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Hammer (weapon)

2016-04-26T02:27:55Z

Silver Fox: /* Aligned */

{{disambig3|Hammer}}
{{cleanup|January 2015|Mixes fiction and toys}}
{{picsneeded|examples}}

Typically, [[Transformer]]s use '''hammers''' as medical or construction tools, but they can also serve as effective hand-to-hand combat weapons ideal for breaking shield, thick armor or shattering limbs. For similar weapons, see [[Mace|maces and flails]].

==Fiction==
===Generation 1===
====Generation 1 Cartoon====
====Marvel Comics====
* Not surprisingly, [[Steamhammer (G1)|Steamhammer]] has dual hammers built into his arms.

===Beast Wars===
* ''Timelines'' [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]] has a spring-loaded hammerhead weapon.

===Beast Machines===
* [[Cybershark|Hammerstrike]] has a very hammer-like weapon in his robot mode.

===Unicron Trilogy===
* [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] has a hammer attachment for his gun-appendage, in his Cybertron Defense body he has a hammerhead weapon.
* Sharing Red Alert's body, [[Cannonball (Cybertron)|Cannonball]] also has a hammer attachment for his gun-appendage.

===2007 Movie===
* [[Crankcase (Movie)|Crankcase]] has a hammer attachment for his gun-appendage.

===Animated===
* [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] wields the [[Magnus Hammer]].
* Both [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] and [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] have also wielded the Magnus Hammer.
* ''The Allspark Almanac'' implies there is more than one "Stormbringer" hammer.
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]'s deluxe class toy is packaged with a medical hammer, though it probably serves as an effective weapon as well.

===Marvel Crossovers===
* [[Thor]]'s signature weapon is [[Mjolnir]], a magical hammer that can create several types of energy blasts and with enough power to shatter mountains.

===Aligned===
====War for Cybertron====
* The [[Brute (WFC)|Brute]]'s primary weapon is a hammer, along with an energon shield. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)|War for Cybertron console}}
* [[Ramjet (WFC)|Ramjet]] totes a massive hammer around as his melee weapon. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)|War for Cybertron DS}}
* [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] has a hammer too, though it's not as comically huge as Ramjet's. {{storylink|Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)|War for Cybertron DS}}

====Prime====
* [[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]]'s hands transform into hammers.
* The [[Forge of Solus Prime]], in addition to making weapons, could be used as one itself.

====Robots in Disguise====
* [[Scowl (RID)|Scowl]]'s tail (the Kaboomer) doubles as a hammer for his robot mode.

[[Category:Melee weapons]]

Headlock (RID)

2016-04-22T01:46:42Z

Silver Fox: /* 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon */

{{factions|decepticon|}}
{{disambig2|the Decepticon from 2015's ''Robots in Disguise''|the Decepticon Kreon|Headlock (Kre-O)}}
:''Headlock is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 franchise)|Robots in Disguise]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''
[[File:RID-Headlock.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"Look at the fancy box. Look at the size of this instruction manual. You don't think they would have gone to all this trouble if the game was any ''good'', do you?!"]]

Listen up, ya bum. If you wanna win, you listen to '''Headlock'''. This old 'bot may be small and decrepit, but he knows a thing or two about life inside the fightin' arena. With him in your corner, you can't lose! He won't ''let'' you.

Having been the "manager" of the massive [[Groundpounder (RID)|Groundpounder]] for a long time, he knows that it takes more'n just raw power. You gotta put on a show to get the crowd on yer side, but never get too cocky or you're gonna get blindsided. You gotta know your enemy's weak points, and you better exploit 'em. But, well, if you can't... then he will.

Hey, ''you'' can call it "fighting dirty" or "cheating", ''he'' calls it "winning".

==Fiction==
=== 2015 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon ===
{{voiceactor|[[Eric Bauza]] (English), [[Jin Urayama]] (Japanese)|[[Mario Scarabelli]] (Italian)}}
[[File:TRID19_Headlock_Earth_Vehicle_Mode.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"You're only reading this because you're bored!"]]
Headlock managed the goliath Groundpounder in the gladiatorial pits of [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]], making him a reigning champion... until they were both accused of cheating and kicked out of the gladiator circuit. Enraged by the accusation, Groundpounder went on a destructive rampage, requiring the deployment of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]]. Eventually, both he and Headlock were arrested. {{storylink|The Champ}} Both of them were placed in [[stasis pod]]s aboard the prison ship ''[[Alchemor]]'', but were freed when the ship crashed on Earth.

The two Decepticons hid out at a construction site outside of [[Crown City]], while Groundpounder began a new training regimen at Headlock's request. Upon seeing an advertisement for the [[Rumbledome]], he decided he needed to prove he could take on the [[human]]-built monster trucks. Forcing his way into the arena, he challenged the current champ to a match, and [[Farnum|the Rumbledome manager]] promptly agreed. Though [[Casey (RID)|Crusher Casey]] and her [[Mechanosaurus]] put up a good fight, Groundpounder eventually put her rig out of commission... with the help of Headlock's sabotage. The manager, believing the two Cybertronians to be human-controlled robots as part of an act, offered them a permanent spot in the show.

For their next show, however, Groundpounder discovered his opponent was another Cybertronian—the [[Autobot]] [[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]], aiming to bring down the crooked duo. Headlock stepped in when it looked like Grimlock was winning, zapping the Dinobot with his welding finger to keep him distracted as Groundpounder pummeled him. [[Fixit (RID)|Fixit]], who had been a fan of the pair's matches and didn't believe they had cheated—up until he ''saw'' Headlock cheating in the match against Mechanosaurus—stepped in and eventually brought Headlock down in a surprising display of combat skill.

As Grimlock finally knocked Groundpounder down for the count with his favorite cannonball move, the recovered Headlock made a break for it... only to be stopped immediately by [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]]. {{storylink|The Champ}}

{{--}}

==Notes==
* Headlock is a broad homage to [[w:Mickey Goldmill|Michael "Mickey" Goldmill]], the crusty old trainer from the ''[[w:Rocky (film series)|Rocky]]'' movies. He's even got a robotic knit cap!
* He's also the first ''Alchemor'' prisoner in the series who does not appear to have any bestial design influences in either mode.

===Foreign names===
*''Japanese:'' '''Headlock''' (ヘッドロック ''Heddorokku'')

[[Category:Cartoon-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Elderly Transformers]]
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2015) Decepticons]]

The Champ

2016-04-21T18:31:35Z

Silver Fox: /* Quotes */ He says that line to Mechanosaurus, not Grimlock

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015 cartoon)|Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' (2015) ep 19
|image=RID-GroundpoundervsGrimlock.jpg
|caption=BAH GAWD KING IT'S A SLOBBERKNOCKER!
|prev=Deep Trouble (RID)
|next=The Trouble with Fixit
|title="The Champ"
|airdate=[[July 25]], [[2015]] (USA)
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
|writer=[[Steven Melching]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|director=[[Vinton Heuck]]
}}
'''When a Decepticon gladiator and his cheating manager enter a human demolition derby, Grimlock, Denny and Fixit pose as competitors.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:TheChamp Groundpounder and Headlock spot sign.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Here's the plan: win. If we lose, that's because you didn't follow the plan!]]
On a [[Crown City]] construction site, the Decepticons [[Groundpounder (RID)|Groundpounder]] and [[Headlock (RID)|Headlock]] are laying low. Gladiator Groundpounder is anxious to get back in the ring, and the pair spot a promo commercial for the demo derby at the [[Rumbledome]], including a monster machine bout featuring the dino-themed [[Mechanosaurus]].

The [[Autobot]]s are rearranging their [[stasis pod]] collection as Fixit works on repairing more of them. [[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]] picks up two pods at once in an attempt to impress [[Russell Clay|Russell]], but overbalances and sends [[Denny Clay|Denny]]'s forklift barreling towards Russell. [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] gets Russell out of the way, but a loose pod knocks [[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] and [[Sideswipe (WFC)|Sideswipe]] down. The others' irritation with Grimlock is interrupted by a message from [[Drift (RID)|Drift]], whose information allows Fixit to zero in on two Decepticon signals.

[[File:TheChamp Groundpounder vs Mechanosaurus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|I'd beat my chest to show off, but my back's hurtin'.]]
At the Rumbledome, a demolition derby ends and the [[Farnum|MC]] announces the main event, a bust up between Mechanosaurus and [[Truckalodon]]. The two dino-trucks clash, though it's not long before Truckalodon is on its side and the MC presents the winner's trophy to Mechanosaurus's driver [[Casey (RID)|Casey]]. Groundpounder makes his entrance, tossing the damaged Truckalodon aside and announcing his intent to take on Mechanosaurus himself. His coach Headlock gives him some prep talk as Casey gets her vehicle ready. After Groundpounder tosses Mechanosaurus around a few times, Casey unleashes the flamethrower, but it doesn't appear to faze the Decepticon.

Fixit pinpoints the Decepticon signals, but Russell's already found the Rumbledome's broadcast showing the fight in progress. Fixit, a gladiatorial aficionado, recognizes Groundpounder, whom he discovers was arrested for cheating. Bumblebee has Fixit fire up the [[GroundBridge]], though Fixit warns he hasn't worked out all the glitches. Grimlock's forced to stay at base for stealth reasons, however after passing through the GroundBridge, the other Autobots find themselves somewhere arctic. Fixit opens another portal, but the Autobots still arrive several hundred miles from [[Crown City]]. Giving instructions to the others at base to disguise Grimlock as a contestant, Bumblebee puts Denny in charge.

[[File:TheChamp Grimlock in disguise.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Now, this is how you walk the dinosaur.]]
Casey manages to pin Groundpounder to the wall with her rig, however Headlock crawls under Mechanosaurus and starts disconnecting things. Fixit spots the sabotage on the broadcast and is disappointed to learn Groundpounder was a cheater after all. Casey abandons Mechanosaurus as Groundpounder totals the rig. The MC, assuming the two Decepticons are simply more human-piloted rigs, presents them with the trophy and offers them a permanent spot in the show.

[[File:TheChamp Grimlock punches Groundpounder.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Rocky! Rocky! Rock-Sorry, wrong fight.]]
Fixit attempts to prepare Grimlock to face Groundpounder as Denny builds a rollcage so they can disguise Grimlock as a rig. They're soon presenting "Dino-bash" to the Rumbledome MC who is hesitant but agrees to let Grimlock enter. While another demolition derby takes place, Grimlock, Denny and Russell explore the facilities in an attempt to locate the Decepticons but are unable to. A short time later Grimlock and Denny are about to face Groundpounder in the dome itself, with Bumblebee's group is still stuck in traffic on city limits. Though Fixit warns Grimlock to fight smart, the Dinobot wades in and is promptly thrown around by Groundpounder. Denny's cage is battered during the fight, leaving him trapped inside. Grimlock starts successfully fighting back, and as the Rumbledome itself starts taking damage, the crowd flees. Headlock steps in to assist Groundpounder, leaving Grimlock on the defense before the two-Con onslaught. Fixit joins the fight as well, attacking Headlock and having Grimlock duplicate his moves. The two Decepticons are decked in time for Bumblebee's group to arrive and watch Grimlock finish off Groundpounder. Fixit releases Denny from the mangled cage while Headlock attempts to make a run for it, only to be arrested by Strongarm. As the Autobots are ready to return to the scrapyard, Russell presents the winner's trophy to Grimlock and Fixit.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Sideswipe (WFC)|Sideswipe]] (3)
*[[Strongarm (RID)|Strongarm]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (5)
*[[Fixit (RID)|Fixit]] (6)
*[[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]] (8)
*[[Drift (RID)|Drift]] (10)

|c2=
*[[Headlock (RID)|Headlock]] (1)
*[[Groundpounder (RID)|Groundpounder]] (2)

|c3=
*[[Denny Clay]] (7)
*[[Russell Clay]] (9)
*[[Farnum]] (11)
*Truckalodon's driver (12)
*[[Casey (RID)|Casey]] (13)

}}

==Quotes==
"Grimlock's going for the gold, but can this handsome Dinobot actually handle that much weight? Yes, he can! The crowd goes wild!" ''[applause noises]'' ''[falsetto]'' "Oh, Grimlock, you're so suave!"
:—'''Grimlock''' must be a fan of verbal cosplay

"But all that gladiator stuff was staged right? Just like pro-wrestling on Earth." 
"Wait, pro-wrestling is staged?"
:—'''Russell''' thinks that gladiatorial combat is a farce, and '''Denny''' suffers the disappointment we've all had to endure

'''Bumblebee:''' Grimlock, Denny's in charge. Do precisely what he says. 
'''Denny:''' Me?! 
'''Grimlock:''' Come on! 
'''Strongarm:''' Denny?! 
'''Bumblebee:''' He's the closest thing to a responsible adult. 
'''Drift:''' Then I ''respectfully'' suggest we make haste.
:— The Autobots continue to show faith in Denny's skills

"I knew Dinobots, I fought Dinobots. You're no Dinobot."
:—'''Groundpounder''' trash talking '''Mechanosaurus'''.

'''Denny:''' "Presenting... Dinobash!" 
'''Farnum:''' "Looks like it was made out of scrap." 
'''Grimlock:''' "Scrap? Lucky I don't squash you..." 
:— '''Grimlock''' channels his inner Decepticon/Knock Out

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* Right as Grimlock begins to stumble while carrying the two stasis pods, his shoulder pads are missing.

===Continuity notes===
* [[Gladiatorial combat]] was previously established as a popular Cybertronian blood sport in other works of Aligned fiction, most prominently the ''[[Transformers: Exodus|Exodus]]'' novel and the ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Prime]]'' cartoon series.
* Groundpounder is said to hail from [[Kaon (polity)|Kaon]], which the aforementioned works of fiction described as a major player in the gladiator games. As he's stated to be the champion, he presumably debuted after [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] left the career behind, or he was arrested prior to Megatron's own rise to fame.
* Bumblebee mentions the [[Elite Guard]], which has also been established as existing in the Aligned continuity family.

===Prisoner manifest===
* ''In stasis'': Hammerstrike, Bisk, 4/5ths of Chop Shop, Terrashock, Filch, Minitron, Springload, Ped, Quillfire, "that one with all the eyes", Malodor and the Skunkticons, Nightstrike, Vertebreak, Octopunch, Groundpounder, Headlock
* ''Known at large'': Steeljaw, 1/5th of Chop Shop, Thunderhoof, Underbite, Clampdown
* ''Released'': Grimlock
* ''Countless others all missing, presumed at large''

===Transformers references===
* The Rumbledome announcer refers to the various monster trucks as [[Beast Machines: Transformers (cartoon)|"beast machines"]].
* The Rumbledome manager asks if Grimlock [[fire-breath|breathes fire]], a traditional power for Grimlocks and one he previously possessed in ''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|Fall of Cybertron]]'' and related comics.

===Real-world references===
[[File:Mst3k-godzillakick.gif|right|thumb|200px|Kaiju movies are serious business.]]
* Headlock is heavily based on ''Rocky'' coach Mickey Goodmill.
* The walkie-talkie codenames "Pigpen" and "Rubber Duck" are references to the C.W. McCall song "Convoy".
* Grimlock's sliding tail kick is more than a little similar to an infamous moment from ''[[Godzilla]] vs. Megalon''.
* Of course, the premise of a gorilla fighting a ''T''. ''rex'' is a reference to the showdown in ''[[King Kong]]''. This wouldn't be the [[Optimus Primal|first]] [[Megatron (BW)|time]] this was referenced in Transformers.
* Groundpounder's calling Mechanosaurus out as "no Dinobot" is a modification of the famous "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" speech given by Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle during the 1988 vice presidential debate.
* Farnum's name harkens to 1800s live entertainment promoter and circus founder {{w|wikipedia|P. T. Barnum}}.

===Trivia===

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Le Champion'''" ("The Champion")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 17]], [[2015]]

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bajnokok és kihívók'''" ("Champions and Challengers")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 28]], 2015

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Il Campione'''" ("The Champion")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 15]], [[2015]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Monstercar Battle'''" (モンスターカー・バトル)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 25]], [[2015]]

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mistrz'''" ("The master")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 14]], 2015

==Home video releases==
{{epstub}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champ, The}}
[[Category:Robots in Disguise (2015) episodes]]

Synthesis

2013-07-20T13:21:30Z

Silver Fox: /* Continuity notes */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 64
|prev=Persuasion
|next=Deadlock (episode)
|image=
|caption=
|title="Synthesis"
|airdate=[[July 19]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''The Autobots attempt to rescue one of their own by tracking the Decepticon warship.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Team Prime]] gathers outside [[Hangar E|their base]] for the launch of [[Raf Esquivel|Raf's]] probe, Chip. It will instinctively follow its signal to the [[Decepticon]] warship with [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] following right behind, ready to relay the ship's coordinates to the other [[Autobot]]s. Optimus tells Raf that [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] would be proud of what he's done, and a moment later, both Chip and the Autobot leader take off into the night sky.

