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Talk:This Is Why I Hate Machines

2024-03-14T09:18:54Z

White Cat: /* Continuity error */ Police drones

Really? Sentinel is supposedly emulating Bush in this episode, and not Nixon or McCarthy or some such?

''Really''?[[User:KrytenKoro|KrytenKoro]] 12:38, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

:He's imitating both, but the note at the end of the episode about making tough choices to protect, would do it again etc... was Bush. Neither Nixon nor McCarthy ever ''made'' those kinds of decisions-- even Nixon just inherited Vietnam, he never ran a fist strike. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 13:43, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
::Granted, I missed the first five minutes of the episode, so I only saw the stuff after Sentinel first saw Omega (so if he led some kind of preemptive strike on the Decepticon colonies, I missed it). But honestly, if his behavior in this episode is even meant to ''be'' a parallel, one to Bush is...rather flimsy. I mean, I dislike Bush and all, but I still don't remember him ever even trying to imprison political dissidents, no matter how much some said he would - even after they started outright vandalism and destruction of property. Plus, he didn't launch any "first strike" without congressional approval - and a big bit of this episode was Sentinel deciding to mobilize everything on his own. Hell, [[wikipedia:John Tyler#Presidency 1841–1845|John Tyler]] looks like it would fit better, such as how he achieved the presidency and Congress' response to it.[[User:KrytenKoro|KrytenKoro]] 18:31, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

:::If you ask me Sentinel is channeling the worst aspects of every generic, well meaning, incompetent and near-tyrannical leader of a free-nation. He doesn't seem like he's imitating anyone specific, his actions read more like a generic list of "what not to do" than a deliberate parody. [[User:(Undecided)|(Undecided)]] 19:25, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
::::The entire "I make the tough decisions that nobody else can and if I had to do it all again I totally would" bit was in places word-for-word taken from statements made by GWB. The whole "shutting down public spaces because terrorists" is an exaggeration, but the connection is there. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 22:19, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
::::A [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=XlN&q=I+make+the+tough+decisions+that+nobody+else+can&btnG=Search rough search] indicates that google doesn't think that line is unique to Bush - in fact, I didn't see any mention of Bush in connection to that line until many pages in. Really, it's a pretty common line for people in charge being criticized - I remember a line very close to it being used in that Bionicle movie that aired quite a few years back. Hell, Bill Dauterive from King of the Hill went through all this behavior when he became the leader of the flood shelter in that one episode. This is just generic "Paranoid, incompetent leader" stuff.
::::I get that "the funny stays", and this may seem unimportant, but honestly, the bit in the article just reads as desperate and pulling at straws politically, and just not at all humorous. I mean, at the very least, please take out the bit implying that Bush tried to accuse or prosecute people for treason for disagreeing with him, 'cause that's just complete and total bullshit. He wasn't one of our most or possibly even average competent presidents, but he wasn't freaking Stalin.[[User:KrytenKoro|KrytenKoro]] 02:44, 10 May 2009 (EDT)
::: Actually, while Bush didn't imprison political dissidents, there are suspicions that some of the Guantanamo inmates may have been innocent Afghans -- and Iraqis? -- pinched during America's efforts to detain al-Qaida agents, Taliban, and Afghanistan/Iraq insurgents. That being said, there is a great fear that the innocent, once free, will be (understandibly) mad with America. Not unlike Sentinel's wrongful detention of Wasp. I know for a fact that he's imitating Bush when he uses the line "...and I approve of this message." W. First used this line at the end of his 2000 Presidential commercials, and continued to do so in 2004 against Kerry. Other politicos -- Democrat, Republicon, and fictional -- have borrowed this line ever since. -- Cybertronian [[Special:Contributions/141.225.195.120|141.225.195.120]] 06:23, 23 May 2009 (EDT).
:::...."[[wikipedia:I approve this message|I approve of this message]]" was not a "trend started by Bush", it was a law started in North Carolina and brought to the federal level in 2002, and spearheaded by Senators unrelated to Bush.
:::"Wrongful imprisonment" is hardly, in any way, something new to Bush, and hardly his "thing". And the analogy wouldn't even work, as Wasp was imprisoned under Magnus' reign - you're basically comparing Sentinel to ''Obama'' with that analogy, unless you mean Sentinel as the actual one who turned him in - in which case you're comparing him to generals on the ground, in just an awfully twisted analogy. Finally, just on a personal note, I'd like you to check up these "suspicions" by looking at the recidivism rate for released detainees, which rivals that of actual convicted criminals, and I'd think that in eight years we should have some examples of wrongful detainment if it's such a problem.[[User:KrytenKoro|KrytenKoro]] 08:58, 23 May 2009 (EDT)

== Saur/Zaur ==

Since our article for Saur currently lives at "Saur," I've cleared out all the links to 'Zaur.' We can place the animated Article there with no conflicts.

(This might change, since IMO the official spelling of Zaur ''should'' count as an official spelling for the G1 'bot's name as well, but we can stick the Animated 'bot's article at "Zaur" (Wyatt's spelling) while we debate that. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 14:02, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

I figured I'd put this here. In the article for Zaur, in that picture to the left is a female transformer who has something like a hover skirt and I'd swear it was Botanica. Should this go on the appearance list or not?--[[User:AWT88|AWT88]] 21:06, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
:That's artwork by Wyatt. Look at the image page. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 21:18, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

His main picture's lifted from the April Fools, so no. --[[User:Professor Icepick|Professor Icepick]] 21:18, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
:My bad. Damn, I gotta pay a little more attention to that stuff.--[[User:AWT88|AWT88]] 21:21, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

== Capitalization ==

Shouldn't this page be at "This is Why I Hate Machines", not [[This Is Why I Hate Machines]]?--[[Special:Contributions/86.87.28.191|86.87.28.191]] 14:03, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
:I had the same thought, but I'm not sure. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 14:06, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
: "Is" is a verb. Verbs are capitalized in titles. It is only short prepositions which are uncapitalized. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 14:11, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
::I see... it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is! -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 14:38, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
:::Fuckity. It's not like me to forget that "is" is a verb.--[[Special:Contributions/86.87.28.191|86.87.28.191]] 16:13, 9 May 2009 (EDT)
::Short prepositions (the general limit seems to be four letters) and conjunctions. (Hence, title capitalization that seem weird to some, like "[[The House that Wheeljack Built!]]" The "that" in that phrase is actually a conjunction.) [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 16:33, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

==Continuity error==
Your continuity error isnt one.
Starscream states that Megatron managed to unlock the transformation of Omega supreme and to control the transwarp system, but not the weapons.

A true continuity error lies in the fact that when Omega transwarps at the end of the episode its in robot mode, and then it comes out of transwarp in ship mode. {{unsigned|85.247.43.111|17:34, 9 May 2009}}

:Yup, all Starscream does is complain about not having control over Omega's weapons, though it's Lugnut who says that Megatron regained control of Omega's transformation and transwarping, not Starscream. Also it looks like the Decepticons took Omega back to Earth at the end of the episode and considering that it took multiple transwarp jumps to reach Cyberton in ''Transwarped'', I don't think it's a continuity error for Omega to be in vehicle mode. The 'Cons would have had time to transform him off-screen. [[User:(Undecided)|(Undecided)]] 19:08, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

::No - at the end of [[TransWarped]] Omega Starscream makes it in a single jump. In the first instance (which you're thinking of), Omega conked out halfway through the jump, which is why they "land" in the middle of nowhere. - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 20:37, 9 May 2009 (EDT)

Should it be a considered a continuity error that the police drones are attacking the police chief, for no apparent reason? Or was there a reason given that I missed? -- [[User:White Cat|White Cat]] ([[User talk:White Cat|talk]]) 05:18, 14 March 2024 (EDT)

== Fortress Maximus ==
Shouldn't Fortress Maximus appear on the "Autobots" or the "Others" section of characters? {{unsigned|190.206.240.231}}
:No, because it's a building. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:17, 14 January 2011 (EST)

Megatron Rising - Part 1

2024-01-12T12:16:53Z

White Cat: /* Notes */ Moved to Real-world references

{{disambig2|the cartoon episode|the mobile game event|Galvatron Rising}}

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|image=MegRisingHeadKey.jpg
|caption=Cyber Key power!
|ep=15
|ep2=14
|prev2=Headmaster (episode)
|next2=Megatron Rising - Part 2
|title="Megatron Rising - Part 1"
|airdate=[[March 29]], [[2008]]
|season=1
|season ep=15
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]] [[Ciro Nieli]] [[Kentaro Mizuno]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
|continuity=[[Animated cartoon continuity]]}}

'''Prime begins to doubt his leadership abilities as the Decepticons mobilize for a big invasion of Earth.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:MegRisingBodyLab.jpg|left|200px|thumb|This is what happens when you don't have proper rust-proofing.]]

[[Detroit]] is in the midst of a blizzard, and as [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] starts to repair [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]'s body, he comments that they were fortunate to have found it beforehand, while at the same time praising it for being well-constructed enough to withstand 50 years of exposure to the elements. Megatron silently gloats that Cybertronian technology is more powerful than any force on Earth. The bad weather causes a blackout and forces [[Sumdac Tower]] onto its backup generator; when Sumdac decides this will force a delay in the repairs, Megatron alternates between bluster and sweet-talk to try to get his way, but it's no use. Megatron attempts to call [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] again for assistance.

Lugnut and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] have just finished rebuilding themselves (after some squabbling over the last piece) in a distant forest. [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] mocks them for in-fighting and reminds them that he is their new chosen and sworn sovereign; his two subjects retort that they serve him only under threat, not by choice. At that moment, Megatron successfully contacts Lugnut, whose newly reverential and respectful attitude both pleases and confuses (''but mostly pleases'') Starscream. When Starscream finds out Lugnut "thinks" he's hearing Megatron, the new leader is infuriated, and in his anger almost exposes that fact that it was himself, and not the Autobots, who defeated Megatron in the first place. Megatron orders Lugnut to retrieve the [[AllSpark Key]] and bring it to him; Starscream then notices that, regardless of the source, Lugnut is indeed being contacted by someone. He orders Lugnut and Blitzwing to obey the strange orders for now, while he himself will track the transmissions to their source and see who is trying to undermine his authority.

As the Decepticons move out, the [[Autobot Earth Base|Autobots' headquarters]] computer notices their increased activity. The Autobots are worried about a possible full-scale Decepticon invasion. As if [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] wasn't stressed enough, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] and [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] then take the opportunity to finally tell him about the continued survival of the [[Dinobot (Animated)|Dinobots]] on [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]]. Prime is furious that his orders were disobeyed, but decides that given the circumstances they should try to use all resources available—but insists that he will lead the new mission to contact the Dinobots.

[[Image:Megatron Rising Sari key taken.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Try all you want kid, Captain Planet ain't coming.]]

Optimus Prime is especially worried about the AllSpark Key, both because [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] can't protect it, and because she once again is using it as a toy (this time for model-plane dogfighting). When he orders her to turn it over, Sari angrily reminds him that she was chosen for this role by the [[AllSpark#Animated|AllSpark]] itself. Prime then orders [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to magnetically take the Key from her, and, reluctantly, Ratchet obeys. Sari feels heartbroken and betrayed, and flees the base. An upset [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] defends Sari's role as part of the team, to which Optimus responds that since Bumblebee has been such a poor team performer who makes so many mistakes, he isn't a good character witness. Bumblebee retorts that the Autobots' desperate, seemingly hopeless situation means Optimus isn't a good leader—then he leaves in pursuit of Sari. Prime orders Ratchet to take the Key to the [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Autobot spaceship]] beneath Lake Erie, and they all depart.

Sari walks down the street, dejected and pouting about how untrustworthy the Autobots turned out to be. But she's being watched—by [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachina]], who abducts the girl and mockingly praises her for seeing the light. Still hoping to cure herself of her techno-organic body, Blackarachnia attempts to bargain with Sari to hand over the AllSpark Key. They exchange "snappy banter" for a while, which leaves Blackarachnia bored. When Sari again mentions how the Autobots no longer trust her, Blackarachnia tells her more about her own sad past and how only the power of the AllSpark can give her back a normal life. Sari seems moved....

[[Image:Megatron Rising 1 Ratchet Blitzwing Key.jpg|left|200px|thumb|YOINK! AHAHAHAHAHA!]]

En route to the Autobot ship, Ratchet is ambushed by Blitzwing and Lugnut, in a battle about as one-sided as Bambi vs. Godzilla. He seems to challenge Blitzwing to a battle to the finish—but the three-faced robot simply freezes Ratchet solid and cracks off his crystallized arm, taking the AllSpark Key with it.

On Dinobot Island, the Autobots are confronted by the Dinobots who—again—are hostile to trespassers. Prime seemingly worsens the situation, as a stranger with a heavy-handed attitude. When their familiar protector Prowl reveals himself and tries to speak, the Dinobots calm down slightly (though Prime is further frustrated to learn the [[Meltdown (Animated)|extent of his troops' misadventures]] on Dinobot Island). But in the end, the Dinobots refuse to help against the Decepticons, saying they don't want to help any robots—they ''fight'' robots. Optimus points out that the Dinobots are robots themselves, prompting them to begin fighting each other. When Ratchet calls and informs Prime of the AllSpark Key's theft, the Autobots return to the mainland. Bulkhead asks what their next course of action is, and Prime admits he doesn't know, thinking that Bumblebee was right about Prime being unfit for command.

[[Image:Megatron rising 1 Starscream freakout.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Bumblebee violated rule number 37 of the good guy code: never interrupt the villain during the monologue.]]

Starscream traces the source of Lugnut's messages back to Sumdac Tower. Blasting his way in, he is shocked to find Megatron alive—but regains his composure at the sight of his former leader dismantled and helpless. The two have an elaborately deceptive conversation about loyalty: Megatron knows Starscream betrayed him, but Starscream doesn't know he knows and wants to monologue a bit before delivering the final blow. Meanwhile, Bumblebee's search for Sari leads him to the tower; when he spots Starscream through the wrecked wall, he squeezes himself into an elevator and prepares for a one-on-one battle (after using the classic "cellphone interference" ploy to avoid talking to Optimus). Right when Starscream is finally about to finish Megatron off, Bumblebee charges in, stingers blasting wildly—striking Starscream at full force and causing no damage at all. Starscream effortlessly thrashes Bumblebee, more angry at having his monologue interrupted than anything else. During this diversion, Megatron activates some of the lab machinery, propelling both Starscream and Bumblebee out of the lab and onto the tower roof.

[[Image:Megatron Rising head body connect.JPG|left|200px|thumb|Well, we're boned.]]

Dr. Sumdac rushes in, hearing the disturbance. At first Megatron keeps up his usual act, warning that the Decepticons will be back soon and that he needs his new body immediately. The doctor agrees, trying to repair it as quickly as possible, while Megatron observes the rooftop action on a viewscreen and tries to electrocute Starscream through a spotlight. Lugnut and Blitzwing arrive, with Lugnut praising his leader, belatedly noticing his damaged state. Seeing Megatron, Blitzwing finally understands that Lugnut wasn't crazy. As Sumdac demands to know who they are, Lugnut forces Sumdac to genuflect to Megatron, revealing that Megatron is a Decepticon, who in turn gloats at the sight and how easily he was able to lie to his captor. Before Sumdac can contemplate the seriousness of what he has done, Lugnut drops him into Megatron's hand to witness what will happen. Blitzwing inserts the AllSpark Key into Megatron's head; its power is now his to command. Megatron quickly (''and beautifully'') repairs himself, using metal from the lab as patch-up material when necessary; in the process he steals Sumdac away to an as-yet-undisclosed location.

[[Image:Megatron Rising Megs entrance.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Sheer awesomeness.]]

Up on the roof, Starscream is about to finish off Bumblebee, and down on the street the Autobots are just arriving to try to help, but all are reduced to staring in horror and disbelief as Megatron blasts up into the sky, an armored colossus.

Is this the part where someone faints?
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (8)
* [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (9)
* [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (10)
* [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (11)
* [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (12)
* [[Grimlock (Animated)|Grimlock]] (14)
* [[Snarl (Animated)|Snarl]] (15)
* [[Swoop (Animated)|Swoop]] (16)

|c2=
* [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (2)
* [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (5)
* [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (6)
* [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (7)
* [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (13)

|c3=
* [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] (1)
* [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] (3)

|c4=
*[[Reception Bot]] (4)
}}

==Quotes==
'''Lugnut''': And the universe will rejoice! All hail your grand and glorious return! 
'''Starscream''': Okaaay, what's ''his'' malfunction? 
'''Icy Blitzwing''': Technical glitch. It happens. 
'''Random Blitzwing''': A lot, actually! Ahahahaha! 
'''Lugnut''': It is ''not'' a glitch! It is Megatron, and he commands us to deliver him the Key! 
'''Starscream''': Megatron...?! Did you just say Megatron?! Did he just say ''MEGATRON''?! ''THERE IS NO MEGATRON!'' MEGATRON IS OFFLINE! TERMINATED! I DID IT MYSEL—''saw'' it myself.
:—Starscream is a master of subtlety, truly!

"The fate of the Earth and Cybertron hang in the balance and all I've got in my command are a bunch of undisciplined, insubordinate MALFUNCTIONS!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' has quite the bad temper when he's dissatisfied with his troops.

"What's your damage, Prime? Sari has been helping us since the day we got here. She is a part of this team!" 
"Considering your own history of mistakes, Bumblebee, I wouldn't exactly call you a great character witness." 
"Is that right?! Well let me tell ''you'' something, ''Boss-Bot'': Considering the fact that we're stuck on this planet, outnumbered, with no idea on how we're gonna beat an army of Decepticons ready to fry our circuits at any second, I wouldn't exactly call '''you''' a great leader."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Optimus Prime''' exchange harsh words. Ouch.

'''Hothead Blitzwing''': The Key, Autobot! 
'''Ratchet''': You'll have to pry it from my cold, offline servo. 
''[Blitzwing switches to his icy face, freezes Ratchet, then switches to his random face]'' 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Well, it's not exactly offline, but— ''[Rips off Ratchet's arm]'' —it's certainly cold. Ahahahaha! 
:—Blitzwing cheats by stealing the Key from Ratchet instead of fighting for it.

"Look what the capacitor dragged in." 
"Megatron?! Alive? And looking... magnificent, as always." 
"Starscream. How good it is to be reunited with such a ''devoted'' and ''faithful'' subject in my time of need." 
"I would have come sooner, o grand and illustrious leader, but naturally we all assumed you perished at the hands of the Autobot scum. What... great... joy to discover you did not." 
"Yes. Delight is written all over your face."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream''' exchange, ''ahem'', warm and heartfelt pleasantries.

"'''YOU INTERRUPTED MY SPEECH!'''"
:—'''Starscream''' seriously freaks out when Bumblebee shoots him.

"We have come for our glorious leader, Megatron!" 
"I am here, Lugnut." 
"Oh, Master, I am not worthy! I am not worthy... What happened to your body?" 
"Long story."
:—'''Lugnut''' and '''Megatron''', reunited at last.

"''Decepticons?'' But, you told me you were an Autobot." 
"And I hated every moment of that humiliating charade. But no more..."
:—'''Isaac Sumdac''' finally learns the truth, and from '''Megatron''' himself.

==Notes==

===Transformers references===
* Prime finally refers to [[Dinobot Island (Animated)|Dinobot Island]] by that name.

===Real-world references===
* Ratchet's remark to Blitzwing about prying the AllSpark Key "from his cold, offline servo" is a reference to an {{w|From my cold, dead hands|NRA slogan}} made famous in a speech by {{w|Charlton Heston}}. Coincidentally, exactly one week after this episode aired, Heston went up to that grand old shooting range in the sky.
*The R/C Plane Sari was flying resembles a MiG-15 Fighter.
*At one point during Starscream's transformation, he strongly resembles the Gerwalk mode of the [http://www.macross2.net/m3/macrossplus/yf-19.htm YF-19 Alpha One] from the anime ''{{w|Macross Plus}},'' one of the apparent influences for his alternate mode.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**Exploding [[X-wing Fighter]] when Ratchet uses his electromagnets to shoot down Sari's RC plane.

===Animation and technical errors===
[[Image:Sari's leg.jpg|right|200px|thumb|It's a new fashion trend.]]
* The [[Scale|size of Megatron's head]] fluctuates greatly between scenes, often appearing gigantic even compared to large characters.
* While Prime is shouting at the other 'Bots his insignia starts where it should be, on his shoulder. But as he gestures it seems to rotate around to the underside of his arm.
* When Sari is telling Blackarachnia about the Autobots taking away the AllSpark Key, her right leg is drawn awkwardly... almost as if it's growing out of her skirt. Though this is very likely in order to prevent a [[Teletraan 15|pre-teen panty shot]].
* In the same scene, Blackarachnia's Decepticon insignia is missing the white lines, making it a featureless purple spot.
* After Ratchet reports to Prime that he lost the AllSpark Key, his EMP blaster wound briefly disappears as he lowers his arm.
* Starscream's Decepticon insignia is occasionally upside-down.
* Optimus has two lights on each shoulder, when he admits he was out of line and says about repairing friendships, he raises his fist hiding one of these lights, but when his fist goes down, the light he is hiding has vanished.

===Continuity errors===
* When Bulkhead brings up the Dinobots, Optimus says that they were destroyed, "weren't they?" However, the last time the Dinobots were mentioned was in "[[Survival of the Fittest]]", when Optimus thought the Dinobots were ''missing,'' and also suspected they were involved in the kidnapping of Sari. He has no known reason to think they were ''destroyed.'' Of course, we still don't know what story Prowl and Bulkhead told Prime after the events of "Survival of the Fittest".
* Does Blackarachnia not remember that she already tried using Sari's key to get rid of her organic half back in "[[Along Came a Spider]]" and it didn't work?
* Hothead Blitzwing is depicted using the jet mode, previously depicted as "belonging" to his Icy persona.
* Not so much an error as just an oddity: When Starscream stands over a dangling Bumblebee on the Sumdac Tower rooftop, Megatron sends a power surge through a roof fixture and zaps Starscream. When the scene cuts back to the roof a few minutes later, Bumblebee's back on the roof, which he likely managed while Starscream was stunned, and Starscream's confronting him again. However, with no time given for them to talk or react about the transition, the previous roof scene may as well not have happened.

===Trivia===
*The Decepticon symbol on Megatron's body that was so clear [[Nature Calls|last episode]] is nowhere to be seen now. Of course, neither is the chestplate it resided on.
*We learn that Prowl and Bulkhead not only didn't tell Prime that the Dinobots were still around, but also didn't tell him that [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] was the one behind Sari's kidnapping in "[[Survival of the Fittest]]". So, when they returned with Sari after the events of that episode, they apparently told him ''none'' of the truth. What ''did'' they tell him?
*Apparently, when Optimus is '''really''' ticked off and breathing heavy, his engine audibly revs.
*This is the first episode in which we see an extended transformation sequence for Starscream.
*When Megatron's energized body sends out cables to its detached hand, in which Prof. Sumdac is sitting, the hand grips around Sumdac, then is yanked under the flooring and over to the body, where it opens back up—with Sumdac no longer within it. (Nothing up Megatron's sleeve!)
*It appears that Grimlock has gotten over his hatred of [[Car Robots]], but [[Grimlock (G1)|he still hates Optimus Prime]].
*Being in the Great War must have really toughened Ratchet up, as he expresses no pain or shock at the fact that he gets his servo ripped off by [[Blitzwing (Animated)|some mad Decepticon]]. Hardcore.
*All through Season 1, since his reactivation, Megatron has been saying the words "triumphant return" frequently. This episode is the last time he uses those two words together.
*This episode, along with part 2, was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as "[[Transformers Animated Volume 7]]".

===Foreign localization===
'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''O Despertar de Megatron, Parte 1'''" ("The Awakening of Megatron, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatron se relève, 1ère partie'''" ("Megatron Rises Again, First Part")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatrons Auferstehung, Teil 1'''" ("Megatron's Resurrection, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 11|11 July]] [[2008]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatron Risorge (Prima Parte)'''" ("Megatron Resurrects (First Part)")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[January 3|3 January]] [[2009]]

'''Spanish (Latin America)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatron se Levanta, 1ra perte'''" ("Megatron Awakes, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[August 30|30 August]] [[2008]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatron no Fukkatsu Part 1'''" (メガトロンの復活パート1, "Megatron's Resurrection, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 3|3 July]] [[2010]]
::* '''Cut:''' The blizzard rages on in Detroit.
::* '''Cut:''' After Optimus learns that Prowl and Bulkhead help the Dinobots escape, he becomes really ticked off and his engine audibly revs.
::* '''Cut:''' Sari tries to defend herself that she's done a good job of protecting her key when Optimus tells her that she can no longer be trusted with it.
::* '''Cut:''' When Sari runs off, Bumblebee tries to chase after her when Optimus stops him. Bumblebee argues that Sari's been helping the Autobots since the day they arrived on Earth, to which Optimus says he wouldn't consider him a good character witness. Before running off to find Sari, Bumblebee replies coldly that considering the fact that the Autobots are stuck on this planet, outnumbered, and have no idea have to defend Earth against an army of Decepticons, he wouldn't consider him a great leader.

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Powrót Megatrona, Część 1'''" ("The Return of Megatron, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season One ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Three: Megatron Rising (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Three: Megatron Rising (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Drei: Megatrons Auferstehung (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2010 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Vol. 4 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2013 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season One ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

The Agenda (Part 1)

2023-12-05T00:59:54Z

White Cat: /* Continuity errors */ Time travel

{{episode
|series=BWtoon
|ep=37
|series2=Metals
|ep2=10
|prev2=Transmutate (episode)
|next2=The Agenda (Part 2)
|image=Agenda_1_Ravage_ship.jpg
|caption=Hello, boys. I'm back!
|title="The Agenda" (Part 1)
|season=2
|season ep=11
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[March 11]], 1998 ([[Toonami]]), [[May 9]], 1998 (syndication)
|written by=[[Bob Forward]]
|directed by=[[Cal Shumiatcher]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}
'''The Predacons of Cybertron send an agent to Earth to bring back Megatron and his band of criminals.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] tracks the transwarp wavefront released by the destruction of the alien [[Planet Buster]], announcing it will arrive at [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in a few hours and that the [[Maximal]]s are going home soon.

Meanwhile, [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] has made similar calculations and is less than pleased. [[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] reports that [[Code of Hero|their attack]] on the early humans caused them to scatter, making their extinction an impossibility. Megatron decides to implement one final plan—a gamble, he notes, as his security cameras show [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] leaving the [[Darksyde (BW)|Predacon base]].

[[File:Agenda 1 Silverbolt Blackarachnia.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|How romantic.]]
[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] flies to a secluded location where he meets up with Blackarachnia, delivering to her a [[graviton generator]]. He once again offers her a spot in the Maximal ranks. She refuses, telling him that she ''likes'' being a bad girl—and Silverbolt knows he likes it too. They embrace...

In another time and place, [[Predacon Command Outpost One|a Cybertronian outpost]] is violently rocked by the transwarp wavefront. The [[Tripredacus Council]] convenes, having traced the wavefront signature back to Megatron. They detonate a Cybertronian satellite to make sure the Maximal sensors don't detect the wave and send an operative to find and capture Megatron. Operating a special stealth-equipped [[transwarp cruiser]], his orders are to "terminate with extreme prejudice".

[[File:Transwarp cruiser.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Who was the inventor of this ship?]]
Back at the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', the Maximals get ready for Megatron's inevitable final attack on their base. [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] and Inferno ready some attack systems, but [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] decides to take the more direct approach and assaults [[Sentinel (BW)|Sentinel]]'s shields with his weapons. The battle begins and the Predacons appear to be winning until reinforcements come from above. Megatron orders a retreat and the invisible source of the Maximals' help lands.

The ''Axalon''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s hatch opens and Silverbolt's super doggie nose smells something. All the Maximals draw their weapons as two red lasers appear out of nowhere from the hatch. Optimus Primal finally realizes that their reinforcements came in the form of a Decepticon who after the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] was granted amnesty and rebuilt as a Predacon.

[[File:Agenda 1 Ravage attention.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|In Soviet Russia, you serve Ravage.]]
Shots are fired, knocking all of the Maximals' weapons out of their hands. The mysterious assailant jumps into the bridge and reveals himself as [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]. He apologizes for disarming them, saying that he was concerned that he might be attacked before he could explain himself. [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] appears to justify his caution, saying that the only thing worse than a Predacon is a Decepticon. [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] shoves Rattrap aside and orders him to shut up but does inform Ravage that they've been fighting Megatron for a while in a less than friendly manner. Ravage offers the apologies of the [[Predacon Alliance]] for Megatron's actions, insisting that the Alliance did not sanction them, and says that he is here to help neutralize Megatron. But he lies about the transwarp wave, saying that it was too weak for anything but the Predacon sensors to detect and that the reason he's alone is because they detected Megatron's energy signature only, hoping to settle this "quietly".

At the Predacon base, Blackarachnia finishes work on a flying [[stasis pod]] with Silverbolt's graviton generator. Her celebration is cut short, however, when Megatron calls for her. Megatron correctly anticipates a Maximal retaliation and sends everyone but Waspinator to fortify the base. Waspinator, he sends on a "special mission" which Blackarachnia takes note of.

[[File:Agenda 1 Megatron bound.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Hey, for once it isn't the monkey getting restrained!]]
Ravage's transwarp cruiser takes off from the ''Axalon'' with the Maximals on board. [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] is still unsure about their plan, but Ravage notes that the ship provides several advantages (such as the ability to use Ravage's own cloaking ability) and Ravage observes that they have another one inside the Predacon base. This sets off alarms in [[Tarantulas's lair]] and he transforms and rolls out in the same direction as the cruiser. Ravage and the Maximals attack the Predacon base while Silverbolt ignores Optimus' orders to take down Blackarachnia, who takes off towards Waspinator's secret location.

Ravage begins firing upon the downed Predacon ship and Megatron orders his troops to keep fighting, but suddenly he is bound to his chair with energy rings as the base's power is cut. Ravage, Optimus, Rattrap, and Rhinox walk in, and Ravage places Megatron under arrest. Are the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] over? [[The Agenda (Part 2)|To be continued]]!
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (1)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (2)
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (3)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (4)
*[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] (5)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (6)
*[[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] (7)
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (8)
*[[Sea Clamp]] (9)
*[[Ram Horn]] (10)
*[[Cicadacon]] (11)
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (12)
*[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] (13)
*[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] (14)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (15)
*[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (16)
}}

==Quotes==
"Oh man, you are gonna love it! I know this little place where you can get dirty mech fluid mixed with just a touch of radium. It'll take your head right off! And not only that... (''looks at Cheetor, who is eagerly listening, and lowers his voice'') Not only that, but the serving bots are walking around minus their torso plates, ya know what I mean?" 
"Yes, obviously a veritable nexus of culture and refinement. How can I refuse."
:—'''Rattrap'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s description of how even famous cartoon characters go to Cybertronian strip clubs, and '''Silverbolt'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s response.

'''Rattrap''': So, uh, where ya' been, bird-dog? 
'''Silverbolt''': Uh, scout patrol... 
'''Rattrap''': Oh, yeah, yeah, scoutin' the enemy, yeah. ...Find any new ''positions''?
:—'''Rattrap''', proving that neither he nor the writers of ''Beast Wars'' are above cheap innuendos.

'''Rattrap''': Now whadda we do? 
'''Silverbolt''': Well, given our proximity, I breathe through my mouth.
:—'''Silverbolt''', picking up where Dinobot left off.

"After the Great War, a few Decepticons were granted amnesty. Most have retired, but rumor has it that one was reprogrammed and rebuilt -- as a Predacon!"
:—'''Optimus Primal''' dropping the bombshell on the uninvited guest of the Axalon.

"Oh, for bootin' up cold, the only thing worse than a stinkin' Pred, is a stinkin' Decepticon!"
:—'''Rattrap''' about Ravage not using the front door

"In the name of the [[Pax Cybertronia]] and the [[Predacon Alliance]], you are under arrest."
:—'''Ravage''', upon apprehending Megatron

==Notes==
===Script timeline===
* First draft: 6th October 1997
* Second draft: 22nd October 1997
* Finalised: 24th October 1997
* As Air: 16th February 1998

===Animation and technical errors===
*For the first time all season we get a couple of good shots of Earth, first as Ravage's ship approaches the planet and then at the end underneath the "To Be Continued..." caption. In both cases it looks less like present day Earth than the shots from space we had back in season one when the animators had the excuse that they were trying to keep the planet's identity a mystery. (And in case you were wondering, the time frame of the cartoon is between 70,000 BCE and 3 MY ago depending on which "offical" source you listen to. Even using the "3 million years ago" figure, Earth would have looked pretty much the same as it does today.)
*The time of day seen throughout the whole episode appears to be evening, with one side of the sky dark and starry and the other side orange-brown with a setting sun. However, in both the shot of Ravage's ship touching down to land on the ground, and in the shot of him entering the Maximal base from its roof hatch, it is suddenly a bright sunny day. It returns to being evening shortly after when Ravage and the Maximals take off in the ship to fly over to the Predacon base.
*When the Maximals are getting thrown around by Rampage's initial attack on their base, Rattrap slams into the elevator door, shattering the glass. However, the cracks appear on the pane directly above and below the glass itself, making it look like Rattrap cracked ''the door itself''.
*After slamming into the rocks, Cheetor's beast mode nose is silver instead of its usual blue.

===Continuity errors===
*The entire idea that the transwarp wavefront is reaching Cybertron in the future "now", and that consequently Megatron must launch a decisive attack against the Maximals before Cybertronian reinforcements arrive, is... confusing. Any ships sent from Cybertron to rescue Primal's crew are traveling back in time in order to reach them on prehistoric Earth, so why would they have to arrive at a certain moment? They could travel to any point after—or even before—the ''Axalon'' and ''Darksyde'' crashed.
**Assuming the Tripredacus Council can trace the origin time of the transwarp wave accurately, Ravage should have arrived at the start of [[Aftermath]]. There could also be a reason to send him back early ([[Beast Wars (Part 1)]]) to catch Megatron before he could mess with history, but why would they wait until "now," likely months or years after the explosion?
*The Predacon autoguns are bizarrely ineffective in this episode. They fail to so much as hinder the Maximals when they jump from Ravage's cruiser, and both Cheetor and Optimus take direct hits without a scratch to show for it. They've been previously shown to easily incapacitate any Maximal with a clean hit.
*It's mentioned that the Axalon disappeared "last mega-cycle" which usually refers to a [[Units of time/Continuity#Beast Wars .26 Beast Machines cartoon|time period]] of around an hour. It may have been intended to be "deca-cycle".

===Continuity notes===
* Bits of Optimus Primal's original body- destroyed in the same explosion that created the quantum wave- fly at the screen.
* The destruction of the glass on the Axalon's elevator doors is a running joke in the series. In this episode the glass first gets smashed by Rattrap, and then smashed even more when Optimus flies into it a minute later. That's how you know this is a super-important episode, folks.
* The satellite detonated by the Tripredacus Council reuses the CGI model of the "Energon Monitoring Device" from "[[Equal Measures]]".
* Gadgets and powers:
** Silverbolt can carry small items around underneath his chest armor.
** He also debuts a new and rarely-used feather blade this episode, Instead of a long handle like his typical sword or spear, this feather was more like a handheld knife.
** The bumpers of Rampage's tank mode (formed from the lower parts of his crab claws) are able to grasp edges and act as anchors so Rampage can fire upwards.
* This isn't the [[Victory_(episode)| first time]] Rattrap has tried convincing one of the [[Tigatron| Earthborn Maximals]] to come with him to Cybertron's seedier locales.

===Transformers references===
* Optimus notes that most of the Decepticons that survived the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] have retired.
* Ravage was one of the original [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|cassette-robots]] to serve under [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] in the original cartoon and comics. You know...in case you were wondering.

===Real-world references===
*Rattrap speaks of places in Cybertron where the servingbots walk around "minus their torso plates" and then does sort of a "wink wink, nudge nudge" toward Silverbolt. He's referencing strip clubs, of course.
*[[Six Lasers Over Cybertron]], which Cheetor gets excited about, is a reference to {{w|Six Flags}} over various states.
*[[Cicadacon]] quotes from ''Apocalypse Now'' with "Terminate with extreme prejudice."
*[[Subsector Hooks]] is a shout-out to fan James "HooksX" Hooks.
*The three missiles Rampage fires at the ''Axalon'' to start the attack each bear a symbol: a {{w|Bohr model|classical model of the atom}} (a nuclear warhead?), a death's head poison symbol, and a peace sign, of all things. The peace missile makes another appearance in "[[Optimal Situation]]".
*Ravage's interaction with the Maximals is highly reminiscent of the depiction of cooperative Soviet operatives in American fiction during the [[Cold War (history)|Cold War]]. The accent, the diplomatic politeness, the suggestion that only Predacon technology was adequate enough to detect the transwarp wave...it's all stereotypical of an 80s spy movie (or {{w|Oktober Guard|G.I.Joe episode}}) where the American heroes must work with Soviet agents for the greater good.
*Ravage arrests Megatron in the name of the "[[Pax Cybertronia]]", a parallel to the {{w|Pax Romana}}.

