a city skyline in the distance. While the cartoon's animation could never make up its mind about what was around the crashed ship (oceanside cliffs? desert? forests and rivers?), one might take this city to be [[Central City (Earth)|Central City]], later established to have jurisdiction over the land where the Autobot ship rests.
[[Image:MTME1 Reflector camera.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Yep, pretty clearly an SLR.]]
[[Image:Ratchetg1cartoon.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Repair bay optional.]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** Wheeljack deploys a pair of tiny spinning blades from his front bumper, which lets him... drive through fire?
** Laserbeak spies with a pair of cylindrical doodads that come out of the side of his head.
** Rumble demonstrates his earth-quake-making power, which consists of banging the ground with a couple of big pile drivers that replace his arms. This will become one of the cartoon's most frequently-seen special powers, to the point that it eventually would carry over to the Marvel comics as well. (This power also seems to exclude Rumble himself from its effects, as the ground under him never cracks open.)
** Hound pops out a little wrist radar dish that lets him hear what the Decepticons are saying from some distance away.
** Soundwave can display graphics — the space cruiser, in this case — on his chest door.
** Cliffjumper somehow stores on his person a gun that's as big as he is. We don't want to know how he does this. Although it does look like it's collapsible.
** He also has a little cannon that pops out of his vehicle mode's backside. In the original script, this was his [[glass gas]] gun, but in the completed episode, it's merely a laser. His line "it's a gas!" hints at this earlier version, but is rendered out-of-place by the new visuals.
** Laserbeak's cannons are shown to be able to disconnect from him, fly on their own and target Autobots independently. Although an ability actively described in his ''[[The Transformers Universe|Universe]]'' profile, this would be the only time Laserbeak would employ his weapons this way.
** Ratchet is shown splitting into his robot form and his repair bay; however, the repair bay is never seen again.
** Reflector, being a super-advanced space robot, can take a photograph and instantly spit out a paper print of the resulting image. Instant photographs?! It must be THE FUTURE!
** Starscream "activates the <s>noal</s> null ray", which freezes the device it's aimed at.
[[Image:Hauler01-sm.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Frank Lloyd ''Wrong''.]]
* A [[Grapple]]-like crane named Hauler is seen with Cliffjumper, recovering Hound; he's never seen again, however. Fans have speculated that this was to be an earlier release of Grapple's toy, aborted for reasons unknown.
* [[Energon cube]]s make their first appearance here. They have to be compressed before they convert the fuel they have been filled with into energon, at which point they glow a sort of yellowish-white iridescent-y rainbow-y sort of color. The "compressing a stack" aspect of the cubes was quickly done away with after the pilot mini-series, but the rainbow-glow would stick around for a little while before being phased out in favor of a pink-purple coloration that became the standard representation of energon cubes down through ''Transformers'' history.

===Real-world references===
* ''The Transformers'' made heavy use of the sound effects library that sprung out of the movie ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]''. Fans have a tendency to make tiresome shocked exclamations that Laserbeak sounds like a TIE Fighter; it is therefore instructive to catalog these sound effects, which are used ''far'' more extensively than just a couple of TIE engine roars. About half a dozen sound effects tend to appear in nearly every episode, and at least a dozen total are known to have been used on ''The Transformers''. In this episode:
** The sound of the Death Star firing to destroy Alderaan, and Alderaan's subsequent explosion, is used as Skywarp and Thundercracker strafe Bumblebee and Wheeljack, and again as they abandon their pursuit.
** The sound of the Seeker training sphere aboard the ''Millennium Falcon'', along with Luke's lightsaber humming and igniting, is used as Soundwave begins making energon cubes.
* We also get the lesser-used ''Star Trek'' sliding door sound effect as Soundwave sends Laserbeak after Hound and Cliffjumper.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Im Weltraum verschollen'''" (''Generation 2'', "Lost in Space")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 30]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Fuga da Cybertron'''" ("Escape from Cybertron")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Molto più di quel che appare - I'''" ("More than Meets the Eye - I")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::* The 2008 dub renamed Hauler "Grapple" in order to retcon them as the same character.

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Chikyū e no Michi'''" (地球への道, "The Road to Earth")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 6]], [[1985]]
::*When [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] releases the [[Sky Spy]], additional narration describing the scene is added.
::*'''Cut:''' Immediately after [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] says, "Megatron, my leader, we are alive again", a few seconds of the close-up of him and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] staring at each other and the fade away into the next scene is cut. Megatron's line, "Quickly, we must revive the other Decepticons", followed by him carrying and dropping [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]], was also cut. The sequence resumes right after Megatron sets Reflector down next to [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]].
::*When the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seeker]] fires the ring of flame around [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] from his flame-thrower, he shouts out the name of his "special attack" in an traditional anime-style manner. It was called the "Fire Attack", by the way.

