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Cosmic Rust (episode)

2025-12-24T23:58:01Z

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{{disambig3|Cosmic Rust}}
{{episode
|image=Rusted megatron.jpg
|caption=Please don't ask, dude... Please don't ask.
|series=G1toon
|ep=61
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=48
|prev2=Trans-Europe Express
|next2=The Core
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=46
|prev3=Aerial Assault
|next3=Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1
|title="Cosmic Rust"
|season=2
|season ep=45
|written by=[[Paul Davids]]
|production code=700-60
|airdate=[[December 26]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHtBgU2JDK8
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''After finding a new weapon, Megatron becomes infected with a strange disease... one he intends to use against the Autobots.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Cosmic Rust Megatron infected.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Megatron brilliantly blows up an asteroid which ''showers'' poor Astrotrain with fragments, then has the nerve to moan and groan when one little fragment - ''which had to pass through Astrotrain to get there'' - hits him.]]
While flying through space in [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], and [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] discover a [[Antilla|planet]] with the Autobot [[Insignia|symbol]] visible from orbit. Heading to investigate, they find a deserted city and a pillar inscribed with [[Cybertronian language#The Transformers cartoon|Ancient Autobot]]. Activating a recorded message, they are warned to leave, or never return to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]... all in rhyme. Disregarding the warnings, the [[Decepticon]]s discover a [[Lightning Bug]]. While attempting to move it, they set it off, causing the ceiling above them to be destroyed. Megatron is pleased—the Autobots have created a weapon that will allow him to destroy them. While leaving the planet, an asteroid follows Astrotrain (look, just go with the flow) and Megatron destroys it. Bad idea, as the debris penetrates Astrotrain, with one piece hitting Megatron in the shoulder. Heading for their [[Decepticon Headquarters (G1 Earth)|their base]], Starscream removes the rock, only to discover that Megatron's shoulder is covered in ruuusttt.

In [[New York City]], [[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] is being awarded for his creation of [[corrostop]], a new solution which prevents rust and corrosion. The Autobots plan to spray all the world's monuments with it, but for the moment, they only have enough to spray the [[Statue of Liberty]]. Meanwhile, Megatron's health is deteriorating rapidly, and he orders the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] to bring him Perceptor. Heading for Liberty Island, the Decepticons capture Perceptor and load him into [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]], with the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] in pursuit. The Autobot jets follow the kidnappers all the way to the Decepticon base, but the [[Conehead]]s use the Lightning Bug to drive them off.

Taken within their base, Perceptor is horrified to discover that Megatron is covered in rust. The Decepticon leader offers Perceptor a chance to end the [[Great War (G1)|war]] in exchange for curing him. As Perceptor analyzes the Decepticon, he discovers that Megatron is infected with a metallic plague and that the lightning bug is exacerbating the condition. Perceptor offers Megatron corrostop, which manages to wash the rust away. Megatron declares that the Decepticons are about to be cured.

[[File:Kentucky fried aerialbot.jpg|thumb|Kentucky Fried Aerialbot.]]
At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], the Aerialbots are explaining what happened to [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], when Megatron contacts the Autobot leader. Megatron says that Prime has until noon to reach Perceptor, or sunlight focused through his lens will ignite the fuse on a bomb and blow him to pieces. Despite knowing it's a trap, Prime takes all the Autobots with him to [[Fox Creek Canyon]] to rescue Perceptor. As the Autobots arrive, Perceptor warns them to keep away, but Prime pulls Perceptor away once the bomb ignites and explodes, only for Perceptor to reveal that he is infected with [[Cosmic Rust (disease)|Cosmic Rust]].

[[File:Cosmic Rust Perceptor kick.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Fonzie would be proud.]]
Returning to the base, the Autobots query [[Teletraan I]], who tells them of the fate of [[Antilla]], the world the Decepticons visited. Then, the Autobots notice that they're infected with Cosmic Rust as well. Worse, Megatron is using the Lightning Bug to make the plague spread. Their only hope is corrostop, but [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] have discovered that [[Ingredient X]], an important ingredient for making corrostop, is gone. [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] suspects that they can use the [[Matter duplicator|matter duplicator]] to make more, if he and Perceptor can fix it. Meanwhile, [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] does his best to stem the tide, but they're fading fast. Megatron is watching via [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]], loving every minute of it, only to learn that the matter duplicator now works, thanks to a little percussive maintenance, provided by Perceptor. All they need is some corrostop from the Statue of Liberty to replicate.

[[File:Cosmic Rust Autobots Statue of Liberty.JPG|upright=1.1|thumb|"You maniacs! You blew it up!"]]
Heading to the Statue of Liberty, Megatron orders the Stunticons to form [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] and use the Lightning Bug to destroy the statue. However, the Autobots are already there, and the Aerialbots form [[Superion (G1)|Superion]]. The Autobot [[combiner]] is able to defeat [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] and destroy the Lightning Bug. Megatron, out of ideas, orders a retreat. Now that they're able to duplicate the corrostop, [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] is quite pleased: they not only saved themselves, but also Lady Liberty.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{collist|2|
*Ancient rhyming Autobot (5)
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] (7)
*[[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (11)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (12)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (13)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (14)
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (15)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (16)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (17)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (18)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (19)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (20)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (21)
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (23)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (24)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (34)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (35)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (36)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (37)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (38)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (39)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (40)
*[[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] (41)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (42)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (43)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (44)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] (45)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (46)
*[[Superion (G1)|Superion]] (50)
}}
|c2=
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (1)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (2)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (3)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (4)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (25)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (26)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (27)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (29)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (30)
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (31)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (32)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (33)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (47)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (48)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (49)
|c3=
*[[National Scientific Achievement]] meeting emcee (6)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (8)
*[[Carly (G1)|Carly]] (9)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (10)
*Female television reporter (28)
}}

==Quotes==
"Starscream! Keep your grubby fingers off that. It could be a booby trap!" 
"What trap? This is a prehistoric communication device, you uneducated dolt!"
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream''', doing what they do best.

"Where there's a curse on the door, there's treasure on the other side."
:—'''Starscream''', who has never seen an [[Indiana Jones]] movie.

[[File:G1 cartoon lightning bug.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1]]
"If that's a lightning bug, I'd sure hate to meet up with a dragonfly."
:—'''Astrotrain''' hates big bugs and he cannot lie.

"Unfortunately, the operation is successful."
:—'''Starscream''' bemoans removing an infected meteor fragment from Megatron.

"It's some weird kind of heat ray—and it ''works''!"
:—'''Silverbolt''' expresses not-unjustified amazement at the efficiency of the Decepticons' weapon-of-the-day.

"This is not our agreement! Cure me! Cure me now! ''[Megatron's hand falls off]'' ''Now'' look what you've done!!"
:—'''Megatron''', bawling like a toddler

"Why not use it at full power, and melt Autobot Headquarters to the ground?" 
"I don't want to melt them, Rumble. I want to let them suffer. Slowly..."
:—'''Rumble''' and the ever-classy '''Megatron'''

"Somebody's gotta get us back to Cybertron, Prime. I never thought the end would come like this."
:—'''Bumblebee''', dying from Cosmic Rust and apparently wanting to destroy his home planet.