===Trivia===
*The audio of Rattrap and Cheetor's cheers of glee at the beginning of the episode is recycled from "[[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)]]" and "[[Aftermath]]", respectively.
*The Tripredacus Council members shown at the beginning of the episode ''were'' meant to be the Tripredacus gestalt toy components, and were even referred to by their individual names in the original script. However, time constraints prevented the renders for the figures from exactly matching the toys they were based on, so Hasbro asked that their individual names not be referred to, though the gestalt name was still used for the group.
*As there was no interior set for the Council meeting, the models were rough with little moving parts, and the scene was all-dialogue and no action, director [[Cal Shumiatcher]] gave the Council's meeting its stylish look as a way of keeping kids interested while covering up any flaws. The lack of ambient light was for a "super high contrast, film noir look", inspired by how the Council were putting "a hit" on Megatron: "So I decided to play them like film noir gangsters, sitting in a smoke filled room under a swinging ‘china hat’ lamp." The constantly copied red glow was suggested by supervising animator [[Eric Reynolds]], so you could see the character's faces (the overhead light on its own cast too hard a shadow).<ref>[http://news.tfw2005.com/2015/11/04/the-tripredacus-agenda-behind-the-scenes-of-beast-wars-the-agenda-part-1-304952 TFW2005: "The Tripredacus Agenda – behind the scenes of Beast Wars The Agenda, Part 1"]</ref>
*The battle at the end of the episode is not one of Cheetor's shining moments. He had to be pushed out of Ravage's cruiser by Silverbolt, and activated his jets just ''after'' he hit the ground, causing him to slam into a large rock. When he recovered from that, he was about to attack Waspinator... and got shot point-blank by a Predacon autogun. No wonder he wasn't in the last scene...
*Given how much is at stake for Megatron, one wonders why he chose the notoriously incompetent Waspinator to secure the ''Ark''. Wouldn’t Inferno have been a better choice?

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Le Programme 1'''" (Canada, "The Program 1")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Il coraggio di Grifo - Prima parte'''" ("The Courage of Silverbolt - First Part")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Taiho Da Nya'''" (たいほだにゃ, "You're Under Arrest, Meow")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 8]] [[1999]]

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Os Planos Parte 1'''" ("The Plans Part 1")

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''El Agente (Parte 1)'''" ("The Agent (Part 1)")

:*''Title:'' "'''El Programa Primera Parte'''" ("The Agenda First Part")

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Diànzǐ Xīngrén '''" (电子星人, "Cybertrian")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Series 2 / Volume 4 ({{w|Siren Visual|Siren Entertainment}}) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers: Metals'' — I'm a Crab! ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2001 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 8 ([[Universal]])
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Second Season ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Seasons 2 & 3 ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (Universal) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agenda part 1}}
[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]

Code of Hero

2023-12-05T00:47:54Z

White Cat: /* Continuity errors */ Transwarp wave

{{disambig2|the cartoon episode|the mobile game event|Code of a Hero}}

{{episode|
|series=BWtoon
|ep=35
|series2=Metals
|ep2=8
|prev2=Other Visits (Part 2)
|next2=Transmutate (episode)
|image=CodeofHero titlepic.jpg
|caption=The rest... is silence.
|title="Code of Hero"
|season=2
|season ep=9
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[March 9]], 1998 ([[Toonami]]), [[April 25]], 1998 (syndication)
|packaged with=[[Dinobot (BW)#Beast Wars 10th Anniversary|Dinobot]]
|written by=[[Ian Weir]]
|directed by=[[Bob Forward]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity= [[Beast Wars continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhPSPFu31tM
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''Dinobot makes the ultimate sacrifice to save those who are still to come.'''

==Synopsis==
In [[Valley of the Neanderthals|a wild valley]], a group of [[anthropoid|primitive hominids]] forage for food. A [[Giant Snake]] attacks two of their number, and the anthropoids are helpless to stop it...

[[File:Dinobot meditate.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"I have no other choice, I have dishonored my comrades."]]
At the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'', a haunted Dinobot meditates on his sword... and holds its blade ominously over his chest. But after a long moment of tension and hesitation, he casts it aside with a growl of frustration.

Rhinox has been calculating the path of the [[Transwarp wavefront|Transwarp Wave]] from the [[Planet Buster]]'s destruction—it's traveling through time at an accelerated rate, and will reach [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] in the "present", thus alerting Cybertron to their location. [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] fears Megatron has made similar calculations, and the group realizes they need to increase their defenses.

Dinobot, still somber, runs into Rattrap, who nearly goads him into a fight over his turning the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Disk]] over to Megatron. Rattrap stalks off, concluding that he'd thought Dinobot was at least forthright. Dinobot is left to reflect that his past actions cannot be undone... but they "may yet be mitigated". He arms himself and heads off into the wastes.

On aerial recon, Cheetor observes Megatron and Rampage out for a stroll. They drive him off with some damage, but Cheetor calls in the sighting to Dinobot, who promises to follow up.

At [[Tarantulas's lair|his lair]], Tarantulas has captured a tasty antelope for his dinner. But as he creeps up to the struggling beast, Dinobot bursts out of the ground, holding him at gunpoint and demanding to know what information is on the Golden Disk. Tarantulas doesn't know—there are no more copies remaining, and Megatron is keeping the Disk on his person at all times. Still holding him at gunpoint, Dinobot uses Tarantulas as his unwilling ride.

[[File:Megatron GoldenDisk.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|The hills are alive, with The Sounds of Earth!]]
The anthropoids scatter and panic as Megatron flies overhead and lands. Rampage sneers that the Maximals will soon arrive from Cybertron, and that he anticipates Megatron's imminent demise. Megatron admits that's very likely... but only if history remains as it is.

Megatron explains that the Golden Disk contains images recorded in the future, including one of a nearby mountain. Megatron has Rampage destroy the mountaintop. After a moment, the image on the disk changes to suit the altered reality, to Megatron's delight. Dinobot observes all this with dawning dread: Megatron has the power to change the future.

The valley they are standing above, Megatron explains, spawned the human race. Their interference helped the Autobots win the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], thereby allowing the Maximals to rule over the Predacons today. But Megatron has a different history in mind. Summoning the rest of his troops, he orders them to annihilate the valley and its inhabitants. With the anthropoids destroyed, the human race will never have existed!

[[File:CodeofHero-letthebattlebejoined.jpg|left|upright=0.95|thumb|A picturesque image is required before a dramatic death.]]
While Dinobot's back is turned, Tarantulas blasts him; Dinobot reciprocates by squashing him under a rock. Dinobot contacts Optimus, who orders him to maintain position, but Dinobot knows there is no time to wait. With his questions answered, Dinobot is ready to face his destiny.

Dinobot moves in to attack the entire Predacon force single-handed. He blasts Inferno and Blackarachnia (stabbing the former for good measure), stomps Waspinator, forces Rampage's cannon to backfire (using Waspinator's head), and pummels Quickstrike (with his bare hands), but loses his weapons, suffers considerable damage, and drains most of his energy supply. His computer warns him that he must enter [[stasis lock]] to survive... a command which Dinobot overrides.

Megatron confronts the damaged warrior, gloating over his near-total victory; when Dinobot starts to attack, Megatron reveals an anthropoid captive. The hostage is enough to make Dinobot halt; Megatron rebukes him for weakness. But Dinobot is a warrior still. Forging a makeshift hammer from a rock and stick, he knocks the Disk out of Megatron's hand and frees the anthropoid. With the last of his energy, he summons one final optic blast, shattering the Disk.

Nearly mad with frustration, Megatron flees as the [[Maximal]]s arrive. Rattrap gasps in horror at the sight of his comrade, while Cheetor douses the flames of the burning valley. The Maximals gather around the fallen Dinobot, but it is too late to help him. Optimus assures him that he has saved untold lives yet to come. Dinobot exchanges a final round of barbs with Rattrap; he asks them all to tell his story truthfully, both the good and the bad, and allow him to be judged accordingly. "The rest is silence." With that, the proud warrior dies. Rattrap leads the others in a salute as Dinobot's [[spark]] leaves his body, with Primal wishing it on to the Matrix, there to join Cybertron's finest.

[[File:Dinobot funeral.jpg|right|upright=0.95|thumb|Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away...]]
The next morning, the Maximals hold a funeral for Dinobot. The fliers soar through the air in a {{w|missing man formation|salute}}, as Rattrap and Rhinox dissolve Dinobot's remains.

At the valley, a curious anthropoid (presumably the same one Dinobot rescued) finds Dinobot's hammer. He soon figures out how to use it to help gather food... and to fend off predators, such as the giant snake. The anthropoid's yell of triumph echoes through the valley; and high above, a brief flicker appears in the void of space.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] (4)
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (5)
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (6)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (7)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (8)
*[[Silverbolt (Fuzor)|Silverbolt]] (16)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (9)
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (10)
*[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] (11)
*[[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (12)
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (13)
*[[Inferno (BW)|Inferno]] (14)
*[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] (15)

|h3=[[Anthropoid]]s|c3=
*[[Blix|Leader Neanderthal]] (1)
*[[Brown Neanderthal]] (2)

|c4=
*[[Giant Snake]] (3)
}}

==Quotes==
"Remember that transwarp cell explosion?" 
[''Primal just glares''] 
"Okay, stupid question..."
:—'''Rhinox''' has a once-in-a-lifetime lapse in intelligence.

"The rodent's words give off the stench of truth. Destiny has one great test in store for us all. Has mine already come and have I failed it? A deed once done cannot be undone, but perhaps, it may yet be mitigated."
:—'''Dinobot''' embarking on his destiny

"The question that once haunted my being has been answered. The future is not fixed, and my choices are my own. And yet, how ironic... for I now find that I have no choice at all! I am a warrior... let the battle be joined."
:—'''Dinobot''', realizing his destiny

"One lonely turncoat, battling on against impossible odds." ''[Wipes fake tear]'' "I'm almost touched! ...Fortunately, such moments pass quickly. Quickstrike, scrap him!"
:—'''Megatron''', observing Dinobot's solo fight to save the valley.

"What's a warrior without weapons, eh?" 
"A warrior ''still!''"
:—'''Quickstrike''' totally underestimates '''Dinobot'''.

"Hmm, my ears are burning! Yesss! Why, Dinobot, what a delightful surprise! Let's see, where are we now? I have the Golden Disk, I have the power to change the future, and the only remaining obstacle in my path to ''unimaginable'' glory... is yourself. Exhausted. Damaged beyond recovery. ''Defeated''." 
"Not just yet!" 
"Ah-ah-ah!" ''[Megatron reveals a bound proto-human]'' "One more step, and it's raining bits of early anthropoid, yesss." ''[Dinobot hesitates]'' "Oh dear, how positively ''Maximal'' of you. You were weakened before you started, Dinobot. Weakened by ''compassion''."
:—'''Megatron''' confronts the severely damaged '''Dinobot'''.

"Oh, please! Face it, Dinobot! You're old technology, obsolete. What could ''you'' possibly do?" 
"Improvise."
:—'''Megatron''' is about to find out that '''Dinobot''' has one more trick up his sleeve.

'''Optimus Primal:''' "Well fought, my friend. You saved the valley. You saved the lives of those who live here... and of those who are still to come." 
'''Dinobot:''' "Then... there is nothing to regret." 
'''Rattrap:''' "Like I said, you're just a blasted, slag-spouting saurian, but... it's nice to know where you stand." 
'''Dinobot:'''"Upwind of you, for preference, vermin. ...Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence."
:— Dinobot shares last words with his comrades

"He lived a warrior, and died a hero. Let his spark join the Matrix, the greatest of Cybertron."

:—'''Optimus Primal'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s eulogy for Dinobot

==Notes==
===Script timeline===
* First draft: 15th September 1997
* Second draft: 22nd September 1997

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:CodeofHero wrong Rattrap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|right|Maybe it's [[Packrat]]?]]
* The interior of the ''Axalon'', and thus the doors to Dinobot's quarters, were made at a different scale to his character model, so he could not actually fit through the doorway. Bob Forward explained that it had to be faked by a cut.
* When Rattrap is working at the wall panel, his right forearm is backwards and remains thus until he is grandly gesturing.
* As the "camera" zooms in on Tarantulas when he stalks up to the trapped gazelle, the background remains static instead of zooming in with him.
* When Megatron is flying over the proto-human valley, his legs are missing and his body has very little detail. It's especially noticeable when he flies towards the camera and transforms into robot mode-at which point his legs appear out of nowhere.
* As the Maximals head out, Rhinox's running animation is being played unnaturally fast to keep up with the others.
* As Quickstrike approaches Dinobot, his left shin is backwards.
* At Dinobot's funeral, Rattrap is in his pre-Transmetal body. On the [[Madman Entertainment|Madman]] DVD commentary for this episode, Bob Forward could not believe how the production team (who had viewed this scene at least a hundred times trying to get everything right) did not notice the fact they used the wrong Rattrap, and yet every fan did.
* Towards the end of the episode, a mechanical thud can be heard when the snake hits the ground, making it sound as if the snake is made of metal.

===Continuity errors===
* In this episode, the [[Golden Disk (Voyager)|Voyager Disk]] resembles an old record (complete with being labeled "The Sounds of Earth") instead of the design used since its appearance in [[Beast Wars (Part 1)|the first episode]]. Given its origin as a record in a canister, however, it's possible that Megatron has simply taken it out of its case to test his theory of time-meddling.
* It doesn't make any sense for Rhinox to say that the Transwarp wave is "moving into the future at an accelerated rate." The "rate" would only matter to an observer traveling with the wave; no one at the origin or destination would notice how long it took the wave to get from ~2,600,000 BC to 2321 AD.
* As with most of Megatron's plots to alter the timeline, the plan to destroy the human race before it evolves has a critical deterministic error; if he succeeds, then the golden disk would never have been created by [[NASA]] in the future. Megatron could never have acquired it, and thus would not have the foresight to attempt to destroy the human race, and then the human race would have evolved as normal, creating the golden disk in the future... and so on and so forth. Apparently, time travel in ''Beast Wars'' isn't subject to the grandfather paradox!
* Rattrap mentions that Dinobot would be up against six Predacons when there was a total of seven. (Out of universe, this is likely for the audience's benefit, in case they weren't keeping track.) Either he had totally forgotten about Tarantulas, somehow heard Dinobot defeating Tarantulas over his open comlink, or assumed that Tarantulas would still not be working with Megatron.

===Continuity notes===
* Dinobot is, of course, still dealing with the fallout of his temporary defection, as seen in "[[Maximal, No More]]".
* Rhinox refers to the transwarp wave, which was caused by the destruction of the [[Planet Buster]] in "[[Other Voices, Part 2]]".
* Tarantulas mentions that Megatron doesn't want anyone downloading more copies of the disk's data, referring to Blackarachnia's little heist in "[[Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)]]".
* As the Maximals travel to the valley to try to help Dinobot, they pass several [[Metal Hunter]] flowers, the only time these were seen after "[[Other Visits (Part 1)]]". This time the flowers were inactive.
* Gadgets and powers:
** Megatron can turn his tail-weapon into a record player by retracting the tip.
** Optimus Primal can fly in robot mode, although he apparently prefers to fly around in [[beast mode]].
** Cheetor can spray fire-extinguisher foam while in beast mode.

===Transformers references===
*Megatron states that it was thanks to humans that the Autobots won the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]], likely referring to the exploits of the [[Witwicky (surname)|Witwicky]]s. Apparently nobody bothered to remember the contributions of the [[Nebulan]]s.

===Real-world references===
* The Golden Disk that Megatron stole from Cybertron and kicked off this whole mess is revealed to be one of the two {{w|Voyager Golden Record|Golden Record}}s aboard the ''Voyager'' deep-space probe, specifically "The Sounds of Earth". That said, this Golden Disk can apparently play video. In the real world, there's also no image of a mountain on the disc.
* As the Predacons jump into the valley to destroy the hominids, Rampage crushes a butterfly. This evokes the famous Ray Bradbury short story "{{w|A Sound of Thunder}}", in which a time traveler in the past steps on a butterfly, thus dramatically altering the future of humanity.
* When Dinobot is leaving the base, he comments that "a deed, once done, cannot be undone", a slight modification of the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] quote "what is done cannot be undone".
* Dinobot's final words, "The rest is silence", are taken directly from [http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=hamlet&Act=5&Scene=2&Scope=scene#4014 the final words of the title character] in Shakespeare's ''{{w|Hamlet}}''. (The entreaty to tell his story is also taken from earlier in Hamlet's death scene, although rephrased.)
* Right after Dinobot crash-lands on [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], Rampage points his cannon at Dinobot. The brief image from within the cannon's barrel appears similar to the gun barrel views from numerous James Bond movies.
*''Beast Wars'' story editors [[Bob Forward]] and [[Larry DiTillio]] worked various references to the online ''Transformers'' [[fandom]] into the series. In this case, Cheetor citing [[Tengu Sector]] was a reference to the screen name of [[Rob Gerbracht]], who went on to become one of the writers for the ''[[Transformers: The Wreckers|Wreckers]]'' comic book series.
* The final shot of the episode—a anthropoid discovering the power of tools and triumphantly hurling his weapon into the air, followed by a pan into space—is evocative of ''{{w|2001: A Space Odyssey}}''.

===Trivia===
* ''Beast Wars'' co-story editor [[Bob Forward]] drew storyboards for this episode. Not only is it the only ''Beast Wars'' episode to be directed by the series's writers, but it is also the only episode to be done up in storyboards rather than being directed on-the-fly. Bob Forward worked in person with the [[Mainframe Entertainment|Mainframe]] animators for this episode.
* The original storyboards were auctioned for charity at a [[BotCon]].
* According to Bob Forward, Megatron's transformation sequence had to be reconstructed to be able to show his transformation from underneath for one shot. Previously, the animation only "worked" when seen from eye-level or above.
* In a bit of foreshadowing, while Dinobot is contemplating suicide, three ravens fly past his window in the {{w|missing man formation}}, which the Maximal fliers use in their salute to him at his funeral. The formation was also used when three anthropoids were wandering through the forest prior to the Predacon attack.
* During the recording of this episode, [[Scott McNeil]] was attempting to deliver Dinobot's last words, but was continually interrupted by the recording crew's laughter. He is reputed to have said while still in character, "Do you mind?! I'm trying to die here!"
* When Dinobot dies, his Spark escapes his body, and proceeds to slowly rise into the air until the scene transitions. This phenomenon had never been seen in Transformers fiction prior, as opposed to the body turning gray as the character expired first seen in [[The Transformers: The Movie]], nor would it ever be seen again in the show as future characters died. The idea would not be used again until many years later in the [[Prime Wars Trilogy|Prime Wars cartoons]].
* According to McNeil, Dinobot knew he was going to die five episodes before he did, as right up until the last second, he believed Dinobot to only be "cartoon dead" as opposed to "''dead'' dead".
* When originally broadcast in the [[United Kingdom]], this episode was edited, with Dinobot's contemplated suicide completely excised and his hallway altercation with Rattrap cut down to only a fraction of its actual length. In the latter case, this seems to serve no other purpose than the elimination of the word "[[Slag (slang)|slag]]", and Dinobot's dying exchange with Rattrap was likewise altered to purge the word.
* It's no surprise that a DVD containing this episode was packaged with Dinobot for ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]''. This is the only post-Season 1 episode included with any ''10th Anniversary'' figure.
* Bob Forward considers this to be his favorite ''Beast Wars'' episode, as well as the "The Agenda" three-parter.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110910082450/http://www.infinitefrontiers.0catch.com:80/AutoAssembly/BobForward.htm Interview with Bob Forward]</ref> Larry DiTillio has also admitted it's the best episode of the series, despite acknowledging that he had almost nothing to do with it.
* This is the last episode to have Rhinox appear in [[beast mode]]. For the rest of the series, Rhinox remains in [[robot mode]].
* The pistol Dinobot uses to interrogate Tarantulas is nearly identical to Rattrap's.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Code du Héros'''" (Canada, "Code of Hero")

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Un grande eroe'''" ("A Grand Hero")

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Abayo!'''" (あばよッ!, "Farewell!")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 24]] [[1999]]
::*In a shocking display of restraint on director [[Yoshikazu Iwanami]]'s part, the excessive adlibbing, satirical 4th Wall jokes and major script changes are kept to a relative minimum. Instead, this episode tries (''tries'') to adhere to the somber tone of the original English language version. Still, though comparatively restrained in its use of adlib gags, there remain plenty to be had...
::*When opening fire on Cheetor, Rampage constantly howls threats and insults at the Maximal. As the episode "[[Bad Spark]]" was released theatrically in Japan and was not broadcast on television as a regular part of the series, this episode is the "introduction" of Rampage to Japanese viewers.
::*While exiting his secret lab to retrieve his dinner, Tarantulas jabbers incessantly to himself as he makes sure the coast is clear. He mentions that his left is clear, his right is clear, his rear is clear and above him is clear, then while rambling about never being too careful, that's when Dinobot bursts out from the one direction he hadn't checked; below himself.
::*When Megatron lands to check out the mountain near the valley of proto-humans, he giddily tests his echo out with a loud "YAHOOOO! (''yahooooo! yahooooo!'')"
::*In what is unfortunately one of the ''worst'' examples of adlibbing in this dub, when Rampage aims his cannon at Megatron and Megatron's head can be seen in close-up through the scope, Megatron continues to speak... with his mouth quite visibly shut. While the English version relied on silence and facial expressions to get the point of the scene across (Megatron's accursed smugness and Rampage's resigned anger at being helpless to wipe the smile off his face), the Japanese dub turns it into a prattling conversation as Rampage talks about shooting Megatron right then and there and Megatron (in the close-up with his lips closed) warning him of the consequences.
::*The drama and suspense of the Predacons laying waste to the proto-human valley is completely undone by the fact that the characters comically scream their vocal tics every time they fire their weapons.
::*The final [[commercial bumper]] for this episode is dedicated to Dinobot. Whereas in the past, the featured character would scream their name during the bumper, Dinobot instead offers a quiet and reserved, "Hello. I am Dinobot."
::*In addition to the incessant screaming of their verbal tics, the Predacons make various asides throughout Dinobot's rampage through their forces. Blackarachnia sarcastically remarks to Inferno as they gun down proto-humans "Well this isn't petty at all, is it?" After getting blown up by Rampage's cannon, Waspinator whimpers, "''How cruel...''"
::*Dinobot's final words to Rattrap, rather than a friendly jab, is instead a reconciliation of their partnership, as Dinobot tells him that they made a good duo. His final words to the group are the same as in the English version, save for the ending. Rather than "the rest is silence", Dinobot instead says, "Thank you. Farewell..."

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Yīngxióng Běnsè'''" (英雄本色, "Nature of Hero")

'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Código de Herói'''" ("Code of Hero")

'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''El Código del Héroe'''" ("The Code of Hero")

:*''Title:'' "'''El Código de un Héroe'''" (America, "The Code of a Hero")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Bad Spark / Code of Hero ([[KB Toys]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Series 2 / Volume 3 ({{w|Siren Visual|Siren Entertainment}}) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers: Metals'' — Huh? The Face? ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2001 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 7 ([[Universal]])

;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Second Season ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Seasons 2 & 3 ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]
[[Category:Beast Wars 10th Anniversary]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]

Transform and Roll Out

2023-12-05T00:04:01Z

White Cat: /* Continuity errors */ Units of time

{{disambig2|the ''Transformers Animated'' multi-part episode|the command phrase|roll out}}
{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|image=TFA_TFandRollout_AutobotHeroes.jpg
|caption=''Epic''
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|next2=Sound and Fury
|ep=1, 2 and 3
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|title="Transform and Roll Out"
|airdate=[[December 26]], [[2007]]
|season=1
|season ep=1–3
|written by=[[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= [[Matt Youngberg]] [[Yutaka Kagawa]] [[Minoru Yamaoka]] [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
|animation studio= [[Mook]]
|continuity=[[Animated cartoon continuity]]}}
'''When a small crew of maintenance Autobots comes into possession of the powerful AllSpark, a battle with their long-forgotten enemies sends them crashing toward a strange, distant planet known as... ''Earth.'''''

==Synopsis==
===Part 1===
In deep, deep space, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] watches a history vid of the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], prompting [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to complain about him watching that "junk" when the other members of the crew need assistance. Prime wonders if they were designed for more than repairing [[space bridge]]s. The two 'Bots transform into their vehicle modes and head out into the asteroid field.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout TheAllsparkdiscovered.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Well... at least there's no [[Size changing|mass-shifting]].]]
Outside, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], dangling from a high rock by his wrecking ball (and becoming quite queasy in the process), is freed by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], who also ends up taking a tumble. Bumblebee complains about the sheer amount of rocks blocking the space bridge node, and one is shattered unexpectedly by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s throwing star. Prime gives his troops a speech about teamwork (which Prowl moans at theatrically), but at that point the space bridge lights up, sending rocks and Autobots flying. Fancy footwork by Optimus saves each of his teammates from the debris, and a well-aimed grappling line shuts down the bridge. With his subordinates stunned at their leader's skills, Prime is forced to admit he trained at [[Autobot Academy|Cybertron's military academy]]. Bumblebee's query as to what the heck he's doing on a nowhere maintenance assignment is left unanswered as they notice something glowing in the rubble.

Prime clears away the debris to reveal a large, chest-like object. Ratchet is horrified and immediately demands they throw it back into the space bridge, but an alert from [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Teletran-1]] announces the arrival of a signature consistent with the long-lost [[Decepticon]]s. Ratchet then insists they take the object and just get out of there post-haste.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Decepticonship.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Yes, this is a scout ship. Way to go, Magnanimous.]]
On board their ship, Ratchet finally reveals what they've found: the [[AllSpark]], the source of all Transformer life that was lost centuries ago. Optimus, worried about the oncoming Decepticon signal, contacts the [[Elite Guard|Cybertron Elite Guard]] for help. After taking a bit of snark from [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus reveals what they found, which shuts Sentinel up fast. Sentinel then puts the crew through to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], who tells Optimus Prime to stay put while they send reinforcements... and not to worry about that Decepticon thing. Optimus, considering this to be a really stupid move, orders the crew to start booking it out of there.

[[File:Ani crew.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Scotty]], engage!]]
This proves wise, as the signal is indeed a Decepticon ship—a [[Nemesis (Animated)|command ship]], in fact. The identification markings are ones that Optimus and Ratchet recognize, meaning its commander can only be one person: [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], leader of the Decepticons. On board the Decepticon ship, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] doubts the AllSpark is aboard the Autobot ship and declares Megatron a fool. [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] denounces Starscream as a traitor, while [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] calls Lugnut an idiot for his blind loyalty and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] just acts... well, crazy. The Decepticons continue to bicker at each other until Megatron enters, shutting up all of them. The Decepticons chase the Autobot ship, and Starscream volunteers to board them. Megatron quickly shoots that idea down, saying he'll tend to this matter personally. Just before he leaves, Starscream wishes his commander "luck" with a pat on the back... affixing a bomb to Megatron in the process.

Megatron makes his way to the Autobots' ship and begins to melt his way through its hull. Optimus uses external manipulator arms to grapple with Megatron, until the bomb detonates, sending the ship careening uncontrollably into a space bridge node, which explodes after they go through the gate. Starscream begins to make a speech declaring himself the new Decepticon leader, but the other three have abandoned ship, noting that the fireball from the space bridge explosion is only getting larger. Too late, Starscream realizes the trouble he's in...

An unknown distance away, the Autobot ship reappears above a [[Earth|small blue and green planet]]. Prime checks on his troops, but Megatron has gotten aboard, having survived the explosion, but at the cost of his right arm. Prime uses his grappling line to shut off the gravity, making it more difficult for Megatron to fight. All five Autobots face off against the Decepticon, but he's too strong (though Prowl does manage to cut off Megatron's damaged arm). Prime and Megatron both end up in the storage bay where the AllSpark is... and as the ship enters the atmosphere, Prime is able to blow the hatch and kick the screaming Megatron out of the ship.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Arkatmosphere.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Oddly familiar.]]
On a small farm, a young boy hears a thud and runs to where something has landed in a not-too-distant field. He is shocked to find a robotic head staring lifelessly up at him.

Meanwhile, Prime orders his team into emergency stasis pods to prepare for a crash-landing. He manages to steer the ship away from the city below and gets to a stasis pod just before the ship plunges into [[Lake Erie]].

Fifty years later, [[Detroit]] is once again a thriving city, but instead of manufacturing automobiles, robots are the city's stock-in-trade. [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] is talking to a public school class taking a tour of his facilities, which gets interrupted by Isaac's daughter, [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]], and her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]]. As Sari is carted off to her lessons by a [[Tutor Bot|robot tutor]], Isaac shows the school kids a nanotech lab, just in time to witness a roach infused with microbots grow out of control and start consuming everything in sight. Isaac tries to keep things calm, but the monster bursts out of the lab...

===Part 2===
[[File:TFA TFandRollout Firefighters monster.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Yeah, watering it will surely stop the beast.]]
The monster continues to grow, absorbing just about everything it touches to increase its size and power. In the process, it destroys a lot of the factory. [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]], the S.W.A.T team, the fire department, ambulances, and robot drones arrive, but the creature absorbs several of the responding vehicles, too. Fanzone uses a bazooka-type weapon and destroys the beast, despite Sumdac's objection. This protest proves well-founded, as the remnants of the creature start flowing back together again, save for one piece that drops into the nearby lake and works its way down to the Autobots' ship, its nanites seeking the absorbable technology there. It infiltrates via a small breach in the outer hull, but thankfully, the ship's intruder alert systems are functional and awaken the Autobots before any damage is done. Examining the situation, they decide to have Teletran-1 give them Earth forms so they can blend in and help out. A probe is launched into the chaos and scans various vehicles, including an ambulance, a police motorcycle, an armored personnel carrier, a fire truck, and [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Everyone deploys except Ratchet, who remains behind to analyze the sample of alien material.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Autobots.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Avengers]], ASSEMBLE!]]
During the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee spot Sari trying to wrest her security key from Sparkplug's mouth. Mistaking which is owner and which is pet, they approach her, but Bulkhead's greeting only scares her away. She quickly gets nabbed by the monster, but Bumblebee saves her, earning her trust and friendship. Prowl attempts to take on the bug-slug by himself, against Prime's orders, and gets absorbed. Prime orders Ratchet to join them in battle to save Prowl, but the old veteran insists that finding a "cure" code to neutralize the nanites' programming makes more sense than coming out and getting trashed. A somewhat chastened Prime agrees, and Ratchet soon delivers the goods. However, the new program must be uploaded by direct contact—meaning from inside the monster. This means the smallest, fastest one of them has to do it. Bumblebee reluctantly takes on the task. The beast has been using some of Prowl's absorbed intelligence and comm link tech, though, so it knows what they're planning and is now smart enough to fight back. Despite this, Bumblebee succeeds in delivering the code, and the bug dissolves into a dusty shower of deactivated nanites. Prowl is soon uncovered, but he's suffered grave wounds and must be taken back to the Autobots' ship for repairs. Sari pesters Bumblebee to be taken along, and her new friend reluctantly agrees, since there's no time to make her go away quietly.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Sari followedmehome.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Bumblebee, having a pet is a big responsibility.]]
Once on board, Sari's refusal to stay still and quiet causes 'Bee some embarrassment. He quickly and discreetly ejects her into a ventilation port and joins the others. However, the port opens onto a shaft that takes Sari right to the chamber where the AllSpark is being kept. Curious, she touches it, and it reacts to her, sending its energies into her security card key and reconfiguring it into [[AllSpark Key|a key of another sort entirely]]. Prime finds her almost immediately thereafter, but with no time left to spare away from Prowl, he has to bring her back with him to the repair table. Ratchet's prognosis is bleak, but the [[AllSpark Key]] abruptly reacts, glowing and tugging her toward Prowl. Bumblebee, seeming to grasp what's happening, helps her onto the table, and as she approaches, her Key reshapes itself to fit into a slot on Prowl's chest. She inserts it, and with a burst of energy, the Autobot ninja is whole again. The Autobots then take Sari home and, after a brief misunderstanding, are made heroes and are even invited to a ceremony.

In outer space, Starscream sits aboard the damaged but functional Decepticon ship, babbling that he will find the AllSpark, even though he's been attempting it on his own for the last fifty solar cycles. The ship's computers then detect the traces of AllSpark-like energy in action, and Starscream learns where the Autobots are...
{{-}}

===Part 3===
[[File:Sariprime.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|INSERT WHAT WHERE?!]]
The Autobots are later seen trying to fit in. Bulkhead gets firsthand experience in traffic jams, some birds mistake Prowl for the statue of the {{w|Hazen S. Pingree|bald guy}} next to him, Bumblebee learns how organics fuel up, and Ratchet can't get a stasis nap without getting a dozen or so parking tickets. Optimus Prime remarks that the Autobots are programmed to respect life, which they always understood to stem from the AllSpark, but as organics are life, they must respect and protect them too. Optimus also expresses curiosity about how little organics are made. Sari's whispered explanation leaves him rather... shocked. The Autobots make a [[Autobot Earth Base|new home base]] out of a building Sari's dad got out of a merger, an abandoned auto factory that Bumblebee describes as a real fixer-upper—a REAL fixer-upper. All of a sudden, they get alerted to a fire. The Autobots proceed to douse the blaze and save its victims, no problem, unaware they are being watched by Starscream.

The next day, during the inauguration ceremony for the Sumdac [[Fully Automated Rapid Transit System]] (F.A.R.T.S., for short), Starscream enters Earth's atmosphere and takes on a group of fighter jets. He destroys all but one, which he scans. As the civilians and Autobots watch the aerial display of the [[Crimson Angels]], Isaac Sumdac notices there is an extra jet present that he didn't hire. That one jet then leaves the formation and streaks toward the ceremony platform, where it transforms into Starscream, who fires his null-ray cannons at the Autobots.

After a short fight, which the Autobots lose, Starscream knocks out Bumblebee and takes him, Isaac, the mayor, and Capt. Fanzone hostage in the F.A.R.T.S. train, flying it to the top of a very tall tower. He demands that the Autobots deliver the AllSpark if they want him to release the train car. The Autobots don't trust him, but don't want to risk human lives, so Sari offers a plan, but they ignore her. She continues to tell a sob story until the Autobots listen. The Autobots proceed with her plan, and Prowl and Sari fly up to the transit pod to rescue the hostages while the other Autobots keep Starscream busy. Once Starscream realizes what's happening, he takes a brief beating but recovers quickly. Starscream then throws the train—thus keeping his end of the deal—with Sari, Prowl, and Bumblebee on top of/in it. Between Bumblebee's agility and Prowl's thrusters plus Ratchet's magnets, Sari is rescued and the train lands without much damage. The Autobots then challenge Starscream to a friendly game of Keep Away, during which Starscream almost gets the AllSpark, but Bulkhead gets it instead, because he said he got it. A furious Starscream unleashes a devastating, prolonged (as in nearly 12 seconds) null-ray blast on the Autobots, briefly knocking them all senseless.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Prime SS Allsparkactivates.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|In the old days, [[The Touch]] would have started playing now.]]
With the Autobots down, Starscream takes the AllSpark from Optimus and blows a couple of blocks of Detroit right off the map. Not ready to give up, Optimus climbs all the way up a building to get it back from Starscream, which Starscream doesn't see coming because he was too busy gloating. After a quick back-and-forth exchange of possessing it, both grab it at the same time. As they struggle, the AllSpark opens and emits a strange energy wave that blasts Starscream away.

The explosion has left Prime dangling precariously, and he takes a tremendous plummet to the pavement. He notes weakly that he now knows what it feels like to be a hero, then dies, but Sari uses the AllSpark Key to revive him.<ref>[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|This is something of an Optimus Prime record]]: Dead after only three episodes, revived a mere 75 seconds later. Way to go.</ref> The Autobots later go about fixing up Detroit, earning the enduring gratitude of the citizenry. Professor Sumdac is also grateful, for the Autobots saved him and Sari, but he fears what will happen if the Autobots—not to mention the rest of the world—were to discover the source of his robotic empire.

Unseen by Sumdac, one of the [[Sensors|optics]] of his source of technology glows in a darkened room. Megatron still functions...
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|
c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (7)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (8)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (9)
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (10)
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (11)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (12)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (13)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] (14)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] (17)
*[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]] (18)
*[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] (19)
*Kid (20)
*[[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] (22)
*[[Eddie Fairchild and Matt Conroy|Sumdac technicians]] (24)
*[[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (25)
*Irate driver (27)
*[[Lester Black]] (29)
*[[Augustus Edsel|Mayor Edsel]] (30)

|c4=
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Teletran-1]] (6)
*[[Trash Bot]] (15)
*[[Hot Dog Bot]] (16)
*[[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] (21)
*[[Tutor Bot]] (23)
*[[Copterdrone]]s (26)
*[[Burger Bot]] (28)}}

==History vid==
{{quote|Many millions of years ago, war raged between the forces of the heroic Autobots and the brutal Decepticons for control of the planet Cybertron. The Autobots battled valiantly in the name of honor—their courageous exploits bringing hope and glory to a beleaguered war-torn planet, and inspiring countless generations of robots yet to come on-line.|Narrator}}
Scene 1: Decepticon troopers attack led by their commander. Their numbers appear overwhelming. 
Scene 2: Two tetrajets pursue two Autobots over a Cybertronian highway. 
Scene 3: [[Omega Sentinel (Animated)|Omega Sentinel]]-like robots counter-attack the Decepticon troopers and appear to turn the tide. 
Scene 4: Transport trucks enter a storage facility. 
Scene 5: [[Dion (G1)|An inspired Transformer]] salute.

==Quotes==
"Do you ever get the feeling that you were programmed for something more than just repairing space bridges?" 
"I got a diagnostics program that can delete that feeling like a bad line of code."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s dreams are crushed to a fine powder by '''Ratchet'''.