In [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out's]] laboratory, Ratchet and [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] discuss the issue at hand: once a stable form of [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] exists, it will be able to bond with [[CNA]] to create a stable form of [[Cyber Matter]]. Knock Out muses that this good fortune wouldn't have come about had the Decepticons not let the Autobots destroy the [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] clones. Ratchet picks up on the use of the word "let", but Knock Out and Shockwave quickly change the subject.

Team Prime continues to monitor Optimus as he follows Chip. [[Jack Darby|Jack]] wonders what will happen when the Decepticons pick up [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak's]] signal, and Raf says they're counting on Optimus making visual contact with the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'' before that happens.

On the ship, Knock Out is bristling at being reduced to an assistant in his own lab. He fetches a CNA sample from a locked cabinet for Shockwave, not noticing when a second sample jar tips over and blocks the cabinet's sliding door from closing again. Ratchet does notice, and asks Knock Out to fetch another lab instrument to distract him while he yanks the sample jar free.

[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] is watching a computer simulation of [[Earth]]'s [[Eco-structuring|cyberformation]] when [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] alerts him that Laserbeak's signal has been detected outside the ship. [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] notes the impossibility of that, as Laserbeak is right there in front of them. Megatron recognizes it for an Autobot trick, the complexity of which suggesting that Starscream failed to destroy their base. Starscream hastily volunteers to troubleshoot the problem.

With the aid of the Decepticons' advanced technology, Ratchet is able to complete the Synth En formula. His elation disappears upon hearing Megatron's voice over the comm system, ordering Shockwave to assist in the final stages of the [[Omega Lock]]'s assembly. Ratchet realizes he can never allow Megatron to possess the formula, and deletes it from the computer before setting off an explosion in the corner of the lab and blaming it on the formula's instability. Knock Out calls in some [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s to help extinguish the blaze, and when the lab's doors open, Ratchet transforms and drives out.

Optimus Prime continues following Chip until Starscream appears, firing a missile at him. Optimus dodges and fires back with his gatling gun. A squadron of Vehicons join the aerial assault, but Optimus blasts through them with ease. Starscream realizes Laserbeak's frequency isn't emanating from Optimus and continues the search for its source.

Knock Out alerts Megatron to the prisoner's escape, while Ratchet dodges Vehicon fire throughout the halls of the ship. He doesn't get far before Megatron finds him, stopping the ambulance in its tracks by stomping on it. Ratchet warns Megatron that if he kills him, he'll never get the Synth En formula. Megatron assures him that his experts are untangling Ratchet's false trail of information and will soon find the answer themselves.

Starscream finally locates Chip, destroying the probe with a single missile. Optimus opens fire on him, but is unable to prevent the Decepticon from escaping through a mid-air [[GroundBridge]]. Optimus is left alone in the sky, with no trail to follow.

Knock Out retrieves Ratchet's stolen sample of CNA and Shockwave confirms the stability of the Synth En formula. With the aid of hyper-acceleration technology, it will not take long to begin production. Megatron fulfills his promise by having Ratchet taken to [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]]'s quarters. The self-proclaimed leader of the Predacons wastes no time attacking the helpless Autobot in the name of his slaughtered kin.

Shockwave begins the synthesis of the Cyber Matter, and Megatron orders the Omega Lock to be moved into ready position.

Just as Predaking is about to finish off his prey, Ratchet warns the Predacon not to let his vengeance end with him, but to continue avenging right up to Megatron. Predaking asks what he means, and Ratchet explains Megatron's role in the destruction of the Predacon clones. He challenges Predaking to analyze the situation; the enormity of the supposed coincidence that the Autobots somehow stumbled upon Shockwave's lab while looking for [[Energon]]. Predaking, starting to become convinced, asks why Megatron would wish to harm his kind. Ratchet says that Megatron fears him, and any like him. Enraged, Predaking storms into the halls, demolishing Vehicons along the way. One Vehicon is able to alert Megatron to the rampage before being terminated.

Ratchet makes his way to a communications array and contacts Optimus and Team Prime. Their joy is cut short when Ratchet reveals that Megatron has a working Omega Lock and is about the cyberform the planet. He deactivates the ship's shielding, allowing the Autobots to get a fix on his location, but is forced to leave the array by the sound of approaching gunfire. Optimus orders the Autobots to lock onto Ratchet's coordinates and storm the Decepticon ship. [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] sadly says that they can't leave without saying goodbye, but Fowler promises her they'll be back. The Autobots gear up with the arsenal from [[Ultra Magnus's ship]], and Raf opens a GroundBridge to the ''Nemesis''. As they enter, Optimus Prime tells them that this may be their last battle. But for the sake of Ratchet, Earth, and [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], they must take the Decepticon warship.

Megatron, followed by Starscream and Knock Out, heads for the ship's vault, wondering aloud how the so-called Predacon king will fare against the [[Dark Star Saber]]. They're interrupted by Predaking, who tosses a deactivated Vehicon in their direction. Knock Out continues to the vault while Predaking asks if Megatron truly planned the destruction of his Predacon army. Megatron says he did, and his only mistake was not including Predaking in the destruction. He lands a few hits with his blade before Predaking overpowers him, clubbing him with the deactivated body of a Vehicon and knocking him down the length of the hall. Starscream distracts Predaking momentarily with a missile in the back, allowing Megatron to hurl the Predacon into the room behind them. Megatron hits a button on a computer panel inside the room, opening a door to the outside directly behind Predaking. He grips the sides of the door frame to fight against the sudden air pressure, but a blast from Megatron's cannon sends him tumbling out of the ship and into the clouds. Starscream closes the hull door and Knock Out arrives with the Dark Star Saber just as a Vehicon reports over the comm that the Autobots are attacking the ship. Megatron grabs the Dark Star Saber and tells the Decepticons to prepare to make their last stand.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] (5)
*[[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] (6)
*[[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (9)
*[[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (10)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (11)
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (12)

|c2=
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (13)
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] (14)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (15)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (16)
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (17)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (18)
*[[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] (19)

|c3=
*[[William Fowler]] (1)
*[[Jack Darby]] (2)
*[[Raf Esquivel]] (3)
*[[Miko Nakadai]] (4)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Knock Out''': ''[Annoyed]'' Anything else? 
'''Ratchet''': Thank you. 
'''Knock Out''': ''[Turns to leave, stops, looks back at Ratchet]'' You're welcome.
:—A little politeness goes a long way.

'''Megatron''': Starscream, you did destroy the Autobot base, did you not? 
'''Starscream''': With great fervor, my lord. Why do you ask? 
'''Megatron''': Because Laserbeak's frequency has been detected on radar. 
'''Starscream''': But that's not possible. He's right here in Soundwave's torso.
:—A sentence you can only get from Transformers.

'''Knock Out''': ''[Over comm]'' Lord Megatron. There's been a situation...more like an accident, really-- 
'''Megatron''': Spit. It. OUT!
:—Megatron is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately.

"At last. Good riddance to a wretched species." 
"Although I will say they manufacture some fine-looking automobiles."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Knock Out''' debate the merits of Earth.

'''Predaking''': Why would my liege wish to destroy us? 
'''Ratchet''': Having just been on the receiving end of your might, one theory springs to mind. Megatron fears you.
:—Maybe it was calling yourself a king that did it.

"Is it true that you ordered the annihilation of my army?" 
"Indeed. And my only mistake was not seeing the extermination through."
:—'''Predaking''' learns that '''Megatron''' doesn't fear him quite so much as Ratchet thought.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
===Continuity notes===
* Starscream believed he destroyed the Autobot base in "[[Persuasion]]".
* Megatron promised Predaking the honor of destroying Ratchet in "[[Persuasion]]".
* Megatron set the Predacon clones up to be destroyed by the Autobots in "[[Evolution]]".
* The Dark Star Saber was last seen in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]".
* Megatron mentions his time as a gladiator in the pits of Kaon, as described in "[[Crossfire]]" and the novel ''[[Transformers: Exodus]]''.
* Megatron tells Predaking he should have obeyed his command and fought as a beast as he requested in "[[Minus One]]".

===Transformers references===
===Real-world references===
===Trivia===
* This episode was dedicated to storyboard artist [[Armen Mirzaian]], who lost his life in a car accident in February 2013.
*This is the first time Predaking is seen firing his handheld cannon.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Thirst

2013-07-19T01:43:43Z

Silver Fox: /* Quotes */ There's a reason why they don't use "slag" anymore.

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 60
|prev=Plus One
|next=Evolution
|image=ThristEpisodeConZombie.jpg
|caption=There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
|title="Thirst"
|airdate=[[June 7]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Knock Out and Starscream's experiment with synthetic energon threatens to take over the Decepticon ship and unleash an old enemy.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Thirst1.jpg|left|thumb|300px|When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy." 
Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"]]

In [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]]'s lab, [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] bemoans his current situation, having to compete with [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] for [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]'s favor. His whining is interrupted by moans from [[Silas|Cylas]], who is strapped to a table and begging to be freed. Knock Out injects him with a derivative of the [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] he recovered from the [[Autobot]]s. The compound drives Cylas into a rage, which Knock Out notes is one of its erratic side effects. Starscream sees in Cylas' fury the makings of a super-soldier for Megatron.

Starscream attempts to inform Megatron of this discovery, but the [[Decepticon]] leader is only interested in discussing the status of the [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] [[protoform]]s with Shockwave, who is reporting in from his off-site lab. Brushed off by his leader as unimportant, Starscream sulks on his way back to Knock Out's lab.

Cylas becomes more enraged with each new injection of Synth En. Knock Out discovers that the more the compound is administered, the faster Cylas burns through his own natural [[energon]] reserves. Starscream cannot see the use of having [[Predaking (Prime)|another]] unruly beast that can't be controlled, but then has an idea: [[Dark Energon]]. Knock Out objects, noting that the "Blood of [[Unicron]]" once turned their own ship against them, and that he would need approval from Shockwave in any case. Starscream assures the doctor that a controlled, minimal injection will merely place Cylas under Megatron's command, via their leader's symbiotic link with the substance, then asserts that "super-soldiers" are a military concern and thus fall under ''his'' jurisdiction.

Under orders and under protest, Knock Out injects Cylas with the Dark Energon-enhanced formula. Cylas temporarily powers down before rebooting in a rage and breaking free from his bonds. But after only a few steps, he crumbles to his knees, desperately low on energon. Then with a fierce roar, his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerges, which he attempts to use on Starscream to drain him of energon. Unable to subdue him, Starscream and Knock Out flee down the halls of the ship.

Once a safe distance away, Knock Out suggests sounding the alarm. Starscream disagrees, not wanting Megatron to learn of their actions. He claims that once Cylas attempts to feed upon the ship's highly-trained [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] troopers, they will take care of the threat.

Elsewhere, one of the Vehicons stumbles upon Cylas, who grabs the highly-trained trooper and begins draining his energon.

Starscream and Knock Out plan the disposal of Cylas' corpse when they find the Vehicon's corpse instead. While the two argue about who's to blame for their predicament, the dead Vehicon is reanimated by the Dark Energon in its system as a [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] and reveals the same segmented jaw and bladed tongue that Cylas had. Starscream's blaster fire only staggers it, and Knock Out suggests destroying the Terrorcon's head, inspired by Human horror movies. Though Starscream's missile is successful in decapitating the creature, it doesn't stop it in the least, as the body lumbers forward with the tongue sticking out of the hole where the head used to be. A concentrated volley of blasts to the Vehicon's chest destroys the monster's revitalized spark, severing its link to the Dark Energon.

Knock Out posits that Cylas could infect the entire crew in the same manner, a theory that's borne out when they find themselves pursued by multiple energy-draining Terrorcons. Starscream and Knock Out lock themselves in a comm room to get a breather and assess the situation. Accepting that this may be the end, the two Decepticons exchange some awkward final pleasantries and step back into the hall…

…Right into Megatron, who demands to know why the Dark Energon in his spark has been acting strangely as of late. Starscream provides a slanted explanation, but Megatron doesn't believe it until he's forced to destroy an attacking Terrorcon.

After a more extensive debrief of the situation, Megatron puts the ship on high alert and orders Starscream and Knock Out to seek and destroy Cylas. Around the ship, Vehicons and [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] battle the infected Terrorcons.

Cylas wanders into the ship's vault. Sensing energon within a [[stasis pod]], he breaks it open, freeing and reviving [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Cylas attempts to drain her energon, though she ''barely'' ducks out of the way of his tongue, and a short battle ensues, but Airachnid is able to immobilize him with webbing long enough to deliver a fatal wound; ripping "[[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]]" open in order to destroy his spark and make ''sure'' he's dead this time, Airachnid instead finds the mutilated real body of Cylas, who survives just long enough to thank her for freeing him from his tortured existence before dying. She immediately re-establishes her telepathic control over the Insecticons and commands them to return to her. Their sudden departure is noticed by [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]].

Starscream and Knock Out discover Cylas' corpse. Starscream is elated until Knock Out points out Airachnid's destroyed prison, followed by Megatron demanding a status update.

[[File:Thirst-Airachnidzombie.jpg|thumb|right|300px|And then John was a zombie.]]

Airachnid leads the Insecticons through the halls of the ship, ordering them to wipe out every Decepticon aboard. At the end of the hall, Soundwave calmly steps forward to face them. The bug-bots attack, and Soundwave opens a [[space bridge]] directly in front of him at the last second. Before they can react, Airachnid and the Insecticons are teleported away. As the bridge closes behind her, Airachnid realizes that they have been sent to a moon orbiting the abandoned [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and screams in rage.

Aboard the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', Megatron contacts Shockwave again to inform him they're implementing his containment protocol to prevent further outbreak. He also tells Shockwave to speed up the Predacon cloning project, as they have now lost more than half their military forces. Knock Out is sternly reminded that he is the ship's ''medic'' under Shockwave's command, and is forced to turn over all of his experimental projects to the scientist. Megatron then turns to Starscream, intent on teaching him a lesson the only way that seems to get through to him...

Back on the moon, an '''infected''' Airachnid drains the energon from one of her minions as the rest of the Insecticons line up obediently to await their turn.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
|c2=
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (2)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (5)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (7)
*[[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] (8)
|c3=
|c4=
*[[Silas|Cylas]] (3)
}}

==Quotes==

"My, my, my. Whatever have you been inflicting upon poor Cylas?" 
"Ha! Well, anything that merits the need for a living petri dish."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Knock''' Out laugh over Cylas' misfortune.

'''Megatron''': ''[Talking to Shockwave over comm]'' Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh. 
'''Starscream''': Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery. It appears that-- 
'''Megatron''': Not now! ''[Back to Shockwave]'' Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.
:—Megatron doesn't like to be interrupted when he's on the phone.

'''Starscream''': Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible. 
'''Knock Out''': But...WE ARE! 
'''Starscream''': Well, you are, mostly.
:—Starscream blames someone else, news at 11.

"Aim for the head!" 
"What? How do you know?" 
"I've seen human horror films." ''[Starscream looks at him curiously]'' "At drive-in theaters!"
:—'''Knock Out''' schools '''Starscream''' on how to survive a zombie apocalypse.

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, ''this'' is how our lights go out?" 
"Drained of our precious fluids. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon-chow, it has been an honor serving Lord Megatron with you." 
"You're no Breakdown. Though I must confess, I have always admired your lustrous finish." 
''[Awkward pause]'' 
"''*mm-hmm*'' Well, then." 
"Should be going."
:—'''Knock Out''' and '''Starscream''' begin a beautiful friendship… and remind us of [[Arcee (WFC)|some]][[Optimus Prime (WFC)|one's]] words on [[Scrapheap (episode)|another day]].

'''Megatron''': Would either of you like to tell me what exactly is going on? 
'''Starscream''': Yes, absolutely nothing, my liege. 
'''Knock Out''': All is quiet, too quiet. One could even say dull! 
'''Megatron''': Funny, because the Dark Energon within my spark has been pulsing. 
'''Starscream''': (To Knock Out) Allow me to handle this. (To Megatron) IT'S KNOCK OUT'S FAULT! 
'''Knock Out''': Precisely my-WHAT?!
:—Knock Out somehow manages to be surprised by Starscream yet again passing the buck.

"Let me just say, you have been awarded more chances for redemption than anyone in Decepticon history!" 
:—Next contestant, '''Megatron''' from Kaon. Special subject, the obvious.

"Silas? Whatever have they done to you? But more importantly, thank you for freeing me." 
"No. Thank…you… ''[Dies]'' 
"Whatever."
:—'''Airachnid''' is unmoved by '''Cylas'''' final words.

"Soundwave! I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams."
:—'''Airachnid's''' mouth writes a check that her abdomen can't cash.