"The Cosmic Rust has infiltrated your logic circuits." 
"Maybe so, but I'll bet it hasn't affected my aim."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime'''

==Notes==
===Production information===
* Script outline: 21 August 1985
* First draft script: 10 September 1985
* Dialogue recording: 30 September 1985
* First draft storyboards completed: 3 October 1985 (All acts by [[Doug Lefler]])
* Final storyboard revisions: 9 October 1985
* Shipped to [[Toei Animation|Toei]]: 9 October 1985

===Continuity notes===
[[File:CosmicRust Spike Carly Sparkplug at awards.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*The spookiness of Antilla gives Rumble "the surges", a colloquialized version of "the creeps".
*Gadgets and powers:
**Starscream demonstrates the ability to retract his hand and replace it with a pincer, which he uses to remove the meteor fragment lodged in Megatron.
*With Astrotrain out of commission, Blitzwing takes over his role as a generic transport guy. He's shown as big enough for the Stunticons and Perceptor to just walk right into. (Outside of this episode, Blitzwing is never shown as being transport-sized the way Astrotrain is. Continuity error or little-used ability?)
*Megatron coughs while infected with Cosmic Rust, despite [[Humanization|not having lungs]].
*Fox Creek Canyon is said to be "just three miles from [Autobot] headquarters". The real Fox Creek Canyon is in Idaho near the Wyoming border. This would seem to contradict the Autobot HQ being in Oregon or at Mt. St. Helens.
*Spike, Carly and Sparkplug are briefly shown in the audience, all in different clothes than their usual character models. Sparkplug is once again in a dapper blue suit - and it's actually a different design from the one he wore in "[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1]]".
*The Statue of Liberty is made of copper; naturally a brown metal, it turns green when it rusts (or 'patinates'), hence the Statue's distinctive color. As corrostop gets rid of rust and prevents weathering, one wonders why the Autobots were allowed to test it on the Statue of Liberty given that, by doing so, they would be altering the colour of one of the most distinctive landmarks in the world.

===Real-world references===
[[File:CosmicRust National Scientific Achievement.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*Perceptor compares Cosmic Rust to the Black Plague.
*Teletraan I calls the fallen Autobot civilization the "13th Legion—the Lost Legion". This could be a reference to the {{w|Legio IX Hispana|Ninth Legion}}, also known as "The Lost Legion".
*Writer Paul Davids mentioned that the idea of a plague spreading amongst the Transformers was inspired in part by the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20160205031200/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/paul-davids/paul-davids-2.html</ref>
*Behind Perceptor at the National Scientific Achievement award can be seen posters of [[Tokyo Tower]], the [[Washington Monument]], [[CJ Seoul Tower]], the British houses of parliament and [[Elizabeth Tower]], and the [[Eiffel Tower]], but oddly enough not the Statue of Liberty.
*The real-world Statue of Liberty was {{w|Conservation-restoration of the Statue of Liberty|under renovation}} at the time of this episode's production.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**Truncated ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine in the opening shot as Astrotrain flies past, and again as he lands on the planet... and several more times as he leaves the planet later on. And still again as Blitzwing takes off with Perceptor.
**Multiple [[lightsaber]] ignitions as the holographic warning activates.

===Animation and technical errors===
*Megatron and co. are illuminated by the holographic beam before it actually activates.
*At one point, the holographic warning bot's arms reach outside of range of the ancient projector.
*Coloring errors:
**After the hologram fades out, Astrotrain's helmet is gray, then the correct purple in a closeup shot, then back to gray when the previous wide angle shot is recycled. In the wide angle shot, Megatron's waist is rather too large, and Rumble's visor is a bit too big as well.
**In the same shot, Skydive is missing most of his dark gray coloration.
**In the shot that pans over the Autobots spraying down the Statue of Liberty, Gears is colored as Rumble - complete with his yellow leg detailing.
**Silverbolt's cockpit windows aren't colored in as the Aerialbots retreat, and he's rather misshapen in general.
**"Welcome, Perceptor" - Megatron's waist is the same light gray as the rest of him, rather than its correct dark gray.
**Laserbeak is a plain white box when Soundwave pulls him out of his chest.
**As Megatron tells Prime that "the cosmic rust has infiltrated your logic circuits," the triangular shapes on his forehead are colored in reverse (they should be black on light gray but are white on dark gray).
**Perceptor has some light gray parts on his helmet as Prime pats him on the shoulder.
*Thanks to a layering error, Rumble "helps" Starscream with the lightning bug by pulling on Starscream's ''knee''!
*In the very next shot, Starscream is behind the lightning bug instead of to its left.
*Megatron's chest wound is clearly clean when Starscream pulls the fragment free. When Megatron notices the rust a second later, the wound is ''covered'' with it, in a way that should have been visible in the previous shots.
*The top of Perceptor's nose disappears during the last shot of him at the science conference. In fact for the entire scene, the inking and painting on Perceptor is noticeably rougher than usual. With lines that shouldn't be present normally being shown in many frames.
*As the Aerialbots land, the other Autobots are oddly layered - so that Prime appears to be 3-4 times Mirage's height, while Wheeljack is barely half as tall as Mirage.
[[File:RustproofingLadyLiberty CosmicRust.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*As well as being consistently miscoloured as silver, the Statue of Liberty is pretty poorly drawn in many shots. It even nearly has a hunchback at one point early on in the episode.
[[File:Cosmicrust taking over this boat.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Surprise! We weren't here 10 frames ago!]]
*Only Motormaster is shown in the first shot of the ferry, surrounded by normal cars; however, when he transforms in the next shot, Breakdown and Dead End are right next to him.
*Drag Strip gets the Autobot laser sound effect when he opens fire on Perceptor.
*"You've got an appointment with Megatron" - Dead End is missing the line in the middle of his mouthplate.
*Some layering issues make some of the Aerialbots briefly appear ''huge'' as they chase Blitzwing through the city.
*Silverbolt orders the Aerialbots to "duck" to avoid the lightning bug's beam. Note that they're flying at the time!
*When Air Raid is hit, he cries out in Silverbolt's voice.
*When Megatron's left hand falls to pieces from the rust infection, his fusion cannon is attached to his upper arm instead of its usual place on his forearm.
*When Megatron's left hand falls off to his right hand, the fallen hand disappears for one second.
*As Optimus speaks to Megatron over the viewscreen, his chest windows are flush with his torso, rather than being recessed.
[[File:CosmicRust-BigGroup.jpg|thumb|upright=2.8|There's surprisingly few glitches in this shot.]]
*When Optimus Prime addresses the Autobots before getting them to roll out, Prowl - situated at the end of the line - appears to be a ''tad'' wider than normal.
*When he transforms to roll for Fox Creek Canyon, the side of Optimus' cab is white. When Inferno drives past in the same shot, he's missing his ladder.
*After arriving at the canyon to rescue Perceptor, Optimus transforms to [[robot mode]], but he has ''no feet''! They weren't drawn because they should be obscured by the cliff edge, but Prime is placed slightly too high so his legs just fade out at the bottom. His head is completely misdrawn in the same shot after he turns to look at the other Autobots. And he gets the wrong transformation sound - descending pitch - when he transforms to robot mode.
*Wheeljack's ears don't flash as he activates Teletraan, nor again as he asks about any possible cures.
*When Prime, Wheeljack and Blaster are shown watching the clip about Cosmic Rust, Wheeljack and Blaster have Cosmic Rust on them. But in the next several shots, Prime and Wheeljack's infections have disappeared. Wheeljack still isn't infected when he works with Perceptor on the Matter Duplicator.
*When Prime notes that Teletraan I is infected, he's in front of a panel with a huge, striped, horizontal display area that looks nothing like what's on Teletraan I's main console.
*Prime somehow sees the infection on his hand even though the side facing him is unaffected.
*In a close shot of Perceptor and Wheeljack working on the Matter Duplicator, Perceptor has extra lines on his face that make him look like an old man.
*Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
**Jazz and Mirage appear at the end of the episode despite not being part of the last battle (and not showing up throughout the episode, though Mirage ''is'' seen for a second during the drive to the canyon).
*Improbable viewpoints:
**Laserbeak's footage from inside Autobot HQ jumps from an overhead room shot of the infected Autobots, to a closeup front view of Perceptor, and back.
*In the shot of the Stunticons on their ferry, Wildrider's legs are entirely red instead of gray, and his arms are missing their red bits.
*When Prime falls off the Statue of Liberty's head, there's no sign of the infection on him.
*A few shots later, we see the Autobots shooting at the Decepticons from the top of the statue, and there's a robot beneath Prime who has the upper body of Prime (complete with dual windows) and the lower body of Sideswipe. Later, we see that this is supposed to be Ironhide.
*The voice that orders the Aerialbots to attack isn't Silverbolt. It doesn't really match any of the other Aerialbots, either.
[[File:CosmicRust Menasor holds aloft bug.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*Menasor rather blatantly uses the "cars attached to Motormaster's arms" model for most of this episode, but a few detail shots show his hands directly attached to Drag Strip and Dead End.
*When Menasor is attacked by the Aerialbots, snippets of Astrotrain's voice (from when he is damaged by the asteroid) are used instead of Menasor's normal voice.
*Immediately following this, the dialogue of Silverbolt's instruction to form Superion is clipped at the beginning, as if it was the end of a longer sentence that was trimmed. Silverbolt's order to combine continues, in his voice, well after the combination is complete.
*Superion gets the Decepticon laser sound effect when he shoots Menasor.
*Menasor has an Autobot symbol when Superion throws him (an error repeated in "[[Masquerade]]", possibly related to an earlier character model that had the Stunticons as Autobots.)
*Again, a short shot of four Autobots on the statue shows none of them infected at all; they're also much bigger relative to the statue than they were a few shots back.
*Wheeljack's ears don't flash, and Ratchet's mouth doesn't move, during their cheering at the episode's end.