'''Icy Blitzwing''': *freezes Blackarachnia's right arm* As usual, ''Blackarachnia'', your demeanor is as unpleasant as that accursed, organic mode of yours. 
'''Blackarachnia''': Blow it out your actuator, three face. *snarls and breaks the ice on her hand* 
'''Hothead Blitzwing''': Ze name is '''BLITZWING''', insect! REMEMBER IT! Because it's the last thing you're going to hear before I- 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Express my feelings in song! ZE ITSY BITSY SPIDER...
:—Blitzwing cements his position as a fan favorite in less than a minute.

"What do you want now, Starscream?" 
"Only to wish you luck, my liege." 
"I do not believe in luck." 
"Neither do I."
:—'''Megatron''' fails to notice '''Starscream''' place his explosive.

"Know what? You're even uglier at this angle!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' is about to realize there are some things you should never, EVER, say to a Decepticon.

"Hi, I'm Bumblebee!" 
"I'm Sari." 
"Oh, don't be, I like my name."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Sari''' are off to an awkward start.

"Y'know, all things considered, fixin' space bridges wasn't such a bad gig."
:—'''Bumblebee''', just before embarking on the plan to dissolve the bug monster.

"Uh...am I going to be able to ''breathe'' down there?" 
"Oh, sure! ...What's 'breathe'?"
:—'''Sari''' is in good hands with '''Bumblebee'''.

"And to think, Ultra Magnus told me not to be a hero. Is this what it was like in your day?" 
"The Decepticons didn't leave us very much to cheer about."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' at the ceremony.

"Enjoy it while you can, 'heroes.' You're about to take a fall."
:—'''Starscream''', watching a news report on the Autobots.

"Give up the AllSpark or give up the Earth. How am I supposed to decide?" 
"Heroes are the ones who make the hard choices."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' after Starscream makes his ultimatum.

"Let go, Autobot!" 
"Never! The AllSpark is life!" 
"Then, let it end yours!"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Optimus Prime''', fighting over the AllSpark.

"So, this...is what it feels like...to be a hero."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', just before dying.

"Fixing bridges? Isn't this where we started out?"
:—'''Bumblebee''', as the Autobots clean up the city.

==Notes==

===Transformers references===
*The title of the episode itself is a [[Roll out|reference to past Transformers lore]].
*Footage from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episodes "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" is used as history tapes detailing the events of the first [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], millions of years prior, accompanied by narration from [[Corey Burton]] doing his best impression of [[Victor Caroli]]. [[Canon|This]] has been confirmed as purely an in-joke, and should not be taken as linking ''Animated'' to G1, continuity wise.
*The [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Autobot ship]] here bears a distinct resemblance to the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], albeit with a colour scheme more reminiscent of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. (As we learn [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|much later]], there is a very good reason for that.)
*Bumblebee says "[[Rattrap (BW)|We're all gonna die.]]"
*Sari's robotic dog [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] is likely named after either [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] from G1, the ''Armada'' Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]], or both.
[[File:Spikecarlydanielanimated.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Twenty years later, and they're still overdressed.]]
*Characters resembling [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]], [[Carly]], and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] are seen at a hot dog stand, purchasing some sort of futuristic bunless wieners-on-a-stick. The characters went on to become recurring figures in the background cast of the show, and in "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]" it was revealed that their names were... [[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]], [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]].
*When Optimus Prime dies, his body [[aggressive depigmentation|fades to grays]], just as [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] did in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. His spark chamber opens in much the same manner as well.
*Teletran-1 (spelled with only one "a" in this universe) dispatches a small satellite very similar to the [[Sky Spy]] satellite used on occasion by the Autobots in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. The glowing energy "boxes" with which it scans vehicles for the Autobots to transform into are lifted wholesale out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
*At one point, Bulkhead refers to Optimus as "Boss-bot", echoing an epithet used for ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] by the [[Fuzor]] [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]], and also used by Cheetor refer to Optimus Primal. Bumblebee also calls Optimus "Big-bot", again a term used by Cheetor to refer to Optimus.

===Real world references===
*In this episode, [[Tutor Bot]] tries to teach Sari about the {{w|Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act}}, a major economic blunder of the 1930s.
**This may also be a reference to the film {{w|Ferris Bueller's Day Off}}, which includes a high school teacher attempting to teach his disinterested class about Smoot-Hawley.
*In this episode, Starscream's engines use a sound effect borrowed from ''The Phantom Menace'': the sound made by Sebulba's podracer engines; and from “Attack of the Clones”: the sound made by Obi-Wan Kenobi's starfighter exiting hyperspace.
*When Prowl gets birdpooped on, he is standing next to a statue of {{w|Hazen S. Pingree}}, four-term mayor of Detroit and one-time governor of Michigan. In real life, the statue is located in Detroit's Grand Circus Park.
*A refurbished Michigan Central Station makes an appearance as the site for the dedication of Detroit's rapid transit system. The real-life station (abandoned since the '80s) was featured in the [[Transformers (film)|2007 live-action movie]].
*When Optimus comes back to life, he asks, "Is this the [[Well of All Sparks]]?" and Sari answers, "No, it's Detroit." This is an allusion to the movie ''Field of Dreams'', in which Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) asks Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), "Is this Heaven?" and Ray answers, "No, it's Iowa."
*In the Japanese dub, Bumblebee mentions ''Rescue Fire'', which is another [[TakaraTomy]] property that's based on Takara's Tomica toy car line. Prior to ''Animated''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Japanese debut, it aired in the same timeslot and channel as ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Galaxy Force]]'' did.
*The Crimson Angels are a reference to the {{w|Blue Angels}}.

===Animation or technical glitches===
*Megatron's vehicle mode was depicted flying upside-down, or backwards, or possibly both. To be fair, in space, there is no up and down (and to be even fairer, it's really hard to tell from the toys exactly what ''is'' the front of Megatron's Cybertronian spaceship mode), but that does not excuse the fact that any propulsion system used would be in the ''back'' of the mode.
*Prowl sliced off what was left of Megatron's arm below the elbow, but when Ratchet hurls it at Megs, it was sliced above (and subsequently includes) his elbow.
*Megatron's mouth doesn't move when he offers to spare the Autobots’ lives in exchange for the Allspark.
*When the Autobot get into the stasis pods, Prime, Bulkhead, and Ratchet are on the left side, with Bumblebee, Prowl, and an empty pod on the right, in that order. Yet when they get out later in the episode, Prime, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead are on the left, and the empty one, Prowl, and Ratchet on the right.
*As pre-Earth Prime enters the chamber which will re-format his body into his Earth mode, he walks past Ratchet, who is drawn mostly in his pre-Earth mode, except for the fact that his Cybertronian gut is replaced with his ambulance gut. In the next scene, Ratchet is properly drawn, pre-Earth gut and all.
*When Sari says to the Autobots it is okay to put down their hands, Bulkhead's face is black.
*When Bulkhead removes the Allspark from Ratchet's vehicle mode, in one frame the black outlining on his right arm vanishes and reappears one frame later.
*When Starscream tackles Optimus Prime through a building as the Autobot tries to escape with the AllSpark, Optimus's axe is missing from Starscream's left wing. It reappears moments later for Optimus to retrieve it.
*In at least one scene, Starscream's Earth-form wing is shown with a spike, in the same manner as his Cybertronian body.
*When Optimus' chest closes up after his Spark is restored, the wide 'spark cover' section is not seen flipping back down. It disappears when his windows close back over his spark.

===Continuity errors===
*There was a pretty big continuity error evident in the show's very premise that nobody really picked up on, which was: if the AllSpark was the source of Transformer life, and it was jettisoned into space at the end of the Great War, and most of Prime's crew weren't ''alive'' during the Great War... how did they come on-line? Despite the fact that nobody was asking the question, the ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|AllSpark Almanac II]]'' guidebook provided the answer by revealing that there is also a version of [[Vector Sigma]] in the ''Animated'' universe that could also grant life.
* When Optimus kicks Megatron out of the docking tube, the sky around the ship is blue. However, the very next shot, in which Megatron falls to Earth outside the Sumdac barn, shows a nighttime scene.
*The train Starscream blasts from the tower falls toward the ground very, very slowly.
*When we rejoin Starscream, he states that he has been searching for the AllSpark for fifty ''solar'' cycles. In later episodes, a solar cycle is equivalent to a day and a ''stellar'' cycle is used for years. This is the only time a solar cycle has been used to reference years, so either Starscream entered some sort of temporal anomaly or someone messed up. For more <s>confusion</s> information, see our breakdown of [[units of time]].
**Further, why would Starscream use a time measurement that corresponds to Earth? He hadn't even heard of the planet yet. (Does a Cybertronian year just happen to be roughly the same as an Earth year?)
*Sumdac is using Megatron's hand as a chair. However, he seems to be using the right hand, which was blown up by Starscream. (It ''could'' have fallen off the Autobots' ship, as it was still clinging to the hull when last seen, but that seems unlikely.)
*From Isaac Sumdac's monologue, it seems he ''somehow'' knows the source of this technology has some relation to the Decepticons. But, not only he has no way of knowing that, he [[Blast from the Past|later]] believes Megatron when he presents himself as an Autobot.
**Or, when he expresses his concerns, he could just have meant him dissecting one of their kind.
*When Optimus Prime first tries to activate the Orion's "Omega" emergency defense system, Teletran-1 claims it has been disabled due to energy conservation efforts. However, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] [[TransWarped|is in a modified stasis due to being critically injured]], not due to Cybertron's "green" initiatives. Optimus appears to be aware of the [[Omega Sentinel (Animated)|Omega Sentinel]] function, but has never actually used it.

===Trivia===
*Bumblebee's voice is slightly different in this episode from how it sounds later, as is Lugnut's voice, which seems very metallic.
*When mocking the Autobots, Starscream actually calls Megatron "the great Megatron" without any sarcasm. Apparently, he'll only give a sincere compliment to his leader when he's insulting something else. Either that or he's just trying to make ''himself'' sound more impressive by building up the reputation of the one he's defeated.
*According to responses at a panel at BotCon 2008, the unfortunate acronym for Fully Automated Rapid Transit System was totally unintentional...which makes it that much funnier.
*Ratchet is able to use his front windshield as a video screen.
*Several elements present in this opener were changed/dropped in the main series, including expressive vehicle modes, the replacement of solar cycles with stellar cycles in terminology, the recolouring of Ratchet's magnetism from yellow to pink, and Sari's Key changing shape. However, the expressions on vehicle mode were briefly used again by [[Wasp]] in the episode "[[Predacons Rising (Animated)|Predacons Rising]]".
*During [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari's]] "conversation" with the [[AllSpark]], it shows her the faces of Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream, then the Cybertronian [[Alternate mode|vehicle modes]] for Optimus and Ratchet, the AllSpark's case and the Autobots' ship. Then Sari unknowingly shows the AllSpark a man and a woman in suits, a boy, the planet [[Earth]], pyramids, purple flowers, a horse, an aircraft with a giant cloud coming from the back, a cell and a DNA strand. The woman has dark skin and red hair like Sari.
*This is the only episode in the series where Blackarachnia is shown to be working - or even aligned in any way - with the Decepticons. Beyond the opening [[introdump]] and [[Nemesis (Animated)|abandoning ship]], she's very much an independent agent.
**Although, the same could arguably be said for Starscream.
*This movie was (lovingly) lampooned at the [[MSTF]] panel for [[BotCon 2008]], along with "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]", the episode from which most of the "history vid" footage was taken.
*Remarkably, when Optimus Prime's ship began free falling towards Detroit and crashed into Lake Erie, it did not catch one human bystander's attention, even in the dead of night. Now that's a city that sleeps.
*In addition, the giant yellow ship went unnoticed at the bottom of the lake for 50 years straight.
*This episode was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as "[[Transformers Animated Volume 1]]".

===Foreign localization===
'''Brazilian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformar e Avançar!'''" ("Transform and Advance!")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Les Transformers mettent la gomme'''" ("The Transformers put the pedal to the metal")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 3|3 September]] [[2008]]

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformieren und Abfahrt'''" ("Transform and Roll Out")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[May 3|3 May]] [[2008]] (Part 1), [[May 10|10 May]] 2008 (Part 2), [[May 17|17 May]] 2008 (Part 3)

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Viaggio verso l'ignoto'''" ("Journey towards the Unknown")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 20|20 September]] [[2008]] (Part 1), [[September 27|27 September]] 2008 (Part 2), [[October 4|4 October]] 2008 (Part 3)

'''Spanish (Latin America)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformense y avancen'''" ("Transform and go forward")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 7|7 June]] [[2008]], (The Three episodes)

'''Japanese (Part 1)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shinshō! Transformer'''" (新章! トランスフォーマー, "A New Chapter! Transformers")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 3|3 April]] [[2010]]

::*The episode begins with the entire [[Otoboto family]] gathered as Yūka and Tatsuya tell the viewers in unison to watch in a well-lit room (to prevent seizures and damage to your eyesight, you know).
::*As the [[title sequence]] begins, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] asks how everyone is doing, then introduces himself as leader of the Autobots. When he realizes nobody knows who he is, he ''assures'' them that he's leader of the Autobots. Then the [[Transformers Evo.|theme song]] starts.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet and Optimus's conversation as they walk down a hall, where Prime refers to feeling like being meant for "more than just repairing space bridges", and Ratchet's snarky response about deleting that feeling "like a bad line of code".
::*'''Cut:''' Bulkhead's comment on their medic being always grumpy, Ratchet responding to Bumblebee's age crack with a smack upside the head and the retort of "I may have one servo in the scrapheap, but I can still hear!".
::*The usual cries of "Transform!" and attack names are added in. ([[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s "stingers" are now called "Energy Stingers", for instance.) Perhaps most annoyingly, ''every single thing Optimus does'' has the prefix of "Ultra" added to it. In the span of ten seconds, he goes through his "Ultra Anchor", "Ultra Axe" and "Ultra Net" attacks.
::*'''Cut:''' After shutting down the space bridge, the following sequence where Ratchet is repairing Bumblebee, Bulkhead commenting about Optimus's moves, Optimus reluctantly admitting that he used to train at the Academy, and Bumblebee saying that he should've been with the Elite Guard.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet's poking back at Optimus wanting to see some action, Bumblebee pointing out they're repair bots, Optimus requesting a link with Cybertron Command Headquarters and Bulkhead impressed by it.
::*Teletran-1 now speaks as though "she" is in a state of perpetual orgasm.
::*When the Autobots first happen upon the ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]'' and all freak over [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], a new [[scene transition]] is added when transitioning into the discussion between the Decepticon forces. A guitar riff of the classic Generation 1 scene transition music is even used.
::*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]]'s personae now speak with thick American accents, and spout English words like "Hey!" and "Man!"
::*New [[commercial bumper]]s have been crafted, featuring stock art of the characters with their voice actors screaming their name, followed by "Transform!"
::*'''Cut:''' [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]'s entire speech on the bridge ("This is a dark day...") followed by him getting caught in the explosion.
::*When Bulkhead tumbles into Optimus, following his line "A little warning would have helped!", he screams out "Mommyyyyyyy!" Yeah, Japanese Bulkhead ain't so smart.
::*'''Cut:''' After Megatron is kicked from the ship, the establishing shots of Paw Paw (the street sign, the outside of the barn and the scroll across [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]]'s lab).
::*'''Cut:''' Following Prime's line "Not until I've steered us clear of this populated sector!", the brief scenes of the Autobots being sealed in their stasis pods.
::*'''Cut:''' As soon as the ship crashes into Lake Eerie and leaves a stream of upturned water on the surface, the scenes of the ship sinking and Teletran-1 "initiating emergency stasis mode" on the pods as they turn grey. The episode resumes at the long shot of the sinking ship slowly coming toward the camera, with a new voice-over of Teletran-1 telling the Autobots "good night".
::*'''Cut:''' As Isaac Sumdac narrates the history of Detroit and automaton manufacturing, the scene of the trash-collecting automaton has been cut.
::*'''Cut:''' The scenes of [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] pulling the bubblegum off her face, eating it, the crowd reacting in disgust, Isaac Sumdac reacting in frustration, the kid asking Sari what its like to grow up around robots and [[Tutor Bot]] hauling Sari off.
::*'''Cut:''' After the cockroach absorbs the nanobot liquid, all the scenes involving Isaac Sumdac explaining the nanobots to the children and the children looking through microscopes at the nanobots. The sequence cuts to the roach growing bigger.
::*'''Cut:''' The close-up of Isaac Sumdac saying "Nothing to be concerned about, children!" and the kid remarking that "This accident doesn't look too happy". The sequence cuts to the roach crashing through the window behind him.
::*The Otoboto Family segment features [[Hiroyuki Otoboto]] telling his son, [[Tatsuya Otoboto]], about ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]'', complete with clips from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", as well as a brief musical clip from the songs "Time Bomb Town" (by Lindsey Buckingham, from the ''[[Back to the Future]]'' soundtrack) and "Fairy Godmother Song" (from the ''Shrek 2'' soundtrack). Mr. Otoboto then produces a complete set of ''Animated'' Autobot toys. Tatsuya is thrilled, but wouldn't ya know it? [[Megumi Otoboto|Mrs. Otoboto]] comes in with dinner! During mealtime conversation, Mrs. Otoboto makes the mistake of using the word "transform", which inevitably causes Tatsuya to start talking about Transformers, much to the amusement of his father and the annoyance of his older sister, [[Yūka Otoboto|Yūka]]. Tatsuya then causes a "freeze frame" so that he can introduce himself and his family (messing with his father's glasses in the process for his own amusement). Oddly, despite being "frozen", everyone proceeds to blink. As time resumes its normal pace, Hiroyuki wonders what happened to his glasses. He then digs into his dinner, except, oh no! It's too hot! ''Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!''
::*During the "next episode" segment, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee proceed to have an argument. Bumblebee thinks Optimus's name is too long and hard to remember. Bumblebee suggests that "[[Convoy (rank)|Convoy]]" would be better, but Prime shoots the idea down immediately. Bumblebee opts to call him "Opti" (''Oputi''), since it has fewer syllables. Prime refuses to be called such a name (more fitting for a dog), so Bumblebee settles on "Pu-Pu" after "Opera" (''Opura'') is also rejected for sounding weird. Prime refuses that too, thinking it sounds cute, but that it would be hard not to laugh instinctively at it. Bumblebee then tricks Prime into answering to it, which frustrates him even ''further''. The argument proceeds ''past'' the "next episode" segment and straight into the sponsor cards.

'''Japanese (Part 2)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Eiyū, sono Na wa Autobot'''" (英雄、その名はオートボット, "The Heroes Are Called Autobots")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 10|10 April]] [[2010]]

::*Hiroyuki and Tatsuya Otoboto tell the viewers in unison to watch the episode in a well-lit room (with Hiroyuki giving a creepy wink at the end).
::*Instead of Optimus introducing at the opening, Bumblebee introduces himself and tells viewers to listen to [[JAM Project]]'s [[Transformers Evo.|cool song]].
::*'''Cut:''' The rush of emergency vehicles driving through the city, alongside the following scene of Fanzone getting into his car, preparing to enjoy lunch at Burger Bot, and receiving the emergency call before departing.
::*'''Cut:''' Fanzone arriving at Sumdac laboratories, his little dilemma with the broken megaphone, and his first directions to the police force.
::*Optimus now has "Ultra Jump" added to his "arsenal" as he distracts the nano-monster.
::*Bulkhead now says "''dosukoi''" on occasion, a word usually used by {{w|Sumo|sumo wrestlers}}.
::*'''Cut:''' The left-to-right pan of the ruined laboratory where the tour had taken place.
::*'''Cut:''' Much of the flying debris from the monster falling into the ocean.
::*During the [[trans-scan]]ning, Teletran-1 announces the type of vehicle being scanned and the Autobots as they are reformatted.
::*'''Cut:''' Fanzone noticing the four vehicles confronting the monster and attempting to call them back before noticing that they are unmanned and include his own car.
::*'''Cut:''' Immediately after the previous cut, the scene where Bulkhead and Bumblebee attempt to converse with the police drones while fighting the monster.
::*The joke on Sari's name—"I'm Bumblebee." "I'm Sari." "Oh, don't be. I like my name." "No, I mean my name is..."—is somewhat altered. Instead, Bumblebee "corrects" her that ''he's'' not named "Sari" (the pun involving "I'm Sari" sounding like "I'm sorry" not working in the Japanese language, obviously).
::*'''Cut:''' After Bumblebee takes Sari into the parking garage, Fanzone's and Dr. Sumdac's observation of Bumblebee and his unknown purposes, and the ordering the police drones to save Sari.
::*Bumblebee counts off while disabling the police drones, and he has an extra line even though his mouth doesn't move.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet's comment on Optimus being a "typical [[Autobot Academy|Academy Bot]]", along with a shot of the computer analysis of the monster.
::*'''Cut:''' Sari's gasp when Bumblebee is jumping at the monster.
::*When Sari reassures Ratchet that humans "don't usually blow up things" with emergency symbols, Ratchet comments about being treated kindly.
::*'''Cut:''' After Dr. Sumdac shakes hands with Optimus at the ceremony, Optimus's comment regarding not being a hero, his question to Ratchet about things being "like this in your day", and Ratchet's rather ominous response.
::*'''Cut:''' After the ceremony, the foreshadowing scene in which Starscream is seen monologuing in the crashed ''Nemesis'' on the Moon.
::*For the Otoboto family segment, Hiroyuki and Tatsuya are playing on the living room carpet with their toys (Hiroyuki and his Optimus Prime against Tatsuya and his Bumblebee). Filled with nostalgia, Hiroyuki begins describing the Autobots and the roles of each character to the audience, only to have Tatsuya beat him to the punch by ending all his sentences. Suddenly, they hear a crashing sound coming from the kitchen. Hiroyuki and Tatsuya rise to the occasion, shout "Transform!" and "change" into Optimus Prime and Megatron t-shirts (accompanied by their own dramatic "transformation" sequences and the theme from ''[[Fandom:powerrangers:Hikari Sentai Maskman|Maskman]]''). But before they can battle the forces of Evil stirring up trouble in the kitchen, they first have to sit back down on the living room floor and transform their toys into vehicle mode. (So, what if there was a burglar beating your wife, dude?) As Hiroyuki completes the transformation of his Optimus toy, we are assured that the "adventure" of the Otoboto family will be continued next episode.
::*In the "next episode" segment, Bulkhead asks Ratchet about the name "Transformers Animated", and Bulkhead then mistakenly tells viewers to watch "Transformers Anime". Ratchet later jokes about shortening the title to "Tra-Ani" because the original title is a bit long.

'''Japanese (Part 3)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''AllSpark no Himitsu'''" (オールスパークの秘密, "Secret of the AllSpark")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 17|17 April]] [[2010]]

::*This time, it's mother and daughter, Megumi and Yūka Otoboto, who tell viewers to watch the episode in a well-lit room.
::*Starscream does the intro in a rather...perky manner.
::*'''Cut:''' The ''whole'' sequence of the Autobots integrating themselves into Detroit: Bulkhead walking through rush hour traffic, Prowl's encounter with the birds' "present", Bumblebee ordering at Burger Bot, Ratchet getting ticketed for napping in a no-parking zone, Sari traumatizing Optimus on human reproduction, and the Autobots checking out their new "home".
::*During the sequence in which the Autobots are responding to the building fire, there are some additional lines and a tweak: The entire team sound off their names while heading on scene; Bumblebee jokes about calling in [[Rescue Fire]], to which Bulkhead responds by breaking the fourth wall, "That's a different show"; and the news reporter's coverage/praise of the Autobots doesn't mention "Detroit" by name and lasts until the scene changes to Starscream watching from the ''Nemesis''.
::*Sumdac says "480" on introducing the F.A.R.T.S.'s speed, which makes sense, as Japan uses the metric system and 300 miles equals to 482.803 kilometers.
::*'''Cut:''' Optimus commenting to Ratchet on being constantly called "heroes" and not feeling any different than repairing space bridges before, and Ratchet's response on the grim ends of the "heroes" he's known and his reluctance to share their fates.
::*During Starscream's attack on the jet fighters, one of the pilots shouts additional "Mayday!"s, to which Starscream retorts that "It's not 'Mayday', it's Starscream! Remember it!"
::*'''Cut:''' Panning shot from the top of Michigan Central Station down to the gathered Transformers.
::*When Starscream claims he's the "new boss" (literally) of the Decepticons, Bulkhead corrects him instead of saying that he thought Megatron was in charge.
::*Extra lines: both Ratchet and Prowl after the station crumbles; Starscream has one before Prowl tricks him with a hologram and another while dragging Optimus about after Prime uses his grappling hook.
::*'''Cut:''' Optimus declaring his name after Starscream demands the AllSpark. Cuts right to Starscream tossing Bumblebee into the transit pod.
::*Starscream's gloating while circling Sumdac Tower before Optimus baits him with the AllSpark.
::*When Sumdac asks how Sari got up the tower, Prowl's line is changed from "Same way you're getting down," to "By me, father." Fanzone's "This is why I hate machines!" catchphrase during the trip down is also tweaked.
::*Fanzone seems to be screaming for his grandfather as Prowl is dropping down to the blimp.
::*Additional line for Starscream when Ratchet tries to stop him with his magnetic manipulators.
::*Add "Ultra Spray" to Optimus's list of "Ultra" attacks when he sprays Starscream with fire retardant foam twice. Oy...
::*Bumblebee has an extra line while trying to attack Starscream when the latter realizes the jig's up.
::*Prowl calls out to Bumblebee when the train is knocked over the edge, and Starscream shouts "Dual Sonic Blaster" on sending all three into free fall.
::*Joining Bumblebee's ''"Ikimasu!"'' and Bulkhead's ''"Dosukoi!"'', Prowl's verbal tic is ''"De aru!"'' (Literally, "to be" in formal speech.)
::*Bulkhead's rhetorical question on catching the train on the first bounce is changed to a vow to do his best.
::*Instead of shock absorbers, Sari asks if Bumblebee has a parachute.
::*Ratchet has "Magnet Power" as his attack call when he catches the youngest pair, Sari's "some shock absorbers" line is altered, Prowl has "They're floating." as an extra line, and Bumblebee thanks Ratchet. Optimus's "think fast" line is delayed to just as he throws the AllSpark, and the medic's "Aw, crud." line is changed to objecting on being called "gramps" by Bumblebee.
::*While Sari calls the game "Keep Away" in English, here it's changed to Tag, or 鬼ごっこ (''oni-gokko'').
::*Instead of going on how fast one can stop, Bumblebee talks about hitting the goal.
::*Bulkhead's "I said, 'I ''got'' it.'" is altered after he clocks Starscream and gets the AllSpark.
::*Starscream yells that the show isn't over yet when he attacks the Autobots again just as Optimus is contemplating on getting the AllSpark to a safe place.
::*Instead of responding that it's Detroit when Optimus asks whether he's in the Well of AllSparks, Sari just welcomes him back. Another line change is that she tells Bulkhead that humans also cry when they're happy, instead of the Autobots having much to learn about humans.
::*'''Cut:''' The news reporter covering the Autobots' rescue and repair efforts, Bumblebee commenting how they started out on fixing bridges, Sumdac's lament of his robotic empire's origin, and the camera pan to Megatron's head.
::*In this Otoboto family segment, Hiroyuki whips out his cellphone and goes into full chatting mode. Tatsuya wonders what kind of work his father does and whether it's actually work, as he usually sees Hiroyuki playing with Transformers figures almost all the time. Tatsuya then flashbacks to last week, when, after transforming their figures to vehicle mode, father and son are racing Optimus and Bumblebee before encountering Yūka's feet. Yūka thinks her father is quite the man-child and hands over a card from someone whom Hiroyuki thought passed away three years earlier.
::*The Autobots discuss their favorite sports player during the "next episode" segment, Optimus citing {{w|Shuzo Matsuoka}} as his favorite, much to the others' disappointment. As Prime waxes poetic about Matsuoka's passion and energetic character, he doesn't realize that his teammates have already left.

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformacja i jazda'''" ("Transform and Roll Out")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 11|11 October]] [[2008]] (Parts 1 and 2), [[October 12|12 October]] [[2010]] (Part 3)

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[File:Flag of UN.png|20px|International release]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Battle Begins ([[Pack-in material|Hasbro]]) — Part 1 only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transformieren und Abfahrt (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2010 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Vol. 1 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2013 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season One ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

== Footnote ==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Transform and Roll Out

2023-12-04T23:42:59Z

White Cat: /* Real world references */ Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

{{disambig2|the ''Transformers Animated'' multi-part episode|the command phrase|roll out}}
{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|image=TFA_TFandRollout_AutobotHeroes.jpg
|caption=''Epic''
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|next2=Sound and Fury
|ep=1, 2 and 3
|next=Home Is Where the Spark Is
|title="Transform and Roll Out"
|airdate=[[December 26]], [[2007]]
|season=1
|season ep=1–3
|written by=[[Marty Isenberg]]
|directed by= [[Matt Youngberg]] [[Yutaka Kagawa]] [[Minoru Yamaoka]] [[Makoto Fuchigami]]
|animation studio= [[Mook]]
|continuity=[[Animated cartoon continuity]]}}
'''When a small crew of maintenance Autobots comes into possession of the powerful AllSpark, a battle with their long-forgotten enemies sends them crashing toward a strange, distant planet known as... ''Earth.'''''

==Synopsis==
===Part 1===
In deep, deep space, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] watches a history vid of the [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], prompting [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] to complain about him watching that "junk" when the other members of the crew need assistance. Prime wonders if they were designed for more than repairing [[space bridge]]s. The two 'Bots transform into their vehicle modes and head out into the asteroid field.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout TheAllsparkdiscovered.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Well... at least there's no [[Size changing|mass-shifting]].]]
Outside, [[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]], dangling from a high rock by his wrecking ball (and becoming quite queasy in the process), is freed by [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]], who also ends up taking a tumble. Bumblebee complains about the sheer amount of rocks blocking the space bridge node, and one is shattered unexpectedly by [[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]]'s throwing star. Prime gives his troops a speech about teamwork (which Prowl moans at theatrically), but at that point the space bridge lights up, sending rocks and Autobots flying. Fancy footwork by Optimus saves each of his teammates from the debris, and a well-aimed grappling line shuts down the bridge. With his subordinates stunned at their leader's skills, Prime is forced to admit he trained at [[Autobot Academy|Cybertron's military academy]]. Bumblebee's query as to what the heck he's doing on a nowhere maintenance assignment is left unanswered as they notice something glowing in the rubble.

Prime clears away the debris to reveal a large, chest-like object. Ratchet is horrified and immediately demands they throw it back into the space bridge, but an alert from [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Teletran-1]] announces the arrival of a signature consistent with the long-lost [[Decepticon]]s. Ratchet then insists they take the object and just get out of there post-haste.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Decepticonship.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Yes, this is a scout ship. Way to go, Magnanimous.]]
On board their ship, Ratchet finally reveals what they've found: the [[AllSpark]], the source of all Transformer life that was lost centuries ago. Optimus, worried about the oncoming Decepticon signal, contacts the [[Elite Guard|Cybertron Elite Guard]] for help. After taking a bit of snark from [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]], Optimus reveals what they found, which shuts Sentinel up fast. Sentinel then puts the crew through to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]], who tells Optimus Prime to stay put while they send reinforcements... and not to worry about that Decepticon thing. Optimus, considering this to be a really stupid move, orders the crew to start booking it out of there.

[[File:Ani crew.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Scotty]], engage!]]
This proves wise, as the signal is indeed a Decepticon ship—a [[Nemesis (Animated)|command ship]], in fact. The identification markings are ones that Optimus and Ratchet recognize, meaning its commander can only be one person: [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], leader of the Decepticons. On board the Decepticon ship, [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] doubts the AllSpark is aboard the Autobot ship and declares Megatron a fool. [[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] denounces Starscream as a traitor, while [[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] calls Lugnut an idiot for his blind loyalty and [[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] just acts... well, crazy. The Decepticons continue to bicker at each other until Megatron enters, shutting up all of them. The Decepticons chase the Autobot ship, and Starscream volunteers to board them. Megatron quickly shoots that idea down, saying he'll tend to this matter personally. Just before he leaves, Starscream wishes his commander "luck" with a pat on the back... affixing a bomb to Megatron in the process.

Megatron makes his way to the Autobots' ship and begins to melt his way through its hull. Optimus uses external manipulator arms to grapple with Megatron, until the bomb detonates, sending the ship careening uncontrollably into a space bridge node, which explodes after they go through the gate. Starscream begins to make a speech declaring himself the new Decepticon leader, but the other three have abandoned ship, noting that the fireball from the space bridge explosion is only getting larger. Too late, Starscream realizes the trouble he's in...

An unknown distance away, the Autobot ship reappears above a [[Earth|small blue and green planet]]. Prime checks on his troops, but Megatron has gotten aboard, having survived the explosion, but at the cost of his right arm. Prime uses his grappling line to shut off the gravity, making it more difficult for Megatron to fight. All five Autobots face off against the Decepticon, but he's too strong (though Prowl does manage to cut off Megatron's damaged arm). Prime and Megatron both end up in the storage bay where the AllSpark is... and as the ship enters the atmosphere, Prime is able to blow the hatch and kick the screaming Megatron out of the ship.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Arkatmosphere.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Oddly familiar.]]
On a small farm, a young boy hears a thud and runs to where something has landed in a not-too-distant field. He is shocked to find a robotic head staring lifelessly up at him.

Meanwhile, Prime orders his team into emergency stasis pods to prepare for a crash-landing. He manages to steer the ship away from the city below and gets to a stasis pod just before the ship plunges into [[Lake Erie]].

Fifty years later, [[Detroit]] is once again a thriving city, but instead of manufacturing automobiles, robots are the city's stock-in-trade. [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] is talking to a public school class taking a tour of his facilities, which gets interrupted by Isaac's daughter, [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]], and her robot dog, [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]]. As Sari is carted off to her lessons by a [[Tutor Bot|robot tutor]], Isaac shows the school kids a nanotech lab, just in time to witness a roach infused with microbots grow out of control and start consuming everything in sight. Isaac tries to keep things calm, but the monster bursts out of the lab...

===Part 2===
[[File:TFA TFandRollout Firefighters monster.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Yeah, watering it will surely stop the beast.]]
The monster continues to grow, absorbing just about everything it touches to increase its size and power. In the process, it destroys a lot of the factory. [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]], the S.W.A.T team, the fire department, ambulances, and robot drones arrive, but the creature absorbs several of the responding vehicles, too. Fanzone uses a bazooka-type weapon and destroys the beast, despite Sumdac's objection. This protest proves well-founded, as the remnants of the creature start flowing back together again, save for one piece that drops into the nearby lake and works its way down to the Autobots' ship, its nanites seeking the absorbable technology there. It infiltrates via a small breach in the outer hull, but thankfully, the ship's intruder alert systems are functional and awaken the Autobots before any damage is done. Examining the situation, they decide to have Teletran-1 give them Earth forms so they can blend in and help out. A probe is launched into the chaos and scans various vehicles, including an ambulance, a police motorcycle, an armored personnel carrier, a fire truck, and [[Captain Fanzone's car]]. Everyone deploys except Ratchet, who remains behind to analyze the sample of alien material.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Autobots.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Avengers]], ASSEMBLE!]]
During the fight, Bulkhead and Bumblebee spot Sari trying to wrest her security key from Sparkplug's mouth. Mistaking which is owner and which is pet, they approach her, but Bulkhead's greeting only scares her away. She quickly gets nabbed by the monster, but Bumblebee saves her, earning her trust and friendship. Prowl attempts to take on the bug-slug by himself, against Prime's orders, and gets absorbed. Prime orders Ratchet to join them in battle to save Prowl, but the old veteran insists that finding a "cure" code to neutralize the nanites' programming makes more sense than coming out and getting trashed. A somewhat chastened Prime agrees, and Ratchet soon delivers the goods. However, the new program must be uploaded by direct contact—meaning from inside the monster. This means the smallest, fastest one of them has to do it. Bumblebee reluctantly takes on the task. The beast has been using some of Prowl's absorbed intelligence and comm link tech, though, so it knows what they're planning and is now smart enough to fight back. Despite this, Bumblebee succeeds in delivering the code, and the bug dissolves into a dusty shower of deactivated nanites. Prowl is soon uncovered, but he's suffered grave wounds and must be taken back to the Autobots' ship for repairs. Sari pesters Bumblebee to be taken along, and her new friend reluctantly agrees, since there's no time to make her go away quietly.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Sari followedmehome.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|Bumblebee, having a pet is a big responsibility.]]
Once on board, Sari's refusal to stay still and quiet causes 'Bee some embarrassment. He quickly and discreetly ejects her into a ventilation port and joins the others. However, the port opens onto a shaft that takes Sari right to the chamber where the AllSpark is being kept. Curious, she touches it, and it reacts to her, sending its energies into her security card key and reconfiguring it into [[AllSpark Key|a key of another sort entirely]]. Prime finds her almost immediately thereafter, but with no time left to spare away from Prowl, he has to bring her back with him to the repair table. Ratchet's prognosis is bleak, but the [[AllSpark Key]] abruptly reacts, glowing and tugging her toward Prowl. Bumblebee, seeming to grasp what's happening, helps her onto the table, and as she approaches, her Key reshapes itself to fit into a slot on Prowl's chest. She inserts it, and with a burst of energy, the Autobot ninja is whole again. The Autobots then take Sari home and, after a brief misunderstanding, are made heroes and are even invited to a ceremony.