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mais do Que Os Olhos Veem Parte 1'''" (Brazil, "More than Meets the Eye part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ne vsjo tak prosto (Chast' 1)'''" (Не всё так просто (Часть 1), "Not All Is So Simple (Part 1)")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Serbian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Više nego što se vidi prvi deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Више него што се види први део, "More than Meets the Eye Part 1"), "'''Sile zla prvi deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Силе зла први део, "Forces of Evil Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Trivia===
*Scenes deleted from the original script to this episode include Ratchet working to repair Bumblebee's damage after he and Wheeljack return to Iacon; Rumble destroying a railroad trestle for more construction materials in addition to the power plant; Skywarp and Thundercracker grumbling about being stuck with grunt work as the Decepticons construct their temporary headquarters; Skywarp finding a frisbee and tossing it back and forth to Starscream before Megatron blasts it to bits; and a scene of Brawn, Huffer and Windcharger trying to fight the oil rig fire, only for the rig to collapse out from under them, setting up the opening scene of the next episode in which Huffer is caught in the wreckage. Other differences include Soundwave being the first Decepticon to be restored by Teletraan I, rather than Skywarp, and Teletraan I bouncing its beams off of human satellites, rather than using a [[Sky Spy]].
* Shockwave's appearance hints that Hasbro was already planning for expansion of the toyline. His toy was not among the initial 28 characters advertised by the 1984 Transformers catalog, yet there he is, making a short appearance that obviously sets up the possibility of future appearances. His toy would be one of the very first 1985 toys to see release, and his character would return in the very first post-pilot episode.
[[Image:Cartoon Cybertron Marvel Iacon case 1.jpg|350px|right|thumb|]]
* The episode ends with a preview of "Part 2". While other multi-part Transformers episodes generally refer to the episode by its title ("Next time, on ''The Transformers'': 'The Ultimate Doom'"), this preview uses the series title, ''The Transformers'', as "More Than Meets the Eye" is a retroactive name for the three-part episode, which began as a mini-series before becoming a regular program.
* Many later episodes would mine this one for recycled footage, particularly the line up of transforming Autobots near the end. Transformation sequences (with and without new backgrounds) from this episode appear in "[[Heavy Metal War]]", "[[Blaster Blues]]", and others. Optimus Prime's transformation sequence from this episode is used in ''dozens'' of episodes.
*Imagery of Cybertron from this episode was used to depict Iacon in the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel story]] "[[And There Shall Come...a Leader!]]". Several buildings are clearly taken from the cartoon, and the most precious comparison has to be the tunnel entrance used by Wheeljack and Bumblebee to get energy conductors to the cartoon's dome-shaped Autobot headquarters, which is exactly the same as the one [[Fusion]] and [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] used to get shatter bombs to the [[Great Dome]]. The only difference is that the next piece of road for Fusion and Bluestreak is the same road Wheeljack and Bumblebee drove over before entering the tunnel.
[[Image:G2DoubleTargetmasters.jpg|right|350px|thumb|The new RCA Colortrak, with Commercial-in-Commercial feature!]]
* The mid-80s [[Family Home Entertainment]] VHS release of "More Than Meets the Eye" was granted the [[wikipedia:Film Advisory Board|Film Advisory Board]] Award of Excellence, proudly displayed on the video box cover above. However, this particular "award" does not reflect the ''quality'' of any work submitted, but rather that the work is "family-friendly". Cheeky, that.
* The three parter was released on video in the United Kingdom in 1986 under the title "Arrival from Cybertron".
* Footage from the [[commercial]] featuring the Autobot [[Targetmaster|Double Targetmaster]] trio was spliced into the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Generation 2]] version of this episode by way of the [[Cybernet Space Cube]]. Outside of this, they never actually appeared in the cartoon.
* Footage from this episode was used to represent a historical video in "[[Transform and Roll Out]]", the opening movie for ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Transformers Animated]]''.
{{--}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1985 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 1: "More than Meets the Eye" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|A.M.T. Video Gems]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|V.I.P. Video Gems]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|Little Gems Junior Video Club]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — More than Meets the Eye ([[Malofilm|Seville Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Exclusively from Blockbuster ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Two (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume One (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — More than Meets the Eye (Shout! Factory) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/more_than_meets_the_eye_part_1.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]

More than Meets the Eye, Part 2

2013-05-24T01:50:37Z

Jamdigger:

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=2
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=2
|prev2=More than Meets the Eye, Part 1
|next2=More than Meets the Eye, Part 3
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=2
|prev3=More than Meets the Eye, Part 1
|next3=More than Meets the Eye, Part 3
|image=More Than Meets Part 2.jpg
|caption=Oil is a burnin' thing, and it makes a fiery ring.
|title="More than Meets the Eye, Part 2"
|production code=4024
|airdate=[[September 18]], 1984
|written by=[[George Arthur Bloom]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|packaged with=[[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Universe (2008)|Optimus Prime]]
}}

'''The Decepticons continue raiding Earth's energy sources, including Sherman Dam and the Ruby Crystal Mines of Burma.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:MTMtE Part2 Greetings.jpg|left|150px|thumb|"Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" "No." "Oops, sorry, my bad." [Throws him back in the water]]]

The fire at the off-shore oil rig continues to grow. Poor [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] is caught in some girders, but is freed by [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]. Not so easy to extricate are the humans [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky]]. As [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] grapples with the debris trapping the workers, [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] put out the fire. Rescued by Prime, Spike and Sparkplug introduce themselves to the [[Autobot]]s, offering their terrestrial knowledge to help them.

[[Image:MTMtE Part2 Spike Soundwave.jpg|right|150px|thumb|A legacy of Stupid Human Tricks begins here.]]

Their newfound human friends return with the Autobots to their headquarters. As Spike explores the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], he finds a small cassette player and brings it in with him, setting it aside. Little does he realize he has brought [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] into Autobot Headquarters. Soundwave and his minion [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] begin using [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] to locate [[Earth]]'s most plentiful energy resources. Meanwhile Spike enjoys a tour of the headquarters and some sunset joyriding with [[Hound (G1)|Hound]]. Returning to the base, Spike spots Soundwave's intrusion and sounds the alarm. Soundwave escapes, but the Autobots catch Ravage, thanks to [[Gears (G1)|Gears]]' infrared light.

Soundwave briefs [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] on his findings. Megatron decides to attack [[Sherman Dam]], causing a tidal wave to increase the dam's output. The next day, the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] arrive at the dam. [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] dives into the river and activates his piledrivers to whip the river into dangerous rapids. The energy output is detected by Teletraan I, and the Autobots rush there to stop the Decepticons.

[[Image:MTMte Part2 Autobotsrally.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Raise your hand, raise your haaaand—if you're sure!]]

With the river at its peak, the Decepticons begin producing [[Energon cube|energon cubes]]. The Autobots arrive, and a battle ensues. Hound dives into the river to stop Rumble's quaking, and the two scuffle in the depths, with the Autobot coming off worse. [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] help divert the course of the river to save a nearby neighborhood from being flooded. Megatron and Optimus Prime duel with energy [[Energon-axe|melee]] [[Energon_mace|weapons]] atop Sherman Dam while exchanging insults. Megatron knocks Prime into the rapids (the latter was distracted by Spike's shouts for help) and he and his Decepticons escape with their spoils.

[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] helps pull Prime from the river. The Autobots regroup and vow to stop the Decepticons as they continue their activities across the land... but apparently don't do a very good job of it at ''all''. The space cruiser they are developing is almost complete, and they are one more energy raid away from having enough fuel to return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Unfortunately, the impudent [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] feels the need to test some of the energon cubes. His wasteful experimenting forces the Decepticons to now make two trips. Their first destination, the [[ruby crystal mines of Burma]]. These plans are overheard by Trailbreaker, Spike and Sparkplug, who are eavesdropping on the Decepticons.

[[Image:Mtmte2 witwickys and trailbreaker.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Trailbreaker deploys his combat bird bath.]]

As Trailbreaker returns to Autobot headquarters to relay the news, the trio are attacked by a pair of generic [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]]. Sparkplug radios for help, which comes in the form of [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]]. Sunstreaker uses a vehicle-mode cannon to give one of the Seekers a small scratch on its wing, prompting the two jets to retreat.

The Decepticons are soon in Burma, pulling [[Ruby crystal|energetic rubies]] from the Earth's crust. The Autobots wait for them outside the mine. Wheeljack has developed a powerful and compact explosive. Bumblebee and Sparkplug volunteer to plant the charge in the mine. They do so, but are caught by [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] and [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] as they make their escape.

Concerned that Sparkplug and Bumblebee haven't returned, Optimus Prime drives up the mine's entrance and dispatches [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] into the mine. The explosive detonates, and the blast knocks Prime off his wheels, sending him tumbling down the mountainside.