"Lord Megatron! If you would just allow me to explain things..." 
"NO! Allow ''me'' to explain things. In a manner which I ''know'' you'll understand..."
:—'''Megatron''' as he prepares to "explain" the living scrap out of '''Starscream''' ''again''.

"Approach me! Serve your queen..."
:—'''Airachnid''' addresses her servants before sucking them dry like Slurpees.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* Airachnid lost one of her spider legs to the closing pod door when she was put in stasis, but all six are intact in this episode.
* Starscream's missile cleanly beheads a Vehicon, leaving no burn marks or exposed circuitry of any kind. For that matter, the headless Vehicon reveals that there is no "joint" on the model for the head to attach to, just a completely flat surface with a hole for the tongue. You normally don't see it because the neck just goes straight into the base of the collar, as if the collar form-fits around the neck.

===Continuity errors===
* Knock Out discusses the events of "[[Stronger, Faster]]" and "[[Flying Mind]]" with Starscream, even though Starscream wasn't part of the Decepticon ranks when either took place. While it is conceivable that Starscream learned of the events of both episodes through the ship's logs or another source, Knock Out speaks as if they were both witness to them.

===Continuity notes===
* ''Yowza'', this would be a tough episode to start watching the series.
* Airachnid was frozen in stasis in "[[Armada (episode)|Armada]]" and was retrieved from the Autobot base by the Decepticons in "[[Darkmount, NV]]".
* The [[polarity gauntlet]] can be seen in the vault, in the first of the five containment fields. It was left on Cybertron by [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]", and can be assumed to have been recovered by Knock Out's salvage team offscreen in "Darkmount, NV". This leaves only the [[Immobilizer]] unaccounted for.
* [[Silas]], the formerly 100% human commander of [[MECH]], was surgically combined with Breakdown's corpse in "[[The Human Factor]]". He changed his name to Cylas (Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis) and became a reluctant guest of the Decepticons in the same episode.
* Cylas (then Silas) entered into a partnership of convenience with Starscream in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 1]]" and conveniently stole his [[transformation cog|T-cog]] in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 2]]".
* Cylas (then Silas) once had Breakdown pinned to his operating table in "[[Operation: Breakdown]]".
* Knock Out recovered some of [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]'s synthetic energon in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
* Shockwave has been working from an off-site laboratory since "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Megatron previously used Dark Energon to reanimate and control the dead in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
* Dark Energon awakened a dangerous, self-serving intelligence within the Decepticon warship in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* Cylas' eyes turn green, then purple, when he is injected with synthetic energon and Dark Energon, respectively. This is consistent with previous applications of the substances. ("[[Stronger, Faster]]", "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]")
* Airachnid killed Breakdown and discovered her telepathic control of the Insecticons in "[[Crossfire]]".
* Airachnid knows Cylas (then Silas) from their brief partnership in "[[Crisscross]]".
* Airachnid's desire to have Soundwave scream likely stems from the very one-sided beatdown she received from him in "[[One Shall Rise, Part 3]]".
* Starscream refers to the Decepticon soldiers as "Vehicons" confirming it as their real designation. [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] previously used that term in to describe them in "[[Plus One]]"
* Megatron alludes to the beatings he bestowed on Starscream in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]" and in-between the episodes "[[Out of His Head]]" and "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]" when he prepares to punish Starscream "the only way he understands".

===Transformers references===
* Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life in many continuities.
* Megatron again refers to his upcoming Predacon army as [[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machine]] super-soldiers.

===Real-world references===
* Knock Out's proclamation of "It's alive" echoes the famous words spoken in ''[[Frankenstein]]''.
* In addition to the segmented jaw and barbed tongue, the Terrorcons' [[teeth]] also transform into vampiric fangs.
* As Knock Out indicated, destroying the head is the traditional way to kill zombies in many horror movies. But only human ones.
* This episode heavily pays homage to the 1985 zombie film ''The Return of the Living Dead'' where two humans (Frank and Freddie) cause a gas to spread across a cemetery that revives dead corpses into zombies and then plays comedy with the two trying to control the situation while blaming each other for the zombie apocalypse, much like Starscream and Knock Out in this episode. The zombies in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' couldn't be killed by headshots, either.
* There is also some homage to the film ''Blade II'', specifically in the physiological effects of the virus. The Reapers, genetically-engineered vampire mutants, possessed the same type of unfolding jaw and feeding tendril, as well as a greatly increased blood appetite due to a heightened metabolism.
* Knock Out places his fingers on the neck of the first Vehicon that fell victim to Cylas to check for life signs. This is often done to test a seriously injured person for a [[wikipedia:pulse|pulse]] in their [[wikipedia:carotid artery|carotid artery]].

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode which doesn't feature the [[Autobot]]s in any capacity. Previously, "[[Patch (episode)|Patch]]", the last Decepticon-centric episode, had flashbacks which contained Autobots even though none appeared in person. [[Peter Cullen]], however, gets to voice the zombified Vehicon trooper Megatron puts down.
* Starscream says that the ship is crawling with "highly-trained Vehicon troopers". Kinda makes you wonder what a poorly-trained one is like, huh?
* On-the-move teleportation seems as if it's becoming Soundwave's signature move, having used it to dispatch [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] in "[[Orion Pax, Part 1]]" and to claim the Predacon fossil in "[[Project Predacon]]".
* [[Steve Blum]] is credited as "Insecticon #1" instead of [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] this time.
* The last thing Silas/Cylas did to Starscream was knock him out and steal his T-Cog, so it's no surprise Starscream has no desire to help him at the beginning of the episode.
* Starscream alludes to having collected "dozens of Predacon bones", and Shockwave has already grown a batch of protoforms. This implies a significant timeskip between this episode and the last, since Shockwave had only just just established an off-site laboratory in "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]" and "[[Plus One]]" takes place immediately after that episode. Furthermore, the amount of bones collected, assuming it's not hyperbole on Starscream's part, suggests a rather bad run of luck for the Autobots.
* While there have been several offscreen and implied deaths of humans in ''Transformers Prime'', this is the first full "watch the light die from his eye" death, not only in ''Prime'' but in western Transformers animation.
[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Evolution

2013-06-29T14:01:56Z

Silver Fox: /* Quotes */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 61
|prev=Thirst
|next=Minus One
|image=
|caption=
|title="Evolution"
|airdate=[[June 28]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Steven Melching]]
|directed by=[[Shaunt Nigoghossian]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Predaking reveals his secret, causing the Decepticons to question the wisdom of their cloning project.'''

==Synopsis==
While a storm rages, [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] and [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] fly down from the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'' to the entrance of a mine. This feeling "[[Rock Bottom|uncomfortably familiar]]" to Starscream, he reluctantly follows Megatron inside and immediately begins playing down his "[[Thirst|latest indiscretion]]". Megatron furiously reminds Starscream that his actions cost them the entire [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]] hive, prompting Starscream to beg for his life. Megatron sighs wearily and proceeds deeper into the mine, which Starscream finally realizes is [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]]'s off-site laboratory. The lab contains dozens of cloning tanks, each with a [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] floating motionless within. Shockwave reports that the clones have almost fully evolved, and will be combat-ready in three solar cycles.

On Megatron's order, [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] travels down from the ship in a lift while [[Predaking (Prime)|the Predacon]] watches intently. Arriving in the cave, Knock Out presents his [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]], which Shockwave states he will examine after the deployment of the Predacon army. They are interrupted by the Predacon, who emerges from the shadows with a roar. Starscream hits it with a pipe, and the beast responds by transforming into robot mode and threatening some physical violence in return. Starscream and Megatron are both shocked by this, but Shockwave notes that [[Transformation| transformation]] is a fundamental part of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertronian]] biology; they simply had no way of knowing the Predacons ever reached that evolutionary stage before becoming extinct in the [[Great Cataclysm]]. The Predacon stares at his brethren in the tanks and says he will no longer be alone. He apologizes to Megatron for keeping his abilities a secret, claiming he only became aware of them recently. He says he has no memories prior to arriving on Earth, and learned what he was from the databanks of the ''Nemesis''. Megatron tells him he is unique, a miracle of science. The Predacon looks back at the clone tanks and regards them in silence.

At their base, the [[Autobot]]s are chafing under [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]]' command. He pressures [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] to finish his synthetic energon experiments, chides the Beast Hunters for taking a breather between scouting missions, and demands to know what the returning [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] was doing outside the base. The Wrecker surprises him by revealing that he's been recalibrating the engines on [[Ultra Magnus's ship]] to increase their efficiency. [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] returns from his reconnaissance mission and the Autobots flock to him, happy to turn their attention from Ultra Magnus. Optimus sees this with a note of sadness.

Aboard the ''Nemesis'', the Predacon pledges his loyalty to Megatron and requests to be put in command of the clone army, taking the name Predaking. Megatron conceals his wariness of the former beast's newfound ambition.

Alone with his command staff, Megatron voices his concern that Predaking and the Predacon army can and will turn on them. The only thing they can do to prevent it is destroy the clones. Shockwave agrees, but Knock Out asks what will happen if Predaking finds out. Starscream, no stranger to treachery, suggests that the Autobots be used to do the deed, and thus draw Predaking's wrath.

Ultra Magnus is watching human soldiers run drills outside the base when Optimus Prime asks what's troubling him. Magnus has finally realized that [[Team Prime|Team Prime]] isn't taking to his command style. Optimus reminds his old friend that they're not the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]], and have in fact grown into something greater than an army. Before he can say what that is, Ratchet announces that their scanners have located exposed energon. Optimus declares that they must investigate, due to their own short supply.

A squadron of [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s are standing vigil outside an energon mine when Optimus and the [[Wrecker]]s appear and order them to surrender. The Vehicons open fire, but are quickly cut down by the Wreckers' forward advance and the Stealth Team ([[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]], [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], and [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]]) attacking from the rear. Optimus orders the Wreckers to reconnoiter the mine while the Stealth Team transports their energon spoils back to the base. Joined by an eager Smokescreen, the Wreckers investigate the supposed energon mine, growing suspicious about the lack of energon signals or additional security. Ultra Magnus orders them to split up, with he and Wheeljack going in one direction and Smokescreen and Bulkhead in the other.

Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack come across Shockwave's laboratory and the rows of cloning tanks. Shockwave is working at a computer console when he notices them, opening fire briefly before contacting Starscream. Starscream says he didn't reveal that his plan was already in motion, just so that Shockwave's surprised reaction would be genuine. Starscream terminates the link. Knockout knows exactly why Starscream staged his plan this way, and received a less than subtle confirmation. Shockwave contacts Soundwave to open a [[GroundBridge]]. Before fleeing, Shockwave triggers an electrical surge that travels through the cloning tanks, causing the liquid which keeps the beasts in stasis to drain out.

On the ''Nemesis'', Starscream reports that the Autobots have taken possession of the Predacon clones. Megatron orders him to scramble his seeker armada, but Predaking says that he alone will confront the enemy that threatens his brethren.

Dozens of Predacons begin to stir as the stasis fluids drains from their tanks. Wheeljack notices a cache of synthetic energon in the corner of the room and, with Ultra Magnus' blessing, tosses a grenade at it. The Autobots transform and drive away at high speed, but come to a stop as Predaking, in proto-form, GroundBridges right in front of them much to their surprise. Just then, the laboratory behind them explodes in a massive fireball.

On the surface, Bulkhead and Smokescreen emerge from the mine just as the ground is shaken by the explosion. Optimus Prime stares at the mine with a grave expression.

Predaking, meanwhile, stares in horror at the charred remains of Shockwave's lab. With a roar, he attacks the two Autobots, his powerful blows sending them flying through the air. Wheeljack mounts a brief and successful counterattack, but Predaking quickly regains the upper hand, until Ultra Magnus lays into him with the [[Forge of Solus Prime]]. Magnus and his hammer buy Wheeljack time to recover, and the two Autobots launch a powerful combined attack that ends when they bring a colossal stalactite crashing down on the Predacon. But Predaking merely lifts the stalactite off him and uses it as a weapon to knock Ultra Magnus to the ground and crush Wheeljack against a wall. Magnus reaches for the Forge, but Predaking jumps up and lands on his hand, smashing it underfoot until the Autobot's fingers are nothing but ruined scrap flattened into the ground. Wheeljack laments that he was just starting to tolerate his commander, and Ultra Magnus responds by saying it was an honor to serve with him. Predaking snaps the Forge in half in a rapture of golden dust. He makes ready for the killing blow when Optimus Prime flies in and sends the Predacon sprawling. Optimus unleashes his gatling gun on the cave ceiling, raining rubble down on Predaking and allowing him to grab his wounded comrades. Optimus flies them out of the mine with Predaking in close pursuit, and is able to make it through a GroundBridge before a blast of flame makes contact. Predaking roars in rage.

Ultra Magnus comes back online to find himself on Ratchet's operating table while the medic cauterizes the jagged stump of metal that remains of his hand. The other Autobots are gathered around, with Wheeljack musing that Magnus fought like a Wrecker. Ultra Magnus asks Optimus what he was referring to earlier that could be greater than an army. Optimus says that it is a human concept called family.

On the ''Nemesis'', Starscream and Knock Out can barely stifle their amusement as Megatron promises Predaking that they will make the Autobots pay for what they've done. From his lab, Shockwave confirms that the clones are beyond salvaging, but says that there's something in the ruins Megatron must see. Megatron and Starscream GroundBridge down to it and are stunned to find enormous shards of pure Cyber Matter, like that which once existed on ancient Cybertron, and which more recently created the Decepticon [[Darkmount (Earth)|citadel]]. Shockwave theorizes that it was created when the explosion mixed the [[CNA]] of the Predacon clones with Knock Out's synthetic energon.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (6)
*[[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] (7)
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (9)
*[[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] (10)
*[[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (11)
*[[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] (13)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (12)
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (14)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (2)
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] (3)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (4)
*[[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] (5)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (15)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (16)
|c3=
*[[Miko Nakadai]] (8)
}}

==Quotes==
"Strike me again, and I will bury that rod in your spark."
:—'''Predaking''' speaks his first words.

"Why are your hands smeared with coolant?"

"I...recalibrated your ship's engines. You can expect a ten percent increase in vector thrust."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' is too worried about what Wheeljack might have been doing with his hands to notice that he is completely smeared with coolant, and '''Wheeljack''' tells him exactly what.

"Your vision... is boundless."
:—'''Megatron''' considers whether his former pet might become a future rival.

"The moment our 'Royal Highness' realizes that his army possesses greater might than what currently remains of the Decepticons..." 
"Evolution will give way to revolution."
:—'''Megatron''' mocks Predaking's name and '''Starscream''' knows a potential coup when he sees one.

"Blow these beasts back to the Rust Age."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' adds an entire new article to the Wiki.

'''Ultra Magnus''': Optimus. When we spoke earlier...what could be greater than an army? 
'''Optimus Prime''': A human concept, one I have learned since coming to Earth: family.
:—'''Optimus Prime''' imparts wisdom; '''Ultra Magnus''' is no longer able to applaud.

==Notes==
===Errors===
* Shockwave says that the Predacon clones will have fully evolved within a few solar cycles. Given he is simply cloning them, "matured" or "grown" would have been more appropriate.

===Continuity notes===
* Starscream's reluctance to follow Megatron into another abandoned mine calls back to "[[Rock Bottom]]".
* The experiment Starscream apologizes for, which resulted in the loss of the Insecticons, happened in "[[Thirst]]".
* Shockwave's off-site laboratory was first mentioned in "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Knock Out's synthetic energon is derived from Ratchet's formula, which Knock Out obtained in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
* Ultra Magnus questions Ratchet on his progress into the synthetic energon formula. Ratchet began working on his own formula again in "[[Project Predacon]]."
* Shockwave brought Predaking to Earth in "[[Scattered]]", and the beast fought Bulkhead and Wheeljack in "[[Prey (episode)|Prey]]".
* Ultra Magnus began wielding the Forge of Solus Prime in "Project Predacon".
* Arcee, Bumblebee and Wheeljack show off the laser, shield and energy whip, respectively, that they took from Ultra Magnus's arsenal in "[[Rebellion (Prime)|Rebellion]]".
* Wheeljack asks Ultra Magnus for permission to employ a grenade in a confined space, a tactic for which he was reprimanded in "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Megatron's citadel Darkmount was created by the [[Omega Lock]] in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]".

===Transformers references===
* Ultra Magnus was one of the [[Cybertron Elite Guard|Elite Guard]] during the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|war for Cybertron]].
* Starscream refers to an evolution that will become a revolution. "[[Evolution Revolution]]" was a teaser theme used for ''[[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machines]]''.