In outer space, Starscream sits aboard the damaged but functional Decepticon ship, babbling that he will find the AllSpark, even though he's been attempting it on his own for the last fifty solar cycles. The ship's computers then detect the traces of AllSpark-like energy in action, and Starscream learns where the Autobots are...
{{-}}

===Part 3===
[[File:Sariprime.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|INSERT WHAT WHERE?!]]
The Autobots are later seen trying to fit in. Bulkhead gets firsthand experience in traffic jams, some birds mistake Prowl for the statue of the {{w|Hazen S. Pingree|bald guy}} next to him, Bumblebee learns how organics fuel up, and Ratchet can't get a stasis nap without getting a dozen or so parking tickets. Optimus Prime remarks that the Autobots are programmed to respect life, which they always understood to stem from the AllSpark, but as organics are life, they must respect and protect them too. Optimus also expresses curiosity about how little organics are made. Sari's whispered explanation leaves him rather... shocked. The Autobots make a [[Autobot Earth Base|new home base]] out of a building Sari's dad got out of a merger, an abandoned auto factory that Bumblebee describes as a real fixer-upper—a REAL fixer-upper. All of a sudden, they get alerted to a fire. The Autobots proceed to douse the blaze and save its victims, no problem, unaware they are being watched by Starscream.

The next day, during the inauguration ceremony for the Sumdac [[Fully Automated Rapid Transit System]] (F.A.R.T.S., for short), Starscream enters Earth's atmosphere and takes on a group of fighter jets. He destroys all but one, which he scans. As the civilians and Autobots watch the aerial display of the [[Crimson Angels]], Isaac Sumdac notices there is an extra jet present that he didn't hire. That one jet then leaves the formation and streaks toward the ceremony platform, where it transforms into Starscream, who fires his null-ray cannons at the Autobots.

After a short fight, which the Autobots lose, Starscream knocks out Bumblebee and takes him, Isaac, the mayor, and Capt. Fanzone hostage in the F.A.R.T.S. train, flying it to the top of a very tall tower. He demands that the Autobots deliver the AllSpark if they want him to release the train car. The Autobots don't trust him, but don't want to risk human lives, so Sari offers a plan, but they ignore her. She continues to tell a sob story until the Autobots listen. The Autobots proceed with her plan, and Prowl and Sari fly up to the transit pod to rescue the hostages while the other Autobots keep Starscream busy. Once Starscream realizes what's happening, he takes a brief beating but recovers quickly. Starscream then throws the train—thus keeping his end of the deal—with Sari, Prowl, and Bumblebee on top of/in it. Between Bumblebee's agility and Prowl's thrusters plus Ratchet's magnets, Sari is rescued and the train lands without much damage. The Autobots then challenge Starscream to a friendly game of Keep Away, during which Starscream almost gets the AllSpark, but Bulkhead gets it instead, because he said he got it. A furious Starscream unleashes a devastating, prolonged (as in nearly 12 seconds) null-ray blast on the Autobots, briefly knocking them all senseless.

[[File:TFA TFandRollout Prime SS Allsparkactivates.jpg|left|upright=0.85|thumb|In the old days, [[The Touch]] would have started playing now.]]
With the Autobots down, Starscream takes the AllSpark from Optimus and blows a couple of blocks of Detroit right off the map. Not ready to give up, Optimus climbs all the way up a building to get it back from Starscream, which Starscream doesn't see coming because he was too busy gloating. After a quick back-and-forth exchange of possessing it, both grab it at the same time. As they struggle, the AllSpark opens and emits a strange energy wave that blasts Starscream away.

The explosion has left Prime dangling precariously, and he takes a tremendous plummet to the pavement. He notes weakly that he now knows what it feels like to be a hero, then dies, but Sari uses the AllSpark Key to revive him.<ref>[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|This is something of an Optimus Prime record]]: Dead after only three episodes, revived a mere 75 seconds later. Way to go.</ref> The Autobots later go about fixing up Detroit, earning the enduring gratitude of the citizenry. Professor Sumdac is also grateful, for the Autobots saved him and Sari, but he fears what will happen if the Autobots—not to mention the rest of the world—were to discover the source of his robotic empire.

Unseen by Sumdac, one of the [[Sensors|optics]] of his source of technology glows in a darkened room. Megatron still functions...
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters|
c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (2)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (3)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (4)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (5)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (7)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (8)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (9)
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (10)
*[[Blackarachnia (Animated)|Blackarachnia]] (11)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (12)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (13)

|c3=
*[[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]] (14)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel]] (17)
*[[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]] (18)
*[[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] (19)
*Kid (20)
*[[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari Sumdac]] (22)
*[[Eddie Fairchild and Matt Conroy|Sumdac technicians]] (24)
*[[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] (25)
*Irate driver (27)
*[[Lester Black]] (29)
*[[Augustus Edsel|Mayor Edsel]] (30)

|c4=
*[[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Teletran-1]] (6)
*[[Trash Bot]] (15)
*[[Hot Dog Bot]] (16)
*[[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] (21)
*[[Tutor Bot]] (23)
*[[Copterdrone]]s (26)
*[[Burger Bot]] (28)}}

==History vid==
{{quote|Many millions of years ago, war raged between the forces of the heroic Autobots and the brutal Decepticons for control of the planet Cybertron. The Autobots battled valiantly in the name of honor—their courageous exploits bringing hope and glory to a beleaguered war-torn planet, and inspiring countless generations of robots yet to come on-line.|Narrator}}
Scene 1: Decepticon troopers attack led by their commander. Their numbers appear overwhelming. 
Scene 2: Two tetrajets pursue two Autobots over a Cybertronian highway. 
Scene 3: [[Omega Sentinel (Animated)|Omega Sentinel]]-like robots counter-attack the Decepticon troopers and appear to turn the tide. 
Scene 4: Transport trucks enter a storage facility. 
Scene 5: [[Dion (G1)|An inspired Transformer]] salute.

==Quotes==
"Do you ever get the feeling that you were programmed for something more than just repairing space bridges?" 
"I got a diagnostics program that can delete that feeling like a bad line of code."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s dreams are crushed to a fine powder by '''Ratchet'''.

'''Icy Blitzwing''': *freezes Blackarachnia's right arm* As usual, ''Blackarachnia'', your demeanor is as unpleasant as that accursed, organic mode of yours. 
'''Blackarachnia''': Blow it out your actuator, three face. *snarls and breaks the ice on her hand* 
'''Hothead Blitzwing''': Ze name is '''BLITZWING''', insect! REMEMBER IT! Because it's the last thing you're going to hear before I- 
'''Random Blitzwing''': Express my feelings in song! ZE ITSY BITSY SPIDER...
:—Blitzwing cements his position as a fan favorite in less than a minute.

"What do you want now, Starscream?" 
"Only to wish you luck, my liege." 
"I do not believe in luck." 
"Neither do I."
:—'''Megatron''' fails to notice '''Starscream''' place his explosive.

"Know what? You're even uglier at this angle!"
:—'''Bumblebee''' is about to realize there are some things you should never, EVER, say to a Decepticon.

"Hi, I'm Bumblebee!" 
"I'm Sari." 
"Oh, don't be, I like my name."
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Sari''' are off to an awkward start.

"Y'know, all things considered, fixin' space bridges wasn't such a bad gig."
:—'''Bumblebee''', just before embarking on the plan to dissolve the bug monster.

"Uh...am I going to be able to ''breathe'' down there?" 
"Oh, sure! ...What's 'breathe'?"
:—'''Sari''' is in good hands with '''Bumblebee'''.

"And to think, Ultra Magnus told me not to be a hero. Is this what it was like in your day?" 
"The Decepticons didn't leave us very much to cheer about."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' at the ceremony.

"Enjoy it while you can, 'heroes.' You're about to take a fall."
:—'''Starscream''', watching a news report on the Autobots.

"Give up the AllSpark or give up the Earth. How am I supposed to decide?" 
"Heroes are the ones who make the hard choices."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ratchet''' after Starscream makes his ultimatum.

"Let go, Autobot!" 
"Never! The AllSpark is life!" 
"Then, let it end yours!"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Optimus Prime''', fighting over the AllSpark.

"So, this...is what it feels like...to be a hero."
:—'''Optimus Prime''', just before dying.

"Fixing bridges? Isn't this where we started out?"
:—'''Bumblebee''', as the Autobots clean up the city.

==Notes==

===Transformers references===
*The title of the episode itself is a [[Roll out|reference to past Transformers lore]].
*Footage from the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|G1 cartoon]] episodes "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]" and "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]" is used as history tapes detailing the events of the first [[Great War (Animated)|Great War]], millions of years prior, accompanied by narration from [[Corey Burton]] doing his best impression of [[Victor Caroli]]. [[Canon|This]] has been confirmed as purely an in-joke, and should not be taken as linking ''Animated'' to G1, continuity wise.
*The [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Autobot ship]] here bears a distinct resemblance to the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], albeit with a colour scheme more reminiscent of [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]. (As we learn [[A Bridge Too Close, Part II|much later]], there is a very good reason for that.)
*Bumblebee says "[[Rattrap (BW)|We're all gonna die.]]"
*Sari's robotic dog [[Sparkplug (robot dog)|Sparkplug]] is likely named after either [[Sparkplug Witwicky]] from G1, the ''Armada'' Mini-Con [[Sparkplug (Armada)|Sparkplug]], or both.
[[File:Spikecarlydanielanimated.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|Twenty years later, and they're still overdressed.]]
*Characters resembling [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike]], [[Carly]], and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] are seen at a hot dog stand, purchasing some sort of futuristic bunless wieners-on-a-stick. The characters went on to become recurring figures in the background cast of the show, and in "[[Garbage In, Garbage Out]]" it was revealed that their names were... [[Spike Witwicky (Animated)|Spike]], [[Carly Witwicky (Animated)|Carly]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (Animated)|Daniel Witwicky]].
*When Optimus Prime dies, his body [[aggressive depigmentation|fades to grays]], just as [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Generation 1 Optimus Prime]] did in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. His spark chamber opens in much the same manner as well.
*Teletran-1 (spelled with only one "a" in this universe) dispatches a small satellite very similar to the [[Sky Spy]] satellite used on occasion by the Autobots in the ''Generation 1'' cartoon. The glowing energy "boxes" with which it scans vehicles for the Autobots to transform into are lifted wholesale out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
*At one point, Bulkhead refers to Optimus as "Boss-bot", echoing an epithet used for ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (franchise)|Beast Wars]]'' [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] by the [[Fuzor]] [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]], and also used by Cheetor refer to Optimus Primal. Bumblebee also calls Optimus "Big-bot", again a term used by Cheetor to refer to Optimus.

===Real world references===
*In this episode, [[Tutor Bot]] tries to teach Sari about the {{w|Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act}}, a major economic blunder of the 1930s.
**This may also be a reference to the film {{w|Ferris Bueller's Day Off}}, which includes a high school teacher attempting to teach his disinterested class about Smoot-Hawley.
*In this episode, Starscream's engines use a sound effect borrowed from ''The Phantom Menace'': the sound made by Sebulba's podracer engines; and from “Attack of the Clones”: the sound made by Obi-Wan Kenobi's starfighter exiting hyperspace.
*When Prowl gets birdpooped on, he is standing next to a statue of {{w|Hazen S. Pingree}}, four-term mayor of Detroit and one-time governor of Michigan. In real life, the statue is located in Detroit's Grand Circus Park.
*A refurbished Michigan Central Station makes an appearance as the site for the dedication of Detroit's rapid transit system. The real-life station (abandoned since the '80s) was featured in the [[Transformers (film)|2007 live-action movie]].
*When Optimus comes back to life, he asks, "Is this the [[Well of All Sparks]]?" and Sari answers, "No, it's Detroit." This is an allusion to the movie ''Field of Dreams'', in which Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) asks Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), "Is this Heaven?" and Ray answers, "No, it's Iowa."
*In the Japanese dub, Bumblebee mentions ''Rescue Fire'', which is another [[TakaraTomy]] property that's based on Takara's Tomica toy car line. Prior to ''Animated''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Japanese debut, it aired in the same timeslot and channel as ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Galaxy Force]]'' did.
*The Crimson Angels are a reference to the {{w|Blue Angels}}.

===Animation or technical glitches===
*Megatron's vehicle mode was depicted flying upside-down, or backwards, or possibly both. To be fair, in space, there is no up and down (and to be even fairer, it's really hard to tell from the toys exactly what ''is'' the front of Megatron's Cybertronian spaceship mode), but that does not excuse the fact that any propulsion system used would be in the ''back'' of the mode.
*Prowl sliced off what was left of Megatron's arm below the elbow, but when Ratchet hurls it at Megs, it was sliced above (and subsequently includes) his elbow.
*Megatron's mouth doesn't move when he offers to spare the Autobots’ lives in exchange for the Allspark.
*When the Autobot get into the stasis pods, Prime, Bulkhead, and Ratchet are on the left side, with Bumblebee, Prowl, and an empty pod on the right, in that order. Yet when they get out later in the episode, Prime, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead are on the left, and the empty one, Prowl, and Ratchet on the right.
*As pre-Earth Prime enters the chamber which will re-format his body into his Earth mode, he walks past Ratchet, who is drawn mostly in his pre-Earth mode, except for the fact that his Cybertronian gut is replaced with his ambulance gut. In the next scene, Ratchet is properly drawn, pre-Earth gut and all.
*When Sari says to the Autobots it is okay to put down their hands, Bulkhead's face is black.
*When Bulkhead removes the Allspark from Ratchet's vehicle mode, in one frame the black outlining on his right arm vanishes and reappears one frame later.
*When Starscream tackles Optimus Prime through a building as the Autobot tries to escape with the AllSpark, Optimus's axe is missing from Starscream's left wing. It reappears moments later for Optimus to retrieve it.
*In at least one scene, Starscream's Earth-form wing is shown with a spike, in the same manner as his Cybertronian body.
*When Optimus' chest closes up after his Spark is restored, the wide 'spark cover' section is not seen flipping back down. It disappears when his windows close back over his spark.

===Continuity errors===
*There was a pretty big continuity error evident in the show's very premise that nobody really picked up on, which was: if the AllSpark was the source of Transformer life, and it was jettisoned into space at the end of the Great War, and most of Prime's crew weren't ''alive'' during the Great War... how did they come on-line? Despite the fact that nobody was asking the question, the ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|AllSpark Almanac II]]'' guidebook provided the answer by revealing that there is also a version of [[Vector Sigma]] in the ''Animated'' universe that could also grant life.
* When Optimus kicks Megatron out of the docking tube, the sky around the ship is blue. However, the very next shot, in which Megatron falls to Earth outside the Sumdac barn, shows a nighttime scene.
*The train Starscream blasts from the tower falls toward the ground very, very slowly.
*When we first meet Starscream, he states that he has been searching for the AllSpark for fifty ''solar'' cycles. In later episodes, a solar cycle is equivalent to a day and a ''stellar'' cycle is used for years. This is the only time a solar cycle has been used to reference years, so either Starscream entered some sort of temporal anomaly or someone messed up. For more <s>confusion</s> information, see our breakdown of [[units of time]].
*Sumdac is using Megatron's hand as a chair. However, he seems to be using the right hand, which was blown up by Starscream. (It ''could'' have fallen off the Autobots' ship, as it was still clinging to the hull when last seen, but that seems unlikely.)
*From Isaac Sumdac's monologue, it seems he ''somehow'' knows the source of this technology has some relation to the Decepticons. But, not only he has no way of knowing that, he [[Blast from the Past|later]] believes Megatron when he presents himself as an Autobot.
**Or, when he expresses his concerns, he could just have meant him dissecting one of their kind.
*When Optimus Prime first tries to activate the Orion's "Omega" emergency defense system, Teletran-1 claims it has been disabled due to energy conservation efforts. However, [[Omega Supreme (Animated)|Omega Supreme]] [[TransWarped|is in a modified stasis due to being critically injured]], not due to Cybertron's "green" initiatives. Optimus appears to be aware of the [[Omega Sentinel (Animated)|Omega Sentinel]] function, but has never actually used it.

===Trivia===
*Bumblebee's voice is slightly different in this episode from how it sounds later, as is Lugnut's voice, which seems very metallic.
*When mocking the Autobots, Starscream actually calls Megatron "the great Megatron" without any sarcasm. Apparently, he'll only give a sincere compliment to his leader when he's insulting something else. Either that or he's just trying to make ''himself'' sound more impressive by building up the reputation of the one he's defeated.
*According to responses at a panel at BotCon 2008, the unfortunate acronym for Fully Automated Rapid Transit System was totally unintentional...which makes it that much funnier.
*Ratchet is able to use his front windshield as a video screen.
*Several elements present in this opener were changed/dropped in the main series, including expressive vehicle modes, the replacement of solar cycles with stellar cycles in terminology, the recolouring of Ratchet's magnetism from yellow to pink, and Sari's Key changing shape. However, the expressions on vehicle mode were briefly used again by [[Wasp]] in the episode "[[Predacons Rising (Animated)|Predacons Rising]]".
*During [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari's]] "conversation" with the [[AllSpark]], it shows her the faces of Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream, then the Cybertronian [[Alternate mode|vehicle modes]] for Optimus and Ratchet, the AllSpark's case and the Autobots' ship. Then Sari unknowingly shows the AllSpark a man and a woman in suits, a boy, the planet [[Earth]], pyramids, purple flowers, a horse, an aircraft with a giant cloud coming from the back, a cell and a DNA strand. The woman has dark skin and red hair like Sari.
*This is the only episode in the series where Blackarachnia is shown to be working - or even aligned in any way - with the Decepticons. Beyond the opening [[introdump]] and [[Nemesis (Animated)|abandoning ship]], she's very much an independent agent.
**Although, the same could arguably be said for Starscream.
*This movie was (lovingly) lampooned at the [[MSTF]] panel for [[BotCon 2008]], along with "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]", the episode from which most of the "history vid" footage was taken.
*Remarkably, when Optimus Prime's ship began free falling towards Detroit and crashed into Lake Erie, it did not catch one human bystander's attention, even in the dead of night. Now that's a city that sleeps.
*In addition, the giant yellow ship went unnoticed at the bottom of the lake for 50 years straight.
*This episode was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as "[[Transformers Animated Volume 1]]".

===Foreign localization===
'''Brazilian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformar e Avançar!'''" ("Transform and Advance!")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Les Transformers mettent la gomme'''" ("The Transformers put the pedal to the metal")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 3|3 September]] [[2008]]

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformieren und Abfahrt'''" ("Transform and Roll Out")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[May 3|3 May]] [[2008]] (Part 1), [[May 10|10 May]] 2008 (Part 2), [[May 17|17 May]] 2008 (Part 3)

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Viaggio verso l'ignoto'''" ("Journey towards the Unknown")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[September 20|20 September]] [[2008]] (Part 1), [[September 27|27 September]] 2008 (Part 2), [[October 4|4 October]] 2008 (Part 3)

'''Spanish (Latin America)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformense y avancen'''" ("Transform and go forward")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 7|7 June]] [[2008]], (The Three episodes)

'''Japanese (Part 1)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Shinshō! Transformer'''" (新章! トランスフォーマー, "A New Chapter! Transformers")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 3|3 April]] [[2010]]

::*The episode begins with the entire [[Otoboto family]] gathered as Yūka and Tatsuya tell the viewers in unison to watch in a well-lit room (to prevent seizures and damage to your eyesight, you know).
::*As the [[title sequence]] begins, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] asks how everyone is doing, then introduces himself as leader of the Autobots. When he realizes nobody knows who he is, he ''assures'' them that he's leader of the Autobots. Then the [[Transformers Evo.|theme song]] starts.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet and Optimus's conversation as they walk down a hall, where Prime refers to feeling like being meant for "more than just repairing space bridges", and Ratchet's snarky response about deleting that feeling "like a bad line of code".
::*'''Cut:''' Bulkhead's comment on their medic being always grumpy, Ratchet responding to Bumblebee's age crack with a smack upside the head and the retort of "I may have one servo in the scrapheap, but I can still hear!".
::*The usual cries of "Transform!" and attack names are added in. ([[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]]'s "stingers" are now called "Energy Stingers", for instance.) Perhaps most annoyingly, ''every single thing Optimus does'' has the prefix of "Ultra" added to it. In the span of ten seconds, he goes through his "Ultra Anchor", "Ultra Axe" and "Ultra Net" attacks.
::*'''Cut:''' After shutting down the space bridge, the following sequence where Ratchet is repairing Bumblebee, Bulkhead commenting about Optimus's moves, Optimus reluctantly admitting that he used to train at the Academy, and Bumblebee saying that he should've been with the Elite Guard.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet's poking back at Optimus wanting to see some action, Bumblebee pointing out they're repair bots, Optimus requesting a link with Cybertron Command Headquarters and Bulkhead impressed by it.
::*Teletran-1 now speaks as though "she" is in a state of perpetual orgasm.
::*When the Autobots first happen upon the ''[[Nemesis (Animated)|Nemesis]]'' and all freak over [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]], a new [[scene transition]] is added when transitioning into the discussion between the Decepticon forces. A guitar riff of the classic Generation 1 scene transition music is even used.
::*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]]'s personae now speak with thick American accents, and spout English words like "Hey!" and "Man!"
::*New [[commercial bumper]]s have been crafted, featuring stock art of the characters with their voice actors screaming their name, followed by "Transform!"
::*'''Cut:''' [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]]'s entire speech on the bridge ("This is a dark day...") followed by him getting caught in the explosion.
::*When Bulkhead tumbles into Optimus, following his line "A little warning would have helped!", he screams out "Mommyyyyyyy!" Yeah, Japanese Bulkhead ain't so smart.
::*'''Cut:''' After Megatron is kicked from the ship, the establishing shots of Paw Paw (the street sign, the outside of the barn and the scroll across [[Isaac Sumdac (Animated)|Isaac Sumdac]]'s lab).
::*'''Cut:''' Following Prime's line "Not until I've steered us clear of this populated sector!", the brief scenes of the Autobots being sealed in their stasis pods.
::*'''Cut:''' As soon as the ship crashes into Lake Eerie and leaves a stream of upturned water on the surface, the scenes of the ship sinking and Teletran-1 "initiating emergency stasis mode" on the pods as they turn grey. The episode resumes at the long shot of the sinking ship slowly coming toward the camera, with a new voice-over of Teletran-1 telling the Autobots "good night".
::*'''Cut:''' As Isaac Sumdac narrates the history of Detroit and automaton manufacturing, the scene of the trash-collecting automaton has been cut.
::*'''Cut:''' The scenes of [[Sari Sumdac (Animated)|Sari]] pulling the bubblegum off her face, eating it, the crowd reacting in disgust, Isaac Sumdac reacting in frustration, the kid asking Sari what its like to grow up around robots and [[Tutor Bot]] hauling Sari off.
::*'''Cut:''' After the cockroach absorbs the nanobot liquid, all the scenes involving Isaac Sumdac explaining the nanobots to the children and the children looking through microscopes at the nanobots. The sequence cuts to the roach growing bigger.
::*'''Cut:''' The close-up of Isaac Sumdac saying "Nothing to be concerned about, children!" and the kid remarking that "This accident doesn't look too happy". The sequence cuts to the roach crashing through the window behind him.
::*The Otoboto Family segment features [[Hiroyuki Otoboto]] telling his son, [[Tatsuya Otoboto]], about ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]'', complete with clips from "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", as well as a brief musical clip from the songs "Time Bomb Town" (by Lindsey Buckingham, from the ''[[Back to the Future]]'' soundtrack) and "Fairy Godmother Song" (from the ''Shrek 2'' soundtrack). Mr. Otoboto then produces a complete set of ''Animated'' Autobot toys. Tatsuya is thrilled, but wouldn't ya know it? [[Megumi Otoboto|Mrs. Otoboto]] comes in with dinner! During mealtime conversation, Mrs. Otoboto makes the mistake of using the word "transform", which inevitably causes Tatsuya to start talking about Transformers, much to the amusement of his father and the annoyance of his older sister, [[Yūka Otoboto|Yūka]]. Tatsuya then causes a "freeze frame" so that he can introduce himself and his family (messing with his father's glasses in the process for his own amusement). Oddly, despite being "frozen", everyone proceeds to blink. As time resumes its normal pace, Hiroyuki wonders what happened to his glasses. He then digs into his dinner, except, oh no! It's too hot! ''Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!''
::*During the "next episode" segment, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee proceed to have an argument. Bumblebee thinks Optimus's name is too long and hard to remember. Bumblebee suggests that "[[Convoy (rank)|Convoy]]" would be better, but Prime shoots the idea down immediately. Bumblebee opts to call him "Opti" (''Oputi''), since it has fewer syllables. Prime refuses to be called such a name (more fitting for a dog), so Bumblebee settles on "Pu-Pu" after "Opera" (''Opura'') is also rejected for sounding weird. Prime refuses that too, thinking it sounds cute, but that it would be hard not to laugh instinctively at it. Bumblebee then tricks Prime into answering to it, which frustrates him even ''further''. The argument proceeds ''past'' the "next episode" segment and straight into the sponsor cards.

'''Japanese (Part 2)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Eiyū, sono Na wa Autobot'''" (英雄、その名はオートボット, "The Heroes Are Called Autobots")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 10|10 April]] [[2010]]

::*Hiroyuki and Tatsuya Otoboto tell the viewers in unison to watch the episode in a well-lit room (with Hiroyuki giving a creepy wink at the end).
::*Instead of Optimus introducing at the opening, Bumblebee introduces himself and tells viewers to listen to [[JAM Project]]'s [[Transformers Evo.|cool song]].
::*'''Cut:''' The rush of emergency vehicles driving through the city, alongside the following scene of Fanzone getting into his car, preparing to enjoy lunch at Burger Bot, and receiving the emergency call before departing.
::*'''Cut:''' Fanzone arriving at Sumdac laboratories, his little dilemma with the broken megaphone, and his first directions to the police force.
::*Optimus now has "Ultra Jump" added to his "arsenal" as he distracts the nano-monster.
::*Bulkhead now says "''dosukoi''" on occasion, a word usually used by {{w|Sumo|sumo wrestlers}}.
::*'''Cut:''' The left-to-right pan of the ruined laboratory where the tour had taken place.
::*'''Cut:''' Much of the flying debris from the monster falling into the ocean.
::*During the [[trans-scan]]ning, Teletran-1 announces the type of vehicle being scanned and the Autobots as they are reformatted.
::*'''Cut:''' Fanzone noticing the four vehicles confronting the monster and attempting to call them back before noticing that they are unmanned and include his own car.
::*'''Cut:''' Immediately after the previous cut, the scene where Bulkhead and Bumblebee attempt to converse with the police drones while fighting the monster.
::*The joke on Sari's name—"I'm Bumblebee." "I'm Sari." "Oh, don't be. I like my name." "No, I mean my name is..."—is somewhat altered. Instead, Bumblebee "corrects" her that ''he's'' not named "Sari" (the pun involving "I'm Sari" sounding like "I'm sorry" not working in the Japanese language, obviously).
::*'''Cut:''' After Bumblebee takes Sari into the parking garage, Fanzone's and Dr. Sumdac's observation of Bumblebee and his unknown purposes, and the ordering the police drones to save Sari.
::*Bumblebee counts off while disabling the police drones, and he has an extra line even though his mouth doesn't move.
::*'''Cut:''' Ratchet's comment on Optimus being a "typical [[Autobot Academy|Academy Bot]]", along with a shot of the computer analysis of the monster.
::*'''Cut:''' Sari's gasp when Bumblebee is jumping at the monster.
::*When Sari reassures Ratchet that humans "don't usually blow up things" with emergency symbols, Ratchet comments about being treated kindly.
::*'''Cut:''' After Dr. Sumdac shakes hands with Optimus at the ceremony, Optimus's comment regarding not being a hero, his question to Ratchet about things being "like this in your day", and Ratchet's rather ominous response.
::*'''Cut:''' After the ceremony, the foreshadowing scene in which Starscream is seen monologuing in the crashed ''Nemesis'' on the Moon.
::*For the Otoboto family segment, Hiroyuki and Tatsuya are playing on the living room carpet with their toys (Hiroyuki and his Optimus Prime against Tatsuya and his Bumblebee). Filled with nostalgia, Hiroyuki begins describing the Autobots and the roles of each character to the audience, only to have Tatsuya beat him to the punch by ending all his sentences. Suddenly, they hear a crashing sound coming from the kitchen. Hiroyuki and Tatsuya rise to the occasion, shout "Transform!" and "change" into Optimus Prime and Megatron t-shirts (accompanied by their own dramatic "transformation" sequences and the theme from ''[[Fandom:powerrangers:Hikari Sentai Maskman|Maskman]]''). But before they can battle the forces of Evil stirring up trouble in the kitchen, they first have to sit back down on the living room floor and transform their toys into vehicle mode. (So, what if there was a burglar beating your wife, dude?) As Hiroyuki completes the transformation of his Optimus toy, we are assured that the "adventure" of the Otoboto family will be continued next episode.
::*In the "next episode" segment, Bulkhead asks Ratchet about the name "Transformers Animated", and Bulkhead then mistakenly tells viewers to watch "Transformers Anime". Ratchet later jokes about shortening the title to "Tra-Ani" because the original title is a bit long.

'''Japanese (Part 3)'''
:*''Title:'' "'''AllSpark no Himitsu'''" (オールスパークの秘密, "Secret of the AllSpark")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 17|17 April]] [[2010]]

::*This time, it's mother and daughter, Megumi and Yūka Otoboto, who tell viewers to watch the episode in a well-lit room.
::*Starscream does the intro in a rather...perky manner.
::*'''Cut:''' The ''whole'' sequence of the Autobots integrating themselves into Detroit: Bulkhead walking through rush hour traffic, Prowl's encounter with the birds' "present", Bumblebee ordering at Burger Bot, Ratchet getting ticketed for napping in a no-parking zone, Sari traumatizing Optimus on human reproduction, and the Autobots checking out their new "home".
::*During the sequence in which the Autobots are responding to the building fire, there are some additional lines and a tweak: The entire team sound off their names while heading on scene; Bumblebee jokes about calling in [[Rescue Fire]], to which Bulkhead responds by breaking the fourth wall, "That's a different show"; and the news reporter's coverage/praise of the Autobots doesn't mention "Detroit" by name and lasts until the scene changes to Starscream watching from the ''Nemesis''.
::*Sumdac says "480" on introducing the F.A.R.T.S.'s speed, which makes sense, as Japan uses the metric system and 300 miles equals to 482.803 kilometers.
::*'''Cut:''' Optimus commenting to Ratchet on being constantly called "heroes" and not feeling any different than repairing space bridges before, and Ratchet's response on the grim ends of the "heroes" he's known and his reluctance to share their fates.
::*During Starscream's attack on the jet fighters, one of the pilots shouts additional "Mayday!"s, to which Starscream retorts that "It's not 'Mayday', it's Starscream! Remember it!"
::*'''Cut:''' Panning shot from the top of Michigan Central Station down to the gathered Transformers.
::*When Starscream claims he's the "new boss" (literally) of the Decepticons, Bulkhead corrects him instead of saying that he thought Megatron was in charge.
::*Extra lines: both Ratchet and Prowl after the station crumbles; Starscream has one before Prowl tricks him with a hologram and another while dragging Optimus about after Prime uses his grappling hook.
::*'''Cut:''' Optimus declaring his name after Starscream demands the AllSpark. Cuts right to Starscream tossing Bumblebee into the transit pod.
::*Starscream's gloating while circling Sumdac Tower before Optimus baits him with the AllSpark.
::*When Sumdac asks how Sari got up the tower, Prowl's line is changed from "Same way you're getting down," to "By me, father." Fanzone's "This is why I hate machines!" catchphrase during the trip down is also tweaked.
::*Fanzone seems to be screaming for his grandfather as Prowl is dropping down to the blimp.
::*Additional line for Starscream when Ratchet tries to stop him with his magnetic manipulators.
::*Add "Ultra Spray" to Optimus's list of "Ultra" attacks when he sprays Starscream with fire retardant foam twice. Oy...
::*Bumblebee has an extra line while trying to attack Starscream when the latter realizes the jig's up.
::*Prowl calls out to Bumblebee when the train is knocked over the edge, and Starscream shouts "Dual Sonic Blaster" on sending all three into free fall.
::*Joining Bumblebee's ''"Ikimasu!"'' and Bulkhead's ''"Dosukoi!"'', Prowl's verbal tic is ''"De aru!"'' (Literally, "to be" in formal speech.)
::*Bulkhead's rhetorical question on catching the train on the first bounce is changed to a vow to do his best.
::*Instead of shock absorbers, Sari asks if Bumblebee has a parachute.
::*Ratchet has "Magnet Power" as his attack call when he catches the youngest pair, Sari's "some shock absorbers" line is altered, Prowl has "They're floating." as an extra line, and Bumblebee thanks Ratchet. Optimus's "think fast" line is delayed to just as he throws the AllSpark, and the medic's "Aw, crud." line is changed to objecting on being called "gramps" by Bumblebee.
::*While Sari calls the game "Keep Away" in English, here it's changed to Tag, or 鬼ごっこ (''oni-gokko'').
::*Instead of going on how fast one can stop, Bumblebee talks about hitting the goal.
::*Bulkhead's "I said, 'I ''got'' it.'" is altered after he clocks Starscream and gets the AllSpark.
::*Starscream yells that the show isn't over yet when he attacks the Autobots again just as Optimus is contemplating on getting the AllSpark to a safe place.
::*Instead of responding that it's Detroit when Optimus asks whether he's in the Well of AllSparks, Sari just welcomes him back. Another line change is that she tells Bulkhead that humans also cry when they're happy, instead of the Autobots having much to learn about humans.
::*'''Cut:''' The news reporter covering the Autobots' rescue and repair efforts, Bumblebee commenting how they started out on fixing bridges, Sumdac's lament of his robotic empire's origin, and the camera pan to Megatron's head.
::*In this Otoboto family segment, Hiroyuki whips out his cellphone and goes into full chatting mode. Tatsuya wonders what kind of work his father does and whether it's actually work, as he usually sees Hiroyuki playing with Transformers figures almost all the time. Tatsuya then flashbacks to last week, when, after transforming their figures to vehicle mode, father and son are racing Optimus and Bumblebee before encountering Yūka's feet. Yūka thinks her father is quite the man-child and hands over a card from someone whom Hiroyuki thought passed away three years earlier.
::*The Autobots discuss their favorite sports player during the "next episode" segment, Optimus citing {{w|Shuzo Matsuoka}} as his favorite, much to the others' disappointment. As Prime waxes poetic about Matsuoka's passion and energetic character, he doesn't realize that his teammates have already left.

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Transformacja i jazda'''" ("Transform and Roll Out")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 11|11 October]] [[2008]] (Parts 1 and 2), [[October 12|12 October]] [[2010]] (Part 3)

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[File:Flag of UN.png|20px|International release]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Battle Begins ([[Pack-in material|Hasbro]]) — Part 1 only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transform and Roll Out (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2008 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Transformieren und Abfahrt (Paramount) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2010 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Vol. 1 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2013 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season One ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers Animated'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

== Footnote ==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Talk:Jessica Morgan

2023-11-13T11:40:52Z

White Cat: /* Voice actor? */

== Parallel lives ==

She seems almost like a not-insane, cartoon version of [[Circuit Breaker (G1)|Circuit Breaker]]...wonder if [[Marv Wolfman]] and/or [[Cherie Wilkerson]] had read the comics... [[User:Thanos6|Thanos6]] 01:41, 14 April 2010 (EDT)
:...what? Sorry, but aside from the whole "getting injured in a Decepticon attack" thing, they have ''nothing'' in common. --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 01:57, 14 April 2010 (EDT)
::They were both paralyzed, and both gained exosuits that let them walk again. [[User:Thanos6|Thanos6]] 02:19, 14 April 2010 (EDT)
:::Circuit Breaker was a quadraplegic, Morgan a paraplegic. Circuit Breaker made her exo-suit on her own, the Autobots gave Morgan hers. You're grasping at straws, dude. --[[User:Detour|Detour]] 04:09, 14 April 2010 (EDT)
::::Morgan wasn't an insane and incredibly brilliant engineer, either. She was just some evil dude's daughter. We're talking the slightest of coincidences here. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 09:54, 14 April 2010 (EDT)

== Voice actor? ==

She sounds a lot like Pamela Hayden from The Simpsons (specifically, the voice she uses for Krusty the Clown's assistant Lois Pennycandy, and one of the Movementarian cult leaders), and also the voice of Katrina Shanks from Adventures in Odyssey. [[Bonnie Carlson]] from the same episode sounds like her as well. [[User:White Cat|White Cat]] ([[User talk:White Cat|talk]]) 06:40, 13 November 2023 (EST)

Talk:Jessica Morgan

2023-11-13T11:39:36Z

White Cat: Voice actor?

Carnage in C-Minor

2023-10-06T11:02:36Z

White Cat: Misspellings of Allegra

{{episode|
|series=G1toon
|series2=2010
|ep=82
|ep2=14
|prev2=Surprise Party
|next2=Fight or Flee (episode)
|image=Carnage C-Minor Autobots harmonic attack.JPG
|caption=[[Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime|Hey, what is that awful noise? Okay, let me straighten him out!]]
|title="Carnage in C-Minor"
|season=3
|season ep=17
|production code=700-102
|airdate=[[October 14]], 1986
|written by=[[Buzz Dixon]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm4ZFBIV4gM
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''Several Autobots and Decepticons battle over a planet whose civilization revolves around music and whose inhabitants can use sound as a powerful weapon.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Broadsidecrushesdevastator.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Die, Atlas!]]
The [[Decepticon]]s are building engines into the side of a comet in order to alter its course and crash it on top of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. As they fire up the engines, a group of [[Autobot]]s close in, led there by [[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]]. The Autobots attack, much to [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]'s dismay. The [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] form [[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]], who is promptly flattened when [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] drops on him in ship mode. In the ensuing battle, the engines are destroyed, and the comet is sent hurtling towards a small planet, which Perceptor reports is inhabited.