'''[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 3|To be continued...]]'''

{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (1)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (2)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (3)
* [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (6)
* [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (7)
* [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (8)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (10)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (11)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (12)
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (13)
* [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (14)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (16)
* [[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (17)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (18)
* [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (19)
* [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (20)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (27)
* [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (28)
* [[Roller (G1)|Roller]] (29)

|c2=
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (9)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (15)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (21)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (22)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (23)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (24)
* [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (25)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (26)

|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (4)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"For someone who doesn't like to fight, heh, you're not bad, Mirage!"
:—'''Cliffjumper''' complimenting Mirage after he helped fight off Skywarp and Thundercracker

"You destroy everything you touch, Megatron!" 
"Because everything I touch is food for my hunger, my hunger for power!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Megatron''' banter while fighting on top of Sherman Dam

"You're old, Megatron. Yesterday's model—ready for the scrap heap!" 
"We'll see who's ready for the scrap heap!" 
"Junk! That's what you are, ''junk''!" 
"''Silence''!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' insults '''Megatron''' during their battle

"Don't push me, Megatron, my desire for power is as great as yours!" 
"Power flows to the one who knows ''how''. Desire alone is not enough." 
"Time makes all things possible. I can wait."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron''', foreshadowing several repetitive scenes in the future

"Let's give Megatron a little present." 
"Heh. Maybe we oughtta wrap him up and put a little bow on him."
:—'''Skywarp''' and '''Thundercracker''' on capturing Bumblebee. Not seen: Bumblebee's humiliated weeping.

==Notes==
===Non-final premises===
[[Image:G1 cartoon Autobots fly.JPG|thumb|right| ]]
As part of the series pilot, this episode features some conventions and details which would be changed for the series proper:
* The Autobots can all fly in robot mode.
* [[Corey Burton]] employs a different voice for Brawn, one that is higher and more hoarse-sounding than the "correct" version that will appear in later episodes. The same voice pops up again in "[[A Plague of Insecticons]]" (after Skyfire catches a falling Brawn).
* Mirage gets a different sound effect for his disappearing abilities (which would actually be used again in "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 3]]").
* Wheeljack acquires a bit of southern accent in the third act of this episode. Oddly, he already had his finalized voice in the previous episode, and indeed, shows no real signs of the accent in his sparing lines during this episode's first two acts. Consequently, fans have speculated that voice actor [[Chris Latta]] was trying to differentiate the voice from his Sparkplug voice, as they ''are'' pretty identical, and he only begins to affect the accent when Wheeljack and Sparkplug share a scene.
* The "next time" preview refers to the three episodes collectively as "The Transformers". They would later be rechristened "More than Meets the Eye" (obviously!)

===Animation and technical errors===
* In the recap of "Part 1" at the beginning of the episode, a scene is shown in which Optimus Prime is trying to lift a grate trapping Spike and Sparkplug. However, in "Part 1", the grate was orange, while in the recap that same grate is shown as gray.
* Huffer's trapped arm does not appear to actually connect to his torso.
* As Huffer and Brawn converse, Brawn's lips move for Huffer's line, "Let's take off."
* Prime's running lights are drawn as rectangular instead of round as he explains the Decepticons to Spike and Sparkplug.
* After picking up Soundwave, Spike runs into the Ark carrying his rucksack slung over his shoulder. In the next shot, the rucksack has vanished.
* Soundwave's eject button is one of the most common coloring errors of the whole series. Based on his toy, it's supposed to be white in the cartoon, but almost as often as not, the colorists simply colored it the same blue as the rest of him:
** Soundwave's eject button and cheek guards are both blue instead of white as he returns to robot mode.
** Blue button as he swipes at Spike.
** And after he plays back the Sherman Dam info.
** And as Megatron pontificates about the [[ruby crystal]]s. (Cheek guards too.)
* Brawn's helmet is a bit too light as he watches Soundwave retreat.
* As the Autobots try to capture Ravage, several voices don't correspond to any actual Autobots.
* When Gears transforms, his blue parts change to red, leaving him as an all-red truck.
* Gears and Hound are also extremely tiny in their vehicle modes in the next shot, as a titanic Optimus Prime walks up behind them.
* Soundwave is missing all his yellow stripes as he plays back Teletraan I's info on Sherman Dam.
* When arriving at the dam, Optimus Prime speaks the line "We've got to work fast", but Prowl is shown talking.
* One of the neighbors that Ironhide and Bumblebee rescue appears to be a woman in a pink dress...who is waving and moving as a ''man''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s voice says, "Thanks, neighbor!"
* When Optimus orders his troops to head to the power plant, he has a gray eyeband instead of two blue optics.
[[Image:Reflector in red.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Hey! That's my color scheme!]]
* As the Autobots blast into the power plant, they shoot down both Starscream and a Reflector colored like Starscream.
* When the Autobots are first confronting the Decepticons at the power plant, Sideswipe and Optimus appear to have Decepticon logos on them. (See the flying picture above.)
* As Starscream prepares his strange slingshot thing, one of his wing stripes becomes transparent. His wings are also mounted much higher on his back than normal.
* As Soundwave and the Reflectors fill energon cubes in a grassy meadow, there is a registration error that causes Soundwave's lower half to vanish several frames before the foreground content is meant to block it.
* The second purple jet to leave the Black Diamond mine does so alone, but when he drifts back into the shot, he's got a Rumble and a Reflector with him.
* Soundwave's visor switches from white to red and back as he and Megatron ride the elevator.
* Both he and Megatron are missing their insignia as they elevator reaches the bottom.
* While the Reflectors are stacking energon cubes, the energon cubes are translucent enough to see the background (and to see that the Reflectors' legs weren't animated).
[[Image:G1toon starscream laser turret.jpg|thumb|200px|They were only counting on having to fight three Autobots back home.]]
* Starscream's leg is disconnected from his body as he fires his cannon.
* Starscream's collar is yellow as he asks "What's the difference?"

