The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

2009-11-06T07:29:42Z

The Nemesis: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode|
|series=G1toon
|series2=2010
|ep=95
|ep2=32
|image=ReturnOptimusPrime2 title shot.JPG
|caption=I'm back, kiddies!
|title="The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2"
|production code=700-116
|airdate=[[February 25]], 1987
|written by=[[Michael Charles Hall]]
|story by=[[Marv Wolfman]] [[Cherie Wilkerson]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Optimus and a handful of Autobots make a desperate bid to recover the Matrix, in the hopes that a cure for the Hate Plague can be found.'''

:''Japanese title:'' コンボイの復活パート2 (''Convoy no Fukkatsu Part 2'', "The Resurrection of Convoy Part 2")
:''German title:'' '''Die Rückkehr von Optimus Prime, Teil 2''' ("The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Primeandjessicamorgan.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Chip Chase, is that you?]]

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], now fully restored to life by [[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] and a [[Quintesson]] survivor of the rampant Hate Plague that's infecting the universe, demands to know what has happened during his time on the [[Allspark|other side]]. Sky Lynx recaps the events that had conspired to bring him back, including [[Jessica Morgan]]'s valiant play to save him from total destruction, the discovery of the [[Hate Plague]] spores, and the trap laid out by Jessica's father and her partner Gregory Swofford to infect the Autobots with the spores in revenge, which ultimately spiraled out of control. It was thought by Rodimus, before his infection, that Prime would know what it would take to stop the plague. Prime asks who is available, and learns of the injured [[Autobot|Autobots]]. The Quintesson manages to reactivate them, completely rebuilding [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] into Goldbug.

When [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] asks what the plan is, Prime admits that he doesn't have a plan. Without the accumulated wisdom within the [[Matrix of Leadership]] (which now resides in Rodimus), he doesn't have a clue as to where to start. That is, until Jessica comes forward with the experimental alloy that she, her father, and Gregory had worked on, which proved strong enough to block the spores. Theoretically, coating Optimus with this alloy would protect himself from the spore's infection and allow him to get close enough to Rodimus to extract the Matrix from him. However, all remaining alloy samples were stolen by the Decepticons. The Autobots decide to retrieve the metal.

[[Image:ReturnOptimusPrime2 crazycons.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Cyclonus and Scourge each spent 2,000 XP to create the Level 7 Flame Barrier spell. Unfortunately Galvatron has Protection from Fire with Permanency effect.]]

Meanwhile, on [[Chaar]], [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] is pinned down by his own mutinously diseased soldiers, unable to fight back against their maddening ferocity...until Optimus and his team arrive to save the day, convincing Galvatron that it would be in his best interest to join in an alliance with them. As is his way, however, the Decepticon leader is suspicious of Optimus' motives, especially when he learns they need the alloy he stole, but cannot get a reason for it out of them. He agrees to join in and leads Optimus and his gang down a series of boobytrapped tunnels, their numbers dwindling from the tunnel's natural hazards and the infected Decepticon mob behind them, until only Optimus, Galvatron, Sky Lynx, and Jessica arrive at the alloy's hiding place. Unfortunately, Jessie accidentally lets slip their plan to coat Optimus with the metal after confirming there would be enough of it to do the job, prompting Galvatron to turn on Optimus in hopes of using the process on himself, but he is soon subdued by Sky Lynx. Under coercion, Galvatron loads the alloy onto Prime's trailer, but doesn't notice that an infected Cyclonus has managed to sneak in, infecting Jessica in the process. Jessica, in turn, infects Galvatron, forcing Sky Lynx and Optimus to flee back to Earth.

[[Image:ReturnOptimusPrime2 Primes duel.JPG|left|200px|thumb|So I guess Rodimus is a bottom...to Ultra Magnus?]]