The Autobots attempt unsuccessfully to stop the comet before Galvatron again orders his men to engage their foe. While Galvatron and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] are grappling, waves of [[Harmony|sound energy]] destroy the comet and cause both groups of Transformers to plummet to the planet's surface. In a nearby city, three aliens are having a disagreement. One of them, [[Allegra]], storms out, saying that she's going to her retreat.

The Transformers recover from their crash, wondering what hit them. [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] describes it as the most perfect harmony ever, but Galvatron is more interested in its destructive power. Broadside breaks up the discussion by punching Galvatron, and the fight resumes. As the Constructicons form Devastator again, Perceptor blows the giant apart with one shot from his cannon. Galvatron and Soundwave depart in search of the source of the harmony they heard earlier, but Ultra Magnus spots them leaving and takes Broadside and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] in pursuit. Perceptor reflects that unless the trio are swift, there might not be much of them left.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Blaster Magnus Basso.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"I now pronounce you bot and wife. You may kiss the bride."]]

Broadside swiftly passes the two Decepticons and overflies the city, which Blaster realises is laid out like a musical harmony. Magnus and Blaster meet with [[Basso Profundo]], leader of the planet [[Eurythma]], but Basso refuses to help them, believing that the harmony is all his people need to protect themselves. He drops a hint that Allegra might be able to help them, a fact overheard by Galvatron and Soundwave, who are spying outside. As the three Autobots go in search of Allegra, the Decepticons drop a bridge on them. To make sure, Galvatron blasts the wreckage, and the pair fly off to find Allegra.

Basso watches the two Decepticons leave, and fellow [[Eurythman]] [[Zebop Skandana]] uses a harmony to help the Autobots out of the rubble. Blaster realises that Zebop was creating part of the harmony which originally blew the Autobots out of space, and Zebop says he's sympathetic to their cause and will help them find Allegra.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Galvatron Soundwave Allegra.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Galvatron loved going to the opera. He always showed his appreciation by blowing the theater to kingdom come afterwards.]]

The two Decepticons meet Allegra, offering to help her overthrow Basso in return for the secret of the harmony. She obliges and Soundwave records it, but to Galvatron's rage, it turns out that she is only one part of the harmony; Basso and Zebop make up the other two thirds. Still, when the Autobots arrive with Zebop, Soundwave is testing the part of the harmony he has by destroying a rock. The Autobots set up an ambush, but Zebop is so distressed by the fact that Allegra is working with the Decepticons that he gives away their position. Galvatron starts firing, and Zebop takes refuge in Ultra Magnus's cab. Soundwave begins battering the Autobots with the harmony. When Zebop counters with ''his'' part of the harmony, Soundwave promptly records it and uses the resulting two-thirds of the harmony to devastating effect.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Allegra Zebop.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Alas, poor Zebop. We knew him we- Wait. No, we didn't.]]

With the Autobots apparently gone, Galvatron terminates the alliance with Allegra. She attempts to attack them with her part of the harmony, but Soundwave retaliates, knocking her out. The Autobots climb out of their hole in time to prevent Galvatron from terminating the Eurythman, but during the resulting fight, Blaster and Soundwave struggle and accidentally fall on Zebop. Galvatron grabs his minion and departs, leaving Allegra cradling Zebop in her arms. Though the Autobots believe he's had it, Allegra uses a harmony to revive him. The Autobots leave for the city.

Back at the landing site, the rest of the Autobots and Decepticons are still fighting. Hot Spot voices his hope that Magnus, Blaster and Broadside hurry. The Eurythmans have spotted the battle, and Basso uses an amplifier to direct a destructive harmony at it. [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] is forced to disassemble, but the two factions fight on. Basso is depressed, and his aide points out he needs Allegra and Zebop to complete the harmony. Arriving, Soundwave begins playing two-thirds of the harmony, shaking the city and provoking Basso into using the third part again, which Soundwave promptly records. He is subsequently able to use the complete harmonic weapon to attack the city. Pleased, Galvatron announces their next targets are Metroplex and then [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]].

[[File:Carnage CMinor Soundwave harmony.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Soundwave finds himself too big to fly through the rings in the Training Stage.]]

Ultra Magnus's party arrives back at the city to find it devastated and their fellow Autobots badly damaged. The Eurythmans are able to repair Perceptor and the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] with a harmony, and the Autobots set off for Earth.

Galvatron and Soundwave attack Metroplex with the harmony, but the Autobots soon arrive with the three Eurythmans, who nullify Soundwave's weapon with anti-sound. Blaster grabs Soundwave and uses his buttons to erase the harmony from Soundwave's tapes. Despite Galvatron raging that he hasn't ordered a retreat, the Decepticons flee anyway. The Autobots return the Eurythmans to their world, where Ultra Magnus tells them they need to learn to live in harmony.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (9)
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] (10)
*[[Superion (G1)|Superion]] (11)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (12)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (13)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] (16)
*[[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (17)
*[[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (21)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (22)
*[[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (23)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (24)
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (25)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (26)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (27)
*[[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (28)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (29)
*[[Scamper]] (30)
*[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] (31)

|c2=
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (1)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (2)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (3)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (5)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (6)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (7)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (8)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] (14)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] (15)

|c4=
*[[Basso Profundo]] (18)
*[[Allegra]] (19)
*[[Zebop Skandana]] (20)
*[[Eurythman communicator]] (21)
}}

==Quotes==
"What was that?!" 
"That was heaven. The purest, most vibrant, most perfect harmony I've ever heard."
:—'''Galvatron''' and '''Soundwave''' wonder what hit them, to the latter's monotoned enjoyment.

"You! Because of you, I got blasted out of space. DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT DID TO MY PAINT JOB?!"
:—'''Broadside''', right before he sucker-punches Galvatron

"Broadside! Blaster! Galvatron and Soundwave went to find the weapon that knocked us out of space!" 
"Weapon? That was no weapon. That was harmonic bliss! A musical kiss!" 
"Whatever."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''', who doesn't have any soul, and '''Blaster''', who does.

"Blaster, you picking up anything?" 
"Yeah, yeah! Beauty like you wouldn't believe, Broadside. Sweet soul music. It's their art, their commerce, their philosophy, their whole—uh-oh, bummer. Galvatron and Soundwave are here."
:—'''Broadside''' and '''Blaster''' get their vibes harshed.

"I don't wanna see your ugly face, just the button that says 'ERASE'!" 
"My tapes! You've erased my tapes!"
:—'''Blaster''' destroys '''Soundwave'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s tapes, to the Decepticon's monotoned horror.

==Notes==
"Carnage in C-Minor" is perhaps the most famously error-laden episode in the series, and a regular contender among fans for "worst G1 episode". Even by the cartoon's own low standards, the art and animation are of poor quality, while the sheer volume of animation errors - many of them glaringly obvious - is almost unmatched. Add to that the irritating sing-song speech and shrilly modulated voices of the alien protagonists, and you've got an episode that is pretty widely loathed. Despite all this, the actual script and plot are certainly not the weakest to grace the cartoon series - certainly not at level of, say, "[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]".

===Real-world references===
*Galvatron's plan to smash Metroplex with a comet is based on the popular sci-fi idea of "kinetic bombardment". The trope would see use in [[Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|an issue of]] IDW's 2010 ongoing series.
*The Decepticons are said to be working in an Oort cloud, referring to the swarm of comets and proto-planet stuff believed to be orbiting the sun far beyond Pluto (not ''the'' Oort cloud, however, since it's close to the alien planet Eurythma - which raises the question of why the Decepticons didn't pick a comet in Earth's own solar system instead.)
*The Eurythman characters' names are all music-related puns. Allegra is named after either the Italian operetta and opera composer {{w|Salvatore Allegra}} or {{w|Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Italian tempo marking "allegro"}}, while Basso Profundo is derived from the singing style {{w|Bass (voice type)|basso prof'''o'''ndo}}. While these are all related to classical music, Zebop Skandana is named after popular music guitarist {{w|Carlos Santana}} and his 1981 album {{w|Zebop!}}... and the difference shows.
*Eurythma was possibly named after the popular '80s band The {{w|Eurythmics}}.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst as Broadside takes off after the Decepticons.
**[[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] whine and [[Death Star]] superlaser as Galvatron and Soundwave take off after burying the Autobots, again as the Autobots pursue them back to the city, and again as the Decepticons depart for Earth.

===Animation or technical glitches===
[[File:Carnage CMinor Allegra Zebop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|This episode ensured that no kid would ever, ever, ever want Broadside's toy.]]
*Like much of Season 3, this episode was animated by AKOM, using their usual incorrect character models:
**Galvatron is consistently colored using an outdated color model that gives him pale purple "underpants".
**Throughout the entire episode, Broadside is drawn using [[:File:Broadsidecharactermodels.jpg|his pre-final robot and jet mode]] [[character model]]s. On the other hand, his aircraft carrier mode is actually that of his final model colored like the pre-final version with a purple Autobot insignia.
**Soundwave's head crest is supposed to be the same blue as his body, but its lines and/or triangle randomly turn grey throughout the episode. His back piece is also grey when it should be blue, and his hands are colored black instead of blue.
**Magnus's gun is blue instead of white. Remarkably, he doesn't have a colored mouth like AKOM gives him in so many other episodes.
*Other episode-wide errors:
**The Transformation sound effects are frequently cut off.
**Soundwave's face plate doesn't move when he speaks for most of this episode.
**The harmony's effects are rarely consistent from scene to scene. Sometimes it's a ray or beam; other times it's a whispy wave or radiating circle of light. Sometimes it's actually sung; other times it's shown as a sort of telepathic ray. When Galvatron attacks the Autobots with it at the running battle, it's a green woobery line moving backwards through the air.
*Freeze-frame-o-vision:
**Bonecrusher pulls the engine activation lever with a serial freeze-frame effect, as if it were some great epic act.
**The comet's explosion is likewise "animated" with successive freeze-frames.
**Metroplex's transformation to battle station mode is also done this way.
*Grimlock is drawn with a mouth as he and the others fly toward the comet.
*An Autobot of made-up model is shown approaching the comet to Magnus's right, where Grimlock had been a couple of shots prior.
*Two more generic Autobots are shown alongside Magnus as they come into view above the Decepticons. Only Galvatron, Soundwave and Bonecrusher are shown on the comet, but more Decepticons will appear out of nowhere as the battle rolls on.
*In that same shot, Galvatron and Soundwave are facing away from the engine; in the next shot, as they react to the first shots, they're facing towards it.
*Combiner issues:
**Superion is consistently shown as the same size as the other Autobots; he should be twice as large even without any size changing.
**Devastator is exactly the same size as Soundwave as they return fire on the approaching Autobots.
**Devastator is shown firing alongside Soundwave in the first salvos of the comet battle; a moment later, the Constructicons are shown combining into Devastator.
**When the Constructicons form Devastator for the second time, the first shot shows Scavenger (''not'' Scrapper) and Mixmaster forming the legs, Bonecrusher forming the pelvis, and Long Haul forming the torso. The second shot shows Bonecrusher and Scavenger forming the arms and Hook forming the upper torso. This means that Scrapper, the Constructicon leader, didn't contribute to Devastator, but ''two'' Bonecrushers and Scavengers did, and [[Devastator (ROTF)|''seven'' Constructicons formed Devastator.]]
**Devastator doesn't just de-combine when Perceptor shoots him - he actually explodes into a bunch of little pieces!
**When the Protectobots are combined as Defensor, Hot Spot (Defensor's torso) is fighting alongside his combined self!
*Ultra Magnus has Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he dives toward the comet.
[[File:DeceptiBrawn1.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|AKOM, it's really simple. Dead guys don't get to fight. Because they're dead. You know what 'dead' is, right?]]
[[File:Hotspot defensor.jpg|'ey you! Get back in mah belleh!|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Appearing/disappearing robots: The cast fluctuates so much it's almost impossible to tell who's actually supposed to be there. Autobots routinely appear for only a shot or two; it's hard to know if the appearances were scripted or not.
**Grimlock vanishes after the first couple of shots.
**Cyclonus appears for one shot, firing alongside Soundwave and Bonecrusher, and is never seen again.
**In the episode's most infamous shot, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (who should both be dead) show up alive and well. And it seems [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] has switched sides, as he's helping them shoot at the giant Decepticon rocket engine he just helped build! (Huffer's orange is so dark it appears red, to boot.)
**Hot Spot suddenly appears after the rocket explodes.
**In one shot, only four Transformers are shown falling out of the sky; a second shot shows six or seven. Eight are shown in the subsequent crater; there should be at least half a dozen more.
**Perceptor and Hot Spot seem to be the only ones left fighting once Broadside and company depart.
**Hot Spot abruptly replaces Broadside for several shots during the end of the battle at Allegra's retreat.
**Soundwave appears alongside the Constructicons for several shots during the ongoing firefight; at this point he's still running around with Galvatron.
**Defensor suddenly appears in the battle as Basso Profundo uses the harmonic amplifier on the Transformers. He separates into his components, who then show up in several more shots, so it's clearly a scripted appearance. (And as noted elsewhere, Hot Spot - his torso - is standing right next to him!)
*Galvatron sees Magnus flying right at him... then transforms to cannon mode and ''turns the other way''.
*During or after the ensuing cloud-obscured struggle, Galvatron returns to [[robot mode]], but no transformation sound is heard.
*When the engine explodes, it vanishes without a trace, leaving only a smooth metal platform behind - no debris, no crater, no damage.
*As observed by Perceptor, the comet seems to have a tiny moon following it! We also get Perceptor's microscope-vision before he's actually transformed.
[[File:Carnage C-minor Magnus Broadside.JPG|{{w|Monty Python's Life of Brian|"Hail Caesar!" "Hail Thaethar."}}|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*While the Autobots are shooting at the meteor, they are so badly drawn that they appear to have only one leg each, left arms starting from the elbows, and enormous heads...and Superion and Broadside (whose hugeness was a plot point just a couple of shots ago) are tiny. Perceptor's also drawn with a visor instead of single eyes.
*In a subsequent shot, the Autobots' lasers aren't actually reaching the comet they're firing at.
*"They thwarted me" - Soundwave's head crest is colored as though it were his face! The result is that he looks like an excited guy with a gaping-open mouth and the biggest chin strap this side of ''Animated''. Mixmaster also appears to have stolen [[Leadfoot (DOTM)|Leadfoot]]'s goggles and beard.
*Sudden starry night:
**When he picks up Galvatron, Broadside has starry night sky behind him in his closeup shot, but dusky clouds in the wide shots.
**Perceptor has night sky behind him in the same scene.
**Magnus gets random night sky as he asks about finding "the bandleader".
**Starry night as Galvatron drops and dismisses Allegra.
**Starry night as Superion prepares to tackle Galvatron.
*When Bonecrusher orders the formation of Devastator, he's wearing an Autobot insignia. See also the continuity error below.
*After Devastator gets blown apart by Perceptor, there are two Long Hauls firing at the Autobots, one with a malformed face.
[[File:Bigmagnus tinyconst.jpg|We'll take revenge by merging into Devastator! That can't possibly fail!|thumb|right|upright=1.1|'Kids, did I ever tell you the story of how I met your mother?']]
*After watching Galvatron and Soundwave leave, Ultra Magnus dispatches Hook and Scrapper—by picking them up in his hands and bashing them together. Magnus is supposed to be big, but not ''that'' big. (It's ''possible'' that the animators used the [[toy]]s for reference, unaware that the cartoon [[scale]] traditionally doesn't match the toys' scale in this case.)
*Blaster's voice is missing its usual modulation.
*Perceptor and Hot Spot seem to jump all over the place as they fight:
**They're beside each other in the crater as Perceptor takes out Devastator.
**A tiny Superion takes Hot Spot's place in a subsequent shot.
**Then Hot Spot is by himself as he turns and fires.
**Then Perceptor is back beside him as he continues firing.
**Then they turn and jump into the crater they were already in.
**The pair run from the firefight (not transform and drive, but ''run'')... then suddenly are standing still, rising up as though from a crouch.
*As Broadside overtakes the Decepticons, Blaster and Ultra Magnus aren't shown.
*As they approach the city, Blaster and Magnus have gone from hanging onto the back edges of Broadside's wings to hanging onto the (much more logical) front edges.
**In the same shot, Blaster's torso - hidden by the wing - has to be about twice as long as his legs to actually connect to them.
**And Magnus's mouth doesn't move as he delivers his lines.
*As Blaster and Ultra Magnus talk to Basso, Blaster is Magnus's height in closeup shots but (correctly) shorter than him in the long shots.
*As Galvatron shoots the bridge, his cannon has the usual Decepticon laser sound effect rather than its own sound effect.
*Broadside's eyes are yellow when he gets up from under the rubble on the bridge.
*Allegra is waving her arms around for several seconds before Galvatron walks in on her. It's not clear if she's supposed to be singing - in which case the vocals are completely missing - or if she's supposed to be playing music from the device in front of her, in which case she would be ''playing the show's own background music!'' Either way, it seems like a total non-sequitur when Galvatron walks in and says "Very impressive!"
[[File:Carnage CMinor Galvatron Soundwave Allegra.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"Very impressive arm-waving!"]]
*When Galvatron and Soundwave first talk to Allegra, Soundwave has eyes rather than a visor, and his face is colored blue instead of grey.
**As he receives the first part of the haromony, his "nose" goes up so high into his visor that it appears as separate eyes again.
*Allegra goes from standing up (in bold defiance) to casually laying down in the span of two shots.
[[File:Soundwaveautobotgalvy.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"Very impressive shrinking!"]]
*Soundwave has a purple Autobot [[insignia]] after recording Allegra's harmony section.
*Soundwave successively shrinks through this scene - at first he's the same height as Galvatron, then he's a head shorter, then only comes up to Galvatron's waist when Galvatron picks him up.
*After learning that they only have one third of the harmony, a recycled shot makes Galvatron look quite happy as he snarls in angry frustration.
*"Everybody's a critic" - Broadside is missing the passengers who are supposed to be hanging onto his wings.
*"I'm not so sure this is a good idea anymore" - Soundwave is missing his Decepticon symbol, and his headcrest comes down so far it separates his visor.
*Blaster is drawn delivering Broadside's line about "scorch-marks on top of everything else".
*The open parts of Magnus's trailer are misdrawn, making the entire trailer appear solid.
*Many of Magnus's white truck parts are colored light gray.
[[File:Carnage C-Minor Autobots harmonic attack.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Remember that shot a while back, where Broadside was twice as tall as Magnus in robot mode?]]
*A wide shot of Magnus advancing against the harmony has Blaster and Broadside at human scale, shorter - ''much'' shorter - than Magnus's truck mode.
*Allegra reacts to being grabbed by Galvatron a couple of seconds before it actually happens.
*While singing his harmony, Zebop goes from inside Magnus's cab to outside between shots.
**After Magnus frees himself from the pit a moment later, Zebop jumps out of the cab ''again''.
*After Soundwave blasts the Autobots into the ground, he transforms and walks toward the edge of the frame - but disappears ''before'' leaving the frame.
*While Soundwave and Blaster are fighting, Soundwave's grunts are unprocessed, making him sound like Dr. Claw.
*Galvatron has the standard Decepticon laser sound effect as he blasts Magnus, rather than his own signature sound.
*The script presumably calls for Zebop to move Allegra to safety; instead, the animation shows him putting her down and standing right over her, as Blaster and Soundwave fall on what would seem to be both of them.
*Blue face on Soundwave after he and Blaster fall on Zebop.
*When Blaster explains that the Eurythmans use the harmony even for healing, Ultra Magnus is the one mouthing the words; Magnus also has a visor instead of eyes.
*Our first shot of the still-going battle features lasers being fired at a forest, with nobody from either side in view.
*Hot Spot has consistently had a faceplate till now, but as he asks Perceptor about the other Autobots, he's suddenly got a mouth.
*When Perceptor gets shot, he grunts in a voice like that of Ultra Magnus.
*The running battle is in a forest, but when Galvatron and Soundwave intervene it's suddenly in the city.
*When Galvatron orders Soundwave to play the harmonics on Earth, Soundwave's tape deck door is the same color as his body (it should be light blue).
[[File:CarnageMiniBlaster.jpg|It's his little shoulder-angel.|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*When Soundwave plays the harmonics to disrupt Metroplex, the waves are shown emanating from ''Galvatron's head''! We then pan over to Metroplex, who is hardly any bigger than the two Decepticons.
*Metroplex does a sort of malformed half-transformation out of battle station mode, then stops; a shot later he's in robot mode with no additional animation or sound.
*"Autobots! Impossible!" - Galvatron's mouth doesn't move.
*Soundwave suddenly has a Decepticon symbol on his back as he <s>dances</s> struggles with Blaster.
*As Blaster flies off after erasing Soundwave's tapes, a cel-layering error causes him to appear smaller than Soundwave's head!
*As the Decepticons retreat, Blaster is shown flying away (again!) behind two Constructicons.
*"The Decepticons won't be back" - Magnus's eyes change size and shape between successive shots.

...And all this is overlooking the frequently malformed bodies, incorrect proportions, minor coloring foul-ups, and just generally poor artwork that marks the whole episode.

===Continuity errors===
*Flying Autobots:
**The entire Autobot assault force flies through space to the comet. As usual, no rocket packs are in evidence, nor are they mentioned. Only Superion and Grimlock are usually capable of robot mode flight.
**Despite this, Blaster and Magnus have to hang on to Broadside to fly after the Decepticons once they're on the planet.
**Despite ''this'', they both take off alongside Broadside after Allegra heals Zebop, and are seen flying along on Earth too. Blaster even has a whole fight sequence with Soundwave while floating in the air.
*The Decepticons all fly away from the comet as the rocket activates. As the Autobots approach, they're back alongside it - well, three of them, anyway.
*Anyone bothered that this "sonic weapon" was used to destroy a comet IN SPACE?
*Bonecrusher is shown ordering the Constructicons to combine. Scrapper is supposed to be their leader. Granted, it's in line with Mixmaster giving the orders back in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".
*Since when does Perceptor pack enough firepower to blast the once-invincible Devastator to pieces?
**Likewise, how come one little shot from the Constructicons knocks Superion apart?
*Much like the Season 2 episode "[[Kremzeek!]]", once characters start hanging on to another character to get around, the script seems to forget that there's any other way for them to travel. Blaster and Magnus ride around on Broadside's wings for the rest of the episode, and even poor Zebop has to do so once he joins them!
[[File:Carnage CMinor Blaster Magnus Basso.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"No." "What did he say?" "He said 'no'."]]
*Despite the aliens' dialog being in perfectly understandable English (or Galactic Standard or whatever), because they say everything in a sing-song rhythm, apparently none of the Transformers except Blaster and Soundwave can understand them, and the two tape decks spend a large (and annoying) amount of time translating Eurythman to "non-sing-song" for everyone else - at times repeating the same lines word-for-word.
**Blaster also somehow extrapolates quite a bit of information from short lines like "This is your war, not ours."
*At one point [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] states the Autobots are "outnumbered two to one", but even excluding oddities like Brawn and Huffer, the ''Autobots'' actually ''seen'' in this episode outnumber the ''Decepticons''. See also Appearing/Disappearing Robots, above.
*"Soundwave, are you getting this?" "I am... I am!" "Never mind that. Did you get the harmony?" Did a line get dropped?
*Superhuman aliens:
**Allegra is still in Galvatron's hands when Magnus shoots him in the back, causing Galvatron to drop her from what looks like a height of 30 or 40 feet. Despite this, she's up and running about a moment later.
**It's an animation error, not a scripted one, but she seems to survive being smushed by two Transformers just fine.
*When the Decepticons reach Earth, they ''pass'' Autobot City (in the usual lush valley) to reach Metroplex, who seems to be hanging out in a barren desert for no reason.
*The Autobots (Scamper, anyway) don't notice the Decepticons till they're literally already there and firing at them. Nobody noticed the Decepticons fly to Earth? What happened to the Earth Defense Command satellites?
*Why does Soundwave even ''have'' an 'erase' option? Better hope his [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|tapes]] had their copy-protection tabs removed!

===Trivia===
*Galvatron and Soundwave are briefly seen holding hands whilst flying!
*This was one of several episodes subjected to the [[MSTF]] treatment at [[BotCon 1999]].
*[[Ask Vector Prime]] [[Source:Ask Vector Prime/Facebook#September 30, 2015|identified]] the [[Eurythma|Eurythmic]] [[Harmony]] as an especially potent source of [[animation error|time-space anomalies]]. This retroactively means that every single "error" that occurred in this episode actually happened.
*This episode marks the only time Broadside is shown in jet mode in the US cartoon. Further, the model that was used is actually his pre-final model which had previously only been used in the 1986 [[Triple Changer]] [[commercial]]. His final jet mode model wouldn't actually be used until ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|The Headmasters]]'' cartoon.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' ?
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast and European French DVD release):'' "'''Massacre en Do mineur'''" ("Massacre in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Das Gemetzel in Cis-Moll'''" ("The Slaughter in Cis-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Sinfonia mortale'''" (First dub, "Deadly Symphony"), "'''Massacro in Do Minore'''" (Second dub, "Carnage in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''音楽惑星の挑戦'''" (''Ongaku Wakusei no Chōsen'', "Challenge of the Music Planet")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 20]], [[1987]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''C Xiǎodiào Dàtúshā '''" (C小调大屠杀, "The Slaughter in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' '''?'''
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This episode's original translated title is currently lost due to a glitch in the only known surviving copy of the audio track.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[1989]] — ''Transformers'' — Carnage in C Minor / The Ultimate Weapon ([[Tempo Video]])
;{{w|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]] [[2004]] — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 ([[The Original Transformers|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 5: Series 3.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2005 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 19 ([[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 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/tt0808817/ IMDb's page for this episode]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=118hXiMvCPKsu45gR_be5DtX2mBId8W5A Episode dialogue script]

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

Carnage in C-Minor

2023-10-06T10:57:24Z

White Cat: /* Real-world references */

{{episode|
|series=G1toon
|series2=2010
|ep=82
|ep2=14
|prev2=Surprise Party
|next2=Fight or Flee (episode)
|image=Carnage C-Minor Autobots harmonic attack.JPG
|caption=[[Birth of the Fantastic Double Prime|Hey, what is that awful noise? Okay, let me straighten him out!]]
|title="Carnage in C-Minor"
|season=3
|season ep=17
|production code=700-102
|airdate=[[October 14]], 1986
|written by=[[Buzz Dixon]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm4ZFBIV4gM
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''Several Autobots and Decepticons battle over a planet whose civilization revolves around music and whose inhabitants can use sound as a powerful weapon.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Broadsidecrushesdevastator.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Die, Atlas!]]
The [[Decepticon]]s are building engines into the side of a comet in order to alter its course and crash it on top of [[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]]. As they fire up the engines, a group of [[Autobot]]s close in, led there by [[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]]. The Autobots attack, much to [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]'s dismay. The [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] form [[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]], who is promptly flattened when [[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] drops on him in ship mode. In the ensuing battle, the engines are destroyed, and the comet is sent hurtling towards a small planet, which Perceptor reports is inhabited.

The Autobots attempt unsuccessfully to stop the comet before Galvatron again orders his men to engage their foe. While Galvatron and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] are grappling, waves of [[Harmony|sound energy]] destroy the comet and cause both groups of Transformers to plummet to the planet's surface. In a nearby city, three aliens are having a disagreement. One of them, [[Allegra]], storms out, saying that she's going to her retreat.

The Transformers recover from their crash, wondering what hit them. [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] describes it as the most perfect harmony ever, but Galvatron is more interested in its destructive power. Broadside breaks up the discussion by punching Galvatron, and the fight resumes. As the Constructicons form Devastator again, Perceptor blows the giant apart with one shot from his cannon. Galvatron and Soundwave depart in search of the source of the harmony they heard earlier, but Ultra Magnus spots them leaving and takes Broadside and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] in pursuit. Perceptor reflects that unless the trio are swift, there might not be much of them left.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Blaster Magnus Basso.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"I now pronounce you bot and wife. You may kiss the bride."]]

Broadside swiftly passes the two Decepticons and overflies the city, which Blaster realises is laid out like a musical harmony. Magnus and Blaster meet with [[Basso Profundo]], leader of the planet [[Eurythma]], but Basso refuses to help them, believing that the harmony is all his people need to protect themselves. He drops a hint that Allegra might be able to help them, a fact overheard by Galvatron and Soundwave, who are spying outside. As the three Autobots go in search of Allegra, the Decepticons drop a bridge on them. To make sure, Galvatron blasts the wreckage, and the pair fly off to find Allegra.

Basso watches the two Decepticons leave, and fellow [[Eurythman]] [[Zebop Skandana]] uses a harmony to help the Autobots out of the rubble. Blaster realises that Zebop was creating part of the harmony which originally blew the Autobots out of space, and Zebop says he's sympathetic to their cause and will help them find Allegra.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Galvatron Soundwave Allegra.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Galvatron loved going to the opera. He always showed his appreciation by blowing the theater to kingdom come afterwards.]]

The two Decepticons meet Allegra, offering to help her overthrow Basso in return for the secret of the harmony. She obliges and Soundwave records it, but to Galvatron's rage, it turns out that she is only one part of the harmony; Basso and Zebop make up the other two thirds. Still, when the Autobots arrive with Zebop, Soundwave is testing the part of the harmony he has by destroying a rock. The Autobots set up an ambush, but Zebop is so distressed by the fact that Allegra is working with the Decepticons that he gives away their position. Galvatron starts firing, and Zebop takes refuge in Ultra Magnus's cab. Soundwave begins battering the Autobots with the harmony. When Zebop counters with ''his'' part of the harmony, Soundwave promptly records it and uses the resulting two-thirds of the harmony to devastating effect.

[[File:Carnage CMinor Allegra Zebop.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Alas, poor Zebop. We knew him we- Wait. No, we didn't.]]

With the Autobots apparently gone, Galvatron terminates the alliance with Allegra. She attempts to attack them with her part of the harmony, but Soundwave retaliates, knocking her out. The Autobots climb out of their hole in time to prevent Galvatron from terminating the Eurythman, but during the resulting fight, Blaster and Soundwave struggle and accidentally fall on Zebop. Galvatron grabs his minion and departs, leaving Allegra cradling Zebop in her arms. Though the Autobots believe he's had it, Allegra uses a harmony to revive him. The Autobots leave for the city.

Back at the landing site, the rest of the Autobots and Decepticons are still fighting. Hot Spot voices his hope that Magnus, Blaster and Broadside hurry. The Eurythmans have spotted the battle, and Basso uses an amplifier to direct a destructive harmony at it. [[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] is forced to disassemble, but the two factions fight on. Basso is depressed, and his aide points out he needs Allegra and Zebop to complete the harmony. Arriving, Soundwave begins playing two-thirds of the harmony, shaking the city and provoking Basso into using the third part again, which Soundwave promptly records. He is subsequently able to use the complete harmonic weapon to attack the city. Pleased, Galvatron announces their next targets are Metroplex and then [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]].

[[File:Carnage CMinor Soundwave harmony.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Soundwave finds himself too big to fly through the rings in the Training Stage.]]

Ultra Magnus's party arrives back at the city to find it devastated and their fellow Autobots badly damaged. The Eurythmans are able to repair Perceptor and the [[Protectobot (G1)|Protectobots]] with a harmony, and the Autobots set off for Earth.

Galvatron and Soundwave attack Metroplex with the harmony, but the Autobots soon arrive with the three Eurythmans, who nullify Soundwave's weapon with anti-sound. Blaster grabs Soundwave and uses his buttons to erase the harmony from Soundwave's tapes. Despite Galvatron raging that he hasn't ordered a retreat, the Decepticons flee anyway. The Autobots return the Eurythmans to their world, where Ultra Magnus tells them they need to learn to live in harmony.
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (9)
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] (10)
*[[Superion (G1)|Superion]] (11)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (12)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (13)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] (16)
*[[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (17)
*[[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (21)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (22)
*[[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (23)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (24)
*[[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (25)
*[[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (26)
*[[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (27)
*[[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (28)
*[[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (29)
*[[Scamper]] (30)
*[[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]] (31)

|c2=
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (1)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (2)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (3)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (4)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (5)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (6)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (7)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (8)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] (14)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] (15)

|c4=
*[[Basso Profundo]] (18)
*[[Allegra]] (19)
*[[Zebop Skandana]] (20)
*[[Eurythman communicator]] (21)
}}

==Quotes==
"What was that?!" 
"That was heaven. The purest, most vibrant, most perfect harmony I've ever heard."
:—'''Galvatron''' and '''Soundwave''' wonder what hit them, to the latter's monotoned enjoyment.

"You! Because of you, I got blasted out of space. DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT DID TO MY PAINT JOB?!"
:—'''Broadside''', right before he sucker-punches Galvatron

"Broadside! Blaster! Galvatron and Soundwave went to find the weapon that knocked us out of space!" 
"Weapon? That was no weapon. That was harmonic bliss! A musical kiss!" 
"Whatever."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''', who doesn't have any soul, and '''Blaster''', who does.

"Blaster, you picking up anything?" 
"Yeah, yeah! Beauty like you wouldn't believe, Broadside. Sweet soul music. It's their art, their commerce, their philosophy, their whole—uh-oh, bummer. Galvatron and Soundwave are here."
:—'''Broadside''' and '''Blaster''' get their vibes harshed.

"I don't wanna see your ugly face, just the button that says 'ERASE'!" 
"My tapes! You've erased my tapes!"
:—'''Blaster''' destroys '''Soundwave'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s tapes, to the Decepticon's monotoned horror.

==Notes==
"Carnage in C-Minor" is perhaps the most famously error-laden episode in the series, and a regular contender among fans for "worst G1 episode". Even by the cartoon's own low standards, the art and animation are of poor quality, while the sheer volume of animation errors - many of them glaringly obvious - is almost unmatched. Add to that the irritating sing-song speech and shrilly modulated voices of the alien protagonists, and you've got an episode that is pretty widely loathed. Despite all this, the actual script and plot are certainly not the weakest to grace the cartoon series - certainly not at level of, say, "[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]".

===Real-world references===
*Galvatron's plan to smash Metroplex with a comet is based on the popular sci-fi idea of "kinetic bombardment". The trope would see use in [[Revenge of the Decepticons Part 5: Enemy Mine|an issue of]] IDW's 2010 ongoing series.
*The Decepticons are said to be working in an Oort cloud, referring to the swarm of comets and proto-planet stuff believed to be orbiting the sun far beyond Pluto (not ''the'' Oort cloud, however, since it's close to the alien planet Eurythma - which raises the question of why the Decepticons didn't pick a comet in Earth's own solar system instead.)
*The Eurythman characters' names are all music-related puns. Allegra is named after either the Italian operetta and opera composer {{w|Salvatore Allegra}} or {{w|Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Italian tempo marking "allegro"}}, while Basso Profundo is derived from the singing style {{w|Bass (voice type)|basso prof'''o'''ndo}}. While these are all related to classical music, Zebop Skandana is named after popular music guitarist {{w|Carlos Santana}} and his 1981 album {{w|Zebop!}}... and the difference shows.
*Eurythma was possibly named after the popular '80s band The {{w|Eurythmics}}.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst as Broadside takes off after the Decepticons.
**[[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] whine and [[Death Star]] superlaser as Galvatron and Soundwave take off after burying the Autobots, again as the Autobots pursue them back to the city, and again as the Decepticons depart for Earth.