===Trivia===
* This is an episode of firsts for Predaking: it's the first time he transforms, the first time he speaks, and the first time his name is used.
* Predaking manages to destroy the Forge of Solus Prime.
* We learn that the original Predacons of Cybertron faced a similar apocalyptic wipeout to that of the dinosaurs of Earth, further reinforcing the parallels drawn between the two.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Insecticon (WFC)

2013-06-15T03:34:09Z

Silver Fox: /* Prime cartoon */

{{factions|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Insecticon}}
:''The Insecticons are [[Transformer]]s from the [[Aligned continuity family]].''
[[Image:FOCInsecticon.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Michael Bay]]'s ''A Bug's Life''.]]

Denizens of the under levels of Cybertron, the '''Insecticons''' live in destructive swarms. Ravenous and aggressive, Insecticons can digest 95% of known matter, reshaping their findings into enormous subterrannean hives. Existing as a near hive mind, they represent a deadly and invaluable resource for those willing to find a way to tame them.

Insecticons have the unique ability to clone themselves, but each successive clone is inferior to its progenitor, leading to increasingly bestial creatures. Three members of the species stand out as being fully sentient individuals, with the ability to assume bipedal robot modes. Far more difficult to manipulate, they require coercion rather than control, and may represent the original members of their race.

These four have been named:
*[[Hardshell (Prime)|Hardshell]]
*[[Sharpshot]] (leader)
*[[Kickback (FOC)|Kickback]]
*[[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]]

==Fiction==
===Aligned novels===
[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] experimented on three specimens, optimizing them for battle in the gladiatorial arenas of [[Kaon]] by turning them into [[combiner]]s—something that disgusted the gladiator [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatronus]]. They were primitive to the point of barely possessing a sentient consciousness, but surprisingly capable fighters. The way they moved together gave away their nature as combiners even when separate. Even with one of their number dead, the remaining two could combine into a hovering attack mode.

The trio competed in the [[gladiatorial combat|gladiatorial]] [[Tournament of Champions]] when they encountered Megatronus. He allowed them to [[trans-scan|scan]] a vehicle form before attacking. One emerged from a scrapheap as an all-terrain vehicle with magnetic studded tracks and sought a vantage point on the combat pit's wall, while another sprayed acid on Megatronus's shoulder. Megatronus caught the third Insecticon's multiple, vibrobladed hands and tore an arm off, flinging it into the audience and causing havoc.

Taking fire from the other two, Megatronus made the wounded Insecticon fire his own ion cannon into its neck, killing it in an attempt to ensure there would be no combination. He then slammed the acid-spitter to the floor, but it wriggled away and managed to combine with the ATV, wiring itself into girders while blasting and spitting acid at the gladiator. Megatronus transformed and blasted them, before pinning them down in robot mode and smashing them to pieces with two [[energon mace|maces]]. Megatronus roared "I still function!", as the crowd began chanting a shortened version of his name: Megatron. {{storylink|Transformers: Exodus|Exodus}}

In the period after the ''[[Ark (WFC)|Ark]]'' and ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'' had left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], Shockwave commanded Insecticon soldiers, which [[Alpha Trion (Prime)|Alpha Trion]] feared would be sent to capture the [[Hall of Records]]. {{storylink|Transformers: Exiles|Exiles}}

===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Frank Welker]] (English), [[Steve Blum|Steven Blum]] (English), [[Kevin Michael Richardson]] (English), [[James Horan]] (English)|[[Kensō Katō]] (Japanese)}}

[[Image:Prime-insecticon.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Who thinks they can squash me like a bug?]]
An Insecticon was left in stasis on Cybertron, acting as a Decepticon sentry. It was awakened by [[Jack Darby|Jack]] and [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]]'s arrival in [[Kaon]], and began pursuing them. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 2}}

As they used the [[Key to Vector Sigma]] to reveal a hidden passage under the city's arena, the Insecticon attacked. Arcee attempted to distract it so that Jack could escape into the newly-revealed entrance, but she was soundly beaten when it slammed her into the arena wall. The Insecticon then tracked Jack to [[Vector Sigma]], but was horrified to see the supercomputer covered in [[scraplet]]s. Jack hurled one of the scraplets at the Insecticon so that they would stop feeding on Vector Sigma, and the rest of the swarm followed it in attacking the larger beast-bot. The Insecticon was savaged, falling off the bridge into a chasm as it was eaten alive. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 3}}

[[Image:Crossfire Megatron and Insecticon close together.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Megatron put Eradicating Aerosol in his deck for just such an occasion.]]
When [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] was seeking Energon scraps in an old mine, he noticed an Insecticon doing the same, and was surprised that one was on [[Earth]]. Starscream demanded that the Insecticon hand over the Energon it had found, though it instead turned on him and attacked, before [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] called it off. Airachnid had managed to control it, due to their being related. Though Starscream suggested that they all team up to end [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]], Airachnid instead ordered the Insecticon to attack him, however he escaped. Sometime later, the Insecticon attacked Megatron as part of Airachnid's trap, refusing to obey him instead. The Insecticon had the upper hand on the Decepticon leader, particularly when Airachnid removed his fusion cannon from the equation, however Megatron eventually triumphed as he beheaded the Insecticon.

However, as the escaped Airachnid discovered, it was only a scout for an entire hive of Insecticons in stasis underground. {{storylink|Crossfire}}

[[Image:Armada-armadasurroundMegatron.jpg|left|thumb|300px|We're going to need a bigger ship.]]
Airachnid awoke the Insecticons after detecting a signal from the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', and sent most of them to terminate Megatron, while others attempted to protect her from the Autobots who arrived to see what was happening. While [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] eliminated the Insecticons attacking them, Arcee chased down Airachnid and put her in stasis. At that point her control of the Insecticons ceased, and those attacking the ''Nemesis'' stopped and proclaimed their loyalty to Megatron. Then, the ''Nemesis'' crashed for [[Bulkhead (Prime)|some reason]]. {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}}

Now added to the Decepticon ranks, the Insecticons were free to move about the ship. After Megatron used [[Dark Energon]] to bring the ship back online but as a consequence the ship started making its own decisions, Megatron then sent all of the ship's crew, including the Insecticons, to stop the ''Nemesis''. They failed and were stasis locked by the ''Nemesis'''s stasis cannon sweep of the ship. They started recovering after Jack disabled the ship's Dark Energon influence. {{storylink|Flying Mind}}

A single Insecticon went with [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] to watch over the medic as they searched for one of the [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] relics in the [[New York City|Manhattan]] subway. When Arcee and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] turned up, it easily brought them down. But soon they started fighting back, and the Insecticon pursued Arcee down the tunnel, and eventually the two began clashing. The Insecticon had the upper hand until she managed to get it to come into contact with the electrified third rail on the subway track, frying it. {{storylink|Tunnel Vision}}

[[Image:HardshellTeaser.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"These scars? They make [[Grimlock (Animated)|Me Hardshell]] [[David Kaye|badass]]."]]

Megatron entered the chamber occupied by the Insecticons and asked for the fiercest among them to retrieve the fourth Iacon relic. [[Hardshell]] led three other Insecticons to the Earth's equator, and Hardshell's first fight with Bulkhead resulted in defeat. As they continued their mission, one of the Insecticons fell prey to a grenade and some [[Tox-En]]. Hardshell and the others were mislead by a false trail left by Bulkhead, but eventually caught up with the Wrecker at the top of a nearby volcano. He managed to acquit himself well against the trio, finishing off one Insecticon and throwing Hardshell and the Tox-En into the volcano. Hardshell survived his swim and shot Bulkhead in the back as the Autobot was retreating through the [[GroundBridge]]. {{storylink|Toxicity}}

Megatron was unhappy with the results of the mission and the Insecticons faced hostility from Knock Out and the Vehicons, eventually resulting in a brawl aboard the ''Nemesis''. Hardshell was dispatched to deal with [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] and almost bested his foe, until [[Miko Nakadai]] killed him using the ''[[Jackhammer (Prime)|Jackhammer]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> weapons systems. The rest of the Insecticons pursued the ship, only stopping when Wheeljack threw a bag of grenades at them. The survivors dragged Hardshell's corpse back to the Decepticon warship to report his failure. {{storylink|Hurt}}

Some Vehicons and Insecticons were sent to investigate a crashed Decepticon escape pod. Those that weren't killed by the Autobots perished when the pod exploded. {{storylink|New Recruit}} A few Insecticons were used as muscle when the Decepticons were digging up another Iacon relic, and lifted heavy rocks in their insect modes. They subsequently fought the Autobots and chased Jack around. {{storylink|Legacy}} [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] phased through an Insecticon while escaping the ''Nemesis'', much to its surprise. {{storylink|Inside Job}} The Insecticons took part in the attack on the Autobot base, though they dropped like flies during the battle. {{storylink|Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour}}

A number of Insecticons arrived at an energon mine reported to be under attack, but encountered only confused [[Decepticon Miner|miners]]. {{storylink|Rebellion (Prime)|Rebellion}} A half-dozen Insecticons, including [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]], were sent to a cavern to find [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] remains. Though they successfully find a Predacon skull, Optimus Prime arrived and slaughtered most of them, with only Bombshock escaping with one of the Predacon's horns. {{storylink|Project Predacon}} Four Insecticons were dispatched to help Knock Out against Arcee and Wheeljack. They died. {{storylink|Plus One}}

As a plague began to spread through the ship, the Insecticons joined in eradicating the sufferers, at least until Airachnid was brought back online. She soon retook mental control of them and instructed them to destroy all of the Decepticons, however she and the Insecticons were transported to one of Cybertron's moons by [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]]. There, the plague took hold of Airachnid, and she began feeding on the Insecticons. {{storylink|Thirst}}

==Games==
===''Fall of Cybertron''===
[[Image:FOC Grimlock vs Insecticons.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Me Grimlock say I squash you like bug.]]

When Cybertron's core shut down to purge itself of the [[Dark Energon]] corruption, the Insecticons and other creatures of the depths were left deprived of sustenance. With nowhere else to go, the swarms began migrating to the surface, where they came into contact with the Autobots and Decepticons. Shockwave continued his experiments using Insecticons as test subjects, creating new breeds such as [[Insecticon Bruiser|Bruisers]], combining Autobot [[source code]] with Insecticon physiology, and [[Insecticon Spitter|Spitters]], which were based on alien insects viewed through the space bridge. The Insecticons served under Shockwave during the last days of the war on Cybertron, particularly after the loss of Megatron and the half-baked rise of Starscream. The majority of Insecticons were easily controlled and guided by Shockwave. The trio of Kickback, Sharpshot and Hardshell were intelligent enough to think for themselves and potentially guide the Insecticon swarms in a new direction, so Shockwave deliberately courted their favor.

[[File:FOC-Jazzvsinsecticons.jpg|thumb|right|300px|When did video games become so violent and scary?!]]

When Grimlock and the rest of his squadron crash-landed in the Sea of Rust, they encountered a large Insecticon nest. Though they fought, they were overrun and abducted by Shockwave for experiments. Though Grimlock, Swoop, Slug, and Snarl survived, Sludge was not so fortunate and was left behind in stasis lock. Not long afterwards, [[Jazz (WFC)|Jazz]] entered the same hive and discovered Slug's body, and also encountered Insecticons as he attempted to escape.

After the [[Dinobot (FOC)|Dinobot]] experiments, Shockwave employed the Insecticons to test [[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]] and his new skills. Hardshell used a massive battle mech to push Grimlock to his limits, Kickback taunted Grimlock in a game of turbofox-and-cybermouse through several conflicts, and Sharpshot tortured [[Snarl (FOC)|Snarl]] with his electrical equipment while taunting Grimlock into responding. Unfortunately for the Insecticons, Shockwave's work was a success and the Dinobots tore through their defenses, killing Sharpshot, Kickback, and countless numbers of lesser Insecticons in the process.

{{--}}

=== ''Transformers: Prime - The Game ===
{{voiceactor|[[Steve Blum]] (English)}}
[[Image:Insecticons PrimeTheGame.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
After Arcee fell from orbit and crashed outside Jasper, Nevada, Airachnid sent a swarm of Insecticons to terminate her. Arcee managed to kill the entire swarm before facing Airachnid herself.

Later, while fighting onto the ''Nemesis'', Airachnid sent a few more Insecticons after Arcee. They were also dispatched with ease. However, the distraction they caused allowed Airachnid to escape.
{{storylink|Transformers: Prime - The Game}}

{{-}}

== Toys ==
===Generations===
[[Image:Kickback foc toy.jpg|thumb|right|300px]]
*'''Kickback''' (Deluxe Class, 2012)
**''Series / number'': '''1 / 012'''
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''TG08'''
**''Accessories:'' "Disc launcher", disc projectile, insect wings/twin battle blades

: [[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|''Fall of Cybertron]]'' Kickback is part of the third wave of 2012 ''[[Transformers: Generations|Generations'']] Deluxe Class toys, and transforms into a Cybertronian insect somewhat resembling a grasshopper. He comes with wings which double as blades, and a disc launcher which looks like a [[Gear Shredder]].

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/FOCKickback/kickback.htm More information on Kickback at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

===Beast Hunters===
[[Image:PrimeBHtoy-Cybeverse-Hardshell.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
{{anchor|Cyberverse}}
*'''Hardshell''' (Cyberverse Commander, 2013)

: Part of the second wave of ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)|Prime: Beast Hunters]]'' [[Cyberverse#Series 2|Cyberverse]] Commander Class toys. Though packaged as Hardshell, the figure lacks the scars/warpaint that differentiate him from his nameless brethren, and so could easily be army-built.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2013/Decepticon/Hardshell/hardshell.htm More information on Hardshell at TFU.info]''

{{--}}

==Notes==
* In most versions of the ''Prime'' cartoon, Insecticons rarely speak; only Hardshell has made it a habit of talking on a regular basis. In the Japanese dub however, the Insecticons are quite the Chatty Cathies, voiced by [[Kensō Katō]] in a comedic manner recalling his performances as ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspeeter]] and ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Wasp|Waspinator]].



[[Category:Combiner teams]]
[[Category:Decepticon subgroups]]
[[Category:Gladiators]]
[[Category:Insecticons| Insecticon (Prime)]]
[[Category:Prime Decepticons]]
[[Category:Prime subgroups]]
[[Category:War for Cybertron subgroups]]

Airachnid (Prime)

2013-06-15T03:23:56Z

Silver Fox: /* Prime cartoon */

{{featured}}
{{faction|decepticon}}
{{disambig3|Airachnid}}
:''Airachnid is a Decepticon from the [[Transformers: Prime (franchise)| Prime]] portion of the [[Aligned continuity family]].''

[[Image:Airachnid-HowToDraw.jpg|right|thumb|300px|There once was a spider who knew how to fly / I don't know why the spider could fly / Perhaps you'll die]]

Long ago, '''Airachnid''' was with the [[Decepticon]]s, where her cruel, cold-sparked, murderous demeanor served her well. After the [[Great Exodus]] of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], however, she decided to go solo. These days, Airachnid spends her time engaging in her new hobby: collecting [[Airachnid's specimens|endangered species]]... well, parts of endangered species, mostly the heads. Now, if a species ''isn't'' endangered? Oh, they will be. She'll make ''sure'' of that, and she'll make sure it's a slow, painful process.

Less trustworthy than even [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]], she is more than willing to kill her own [[Breakdown (WFC)|men]] or leave her [[Megatron (WFC)|commanding officers]] behind if it means getting what she wants. The pain and trauma she had inflicted on [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]], from said [[Autobot]]'s torture to the brutal execution of [[Tailgate (Prime)|her partner]], have given them a vicious, bitter history, and both will stop at nothing to kill each other. She also has the ability to control [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]].

==Fiction==
===''Prime'' cartoon===
{{voiceactor|[[Gina Torres]] (English), [[Ryōka Yuzuki]] (Japanese)|[[Erica Edwards]] (Latin American-Spanish), [[Heide Domanowski]] (German), [[Julia Martínez]] (Spain-Spanish), [[Marina Thovez]] (Italian)}}

[[Image:Airachnid.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Shelob gave dieting a go after seeing how much weight her director lost.]]

During the war for Cybertron, Airachnid managed to capture [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] and her partner [[Tailgate (Prime)|Tailgate]]. Quickly realizing that Arcee would resist the physical torture she used, Airachnid decided to employ a simpler threat: Tell her the attack coordinates of an impeding attack, or Tailgate dies. Arcee insisted she didn't know the coordinates, but Airachnid didn't believe her and killed Tailgate. Moments later, [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] and [[Cliffjumper (WFC)|Cliffjumper]] burst into the holding room, killing the two [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s and rescuing Arcee. Airachnid, however, escaped.

