Darkness Rising, Part 3

2017-12-03T03:20:52Z

Munkysquid: Added trivia about possible origin of Starscream's quote about "Space Madness"

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 3
|prev=Darkness Rising, Part 2
|next=Darkness Rising, Part 4
|image=DarknessRising3-interrogateFowler.jpg
|caption="D'awwww, lookit the cute ickle human! Coochie coochie cooo!"
|title="Darkness Rising, Part 3"
|airdate=[[December 1]], [[2010]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Todd Waterman]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}
'''Optimus and Ratchet head out to investigate Megatron's activities and Arcee and Bumblebee go on patrol, leaving Bulkhead in charge. But things start getting messy when Fowler is abducted.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:DarkEnergonbug.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Scalpel (ROTF)|Scalpel]], is that you?]]
The three kids and their Autobot guardians head back to [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|the Autobot base]], where [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] is being attacked by a piece of [[manipulator arm|animated equipment]]. [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] deals with it, but now suspects that both it and [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] were vivified by [[Dark Energon]].

[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]], now powered up by the Dark Energon, has decided his next move and leaves the [[Trypticon (WFC)|Decepticon ship]] in [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]]'s hands. Starscream thinks Megatron's gone a bit loopy, and he orders [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] to increase surveillance.

Optimus has realized Megatron's plan to create an undead army. As the rest of the Autobots arrive, Optimus announces he's going on a mission with Ratchet, who doesn't take kindly to [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]]'s suggestion he may be a little rusty. Leaving Arcee in charge, the pair [[GroundBridge|bridge]] out. Arcee immediately puts [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] in charge and goes out on patrol with [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]]. [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] attempts to organize an impromptu band practice, but while she's belting out [[My Fist, Your Face|an electric guitar solo]], the proximity alert goes off. The kids hide behind Bulkhead as [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]] walks in to complain about the energon mine explosion. Unfortunately, Miko's guitar gives them away, and Fowler announces he's taking them into federal custody, but Bulkhead puts his foot down, and Fowler storms out.

In a remote region, Prime explains to Ratchet that they're looking for the remains of an old Transformer battlefield, from the period in the war when energon started being hidden on other planets.

[[File:DarknessRising3-disgust.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1|Ratchet, turn on the ''Evil Dead'' [[theme song|theme]]. We'll need all the charisma we can get.]]
As Fowler flies from the Autobot base in his copter, he radios in a report, which is intercepted by Soundwave. Starscream orders Fowler captured, so Soundwave sends out [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]. The Deployer catches up with Fowler, who engages in some deft maneuvers to try and avoid it, and even gets some shots off before it slices the tail off his copter and abducts him.

Fowler's distress call is picked up at the Autobot base. Though Bulkhead is reluctant to help, the others point out Fowler knows the location of the base. [[Raf Esquivel|Raf]] sets about hacking into a federal computer so they can locate Fowler. Bulkhead leaves [[Jack Darby|Jack]] in charge and heads out. Bulkhead finds himself near the Decepticon ship, but is surprised when Miko pops up next to him. After dealing with a Decepticon sentry, he contacts Arcee. Back at base, Jack and Raf have realized Miko is gone, and they use the ground bridge to follow. Unfortunately, this leaves the base unmanned when Arcee rings in to get use of the ground bridge. Jack and Raf arrive at Bulkhead's location and immediately manage to attract the attention of the Decepticon drones on guard.

Starscream interrogates Fowler without much success, so he resorts to getting out the [[energon prod]].

Meanwhile, Optimus and Ratchet reach the Transformer graveyard they've been seeeking. Unfortunately, so does Megatron, who uses a chunk of Dark Energon to raise an army of [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcons]].
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (2)
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (3)
* [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (5)
* [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (7)
* [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (8)

|c2=
* [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (9)
* [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (10)
* [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (11)
* [[Vehicon (Prime)|Decepticon drones]] (13)
* [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] (14)

|c3=
* [[Jack Darby]] (1)
* [[Miko Nakadai]] (4)
* [[Raf Esquivel|Rafael Esquivel]] (6)
* [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]] (12)

|c4=
* [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcons]] (15)
}}

==Quotes==

"I fear that when our master reached for the stars, he came down with a touch of... space madness."
:—'''Starscream''', ever ready to undermine Megatron.

"Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war." 
"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever!"
:—'''Arcee''', on '''Ratchet''''s current military qualifications.

"Do I look like I do country? Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming."
:—'''Miko''' doesn't appreciate Jack's harmonica skills.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* This episode resolves some of the continuity issues with Dark Energon seemingly brought up in the previous episode. Both Optimus and Ratchet know of its existence and even the rumor that it brings the dead back to life. Supplies of it were just so scarce as to be non-existent, hence their inexperience with it.