* Half of Starscream's collar is yellow again during "I can wait".
* The microphone that Sparkplug uses to radio the Autobots changes appearance between shots; it looks like a microphone in closeup, but more like a [[:wikipedia:Simon_(game)|Simon]] toy when Sparkplug is holding it.
* One gun, many lasers:
** The two generics who attack Trailbreaker shower him with a dozen or more lasers, despite having only two guns apiece.
* After Sunstreaker shoots one of the generics and Spike's comment, Sideswipe's shown to have a weapon in the same place as Sunstreaker's, with smoke pouring from the end.
* The ends of the ruby collection tubes are closed like test tubes, leaving the falling crystals nowhere to go.
* Prime's right antenna disappears as he points at the mine entrance.
[[Image:Weirdstreak.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ratchet and Bluestreak just came back from the helmet salon.]]
* In the establishing shot of the Autobots outside the Burma ruby mines, Ratchet's head is black and gray. When the shot is repeated, Bluestreak's head is yellow, making his head resemble Bumblebee's.
* Only the front of Wheeljack's "ears" flash as he shows off his new explosive.
* Sideswipe's helmet is red instead of black as Bumblebee transforms in front of him.
* Starscream's face is white instead of gray as Bumblebee and Spike spy on the 'cons.
* As Thundercracker faces Sparkplug, his wing insignia are rendered as purple rectangles. As he joins Skywarp to double-team Bumblebee, they're missing completely.
* Jazz's helmet and hand are mostly white instead of black as he worries about Bumblebee.

===Continuity errors===
* Brawn uses a blow torch to free Huffer's oil-soaked arm, and somehow, it doesn't catch fire.
* For some reason, Sunstreaker and Cliffjumper are just sitting around in the repair bay in automotive form.
[[Image:AirWarriors MTMtE.jpg|thumb|right|200px|We don't know where we came from, either.]]
[[Image:GenericDecepticons MTMTE.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Rumble, Rumble, Rumble, Rumble, eject. Operation: crowd filler."]]
* This episode totally shatters the previous episode's consistent cast of Decepticons, which was clearly shown to be Megatron, Soundwave, 3 jets, 3 Reflectors, and 3 tapes. To pad out the Decepticon ranks, a horde of generic Decepticons just starts appearing out of nowhere:
** A light purple-gray jet is standing behind Thundercracker after the Decepticons land at the dam.
** As Reflector compresses the energon cubes, there are ''four'' Reflector robots, as well as three Rumbles. The real Rumble is, at this point, still underwater, fighting with Hound. Rumble shows up in two more subsequent shots as well, including one where he's the only guy in the shot!
** And then it all goes to hell after the Sherman Dam sequence. Two purplish jets are with Thundercracker in the snow. Then a subsequent pan shot shows ''four'' light blue jets, ''three'' light purple jets, and ''two Thundercrackers''.
** At the Black Diamond mine: three purple jets, and a slate blue Rumble.
** The assembled strike force: one Skywarp, two Thundercrackers, another lavender jet, four Rumbles in yellow, orange, bright blue and slate blue, and ''seven'' Reflectors.
** Two lavender and one slate blue jet answer Megatron's order to "Scramble!"
** A shot of the Decepticons in flight shows a total of ''twenty-seven'' robots.
** Two generics even get their own scripted appearance, attacking Trailbreaker, complete with speaking parts!
** After all that, there's not much point in noting 2 blues and 2 lavenders loading ruby crystals, is there?
** 6 generic jets plus Starscream as Bumblebee and Spike observe the 'cons mining the crystals.
* Megatron's definition of "tidal wave" is a bit wonky, considering that Rumble doesn't really make one huge wave. Of course, we wouldn't expect ''aliens'' to have a perfect grasp of the English language.
[[Image:G1 cartoon Autobot letters.JPG|right|200px|thumb|"Okay, Spike, here's your next Cybertronian lesson!" "Uh...for a...good...time...call..." "Whoops! Wrong screen!"]]
* When Spike tells Jazz that there's trouble at Sherman Dam, the screen shows what is presumably Cybertronian text. Spike shouldn't be able to read this.
* Likewise, the dam worker says "she's gonna blow" (twice!) in reference to the crumbling dam. The dam might crack, fail, or give way, but neither the dam nor the generators are likely to ''explode''.
* Superhuman Spike:
** A shot of Sherman Dam shows us that the water behind it (where Rumble is making his earthquake) is clearly hundreds of feet deep. Somehow, Spike just leaps right into it to rescue Hound. The water is also ''ragingly'' turbulent in the previous shot, yet perfectly still once Spike is actually in it.
** He then has no trouble at all moving a big boulder that's pinning Hound in place.
** It must be hereditary. Sparkplug survives being punched directly in the ribcage and into a stone wall by Thundercracker. He should be wall-pizza after that. Spike also is no worse for wear after Rumble whacks him across the face. A blow like the one Rumble gives Spike should have shattered Spike's skull.
[[Image:Rubycrystalminesofburma.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Thus explaining why Burma was the dominant world superpower in 1984.]]
* Why does Megatron yell to his troops to "Follow me!" when he's getting bashed around by Prime?
* One of the shots of filling energon cubes appears to take place in a forest, with no machinery of any type in sight. Are they stealing energy from trees?
* A few shots from Starscream's little cannon drain a whole gigantic stack of energon cubes. Are the cubes really ''that'' paltry?
* The likelihood of rubies being a viable power source, let alone "the richest source of energy on the face of the Earth", is questionable. Apparently Megatron is not yet familiar with the bizarre physics of cartoon Earth, where all kinds of super-powered crystals are just sitting around waiting for someone to sap energy out of them.
* Sparkplug claims to have previously worked in the ruby mine, which, while not thoroughly implausible, seems unlikely for an American oil rig worker/mechanic.
* Wheeljack tells Sparkplug that the bomb timer is 60 seconds. All the views of the countdown timer show it decreasing at approximately two units per second, meaning that the bomb would go off in about 30 seconds.

===Rhino DVD release===
* Hound is part of the group that leaps into the air. However, in the next shot, Hound is on the ground by the river with Spike.