Following the [[Great Exodus]], Airachnid concluded that the war was over, meaning she needed a new way to spend her time. Abandoning the Decepticons, she decided to hunt sentient species, then wipe them out after getting a trophy. Eventually, Airachnid crash-landed [[Airachnid's ship|her ship]] on [[Earth]]. She initially laid her optics on a lone camper, but was ambushed by Arcee. While Arcee gained the upper hand, she was distracted by her human partner, [[Jack Darby]], and Airachnid webbed her to a rock. Having learned of Cliffjumper's recent demise, Airachnid decided that making Jack her next trophy would be a delicious way to hurt Arcee before finally snuffing out her [[spark]]. She chased Jack back to her ship, but discovered too late that the human had snuck out the underside. She spotted Jack ''just'' in time to see him hurl a flaming stick into a pool of [[energon]] that was leaking from her ship. Airachnid barely managed to escape the explosion, but she was wounded and ''really'' pissed. She managed to web the fleeing Jack to a tree, but before Airachnid could deliver the killing blow, Arcee came to the rescue and absolutely wiped the forest floor with the Decepticon. Deciding she had endured enough for one night, Airachnid drilled into the ground and fled. {{storylink|Predatory}}

[[Image:Crisscross-helicopter.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Finally a use for those helicopter cockpit halves on her shoulders!]]
Learning of [[MECH]]'s treatment of [[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]], Airachnid engineered a distress call which lured [[Silas]] to the forest. She made a deal with the MECH agent to give him Arcee – at least, what would be ''left'' of her – if he could deliver Jack to her. Silas used the [[Internet]] to track down information on Jack and have [[June Darby]] kidnapped so Airachnid cocooned her and dangled her from a building in the disused [[Jasper]] factory MECH was occupying. When Jack arrived, Airacnid gave him six minutes to rescue his mother. She followed Jack around the factory and, when he eventually found June and claimed victory, she pointed out the task was to ''rescue'' mom, not just find her. Before Airachnid could start with the dismemberment, Arcee arrived to attack her and the two enemies fought at length around the building's structure. During the fight, Airachnid was thrown into a container and coated with concrete, but managed to get free and web Arcee to the ground. She was about to finish off Arcee when she was attacked by [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]]'s helicopters, and was forced to [[scanning|scan]] one so she could escape. {{storylink|Crisscross}}

[[Image:MetalAttraction-Airachnidcaptured.jpg|thumb|left|250px|"Breakdown, you have a bug on your... um... windshield?"]]
Airachnid followed a magnetic signal and found [[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]] with a [[polarity gauntlet]]. Seeking to obtain the weapon, she buried him underground, but he escaped and she was forced to fight him. Then Arcee turned up with a [[Bulkhead (Prime)|new partner for her to snuff]] and she had to fight them as well. When Breakdown activated the gauntlet, she fled in alarm. She later ambushed the 'Con on his way back to the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', taking the gauntlet from him and reacting with disdain to his suggestion they could take it back to [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] together. The Autobots caught up with them, and Airachnid used the gauntlet to draw Arcee to her for a little one-on-one fighting. When the battle started to turn sour, however, she grabbed the gauntlet and attempted to flee in her helicopter form. Unfortunately, Bulkhead grabbed her and threw her into Breakdown. Fused magnetically to the 'Con, she was carried back to the ''Nemesis'', where she had no choice but to rejoin the Decepticons. {{storylink|Metal Attraction}}

[[Image:Partners-Immobilizer.jpg|thumb|250px|"Even shinier than the [[Polarity gauntlet]]!"]]
Immediately ingratiating herself with Megatron, Airachnid told the Decepticon leader that [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] had been keeping information to himself, such as the location of the crashed Decepticon ship, the ''[[Harbinger]]''. Megatron ordered Starscream to take Airachnid to the ship's crash site and secure the experimental weapon it contained. Once there, Airachnid discovered that the half of the ship containing the [[Immobilizer]] had broken off before impact. She webbed up Starscream and forced him to tell her the location of the aft section, but was attacked by the Autobots while leaving. After a brief fight with Arcee, Airachnid was chased off by [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]], and instead went to find the ''Harbinger''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> aft. She quickly located it and retrieved the Immobilizer, then lay in wait as Optimus's team approached the ship. She was able to freeze Bulkhead and Optimus, but some deft trickery by Bumblebee allowed him to sneak up on her and destroy the Immobilizer. She retreated back to the ''Nemesis'' where she tried to blame the loss of the Immobilizer on Starscream as well as explain why she left him behind. Unluckily for her, an enraged Megatron roared that by allowing the Decepticon second-in-command to be taken prisoner, she'd just put all Decepticon intelligence at the fingertips of the Autobots. {{storylink|Partners}}

Despite this, she was promoted to Second in Command during Starscream's absence. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}} Breakdown seemed to have developed a crush on Airachnid. {{storylink|Stronger, Faster}}

[[Image:Tfprime Airachnid thoughts of betrayal.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Who needs Starscream?]]
When the Decepticons located the last part they needed for their space bridge in a human installation, Airachnid suggested she could burrow up under it, but Megatron announced that the time for stealth was past, so she didn't. Once they secured the power source they needed, Airachnid and Knock Out observed Megatron acting strangely and wondered if their leader was losing it. {{storylink|One Shall Fall}} While the [[Decepticon Miner|miners]] gathered up [[Dark Energon]], Airachnid hung out on the bridge and watched as [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] played back [[Unicron]]'s pulse. She reported to Megatron that the hold was full, and they should think about retreating. He responded by leaving her in charge while he went to go and talk to Unicron. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 1}} Airachnid returned the ''Nemesis'' to orbit to wait. When no further word came from Megatron, she told Soundwave that Megatron might not be coming back. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 2}}

[[Image:OneShallRise3-SoundwaveAirachnid.jpg|right|thumb|250px|''Round One. FIGHT!!!'']]
When she called the ''Nemesis''<nowiki>'</nowiki> crew to the bridge, she had deduced that Megatron, either deceased or deep within Unicron, had abandoned them, and with Earth falling into chaos, decided that they should relocate to [[Regulon Four]]. As none of the other Decepticons spoke out against her, Airachnid ordered Soundwave to set the ''Nemesis'' on course, however the silent Decepticon refused to comply. She attempted to assert her leadership by attacking him, only to discover that she was no match for Soundwave and his Minicon [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]]. The pair double-teamed her, and she was forced to yield when held underfoot. She subsequently decided to be elsewhere when Megatron did return. {{storylink|One Shall Rise, Part 3}}

Airachnid was soon back as Megatron's subordinate, though she expressed her concern about the amnesiac Optimus Prime being allowed full run of the ship. When Arcee sneaked on board The Nemesis to find Optimus, Airachnid readily volunteered to go and deal with her, even offering to offline The Autobot. However, Megatron felt that the situation needed to be dealt with more subtly, so he sent Soundwave instead. {{storylink|Orion Pax, Part 1}}

[[Image:Crossfire Airachnid captures Arcee.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Let the shipping commence!]]
Airachnid offered to employ her tracking skills in finding more artifacts, and Megatron sent her, [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] and Breakdown on a search mission. However, the whole mission was a ploy; her partners were under orders to terminate her for her attempts to wrest command of the Decepticons during Megatron's brief absence. Her relentless needling of Breakdown made the 'Con lose his cool and try and kill her before Dreadwing gave the order. She quickly webbed Dreadwing to a tree, leading Breakdown on a chase through the woods. Though she was damaged in the chase, she eventually caught Breakdown in a webbing trap, and promptly dismanteled him. Limping away, she ran across an [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]] which she was able to control. Starscream, missing his [[transformation cog]], happened upon the pairing and offered a partnership. Airachnid instead sicced the Insecticon on him, hoping for another kill, but the weaselly Decepticon managed to escape. Airachnid then lured Megatron to an abandoned energon mine and set the Insecticon on him, watching the fight until she was attacked by Arcee. The Autobot pursued her as she burrowed away, but Airachnid managed to ambush her foe. She was prevented from terminating the helpless Arcee by Starscream, and instead had to flee yet again, but this fortuitously led her to stumble on a whole Insecticon hive. {{Storylink|Crossfire}}

Detecting a beacon transmitting from the ''Nemesis'', Airachnid woke the Insecticon army to go eliminate Megatron. Their activity drew the attention of the Autobots, and though Airachnid sent Insecticons after them, Arcee broke away from the swarm and relentlessly pursued her nemesis into the Insecticon hive. As the two fought, Arcee managed to maneuver Airachnid onto one of the Insecticon's open stasis pods, which quickly snapped closed around her, breaking off one of her spider-legs in the process. The stasis-locked Airachnid was taken back to [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|the Autobot base]]... leaving Megatron suddenly in control of Airachnid's former army. {{storylink|Armada (episode)|Armada}}

The Autobots stashed her in the same place they kept the Iacon relics. When new recruit [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] was given a tour of the base by Jack, they walked past the spider bot's pod, and Jack warned him that she was not the kind they wanted to mess with. {{storylink|New Recruit}} Later, when Starscream used his [[Red Energon]] to infiltrate the Autobot base and steal the [[Omega Key]]s, he came across Airachnid. Seeing her predicament answered a few of Starscream's questions about her whereabouts. {{storylink|Inside Job}} Following the destruction of the Autobot base, {{storylink|Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour}} Airachnid's stasis pod was pulled from the wreckage by the Decepticons. {{storylink|Darkmount, NV}} Rather than free her, they placed her stasis pod in storage on the ''Nemesis'', where Smokescreen later stumbled on it while looking for the [[Forge of Solus Prime]]. {{storylink|Prey (episode)|Prey}}

Airachnid was finally freed when Cylas, having been infused with a mixture of Dark and Synthetic Energon, ripped open her stasis pod in an attempt to drink her energon. She managed to fight him off, terminating him in the process, and promptly retook control of the Insecticons on board the ''Nemesis''. She instructed them to destroy all of the Decepticons, however the group first encountered Soundwave, who used the space bridge to transport them all to one of Cybertron's moons. Having been infected by Cylas while fighting him (via a small scratch on her neck), Airachnid soon became an Energon-zombie herself. She then ordered the Insecticons to approach and serve their queen, as she drained their Energon. {{storylink|Thirst}}

{{--}}

== Games ==
=== ''Transformers: Prime - The Game'' ===
[[Image:PrimeTheGameAirachnid.jpg|thumb|right|150px|You've faced my Insecticons and lived, but will you survive my tinier, weaker Insecticons?]]
{{voiceactor|[[Gina Torres]] (English)}}
Airachnid, ordered by Starscream to locate the Autobots who had fallen to Earth, found Arcee near a factory outside Jasper, Nevada. Her Insecticon troops were easily dispatched by Arcee. Airachnid then engaged Arcee herself. As Arcee prepared to terminate Airachnid, Jack arrived on the scene. Airachnid took advantage of Arcee's distraction, capturing Jack and flying away with him. Arcee pursued her, managing to free Jack before Airachnid escaped.

Later, Airachnid set a trap for Arcee when the latter infiltrated the ''Nemesis''. Airachnid took Arcee to the top of the ship to fight her once again. As before, Arcee emerged victorious. But before Arcee could finish Airachnid off, two Insecticons attacked. Airachnid fled while Arcee blasted the Insecticons.
{{storylink|Transformers: Prime - The Game}}

{{-}}

==Toys==
===Prime===
[[Image:Primetoy-AirachnidRID.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Quite possibly does the meanest [[wikipedia:Robot (dance)|robot]] this side of the Milky Way.]]
[[Image:Primetoy-TakaraTomyDeluxeAirachnid.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Seems like quite a bit of effort and money just for a single, primitively-engineered chunk of plastic. And the Micron.]]
*'''Airachnid''' (Deluxe, 2012)
**''Series / number:'' '''1 / 012'''
**''Japanese release date'': '''[[August 25|8-25]]-2012'''
**''Japanese ID number'': '''AM-18'''
**''Accessories'': Rotor/Triple-bladed sword, two "electro-stingers" (Hasbro only), "Ida" Arms Micron (TakaraTomy only)

: Part of the fourth wave of ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)#Robots in Disguise (2012)|Prime: Robots in Disguise]]'' toys, Airachnid transforms into a stealth helicopter with an opening canopy. She comes with two "electro-stingers" which can [[5mm post|mount]] onto her open palms or onto the helicopter sides/her upper arms. These weapons each feature two pegs in two different locations and a peg-hole in-between, allowing the weapons to be mounted/held in different ways, while her rotors can also detach from her base and be used as a sword via a [[5mm post]], meaning all of her weapons can combine with each other to form a larger weapon.

:In robot mode, Airachnid has a ''severely'' limited range of [[articulation]]. Her head is unable to turn or tilt in any significant way due to her [[light-piping]] plastic being molded as the helicopter seat and being blocked by the surrounding cockpit, her hands cannot be swung down parallel to her panel arms due to a bit of the panel getting in the way, and while her legs ''were'' designed to have thigh [[Swivel joint|swivel]]s, her thigh panels and the helicopter kibble behind it block ''much'' of her leg articulation.

:Her [[stock photography]] depicts paint details on her legs and toes that were omitted on the final product.

:The [[TakaraTomy]] release, part of the sixth wave of Japanese ''[[Transformers: Prime (toyline)|Prime]]'' toys, omits some of her detail-based [[paint operation]]s, replacing them with customer-applied foil [[sticker]]s. (She even comes with an extra "spiderweb" sticker for you to stick wherever it amuses you to.) She has also been slightly [[retool]]ed, giving her a pair of rocket-thrusters just under her rotor blades. Each thruster has a 5mm post and hole as part of the line-wide [[Arms Micron]] [[gimmick]]. These additional post-holes actually make it pretty easy to [http://higekumatoytoy.blog60.fc2.com/blog-entry-1652.html re-create her "spider-lady" robot mode with an extra set of rotors], though the TakaraTomy version uses a darker purple plastic than the [[Hasbro]] version, meaning you need to buy two of ''either'' version unless you don't care about mismatched rotor colors. Instead of her electro-stingers, she comes with an [[Arms Micron]], [[Ida]], a spider that transforms into a bladed shield-weapon-thing.

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2012/Decepticon/Airachnid/airachnid.htm More information on ''Robots in Disguise'' Airachnid at TFU.info]''

{{-}}

===Beast Hunters===
{{anchor|Cyberverse}}
[[Image:PrimeBeastHunterstoy-CyberverseAirachnid.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Surprisingly better articulated than her larger toy.]]
*'''Airachnid''' (Cyberverse Legion, 2013)
**''Series / number:'' '''3 / 003'''
**''Japanese ID number'': '''EG08'''
**''Accessories'': Nova Stinger Bow, rotor

: Part of the first wave of ''Prime: [[Beast Hunters]]'' [[Cyberverse]] Legion Class toys, this Airachnid is a smaller-scale toy. She features [[C joint|3mm port]]s for her hands, on her helicopter sides/robot shoulders, and one underneath her cockpit, which ends up behind and above her robot head.

:Her rotors can also detach from the base/her robot back, revealing another port, and allowing the rotors to mount elsewhere via 3mm post. She also comes with the "Nova Stinger Bow", a crossbow which has two 3mm ports and three posts, allowing it to mount/be mounted in different ways. This bow, in the same colors, was also used by [[Bumblebee (WFC)#BHCyberverse|Bumblebee]].

{{--}}

==Notes==
* Airachnid's head design and largely black color scheme have heavy similarities to the Disney villain [[wikipedia:Maleficent|Maleficent]].
* Airachnid's alternate mode doesn't really make sense: Airachnid scanned Agent Fowler's Bell 212 Huey helicopter, but she somehow ended up with a stylized RAH-66 stealth helicopter alt mode.
* The existence of the name "Airachnid" was first revealed when Hasbro filed an intent-to-use [http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77892423 trademark application] for the term with the US Trademark and Patent Office. However, the application was eventually denied for registration.<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/beast-wars-2/case-closed---goodbye-airachnid-170451/ "Case Closed – Goodbye Airachnid"]</ref>.
* Deluxe Airachnid's electro-stingers are modeled after the [[Null-ray#Prime_cartoon|null-ray]] Knock Out offered Starscream in "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]."
* In the Japanese dub of ''Prime'', Airachnid's personality is completely different from her US interpretation. In the dub, she is a bubbly, giggling, high-strung chatterbox that is obsessed with collecting handsome boys as trophies. Played up as something of a female [[wikipedia:Pepé Le Pew|Pepe Le Pew]], she constantly swoons over Jack, calling him her "hunk," her "darling," her "cutie Jack-chan" and various other lovey-dovey remarks as she amorously pursues him (even going so far as to sing love songs to him, mid-chase). While her sadistic qualities remain, she's played more like a creepy stalker girl than a vicious psychopath. Airachnid is dubbed by [[Ryōka Yuzuki]], the actress who dubbed ''Beast Wars'' [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Black Widow]] and ''Animated'' [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]], and so many of the quirks she conceived for those characters (such as a habit of making a hissing ''tshaaa—'' noise) are present. Likewise, the constant, incessant talking seems to be a throwback to the "ad-libbing" prevalent in the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars''.
*Airachnid appears to be a unique case among the "Decepti-zombies". It could be because she was only bitten by [[Silas|Cylas]] while all others had their Energon totally drained.