===Animation or technical glitches===
[[File:Carnage CMinor Allegra Zebop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|This episode ensured that no kid would ever, ever, ever want Broadside's toy.]]
*Like much of Season 3, this episode was animated by AKOM, using their usual incorrect character models:
**Galvatron is consistently colored using an outdated color model that gives him pale purple "underpants".
**Throughout the entire episode, Broadside is drawn using [[:File:Broadsidecharactermodels.jpg|his pre-final robot and jet mode]] [[character model]]s. On the other hand, his aircraft carrier mode is actually that of his final model colored like the pre-final version with a purple Autobot insignia.
**Soundwave's head crest is supposed to be the same blue as his body, but its lines and/or triangle randomly turn grey throughout the episode. His back piece is also grey when it should be blue, and his hands are colored black instead of blue.
**Magnus's gun is blue instead of white. Remarkably, he doesn't have a colored mouth like AKOM gives him in so many other episodes.
*Other episode-wide errors:
**The Transformation sound effects are frequently cut off.
**Soundwave's face plate doesn't move when he speaks for most of this episode.
**The harmony's effects are rarely consistent from scene to scene. Sometimes it's a ray or beam; other times it's a whispy wave or radiating circle of light. Sometimes it's actually sung; other times it's shown as a sort of telepathic ray. When Galvatron attacks the Autobots with it at the running battle, it's a green woobery line moving backwards through the air.
*Freeze-frame-o-vision:
**Bonecrusher pulls the engine activation lever with a serial freeze-frame effect, as if it were some great epic act.
**The comet's explosion is likewise "animated" with successive freeze-frames.
**Metroplex's transformation to battle station mode is also done this way.
*Grimlock is drawn with a mouth as he and the others fly toward the comet.
*An Autobot of made-up model is shown approaching the comet to Magnus's right, where Grimlock had been a couple of shots prior.
*Two more generic Autobots are shown alongside Magnus as they come into view above the Decepticons. Only Galvatron, Soundwave and Bonecrusher are shown on the comet, but more Decepticons will appear out of nowhere as the battle rolls on.
*In that same shot, Galvatron and Soundwave are facing away from the engine; in the next shot, as they react to the first shots, they're facing towards it.
*Combiner issues:
**Superion is consistently shown as the same size as the other Autobots; he should be twice as large even without any size changing.
**Devastator is exactly the same size as Soundwave as they return fire on the approaching Autobots.
**Devastator is shown firing alongside Soundwave in the first salvos of the comet battle; a moment later, the Constructicons are shown combining into Devastator.
**When the Constructicons form Devastator for the second time, the first shot shows Scavenger (''not'' Scrapper) and Mixmaster forming the legs, Bonecrusher forming the pelvis, and Long Haul forming the torso. The second shot shows Bonecrusher and Scavenger forming the arms and Hook forming the upper torso. This means that Scrapper, the Constructicon leader, didn't contribute to Devastator, but ''two'' Bonecrushers and Scavengers did, and [[Devastator (ROTF)|''seven'' Constructicons formed Devastator.]]
**Devastator doesn't just de-combine when Perceptor shoots him - he actually explodes into a bunch of little pieces!
**When the Protectobots are combined as Defensor, Hot Spot (Defensor's torso) is fighting alongside his combined self!
*Ultra Magnus has Optimus Prime's rifle sound effect as he dives toward the comet.
[[File:DeceptiBrawn1.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|AKOM, it's really simple. Dead guys don't get to fight. Because they're dead. You know what 'dead' is, right?]]
[[File:Hotspot defensor.jpg|'ey you! Get back in mah belleh!|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Appearing/disappearing robots: The cast fluctuates so much it's almost impossible to tell who's actually supposed to be there. Autobots routinely appear for only a shot or two; it's hard to know if the appearances were scripted or not.
**Grimlock vanishes after the first couple of shots.
**Cyclonus appears for one shot, firing alongside Soundwave and Bonecrusher, and is never seen again.
**In the episode's most infamous shot, [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (who should both be dead) show up alive and well. And it seems [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] has switched sides, as he's helping them shoot at the giant Decepticon rocket engine he just helped build! (Huffer's orange is so dark it appears red, to boot.)
**Hot Spot suddenly appears after the rocket explodes.
**In one shot, only four Transformers are shown falling out of the sky; a second shot shows six or seven. Eight are shown in the subsequent crater; there should be at least half a dozen more.
**Perceptor and Hot Spot seem to be the only ones left fighting once Broadside and company depart.
**Hot Spot abruptly replaces Broadside for several shots during the end of the battle at Allegra's retreat.
**Soundwave appears alongside the Constructicons for several shots during the ongoing firefight; at this point he's still running around with Galvatron.
**Defensor suddenly appears in the battle as Basso Profundo uses the harmonic amplifier on the Transformers. He separates into his components, who then show up in several more shots, so it's clearly a scripted appearance. (And as noted elsewhere, Hot Spot - his torso - is standing right next to him!)
*Galvatron sees Magnus flying right at him... then transforms to cannon mode and ''turns the other way''.
*During or after the ensuing cloud-obscured struggle, Galvatron returns to [[robot mode]], but no transformation sound is heard.
*When the engine explodes, it vanishes without a trace, leaving only a smooth metal platform behind - no debris, no crater, no damage.
*As observed by Perceptor, the comet seems to have a tiny moon following it! We also get Perceptor's microscope-vision before he's actually transformed.
[[File:Carnage C-minor Magnus Broadside.JPG|{{w|Monty Python's Life of Brian|"Hail Caesar!" "Hail Thaethar."}}|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*While the Autobots are shooting at the meteor, they are so badly drawn that they appear to have only one leg each, left arms starting from the elbows, and enormous heads...and Superion and Broadside (whose hugeness was a plot point just a couple of shots ago) are tiny. Perceptor's also drawn with a visor instead of single eyes.
*In a subsequent shot, the Autobots' lasers aren't actually reaching the comet they're firing at.
*"They thwarted me" - Soundwave's head crest is colored as though it were his face! The result is that he looks like an excited guy with a gaping-open mouth and the biggest chin strap this side of ''Animated''. Mixmaster also appears to have stolen [[Leadfoot (DOTM)|Leadfoot]]'s goggles and beard.
*Sudden starry night:
**When he picks up Galvatron, Broadside has starry night sky behind him in his closeup shot, but dusky clouds in the wide shots.
**Perceptor has night sky behind him in the same scene.
**Magnus gets random night sky as he asks about finding "the bandleader".
**Starry night as Galvatron drops and dismisses Allegra.
**Starry night as Superion prepares to tackle Galvatron.
*When Bonecrusher orders the formation of Devastator, he's wearing an Autobot insignia. See also the continuity error below.
*After Devastator gets blown apart by Perceptor, there are two Long Hauls firing at the Autobots, one with a malformed face.
[[File:Bigmagnus tinyconst.jpg|We'll take revenge by merging into Devastator! That can't possibly fail!|thumb|right|upright=1.1|'Kids, did I ever tell you the story of how I met your mother?']]
*After watching Galvatron and Soundwave leave, Ultra Magnus dispatches Hook and Scrapper—by picking them up in his hands and bashing them together. Magnus is supposed to be big, but not ''that'' big. (It's ''possible'' that the animators used the [[toy]]s for reference, unaware that the cartoon [[scale]] traditionally doesn't match the toys' scale in this case.)
*Blaster's voice is missing its usual modulation.
*Perceptor and Hot Spot seem to jump all over the place as they fight:
**They're beside each other in the crater as Perceptor takes out Devastator.
**A tiny Superion takes Hot Spot's place in a subsequent shot.
**Then Hot Spot is by himself as he turns and fires.
**Then Perceptor is back beside him as he continues firing.
**Then they turn and jump into the crater they were already in.
**The pair run from the firefight (not transform and drive, but ''run'')... then suddenly are standing still, rising up as though from a crouch.
*As Broadside overtakes the Decepticons, Blaster and Ultra Magnus aren't shown.
*As they approach the city, Blaster and Magnus have gone from hanging onto the back edges of Broadside's wings to hanging onto the (much more logical) front edges.
**In the same shot, Blaster's torso - hidden by the wing - has to be about twice as long as his legs to actually connect to them.
**And Magnus's mouth doesn't move as he delivers his lines.
*As Blaster and Ultra Magnus talk to Basso, Blaster is Magnus's height in closeup shots but (correctly) shorter than him in the long shots.
*As Galvatron shoots the bridge, his cannon has the usual Decepticon laser sound effect rather than its own sound effect.
*Broadside's eyes are yellow when he gets up from under the rubble on the bridge.
*Allegra is waving her arms around for several seconds before Galvatron walks in on her. It's not clear if she's supposed to be singing - in which case the vocals are completely missing - or if she's supposed to be playing music from the device in front of her, in which case she would be ''playing the show's own background music!'' Either way, it seems like a total non-sequitur when Galvatron walks in and says "Very impressive!"
[[File:Carnage CMinor Galvatron Soundwave Allegra.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"Very impressive arm-waving!"]]
*When Galvatron and Soundwave first talk to Allegra, Soundwave has eyes rather than a visor, and his face is colored blue instead of grey.
**As he receives the first part of the haromony, his "nose" goes up so high into his visor that it appears as separate eyes again.
*Allegra goes from standing up (in bold defiance) to casually laying down in the span of two shots.
[[File:Soundwaveautobotgalvy.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"Very impressive shrinking!"]]
*Soundwave has a purple Autobot [[insignia]] after recording Allegra's harmony section.
*Soundwave successively shrinks through this scene - at first he's the same height as Galvatron, then he's a head shorter, then only comes up to Galvatron's waist when Galvatron picks him up.
*After learning that they only have one third of the harmony, a recycled shot makes Galvatron look quite happy as he snarls in angry frustration.
*"Everybody's a critic" - Broadside is missing the passengers who are supposed to be hanging onto his wings.
*"I'm not so sure this is a good idea anymore" - Soundwave is missing his Decepticon symbol, and his headcrest comes down so far it separates his visor.
*Blaster is drawn delivering Broadside's line about "scorch-marks on top of everything else".
*The open parts of Magnus's trailer are misdrawn, making the entire trailer appear solid.
*Many of Magnus's white truck parts are colored light gray.
[[File:Carnage C-Minor Autobots harmonic attack.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Remember that shot a while back, where Broadside was twice as tall as Magnus in robot mode?]]
*A wide shot of Magnus advancing against the harmony has Blaster and Broadside at human scale, shorter - ''much'' shorter - than Magnus's truck mode.
*Alegra reacts to being grabbed by Galvatron a couple of seconds before it actually happens.
*While singing his harmony, Zebop goes from inside Magnus's cab to outside between shots.
**After Magnus frees himself from the pit a moment later, Zebop jumps out of the cab ''again''.
*After Soundwave blasts the Autobots into the ground, he transforms and walks toward the edge of the frame - but disappears ''before'' leaving the frame.
*While Soundwave and Blaster are fighting, Soundwave's grunts are unprocessed, making him sound like Dr. Claw.
*Galvatron has the standard Decepticon laser sound effect as he blasts Magnus, rather than his own signature sound.
*The script presumably calls for Zebop to move Allegra to safety; instead, the animation shows him putting her down and standing right over her, as Blaster and Soundwave fall on what would seem to be both of them.
*Blue face on Soundwave after he and Blaster fall on Zebop.
*When Blaster explains that the Eurythmans use the harmony even for healing, Ultra Magnus is the one mouthing the words; Magnus also has a visor instead of eyes.
*Our first shot of the still-going battle features lasers being fired at a forest, with nobody from either side in view.
*Hot Spot has consistently had a faceplate till now, but as he asks Perceptor about the other Autobots, he's suddenly got a mouth.
*When Perceptor gets shot, he grunts in a voice like that of Ultra Magnus.
*The running battle is in a forest, but when Galvatron and Soundwave intervene it's suddenly in the city.
*When Galvatron orders Soundwave to play the harmonics on Earth, Soundwave's tape deck door is the same color as his body (it should be light blue).
[[File:CarnageMiniBlaster.jpg|It's his little shoulder-angel.|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*When Soundwave plays the harmonics to disrupt Metroplex, the waves are shown emanating from ''Galvatron's head''! We then pan over to Metroplex, who is hardly any bigger than the two Decepticons.
*Metroplex does a sort of malformed half-transformation out of battle station mode, then stops; a shot later he's in robot mode with no additional animation or sound.
*"Autobots! Impossible!" - Galvatron's mouth doesn't move.
*Soundwave suddenly has a Decepticon symbol on his back as he <s>dances</s> struggles with Blaster.
*As Blaster flies off after erasing Soundwave's tapes, a cel-layering error causes him to appear smaller than Soundwave's head!
*As the Decepticons retreat, Blaster is shown flying away (again!) behind two Constructicons.
*"The Decepticons won't be back" - Magnus's eyes change size and shape between successive shots.

...And all this is overlooking the frequently malformed bodies, incorrect proportions, minor coloring foul-ups, and just generally poor artwork that marks the whole episode.

===Continuity errors===
*Flying Autobots:
**The entire Autobot assault force flies through space to the comet. As usual, no rocket packs are in evidence, nor are they mentioned. Only Superion and Grimlock are usually capable of robot mode flight.
**Despite this, Blaster and Magnus have to hang on to Broadside to fly after the Decepticons once they're on the planet.
**Despite ''this'', they both take off alongside Broadside after Alegra heals Zebop, and are seen flying along on Earth too. Blaster even has a whole fight sequence with Soundwave while floating in the air.
*The Decepticons all fly away from the comet as the rocket activates. As the Autobots approach, they're back alongside it - well, three of them, anyway.
*Anyone bothered that this "sonic weapon" was used to destroy a comet IN SPACE?
*Bonecrusher is shown ordering the Constructicons to combine. Scrapper is supposed to be their leader. Granted, it's in line with Mixmaster giving the orders back in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".
*Since when does Perceptor pack enough firepower to blast the once-invincible Devastator to pieces?
**Likewise, how come one little shot from the Constructicons knocks Superion apart?
*Much like the Season 2 episode "[[Kremzeek!]]", once characters start hanging on to another character to get around, the script seems to forget that there's any other way for them to travel. Blaster and Magnus ride around on Broadside's wings for the rest of the episode, and even poor Zebop has to do so once he joins them!
[[File:Carnage CMinor Blaster Magnus Basso.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"No." "What did he say?" "He said 'no'."]]
*Despite the aliens' dialog being in perfectly understandable English (or Galactic Standard or whatever), because they say everything in a sing-song rhythm, apparently none of the Transformers except Blaster and Soundwave can understand them, and the two tape decks spend a large (and annoying) amount of time translating Eurythman to "non-sing-song" for everyone else - at times repeating the same lines word-for-word.
**Blaster also somehow extrapolates quite a bit of information from short lines like "This is your war, not ours."
*At one point [[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] states the Autobots are "outnumbered two to one", but even excluding oddities like Brawn and Huffer, the ''Autobots'' actually ''seen'' in this episode outnumber the ''Decepticons''. See also Appearing/Disappearing Robots, above.
*"Soundwave, are you getting this?" "I am... I am!" "Never mind that. Did you get the harmony?" Did a line get dropped?
*Superhuman aliens:
**Alegra is still in Galvatron's hands when Magnus shoots him in the back, causing Galvatron to drop her from what looks like a height of 30 or 40 feet. Despite this, she's up and running about a moment later.
**It's an animation error, not a scripted one, but she seems to survive being smushed by two Transformers just fine.
*When the Decepticons reach Earth, they ''pass'' Autobot City (in the usual lush valley) to reach Metroplex, who seems to be hanging out in a barren desert for no reason.
*The Autobots (Scamper, anyway) don't notice the Decepticons till they're literally already there and firing at them. Nobody noticed the Decepticons fly to Earth? What happened to the Earth Defense Command satellites?
*Why does Soundwave even ''have'' an 'erase' option? Better hope his [[Decepticon Mini-Cassette|tapes]] had their copy-protection tabs removed!

===Trivia===
*Galvatron and Soundwave are briefly seen holding hands whilst flying!
*This was one of several episodes subjected to the [[MSTF]] treatment at [[BotCon 1999]].
*[[Ask Vector Prime]] [[Source:Ask Vector Prime/Facebook#September 30, 2015|identified]] the [[Eurythma|Eurythmic]] [[Harmony]] as an especially potent source of [[animation error|time-space anomalies]]. This retroactively means that every single "error" that occurred in this episode actually happened.
*This episode marks the only time Broadside is shown in jet mode in the US cartoon. Further, the model that was used is actually his pre-final model which had previously only been used in the 1986 [[Triple Changer]] [[commercial]]. His final jet mode model wouldn't actually be used until ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|The Headmasters]]'' cartoon.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' ?
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast and European French DVD release):'' "'''Massacre en Do mineur'''" ("Massacre in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Das Gemetzel in Cis-Moll'''" ("The Slaughter in Cis-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Sinfonia mortale'''" (First dub, "Deadly Symphony"), "'''Massacro in Do Minore'''" (Second dub, "Carnage in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''音楽惑星の挑戦'''" (''Ongaku Wakusei no Chōsen'', "Challenge of the Music Planet")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 20]], [[1987]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''C Xiǎodiào Dàtúshā '''" (C小调大屠杀, "The Slaughter in C-Minor")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' '''?'''
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This episode's original translated title is currently lost due to a glitch in the only known surviving copy of the audio track.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[1989]] — ''Transformers'' — Carnage in C Minor / The Ultimate Weapon ([[Tempo Video]])
;{{w|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]] [[2004]] — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 ([[The Original Transformers|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 5: Series 3.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2005 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 19 ([[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 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/tt0808817/ IMDb's page for this episode]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=118hXiMvCPKsu45gR_be5DtX2mBId8W5A Episode dialogue script]

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

The Transformers: The Movie

2023-08-06T10:36:12Z

White Cat: /* Continuity errors */ Soundwave's loyalty

{{disambig3|Transformers: The Movie}}
{{movie|
|seriess=[[The Transformers (cartoon)|The Transformers]]
|prev=B.O.T. (episode)
|next=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|seriess2=[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers]]
|prev2=Scramble City: Mobilization
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1
|title=''The Transformers: The Movie''
|image=Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg
|caption=A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....
|production code=4034
|production companies=[[Sunbow Productions]] [[Marvel Productions]]
|distributor=[[Dino De Laurentiis|De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]]
|executive producer=[[Tom Griffin]] [[Joe Bacal]]
|screenplay by=[[Ron Friedman]]
|directed by=[[Nelson Shin]]
|cinematography by=[[Masatoshi Fukui]]
|edited by=[[David Hankins]]
|music by=[[Vince DiCola]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|release date=[[August 8]], [[1986]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|runtime=85 minutes
|budget=$5–6 million
|box office=$2.6–5.8 million
|credits=The Transformers: The Movie/credits
}}
{{quote|Conceived in the epic tradition of ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''...|[[Victor Caroli]] ain't just whistling Dixie|[[The Transformers: The Movie promo|''The Transformers: The Movie'' promo]]}}

'''''The Transformers: The Movie''''' is an animated feature film based on the original ''Transformers'' toyline. It was released in the United States on Friday, August 8, 1986.

The film's storyline follows the same continuity as the ''[[The Transformers (cartoon)|Transformers]]'' cartoon. It introduces a [[Scale|planet-sized Transformer]] called [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] who eats other planets, and is approaching [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. As part of their continuing wars, the [[Autobot]]s and [[Decepticon]]s have a [[Battle of Autobot City|fierce battle]] on [[Earth]] which sees both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] mortally wounded. Prime passes the [[Matrix of Leadership]] to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into [[robot mode]] and begins to eat their world. Travelling inside Unicron, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", the movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. For these reasons, the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s.

The film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. Of particular note, Optimus Prime and Starscream are both destroyed during the course of the film.

{{quote|The Japanese have funded a full-length animated cartoon about the doings of these toys, which is all bad outer-space stuff. I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I'm destroyed. My plan to destroy Whoever-it-is is thwarted and I tear myself apart on the screen.|Orson Welles<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KlqsYy512WIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s "Orson Welles: A Biography"] page 522</ref>}}

==Synopsis==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Lithone.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|That's no moon.]]
[[Unicron/Generation 1|A mechanical planet]] travels through the depths of space, attacking [[Lithone (planet)|a metal planet]] which has [[Lithone (species)|robotic inhabitants]]. Robots, vehicles, buildings, and even large chunks of rock are sucked off the surface and devoured by the monstrous planet.

It is the year [[2005]], and the [[Decepticon]]s are now in control of [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The [[Autobot]]s are preparing to launch an assault to retake the planet from hidden bases on two of Cybertron's moons. The Autobots launch a [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]] to pick up a final shipment of [[energon]] from [[Earth]] before they strike.

[[File:Tftm1986a.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans. And bring me the passengers; I want them alive!]]
Plans for the attack are overheard by [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]], who reports back to [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. The Decepticons attack the Autobot shuttle en route to Earth, wiping out its crew (including [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]]). Using the Autobots' own shuttle, the Decepticons are able to get very close to the Autobots' base on Earth, [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]], before they are detected, and begin a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared city.

During the [[Battle of Autobot City|battle at Autobot City]], both [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and Megatron suffer mortal injuries, and a number of others are also killed. Eventually the Decepticons retreat, but the damage suffered by the Autobots is severe.

[[File:Tftm1986b.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.]]
Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. He passes the reins of leadership to [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] and gives him the [[Matrix of Leadership]]. (Though [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our [[darkest hour]]." He then gives the oath, "[['Til all are one]]", and [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|dies]]. This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, the monstrous planet, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix.

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power. After putting the matter to a fair vote, the Decepticons decide to throw their injured members off the ship to better the chance of survival for the rest, including the mortally wounded Megatron. Too injured to save himself, Megatron is tossed out into space by [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], who claims leadership of the Decepticon army.

[[File:TFTM Starscream chucks Megatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Into the garbage chute, flyboy.]]
Megatron and the other adrift Decepticons then encounter Unicron in interstellar space. Unicron offers to rebuild Megatron and his minions in exchange for their service. After some coercion on the planetoid's part, Megatron agrees, and is [[Reformatting|reformatted]] into [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. The other Decepticons are turned into [[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]], [[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]], and the [[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]. Unicron provides them with a [[Revenge (G1)|ship]], and sends them to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix, stating that the Matrix is the only thing which can stand in his way.

[[File:Tftm1986c.jpg|upright=1.1|left|thumb|Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.]]
Galvatron first stops at Cybertron to take his revenge by killing Starscream and reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. Almost immediately afterwards, Unicron arrives in Cybertron's vicinity and devours at least two moons—both of the Autobots' moon bases are destroyed. Under coercion by Unicron, Galvatron finally heads to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus, but Magnus and the other surviving Autobots flee in a pair of shuttles. Eventually Galvatron manages to cause one shuttle to crash on yet another metal planet ([[Quintessa (planet)|Quintessa]]), and detonates the other with a volley of missiles. However, the Autobots in the second shuttle escape unnoticed by separating the front portion of their shuttle just before impact.

[[File:TFTM Quintesson Palace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Mos Eisley spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.]]
The Autobots in the crashed shuttle, Hot Rod, [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]], and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], find themselves separated and in a hostile environment. Hot Rod and Kup are captured by a squad of [[Allicon]]s and taken before a [[Quintesson]] [[Quintesson#Judges|judge]] and his court. While being held there, they learn the name and nature of Unicron from [[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]], a survivor of the planet destroyed in the opening of the film, which he calls [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]]. Meanwhile, the Dinobots encounter and befriend a young, wild Autobot named [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] who has been living alone on Quintessa. Together, they crash the trial just as Hot Rod and Kup are fighting losing odds against the Quintessons' [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]. The tide is turned, and the Autobots commandeer a [[Quintesson Cruiser]].

[[File:Tftm1986d.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|What an incredible smell you've discovered!]]
The other group of Autobots has landed on the planet [[Junkion (planet)|Junkion]] to make repairs, but are attacked yet again by Galvatron, who was tipped off to their survival by Unicron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to use its power, but is unable to do so, and instead is killed. Galvatron absconds with the Matrix, taking it away to Unicron. The remaining Autobots—[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]], [[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]], [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]]'s son [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]]—are then ambushed by [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], the eponymous natives of Junkion, who are also giant transforming robots. This battle is cut short, however, by the arrival of Hot Rod's group in their Quintesson ship. After exchanging the [[universal greeting]] they all make friends, and the Junkions restore Ultra Magnus to life. Together, the whole group travels to Cybertron to try to recover the Matrix and destroy Unicron.

[[File:TFTM Unicron smashes cybertron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Rebel base in range. You may fire when ready.]]
Galvatron attempts to open the Matrix to use its power against Unicron and force his master into submission, but is unable to open it. Unicron, not pleased with this attempted treachery, shocks Galvatron by transforming from a planet into a [[Scale|planet-sized robot]]. Unicron plucks Galvatron off his chest and swallows him, Matrix and all, and then begins attacking Cybertron itself. [[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] scrambles the Decepticon forces to defend the planet, but they are ineffective against so large an enemy. Shortly the Autobots arrive from Junkion, and fly the Quintesson ship straight through Unicron's eye. This impact destroys the ship, and the Autobots fall out inside Unicron. Hot Rod, separated from the others, eventually runs into Galvatron. During their fight, Hot Rod gets his hands on the Matrix and hears Optimus's voice speak the words, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." Hot Rod grows in stature, adopts a much sterner demeanor, and quickly dispatches Galvatron by tossing him through Unicron's hull out into space. He then opens the Matrix, which fills Unicron with light and begins destroying him.

[[File:Tftm1986e.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Use the Force, Luke.]]
In the meantime, the other Autobots inside Unicron have located some of their comrades from the moon bases who had been presumed dead, including [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and Daniel's father, Spike. The Autobots, including Rodimus, escape through Unicron's remaining eye just as he begins to fall apart and explode. The scene then immediately shifts to the surface of Cybertron, where—for unclear reasons—the Autobots seem to be in charge again. Rodimus predicts an era of peace and prosperity, and the film closes with a shot of Unicron's severed head still floating in orbit around Cybertron.

[['Til all are one]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] ([[Peter Cullen]])
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime]] ([[Judd Nelson]])
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] ([[Robert Stack]])
*[[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] ([[Lionel Stander]])
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] ([[Neil Ross]])
*[[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] ([[Susan Blu]])
*[[Blurr (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blurr]] ([[John Moschitta]])
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] ([[Gregg Berger]])
*[[Perceptor (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Perceptor]] ([[Paul Eiding]])
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] ([[Buster Jones]])
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] ([[Michael Bell]])
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]]
*[[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] ([[Frank Welker]])
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (Peter Cullen)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (Michael Bell)<ref group="fc" name="crednolines">Credited and appeared, but had no speaking lines.</ref>
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] ([[Scatman Crothers]])
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] ([[Dan Gilvezan]])
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] ([[Casey Kasem]])
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] ([[Corey Burton]])
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] ([[Don Messick]])<ref group="fc" name="creduncertain">Credited, but may or may not have appeared through an animation error.</ref>
*[[Auto-combatant]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Eject (G1)|Eject]]
*[[Rewind (G1)|Rewind]]
*[[Steeljaw (G1)|Steeljaw]]
*[[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]]
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]]
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]]
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]]
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]]
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]]
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]]
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]]
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]]
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]]
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]<ref group="fc" name="crednoapp">Credited, but did not appear.</ref> ([[Walker Edmiston]])
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] ([[Leonard Nimoy]])
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] ([[Chris Latta]])
*[[Cyclonus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cyclonus]] ([[Roger C. Carmel]])
*[[Scourge (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scourge]] ([[Stan Jones]])
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] ([[Arthur Burghardt]])
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (Michael Bell)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (Neil Ross)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (Don Messick)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]]
*[[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] ([[Hal Rayle]])
*[[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] ([[Clive Revill]])
*[[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] ([[Jack Angel]])
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] ([[Bud Davis]])<ref group="fc" name="crednolines"/>
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] ([[Ed Gilbert]])
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (Frank Welker)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (Chris Latta)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (Frank Welker)<ref group="fc" name="appearnocredit">Appeared and had speaking lines, but not credited.</ref>
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]]
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]]
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]]
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]]
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]
*[[Sweep (G1)|Sweeps]]
*[[Cyclonus's Armada]]
|h3=[[Junkion (species)|Junkions]]|c3=
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] ([[Eric Idle]])
*[[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] (Bell)
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] (Welker)
*[[Rubbish]]
*[[Re-Cycle]]
*[[Trashbin]]
*[[HAZMAT]]
*[[Ashtray]]
*[[Wasteoid Gamma]]
*[[Greasestain]]
|h4=Others|c4=
'''[[Human]]s'''
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (Corey Burton)
*[[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] ([[David Mendenhall]])

'''[[Lithone (species)|Lithones]]'''
*[[Kranix (G1)|Kranix]] ([[Norman Alden|Norm Alden]])
*[[Arblus]]

'''[[Quintesson]]s'''
*[[Quintesson Prosecutor|Quintesson leader]] (Roger C. Carmel)
*[[Quintesson Judge]] ([[Regis Cordic]])
*[[Quintesson Executioner]]
*[[Quintesson Bailiff]]
*[[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticons]]
*[[Allicon]]s

'''Other'''
*[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] ([[Orson Welles]])
|nonumbering=true
}}
<references group="fc"/>

==Quotes==
[[File:TFTM European intro.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.4|It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.]]
"Now all we need is a little energon and a lot of luck." 
"More than you imagine, Optimus Prime."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Megatron''' tempt fate.

"Such heroic nonsense."
:—'''Megatron''' coldly finishes off Ironhide. The 'Cons always get the best lines.

"First, we crack the shell... then we crack the nuts inside."
:—'''Rumble''' bravely raids Autobot City.

"I've got better things to do tonight than die!"
:—'''Springer''', telling it like it is.

"One shall stand. One shall fall."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' uttering the most quoted line of the Movie. An ass kicker cometh.

"Why throw your life away so recklessly?" 
"That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron." 
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Optimus Prime''', about to engage in one last battle to the death.

"You, who are without mercy, now plead for it? I thought you were made of '''''sterner stuff'''''."
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s trash talk is actually [http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/sterner-stuff a lot cooler than it sounds].

"I would have waited an eternity for this! It's over, Prime." 
"'''''NEVER!'''''"
:—'''Megatron''' is about to learn that a wounded '''Optimus Prime''' has enough strength left for one good hit.

"Until that day...'til all are one..."
:—'''Optimus Prime'''{{'}}s final words.

"Oh, how it ''pains'' me to do this." 
"Wait! I still function!" 
"Wanna ''bet''?"
:—'''Starscream''' fights back the tears as he throws '''Megatron''' out of Astrotrain.

"Soundwave superior, Constructicons inferior."
:—'''Soundwave''' insults the combiner team.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose." 
"Nobody summons Megatron!" 
"Then it pleases me to be the first."
:—'''Unicron''' shows '''Megatron''' who's the boss.

"Who disrupts my coronation?" 
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." 
"Megatron? Is that you?" 
"Here's a hint!"
:—'''Galvatron''' drops "hints" for '''Starscream''' like others drop anvils.

"Oh shit! What are we gonna do now!"
:—'''Spike''' says the movie’s most infamous line.

"Kup and Hot Rod just bought it!" 
"I can't deal with that now!"
:—'''Springer''' and '''Ultra Magnus''' assess the situation.

"Did we ''have'' to let them detonate three quarters of the ship?" 
"Seeing as how they would have detonated ''four'' quarters, I think it was a good choice."
:—'''Arcee''' and '''Springer''', debating the launch of their emergency shuttle.

"Spare me this mockery of justice!"
:—'''Kranix''' is upset at being found innocent.

"You check in, but you don't check out."
:—'''Wreck-Gar''' making a reference to the tagline from the "Roach Motel." commercials

"For a time... I considered ''sparing'' your wretched little planet Cybertron. But now... you shall witness... its ''dismemberment''!"
:—'''Unicron''' really needs to work on his anger management skills...

"Destiny... You cannot... destroy... my... destiny!"
:—'''Unicron'''{{'}}s final words.

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian Wars as we march forward into a new era of peace and happiness! 'Til all are one!" 
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' announces the end of the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]...for now.

==Season 5==
When ''The Movie'' was broadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it was broken into 5 parts (designated "Days") and given new bookending segments with original story material.

===Day One===
[[File:TommyPrimeSeason5BumperMovie.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems.]]
[[Tommy Kennedy|Tommy]] meets up with [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] in the barren wasteland and Prime is concerned with the black eye and many bruises Tommy is sporting. Tommy explains that some "big guys" at school tried to rough him up (and by all visual evidence, succeeded). Tommy asks Prime if he'd ever faced any "big guys" in his many adventures and Prime decides to tell him about the time he faced the "biggest guy" of them all, [[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]]...

Optimus leaves off at the point during the [[Battle of Autobot City]] when Megatron broke their defenses to let the slaughter begin. Optimus gruesomely teases his own death scene to a very confused and concerned Tommy, but reassures him that until he can be revived as a Powermaster, the Matrix must be passed on to someone else who is worthy. Tommy wants to hear all about it, but Optimus doesn't have the time. Apparently, he needs to meet up with [[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] and help him [[Space bridge technician|repair]] the [[Space bridge]]. Tommy asks if he can tag along and Optimus tells him that if he can lift one of their two-ton screwdrivers, he can even help. They summarily blast off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Two===
[[File:PrimeExplodingMemoryChip.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|I've lost R2!]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up in the barren wasteland, though Prime isn't sure what Tommy wants. Tommy reminds him that he promised to tell him more about Unicron and Prime concedes that he's been having trouble with his memory chip, lately. Tommy tells him all about the Battle of Autobot City, but none if it rings a bell for Optimus. Prime asks Tommy to open up an access panel in the back of his head and check the circuit. Tommy repairs the circuit, jogging Prime's memory...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] and [[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] are eaten by Unicron. Tommy demands to hear more of the story, but Prime's memory chip explodes and smoke pours from the side of his head. All he sees are brief flashes of the further adventures of [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hot Rod]] and the rest. The furthest he can see, though, is the "death" of [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] when his shuttle is blown up by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy expresses discontent, citing that the Autobots are "too cool to die". Prime says he knows there's more to the story, but with his faulty memory chip, he can't access the details. Tommy insists they get his chip fixed and so they blast off into space to do just that.
{{-}}

===Day Three===
[[File:TommyKennedyTraumatized.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?]]
Tommy finishes the repairs on Prime's memory chip, much to Prime's relief. Tommy asks Prime to test it out by continuing his story about the battle against Unicron. Prime indulges Tommy's request...

Prime leaves off at the point where [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] and Hot Rod are taken to the [[Sharkticon (species)|Sharkticon]] pits and watch as the survivors of [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]] are executed. Tommy begs Prime to stop, claiming that the story thus far is too intense and depressing for him to handle. Prime asks if he wants to hear about how Kup and Hot Rod are fed to the Sharkticons, how the Autobots are menaced by "aliens made of junk" or how Ultra Magnus is blown to pieces by [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]]. Tommy suddenly changes his mind and demands to hear all the gory, macabre details. Prime sets Tommy back down in the barren wasteland and promises to return soon to transform his day into an adventure. He then blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Four===
[[File:PrimeTommyStopMotion.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from.]]
Tommy and Optimus meet up once again in the barren wasteland. Tommy asks why Prime is so late for their appointment and Prime confesses that [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] took a wrong turn on the way over. Prime wishes he hadn't let the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobot]] fly the shuttle. Tommy asks if Prime has enough time to tell him more of the story and Prime assures him there's time enough...

Prime leaves off at the point where the Autobots team up with the [[Junkion (species)|Junkion]]s to battle Unicron. Tommy is incredulous, wondering what a bunch of aliens made of junk could possibly contribute to the battle against Unicron. Prime informs him that great adversities often bring out the best in people, citing Hot Rod as an example. Tommy begs to hear how the story ends, but Prime says that he must first take Grimlock to have his "brain circuits" upgraded. Setting Tommy down, Prime promises to be back soon to transform his day into an adventure. Then he blasts off into space.
{{-}}

===Day Five===
[[File:StanBushTheTouchMusicVideoRecordLabelNotes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.]]
Meeting again in the barren wasteland, Optimus asks Tommy if he's ready to hear the end of the story. Contrary to all the enthusiasm Tommy has shown during past storytimes, the human child laments that he's forgotten most of the tale thus far (offering the flimsy excuse that his lack of an electronic brain makes remembering so many details impossible). Prime gives him "a quick rundown" (that takes ''four minutes'') and then proceeds to finish the epic yarn...