===Continuity errors===
*The meteor which infects everybody makes no sense at all. It just jumps out of line to start chasing Astrotrain through space, and comes with its own energy sound effect.
*Astrotrain, who got damaged a lot more by the infectious meteor than Megatron (See second picture above), is never shown to be infected. Although Starscream's statement that the repair team would get to Megatron ''after'' they work on Astrotrain may imply that the rust infection did work its magic on Astrotrain, even if the finished episode fails to mention it.
*For some reason, Megatron would rather trust Starscream to give him medical attention than, say, ''[[Hook (G1)|anyone]] [[Bombshell (G1)|else]] [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|on]] [[Constructicon (G1)|base]]''.
*Starscream is never seen to be infected despite removing the asteroid fragment from Megatron with his pincer.
[[File:CosmicRust Wildrider speedboat.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Megatron came up with this scheme, didn't he?]]
*The Stunticons go through some rather elaborate measures to capture Perceptor: first hijacking a car ferry, followed by Drag Strip ''water skiing'' behind a motorboat driven by Wildrider, all so that Drag Strip can chase Perceptor a few steps closer to the water, so that Motormaster can throw a chain around Perceptor, pull him into the water, then drag him ''back'' to dry land where Blitzwing is sitting around waiting. W. T. F. Why didn't they just ''fly''?
*The Aerialbots chase Blitzwing all the way back to base, but they don't make any effort to actually stop him. Or was the idea supposed to be that they couldn't catch him? That make even less sense, as all six Transformers would have to have exactly the same top speed.
[[File:Corrostop CosmicRust.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|OK, I'm gonna hand things off to Perceptor now. When it comes to curing Cosmic Rust, he wrote the manual! Now, now, Megatron, let's not go pointing fingers at anybody.]]
*Megatron's right hand falls off (wires and all). Perceptor drips some corrostop onto it and puts it back on his arm, and it works again immediately. Shouldn't there be some welding involved? Besides which, if the rust got inside him, shouldn't he have to be immersed in corrostop, inside and out?
**And on that note, how did Megatron get enough of the corrostop to cure himself (and presumably Astrotrain and others?) Perceptor only hands him one little vial, half of which goes toward treating Megatron's hand.
*The lightning bug doesn't have any way to ''aim''. Somehow it still hits all its targets.
*It's a bit silly that the Aerialbots' wings are ''still'' smoldering after flying all the way back to base.
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] is able to determine for certain that there is no more [[Ingredient X]] in the universe. Yet throughout seasons 2 and 3, it is determined that the Transformers are unable to tell whether and where other rare and important chemicals exist, [[The Golden Lagoon (episode)|even when they are on Earth]], and that they are constantly discovering [[Paradron|new planets]] which they had [[Quintessa (planet)|never]] [[Junkion (planet)|seen]] [[Unicron|before]].
[[File:Cosmicrust prime and perceptor.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Seriously, wrap him in a blanket or something.]]
*Couldn't Prime have moved the explosives away from the infected and very contagious Perceptor, rather than vice versa? Though the Cosmic Rust seems capable of spreading through the air, Prime could at least ''try'' not to get infected. Furthermore, back at base, the Autobots make no effort to quarantine Perceptor or Prime, despite Perceptor knowing how easily the disease spreads - and sure enough, all the Autobots are infected in no time flat.
*According to Teletraan I, the "Lost Legion" of Autobots had already colonized Antilla ''at [[MSTF|the dawn of time]]''. That's a pretty ambitious timetable!
*"Then, dreaded asteroids began falling from the sky to spread cosmic rust." Yeah.
*Why does Bumblebee (as quoted above) want to go back to Cybertron? Doing so could infect the whole planet!
*Apparently, the Decepticons' entire hope of victory relied on Menasor being able to destroy the Statue of Liberty with the Lightning Bug, and not Menasor's own tendency to smash everything he looks at.
*Speaking of the statue, the Decepticons shoot at it for several minutes (plus the Autobots climb all over it and Optimus hangs off her crown) but it doesn't get a scratch on it. That corrostop must be some powerful stuff!
*Perceptor didn't keep a ''single drop'' of corrostop? Not even a laboratory sample? Not even inside the tanks of the spray hoses used to coat the Statue of Liberty?
*Despite its seemingly great potential for all sorts of useful purposes (or mischief, as the Decepticons are well aware of its existence), the Matter Duplicator is never seen again.
*One wonders if the reason that the Decepticons haven't yet won the war is that Megatron himself is a huge crybaby. One little chunk of asteroid embedded in his shoulder has him throwing a fit about how terribly wounded he is. Not to mention when his Lightning Bug gets ruined, he orders a retreat despite the Autobots currently being weakened by Cosmic Rust.