===Transformers references===
* Bulkhead has a compartment similar to his ''Animated'' [[Bulkhead (Animated)|incarnation]], but higher up on his chest. [[Miko Nakadai|Objects]] end up there when he transforms from vehicle mode.
* The concepts of the Transformers seeding energon on Earth and having had wars there in the distant past before have turned up in recent fiction, [[IDW]]'s comics and ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''. The latter was also in [[Ladybird Books|an '80s Ladybird Book]], "[[Galvatron's Air Attack]]".

===Errors===
* When Megatron turns around and orders Starscream to await his command, his fusion cannon disappears.
* The speakers for Miko's band practice appear spontaneously without any indication of their existence.
* Raf fixes the ''Nemesis'' at latitude 39.5 and longitude 116.9, which corresponds to a location roughly halfway between [[Beijing]] and the [[China|Chinese coast]]. Perhaps he meant longitude -116.9, which would put the ''Nemesis'' somewhere near the center of [[Nevada]], which definitely works out with the fact that Arcee and Bumblebee are able to drive to the ship in the next episode.
* While on their way back to the base, Jack had his helmet on while riding Arcee. Upon their arrival at the base, his helmet is nowhere to be seen.

===Trivia===
* The [[IDW Publishing|IDW]] adaptation of the story, ''[[Transformers Prime: Darkness Falls]]'', specifies that the Terrorcon battle takes place in the [[Grand Canyon]], as does Titan's [[Transformers (Titan Magazine)|''Transformers: Prime'' comic]]. Meanwhile Bantam Books' prose adaption ''[[Megatron Returns]]'' dubs the area the Lost Valley, while LB Kids' storybook version ''[[Autobots versus Zombies]]'' doesn't give it a name at all.
* In an amusing show of cultural differences, Bulkhead tries to order Miko to look away before tearing out a Vehicon's internals (presumably to spare her the sight of the carnage). Miko has no problem with it, only seeing a hunk of metal and a bunch of wires.
* No, really, Bulkhead was going to leave Fowler in Decepticon hands because he didn't like him. What a jerk!
* Twelve-year-old Raf can hack into the United States government's computer network and track down federal agents. What national security?
* Check out where Starscream sticks Fowler with the energon prod. Ouch!
* Starscream's fear that Megatron has come down with "space madness" may be a reference to the Ren & Stimpy episode "Space Madness", where a prolonged period of time in space causes Ren to - rather spectacularly - lose his grip on reality.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die dunkle Macht erhebt sicht, Teil 3'''" (The Dark Force Rises, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 7|7 October]] [[2011]]

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Közeleg a sötétség, 3. rész'''" ("The Darkness Is Nearing, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[January 11|11 January]] [[2012]]

'''Indonesian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kegelapan Bangkit, Bagian 3'''" ("Darkness Rising, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' 5 September [[2012]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La rimonta delle tenebre, terza parte'''" ("Darkness Rising, Third Part"), "'''L'Ascesa dell'Oscurità, Parte 3'''" ("The Arisal of Darkness, Part 3", 2017 airing)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 24|24 September]] [[2011]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kyūshutsu Henkei! Fowler no Kiki'''" (救出変形! ファウラーの危機, "Rescue Transformation! Fowler in Crisis")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 21|21 April]] [[2012]]

'''Korean'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ak ui Buhwal 3'''" (악의 부활 3, "Return of the Evil, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 5|5 September]] [[2011]]

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' ?
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 7|7 December]] [[2011]]

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' ?
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 7|7 November]] [[2011]]

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''El regreso del mal, Parte 3'''" ("The Return of Evil, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 7|7 November]] [[2011]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Darkness Rising ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Folge 1: Die dunkle Macht erhebt sich ([[EDEL:kids]]) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One Collection ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Volume 1: Darkness Rising (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Vol. 2 ([[Avex Trax]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One: Darkness Rising ([[Universal|Universal Pictures UK]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Saison 1 Vol. 1: Le retour des Decepticons ([[Universal|Universal Pictures France]]) — English, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Staffel 1 - Das Bündnis (EDEL:kids) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Stagione 1 Vol. 1: La rimonta delle tenebre ([[Universal|Universal Pictures IT]]) — English, Italian, Dutch, French and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2014 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Saison 1: L'intégrale (Universal Pictures France) — English, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One (Universal Pictures UK) 
;Blu-ray
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season One Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Staffel 1 - Das Bündnis (EDEL:kids) — English and German audio. 

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

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Darkness Rising, Part 3