===Arms Up Modes===
In the Japanese ''Prime'' toyline, Airachnid has named powered-up modes when given various [[Arms Micron]]s in certain configurations:

*'''Hunter Mode''' (ハンターモード ''Hantā Mōdo'')
**''Arms Microns'': Ida, Jida, Noji
: Seen on her box-back photo, this mode is simply Airachnid brandishing the [[Lunatic Chainsaw]] Super Combo Weapon. Wheeeeeeeeeee.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Cyberverse]]
[[Category:Female Transformers]]
[[Category:Prime Decepticons]]
[[Category:Transformers with three modes]]
[[Category:Vampires]]
[[Category:Zombies]]

Thirst

2013-06-14T15:52:50Z

Silver Fox: /* Quotes */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 60
|prev=Plus One
|next=Evolution
|image=ThristEpisodeConZombie.jpg
|caption=There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
|title="Thirst"
|airdate=[[June 7]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Knock Out and Starscream's experiment with synthetic energon threatens to take over the Decepticon ship and unleash an old enemy.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Thirst1.jpg|left|thumb|300px|When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy." 
Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"]]

In [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]]'s lab, [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] bemoans his current situation, having to compete with [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] for [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]'s favor. His whining is interrupted by moans from [[Silas|Cylas]], who is strapped to a table and begging to be freed. Knock Out injects him with a derivative of the [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] he recovered from the [[Autobot]]s. The compound drives Cylas into a rage, which Knock Out notes is one of its erratic side effects. Starscream sees in Cylas' fury the makings of a super-soldier for Megatron.

Starscream attempts to inform Megatron of this discovery, but the [[Decepticon]] leader is only interested in discussing the status of the [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] [[protoform]]s with Shockwave, who is reporting in from his off-site lab. Brushed off by his leader as unimportant, Starscream sulks on his way back to Knock Out's lab.

Cylas becomes more enraged with each new injection of Synth En. Knock Out discovers that the more the compound is administered, the faster Cylas burns through his own natural [[energon]] reserves. Starscream cannot see the use of having [[Predaking (Prime)|another]] unruly beast that can't be controlled, but then has an idea: [[Dark Energon]]. Knock Out objects, noting that the "Blood of [[Unicron]]" once turned their own ship against them, and that he would need approval from Shockwave in any case. Starscream assures the doctor that a controlled, minimal injection will merely place Cylas under Megatron's command, via their leader's symbiotic link with the substance, then asserts that "super-soldiers" are a military concern and thus fall under ''his'' jurisdiction.

Under orders and under protest, Knock Out injects Cylas with the Dark Energon-enhanced formula. Cylas temporarily powers down before rebooting in a rage and breaking free from his bonds. But after only a few steps, he crumbles to his knees, desperately low on energon. Then with a fierce roar, his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerges, which he attempts to use on Starscream to drain him of energon. Unable to subdue him, Starscream and Knock Out flee down the halls of the ship.

Once a safe distance away, Knock Out suggests sounding the alarm. Starscream disagrees, not wanting Megatron to learn of their actions. He claims that once Cylas attempts to feed upon the ship's highly-trained [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] troopers, they will take care of the threat.

Elsewhere, one of the Vehicons stumbles upon Cylas, who grabs the highly-trained trooper and begins draining his energon.

Starscream and Knock Out plan the disposal of Cylas' corpse when they find the Vehicon's corpse instead. While the two argue about who's to blame for their predicament, the dead Vehicon rises as a reanimated [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] and reveals the same segmented jaw and bladed tongue that Cylas had. Starscream's blaster fire only staggers it, and Knock Out's suggests destroying the Terrorcon's head. Though Starscream's missile is successful in decapitating the creature, it doesn't stop it in the least, as the body lumbers forward with the tongue sticking out of the neck-hole. A concentrated volley of blasts to the Vehicon's chest destroys the monster's revitalized spark, severing its link to the Dark Energon.

Knock Out posits that Cylas could infect the entire crew in the same manner, a theory that's borne out when they find themselves pursued by multiple energy-draining Terrorcons. Starscream and Knock Out lock themselves in a comm room to get a breather and assess the situation. Accepting that this may be the end, the two Decepticons exchange some awkward final pleasantries and step back into the hall…

…right into Megatron, who demands to know why the Dark Energon in his spark has been reacting strangely as of late. Starscream provides a slanted explanation, but Megatron doesn't believe it until he's forced to destroy an attacking Terrorcon.

After a more extensive debrief of the situation, Megatron puts the ship on high alert and orders Starscream and Knock Out to seek and destroy Cylas. Around the ship, Vehicons and [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] battle the infected Terrorcons.

Cylas wanders into the ship's vault. Sensing energon within a [[stasis pod]], he breaks it open, freeing and reviving [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Cylas attempts to drain her energon, and an short battle ensues, but Airachnid is able to immobilize him with webbing just long enough to deliver a killing blow. She immediately re-establishes her telepathic control over the Insecticons and commands them to return to her. Their sudden departure is noticed by [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]].

Starscream and Knock Out discover Cylas' corpse. Starscream is elated until Knock Out points out Airachnid's destroyed prison, followed by Megatron demanding a status update.

[[File:Thirst-Airachnidzombie.jpg|thumb|right|300px|And then John was a zombie.]]

Airachnid leads the Insecticons through the halls of the ship, ordering them to wipe out every Decepticon aboard. At the end of the hall, Soundwave calmly steps forward to face them. The bug-bots attack, and Soundwave opens a [[space bridge]] directly in front of him at the last second. Before they can react, Airachnid and the Insecticons are teleported away. As the bridge closes behind her, Airachnid realizes that they have been sent to a moon orbiting the abandoned [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and screams in rage.

Aboard the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', Megatron contacts Shockwave again to inform him they're implementing his containment protocol to prevent further outbreak. He also tells Shockwave to speed up the Predacon cloning project, as they have now lost more than half their military forces. Knock Out is sternly reminded that he is the ship's ''medic'' under Shockwave's command, and is forced to turn over all of his experimental projects to the scientist. Megatron then turns to Starscream, intent on teaching him a lesson the only way that seems to get through to him...

Back on the moon, an '''infected''' Airachnid drains the energon from one of her minions as the rest of the Insecticons line up obediently to await their turn.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
|c2=
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (2)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (5)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (7)
*[[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] (8)
|c3=
|c4=
*[[Silas|Cylas]] (3)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Megatron''': ''[Talking to Shockwave over comm]'' Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh. 
'''Starscream''': Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery. It appears that-- 
'''Megatron''': Not now! ''[Back to Shockwave]'' Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.
:—'''Megatron''' doesn't like to be interrupted when he's on the phone.

'''Starscream''': Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible. 
'''Knock Out''': But...WE ARE! 
'''Starscream''': Well, you are, mostly.
:—'''Starscream''' blames someone else, news at 11.

"Aim for the head!" 
"What? How do you know?" 
"I've seen human horror films." ''[Starscream looks at him curiously]'' "At drive-in theaters!"
:—'''Knock Out''' schools '''Starscream''' on how to survive a zombie apocalypse.

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, ''this'' is how our lights go out?" 
"Drained of our precious fluids. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon-chow, it has been an honor serving Lord Megatron with you." 
"You're no Breakdown. Though I must confess, I have always admired your lustrous finish." 
''[Awkward pause]'' 
"''*mm-hmm*'' Well, then." 
"Should be going."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Knock Out''' begin a beautiful friendship… and remind us of [[Arcee (WFC)|some]][[Optimus Prime (WFC)|one's]] words on [[Scrapheap (episode)|another day]].

'''Megatron''': Would either of you like to tell me what exactly is going on? 
'''Starscream''': Yes, absolutely nothing, my liege. 
'''Knock Out''': All is quiet, too quiet. One could even say dull! 
'''Megatron''': Funny, because the Dark Energon within my spark has been pulsing. 
'''Starscream''': (To Knock Out) Allow me to handle this. (To Megatron) IT'S KNOCK OUT'S FAULT! 
'''Knock Out''': Precisely my-WHAT?! 
:-'''Knock Out''' somehow manages to be surprised by '''Starscream''' yet again passing the buck.

"Silas? Whatever have they done to you? But more importantly, thank you for freeing me." 
"No. Thank…you… ''[Dies]'' 
"Whatever."
:—'''Airachnid''' is unmoved by '''Cylas'''' final words.

"Soundwave! I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams."
:—'''Airachnid's''' mouth writes a check that her abdomen can't cash.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* Airachnid lost one of her spider legs to the closing pod door when she was put in stasis, but all six are intact in this episode.
* Starscream's missile cleanly beheads a Vehicon, leaving no burn marks or exposed circuitry of any kind. For that matter, the headless Vehicon reveals that there is no "joint" on the model for the head to attach to, just a completely flat surface with a hole for the tongue. You normally don't see it because the neck just goes straight into the base of the collar, as if the collar form-fits around the neck.

===Continuity errors===
* Knock Out discusses the events of "[[Stronger, Faster]]" and "[[Flying Mind]]" with Starscream, even though Starscream wasn't part of the Decepticon ranks when either took place. While it is conceivable that Starscream learned of the events of both episodes through the ship's logs or another source, Knock Out speaks as if they were both witness to them.
* In an error also present in "[[Darkmount, NV]]" and [[Scattered]]", Soundwave is able to use the [[Space Bridge]] to open an entrance portal within the ''Nemesis'', even though in previous seasons the travelers need to use Space Bridge itself for transit to Cybertron.

===Continuity notes===
* Yowza, this would be a tough episode to start watching the series.
* Airachnid was frozen in stasis in "[[Armada (episode)|Armada]]" and was retrieved from the Autobot base by the Decepticons in "[[Darkmount, NV]]".
* The [[polarity gauntlet]] can be seen in the vault, in the first of the five containment fields. It was left on Cybertron by [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]", and can be assumed to have been recovered by Knock Out's salvage team offscreen in "Darkmount, NV". This leaves only the [[Immobilizer]] unaccounted for.
* [[Silas]], the formerly 100% human commander of [[MECH]], was surgically combined with Breakdown's corpse in "[[The Human Factor]]". He changed his name to Cylas (Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis) and became a reluctant guest of the Decepticons in the same episode.
* Cylas (then Silas) entered into a partnership of convenience with Starscream in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 1]]" and conveniently stole his [[transformation cog|T-cog]] in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 2]]".
* Cylas (then Silas) once had Breakdown pinned to his operating table in "[[Operation: Breakdown]]".
* Knock Out recovered some of [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]'s synthetic energon in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
* Shockwave has been working from an off-site laboratory since "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Megatron previously used Dark Energon to reanimate and control the dead in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
* Dark Energon awakened a dangerous, self-serving intelligence within the Decepticon warship in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* Airachnid killed Breakdown and discovered her telepathic control of the Insecticons in "[[Crossfire]]".
* Airachnid knows Cylas (then Silas) from their brief partnership in "[[Crisscross]]".
* Airachnid's desire to have Soundwave scream likely stems from the very one-sided beatdown she received from him in "[[One Shall Rise, Part 3]]".
* Starscream refers to the Decepticon soldiers as "Vehicons" confirming it as their real designation. [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] previously used that term in to describe them in "[[Plus One]]"
* Megatron alludes to the beatings he bestowed on Starscream in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]" and in-between the episodes "[[Out of His Head]]" and "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]" when he prepares to punish Starscream "the only way he understands".

===Transformers references===
* Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life in many continuities.
* Megatron again refers to his upcoming Predacon army as [[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machine]] super-soldiers.

===Real-world references===
* Knock Out's proclamation of "It's alive" echoes the famous words spoken in ''[[Frankenstein]]''.
* In addition to the segmented jaw and barbed tongue, the Terrorcons' [[teeth]] also transform into vampiric fangs.
* As Knock Out indicated, destroying the head is the traditional way to kill zombies in many horror movies. But only human ones.
* This episode heavily pays homage to the 1985 zombie film ''The Return of the Living Dead'' where two humans (Frank and Freddie) cause a gas to spread across a cemetery that revives dead corpses into zombies and then plays comedy with the two trying to control the situation while blaming each other for the zombie apocalypse, much like Starscream and Knock Out in this episode. The zombies in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' couldn't be killed by headshots, either.
* There is also some homage to the film ''Blade II'', specifically in the physiological effects of the virus. The Reapers, genetically-engineered vampire mutants, possessed the same type of unfolding jaw and feeding tendril, as well as a greatly increased blood appetite due to a heightened metabolism.

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode which doesn't feature the [[Autobot]]s in any capacity. Previously, "[[Patch (episode)|Patch]]", the last Decepticon-centric episode, had flashbacks which contained Autobots even though none appeared in person. [[Peter Cullen]], however, gets to voice the zombified Vehicon trooper Megatron puts down.
* Starscream says that the ship is crawling with "highly-trained Vehicon troopers". Kinda makes you wonder what a poorly-trained one is like, huh?
* On-the-move teleportation seems as if it's becoming Soundwave's signature move, having used it to dispatch [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] in "[[Orion Pax, Part 1]]" and to claim the Predacon fossil in "[[Project Predacon]]".
* [[Steve Blum]] is credited as "Insecticon #1" instead of [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] this time.
* The last thing Silas/Cylas did to Starscream was knock him out and steal his T-Cog, so it's no surprise Starscream has no desire to help him at the beginning of the episode.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Thirst

2013-06-14T15:41:10Z

Silver Fox: /* Quotes */ I thought this exchange was funny enough to be included.

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 60
|prev=Plus One
|next=Evolution
|image=ThristEpisodeConZombie.jpg
|caption=There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
|title="Thirst"
|airdate=[[June 7]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Knock Out and Starscream's experiment with synthetic energon threatens to take over the Decepticon ship and unleash an old enemy.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Thirst1.jpg|left|thumb|300px|When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy." 
Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"]]

In [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]]'s lab, [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] bemoans his current situation, having to compete with [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] for [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]'s favor. His whining is interrupted by moans from [[Silas|Cylas]], who is strapped to a table and begging to be freed. Knock Out injects him with a derivative of the [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] he recovered from the [[Autobot]]s. The compound drives Cylas into a rage, which Knock Out notes is one of its erratic side effects. Starscream sees in Cylas' fury the makings of a super-soldier for Megatron.

Starscream attempts to inform Megatron of this discovery, but the [[Decepticon]] leader is only interested in discussing the status of the [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] [[protoform]]s with Shockwave, who is reporting in from his off-site lab. Brushed off by his leader as unimportant, Starscream sulks on his way back to Knock Out's lab.

Cylas becomes more enraged with each new injection of Synth En. Knock Out discovers that the more the compound is administered, the faster Cylas burns through his own natural [[energon]] reserves. Starscream cannot see the use of having [[Predaking (Prime)|another]] unruly beast that can't be controlled, but then has an idea: [[Dark Energon]]. Knock Out objects, noting that the "Blood of [[Unicron]]" once turned their own ship against them, and that he would need approval from Shockwave in any case. Starscream assures the doctor that a controlled, minimal injection will merely place Cylas under Megatron's command, via their leader's symbiotic link with the substance, then asserts that "super-soldiers" are a military concern and thus fall under ''his'' jurisdiction.

Under orders and under protest, Knock Out injects Cylas with the Dark Energon-enhanced formula. Cylas temporarily powers down before rebooting in a rage and breaking free from his bonds. But after only a few steps, he crumbles to his knees, desperately low on energon. Then with a fierce roar, his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerges, which he attempts to use on Starscream to drain him of energon. Unable to subdue him, Starscream and Knock Out flee down the halls of the ship.

Once a safe distance away, Knock Out suggests sounding the alarm. Starscream disagrees, not wanting Megatron to learn of their actions. He claims that once Cylas attempts to feed upon the ship's highly-trained [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] troopers, they will take care of the threat.

Elsewhere, one of the Vehicons stumbles upon Cylas, who grabs the highly-trained trooper and begins draining his energon.

Starscream and Knock Out plan the disposal of Cylas' corpse when they find the Vehicon's corpse instead. While the two argue about who's to blame for their predicament, the dead Vehicon rises as a reanimated [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] and reveals the same segmented jaw and bladed tongue that Cylas had. Starscream's blaster fire only staggers it, and Knock Out's suggests destroying the Terrorcon's head. Though Starscream's missile is successful in decapitating the creature, it doesn't stop it in the least, as the body lumbers forward with the tongue sticking out of the neck-hole. A concentrated volley of blasts to the Vehicon's chest destroys the monster's revitalized spark, severing its link to the Dark Energon.

Knock Out posits that Cylas could infect the entire crew in the same manner, a theory that's borne out when they find themselves pursued by multiple energy-draining Terrorcons. Starscream and Knock Out lock themselves in a comm room to get a breather and assess the situation. Accepting that this may be the end, the two Decepticons exchange some awkward final pleasantries and step back into the hall…

…right into Megatron, who demands to know why the Dark Energon in his spark has been reacting strangely as of late. Starscream provides a slanted explanation, but Megatron doesn't believe it until he's forced to destroy an attacking Terrorcon.