Prime finishes the story with the destruction of Unicron, the ascension of Rodimus Prime and the exile of the Decepticons. Prime asks Tommy if he's satisfied, but Tommy just has more questions. Like what was up with the [[Quintesson]]s? Did they drop Grimlock on his head when he was a kid? And how did they ever bring Prime back to life? Prime tells Tommy to slow down. He has to attend an interstellar peace conference, but until he returns, he leaves Tommy with... [[The Touch|THE TOUCH!!!]]
{{--}}

==Production timeline==
* First script outline by Ron Friedman: revisions from 15th August 1984 to 19th September 1984
* First draft script by Ron Friedman: submitted November 12th 1984. Revised February 13th 1985.
* Reference photos of Powered Convoy toy designated as Ultra Magnus, provided to Ron Friedman: Taken 18th March 1985
* Second script outline by Ron Friedman: revised 28th March 1985
* Second draft script by Ron Friedman: completed 27th April 1985. Revised 2nd May 1985
* Model sheets approved 14th June 1985: Cyclonus, Galvatron (Marvel model with revised head), Hot Rod, Kranix (the pre-final model, can be seen with Granix name on it), Quintesson Judge (colour approved on 18th November 1985 by J. Bacal), Rodimus Prime, Scourge/Sweep, Sharkticon, Unicron robot mode, Wheelie, Wreck-gar
* Model sheets approved 24th June 1985: Ultra Magnus robot mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 2nd July 1985: Ultra Magnus (Initial Toei design. Colour revised on 20th July 1985)
* Model sheets approved 19th July 1985: Arblus robot mode, Spike (final model), Ultra Magnus vehicle mode(first Powered Convoy version)
* Model sheets approved 29th July 1985: Quintesson Prosecutor (a.k.a Quintesson leader. Approved by J. Bacal on 18th December 1985)
* Model sheets approved 31st July 1985: Arblus spaceship mode
* Model sheets approved 6th September 1985: Rewind flip side of the cassette mode
* Dialogue recording (main sessions): 10th and 11th September 1985
* Model sheets approved 3rd October 1985: Rewind and Eject
* Model sheets approved 8th October 1985: Lithonian Scientist, Lithonian Woman no.1

* Storyboard sequence 1 (Attack on Lithone): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 2 (Title sequence): Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 3 (2005): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 4 (More Than You Imagine): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985.
* Storyboard sequence 5 (Attack On The Shuttle): Final 31st October 1985
* Storyboard sequence 6 (Gone Fishin'/Dare): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 7 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 1): Final 14th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 8 (Battle Of Autobot City, part 2): Final 31st October 1985. Revised Final 14th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 9 (Death Of Optimus Prime): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 10 (Witness To A Funeral): Final 7th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 11 (Contest For Leadership): Final 4th November 1985. Revised Final 13th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 12 (Transformation): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 26th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 13 (Coronation): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 18th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 14 (Destruction Of Moonbase One): Final 10th December 1985. Revised Final 19th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 15 (Escape): Final 16th December 1985. Revised Final 24th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 16 (Pursuit): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 17 (Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way): Final 11th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 18 (Arrival On Junk): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 19 (Unwelcome Visitors): Final November 14th 1985. Revised Final 27th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 20 (The Matrix Survives): Final 12th November 1985. Revised Final 25th November 1985
* Storyboard sequence 21 (An Unexpected Friend): Final 18th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 22 (Destruction Of Moonbase Two): Final 17th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 23 (Ambush): Final 11th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 24 (Judgement/Rescue): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 25 (Another Leader Dies): Final 9th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 26 (Unusual Allies): Final 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 27 (The Enemy Revealed): Final 12th December 1985. Revised Final 26th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 28 (Confrontation): Final 19th November 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 29 (United Against The Enemy): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 4th December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 30 (In The Belly Of The Monster): Final 20th November 1985. Revised 3rd December 1985. Revised Final 6th December 1985
* Storyboard sequence 31 (Their Darkest Hour): Final 2nd December 1985. Revised 19th December 1985. Revised Final 31st December 1985

==Animation errors==
[[File:TFTM Unicron Small.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We’re doomed.]]
*When Unicron is approaching Lithone at the start of the movie, at the line "Look, it's Unicron!", a [[Animation error#Sizing errors|cel stacking error]] results in Unicron's ring appearing in front of a building arch, [[Distribution|making Unicron look very tiny]] in that shot. In the next shot, it is clear that Unicron is several times larger than the entire planet of Lithone.
*The inside of one of the Lithonian ships being devoured by Unicron is visible for a couple of frames. The pilot of the ship appears to be Kranix, even though he apparently screams out Kranix's name, and Kranix appears later in the Quintesson prison.
*When Optimus Prime asks Jazz to report security status, it shows both Jazz and Cliffjumper. Cliffjumper is seen twiddling knobs above the actual drawn computer, as if a section was supposed to be present.
*Coloring errors:
**When the closeup of Cliffjumper doing his countdown is shown, his shoulders are blue (like his windows) instead of red.
**Scavenger's head is white instead of black as he ducks from Prowl's shot aboard the shuttle.
**Blaster's forehead is red instead of white after his "look out and shout!" line, and again after he returns to [[robot mode]].
**In the big lineup of firing Decepticons in Autobot City, Soundwave's cheek guards are blue instead of white.
**When Blaster asks Perceptor "What's shakin'?", a Dirge-colored Seeker flies by the window. However, it appears to be the standard Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp design, instead of having Dirge's unique wings.
**As Devastator lays into the walls, Shrapnel is white where he should be black.
**Megatron's pelvis is white instead of black as he gives the "let the slaughter begin!" order.
**When the Dinobots jump out of Optimus Prime's Shuttle, the shuttle is colored like the first shuttle, which Megatron boarded, instead of red-highlighted scheme of Prime's shuttle.
**When Prime says "No matter the cost", the shuttle is painted completely orange, when the front should have red and white highlights.
**When Prime drives up behind the Decepticons, Blitzwing's helmet is purple instead of yellow. Prime's trailer is missing its Autobot symbol as well.
**The gun Megatron uses to fatally injure Optimus is blue and white for most of the shots it is seen in, but when Megatron screams "Fall! FALL!" while shooting Prime again, it is black.
**Prime's antennae are white as he tries to stand after knocking Megatron off the ledge.
**Starscream's whole nosecone, rather than just the canopy, is yellow as he looms over the fallen Megatron.
**As Starscream prepares to toss Megatron out the door, Soundwave's eyes are painted white like his mask rather than red. (Maybe he was sleeping, his excuse for not stopping Starscream)
**Starscream's cockpit shell nearest his head is colored like a canopy rather than gray, as he nominates himself for leadership. Man, even the A-list animation team couldn't keep this straight.
**The red stripes on Starscream's wings are noticeably absent during most of the Coronation scene.
**When dragging Arcee into the shuttle and two shots later when flying into space Magnus's Shuttle has Blue highlights instead of Red.
**After Springer runs past him, Perceptor's gun changes from red to white for a few frames.
**When Cyclonus is strafing what appears via editing to be Hot Rod's shuttle, it has red highlights instead of blue.
**When Hot Rod's ship is being watched by Galvatron trailing smoke it has red highlights instead of blue.
**In the shot after Magnus announces that he cannot deal with that now, his ship has blue highlights instead of red.
**Shrapnel's lower legs are white when he lands on Junk, instead of black. Must be a side effect of being dead.
**When Hot Rod tells the Junkions the universal greeting, the Autobot insignia on his chest is colored black.
**After transforming, Unicron has all-white hands (instead of white with gold knuckles) and a white, rectangular chin (instead of the double-triangular chin with a goatee) he has later.
**As the Autobots fly through space after exiting Unicron's eye, Rodimus is painted in Ultra Magnus' colors (inverted).
*When the Decepticons blow a hole through the Autobot shuttle to get in, it is a clean break. However, Megatron is still shown ripping through random ship components to get in.
*When the Decepticons are killing the Autobot shuttle crew, there is one of the common Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker miscolors. Megatron transforms into gun mode and Starscream catches him, killing Brawn. When they cut back to the Decepticons, Starscream moves back to avoid the Autobots' fire, and a ''second'' Starscream is in front of the Constructicons without Megatron and is firing one of his arm rifles (this was probably meant to be Skywarp, as he flies into the shuttle and takes a seat at the controls once the Autobots are defeated). When they cut back to the Decepticons for the third time, Starscream has Megatron again and is finishing off the rest of the Autobots. In the shot of Starscream firing his own lasers, his wings are red instead of gray.
*When Brawn is shot, it can be seen for one frame that he is initially hit in the top of his chest. As he falls, the wound has moved to the front rounded part of his chest. Additionally, the wound changes from black to red for one frame.
*Per his standard cartoon appearance, Ratchet should have a [[Red Cross]] symbol on each shoulder. When he turns in his seat as Brawn is shot down, we can see one on his right shoulder, but when he stands to return fire on the Decepticons, the right shoulder's cross has vanished, and he's only got one on his left shoulder. Then, when he falls, the cross is missing from ''both'' shoulders.
*When the Decepticons fly to the shuttle's controls:
**All of the Autobots have changed positions from when they fell—Brawn is now on his back, for example, while Prowl is now face-down.
**Ironhide's chest is completely intact, despite having a bunch of holes blown in it.
**Prowl, who turned gray as he fell (evidently dead before he even hit the floor) seems to be back in his normal colors.
*The reflections of Hot Rod and Daniel in the lake rarely line up with where they should be.
*When Hot Rod catches a fish, it is barely the size of his finger. When he releases it, it's [[Scale|suddenly huge]].
*Hot Rod has at least two totally different transformation schemes during the course of the film.
*When Hot Rod begins to shoot at the hijacked Autobot shuttle, the yellow light on his forehead is misaligned.
*When Kup and several Autobots at the roadblock react to Hot Rod's attack on the hijacked Autobot shuttle, Bluestreak is represented by Prowl's [[Character model|animation model]], in Bluestreak's gray and black colors.
*Hound and Sunstreaker appear in Kup's group at the foot of Lookout Mountain as they observe Hot Rod firing on Ironhide's shuttle. Sunstreaker later appears as Optimus Prime's co-pilot when they arrive on Earth with the Dinobots, and is seen disembarking the shuttle along with Optimus Prime and Hound.
**In the movie's storyboard, only Hound is shown present with Kup during the roadblock scene. Sunstreaker's only appearance in the storyboard is when he exits the shuttle, meaning that his presence during the roadblock scene is purely an animation addition. Hound being in both places ''is'', however, an error in both the movie and the storyboard—''unless'', Optimus Prime and the Dinobots picked up Hound and Sunstreaker from Lookout Mountain enroute to Autobot City? Now there's an idea for the old [[Personal canon|headcanon]]!
**In a deleted scene from the storyboard that would've shown Hot Rod and Kup meeting up with Ultra Magnus inside Autobot City, Sideswipe is shown running alongside Wheeljack in the background. However, Sideswipe is mistakenly referred to as "Sunstreaker" in the script (how ''[[Sideswipe (G1)#Notes|ironic]]''). Whether this mislabelling had any bearing over Sunstreaker being present with the roadblock crew is anyone's guess.
[[File:ShockwaveBattleAutobotcity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We've picked up a new group of signals... enemy fighters heading your way.]]
*In a wide aerial shot of the city under attack, a Reflector flies by in Ironhide's color scheme. Shockwave also makes his only appearance in the battle; considering both his role as Cybertron's guardian and his absence from any other scenes during the battle, his presence is probably an animation error. Rumble also flies past, despite being inside Soundwave at this point.
*When Shrapnel and Kickback are eating the door, Shrapnel only has one antenna.
*A laser blast that should be behind Blaster is instead layered in front of him as he acknowledges Perceptor's orders.
[[File:TFTMRumbleFrenzytwored.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[FIRRIB|What]] about that [[R2-D2|blue one]]? We'll take that one.]]
*When [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] sends out his cassette troops, [[FIRRIB|Rumble is the same color as Frenzy]].
*Blaster first ejects what looks like Eject, who stays blue up until he gets to the edge of the screen. He then turns black like Rewind. Then Blaster ejects another blue cassette, which after about a second turns black. This one gets through half his transformation colored black, then turns blue for a split second then turns black again. Then, when the cassettes are fighting each other, Eject runs in from the left and jumps over Perceptor. And then he runs in from the left ''again'' to shoot Ravage.
*As Springer runs up to the launcher, Wheeljack's body is visible, but he's in the red, white and blue color scheme of Smokescreen - who, in the storyboards of this sequence, was intended to be the one lying there dead.
*While Springer and Arcee are trying to move the launcher into place, Springer's face is the same color as his helmet.
*During Devastator's combination sequence in Autobot City, his chest plate, portions of his pelvis, his forearms, and Bonecrusher's treads are all green. The chestplate and pelvis should be purple, as should Bonecrusher's treads (they're ''normally'' green when Bonecrusher is separate, but they turn purple when he combines), and his forearms should be black.
*For almost the entirety of his screen time during the battle in Autobot City, the "jet engine" on top of Devastator's chest plate is misinterpreted as a trapezoidal block. The only time it appears in its proper shape is when he high-kicks Grimlock. It appears as it should during the scuffle on Astrotrain.
*While Perceptor and Grapple are shooting, Swoop's lower half runs by in the foreground, long before the rest of him gets there.
*Prime's dramatic transformation sequence far outlasts the transformation sound that's supposed to go with it. It's also the wrong sound (ascending pitch) for his robot-to-vehicle transformation. His trailer is also missing the Autobot logo, which reappears for the rest of the scene.
*Prime is missing the transformation sound as he blasts back to robot mode.
*The gun Megatron fires uses the same sound effect as his fusion cannon.
*When Optimus Prime takes the Matrix out of his chest to give to Ultra Magnus, the animators forgot to remove the cel of the Matrix inside his chest, as it's still in there even as he's holding it in his hands. Since it's not supposed to be there, the luminous effect for the Matrix's core is missing from the duplicate in his chest, creating a visual trick that makes it look like Optimus might just have removed the core itself. (The [[Matrix of Leadership#Universe|''Universe'' comic]] would later use this error as a springboard to reconcile the visuals of Optimus's chest interior with their depiction in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''.)
*When Ultra Magnus accepts the Matrix, he's seen inserting it into his chest twice, or at best readjusting its "fit".
*As the other Decepticons prepare to push him out, Bombshell's chest is rendered as a shapeless gray mass, rather than with its yellow canopy.
*The voice that says, "Brothers! Don't!" is nowhere close to the voices of any of the five Decepticons shown getting thrown out of Astrotrain.
*When Megatron says "Nobody summons Megatron" his chest emblem is colored gray like his chest. It looks like it should have been painted as a darker shade of purple, as it's the shadowed section. But was painted gray instead.
[[File:TFTMStarscreamCoronationErrors.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| *''trumpet fanfare''*]]
*Even after the [[Battle of Autobot City]], characters who are supposedly dead continue to appear in crowd shots and battles. Shrapnel's role in the fight on [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]] is the most noticeable (and he was called for by name in the original script), but Thundercracker, Skywarp and Kickback can all be seen at Starscream's coronation. The two jets are later seen again, flying into Unicron's mouth.
*In the establishing shot of Starscream's coronation, there are only five Constructicons (Bonecrusher had better things to do tonight) and they are miscolored as purple and white rather than their usual purple and green color scheme.
*Hook has two eyes instead of his normal visor as he looks around in confusion during the trumpet scene.
*An early establishing shot clearly shows Cybertron with two and ''only'' two moons in low orbit. Yet a third moon is visible right after Unicron finishes eating the two Autobot bases.
*When Galvatron introduces himself to the Coronation party, Soundwave's chest window is drawn far too small.
*When Galvatron says "Decepticons, to Earth!", aside from his mouth being partially open, his mouth doesn't move. I guess being reformatted by Unicron gives you the ability to talk without moving your mouth?
*In the scene where Bumblebee and Spike are in the [[Autobot frigate]] and escaping Moonbase Two's destruction, when the two are cheering after believing that Unicron has been destroyed, Bumblebee's on the left side of Spike's seat. However, after Spike expresses his "colorful" reaction to Unicron remaining completely unscathed, and when the frigate is about to get sucked into Unicron, Bumblebee is on the right side of Spike's seat.
*When Cyclonus is strafing the Autobot shuttle in space, he briefly flies offscreen, and during that time his laser blasts come from a point that in no way matches his flight path.
*During the wide shot of the Autobots in the crashed ship on Junk, Blurr's entire head is white. Also so is Daniels head, which is drawn as an indistinct incomplete circle.
*Daniel's lips don't purse when he whistles.
*Wreck-Gar's mouth doesn't move at all during his first lines, despite the camera pushing in all close on his face.
*The pistol Ultra Magnus fires uses the same sound effect as Optimus Prime's rifle.
*During the Junkion chase scene, Trashbin attacks Arcee. When she fights him off his motorcycle, his model is switched for Junkyard's when he falls down. And his head then flickers between colors when mounting Junkyard.
*When Grimlock gets kissed, his eyes are round instead of triangular.(Probably intentional expression)
*As Hot Rod falls off one of Unicron's inner spikes, his lower body isn't drawn in. It looks like it should be blocked by our view of the spike, but is layered above it instead.
*Hot Rod's missing his Autobot symbol as he regains his footing inside Unicron.
*As the Dinobots fly around Unicron, both his eyes are intact. (The left one had at this point been shattered.)
*The third smelting victim (who looks a lot like another Bumblebee) doesn't fall from the conveyor belt; he simply vanishes.

== Continuity errors ==
[[File:G1TFTM Snarl cameo.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|He used to bulls-eye womp-rats in his T16 back home.]]

*The Dinobot [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] is mysteriously absent from almost the entire movie, even though the Dinobots as a group are featured prominently. Copies of the script which have come into fans' hands repeatedly list the Dinobots, but never make mention of Snarl by name. In fact, at one point the script refers to "the four Dinobots". Despite this, Snarl does appear in three very brief shots—in which at least one other Dinobot (Swoop in one, Sludge in another) is entirely absent. Hmm.
** On the other hand, the original production ''storyboards'' for the scene where Snarl first appears in the movie only mentions "the Dinobots", not a specific amount of them. Additionally, Snarl also seems to have been in the scene with Kup telling the Dinobots a story in at least ''one'' version of the film; the Japanese trailer for the movie has finished footage of this scene...but it's very different from the one in the film; the Dinobots are all in their robot modes, and Snarl is present in the scene instead of Slag. It's completely unknown why Snarl's appearance in this scene was cut.
*Also curiously absent are the 1985 Autobot cars and Mini-Vehicles, such as Inferno, Smokescreen, Cosmos, Warpath, etc. It would seem that these characters were available at the time of the movie:
**Perceptor and Blaster both debuted at the same time in the cartoon as the 1985 cars, and both play prominent roles in the movie.
**Grapple is [[:File:BattleAutobotCity.jpg|seen ''very'' briefly]] during the battle for Autobot City. Or maybe it's [[Hauler]].
**The 1985 Decepticons (Astrotrain, Dirge, etc.) appear in the film.
**[[:File:TFTM-SideswipeRedAlertTracks.jpg|Tracks]], [[:File:TFTM-RedAlertDown.jpg|Red Alert]] and Smokescreen (who was supposed to be the corpse in place of Wheeljack next to Windcharger) all appeared in storyboards but not the finished film.
*Devastator is treated as ''the'' ultimate threat, while in the cartoon, his role (and apparent power) was already being [[Starscream's Brigade|severely diminished]], presumably because several other combiners had been introduced. In story terms, the absence of these newer combiners, not to mention the mighty Omega Supreme, is inexplicable. In real-life terms, those characters didn't exist when the film commenced production. (The ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation shows Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor guarding the Ark against an attack by Bruticus and Menasor, attempting to [[retcon]] the problem away.)
*Possibly the biggest example of the film's tonal shift from the cartoon, shots from firearms that would previously knock another character down at best have since become lethal, best demonstrated when Brawn and Prowl are each killed with a single shot by the Decepticons during the movie's first act.
[[File:Cyclonus armada tftf.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|We'll be safe enough once we make the jump into lightspeed.]]
*The existence of Cybertron's moons is contentious ''at best''.
**On the one hand, in numerous close and distant shots of the planet throughout the first two seasons, not a single moon was seen. Ever. Even after it got knocked out of Earth's orbit.
**On the other hand, Megatron ''does'' refer to Cybertron as "land of the metal moon" (note the singular) during "[[Microbots]]", suggesting otherwise. The fact that he was overenergized at the time and lost consciousness in mid-sentence - just before he ''might'' have specified a plural number of moons, (in)conveniently enough - makes it unclear just how much credence we should lend this statement.
**The movie promptly introduces two (possibly three) moons over the planet. In continuity terms, they must either have highly elliptical orbits with periapsides (points in their orbits that bring them closest to the planet) that just happened to coincide with the timeframe of the movie or they were constructed sometime after 1986.
*During the Battle of Autobot City, Starscream gets his leg caught. He shoots downward and gets away while screaming "My foot!", but it's his shin that's smoking while his foot looks fine. Later he kicks Megatron with the same foot. Shouldn't that hurt, according to him?
*So Ultra Magnus just happens to have a ready-made Matrix chamber installed in his chest cavity? Is this standard issue for all Autobots?
*The cartoon had already established that Astrotrain increases his size when he transforms to shuttle mode, being large enough to carry a pair of Decepticons in his cockpit. However, within the movie itself, his size is [[scale|noticeably inconsistent]]: When he leaves Autobot City, he's just large enough for the Decepticon army to cram themselves in; later, he's so huge that the Constructicons can quite comfortably form Devastator inside him. Perhaps he continued expanding when transforming from train to shuttle mode?
*Speaking of which, Astrotrain's entire body flips over when he transforms from train to space shuttle to escape from Autobot City. While ''we'' applaud the [[Show-accuracy|toy-accuracy]], the Decepticons inside probably didn't.
*Soundwave is loyal enough to pick up a wounded Megatron and save him, but then votes "aye" to jettisoning the wounded Decepticons, and when Starscream goes to throw Megatron out, Soundwave doesn't try to intervene. He even tries to steal the leadership once Megatron is gone. The "loyalty" attribute that has pertained so strongly to Soundwave seems to be alienated from the character in this scene.
*The number of minions created by Unicron changes throughout the film, with more Sweeps appearing as the story progresses. A second Cyclonus ("Cyclonus, the warrior, and [[Cyclonus's Armada|his armada]]") is shown being created but disappears shortly thereafter. At least ''seven'' new characters are shown at one point, created from only ''six'' Decepticons thrown from the shuttle.
*How can the Constructicons blow on those trumpets? Only [[Hook (G1)|three]] [[Bonecrusher (G1)|of]] [[Mixmaster (G1)|them]] have mouths.
[[File:SSBQ.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|"I've been looking forward to this for a long time." "Yes, I bet you have."]]
*[[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] is capable of reducing [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] to ashes with a single shot from his cannon mode. Though in later episodes Galvatron is shown blowing up even small ''[[Thrull|planets]]'' and being able to take down [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] with one shot from his cannon, his extraordinary killing power seems to be gone—like when he scores a direct hit in cannon mode on Ultra Magnus in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]" and Magnus isn't especially hurt at all, or how a similar blast against Scourge in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]" only leaves the latter temporarily incapacitated. [[Marvel Comics]] bios explain this by suggesting that Galvatron had nearly limitless power through Unicron... but then again, Galvatron himself claims to be "more powerful than ever" after Unicron is dead in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2]]". [[To sell toys|Who knows.]]
*Why didn't the Autobots notice Unicron until he was within devouring distance of Cybertron's moons? Why doesn't Shockwave, who is ''on Cybertron,'' react until after Unicron has eaten these moons, transformed into a giant robot, and ''smashed his hand into the planet's surface?''
*Despite running out of energon goodies on Quintessa, Hot Rod has at least one to offer to the Junkions.
*How did Hot Rod and Kup know to fly from Quintessa to Junk?
[[File:TFTMStarscreamVsUnicron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|This is either Starscream or his stunt double; hard to tell.]]
*When the Decepticons on Cybertron launch a counterattack on Unicron, all three of the first-year Seekers are seen fighting alongside the Coneheads. Given that all three were either explicitly killed earlier in the movie (Starscream) or have been turned into Galvatron's troops by this point (Thundercracker and Skywarp), they're obviously not supposed to be ''around'' in these forms anymore; of course, they could also just be [[generic]]s reusing their colors...but, as noted above, Thundercracker and Skywarp ''also'' appear at Starscream's coronation.
*Daniel, who was just learning how to use his exo-suit, had to knock down the acid cover inside Unicron to save his loved ones. Why couldn't the more experienced Spike do the same with his suit from above? He had both of his arms free and a clear shot at the cover.
*It's not clear how Rodimus Prime (carrying two humans) and the other Autobots survived their jump out of Unicron's eye and their plunge towards the surface of Cybertron.
*It's also unclear just how the dozen or so Autobots (and one shipload of Junkions) managed to retake the whole planet of Cybertron. Did Unicron really wipe out ''that'' many Decepticons?
* Unicron's invincibility is extremely inconsistent; Moments before becoming Galvatron, Megatron creates visible damage to Unicron's horns simply by attempting to hold into something. Later, he doesn't suffer even a dent when one of Cybertron's moons is detonated in his mouth. Near the end, the Dinobots are capable of punching their way through his "skin", and Rodimus Prime just casually throws Galvatron into space through Unicron's side. Even without the Matrix, the small group of Autobots did pretty well against him.

===Not necessarily errors===
*Fans have noted throughout the years that Astrotrain, in his flight through zero-gravity space, should not have needed to "jettison some weight" in the literal sense. However, since the ejected Decepticons quickly fall behind Astrotrain instead of floating alongside him, he must still have been accelerating and thus would have needed to burn a greater amount of fuel in order to push a larger payload. Perhaps he should have said "jettison some ''mass''", but then again, just being a spaceship doesn't make him a rocket scientist.
*Springer escapes from Unicron's eye by transforming into helicopter mode and flying through outer space, where there shouldn't be an atmosphere for his rotors to provide lift. Maybe Unicron was still within Cybertron's atmosphere?

==Continuity notes==
*''The Transformers: The Movie'' has had a huge effect in shaping the mythos. Among the elements and characters which would reappear in many other iterations of ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' are:
**The notion that [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] has moons.
**The [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] as a physical object, rather than the computer program previously depicted in the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|comics]]. Even the Marvel comics would eventually shoehorn this one in.
**[[Autobot City (disambiguation)|Autobot City]].
**[[Unicron]].
**The notion of [[Megatron (disambiguation)|Megatron]] becoming [[Galvatron (disambiguation)|Galvatron]].
**The idea of "[[Prime (rank)|Prime]]" being a rank rather than simply a given name.
**[[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|And it killed off Optimus Prime before it was cool]]!
*Cybertron's appearance in the post-titles establishing shot shows some major changes to the planet since our last look at it in Season 2. Many of the same buildings from the cartoon's stock image of the planet are there, but the giant pit near the planet's equator is mostly covered over, and the shredded portion of its southern hemisphere has been completely rebuilt.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Springer deploys a small flip-out twin laser from his wrist during the Autobot City battle.
**Arcee and Hot Rod both activate a long-distance scanner of some sort by lowering a red visor from under their helmets over their eyes.
**Megatron uses an "[[Lightsaber|Energy Dagger]]"<ref>[https://twitter.com/walruslaw/status/1204860124898181123 Reference sheets for various weapons used or planned for use in ''The Transformers: The Movie''] - TFRaw.com on Twitter</ref> during his one-on-one battle with Optimus Prime.
**Hot Rod uses a saw blade that extends from his retracted wrist.
**Blurr has the same kind of hooked welding tip used by various Autobots as far back as "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 2]]".
**Arcee unleashes a nasty barbed post from her fender to fend off a Junkion.
**Grimlock shows the never-before seen ability to [[GoBots|shoot lasers from his fists]].
*'''[[The Revenge of Bruticus|< <]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's <s>dead</s> almost dead!

==Real-world references and Easter eggs==
[[File:TFTMUnicronSkyscrapers.jpg|thumb|I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.]]
*When the inside of Unicron is shown after he devours Lithone, the "blinking energy" effect of Unicron's innards shows, for a split second, what appear to be several images of post-apocalyptic buildings. These images look to be recycled background paintings from ''{{w|Fist of the North Star (1986 film)|Fist of the North Star}}'', a film [[Toei Animation|Toei]] had animated the same year. Regardless of animation efficiency/corner-cutting, the flashing images of ruined civilizations are eerily appropriate for Unicron.
[[File:TFTM Sludge Devastator.jpg|thumb|Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.]]
*When Sludge gets haymakered by Devastator, his eyes pop out of their sockets in ''{{w|Looney Tunes}}'' fashion.
*Kup's storytelling sequence aboard the shuttle is drawn from the novel ''{{w|Of Mice and Men}}'', complete with Grimlock in the Lenny role asking Kup to "tell Grimlock about petrorabbits again".
*The Junkions speak almost entirely in pop culture quotes and pastiches. Littered among the generic phrases like "operators are standing by!", "Film at eleven" and "eliminate even the toughest stains" are more specific references, such as:
**"Don't look behind door #2, Monty!" - a reference to the game show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'' and its host, [[Monty]] Hall.
**"Ger-ronny-doo-ron-ron-ronny-mo!" - both the famous "{{w|Geronimo (exclamation)|Geronimo!}}" war cry, and the 1963 hit "{{w|Da Doo Ron Ron}}".
**"You check in, but you don't check out" - a parody of the tagline for {{w|Roach Motel (insect trap)|Roach Motel}} insect traps.
**"Breep, drit, aw rootie!" - part of {{w|Tutti Frutti (song)|"Tutti Frutti, aw rooty!"}}, from the 1955 song.
**"Happy motoring!" - the slogan of gas company [[Esso]].
**"Kill the Grand Poobah!" - a {{w|Grand Poobah|satirical term}} originating from {{w|Gilbert and Sullivan}}'s ''{{w|The Mikado}}'', likely referencing its use as the title of leaders of pseudo-Masonic lodges in ''{{w|The Flintstones}}'' and ''{{w|Happy Days}}''.
[[File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg|thumb|Easy? You call that ''easy!?'']]
*The Quintesson jail cell includes robot debris ''strongly'' resembling [[:File:Tftm rosencrantz-and-guildenstern.jpg#parts|several mobile suits]] from 1985 Japanese animation ''{{w|Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam}}''.
*''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects (yes, even the high-budget Movie uses them):
**The ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst noise is used extensively throughout the film, over and over and over, almost any time a Decepticon takes flight.

**[[Luke Skywalker]]'s deactivating [[lightsaber]] is used as the sound of the Quintesson ship's ramp extending.
**Clashing lightsabers are used as Unicron fires eye-blasts at the attacking Transformers.

**An igniting lightsaber is used as Rodimus opens the Matrix.
**An AT-AT foot stomp sound is heard as the Autobot shuttle crash lands on Junk.
**The whir of an AT-AT's leg hydraulics can be heard part way through Unicron's transformation.
*The ''[[Star Trek]]'' sliding door sound is used as Wreck-Gar pulls out his <s>iPhone</s> mini-TV.
*The sound used for the communicators on ''Star Trek'' is used when Daniel activates his blaster to save Spike.

==Adaptations==
*[[Transformers: The Movie (Marvel comic)|A comic adaptation of the movie]] was published by [[Marvel Comics]] in 1986, concurrently with the movie's theater run. It was based off a non-finalized version of the script, and differs in many details from the final film. Additionally, most of the major character models (and possibly their unedited original character write-ups) appear in issue #4 of the ''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' series.
*[[Transformers the Movie (Ladybird adaptation)|A storybook adaptation]] was released in the UK by [[Ladybird Books]].
*A four-part adaptation was released in 2006/2007 by [[IDW Publishing]], as part of the film's 20th anniversary celebration. It was titled ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' to differentiate it from the [[Michael Bay]] [[Transformers (film)|live-action film]]. Unlike its predecessor, it adheres rigidly to the script and plot of the finished movie.

==Soundtrack==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}}

==Promotions==
*Early in the movie's production, a [[The Transformers: The Movie promo|promotional trailer]] was made to sell the project to potential investors.
*The movie was advertised on related 1986 toy packages via the [[Decipher the Decepticon]] Sweepstakes, which included a pack-in poster and contest.
*The movie was heavily advertised directly by TV [[commercial]]s, and tail-end segments on Transformer toy ads. Portions of its story were also retold in altered fashion by animation segments of commercials for the movie character toys, such as a spot showing Springer doing battle with Wreck-Gar.
*[[Ziploc]] sandwich bags featuring an iron-on patch in boxed to advertise the movie. Each box contained one of eight potential characters.

==In the comic continuity==
The [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|Marvel UK comic]] made extensive use of the Movie as the basis for a series of stories involving the Transformers in the future. However, there are several differences between the events seen on screen and those referenced in the comic:

*The comic always dates the movie to [[2006]], following the date given in a treatment that was all [[Simon Furman]] had when he wrote "[[Target: 2006]]".
*In "Target: 2006", [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] states that he was previously "[[Life Spark]]".
*The Matrix is always called the "Creation Matrix" in the comic, a name that predates the "Matrix of Leadership" but which is now used for the same physical object.
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] and [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] both survive the events, both later appearing in "[[Space Pirates!]]" (set in [[2008]]).

In addition, [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] definitely survives the attack by Unicron.

The US comic almost completely ignored the events of the Movie, though later in the run an alternative future is briefly shown in "[[Rhythms of Darkness!]]" and "[[A Savage Circle]]". In this timeline at least some of the events of the Movie took place such as the creation of [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]], which is dated to 2005, though [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]]'s death was overlooked. [[Prowl (TM2)|Wouldn't be the first time. Or the last.]]
*The US version of the future story "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" implicitly has the events of the movie as part of its backstory. However, since the rest of the US series ignored the movie, this issue's place in the continuity is questionable.

==Edits==
Several English-language versions of the film exist, with the following differences in content from the American theatrical run:

*In some versions (notably the European version) the opening credits are replaced with a scrolling text ("''Star Wars'' style") which provides backstory.
*In some versions (notably the European version) the film ends with [[Victor Caroli|a narrator]] reassuring the audience that Optimus Prime will return.
*Instances of swearing in the film (there are two) were edited out; sometimes one, sometimes both. Those instances are: Spike yelling, "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?" after the self-destructing Moon Base 2 fails to scratch Unicron, and Ultra Magnus growling, "Open, damn it, open!" while trying to open the Matrix to fend off Galvatron and the Sweeps on Junkion. The United Kingdom cinema version had the swearing included but, when it was released on VHS in the United Kingdom, Spike's line was cut ("damn" not being considered especially offensive in the UK). However it has been restored on all United Kingdom DVD releases.
*In some early FHE video releases, the shot of the Matrix falling out of Optimus Prime's hand and being caught by Hot Rod is edited so that it appears that Ultra Magnus simply takes the Matrix from Prime. Why this was done is not known, and the replay of the Hot Rod catch on Unicron's monitors was left intact.
*The original FHE video release of the film painted out all instances of Megatron's green-colored "bleeding" from the end of the battle of Autobot City up to his meeting with Unicron.
*Instead of DEG, the {{w|Rank Organisation|Rank Film}} "{{w|Gongman}}" appears before the British release of the film, as Rank were the United Kingdom distributors. Ironically, the DEG logo at the beginning uses the "Gongman" sounds, rather than its own fanfare, possibly due to a plastering mistake.

None of these edits significantly affect the story. They should not be confused with various other sequences which were changed before the film's final release:

*Originally, Ultra Magnus's "death sequence" on Junkion called for him to be lassoed and drawn and quartered by the Sweeps' energy beams, but this was deemed too graphic for audiences, hence the less disturbing "shot to death" sequence seen instead. There is evidence that the original sequence had been fully animated when the decision was made, however; the Sweeps still kept their solid energy lassos when they fire upon Magnus, and Magnus is seen visibly straining against what appears to be said lassos (edited out and replaced with laser fire) before exploding. This also explains why the Junkions only have to put his limbs back on to repair him.
*A number of other sequences were illustrated as [[storyboard]]s but dropped, presumably without ever being animated. Among them were:
**A short scene showing Ironhide piloting the Autobot shuttle through ''huge chunks of ice'' from the tail of a passing comet, explaining how the Decepticons caught them unawares. In response to a reprimand by Prowl who prickishly disapproves of Ironhide's piloting shenanigans, Ironhide exclaims, "I can sure as shootin' dodge a couple of ice chunks". When the Autobots are suddenly jolted by the Decepticon strike force as Megatron and his troops attempt to enter the shuttle, Ironhide tells the others on board, "That was no ice chunk...". Heroic nonsense ensues...
**An extended sequence with Hot Rod and Daniel outside the city.
**A sequence of Mirage blasting Bombshell and being fired on by Megatron.
**The Autobots finally bringing down Devastator with a barrage of missiles (and the Constructicons subsequently shooting Red Alert in the back).
**The Decepticons dogpiling Optimus Prime, explaining why he seems to be standing up just before his fight with Megatron, and no longer holding his rifle. According to storyboards, Prime gets bum-rushed by Blitzwing (who causes Prime to drop his gun), Starscream, Astrotrain, and Skywarp. While it is not clear how Prime defeated the first four hand-to-hand combatants, Dirge is later shown attempting one final sneak attack (and gets his can handed back to him) as Prime is talking to Megatron before the two leaders' final fight.
**Trailbreaker is shown dead among the wreckage of Autobot City as the Decepticons begin their retreat.
:Some of these concepts were in earlier versions of the script, and hence made it into the comic adaptation.
*Rumors have occasionally circulated in the fandom of additional animated footage that was dropped from the film, such as ultra-violent battle scenes.<ref>https://groups.google.com/g/alt.toys.transformers/c/B0ZMv7tdDMk?hl=en#8aee0b30765b2b4a</ref> No evidence has ever surfaced to back these claims; the only known edits of any storyline or character importance are those listed in this section.
:{{see|Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers#The Transformers: The Movie|Urban legends about ''The Transformers: The Movie''}}

==Reception and box office==
{{quote|''The Transformers'', in which Orson Welles plays a planet, is pure headache material. Target audience of cartoon-watchers also will probably find the film unintelligible, noisy and unoriginal. Boxoffice prospects are dismal.|2=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DHNZAAAAMAAJ&q=Hasbro+Transformers&dq=Hasbro+Transformers&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1983&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=2005&num=50&as_brr=0&cd=69 Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19]}}

{{quote|Obnoxious animated feature about the title good guys, who defend the universe against an evil planet (which has a voice of its own... provided by Orson Welles.) That deafening rock score certainly doesn't help. Little more than a feature-length toy commercial.|Leonard Maltin, ''1987 Movie & Video Guide''}}

{{quote|While all this action may captivate young children, the animation is not spectacular enough to dazzle adults, and the Transformers have few truly human elements to lure parents along, even when their voices are supplied by well-known actors. |2=[http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/09/movies/screen-transformers-animation-for-children.html The New York Times]}}

{{quote|Transformers -- The Movie, a feature-length animated film inspired by the syndicated TV cartoon series inspired by the Hasbro toy imported from Japan, is utterly uninspired entertainment. |2=[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3CE8EA8D40CCA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM The Dallas Morning News]}}

{{quote|If you can swallow, without gagging, a large measure of sentimental and offensive religiosity - lines like "Do not grieve. Soon I will be one with the Matrix," whispered by a failing hunk of Autobot metal - then you have a better than even chance of leaving the theatre on your own two feet. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=01kiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=W6gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2445,1286000&dq=transformers&hl=en The Montreal Gazette]}}

{{quote|Everything is poorly drawn and - when it's in focus - one dimensional. It is terribly hard to separate the robots from the backgrounds, and there is no easy way to tell the good guys from the bad guys. In an earlier movie based on the same sort of robot toys - "Go-Bots: The Battle of the Rock Lords" - the good guys were either white or colorful and the bad guys were dreary, and they had distinct personalities. Not this movie; everyone looks and sounds alike, except one pink robot who is a female good guy. Her tin voluptuousness makes her stand out. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kw4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OgMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6957,6334152&dq=transformers&hl=en The Toledo Blade]}}

{{quote|Even with an all-star cast doing the voice overs... and a rock music score, this is still nothing more than a ripoff of a successful toy line. |2=[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AYckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dtsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4192,1494652&dq=transformers&hl=en The Palm Beach Post]}}

{{quote|The great animated villains, like the Wicked Queen in Disney's "Snow White," had motivations as compelling as any live-action character. Unicron apparently destroys entire worlds because it has nothing else to do. |2=[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/57996397.html?dids=57996397:57996397&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+8%2C+1986&author=CHARLES+SOLOMON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=8&desc=%60THE+TRANSFORMERS%27%3A+STRETCHING+A+POINT The LA Times]}}

{{quote|A surprisingly dark, emotional, and almost excessively cynical experience for Transformers fans.|2=[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes]}}

''The Transformers: The Movie'' was almost universally panned by professional critics upon its release.