Once on Earth, Optimus is coated with the alloy, and sets out to find Rodimus. He finds him, taking down infected Transformers with reckless glee, and attempts to reason with him, which fails. Unwilling to hurt his successor, Prime lures Rodimus to a nearby auto shop, attempting to peacefully subdue and talk Rodimus into helping him, but the Hate Plague is overriding any effort to do so, forcing Optimus to knock Rodimus out and take the Matrix back by force. Back at [[Autobot City]], Optimus dives into the Matrix to question the elders of the past in reverse chronological order (of their history) to try and find out any information on the spores. The spirit of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] warns him that if he travels too far, he risks becoming lost within the Matrix itself.

During Prime's journey, the Quintesson that revived him notices a troop of infected Transformers attempting to get in, and manages to temporarily shut them out, giving Optimus the time he needs to finally find his answer. He learns that, in a period of pre-Cybertronian history, the Plague ''has'' visited the planet before, but was contained and sealed inside the star Jessica and Gregory found it in using sheer wisdom, though even back then, no one had the wisdom to destroy the spores, and now that it has spread so much throughout the galaxy, it's doubtful that anyone has the wisdom to even contain them again. Optimus then realizes that a source of raw wisdom may be available to destroy the infection once and for all: the accumulated wisdom within the Matrix of Leadership.

[[Image:ReturnOptimusPrime2 Matrix open.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Hmm, this looks familiar...]]

The infected Transformers finally break into the base, and corner the Quintesson, who begs them to stop. Galvatron grabs a metal pole, intending to impale Prime. However, Prime's chest opens to reveal a glowing Matrix, surprising the Transformers. Asking it to "light our [[darkest hour]]", Optimus Prime releases the energy of the Matrix of Leadership, which spreads across the universe and totally eradicates the Plague. It even seems to, at least temporarily, cure Gregory and Jessica's father of their hatred for Autobots, and Galvatron of his own madness; all of them call a truce with Optimus.

It is then that Rodimus (now [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]], without the Matrix within him) notes that the Matrix is now empty, its wisdom supposedly lost in order to stop the plague. Optimus, however, disagrees; they have all become a little wiser, now, and although the Matrix is indeed empty of wisdom, it is up to them from then on to fill it again with their knowledge and experience. Optimus, once again the Autobot leader, ordering his troops to "Transform and roll out".

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] (2)
*[[Slingshot]] (6)
*[[Chase (G1)|Chase]] (7)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] (8)
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (10)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (11)
*[[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]] (12)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee/Goldbug]] (13)
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] (14)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (15)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] (21)
*[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (22)

|c2=
*[[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] (16)
*[[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] (17)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (18)
*[[Sweep|Sweeps]] (19)
*[[Predaking]] (20)
*[[Rampage (G1)|Rampage]] (23)
*[[Razorclaw (G1)|Razorclaw]] (24)
*[[Divebomb (G1)|Divebomb]] (25)

|c3=
*[[Jessica Morgan]] (4)
*[[Gregory Swofford]] (5)
*[[Mark Morgan]] (26)

|c4=
*[[Quintesson]] (3)
*[[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]] (9)
}}

==Quotes==
"[[Autobots, transform and roll out]]!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''', getting back into the swing of things.

"Fools, I am your leader! ... It's no use. You're all crazed!"
:—'''Galvatron''' fighting his infected and insane troops. The irony fairy just had a coronary.

"Have I no friends left?!" 
"Well, well, what have we here?" 
"Looks like something the cat dragged in."
:—'''Galvatron''' tries to reason with the infected '''Cyclonus''' and '''Scourge'''...for once

[[Image:ReturnOptimusPrime2 Prime Galvatron.JPG|right|200px|thumb|"Come on, Optimus, why can't we be friends?" "When we first met, you shot and damaged me and my girlfriend. You make a bad first impression."]]

"Come on, Optimus, tell me! Why do you want this metal? How will it be used? Why is it so precious?" 
"I've explained it to you." 
"You told me it was important, but you didn't tell me why!" 
"That's because I know you too well, Galvatron."
:—'''Galvatron''' and '''Optimus Prime''' resuming their same old song and dance

"I don't need you anymore, Optimus. So much for your resurrection!"
:—'''Galvatron''', same song, different tune

"I don't want to hurt you, Rodimus!" 
"Don't worry, Optimus, you won't! HAHAHAHAH!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Rodimus Prime''' throw down.