After a more extensive debrief of the situation, Megatron puts the ship on high alert and orders Starscream and Knock Out to seek and destroy Cylas. Around the ship, Vehicons and [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] battle the infected Terrorcons.

Cylas wanders into the ship's vault. Sensing energon within a [[stasis pod]], he breaks it open, freeing and reviving [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Cylas attempts to drain her energon, and an short battle ensues, but Airachnid is able to immobilize him with webbing just long enough to deliver a killing blow. She immediately re-establishes her telepathic control over the Insecticons and commands them to return to her. Their sudden departure is noticed by [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]].

Starscream and Knock Out discover Cylas' corpse. Starscream is elated until Knock Out points out Airachnid's destroyed prison, followed by Megatron demanding a status update.

[[File:Thirst-Airachnidzombie.jpg|thumb|right|300px|And then John was a zombie.]]

Airachnid leads the Insecticons through the halls of the ship, ordering them to wipe out every Decepticon aboard. At the end of the hall, Soundwave calmly steps forward to face them. The bug-bots attack, and Soundwave opens a [[space bridge]] directly in front of him at the last second. Before they can react, Airachnid and the Insecticons are teleported away. As the bridge closes behind her, Airachnid realizes that they have been sent to a moon orbiting the abandoned [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and screams in rage.

Aboard the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', Megatron contacts Shockwave again to inform him they're implementing his containment protocol to prevent further outbreak. He also tells Shockwave to speed up the Predacon cloning project, as they have now lost more than half their military forces. Knock Out is sternly reminded that he is the ship's ''medic'' under Shockwave's command, and is forced to turn over all of his experimental projects to the scientist. Megatron then turns to Starscream, intent on teaching him a lesson the only way that seems to get through to him...

Back on the moon, an '''infected''' Airachnid drains the energon from one of her minions as the rest of the Insecticons line up obediently to await their turn.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
|c2=
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (2)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (5)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (7)
*[[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] (8)
|c3=
|c4=
*[[Silas|Cylas]] (3)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Megatron''': ''[Talking to Shockwave over comm]'' Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh. 
'''Starscream''': Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery. It appears that-- 
'''Megatron''': Not now! ''[Back to Shockwave]'' Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.
:—'''Megatron''' doesn't like to be interrupted when he's on the phone.

'''Starscream''': Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible. 
'''Knock Out''': But...WE ARE! 
'''Starscream''': Well, you are, mostly.
:—'''Starscream''' blames someone else, news at 11.

"Aim for the head!" 
"What? How do you know?" 
"I've seen human horror films." ''[Starscream looks at him curiously]'' "At drive-in theaters!"
:—'''Knock Out''' schools '''Starscream''' on how to survive a zombie apocalypse.

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, ''this'' is how our lights go out?" 
"Drained of our precious fluids. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon-chow, it has been an honor serving Lord Megatron with you." 
"You're no Breakdown. Though I must confess, I have always admired your lustrous finish." 
''[Awkward pause]'' 
"''*mm-hmm*'' Well, then." 
"Should be going."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Knock Out''' begin a beautiful friendship… and remind us of [[Arcee (WFC)|some]][[Optimus Prime (WFC)|one's]] words on [[Scrapheap (episode)|another day]].

'''Megatron''': Would either of you like to tell me what exactly is going on? 
'''Starscream''': Yes, absolutely nothing, my liege. 
'''Knock Out''': All is quiet, too quiet. One could even say dull! 
'''Megatron''': Funny, because the Dark Energon within my spark has been pulsing. 
'''Starscream''': (To Knock Out) Allow me to handle this. (To Megatron) IT'S KNOCK OUT'S FAULT! 
'''Knock Out''': Precisely my-WHAT?! 
:-'''Knock Out''' somehow manages to be surprised by '''Starscream''' yet again passing the buck.

"Silas? Whatever have they done to you? But more importantly, thank you for freeing me." 
"No. Thank…you… ''[Dies]'' 
"Whatever."
:—'''Airachnid''' is unmoved by '''Cylas'''' final words.

"Soundwave! I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams."
:—'''Airachnid's''' mouth writes a check that her abdomen can't cash.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* Airachnid lost one of her spider legs to the closing pod door when she was put in stasis, but all six are intact in this episode.
* Starscream's missile cleanly beheads a Vehicon, leaving no burn marks or exposed circuitry of any kind. For that matter, the headless Vehicon reveals that there is no "joint" on the model for the head to attach to, just a completely flat surface with a hole for the tongue. You normally don't see it because the neck just goes straight into the base of the collar, as if the collar form-fits around the neck.

===Continuity errors===
* Knock Out discusses the events of "[[Stronger, Faster]]" and "[[Flying Mind]]" with Starscream, even though Starscream wasn't part of the Decepticon ranks when either took place. While it is conceivable that Starscream learned of the events of both episodes through the ship's logs or another source, Knock Out speaks as if they were both witness to them.
* In an error also present in "[[Darkmount, NV]]" and [[Scattered]]", Soundwave is able to use the [[Space Bridge]] to open an entrance portal within the ''Nemesis'', even though in previous seasons the travelers need to use Space Bridge itself for transit to Cybertron.

===Continuity notes===
* Yowza, this would be a tough episode to start watching the series.
* Airachnid was frozen in stasis in "[[Armada (episode)|Armada]]" and was retrieved from the Autobot base by the Decepticons in "[[Darkmount, NV]]".
* The [[polarity gauntlet]] can be seen in the vault, in the first of the five containment fields. It was left on Cybertron by [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]", and can be assumed to have been recovered by Knock Out's salvage team offscreen in "Darkmount, NV". This leaves only the [[Immobilizer]] unaccounted for.
* [[Silas]], the formerly 100% human commander of [[MECH]], was surgically combined with Breakdown's corpse in "[[The Human Factor]]". He changed his name to Cylas (Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis) and became a reluctant guest of the Decepticons in the same episode.
* Cylas (then Silas) entered into a partnership of convenience with Starscream in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 1]]" and conveniently stole his [[transformation cog|T-cog]] in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 2]]".
* Cylas (then Silas) once had Breakdown pinned to his operating table in "[[Operation: Breakdown]]".
* Knock Out recovered some of [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]'s synthetic energon in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
* Shockwave has been working from an off-site laboratory since "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Megatron previously used Dark Energon to reanimate and control the dead in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
* Dark Energon awakened a dangerous, self-serving intelligence within the Decepticon warship in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* Airachnid killed Breakdown and discovered her telepathic control of the Insecticons in "[[Crossfire]]".
* Airachnid knows Cylas (then Silas) from their brief partnership in "[[Crisscross]]".
* Airachnid's desire to have Soundwave scream likely stems from the very one-sided beatdown she received from him in "[[One Shall Rise, Part 3]]".
* Starscream refers to the Decepticon soldiers as "Vehicons" confirming it as their real designation. [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] previously used that term in to describe them in "[[Plus One]]"
* Megatron alludes to the beatings he bestowed on Starscream in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]" and in-between the episodes "[[Out of His Head]]" and "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]" when he prepares to punish Starscream "the only way he understands".

===Transformers references===
* Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life in many continuities.
* Megatron again refers to his upcoming Predacon army as [[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machine]] super-soldiers.

===Real-world references===
* Knock Out's proclamation of "It's alive" echoes the famous words spoken in ''[[Frankenstein]]''.
* In addition to the segmented jaw and barbed tongue, the Terrorcons' [[teeth]] also transform into vampiric fangs.
* As Knock Out indicated, destroying the head is the traditional way to kill zombies in many horror movies. But only human ones.
* This episode heavily pays homage to the 1985 zombie film ''The Return of the Living Dead'' where two humans (Frank and Freddie) cause a gas to spread across a cemetery that revives dead corpses into zombies and then plays comedy with the two trying to control the situation while blaming each other for the zombie apocalypse, much like Starscream and Knock Out in this episode. The zombies in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' couldn't be killed by headshots, either.
* There is also some homage to the film ''Blade II'', specifically in the physiological effects of the virus. The Reapers, genetically-engineered vampire mutants, possessed the same type of unfolding jaw and feeding tendril, as well as a greatly increased blood appetite due to a heightened metabolism.

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode which doesn't feature the [[Autobot]]s in any capacity. Previously, "[[Patch (episode)|Patch]]", the last Decepticon-centric episode, had flashbacks which contained Autobots even though none appeared in person. [[Peter Cullen]], however, gets to voice the zombified Vehicon trooper Megatron puts down.
* Starscream says that the ship is crawling with "highly-trained Vehicon troopers". Kinda makes you wonder what a poorly-trained one is like, huh?
* On-the-move teleportation seems as if it's becoming Soundwave's signature move, having used it to dispatch [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] in "[[Orion Pax, Part 1]]" and to claim the Predacon fossil in "[[Project Predacon]]".
* [[Steve Blum]] is credited as "Insecticon #1" instead of [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] this time.
* The last thing Silas/Cylas did to Starscream was knock him out and steal his T-Cog, so it's no surprise Starscream has no desire to help him at the beginning of the episode.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Thirst

2013-06-10T00:55:14Z

Silver Fox: /* Real-world references */ I thought this was worth noting.

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 60
|prev=Plus One
|next=Evolution
|image=ThristEpisodeConZombie.jpg
|caption=ZOMBIES?!
|title="Thirst"
|airdate=[[June 7]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Scooter Tidwell]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Knock Out and Starscream's experiment with synthetic energon threatens to take over the Decepticon ship and unleash an old enemy.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Thirst1.jpg|left|thumb|300px|There were demons in the base. He didn’t see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late.]]

In [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]]'s lab, [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] bemoans his current situation, having to compete with [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] for [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]]'s favor. His whining is interrupted by moans from [[Silas|Cylas]], who is strapped to a table and begging to be freed. Knock Out injects him with a derivative of the [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] he recovered from the [[Autobot]]s. The compound drives Cylas into a rage, which Knock Out notes is one of its erratic side effects. Starscream sees in Cylas' fury the makings of a super-soldier for Megatron.

Starscream attempts to inform Megatron of this discovery, but the [[Decepticon]] leader is only interested in discussing the status of the [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]] [[protoform]]s with Shockwave, who is reporting in from his off-site lab. Brushed off by his leader as unimportant, Starscream sulks on his way back to Knock Out's lab.

Cylas becomes more enraged with each new injection of Synth En. Knock Out discovers that the more the compound is administered, the faster Cylas burns through his own natural [[energon]] reserves. Starscream cannot see the use of having [[Predaking (Prime)|another]] unruly beast that can't be controlled, but then has an idea: [[Dark Energon]]. Knock Out objects, noting that the "Blood of [[Unicron]]" once turned their own ship against them, and that he would need approval from Shockwave in any case. Starscream assures the doctor that a controlled, minimal injection will merely place Cylas under Megatron's command, via their leader's symbiotic link with the substance, then asserts that "super-soldiers" are a military concern and thus under ''his'' jusidiction.

Under orders and under protest, Knock Out injects Cylas with the Dark Energon-enhanced formula. Cylas temporarily powers down before rebooting in a rage and breaking free from his bonds. But after only a few steps, he crumbles to his knees, desperately low on energon. Then with a fierce roar, his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerges, which he attempts to use on Starscream to drain him of energon. Unable to subdue him, Starscream and Knock Out flee down the halls of the ship.

Once a safe distance away, Knock Out suggests sounding the alarm. Starscream disagrees, not wanting Megatron to learn of their actions. He claims that once Cylas attempts to feed upon the ship's highly-trained [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] troopers, they will take care of the threat.

Elsewhere, one of the Vehicons stumbles upon Cylas, who grabs the highly-trained trooper and begins draining his energon.

Starscream and Knock Out plan the disposal of Cylas' corpse when they find the Vehicon's corpse instead. While the two argue about who's to blame for their predicament, the dead Vehicon rises as a reanimated [[Terrorcon (Prime)|Terrorcon]] and reveals the same segmented jaw and bladed tongue that Cylas had. Starscream's blaster fire only staggers it, and Knock Out's suggests destroying the Terrorcon's head. Though Starscream's missile is successful in decapitating the creature, it doesn't stop it in the least, as the body lumbers forward with the tongue sticking out of the neck-hole. A concentrated volley of blasts to the Vehicon's chest destroys the monster's revitalized spark, severing its link to the Dark Energon.

Knock Out posits that Cylas could infect the entire crew in the same manner, a theory that's borne out when they find themselves pursued by multiple energy-draining Terrorcons. Starscream and Knock Out lock themselves in a comm room to get a breather and assess the situation. Accepting that this may be the end, the two Decepticons exchange final pleasantries and step back into the hall…

…right into Megatron, who demands to know why the Dark Energon in his spark has been acting funny. Starscream provides a slanted explanation, but Megatron doesn't believe it until he's forced to destroy an attacking Terrorcon.

After a more extensive debrief of the situation, Megatron puts the ship on high alert and orders Starscream and Knock Out to destroy Cylas. Around the ship, Vehicons and [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] battle the infected Terrorcons.

Cylas wanders into the ship's vault. Sensing energon within a [[stasis pod]], he breaks it open, freeing and reviving [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]]. Cylas attempts to drain her energon, but Airachnid is able to immobilize him with webbing long enough to deliver a killing blow. She immediately re-establishes her telepathic control over the Insecticons and commands them to return to her. Their sudden departure is noticed by [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]].

Starscream and Knock Out discover Cylas' corpse. Starscream is elated until Knock Out points out Airachnid's destroyed prison, followed by Megatron demanding a status update.

[[File:Thirst-Airachnidzombie.jpg|thumb|right|300px|And then John was a zombie.]]

Airachnid leads the Insecticons through the halls of the ship, ordering them to wipe out every Decepticon aboard. At the end of the hall, Soundwave calmly steps forward to face them. The bug-bots attack, and Soundwave opens a [[space bridge]] directly in front of him at the last second. Before they can react, Airachnid and the Insecticons are teleported away. As the bridge closes behind her, Airachnid realizes that they have been sent to a moon orbiting the abandoned [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] and screams in rage.

Aboard the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', Megatron contacts Shockwave again to inform him they're implementing his containment protocol to prevent further outbreak. He also tells Shockwave to speed up the Predacon cloning project, as they have now lost more than half their military forces. Knock Out is sternly reminded that he is the ship's ''medic'' under Shockwave's command, and is forced to turn over all of his experimental projects to the scientist. Megatron then turns to Starscream, intent on teaching him a lesson the only way that seems to get through to him...

Back on the moon, an infected Airachnid drains the energon from one of her minions as the rest of the Insecticons line up obediently to await their turn.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
|c2=
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (2)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (5)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (6)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (7)
*[[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] (8)
|c3=
|c4=
*[[Silas|Cylas]] (3)
}}

==Quotes==

'''Megatron''': ''[Talking to Shockwave over comm]'' Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh. 
'''Starscream''': Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery. It appears that-- 
'''Megatron''': Not now! ''[Back to Shockwave]'' Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.
:—'''Megatron''' doesn't like to be interrupted when he's on the phone.

'''Starscream''': Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible. 
'''Knock Out''': But...WE ARE! 
'''Starscream''': Well, you are, mostly.
:—'''Starscream''' blames someone else, news at 11.

"Aim for the head!" 
"What? How do you know?" 
"I've seen human horror films." ''[Starscream looks at him curiously]'' "At drive-in theaters!"
:—'''Knock Out''' schools '''Starscream''' on how to survive a zombie apocalypse.

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, ''this'' is how our lights go out?" 
"Drained of our precious fluids. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon-chow, it has been an honor serving Lord Megatron with you." 
"You're no Breakdown. Though I must confess, I have always admired your lustrous finish." 
''[Awkward pause]'' 
"''*mm-hmm*'' Well, then." 
"Should be going."
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Knock Out''' begin a beautiful friendship… and remind us of [[Arcee_(Prime)|some]][[Optimus Prime (WFC)|one's]] words on [[Scrapheap (episode)|another day]].

"Silas? Whatever have they done to you? But more importantly, thank you for freeing me." 
"No. Thank…you… ''[Dies]'' 
"Whatever."
:—'''Airachnid''' is unmoved by '''Cylas'''' final words.

"Soundwave! I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams."
:—'''Airachnid's''' mouth writes a check that her abdomen can't cash.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* Airachnid lost one of her spider legs to the closing pod door when she was put in stasis, but all six are intact in this episode.
* Starscream's missile cleanly beheads a Vehicon, leaving no burn marks or exposed circuitry of any kind. For that matter, the headless Vehicon reveals that there is no "joint" on the model for the head to attach to, just a completely flat surface with a hole for the tongue. You normally don't see it because the neck just goes straight into the base of the collar, as if the collar form-fits around the neck.