===Trivia===
*This episode was originally going to be the Generation 1 cartoon's first attempt to introduce the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] into its continuity, '''before''' ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''! In the finished episode, Starscream merely laments that none of the Decepticons can read "[[Cybertronian language|Ancient Autobot]]". In the script, however, Megatron ''can'' read the language, and translates it, discovering that the Thirteenth Legion came to Antilla during "the first millennium after the creation of the Autobot Matrix". Starscream dates this to five hundred thousand years before they left for Earth (which is to say, 4.5 million years ago). This, of course, would conflict greatly with what we would go on to learn of the Matrix when it was properly introduced, and, indeed, is not even internally consistent with the rest of the script itself, which claims (pretty stupidly) that the legion has been on Antilla since the "dawn of time".
*The "Ancient Autobot" symbols seen in this episode would inspire not one but ''two'' different ciphers used whenever "Cybertronian script" was called for throughout ''Transformers'' media in the twenty-first century: One affectionately referred to as "Cybertronica Sorensona" after its creator [[Jim Sorenson]] used extensively through [[IDW Publishing]]'s comics and the ''[[Transformers: Generations (toyline)|Generations]]'' mega-franchise, and another bluntly referred to as the "High Moon font" developed by video game developer [[High Moon Studios]] for use across a multitude of projects in the 2010s "[[Aligned continuity family|Aligned continuity]]" initiative.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La rouille cosmique'''" ("The Cosmic Rust")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*The episode title is mistakenly written as "La nouille cosmique" (''The Cosmic Noodle'') on the [[Déclic Images]] DVD box.
::*All the logo transitions were cut. It is unknown if it was that way for the original broadcast or if the episode was chopped for the DVD release.
:::*The transition removal for this episode is particularly badly made. The transition between Megatron's "That's absurd, you fool!" and the meeting scientist is very harsh, the two phrases success each other too quickly.
:::*Skydive's phrase "We pursued Blitzwing to Decepticons Headquarters" is cut, we only hear "-ed Blitzwing to Decepticons Headquarters".
::*[[Albert Augier]] is absent for this episode. His characters are distributed to other members of the cast. Among them, [[François Leccia]] makes a strange twit voice for Wheeljack.
::*For one rare instance, Blitzwing's name is prounounced.
::*Ingredient X is translated by Element W, maybe to avoid the "X" and respect the very strict cartoon censorship at the time in France.
::*Perceptor avoids Wheeljack's name, his "Come Wheeljack, we have work to do!" being dubbed by "No time to lose, come with me!".
::*Instead of saying "Merge into Menasor!", Megatron says "Group up around Menasor!", which sounds a little odd.
::*The ending dialogue is also weirdly translated. Bumblebee says "We saved liberty!", then Optimus Prime says "Who's that?" and Bumblebee answers "The statue! Of liberty, of course!".
::*Missing lines:
:::*The opening dialogues with Astrotrain and the asteroids and the Autobot symbol are missing.
:::*Starscream's line "How cute! A giant lightning bug!" is missing. Consequently, Astrotrain's line "If that's a lightning bug, I'd sure hate to meet up with a dragonfly!" is dubbed by "Old Autobots had a sense of scenery! They are very different from modern ones".
:::*Starscream's dialogue is missing before he goes and tries to remove the bug from its place, resulting in him rushing in for no particular reason.
:::*The Decepticons' lines "Vaporized!" and "They sure don't make lightning bugs the way they used to." are missing.
:::*All the lines are missing as Astrotrain dodges the asteroids.
:::*All the lines are missing as the Aerialbots arrive at the Statue of Liberty, we can just witness the Autobots work peacefully as they transform aside them.
:::*Motormaster's line is missing as he prepares to launch his chains.
:::*All the lines are missing during the dogfight between Blitzwing and the Aerialbots.
:::*Optimus Prime's lines "No sign of Megatron." and "Autobots stay back!" are missing.
:::*Air Raid's "Attack!" is missing.

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''La peste metallica'''" ("The Metallic Plague")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*When Astrotrain sees the Autobot symbol, he says that it is the "Aerialbot symbol".
::*Strangely, "lightning bug" is translated as the Italian word for "scarab", while "dragonfly" is translated as the Italian word for "lizard", so, pretty much, Astrotrain says: «If that's a scarab, I sure hate to meet up with a lizard».
::*When Starscream checks Megatron's wound, he says that he has a tear in his back, instead of his shoulder.
::*Menasor is called by his English name instead of the Italian one.
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Ruggine cosmica'''" ("Cosmic Rust")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kyōfu no Cosmic Rust!'''" (恐怖のコスミックルスト!, "The Terrifying Cosmic Rust!")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 13]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Yǔzhòu Xiùbìng '''" (宇宙锈病, "Cosmic Rust")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Ferrugem Cósmica'''" ("Cosmic Rust")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Cosmicheskaya rzhavchina'''" (Космическая ржавчина, "Cosmic Rust")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
*'''''[[Combiner Wars (toyline)|Combiner Wars]]'' [[Victorion#Combiner Wars|Victorion]] gift set (Hasbro, [[2016]])'''
:This box set of the "[[Torchbearer|Rust Renegade]]" [[Combiner|combiner team]] of rust-themed archeologist types perhaps unsurprisingly takes very direct cues from this episode, featuring the Ancient Autobot warning from the beginning of the episode [[tampograph]]ed across the team in a [[Cybertronian language|cipher reverse-engineered from the visible symbols]], along with a buildable sword based on the Lightning Bug.

*'''''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' [[Bumblebee (G1)/toys#MP45|Bumble Ver. 2.0]] (TakaraTomy, [[2019]])''
:This newer incarnation of Bumblebee includes a sticker sheet to include various kinds of details on the figure, including some Cosmic Rust spots.