"Innocent lives are at stake, Rodimus!" 
"''No one'' is innocent!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Rodimus Prime''' throw down some more...right before Optimus clocks him.

"Now, light our darkest hour!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''', proving that destiny and Chosen Ones mean nothing when pitted against letters from angry kids and parents.

"There will be no war today, Optimus. You have earned Galvatron's respect."
:—'''Galvatron''', totally sane for the first time since...ever

"The wisdom of the ages! It's lost!" 
"No, not lost. We're all a little wiser now." 
"But the Matrix is empty!" 
"It's up to all of us to fill it again—with the wisdom we accumulate from this moment on. Autobots, transform and roll out!"
:—'''Hot Rod''' and '''Optimus Prime'''

==Notes==
*The Japanese version of this episode has a slightly alternate ending. After Optimus Prime and the Autobots ride off into the sunset and "the Touch" ends, the music changes to "[[Transformer 2010|TRANSFORMER2010]]" by [[Shō Hirose]] and the scene shifts to a montage of all the major characters from the series.
*The portion of "The Touch" that plays includes the line about "Hell breaking loose," an unusually strong word for an American '80s TV cartoon. Guess the censors were looking elsewhere that day.

===Animation errors===
*When Galvatron is threatening Optimus after they find the heat-resistant metal, Galvatron's cannon has a trigger on it.
*When escaping after Galvatron is infected, Optimus and his cab are coated in the resistant metal before it was even melted down.
*As Optimus is explaining that the Matrix must be refilled with the future wisdom, he is colored as if he still has the heat resistant metal on him.

===Continuity errors===
*The alloy is heat-resistant to the point of surviving a supernova in the [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|previous episode]]. Yet it now can be melted down to coat Optimus Prime with it.
* So....how ''exactly'' does Sky Lynx know every single detail of what happened in the previous episode? He wasn't even there when half of those recapped events took place!
*The Transformers wounded by [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] included Steeljaw and Wheelie, who are briefly seen at the start. They are then replaced by Blaster. Steeljaw returns a bit later, however, but Wheelie stays gone.
*How did Kup know that Rodimus had been contaminated since he was deactivated by Superion before Rodimus was?
*When Galvatron and Prime are working together, Prime says, "That's because I know you too well, Galvatron." Yet this is the first time Prime has ever met Galvatron (being dead since before Galvatron was created). Perhaps he just has really good intuition, or knows who Galvatron USED to be...
* How exactly did Jessica get off Chaar?
* Rodimus' Matrix chamber opens via a pair of swing-out doors much like Optimus. Back in [[Dark Awakening]] Rodimus' chamber is a single vertically hinged door shaped as the flame design on his chest.
* When Optimus puts the Matrix into his chest, he puts it in kind of....sideways. Surely his months of deactivation haven't made him forget how the thing sat in his chest for ''millions of years''?

===Transformers references===
*When Optimus uses the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, it bears more than a passing resemblance to when Rodimus Prime used the Matrix to destroy [[Unicron]] in [[The Transformers: The Movie|''The Movie'']]. They've even got "The Touch" playing in the background.

*In Japanese continuity, the events of [[The Great Transformer War issue 3|issue 3]] of ''[[The Great Transformer War]]'' take place shortly after this episode, helping to bridge the gap between it and "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]", the first episode of ''[[The Headmasters (cartoon)|The Headmasters]]''.

*Optimus's armored form is identical to Ultra Magnus's inner robot mode.

*Does anyone else think that Dr. Swafford and Morgan get off waaaaay too easy at the end of the episode? They ''willingly'' unleash the hate plague that causes widespread devastation (and probably death) across not just the world but the entire galaxy, just to spite the Autobots, and they get off by just saying "sorry"?

==External links==
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_return_of_optimus_prime_part_2.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]

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The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2