===Continuity notes===
[[Image:Mtmte2 ironhide diverting river.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
[[Image:Mtmte2 shermandam.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* Gadgets and powers:
** Brawn uses a retractable welding tip to cut Huffer free. This same hooked welding tip seems to be fairly standard Autobot equipment, showing up in many future episodes, attached to many different 'bots.
** Trailbreaker's "force shield" is fired from a three-pronged wrist-gun.
** Wheeljack can shoot a fire extinguishing chemical of some sort from his retracted wrist.
** Jazz uses a retractable grappling hook that slides out of his wrist (with a little pulse-glow of energy, no less.) This gadget will show up a couple more times in this and the next episode.
** Soundwave gives us the most overt instance of size-changing we've yet seen.
** A couple of stock powers make their debut, as Hound demonstrates his holograms and Mirage turns invisible.
** Gears displays his infrared. Well, actually, it's just a red light. Don't tell anyone.
** Jazz and Prowl can both fire energy-net things out of their wrists. Prowl will repeat this ability in "[[Attack of the Autobots]]".
** "The <s>noal</s> null ray" actually does what it's supposed to this time, shutting down some generators when Starscream shoots them with it.
** When Hound submerges to pursue Rumble, he drops a face shield into place, implying he may be susceptible to water.
** Ironhide has a mounted cannon in the back of his van. It's heavily based on the similar cannon that his toy's repair bay has.
** Starscream owns a [[Slingshot (weapon)|slingshot]] and uses some unidentified crystal as ammunition.
** In one of the series' most inexplicably well-remembered scenes, Megatron and Optimus both deploy glowing, semi-solid energy weapons from their wrists: a morning star and an axe, respectively.
** Trailbreaker can deploy a roof-mounted radar dish to listen in remotely on the 'cons.
[[Image:Roller deploy.jpg|thumb|right|200px| ]]
* Early in the episode, the scene is shown changing from the Ark to a similar-looking shack nearby. This shack appears to have the same construction as the Ark itself, but is not a part of the ship. It is almost never seen again, except in the episodes "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]" and "[[The Autobot Run]]".
* As he returns to tape mode to enter Teletraan I, Ravage's missiles disappear in a glowing flash.
* According to Starscream, 1,750,000 KiloWatts is not enough electrical power to make energon cubes!
* The script that Teletraan I displays differs significantly from the Ancient Autobot language the Decepticons find in "[[Cosmic Rust (episode)|Cosmic Rust]]". It's also rather different from the Ancient Cybertronian that [[Cerebros (G1)|Cerebros]] finds on the control panel of the [[Plasma Energy Chamber]] in "[[The Rebirth, Part 1]]". One might reasonably fanwank it by saying that Jazz is reading the modern version of these languages.
* Optimus deploys Roller for the first time. He's gray, based on an earlier iteration of the toy, rather than the blue of the US release.

===Real-world references===
* [[Burma]] is a country in southeast Asia, currently known to the United Nations as Myanmar. It is, indeed, particularly rich in rubies, and is the source of 90% of the world's supply of the gems.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die Rückkehr'''" (''Generation 2'', "The Return")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[May 7]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''La miniera di rubini'''" ("The Ruby Mine")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Molto più di quel che appare - II'''" ("More than Meets the Eye - II")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ruby Crystal no Himitsu'''" (ルビークリスタルの秘密, "Secret of the Ruby Crystals")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 13]], [[1985]]
::*'''Cut:''' After Spike picks up Soundwave outside and runs off, a few seconds are shaved off of him disappearing off screen. The long shot of him running through the entrace of the Ark is cut, as are the first few seconds of him running down the hall of the Ark with Soundwave clutched in his right hand.

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mais do Que Os Olhos Veem Parte 2'''" (Brazil, "More than Meets the Eye part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ne vsjo tak prosto (Chast' 2)'''" (Не всё так просто (Часть 2), "Not All Is So Simple (Part 2)")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Serbian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Više nego što se vidi drugi deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Више него што се види други део, "More than Meets the Eye Part 2"), "'''Sile zla drugi deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Силе зла други део, "Forces of Evil Part 2")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Trivia===
* Deleted scenes from the original script to this episode include Spike and Jazz tapping Teletraan I into "the Emergency Alert System", leading to it detecting the trouble at Sherman Dam; Trailbreaker covering Ironhide as the older 'bot uses his adhesives to seal the cracks in the dam; the two nameless Decepticon jets appearing in robot mode, standing guard at the Decepticon base, where they spot Trailbreaker and the Witwickys driving by and decide to pursue them; and Bumblebee and Sparkplug facing two Decepticon guards at the mine entrance, who Bumblebee paralyzes with a stun ray from his headlights. Other differences include Bumblebee teaming up with ''Wheeljack'', rather than Ironhide, to carve the trenches that break up the raging river; in accordance, Wheeljack's alternate mode is described as a "van", which, coupled with several other awkward or incorrect alternate mode descriptions in the "More than Meets the Eye" scripts, suggests that complete finalized details on the Transformers' alternate modes hadn't been provided to the writer yet.
* The dam sequence was adapted for the UK comic story "[[Decepticon Dam-Busters!]]" in issues #29-30, and also released as a set of [[View-Master]] reels. The weapons used by Prime and Megatron would be immortalized in toy form several times, and even get a bit of an [[homage]] in the [[Live-action film series|live-action movies]], where Prime thrice wields orange-glowing bladed [[Dual Energon Swords|energy]] [[Energon Hooks|weapons]] in all three films, including an [[Energon-axe|axe]], while Megatron uses a [[Mace|flail]] in the first film.
* Much of the character animation in this episode is pleasingly fluid, with some rather dynamic transformations. Decepticons in particular do lots of flips as they transform.
* Bumblebee's mission is hilarious. He transforms to car mode, drives about twenty feet, returns to robot mode, stands outside the mine and says "Come on, let's go inside." Well, what ''else'' were you planning there, 'Bee?
*Storyboard artist [[Wendell Washer]] has [http://www.wendellwasher.com/samples/storyboards/transda2/sbdtrd2-005.htm sample storyboards] from the opening scene of this episode up on his web site.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1985 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 1: "More than Meets the Eye" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|A.M.T. Video Gems]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|V.I.P. Video Gems]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|Little Gems Junior Video Club]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — More than Meets the Eye ([[Malofilm|Seville Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Exclusively from Blockbuster ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Two (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume One (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (Metrodome) 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — More than Meets the Eye (Shout! Factory) 
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/more_than_meets_the_eye_part_2.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]
*[http://zobovor.tripod.com/more_than_meets_the_eye_part_2_bloopers.html Zobovor's Bloopers list]

[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]
[[Category:Universe (2008)]]

Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!

2010-08-03T01:16:04Z

Jamdigger:

{{episode
|otherseries=''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' part 2
|prev=Clash! Beast Warriors
|next=Bad Spark
|image=LioConvoyImminentDangertitlecard01.jpg
|caption=
|title="Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!"
|japanese=ライオコンボイ危機一髪!
|romaji=Lio Convoy Kikiippatsu!
|production company= "Beast Wars" Production Committee ([[Toei]], [[TakaraTomy|Takara]], [[we've|AEON]], [[TV Tokyo]])
|airdate=[[December 19]], 1998
|written by=[[Nagata Toshiyasu]]
|directed by=[[Akira Nishimori]]
|animation studio=[[Toei]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}

'''Galvatron kicks the Beast Wars on Gaea into overdrive when he summons forth one of the greatest monstrosities of the past, Majin Zarak, to lay waste to the Maximals.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:BWII-Mysterious Ship Vs Combiners.jpg|250px|left|thumb|It BURNS!]]

Above the Planet [[Gaea]], where [[Lio Convoy]] and his [[Maximal]]s are fighting the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] against [[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] and his [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]], a strange ship appears. It disrupts a musical battle between the [[Jointron]]s and the [[Seacon (BWII)|Seacons]], plowing through them and breaking apart their combined forms. As the ship draws nearer, the radar on the ''[[Yukikaze (BWII)|Yukikaze]]'' warns the Maximals of its approach. They turn to Lio Convoy for directions. Lio Convoy rises with a twinkle in his eye.