*'''''Masterpiece'' [[Starscream (G1)/toys#MP52|Starscream Ver. 2.0]] (TakaraTomy, [[2021]])''
:Among various accessories, this iteration of Starscream includes the pincer he uses in this episode, along with the asteroid piece he pulls out from Megatron's shoulder.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Cosmic Rust / Masquerade ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''Transformers'' — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime / Cosmic Rust (Tempo Video) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Exclusively from Blockbuster ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1995 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 7 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 14 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-5Kxze4JCWNMN5POOclnK32LiF_cnsrU First draft script, submitted on 10th September 1985]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iq4-iKB2MP6IbKErEvNC86tRnlwLkoAy/view?usp=drive_link Episode model sheets]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/p/the-transformers-mp-700-60-cosmic-rust.html Gallery of full episode storyboards]
*[https://youtu.be/UrjXXqg4eXM?feature=shared 8 Deleted Cosmic Rust scenes, published on 26th December 2025]
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Susan K. Williams

2024-01-11T01:53:20Z

Turbobluestreak:

{{disambigm|Susan (disambiguation)|Williams (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Susan-K-Williams.jpg|thumb|250px|]]

'''Susan K. Williams''' ([[September 30]], [[1944]] – [[October 30]], [[2020]]) was an American writer. In addition to ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'', she also wrote an episode of ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero]]''.

==Episode scripts==
===''The Transformers''===
* "[[Only Human]]"

==External links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0931754/ Susan K. Williams at the Internet Movie Database]
* [https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/18800107/Susan-K-Williams?fbclid=IwAR3eH7H6zAKNj-jxpLG1IwfglOnvxGRS-AUgE3umMQfphYmV-bgtyCniI0s Susan K. Williams Obituary]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Susan K.}}
[[Category:Writers]]

File:Susan-K-Williams.jpg

2024-01-11T01:49:38Z

Turbobluestreak: Turbobluestreak uploaded a new version of "File:Susan-K-Williams.jpg": Image from her Obituary.

Image from her Obituary.

File:Susan-K-Williams.jpg

2024-01-11T01:48:39Z

Turbobluestreak: Image from her Obituary.

Image from her Obituary.

Susan K. Williams

2024-01-11T00:56:33Z

Turbobluestreak:

{{disambigm|Susan (disambiguation)|Williams (disambiguation)}}
{{mainpic}}

'''Susan K. Williams''' ([[September 30]], [[1944]] – [[October 30]], [[2020]]) was an American writer. In addition to ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]'', she also wrote an episode of ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero]]''.

==Episode scripts==
===''The Transformers''===
* "[[Only Human]]"

==External links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0931754/ Susan K. Williams at the Internet Movie Database]
* [https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/18800107/Susan-K-Williams?fbclid=IwAR3eH7H6zAKNj-jxpLG1IwfglOnvxGRS-AUgE3umMQfphYmV-bgtyCniI0s Susan K. Williams Obituary]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Susan K.}}
[[Category:Writers]]

File:G1DarkAwakeningCallSheetTFCONCanada.jpg

2020-02-19T02:42:56Z

Turbobluestreak: Copy of the G1 Dark Awakening call sheet obtained in person from Hal Rayle at TFCON Canada.

Copy of the G1 Dark Awakening call sheet obtained in person from Hal Rayle at TFCON Canada.

Dark Awakening (episode)

2017-01-05T04:45:41Z

Turbobluestreak: Added original scanned copy of my dialogue script to the external links sections feel free to make changes to this addition. Enjoy :)

{{featured}}
{{disambig2|the Generation 1 cartoon episode|the ''Legends'' event|Dark Awakening (Legends)}}
{{episode|
|series=G1toon
|series2=2010
|ep=73
|ep2=8
|prev2=Starscream's Ghost
|next2=Forever Is a Long Time Coming (episode)
|image=Optimusg1zombie.jpg
|caption=Yeah, let ''this'' be how the kids remember their hero.
|title="Dark Awakening"
|production code=700-93
|airdate=[[October 1]], [[1986]]
|written by=[[Antoni Zalewski]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}
'''Optimus Prime is revived as a zombie by Quintessons.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:G1-screencap darkawakening Optimus empty tomb.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Don't you hate when your stuff goes missing?]]

On the run from [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]], [[Hot Rod/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]], [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]], [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]], [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] try the old "detonate three-quarters of the ship" trick to lose their pursuers. What's left of the ship can't support human life for long, however, so they take refuge on board the nearby [[Autobot Mausoleum]], an interstellar tomb containing many of their deceased comrades, most notably the venerated [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]].

While exploring by himself, Daniel is stuck in a dark room with robot corpses and gets appropriately creeped out... particularly when he sees what looks like the fully animated form of Optimus Prime. When he finds the others he swears he has seen Optimus Prime alive. To satisfy his curiosity and against the opinions of the other Autobots, Rodimus opens Prime's tomb, only to find it empty. However, they cannot investigate further because the Decepticons have followed them inside and attack them (turns out Galvatron has wised up to the detonate-three-quarters thing.) The fierce battle that follows appears lost for the Autobots, when suddenly they are saved by none other than Optimus Prime. With their ranks bolstered by the mighty warrior's firepower, they quickly drive the freaked out Decepticons into retreat.

[[File:OptimusMatrixAwakening.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Uh uh. Nope. Had it. Done with it.]]

The Autobots are amazed and confused at Prime's presence. Optimus can give them no explanation to his apparent resurrection, just the typical near-death experience of seeing darkness and then a light at the end of the tunnel. Rodimus Prime eagerly (too eagerly) returns the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to him, despite Prime's bizarre behavior and damaged appearance, and against the advice of Kup and Ultra Magnus. Without the Matrix inside him, Rodimus reverts to Hot Rod and declares, "Let's party!" Optimus evidently has other plans and attacks the Autobots and sets the auto-destruct sequence to the mausoleum ship. He then departs and leaves the others stranded.

After returning to Cybertron, Optimus informs the [[Autobot]]s that Rodimus and the others were killed by the Quintessons. This puts everyone in a pretty bad mood ([[Springer (G1)|Springer]] swears vengeance - particularly for Arcee - while [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] spends at least a minute stomping and thumping his tail). Optimus re-assumes command and orders an all-out attack on a supposed Quintesson base.

[[File:G1-screencap DarkAwakening Quintessons missiles.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Our budget only ran to six missiles.]]

Hot Rod and his group manage to escape, mere moments before the mausoleum ship plunges into a star and explodes. They return to Cybertron, but find nobody around but the Dinobots. Turns out most of the Autobots have left to attack the Quintessons. They pursue their friends in their own ship, but arrive to find the fleet already being decimated by Quintesson missile fire. Their frantic calls to stop the attack are dismissed by Optimus as Quintesson tricks.

Hot Rod and the others finally manage to board the lead ship, and the former Rodimus goes "Optimus hunting" after his zombified mentor. When the two meet, Optimus starts to pound on Hot Rod, but as he's kicking Hot Rod's tailpipe he begs Hot Rod to defeat him.