===Continuity errors===
* Knock Out discusses the events of "[[Stronger, Faster]]" and "[[Flying Mind]]" with Starscream, even though Starscream wasn't part of the Decepticon ranks when either took place. While it is conceivable that Starscream learned of the events of both episodes through the ship's logs or another source, Knock Out speaks as if they were both witness to them.

===Continuity notes===
* Yowza, this would be a tough episode to start watching the series.
* Airachnid was frozen in stasis in "[[Armada (episode)|Armada]]" and was retrieved from the Autobot base by the Decepticons in "[[Darkmount, NV]]".
* The [[polarity gauntlet]] can be seen in the vault, in the first of the five containment fields. It was left on Cybertron by [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]", and can be assumed to have been recovered by Knock Out's salvage team offscreen in "Darkmount, NV". This leaves only the [[Immobilizer]] unaccounted for.
* [[Silas]], the formerly 100% human commander of [[MECH]], was surgically combined with Breakdown's corpse in "[[The Human Factor]]". He changed his name to Cylas (Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis) and became a reluctant guest of the Decepticons in the same episode.
* Cylas (then Silas) entered into a partnership of convenience with Starscream in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 1]]" and conveniently stole his [[transformation cog|T-cog]] in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 2]]".
* Cylas (then Silas) once had Breakdown pinned to his operating table in "[[Operation: Breakdown]]".
* Knock Out recovered some of [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]]'s synthetic energon in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
* Shockwave has been working from an off-site laboratory since "[[Chain of Command (Prime)|Chain of Command]]".
* Megatron previously used Dark Energon to reanimate and control the dead in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 3]]".
* Dark Energon awakened a dangerous, self-serving intelligence within the Decepticon warship in "[[Flying Mind]]".
* Airachnid killed Breakdown and discovered her telepathic control of the Insecticons in "[[Crossfire]]".
* Airachnid knows Cylas (then Silas) from their brief partnership in "[[Crisscross]]".
* Airachnid's desire to have Soundwave scream likely stems from the very one-sided beatdown she received from him in "[[One Shall Rise, Part 3]]".
* Starscream refers to the Decepticon soldiers as "Vehicons" confirming it as their real designation. [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] previously used that term in to describe them in "[[Plus One]]"
* Megatron alludes to the beatings he bestowed on Starscream in "[[Darkness Rising, Part 4]]" and in-between the episodes "[[Out of His Head]]" and "[[Shadowzone (episode)|Shadowzone]]" when he prepares to punish Starscream "the only way he understands".

===Transformers references===
* Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life in many continuities.
* Megatron again refers to his upcoming Predacon army as [[Beast Machines: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Machine]] super-soldiers.

===Real-world references===
* Knock Out's proclamation of "It's alive" echoes the famous words spoken in ''[[Frankenstein]]''.
* In addition to the segmented jaw and barbed tongue, the Terrorcons' [[teeth]] also transform into vampiric fangs.
* As Knock Out indicated, destroying the head is the traditional way to kill zombies in many horror movies. But only human ones.
* This episode heavily pays homage to the 1985 zombie film ''The Return of the Living Dead'' where two humans (Frank and Freddie) cause a gas to spread across a cemetery that revives dead corpses into zombies and then plays comedy with the two trying to control the situation while blaming each other for the zombie apocalypse, much like Starscream and Knock Out in this episode.
**Much like the Terrorcons, the zombies in ''RotLD'' can't be killed by headshots either.
* There is also some homage to the film ''Blade II'', as the Terrorcons are now similar to the Reapers (genetically engineered vampire mutants) because they require constant feasting on energon because they burn through their natural energon reserves. Their unfolding jaws and feeding tendril are also based on the Reapers.

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode which doesn't feature the [[Autobot]]s in any capacity. Previously, "[[Patch (episode)|Patch]]", the last Decepticon-centric episode, had flashbacks which contained Autobots even though none appeared in person. [[Peter Cullen]], however, gets to voice the zombified Vehicon trooper Megatron puts down.
* Starscream says that the ship is crawling with "highly-trained Vehicon troopers". Kinda makes you wonder what a poorly-trained one is like, huh?
* On-the-move teleportation seems as if it's becoming Soundwave's signature move, having used it to dispatch [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] in "[[Orion Pax, Part 1]]" and to claim the Predacon fossil in "[[Project Predacon]]".
* [[Steve Blum]] is credited as "Insecticon #1" instead of [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] this time.
* The last thing Silas/Cylas did to Starscream was knock him out and steal his T-Cog, so it's no surprise Starscream has no desire to help him at the beginning of the episode.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Project Predacon

2013-05-19T00:39:18Z

Silver Fox: /* Continuity notes */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 57
|prev=Rebellion (Prime)
|next=Chain of Command (Prime)
|image=ProjectPredacon-skull.jpg
|caption=Okay, who cooked the turkey too long?
|title="Project Predacon"
|airdate=[[May 17]], [[2013]]
|written by=[[Duane Capizzi]]
|directed by=[[Shaunt Nigoghossian]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''The Decepticons launch a new scheme to clone an army of beasts.'''

==Synopsis==

[[File:ProjectPredacon-MASKdivision.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Back repainting strikes again|Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak, and seats thirty five? Canyonero! Canyonero!]]

[[William Fowler|Fowler]] arrives at the [[Autobot]]s' new base driving a massive military truck, described as an "experimental, all-terrain, expeditionary fighting vehicle". [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus]] gives his approval and begins to scan it.

The next day, [[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] and [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] return from the rubble of the former Autobot base with what little they could find. Wheeljack is happy enough to find their lobbing ball with which he immediately initiates a game of [[Cybertronian_sport#Lobbing| Lobbing]]. Unprepared, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] is unable to catch the ball and it bounces off of him, very nearly crushing [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]], who is pulled to safety by [[Jack Darby|Jack]]. Ultra Magnus admonishes Wheeljack's reckless behavior, once again citing his distaste for [[Wrecker]] behavior. He tells Wheeljack that if he'd rather not follow orders, he's free to walk away, as he did back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Wheeljack remarks that if [[Jackhammer (Prime)|his ship]] wasn't destroyed, he'd do just that.

Meanwhile, Optimus puts his new jet pack to use investigating recent Decepticon activity. He comes upon a cave entrance in the side of a mountain and transforms into his new vehicle mode to enter.

Miko wishes all of the Autobots had jet packs, but [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] reminds everyone that the [[Forge of Solus Prime]] has been depleted of its power. [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] returns from scanning new "war paint", but this fails to impress Ultra Magnus, who immediately assigns him a menial duty. Smokescreen grumbles about how he nearly became a [[Prime (rank)|Prime]], but pretends to have said something else when Ratchet overhears.

In the cave, Optimus comes across a group of [[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]]s excavating some very large skeletal remains and makes short work of them. But he is unable to prevent [[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] escaping with a piece of the fossil.

Optimus returns the rest of the fossil to the base, and reveals that it's the remains of a [[Predacon (Prime)|Predacon]]. Smokescreen notes that Predacons are supposed to be extinct, since before most life began on Cybertron. The Autobots deduce that the recently-returned [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] is behind [[Predaking (Prime)|the one they already fought]], and most likely plans to clone more of them.

[[File:ProjectPredacon-Predacons.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Once upon a time, robot animals ruled the earth.]]

Aboard the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] reacts to the presence of Predacon remains on Earth with cynicism. [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] explains that the remains actually belong to an army of clones that he had commissioned during the war. They were sent to Earth to kill Autobots and gather [[Energon]], and there they remained until succumbing to the ravages of time. Shockwave confirms that he can create new clones from the endomatter of the deceased batch.

Ratchet shows the children images of Predacons from Cybertronian historical texts. Jack recognizes them as robotic versions of creatures from Earth's own various mythologies. Optimus notes that the Predacons were very likely the inspiration for such tales.

Ratchet revisits his [[Synthetic Energon|synthetic energon]] formula, in hopes of replenishing the Energon stores lost when their base was destroyed. Fowler suddenly reports that satellites have picked up Decepticon activity in both [[Texas]] and [[Scotland]]. Optimus assigns Ultra Magnus, now wielding the depowered Forge, to lead the Wreckers to Scotland. Meanwhile he, [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], and Smokescreen [[GroundBridge]] to Texas and split up.

Alone together, Smokescreen asks Bumblebee if he'd ever wanted to be a Prime. Bumblebee says his only aspiration is to be a warrior. When Smokescreen asks why Optimus hasn't promoted him from scout yet, Bumblebee reveals that it's his choice. Their conversation is interrupted first by a squad of [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s and then by Shockwave, toting the remains of a Predacon. Shockwave flees from the Autobots but runs into Optimus, who blasts him out of vehicle mode. Just then, a GroundBridge opens and [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] emerges in plane mode to battle Optimus in the air. Shockwave makes a run for the GroundBridge, but is attacked by Bumblebee and Smokescreen.

[[File:ProjectPredacon-wishbone.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Ultimate Tug of War: Who Will Take Home the Wishbone???]]

While Optimus fends off Soundwave, [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] deploys and is able to get in close, delivering an electrical shock that sends Optimus crashing to the ground. On the highway overpass above him, Bumblebee and Smokescreen are able to wrest the Predacon fossil away from Shockwave, but not without breaking it, sending a small piece falling over the edge. Optimus rushes back into the air to catch it, but Soundwave activates a second GroundBridge that catches the falling fossil in min-air and deposits it into Megatron's waiting hand aboard the ''Nemesis''. Their mission complete, the Decepticons retreat through the GroundBridge from which Soundwave emerged.

On the ''Nemesis'', Megatron decides that Shockwave is much too valuable to Project Predacon to risk using in the field. Shockwave agrees to confine himself to his lab and leave the task of collecting bones to Starscream. Megatron notes how anxious he is to set his army of beasts on humankind.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (4)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (5)
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (8)
*[[Ultra Magnus (WFC)|Ultra Magnus]] (10)
*[[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] (11)
*[[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] (12)

|c2=
*[[Bombshock (Prime)|Bombshock]] (13)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (14)
*[[Decepticon Miner]] (15)
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (16)
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] (17)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (18)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (19)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (20)
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] (21)

|c3=
*[[William Fowler]] (2)
*[[Miko Nakadai]] (6)
*[[Jack Darby]] (7)
*[[Raf Esquivel]] (9)

}}

==Quotes==
"What were you thinking, soldier?" 
"I was thinking Bulkhead could catch that lob."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Wheeljack''' air their grievances like mature adults who hate each other.

"I was nearly a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie."
:—'''Smokescreen''' bemoans the show's return to status quo.

'''Raf''': They're like Earth's dinosaurs. 
'''Jack''': Which means for you guys, running into one would be like us meeting a T-Rex. 
'''Miko''': So, then what were Dinobots? 
'''Bulkhead''': [[Dinobot (Prime)|Totally different]].
:—Predacon discussion leads to a wink and a nod.

"Autobots, we must become Beast Hunters."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' sees the writing on the package--Er, wall.

"Pfft. Another scavenger hunt?"
:—'''Starscream''' says the audience's line for us.

"How logical would it really be to locate all the dusty remains of your former pets?" 
"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them microchipped?" 
"Well, I-- Well, I was. But...seriously? You did?"
:—'''Starscream''' is shut down by '''Shockwave'''.

"Um... what's a kilt?" 
"Agent Fowler can at times be oblique. I find it best to simply nod and mobilize."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Optimus Prime''' on Earth culture, proving again that the best comedy comes from having no sense of humor.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* Wheeljack finds his and Bulkhead's Lobbing ball from "[[Con Job]]" in the rubble of the former Autobot base and brings it back to the new base to continue the fun.
* Ultra Magnus confirms he led the Wreckers back on Cybertron, as in [[Alex Irvine]]'s ''[[Transformers: Exodus|Exodus]]'' and ''[[Transformers: Exiles|Exiles]]'' novels. However, he also notes that the assignment was given to him by Optimus Prime, and refers to them as "your Wreckers" to Wheeljack, indicating that he had no part in founding the team.
* The [[Dinobot (Prime)|Dinobots]], a subgroup of autobots mutated by Shockwave into dinosaur forms and who serve as the main characters in the TV tie-in comics ''[[Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots]]'' and ''[[Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters IDW|Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters]]'', have at least been mentioned in passing to Miko in the past.
* Megatron reveals that he had an army of Predacon clones commissioned during the [[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|war for Cybertron]]. Included in the artistic flashback appear to be [[Hun-Gurrr (Prime)|Hun-Gurr]], [[Lazerback]], [[Grimwing]], [[Rippersnapper (Prime)|Rippersnapper]] and what appears to be either a [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] look-alike or a previous Predaking clone.
* Ratchet returns to work on the synthetic energon formula he last tried replicating in "[[Stronger, Faster]]".
*Laserbeak is apparently up and running now. Soundwave must have repaired him since "[[Darkmount, NV]]".
* Megatron mentions Shockwave's apparent demise in the space bridge accident in "[[Out of the Past]]".

===Continuity errors===
* While not an outright error, it's worth noting that in this episode Bumblebee states to Smokescreen that it is his own choice whether he graduates from scout to warrior, which contradicts with Prime's belief in "[[Masters & Students]]" that Bumblebee wasn't experienced enough in the field. However, it's possible that Prime has since changed his mind on the subject.
* When Soundwave transforms to robot mode and lands on the clifftop, he's wearing Laserbeak, even though at that point his deployer's separated from him.
* There's no good reason for Smokescreen and Bumblebee to play tug of war with the Predacon jawbone while Smokescreen is wearing the phase shifter. Both "[[New Recruit]]" and "[[Inside Job]]" demonstrate that the wearer can selectively remove one item from within another, and Shockwave's closed hand should be no exception.

===Transformers references===
* Smokescreen uses the "robots in disguise" tagline as justification for his new paint job.
* Bulkhead refers to the potential threat of a cloned Predacon army as a "[[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]]". Megatron continues the trend by saying he sent his army of Predacon clones to Earth to "unleash the beast" on Autobots stationed there.
* Ultra Magnus arms himself with [[Magnus Hammer|a very large hammer]].

===Trivia===
* This is one reference-heavy episode, isn't it?
* Fowler says that the truck Optimus scans comes from the military's "MASK division". ''[http://www.albertpenello.com/mask/ M.A.S.K.]'' is one of Hasbro's currently-defunct brands acquired when they bought former competitor Kenner, and one that ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' has had some crossover with in the recent past.
* The opening sequence now has significantly more [[Predaking (Prime)|Predaking]] and Shockwave in it, and also features Prime's new body and Bumblebee's new paint job. There's no Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, or Smokescreen, though.
* The cloned Predacons all died of old age between the time they were stationed on Earth and when the Decepticons themselves arrived. Unless it's a side effect of the cloning process, that would suggest the Predacons have a much shorter life span than other Cybertronians, including the similarly-animalistic Insecticons.

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Talk:MSTF

2013-05-18T02:34:06Z

Silver Fox:

==List==
I've been meaning to expand this article with a complete list of all the MSTF panels to date, and the episode/videos that were riffed at them. In the meantime, I've compiled a not-yet-complete list at my [[User:TVsGrady/Sandbox|user sandbox]].--[[User:TVsGrady|TVsGrady]] 23:46, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
:Actually, there were other issues which I will not go into that resulted in no MSTF in 2002. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 01:42, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

== Script Links? ==

Are the scripts archieved anywhere else? The first and last links havn't been updated since 2007, and the middle one doesn't seem to work at all. --[[User:ZacWilliam|ZacWilliam]] 15:02, 28 September 2009 (EDT)

I'm with him on this one. I can't afford to go to Botcon myself. The only way I can hear these MSTF panels is by reading the scripts posted here. I would really like to find out how they made [[Code of Hero]] funny! --[[User:Silver Fox|Silver Fox]] 22:34, 17 May 2013 (EDT)e

== 2010? ==

Was there one this year? --[[User:ZacWilliam|ZacWilliam]] 18:40, 26 July 2010 (EDT)
:No. As I understand it, it was due to the con being at Disney and FP wanting everyone to take the evening off and enjoy the park instead of doing TF stuff. (or, were you to be more sinister, Disney as hosts strongly encouraging all guests to go enjoy the parks, oho oho.) [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 23:04, 26 July 2010 (EDT)

==The "F"==
This is driving me crazy. What does the "F" stand for? MST stands for Mystery Science Theater, and I'm wracking my brain for what the "F" could be. I thought maybe "Four thousand", but since "Three thousand" is rendered MST3K, wouldn't that make it MST4K? I'm so confused. And shouldn't every wiki page on ever wiki that regards an abbreviation address what exactly is being abbreviated? --[[User:Bijhan|Bijhan]] 11:10, 6 June 2012 (EDT)
:....'''Mystery Science TransFormers'''. --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 11:16, 6 June 2012 (EDT)