Over on the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'', Galvatron and [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] have discovered the approaching ship, too. Gigastorm recommends destroying it, but Galvatron has a "feeling" that it will bring the Predacons great fortune.

The ship crashes into the frozen tundra of Gaea's North Pole. [[Apache]] picks it up on his scanners and Lio Convoy orders a unit to investigate. [[Lio Junior]] begs to go, but the other Maximals shoot him down, telling him to go to his room and take a nap or whatever it is whippersnappers do these days. Lio Convoy orders Lio Junior to stay behind in case they need back-up, much to his dismay. [[Tasmania Kid]] interjects, asking Convoy to let Lio Junior go and that he'll take responsibility for him. Lio Convoy concedes and allows Lio Junior to participate.

Taking [[Santon]] and [[Skywarp (BWII)|Skywarp]] along, Lio Junior and Tasmania Kid arrive in the frozen north. They then change to beast mode and begin searching. They eventually find the ship, seemingly abandoned, and Lio Junior wastes no time rushing inside to explore. Against Skywarp's advisement, Lio Junior begins pressing random buttons on a computer console and activates a teleport gate. No one knows what what a "teleport gate" is except Tasmania Kid (oddly). He explains that it is a device that can control space-time and pluck living creatures from any point in history, including Transformers! The computer, however, requires a "control unit" in order to function.

Lio Junior finds the control unit (a rock-like spear) inside a floating ball, but before he can grab it, [[BB|Max B]] drops in and swipes it. He then leaves and meets back up with [[Starscream (BWII)|Hellscream]], [[Thrust (BWII)|Thrustor]] and [[Dirge (BWII)|Dirgegun]]. Being a brash young stereotype, Lio Junior chases after Max B by himself and demands the Predacons fork over the control unit. Hellscream casually brushes his threat aside, telling Lio Junior to "go home and suck on his mother's breast". Lio Junior attacks, but it tossed aside by Hellscream without much effort. The other Maximals finally catch up and Lio Junior tells Skywarp and Santon its time to combine. Skywarp refuses, telling Lio Convoy that they aren't spiritually in sync enough to combine.

[[Image:Liojunior.jpg|250px|right|thumb|]]

Lio Junior gets frustrated and recklessly attacks Hellscream, snatching back the control unit. Hellscream responds by firing a powerful "Terrorstorm" blast at him. Tasmania Kid, however, leaps in front of him and takes the whole of the blast. Before he passes out, he tells Lio Junior that apparently there's nothing that can stop his selfish behavior. The Predacons then combine their power and attack the injured Maximals with a volley of firepower. Like a helpless little baby, Lio Junior cries and begs for them to please stop. Luckily, Lio Convoy and the other Maximals arrive just in time to stop them and scare them off.

The battle over and Kid not responding to treatment, Lio Convoy asks for a ''private'' meeting with Lio Junior. Lio Convoy scolds him, telling him that he ordered him to ''investigate'', not engage in battle. Lio Junior snaps back, saying that if it weren't for ''him'', the Predacons would have the control unit. Now, the Maximals have the power of the teleport gate in their hands. Lio Convoy tells him none of that matters, since it may be at the cost of Kid's life. He asks Lio Junior if the control unit was worth his friend's life. Lio Junior responds by saying he doesn't ''have'' any friends because everyone's always making fun of him and he just wanted to prove himself. Lio Convoy asks him if he's forgotten the ''reason'' the Maximals are fighting. Lio Junior apparently has, so Convoy reminds him that it's to protect the peace in the universe. He then says that anyone who has forgotten the Maximal reason for fighting is no comrade of his. Lio Junior throws a tantrum, saying he no longer wants to be a Maximal and that with the power of the control unit, he'll defeat the Predacons ''himself''. He then transforms and runs off.

As the Maximals fly off in the ''Yukikaze'', tending to a mortally wounded Tasmania Kid, Dirgegun reports to Galvatron on the ''Galvaburg II'' that the control unit is required to operate the teleport gate. Galvatron is apparently aware of Lio Junior's tantrum and mocks Lio Convoy's inability to take command of a single brat. He then finds Lio Junior alone in a forest and, with the rest of the Predacons, approaches him. Galvatron says that he came to help; the forest is full of dangerous animals and pitfalls. The Predacons will happily take the wayward cub in and protect him so long as he hands over the control unit. Lio Junior refuses. Galvatron then sits down and decides to tell him "the truth". The teleport gate is actually a doomsday weapon capable of destroying a whole planet. The Predacons activated it by mistake and now they need the control unit to shut it down, otherwise the planet will be destroyed in under an hour.

Lio Junior is about to buy it, when the still injured and bandaged Kid comes crawling out of the woods, warning Junior not to listen. Junior isn't sure who to believe, but decides that preventing the destruction of Gaea is a sure way to earn the respect of Lio Convoy and the others.

As Kid collapses, Junior returns with Galvatron to the ''Galvaburg II'' and hands over the control unit. Immediately, Galvatron orders Gigastorm to release the teleport gate and summon the most powerful and vicious Transformer in history: [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] (or maybe [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]]; see Note below). Hellscream then throws Lio Junior in a cell and taunts him with the imminent destruction of the Maximals.

On the ''Yukikaze'', Kid returns and tells everyone that Lio Junior has defected to the Predacons. Lio Convoy swears to give him a lot more than a stearn talking to when they get him back, but Tasmania Kid urges them not to judge Junior so harshly. He says he knows how Lio Junior feels, as he was also a young runt trying to prove himself not long ago.

[[Image:GalvatronBW1.jpg|250px|left|thumb|"Yarr, it's drivin' me nuts!"]]

At the teleport gate, Gigastorm locks onto Megatron's wavelength and activates the machine. Three units pop out of the side of the ship, float into the sky and open up a triangular interdimensional doorway. Through it, something big, horrible and most certainly ''not'' Megatron falls throug, nearly crushing the [[Autoroller]]s in the process. Galvatron smacks his brother, Gigastorm, for screwing up the coordinates and demands Hellscream find out what that thing is. Galvatron's mood changes when he learns that it is the great [[Majin Zarak]]. Majin Zarak transforms into a gigantic ''holy crap gonna kill you'' monster and Galvatron takes command of his control unit (an old fashioned nautical stearing wheel, oddly). After thanking Lio Junior via video phone for providing him with a weapon superior to Megatron, he uses Majin Zarak to destroy a gigantic iceberg and then transforms him to aircraft carrier mode.

At the ''Yukikaze'', their sensors discover the legendary Majin Zarak, much to everyone's horror. Lio Convoy orders them to attack, anyway. They arrive, only to find that Majin Zarak's aircraft carrier mode can ''also'' move over land. The Maximals attack in a small craft, but are quickly swatted away by Zarak's superior firepower. They decide to land and attack fromthe ground.