[[File:Zombiesmatrixmakesmetoostrong.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|And that's for getting me killed!]]

Fighting against both Hot Rod and himself, Optimus flashes back to his own reanimation at the hands of the Quintessons, who stole his corpse and reanimated it with their own evil programming to lead all Autobots into a trap. Optimus is nothing more than a "mindless zombie", combined with "lingering remnants" of his personality and memories. Hot Rod is physically overcome by Prime, but the influence of the Matrix allows Prime to overcome the Quintessons' programming. Ending the fight, Optimus returns the Matrix to Hot Rod's chest cavity, restoring him to his status as Rodimus Prime. As Optimus Prime takes his leave, the other Autobots find their battered leader and inform him that the equally battered ship is being evacuated.

Optimus Prime takes control of the ship, and orders the Autobot fleet away from the Quintesson trap. As the stunned Quintessons watch, the Autobot fleet escapes. Optimus's final act is to pilot the Autobot flagship into the trigger zone of the Quintesson trap. With a massive explosion, the solar system is destroyed. As Kup bids his old friend farewell and the other Autobots mourn their lost leader a second time, Magnus remarks that the nova will be Optimus's memorial. Rodimus doubts he'll be the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] that Optimus Prime was, but vows to try.

{{note|A short narrative voiceover by [[Victor Caroli]] was tacked on to the final scene when this episode made its first re-run airing: 'But is this ''really'' the end of Optimus Prime? Find out in tomorrow's exciting episode, "[[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|The Return of Optimus Prime]]"!' Baffled by such an ambiguous title, children the world over were left wondering if this was in fact the end of Optimus Prime.}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Rod/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (3)
*[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (9)
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] (11)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (14)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (15)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (16)
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (17)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (18)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (19)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (20)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (21)
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] (22)
|c2=
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (4)
*[[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] (5)
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]] (6)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (8)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (12)
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (13)
|c3=
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (1)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] (10)
|c4=
*[[Quintesson]]s (7)
}}

==Quotes==
"Great. What'll Daniel and I do when the air runs out?" 
"Basically you'll have two choices: suffocate, or smother."
:—As '''Spike''' wonders about the limited oxygen for the first time in life in the Autobot life pod, '''Rodimus Prime''' takes "deadpan" to a whole new level.

"Hey, he's here, he's back, and who cares how!" 
"Must... complete... plan..." ''Optimus abruptly walks offscreen.'' 
"Yeah! What's the plan?"
:—'''Rodimus''' misses some critical clues from '''Optimus Prime'''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> behavior.

'''Arcee''': Sludge! Snarl! Oh, are we glad to see you. 
'''Sludge''': Me Sludge not glad to see ''you''. 
'''Snarl''': You all dead! Rarrr! 
'''Sludge''': ...Maybe ''we'' dead.
:—Arcee freaks out the Dinobots.

'''Kup''': Where is everybody? 
'''Sludge''': All go smash Quintessons. 
'''Ultra Magnus''': Quintessons? What do Quintessons have to do with any of this? 
'''Snarl''': They kill you! Optimus Prime say so! ...Uh-oh. Something not right.
:—The Dinobots start to comprehend that all is not well.

"This won't even be a war." 
"Merely an exercise in... extermination."
:—the '''Quintessons''' nonchalantly slaughter the Autobot fleet

"Not a game! ...Matrix makes me ''too strong''!" 
"Now ''there's'' a unique complaint!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' wails on '''Hot Rod''', who takes it in stride

"Monsters... they made me a weapon, to destroy the very ones I loved in life. But you will save them... Rodimus Prime."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' hands over the Matrix.

"I don't know if I'll ever be the leader you were, but for sure... I'm gonna try. So long... Prime."
:—'''Rodimus''' gives a eulogy in his own inimitable fashion.

==Season 5==
{{note|When this episode was rebroadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it contained new bookending segments with original story material.}}

[[File:TommyInterviewsPrime.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|right]]

[[Tommy Kennedy (G1)|Tommy]] and [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] meet in the barren wasteland where Tommy, apparently a reporter for [[Autobot City News]], asks to interview Prime. Tommy asks for the inside scoop on how Prime came back from the dead. Prime recalls how it all began...

{{bigquote|Okay, what would you like me to tell you?}}
{{bigquote|Tell us the real scoop! The behind the scenes, super secret story of how '''you''' came back from the dead!}}

:''22 minutes later...''

{{bigquote|You said you were going to tell me how you were brought back to life and instead you tell me a story where you weren't ''really'' brought back to life at all! And even if you ''were'', you'd be dead again by now!}}

Tommy is furious, accusing Prime of dodging the question and not telling him how he ''really'' cheated death. Prime informs him that there's "more than meets the eye" to this story. In fact, the story has only just begun. Tommy stops him, as his recorder has run out of tape. Tommy and Prime then blast off into outer space to... go to the store to buy more tape. Okay.

{{--}}

==Notes==
*This episode originally aired early in Season 3. However, it was re-aired as the season drew to a close, as a lead-in to the latest episode, "The Return of Optimus Prime". The voiceover by Victor Caroli, described above, was added at this time, and subsequently became the more well-known ending. The original version was released on VHS by [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]], but when the company released the episode on DVD, the altered ending was the only one included (despite the presence of no less than ''three'' audio tracks on the disc). Observing the frustration this caused among American fans, DVD consultant [[Chris McFeely]] helped ensure the restoration of the original ending for [[Metrodome]] DVD release of the episode, with the alternate ending included as an easter egg. The original ending is also the version featured on the [[Shout! Factory]] DVD sets.