On the ''Galvaburg II'', Lio Junior breaks out of his cell and escapes. Thrustor and Diregun give chase, but luckily for Junior, Skywarp and Santon arrive to even the odds and fight them off. Skywarp invites Junior to help in the battle against Zarak, but Junior says there's a place they must go, first. Skywarp suggests they all go as one and the three of them fuse into [[Magnaboss II|Magnaboss]]. He gets blasted in the chest by the retreating Thurstor, though, and is forced to march to the alien ship with a bad injury. With his last ounce of strength, Magnaboss uses his own power source to charge the teleport gate and summons a mysterious figure.

[[Image:BWII-Majin Zarak blast.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Ahhh! Hairball!]]

Back at the canyon, the Maximals fight their way past the Autorollers, Hellscream and Max B, but are still overwhelmed by Majin Zarak's power. Lio Convoy makes it onto the carrier and sends Gigastorm flying away with his Lio Typhoon. Galvatron's decided he's had enough and transforms Majin Zarak into his frickin' Godzilla mode. Zarak then uses the three cannons on his back to destroy a whole mountain range and scatter the Maximals. Galvatron thinks he's won, but he suddenly receives a Maximal text message: "You think you've won, but we won't be defeated. Let us settle this. Come to point B-2. -Convoy"

Buried beneath tons of rock, Lio Convoy hears a familiar voice urging him to fight on. He explains that he was summoned by Magnaboss, a selfless warrior who used his own power to bring him here. Lio Convoy is sorry he underestimated Magnaboss (and by extension, Lio Junior) and asks who the mysterious warrior is. They shake hands and in a blast of light, the tons of rock are cleared. Magnaboss greets Lio Convoy and tells him he's rescued the other Maximals. He then introduces them to...wait for it...''wait for it''...
{{-}}
[[image:OptimusPrimalAnimeOMG01.jpg|center|250px|thumb|]]

<center>[[Optimus Primal]]!</center>

The "legendary General Commander" swears to help the injured Maximals win at all costs. Lio Convoy decides that while he, Primal and Bighorn attack Majin Zarak, [[Scuba]], [[Apache]] and the rest will try and find his weak point. Magnaboss wants to fight, but Lio Convoy says he's too injured. Once again, Tasmania Kid convinces him to let the brat fight. The [[Insectron]]s then report that Majin Zarak is headed for point B-2, a narrow canyon where his bulky body will be useless. The Maximals then rally for their final battle.

[[image:DoubleConvoyTogetherAtLast01.jpg|250px|left|thumb|]]

At point B-2, Primal and Convoy confront Galvatron, much to his surprise to see the two warriors standing together. Galvatron attempts to rush the leaders, but with Tasmania Kid's power source channeling into him, Magnaboss is strong enough to pick the aircraft carrier up and hurl it onto its side. The blow knocks Galvatron out of the ship, but he's rescued by Gigastorm, who carries him off in his hovercraft mode.

Suddenly, Majin Zarak transforms on his own. Turns out, he's alive! Majin Zarak appears invincible until Diver chimes in, having just discovered his weak spot. The third eye on his forehead is where all his nerve centers are clustered. A direct hit will destroy him, just like in a video game!

[[image:FlashBurningConvoy01.jpg|right|250px|thumb|It's called style, people. Look it up.]]

Hearing this, Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy synchronize their [[Energon Matrix|Energon Matrices]] and upgrade into Flash Lio Convoy and Burning Convoy. Burning Convoy transforms to monkey mode and rides atop Flash Lio Convoy's lion mode. They then leap into Zarak's face and Burning Convoy lands a mighty punch into his third eye. Flying away, they then combine the power of the Energon Matrices into the "Double Matrix Blaster", destroy his eye and blow him to smithereens.

The battle won, they return to the teleport gate. Lio Junior begs Primal to stay, but he reminds them that he still has to win the Beast Wars on planet [[Earth|Energoa]]. Besides, he says, their army is fine just the way it is. Apache interjects and says that, after some research, he's concluded that because the device plays havoc with time and space, it could conceivable destroy the universe, hence why whoever built it sent it to Gaea to be destroyed. Optimus Primal then returns to his proper place and time and the Maximals destroy the gate behind him.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=

*[[DJ (BWII)|DJ]] (1)
*[[Motorarm (BWII)|Motorarm]] (2)
*[[Gimlet]] (3)
*[[Tripledacus]] (10)
*[[Apache]] (11)
*[[Diver (BWII)|Diver]] (12)
*[[Scuba]] (13)
*[[Lio Convoy]] (14)
*[[Bighorn]] (15)
*[[Tasmania Kid]] (22)
*[[Lio Junior]] (23)
*[[Santon]] (24)
*[[Skywarp (BWII)|Skywarp]] (25)
*[[Magnaboss II|Magnaboss]] (30)
*[[Optimus Primal]] (31)
*[[Bigmos]] (33)
*[[Drill Nuts]] (34)
*[[Mantis]] (35)
*[[Powerhug (BWII)|Powerhug]] (36)
*[[Scissor Boy]] (37)
*[[Tonbot]] (38)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=

*[[Halfshell]] (4)
*[[Scylla]] (5)
*[[Coelagon]] (6)
*[[Sea Phantom]] (7)
*[[Terrormander]] (8)
*[[God Neptune]] (9)
*[[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] (16)
*[[Galvatron (BWII)|Galvatron]] (17)
*[[BB|Max-B]] (18)
*[[Starscream (BWII)|Hellscream]] (19)
*[[Thrust (BWII)|Thrustor]] (20)
*[[Dirge (BWII)|Dirgegun]] (21)
*[[Autostinger]] (26)
*[[Autocrasher]] (27)
*[[Autolauncher]] (28)
*[[Majin Zarak]] (29)
*[[Autojetter]] (32)

}}

==Production staff==

*Director: Akira Nishimori
*Executive Producer: Tan Takaiwa, Hirohisa Sato, Tetsuya Suzuki, Yoshio Yamasaki, Araichi Miyagawa
*Producer: Kozo Itagaki, Yukihiro Akutsu, Sawa Reiko
*Unit Director: Tetsuya Watanabe, Tomoharu Katsumata
*General Animation Director: Goh Yamamoto
*Screenplay: Nagata Toshiyasu
*Drafting: Hiroto Ishikawa
*Director of Photography: Torigoe Hitoshi
*Music: Sagara Masae
*Music producer: Tatihara Hazime, Yoshikuni Maeyama Hiroshi
*Theme
**Opening song: "[[Space Dreamer: Haruka naru Beast Wars]]"
**Ending song: "[[My Shooting Star]]"
*Art director: Geki Katsumata
*Sound Director: Miwa Iwanami
*Voice Director: Satake Tetsuya
*Editing: Hajime Taniguchi
*Character Design: Goh Yamamoto
*Animation Cooperation: Tsuburaya Productions
*Production Team: "Beast Wars" Production Committee (Toei, Takara, [[WE'VE|AEON]], TV Tokyo)
*Distribution: Toei

==Notes==
*"Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!" is the third portion of ''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'', starring the ''[[Beast Wars II (franchise)|Beast Wars II]]'' cast.