===Animation or technical glitches===
[[File:DarkAwakening Magnus hands.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Don't look at me either. I had my shot. I'm out.]]
[[File:DarkAwakening-Springer.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*An AKOM episode. Watch for off-model characters including:
**Rodimus and Galvatron are both consistently colored using outdated color models; Rodimus's shoulder indentations are red instead of white, his pelvis-windshield details are white instead of light burgundy, and his gun is red instead of black, while Galvatron has pale purple "underpants."
**Movie characters have colored mouths, such as Ultra Magnus with a red mouth, Cyclonus with purple, Blurr with blue and Springer with green.
**Optimus's running light rims are white, and the lights themselves are red, rather than vice versa; his backpack is white instead of red.
**The top part of Ultra Magnus' back is sometimes colored grey when it should be red (such as when he shoots at Galvatron).
*Coloring errors:
**In the first shot of the Decepticon mothership shooting at the Autobot shuttle, one of the two Sweeps flying alongside it is colored all white.
**"They're getting away!" - Cyclonus's jet windows are colored white instead of orange.
**As Rodimus delivers the "I'd hoped never to see it again" line, Kup's eyes are gray and the triangles below them blue, rather than the other way around.
**Rodimus's eyes flash blue-gray-blue as he details the location of Optimus's tomb.
**After driving the Decepticons off, Optimus walks up to the Autobots and the left side of his helmet is grey instead of blue.
**Right after Optimus Prime shoots Hot Rod, Kup, Arcee, Daniel and Spike, the top of his helmet is colored gray.
**As Optimus walks up to Hot Rod, his Autobot symbol is grey instead of red.
**Just before Optimus' flashback, his crotch piece and lower legs are dark grey instead of blue.
**When Rodimus tosses him, Optimus' face is entirely colored in blue. As he lands, the top of Optimus' helmet is grey.
*As the "torpedos" close in on the Autobot ship, it's suddenly no longer in the asteroid field, but in open space.
*The life pod's engine-roar sound effect flies past the camera long before the ship itself does.
*After they blow up the Autobot ship, a shot of the Decepticons flying shows their group to contain a 1984 Seeker design with Dirge's color-scheme. Thrust and Dirge are also flying alongside the ship - the first and only time they've been shown to be space flight capable. The Decepticon ship isn't all that much bigger than the Decepticons around it, either.
*As the Decepticon ship turns to intercept, the squad of Decepticons are no longer flying alongside it.
*The mausoleum first appears floating in empty open space, but as the Autobots approach it, it's suddenly got asteroids and a red sun nearby.
*As they approach the Mausoleum in their ship, the Autobots keep changing positions between shots. First Kup is up front on the right, then he's behind Rodimus on the left, then Rodimus is in the back right with Kup in front of him. Arcee moves from the front right to the back left, then back to the front right again.
**Also during the approach, the seats at the front of the ship appear and disappear between shots.
***''Also'' during the approach, the large door with the Autobot symbol has a grey frame around it (with parts that overlap the right and left sides), but when it opens, the frame is gone.
*As he walks up behind Daniel, Optimus is supposed to be obscured by darkness - but since the animation portrays the scene as not really dark at all, Optimus simply ''appears out of thin air'' when Daniel turns the lights back on.
**Also, he's covered with cobwebs, as if he's been standing immobile in one spot for ages, even though he was just walking around. Some of them even connect to the wall behind and above him! The cobwebs are gone in a closeup view in the very next shot.
*In that first closeup shot, Optimus has a much more damaged look (both his chest windows are broken, showing internal circuitry; his mouthplate is broken; and the overall look of the chest area is more worn out. For the remainder of the episode, he is drawn with the damaged look from the movie.
*After discovering Optimus's empty tomb, the Autobots are apparently supposed to be reacting to some sound, indicating the Decepticons' arrival - but there's no such sound. They just all turn at once in response to nothing.
*Rodimus is missing his spoiler after yelling "Take cover!"
*When Cyclonus shoots Arcee, the blast comes from WAY too low from the gun, coming instead from his third knuckle.
*When Optimus shoots at the Decepticons, Galvatron's Decepticon logo is missing its "eyes."
*Cyclonus steals Galvatron's cannon sound effect as he drags his wounded leader away.
*Ultra Magnus yells at the other Autobots to "Hold your fire, we've driven them off!" but they've already stopped shooting!
*After driving the Decepticons off, Spike is not in the shot, even though he was right next to Daniel earlier.
*After driving the Decepticons off, Optimus is still holding his gun, but when he asks about the Matrix, it's suddenly gone.
*Some weird shadows are drawn over Rodimus's face as he opens his chest to return the Matrix - but there's no light source shown to cause them.
*After Optimus shoots him, Hot Rod lands on what seems to be the exterior surface of a planet, rather than the hangar bay of the Mausoleum.
*Optimus's mouthplate often doesn't move when he speaks, as when he relates the supposed fate of Rodimus and the others to the Autobots. After the Matrix overrides the Quintessons' programming, it consistently moves when he speaks. If it was an intentional effect, however, it's thrown off by the fact that it ''does'' move when he first appears and threatens the Decepticons.
*As Springer comments on going after the Quintessons, his lip flap stops a bit before his words do.
*When boarding Ultra Magnus' "little improvisation," the camera shake isn't synced with the frames of animation, so it looks like there are two Arcees, Kups and Hot Rods.
*The Autobot fleet contains all sorts of strange stuff; see also Continuity Notes, below:
**In the first pan shot: two Skydive, two Slingshots, an Air Raid, and lots of black-colored jets that may be various Aerialbot models.
**In the fly-over shot, the (much smaller) fleet is entirely light gray ships, some loosely based on Broadside's jet mode, but mostly generic science fiction style.
**As the Quintessons open fire, Skydive and two black jets are destroyed.
***On board one of those ships, a [[generic]] Autobot with Dead End's color scheme - including a purple Autobot symbol - gets blown away, followed by two more generics based on Dead End and Scamper.
**Next shot: Powerglide and Slingshot are destroyed. An all-white Skyfire, another Skyfire in Skydive's colore scheme, and a black jet are nearby.
**After the commercial break: the same shot repeats, but this time the missiles fly in and past without hitting anybody.
**Next shot: an all-white Skyfire with orange tailfins gets pummeled by missiles.
**Next shot: several generic white jets are blown up.
**Next shot: a generic white jet and Slingshot (again!) are destroyed. Two Skydives, two Air Raids, and someone in Powerglide's colors go untouched.
**A moment later, Skydive and Air Raid are seen manning laser cannons to destroy the interceptor ship.
**Four generic jets in white, gray and black are shown escaping at the end. In a second shot, two of them are loosely based on Skyfire's design.
**In the final shot, the escaping ships include generic ship/jets with Skydive and Air Raid's color schemes.
*When Perceptor shouts "They're alive!", Blaster (with a white helmet) and [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] - completely miscolored in light and dark blue - are standing in the background. The space behind Perceptor was totally empty in the previous shot.
*Not a glitch so much as a strange shortcut: the Quintessons' lines, "Perhaps we should seek some cover." and "No. Place your faith in our defense systems." are both recycled from "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]".
*As Hot Rod announces he's going "Optimus hunting," Wheelie is missing his Autobot symbol.
*"Optimus, front and center!" - Hot Rod is drawn as his Rodimus self for a couple of shots.
**After Optimus returns the Matrix to him and walks off, Rodimus is still drawn as Hot Rod for the rest of the scene.
*When he puts Rodimus in the wrestling hold, Optimus' nose isn't drawn in.
*When Rodimus tosses him, Optimus clearly hits a display monitor (which doesn't break) in its upper left corner, but when he lands, he's way over on the right side of the console.
*Whatever the burbling thing that melts through Hot Rod's torso is, it's gone in the next shot - then back again, then gone for good in the following shots.
*When Optimus gives the Matrix back to Hot Rod, Hot Rod's door is made up of the entire yellow (flame) part of his chest. In "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4," the door was split in half and opened around the center of his chest.
*When Optimus is in control of the flagship and orders the other Autobots to return, he has his left arm again... and the hand colored wrong (red).
**In the first shot of him on the bridge, the bridge design is completely different than the one shown at the start of the attack.
*As the Autobots watch the explosion, Ultra Magnus' (red) mouth is shown gaping open and not moving when he speaks; his eyes are connected together like a visor.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:DarkAwakening Mausoleum.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Just in case you weren't clear that Prowl, Ratchet, etc. are dead - this episode goes and kills them ''even more dead''.]]
*[[Revenge (G1)|Galvatron's starship]] is shown to be perfectly intact here, despite being smashed by Unicron in the movie.
*Rodimus Prime and his crew were surprised to find the Autobot Mausoleum, suggesting they forgot where it was. Why didn't the Autobots just put the Mausoleum somewhere on Cybertron?
*Why are the tomb's light controls at human child level?
*Rodimus Prime states that Optimus has been dead "for years". While it's not always wise to take the flippant Rodimus [[The Burden Hardest to Bear|at face value]], Prime has actually been dead for a year at most. (The cartoon's timeframe is rarely made explicit, but "[[Five Faces of Darkness]]" was stated in narration to take place in 2005, while later episodes like "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" indicate the series has moved on into 2006 as time as gone on. Also, Daniel is the same age he was when Optimus died. This works a little better in Japan, though, where the series takes place in 2010.)
*It's never explained where Hot Rod and company obtained the ship that carries them away from the Mausoleum. Magnus just comments vaguely about "this little improvisation" in reference to the vessel.
*Optimus returns to Cybertron still beat to hell, fine. But... then he rushes everyone off into battle and ''nobody'' stops him to say, hey, get yourself to repair bay first?
*During the flashback to the Quintessons discussing Optimus Prime over his dead body, shouldn't the body still be grey (as it appeared after his death in the movie)? It's the usual colors instead.
*Kup tells Rodimus the ship is being blown to pieces, but it seems perfectly calm (until the Quintessons notice it's heading for the detonator and fire on it, of course).