*Due to the presence of the [[Angolmois]] upgraded [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] but the overall lack of the ''[[Nemesis (BWII)|Nemesis]]'' as an immediate threat, this movie likely takes place between episode 32, "[[The Lio Convoy Assassination Plot]]", and episode 38, "[[Fly Out! Planet Gaea]]", of the ''[[Beast Wars II (cartoon)|Beast Wars II]]'' animated series.

[[Image:PrimalLioConvoyCatalog01.jpg|right|200px|thumb|]]

*While laying unconscious under a rock, Lio Convoy remarks that Optimus Primal's voice sounds "familiar" when Primal begins speaking to him via cyberspace. The ''[[Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'' timeline retroactively separated Lio Convoy and Optimus Primal by a gulf of several thousand years (seemingly to accomodate Primal's status as a "legendary commander" in this film), making one wonder how Lio Convoy could be acquainted with the sound of Primal's voice if he'd been dead for such a long period of time (historical videos, perhaps?). A [[Catalog#Beast Wars II|toy catalog]] released at the beginning of the ''[[Beast Wars II (franchise)|Beast Wars II]]'' toyline showed Optimus Primal naming Lio Convoy as his successor, though the canonicity of this catalog has come under scrutiny since the ''Kiss Players'' retcon. Whether the catalog applied to the animated ''Beast Wars II'' continuity prior to the retcon is also something of an issue, as Lio Convoy didn't ''become'' Lio Convoy until ''after'' crashing on planet Gaea there. The events of the catalog are canonically referenced in the [[Beast Wars II Mission-003|third issue]] of the ''[[Beast Wars II (manga)|Beast Wars II]]'' manga, which ''isn't'' canon with the cartoon series so... look, just forget we said ''anything''.

===Which Megatron?===
Technically speaking, it is unclear just ''which'' "Megatron" Galvatron and his crew intended to summon across time and space: [[Megatron (G1)|Generation 1 Megatron]] or [[Megatron (BW)|''Beast Wars'' Megatron]].

[[Image:MegatronGalvatronBW1.jpg|right|220px|thumb|]]
At the time the movie was released, a ''Beast Wars II'' toy catalog (see right) showed Galvatron and ''Beast Wars'' Megatron as rivals on their home planet of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], meaning the characters from ''Beast Wars'' and ''Beast Wars II'' hailed from the same "home era" despite their respective time-travel escapades. This would make the idea of Galvatron requesting Megatron as "the greatest and most vicious Transformer in history" seem unlikely, but it is unknown if the film writers were aware of the backstory presented in the catalog—or, even if they did, whether they would have ''cared'', as the film only has as much plot as any given ''Dragon Ball Z'' movie.

In any event, given that the ''Beast Wars II'' Maximals venerated Optimus Primal as a "Legendary Supreme Commander" in the film despite his meager rank as a starship captain, Occam's razor suggests ''Beast Wars'' Megatron as Galvatron's most likely target, as he provides a better parallel to the eventual appearance of Optimus Primal in the film itself.

For a different take on events, the history of the ''Beast Wars II'' characters was [[retcon]]ned many years later by a [[Generation 1 cartoon timeline (Japan)|timeline]] published as part of the ''Kiss Players'' franchise; this chronicle ignored the catalog and indicated that the ''Beast Wars II'' characters came from "tens of thousands of years" in the future, essentially relegating Galvatron and ''Beast Wars'' Megatron's history together to some micro-continuity.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote|japanese}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!! ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]])
;Laserdisc / DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers Special'' (Pioneer LDC)

[[Category:Beast Wars II episodes]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

User:Jamdigger

2010-07-25T05:56:35Z

Jamdigger:

{{faction|autobot}}
LOL to all Autobots!

User:Jamdigger

2010-07-25T05:56:23Z

Jamdigger:

{{faction|autobot}}
LOL to all Autobots!
[[Image:RevengofBruticus Primefiringguns.jpg|left|170px|thumb|Optimus Prime: EPIC WIN]]

User:Jamdigger

2010-07-25T05:56:04Z

Jamdigger:

{{faction|autobot}}
LOL to all Autobots!
[[Image:RevengofBruticus Primefiringguns.jpg|left|340px|thumb|Optimus Prime: EPIC WIN]]

Ransack (Universe 2008)

2010-07-21T00:10:16Z

Jamdigger:

{{factions|minicon|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Ransack}}

:''Ransack is a [[Autobot]]-allied [[Mini-Con]] from the [[Armada (franchise)|Armada]] portion of the [[Unicron Trilogy]] [[continuity family]] (via the [[Universe (2008 franchise)|2008 Universe line]]).''

[[Image:TFU08-toy Ransack.jpg|right|thumb|300px|]]

'''Ransack''' is a member of the [[Battle Support Team]].

==Toys==
===Universe (2008)===
*'''Mini-Con Class 10 Pack''' (Multi-pack, 2009)

: Ransack is a [[redeco]] of ''[[Classics (2006)|Classics]]'' [[Terrorsaur (Classics)|Terrorsaur]], transforming into a robotic ''[[Popular beast alternate modes#Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]''.

: He was only available as part of a Mini-Con 10-pack with [[Windrazor (Universe)|Windrazor]], [[Stockade (Universe 2008)|Stockade]], [[Overcharge (Universe)|Overcharge]], [[Sky Shadow (Universe)|Sky Shadow]], [[Scavenger (Universe 2008)|Scavenger]], [[Longview (Universe)|Longview]], [[Snow Cat (Universe)|Snow Cat]], [[Treadshot (Universe 2008)|Treadshot]], and [[Crosshairs (Universe)|Crosshairs]]. This set was only available at certain retailers, notably [[Kmart]] and Meijer in the US and Tesco in the UK.

: This mold was also used to make [[Chromebite]] and [[Gnashteeth]].
==Notes==
*Ransack's coloration seems to be based off [[T-Wrecks]].

[[Category: Armada characters]]
[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Exclusives]]
[[Category: Mini-Cons]]
[[Category: Toy-only characters]]
[[Category: Universe (2008)]]

User:Jamdigger

2010-07-20T02:52:49Z

Jamdigger: New page: {{faction|autobot}} LOL to all Autobots!

{{faction|autobot}}
LOL to all Autobots!