===Continuity notes===
*Galvatron still has some degree of alliance with the Quintessons, despite their betrayal in "Five Faces of Darkness". (Of course, it's leading to ''another'' betrayal, as the Quintessons are presumably luring him and the Autobots to zombie Optimus's trap.)
*As an episode built around the events of the animated movie, Galvatron's order to examine the debris of the destroyed Autobot ship is almost certainly a callback to the last time he blew up an Autobot vessel from afar - he's wised up to the Autobots' "detonate three quarters of the ship" trick!
*Kup alludes to the [[Great War]] when Daniel asks about Optimus Prime's inclusion in the Mausoleum.
*Besides Optimus, the interred Autobots whose names are read off by Daniel are [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]. The first three were killed off in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', all in the same scene, in fact. This is the first time we learn of Huffer's death, however. The absence of [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (also killed off in the same scene) has led to joking fandom speculation that he must have survived getting shot in the shoulder (bolstered by his and Huffer's animation-error appearance in "[[Carnage in C-Minor]]"). [[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] and [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]'s bodies weren't even mentioned, despite their offscreen deaths in the movie.
[[File:DarkAwakening dead Autobot.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]
*The dead Autobot that nearly squashes Daniel isn't Ironhide, but follows his general design pattern: rounded head helmet, boxy torso with a front window chest. The details are off, though, and of course he's got a totally different color scheme (mostly gray, with an olive green chest.)
*Cyclonus pulls his gun out of thin air during the fight on the mausoleum; it simply appears in his hand in a flash of light, another instance supporting the fan-theories of "subspace" and the like.
*Springer reacts pointedly to the supposed death of Arcee, continuing the romantic overtones between them that first showed up back in "Five Faces of Darkness".
*The Autobot fleet shown in this episode causes some bizarre continuity hijinks. Character models for the Aerialbots, Powerglide, and Skyfire are used to pad out the fleet's ranks (see details under Animation and/or Technical Errors), and many of these "ships" are showing getting annihilated by the Quintessons. While one might be tempted to say that Skyfire is thus shown getting killed, you'd also have to say the same for the Aerialbots and Powerglide, who all show up alive and well in later episodes. You'd also have to accept Skydive getting killed and then being alive a few seconds later, and Slingshot getting killed twice.

===Real-world references===
[[File:Autobot shuttle lifepod.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Writer Antoni Zalewski recycled his own work for the opening scene of this episode, which is copied almost note-for-note from the 1985 "Ghost Ship" episode of ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''. The parallels include a pursuit through space, launching an escape pod ("We turned the cockpit into an escape ship just in time!"), right up to Spike's verbatim quote "It's the size of... Manhattan!"
*''Star Wars'' sound effects:
**The ''Star Wars'' effects are of a much higher fidelity of sound than the rest of the episode's effects, music and voiceovers, sitting higher in the mix and sounding rather out of place. Some are mixed to the point of being unidentifiable.
**A long X-Wing whine - from the Rebel squads approaching the Death Star - is heard in the opening shot as the Autobot ship flies past camera.
**As the Decepticons launch torpedos, sounds from one of the firefights on the Death Star can be heard.
**The whine of Luke's X-Wing about to crash on Dagobah (a rare use of a sound effect from ''Empire'') plays as the Mausoleum approaches the sun; the sound of branches hitting the fighter's canopy can still be heard.
**Death Star superlaser as the Autobots escape from the Mausoleum.
**X-Wing engine whine as the Quintesson asteroid-ship moves into firing position.

===Other trivia===
*The ''Transformers 2010'' story pages would run with this story's events, having the Quintessons analyze Optimus Prime's specifications and use them to build [[Guiltaur]]. {{storylink|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (story page)|Transformers 2010 Part 4}}
*This is easily the most gruesome episode of the original cartoon, and perhaps the only one with a certifiable body count - even if you don't include the named character models that are shown.
*That sure is some chipper, happy, peppy, upbeat music that plays as Daniel walks about reading the names of the dead, opening tombs, and running into zombies!

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Das Erwachen im Dunkeln'''" ("The Awakening in the Dark")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
*This was one of twelve episodes of [[The Transformers (cartoon)|the original cartoon]] released as audio adventures by the [[Germany|German]] company [[Karussell|Karussell Musik und Video]].

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' コンボイの影 (''Convoy no Kage'', "Convoy's Shadow")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[January 9]], [[1987]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''Transformers'' — Dark Awakening / Grimlock's New Brain ([[Tempo Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Dark Awakening ([[Tempo Video|Collins Video]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1990 — ''Transformers'' — Dark Awakening / Grimlock's New Brain ([[Tempo Video|Abbey Home Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1999 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 2: Revenge of the Decepticons ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;[[Wikipedia:LaserDisc|LaserDisc]]
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 3 and Season 4 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 4: Series 3.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season's Three & Four {{sic}} (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2010 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808822/ IMDb's page for this episode]
*[http://cybertronchronicle.com/cartoon-dossier/season-3/synopses/700-93.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1_CN1s80MHOZDFaY1ZWV2Y4UUk/view?usp=sharing Orignal dialogue script]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]