Well-known film critic and animation enthusiast, Leonard Maltin, gave it a rating below 1 1/2 stars in his ''1987 Movie & Video Guide'', regarding it as a "bomb", then proceeded to write an unflattering blurb denouncing the film as a "feature-length toy commercial".

Caryn James of the ''New York Times'' admitted in the [[August 9]], 1986, edition of the paper that the film was intended for young children, pointing out that the kids in the audience were having a grand ole time with the ''Transformer'' toys and comics they brought with them to the theater, but derided the film as having little to no appeal to adults.

''Variety's Film Reviews 1985-1986, Volume 19 '' was far less even-handed in their review, claiming the film had no appeal to adults ''or'' children. They predicted the film would perform poorly in the box office (and were correct, in that regard).

Carrie Rickey of the ''Dallas Morning News'' chided the film in the [[August 13]], 1986, issue of the paper, describing it as "essentially a cartoon ''Star Wars'' about robots from a toybox galaxy far, far away". She then went on to say that the film "never takes off" and derided it as "uninspired".

Janice Kennedy of the ''Montreal Gazette'' verbally disemboweled the film in the [[August 23]], 1986, edition of the paper, criticizing it as overly commercial, profane, loud, violent, humorless, heavy-handed in its religious messages and chaulk-full of gratuitous celebrity voice-overs. Her only compliment: "But ''The Transformers: The Movie'' does have at least one good thing going for it, a howlingly appropriate song by [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]. It's title? ''Dare to be Stupid''." ''Ouch''.

Nanciann Cherry in the August 13, 1986, edition of the ''Toledo Blade'' claimed the robots in the movie had little personality and faded into the background. She even went on to say that ''[[GoBots]]: {{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords|Battle of the Rock Lords}}'' was a superior film! Her review was filled with inaccuracies, however, citing characters such as "Unicon" and claiming that the destruction of Cybertron's moons by "Unicon" is what caused the Autobots to travel to Autobot City, at which point Megatron attacked. To be fair, she readily admits, "About 20 minutes into the film, I gave up on the plot and tried to count all the ideas that were stolen from other sources. Now that kept me busy." So she wasn't really paying attention, anyway.

Kathryn Buxton in the [[August 22]], 1986, edition of the ''Palm Beach Post'' gave the film a whopping ''one'' star, calling it "a ripoff of a successful toyline", whatever ''that'' means. In the same article, she also gave David Cronenberg's ''[[Fly|The Fly]]'' one star, just for reference.

In the August 8, 1986, edition of the ''LA Times'', critic Charles Solomon made clear his dislike for the film centered primarily on the fact that none of the characters had interesting or believable motivation. He stated, "Not even the best actor can create a character out of nothing. Not one of the robots has a reason for doing what he does." Solomon then pointed to Unicron specifically as an example of the lack of deep, multi-dimensional motivations in the characters.

Over time, however, the movie has acquired something of a cult following beyond the core base of [[fandom|Transformers fans]], particularly among children of the '80s. It is sometimes screened as a midnight movie at colleges. Online, it is not hard to find amateur reviews lauding everything about it as utterly awesome, from the premise to the soundtrack, and dismissing more critical views out of hand. ''The Transformers: The Movie'' currently holds a 60% "fresh" rating based on 25 professional reviews at online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_the_the_movie/</ref> In response to the film's cult following, several reviewers have compared the film in a favourable light to the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]]s (prior to the unprecedented critical success of [[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]), stating that they lack the heart or nostalgia of the '86 movie.<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/7309-6-enduring-legacies-of-1986-s-animated-the-transformers-the-movie</ref><ref>https://slate.com/culture/2007/07/transformers-why-the-original-animated-movie-is-still-the-best.html</ref><ref>https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sorry-Michael-Bay-Why-1986-Transformers-Movie-Best-43582.html</ref>

===Box office===
An [[August 30]]th, 1987 ''Los Angeles Times'' article on the decline and fall of the DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group listed ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as grossing $2.6 million in the United States on a $5 million budget.<ref>https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-30-fi-5144-story.html</ref> Both it and ''My Little Pony: The Movie'' (which earned $2.8 million on a $5.5 million budget per that same article) were financial failures, together losing Hasbro about $10 million in an otherwise profitable year.<ref>[https://twitter.com/tfwiki/status/895169922678042625 Sherilyn Connelly in ''Ponyville Confidential'' citing a May 21st, 1987 ''Providence Journal'' article by Neil Downing, "Hasbro Sees Record Sales and Profits".]</ref>

Confusingly, in comparison to the ''Los Angeles Times'' article, modern box office tracking sites<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=transformers.htm</ref><ref>http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1986/0TRTM.php</ref> list ''The Transformers: The Movie'' as having made $5,849,647 in domestic (e.g., United States) theaters. Comparing this with the other online box office takes from animated films of 1986, the results are not particularly charitable; while it did better financially than ''{{gb|GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords}}''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gobots.htm</ref> ($1,338,264) and ''Heathcliff: The Movie''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heathcliff.htm</ref> ($2,610,686), it performed worse than the 1986 ''[[My Little Pony]]'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mylittlepony.htm</ref> ($5,958,456) and the '''second''' ''Care Bears'' movie<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=carebearsmovie2.htm</ref> ($8,540,346). Bringing up ''The Great Mouse Detective''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greatmousedetective.htm</ref> ($25,336,794) and ''An American Tail''<ref>http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=americantail.htm</ref> ($47,483,002) would really just be overkill.

==Significance in Transfandom==
''The Transformers: The Movie'' remains one of the most important elements of the entire Transformers brand, both within the fiction and from the perspective of the brand's popularity and "mindshare".

Fictionally, it established several story concepts that have been used repeatedly in the years since 1986, some of which—such as Unicron and the Matrix—are now central to the entire Transformers mythos. The movie is also the centerpiece of the most well-known Transformers continuity: the Generation 1 animated universe. The ''Transformers'' cartoon is split into "pre-movie" and "post-movie" sections which feature different characters and settings, and even somewhat different visual styles. (Most pre-movie episodes were animated by the studio [[Toei Animation|Toei]], while most post-movie episodes were animated by [[AKOM]].)

On a practical note, it was widely available on videotape, and remained so long after the ''The Transformers'' cartoon had gone off the air. Only a [[Family Home Entertainment|handful of series episodes]] were available on video, making ''The Transformers: The Movie'' the logical choice for someone looking to pick up a ''Transformers'' cartoon; this made it far more well known among fans than any particular cartoon episode.

To an entire generation of young fans, the movie was the most visually spectacular and narratively epic ''Transformers'' experience of their entire youth. Events such as the death of Optimus Prime are widely reported to have reduced many kids to tears. It is hardly a surprise that these emotional experiences embedded themselves deeply in many fans' memories.

Latter-day ''Transformers'' stories have made uncountable references (though [[The Transformers: The Movie/references|we're trying]]) to the movie, lifting or borrowing elements of its [[Minus One|dialogue]], [[The Transformers: Autocracy|fight sequences]], [[A Flash Forward|subplots]], [[Heavy Is the Head|details]], [[Less Than Zero|settings]] and more, as writers have discovered that a shout-out to the movie is a quick and easy way to win cheers from [[GEEWUN|some segments]] of [[Fandom|their audience]]. Even Hasbro and Takara themselves have gotten in on the act, producing a variety of toys based on the minutia of the film: [[Starscream (Armada)#Cybertron|Starscream's crown]], [[Galvatron (G1)/toys#United|Galvatron's creation]], the awakening of [[Hot Rod (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|Rodimus Prime]], and more. The fandom, for their part, pores over new ''Transformers'' fiction, often latching on to even the most tangential of details as a [[The Search for Alpha Trion#Quotes|"reference"]] to the movie, [[The Burden Hardest to Bear|coincidental or not]]. Call-outs, real or perceived, were once a rare treat - but now are so common that many fans are more likely to groan than cheer whenever some version of Optimus Prime declares that "[[One Shall Fall|One shall stand...]]" or a damaged character states that "[[Unfinished|I still function]]" or a vengeful blast is preceded by "[[The Illusion of Control|Here's a hint]]" or yet another Soundwave says yet another variation of "[[Human Error, Part II|Soundwave superior]]", or... well... this:

<center><gallery>
File:Transformersanimatedfilmposter.jpg|'86
File:TFTM1.jpg|'86 again
File:Botcon2000-movieposter.jpg|2000
File:TFvol1 31cvrRI.jpg|2010
File:Timelines10 diamonded.jpg|2014
File:Echoes and Fragments cover.jpg|2016
File:LL1 Riptcvr.jpg|2018
</gallery></center>

In 2016, thirty years after the release of the film, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Optimus Prime]] gave us perhaps one of the most meta comeback lines in franchise history. When [[Galvatron (G1)/2005 IDW continuity|Galvatron]] declares that "Today — one shall stand, and two shall fall!", Optimus simply punches him in the face with a flat "No cliches, Galvatron", voicing once and for all just how sick we've gotten of '86 quotes. {{storylink|All Hail Optimus Part 6: No Fair Fights|No Fair Fights}}

{{quote|...wait, I only just noticed something. Did they actually manage to go the entire episode without quoting the 86 movie?|[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/94625-episode-65-beast-hunters-episode-13/page-4#entry2360303 Allspark poster Unit Eleven]}}

==Criticisms==
[[File:TFTM Ratchet dies.jpg|left|thumb|Only [[Stormtrooper (SW)|Imperial Stormtroopers]] are so precise.]]
All this is not all to say that the movie is a "masterpiece", exactly. The film met with extremely harsh critical reviews on its release, and some of those criticisms still ring true today.

The film displays an arguably cynical attitude towards itself as [[To sell toys|a vehicle for advertising toys]], especially in the way [[The Transformers (cartoon)/cast|beloved characters]] are killed—sometimes gratuitously—for sake of justifying the story's focus on a new group of toys. (Note that with the exception of Laserbeak and possibly Buzzsaw, the poster at the top of this article features ''only'' new characters.)

Further, the two primary plot devices—[[Unicron/Generation 1|Unicron]] and the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]]—have no prior establishment in the fiction. Unicron is given no backstory ([[Call of the Primitives|until season 3]]) or justification; he simply exists, is very dangerous, and is afraid of the Matrix, all for no adequately explained reason. The introduction of the Matrix itself is a heavy [[retcon]]. The story asks the audience to accept that this cosmically powerful artifact has been in Optimus Prime's possession all along (even though Prime's open-chested repair scene in "[[Divide and Conquer]]" and his X-ray scene in "[[A Prime Problem]]" show absolutely no signs of said Matrix), but has somehow never been relevant before. In fact, this lack of prior establishment is what led [[Simon Furman]] to develop the divinity backstory of Unicron and [[Primus]] in the UK comics run.

[[File:Megatronlightsaber.jpg|thumb|Your powers are weak, old man!]]
The movie bears many similarities to ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'': There are several character-parallels ([[Springer (G1)|Springer]] is a [[Han Solo]]-type and [[Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arcee]] even has Princess Leia's hairdo!), the primary threat is similar (it's the [[Death Star]]... [[Unicron/Generation 1|but it transforms!]]), and both feature a climactic battle where the [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|young hero]] hears the voice of his [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|dead, wise mentor]] one last time before saving the day.

To be a bit more fair to ''The Transformers: The Movie'', however, most of these similarities are either superficial (Arcee's Leia-hair; Megatron's "lightsaber" he briefly uses in his duel against Optimus Prime) or can be seen as elements common to thousands of years' worth of epic storytelling through human history, not just common to ''Star Wars''. As a simple example, the phenomenon of two charismatic leaders dealing each other mortal injuries in battle hearkens back to some versions of the "[[King Arthur]]" myth; in their final battle, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Arthur]] and his arch-enemy [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sir Mordred]] deal one another lethal injuries and both apparently expire—though Arthur according to the legend will [[The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1|return]] when [[Cybertron (planet)|England]]'s need [[Darkest hour|is greatest]].
{{--}}

==Formatting==
[[File:Tftm widescreenesque.jpg|upright=1.66|thumb|The "widescreen" picture (left) actually ''cuts off'' the top and bottom of the fullscreen picture (right). Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.]]
Although it was billed in some advertisements before its theatrical release as being "widescreen", the movie was in fact animated in a 4:3 (fullscreen) aspect ratio. For its theatrical screenings, the film was matted down in the projector by the projectionist to a 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen), chopping the top and bottom off the picture, but all video transfers of the movie were done without mattes, meaning that there was actually more picture visible in the fullscreen video and DVD releases than there would have been in theaters. Across 2006 and 2007, new editions of the DVD of the film were released by Sony BMG and [[Metrodome]] which applied the mattes in order to replicate the original theatrical presentation of the film for the first time in home entertainment. Some fans, however, didn't realize that the film wasn't actually ''animated'' in widescreen, and, hearing that the DVD was to be in widescreen, expected to see the fullscreen image with additional footage at the sides, causing them to complain that the top and bottom were cut off, thereby totally missing the point.
{{--}}

==International versions==
{{main|The Transformers: The Movie/dubs}}

==Commercial releases==
[[File:TFTM LaserDisc cover.jpg|thumb|The cover image from the original Japanese home media release of the movie.]]
*The movie was originally released in North America on VHS and Beta on [[September 17]], 1987<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19870911&id=YhAuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ls8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3198,2881581</ref> by [[Family Home Entertainment]], minus Spike's swear. Just days before, on [[September 14]], 1987<ref>https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003579/19870910/016/0016</ref>, it was released in the UK by [[Video Gems]]. This version featured the opening text crawl and closing narration inherent to the UK version of the film. In Australia, the film was released on video by RCA/Columbia Pictures/Hoyts. In Japan, [[Sohbi Kikaku|Hill Crane]] released a {{w|LaserDisc}} version alongside a VHS copy, both sporting a gorgeous painted cover that decorated many a fan's desktop back in the day.
*The movie was released spottily in the '90s, beginning with a budget VHS by Avid Home Entertainment in 1991. [[Malofilm]] released a VHS in Canada in 1995, notable for being the first home entertainment version to include Spike's swear. In 1998, Japanese company Pioneer produced another pair of LaserDisc and VHS releases. In 1999, things kicked off when American company [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] secured the Transformers license and released the film on VHS once again.
*The 21st century's flirtation with ''The Transformers: The Movie'' started with a UK budget VHS release of that country's version by [[Sony|Sony Wonder]], distributed by [[Maverick Entertainment]]. A Japanese company called CatCo followed this up with a VideoCD, and Malofilm—now Seville—were the first to release a DVD version of the film, though it was just a dump of their VHS version.
*In November 2000, ''The Transformers: The Movie'' got its first, full professional DVD release from Kid Rhino. This edition, labelled a "Special Collector's Edition", is the first to feature remastered video and audio, and several special features, including storyboards and an interview with [[Vince DiCola]]. Rhino concurrently released this version on VHS, sans extras.
*In 2001 in the UK, Sony Wonder released their own much-delayed DVD version of the film. It was the UK version of the film, but included Spike's swear. However, the release was burdened by badly interlaced video, though it notably included the [[Omni Productions]] dub version of the ''[[Transformers: The Headmasters (cartoon)|Headmasters]]'' episode "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]" as an extra. This version (including the ''Headmasters'' episode) was simultaneously released on VHS.
*The movie was released on DVD in Australia in 2003 by [[Madman Entertainment]], using the same video as the Maverick version, but distinguished by some nifty new cover art by [[Don Figueroa]], and special features not seen on other editions, such as ''[[Stan Bush|The Touch]]'' music video and 80s TV spots.
[[File:Tftm uk covers.jpg|thumb|The UK poster art (left) has been the most common DVD and VHS cover in its home country, but the Ultimate Edition featured new art by Andy Wildman (right).]]
*After acquiring the license to release ''Transformers'' DVDs in the UK, [[Metrodome]] focused on completing their run of series box sets before turning their attention to the movie properly, releasing only a cheap budget DVD of the UK version through Prism Leisure with no extras, and a UMD of the same version.
*In 2005, Metrodome released ''Transformers: The Movie - Reconstructed'', a new version of the film designed to expose as much of the animated picture as possible. This, however, only resulted in exposing the rough, unfinished edges of the animation, and an overly pale remaster was compounded by excessive interlacing due to an unnecessary NTSC to PAL transfer. This, coupled with a 5.1 remix from [[Magno Sound & Video]], featuring the same extra sound effects that they added to Rhino's season box sets, made this release both controversial and disappointing to many. This was the first time that the US version of the movie was released in the UK, and the first to feature the US poster art as a cover (although a Silverscreen store exclusive version of the disc included a reversible cover with the UK poster art as well). Extras include trailers, TV spots, the character biographies from the Madman release, a looped version of the Lion ''Transformers'' theme on the main menu, and a subtitled version of "[[Four Warriors Come out of the Sky]]".
[[File:Tftm sony covers.jpg|thumb|Sony's covers, by Don Figueroa.]]
*For the movie's 20th anniversary in 2006, new license holder [[Sony|Sony BMG]] released a two-disc special edition of the film, featuring both a high-quality widescreen remaster and the original fullscreen version, audio commentaries from crew and fans, several new featurettes interviewing those involved in the movie's production, storyboards, TV spots, American and Japanese commercials and more. Most notably, this version included the first Western release of "[[Scramble City: Mobilization]]", albeit silent and unsubtitled, featuring only audio commentary. Also very notable is that this version includes an actual deleted scene from the animated film as an extra, though it is more of interest as a curiosity than anything it actually contains, being an approximately 2-second-long aerial view of the Autobots running towards the critically damaged Optimus Prime. This release featured two covers by Don Figueroa: one is of the '84-'85 cast that appear in the movie, and one is of the movie's new characters, available either as a lenticular hologram that switches between the two, or as a reversible sleeve with the images printed on either side.
[[File:Tftm madman covers.jpg|thumb|Madman's 2003 DVD cover (left), and their 2007 Special Edition cover (right).]]
*Delayed a bit to coincide with the hype for the 2007 [[Transformers (film)|live-action movie]], Metrodome also released a two-disc "Ultimate Edition" with a different widescreen master. Like "Reconstructed", this version used the US edition of the film, but this time, the UK version was also included, in fullscreen, on the second disc. Extras include TV spots, commercials, the Madman biographies, storyboards, commentary, "Scramble City" (with audio and subtitles), featurettes with [[Flint Dille]] and [[Peter Cullen]], and more. The double-disc edition was sold in a steel case featuring new art by [[Andrew Wildman]], with the UK poster art adorning the standard case inside. Various store exclusives were available, including postcards from Play.Com, a reversible cover with the US poster art from HMV, art cards from Virgin Megastore and [[posters]] from Woolworths and [[Toys"R"Us]]. It was also available in an extra-less single-disc version. This version was premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival in Ireland which was the only cinema showing of the remastered version of the film to date.
[[File:ShoutFactory TFTM BluDVD.jpg|thumb|Shout! Factory's 2016 Blu-ray cover.]]
*The film was released in Full HD 1080p on Blu-ray in the UK in October 2007. The Blu-ray is not region-locked, so it will play anywhere in the world. It features a 2.0 soundtrack, 5.1 Dolby Digital track, and a full bitrate DTS 5.1 track. The master used was the same used by Sony for their US DVD. Sadly, there are no extras on the DVD. The version of the film on the Blu-ray is the US one, complete with curse words.
*Madman produced their two-disc special edition through some collaboration with Metrodome, and consequently it features much of the same content, with additional extras taking the form of The Touch music video and a bonus episode of ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]]''. This release again features cover artwork by Don Figueroa, specifically the cover of [[IDW Publishing|IDW]]'s ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie]]'' adaptation.
*For the film's 30th Anniversary, and after being out of print in the US for 10 years, the film was rereleased on Region 1 DVD and given its first Region A Blu-ray release on [[September 13]], [[2016]] by [[Shout! Factory]]. Both versions are sourced from a brand-new 4K transfer which underwent extensive color-correction and remastering, and a Steelbook packaging variant of the Blu-ray was also made available.<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/the-transformers-the-movie-limited-edition-30th-anniversary-steelbook The Transformers: The Movie Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Steelbook]</ref> The Steelbook Blu-ray was released in the UK by [[Manga Entertainment]] as a limited edition on December 12, 2016, followed by a standard edition release a year later.
*On September 27, 2018, Fathom Events screened the movie at select theaters in the United States. The movie was preceded by an interview with [[Travis Knight]] and [[Hailee Steinfeld]] and a preview of a scene from ''[[Bumblebee (film)|Bumblebee]]'', and followed by a short featurette of Stan Bush discussing the music he contributed to the movie and performing acoustic versions of ''The Touch'' and ''Dare''.<ref>[http://news.tfw2005.com/2018/08/01/1986-transformers-movie-hitting-theaters-one-night-only-369314 1986 Transformers Movie Hitting Theaters One Night Only!]</ref> Cineplex would later show the movie in Canadian theaters on October 4.
*For the 35th anniversary, Shout! Factory produced the first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of the movie — presented in widescreen only — and a remastered fullscreen 1080p Blu-ray. Feature-length storyboards and the Stan Bush featurette from the 2018 Fathom Events screening were added as new bonus features. The two discs were first made available in a limited edition SteelBook with four art cards on [[August 3]], [[2021]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-limited-edition-steelbook?product_id=7636 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook]]</ref>; a wide release in standard packaging followed on [[September 28]]<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition?product_id=7668 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>, as did a third set comprised of the new fullscreen Blu-ray and a widescreen DVD<ref>[https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-edition-1?product_id=7667 The Transformers: The Movie [35th Anniversary Edition]]</ref>. Cover art for the new releases was created by [[Matt Ferguson]].
**Region B versions of the Shout! Factory 35th Anniversary discs were distributed by Funimation and released on [[October 25]], and an additional collector's edition set was made exclusive to Zavvi, packaging the 4K and Blu-ray discs with an art book, poster and six art cards.<ref>[https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/the-transformers-the-movie-35th-anniversary-zavvi-exclusive-4k-ultra-hd-limited-collectors-edition-includes-blu-ray/13169855.html The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary - Zavvi Exclusive 4K Ultra HD Limited Collectors Edition (Includes Blu-ray)]</ref> Zavvi also partnered with Ferguson to release a line of art prints and apparel featuring his cover art.
*Fathom Events once again returned the film to select theaters on [[September 26]]–[[September 27|27]], 2021, accompanied by a set of [[The Transformers: The Movie 35th Anniversary Stop Motions|stop-motion comedy videos]] inspired by the film.

==Television broadcasts==
Following a segmented, five-part broadcast during [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season of ''The Transformers'']], the complete feature film was aired on American television in 1989 via Fox stations. Air dates and times were June 17 at Noon, July 30 at 11 A.M. and September 2 at 10 A.M. Of course, this was the language-edited video release from Family Home Entertainment.

The movie was aired on [[Hub Network|The Hub]] on February 18, 2012, following [[Orion Pax, Part 1|the Season 2 premiere]] of ''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' on what was called "Transformers Mega Saturday". Uniquely, this version combined the European opening narration with the US scrawl-free opening credits, muted the two swear words (rendering the lines as "It isn't even dented! ...What do we do now?!" and "Open... ''Open!''"), used the European closing narration at the end, and sped up the scroll of the end credits to cut it down for time, ending the lyrics of the [[theme song]] around the beginning of its second verse ("Strong enough to break the bravest heart..."). Subsequent re-airings on The Hub aired this version of the movie.

The American television airing of the feature film adds one extra sound effect, and it has never been heard in any other release. During the scene when Arcee is racing to jump aboard the departing Autobot shuttle, there is a distinctive sound effect when she jumps. In all other releases there is no sound effect.

A July 4, 2014 Hub broadcast of the movie markets it as ''Transformers: The Animated Movie'', distinguishing it from that computer animation/live action [[Transformers (film)|hybrid film]] with the similar title made two decades and one year later.

==Notes==
*According to [[Buzz Dixon]], Hasbro's decision to kill off Optimus Prime was actually an attempt to maintain some brand-storytelling parity with ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'', as Dixon had just convinced them to allow the death of [[Duke (G.I. Joe)|Duke]] in ''{{w|G.I. Joe: The Movie}}'' and both films were in production at the same time.<ref>http://www.joeheadquarters.com/interviews_dixon.shtml</ref>

*After reading [[Ron Friedman]]'s first draft of the movie's script, [[Flint Dille]] and [[Jay Bacal]] hastily wrote and proposed a script of their own, "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]", which later informed the cartoon five-parter "[[Five Faces of Darkness]]". Elements of this script also supposedly made it into the finished film, but no copy of the script has ever surfaced.

*This film was the last professional performance by [[Orson Welles]], who died only a month later. According to production materials shown at [[BotCon 2000]] by Tim Finn, the voice recording sessions for ''The Transformers: The Movie'' were done on [[September 10]] and [[September 11|11]] of 1985. Welles died on [[October 10]] of that same year. It has often been speculated that Unicron's last line ("Destiny… you cannot destroy my destiny!") was recorded by another actor—possibly [[Leonard Nimoy|Nimoy]]—because it sounds different than the other lines. This speculation has been quashed by statements by Transformers voice director [[Wally Burr]].<ref>http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/wally-burr/wally-burr-3.html</ref>
[[File:Windcharger wheeljack otp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!!]]

*With the exception of Starscream and possibly Shockwave, only the Autobots suffered fatalities in the movie. All of the other "dead" Decepticons from the Autobot City battle were rebuilt into Galvatron's new troops, and although more Decepticons were shown taking heavy damage and suffering huge casualties while fighting Unicron, their identities and their final condition are uncertain. Additionally, both Starscream and Unicron survived in the post-movie series in some form or another. Shockwave's death in the finished film is highly uncertain, although in the script it is fairly strongly implied. Regardless, Shockwave was originally intended to appear in the immediate post-movie story "Five Faces of Darkness", serving in the role that was ultimately given to Blitzwing, before an internal [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] memo clarified that his character had been dropped from the series.<ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bid3TK_q2HxH7NR5MDAlGsKe5AlcbBnU/view Partial outline of "Five Faces of Darkness", covering Parts 3 to 5]</ref> Shockwave does make some miscolored appearances in crowd shots in later cartoon episodes, but these are probably examples of the fairly common animation errors in those episodes.

*Somewhat ironically, though only three of the original eighteen Autobots - [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]], [[Cliffjumper (G1)#Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] - are definitively shown to have survived the movie, two would quite literally never be heard from again: [[Scatman Crothers]] passed away (though this didn't stop Jazz from making any number of background cameos) while Casey Kasem [[Casey Kasem#Notes|quit the show early in the third season]]. Fate's finger is fickle indeed.

*The Dinobots spend the majority of the film in their dinosaur modes, a practice that would eventually carry into season 3 of the cartoon. Swoop is the only one to spend extended amounts of time in robot mode, due to the anatomical issues of walking in a flight-based mode. However, there are some instances where they're briefly shown in robot mode for blink-and-you-miss-it moments, for no reason whatsoever. Additionally, despite his constant presence among the Dinobots, Sludge has no lines in the film at all.

*Unicron's roars in the movie were stock vocalizations originally created for Marvel Productions' 1982 ''The Incredible Hulk'' animated series and performed by voice actor Bob Holt, who voiced the [[Hulk]] in that show. Holt otherwise never voiced a character in the Marvel/Sunbow Transformers series (although he was a regular member of the ''{{gb|Challenge of the GoBots (cartoon)|Challenge of the GoBots}}'' cast as the original voice of [[Cop-Tur (GoBots)|Cop-Tur]]), and had passed away the year before ''The Transformers: The Movie'' was released in 1986. Thus, Unicron has the distinction of featuring ''two'' posthumous performances for the same Transformers character in a single production.

*[[:File:TFTM-MaybeBeachcomber.jpg|A robot resembling Beachcomber]] appears alongside Spike and the Autobots inside Unicron seconds before Daniel blasts the acid cover. Whether this was actually meant to be Beachcomber or just coincidental coloring is unknown, but regardless, Beachcomber shows up alive and well in "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5]]".

*Pieces of music from the movie would later be used in the Commodore 64 version of ''Turrican''. For instance, basically unaltered bits of "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWFx-Go6Y6A Escape]" make up [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jjpwpDVNY Subsong Two of the game's title theme].

*In the years that have passed, production material has since surfaced that revealed some—if not all—the original 1984 and 1985 characters receiving color changes to their [[character model]]s for the movie, as shown by color layout charts. These so far include: [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] and [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]]. Though these color charts exist, the final film did not utilize these changes to the character models, instead keeping with the original colors. A user on Allspark.com that goes by the username "DM" has worked hard to accurately recreate the original cartoon models with the correct colors based on color charts and original cartoon and film production material, and has likewise recreated these unused color concepts. Unfortunately, due to Allspark.com's server crash and overhaul in [[2021]], this thread no longer exists, aside from a few web archive captures that were made several months before the server crash. Luckily, friends of DM have worked hard to make sure his work is still widely documented on [https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/d-m-s-most-accurately-coloured-g1-animation-models-online.1201950/ TFW2005.]
{{--}}
===Foreign names===
*''German:'' '''''Transformers: Der Kampf um Cybertron''''' ("Transformers: The Battle for Cybertron", TV airings only)
*''French:'' '''''La Guerre des Robots''''' ("The War of the Robots")
*''Japanese:'' '''''トランスフォーマーザ・ムービー''''' ("Transformers: The Movie")

==External links==
*[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3212281345/weekend/ ''The Transformers: The Movie''{{'}}s box office domestic gross]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/2022/05/story-outline-of-ron-friedmans-script.html Ron Friedman's second draft script]
*[https://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/p/storyboard-viewing-gallery.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' storyboards]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021062746/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/movie/movie.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20080426020409/http://www.tftm.net/ ''The Transformers: The Movie'' "Unofficial Fansite", an extremely thorough site about the movie] (archived)
*[http://zobovor.tripod.com/transformers_the_movie_bloopers.html ''The Transformers: The Movie'' bloopers]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transformers: The Movie}}

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 1 media]]
[[Category:MSTF]]
[[Category:Real world films]]

Cosmic Rust (episode)

2023-07-29T08:35:21Z

White Cat: /* Synopsis */

{{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]] (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>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".

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La rouille cosmique'''" ("The Cosmic Rust")
:*The episode title is mistakenly written "La nouille cosmique" (''The Cosmic Noodle'') on the [[Déclic Images]] DVD box.
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''La peste metallica'''" ("The Metallic Plague")
:*''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===
*'''''[[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://sunbowmarvelarchive.blogspot.com/p/the-transformers-mp-700-60-cosmic-rust.html Gallery of full episode storyboards]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]

Trans-Europe Express

2023-07-28T06:58:47Z

White Cat: /* Real-world references */

{{episode
|image=TransEuropeExpress riding Wildrider.jpg
|caption=Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf dem Stunticon
|series=G1toon
|ep=60
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=47
|prev2=Aerial Assault
|next2=Cosmic Rust (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=51
|prev3=Countdown to Extinction (episode)
|next3=City of Steel (episode)
|title="Trans-Europe Express"
|season=2
|season ep=44
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|production code=700-59
|airdate=[[December 23]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0YtvwNsHFE
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''In a plot to obtain a Cybertronian weather-controlling device, the Decepticons stage a fake race across Europe.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Trans-Europe Express race begins.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|This has got to be the widest track ever.]]
[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] is looking for the [[Pearl of Bahoudin]], and goes on a rampage through [[Istanbul]] to find the one person who knows where it is. After interrogating the sage [[Abdul Ben-F'aisal]], whom Megatron finds in Istanbul, and kidnapping archeologist [[Teranova|Professor Teranova]], Megatron finally zeros in on the location in the [[Galata Valley]] and has the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] digging to retrieve it.

Meanwhile, the [[Europa 2000]] is underway, and among the drivers in the race are the [[Autobot]]s: [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]], [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]], [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], and [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]]. They are hoping to win the million dollar grand prize to give to charity. Also in the competition is [[Auggie Cahnay (G1)|Auggie Cahnay]], America's top driver, whose car is a custom design from [[Symultech Industries]]. The engine is made of a new energy-resistant alloy, and the Autobots have been instructed to keep an eye on Auggie, as his car may be a target for the [[Decepticon]]s. This is easier said than done, as Auggie's personality and driving style are both a bit uncouth, and it's not long before he's rubbing everyone the wrong way. At one point, Bumblebee literally has to yank him out of his car to criticize his behavior.

[[File:Trans-europe-express-stunticons-sideswipe-sunstreaker.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb]]
Aware of their proximity to the finish line, Megatron sends the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]] to take out the Autobots and steal Auggie's car. [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] and his group successfully put everyone but Bluestreak, Bumblebee, and Tracks out of commission and make off with the vehicle. While trying to evade the Stunticons, Bluestreak stumbles across Professor Teranova, who snuck away from the Decepticon camp and now explains to him what Megatron is up to. The Pearl of Bahoudin is a powerful jewel that can cause "worldwide disaster". The three remaining Autobots regroup along with Auggie, who insists on going with them to get his car back. They speed through the finish line, winning the race; though the race announcer eagerly anticipates their return for an interview, they keep right on going to the Decepticon camp.

[[File:TransEuropeExpress Bumblebee snatching pearl.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"I need to feed Bumblebee from the palm of my hand, or else he will get angry."]]
Tracks, Bumblebee, and Bluestreak locate the Decepticons as Megatron finds the Pearl of Bahoudin. Megatron reveals to the Autobots that the content of the Pearl is, in fact, the power core of a weather satellite from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] that crashed on Earth millions of years ago. Unearthed and exposed to the atmosphere in the 14th century, its power caused terrible storms that threatened to destroy the land until a Persian seer encased it in a golden, bejeweled shell. Using the parts from Auggie's car, Megatron plans to build a device that will utilize the jewel's power to control the elements and rain destruction down on anyone who stands in his way.

[[File:BumblebeePearl.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"By the power of Greyskull!"]]
The Autobots are attacked, though Bumblebee snatches the Pearl from Megatron. Seeing that they are outnumbered and outgunned, Bumblebee opens the Pearl, releasing its power and causing a massive twister that scatters everyone. The Pearl core itself is sucked up and lost in the storm. Megatron orders a retreat, saying that they can watch from the safety of their home base while the Earth is destroyed from the core's power. They leave behind [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]], who proves to be more than a match for the three smaller Autobots. Auggie jumps in his car and takes off, seemingly to run away, but really to drive his car off a nearby cliff and into Menasor's head, delivering a crippling blow and knocking out the giant. Bumblebee has himself sucked up into the twister so that he can catch up with the Pearl. He finally scores a successful shot and destroys the jewel.

After things calm down, the Autobots conclude that Megatron must have set up the race from the beginning to snag Auggie's car, meaning that there's no prize money for anyone. Auggie remarks that he should take the gold casing of the jewel as payment for his destroyed car, but instead gives it to the Autobots to sell for charity, before walking off with a grudging farewell. Meanwhile, the race announcer is still waiting for that interview with the winners... but everyone else has gone home.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (8)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (9)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (10)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (11)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (12)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (15)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] (16)
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (2)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (6)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (18)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (19)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (20)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (21)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (22)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (23)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (24)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (26)
|c3=
*Turk No.1 (3)
*Turk No.2 (4)
*[[Abdul Ben-F'aisal]] (5)
*Announcer (7)
*[[Auggie Cahnay (G1)|Auggie Cahnay]] (13)
*Race official (14)
*[[Teranova]] (17)
*Race commentator (25)
}}
==Quotes==
''[Megatron and Soundwave smash their way into the sage's home]'' 
'''Abdul Ben-F'aisal''': So, you've come at last. 
'''Megatron''': You have five seconds to tell me the location of— 
'''Abdul Ben-F'aisal''': The Pearl of Bahoudin? I know. 
'''Megatron''': If you know so much, then you know it would be unwise to refuse me. 
'''Abdul Ben-F'aisal''': You have caused enough damage in Istanbul for one day. The legends say the Pearl is buried in the [[Galata Valley]], near the [[Alibey River]]. 
'''Megatron''': You have been wise to oblige me. 
'''Abdul Ben-F'aisal''': Perhaps. But...once you have dug up the Pearl, you may not find it so easy to put back...
:—Warning [[Masquerade|duly noted, Abdul. And IGNORED.]]

[[File:Trans-Europe Express Bumblebee road rage.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Lesson of the day: Never call Bumblebee short.]]
[[File:TransEuropeExpress DeadEnd carjack.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Everybody gets a turn!]]
"There's only one charity I care about: ME! I want that million bucks!"
:—'''Auggie Cahnay''', born to win

''[Bumblebee yanks Auggie right out of his fancy car and holds him aloft.]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': Listen, you! Didn't anybody ever tell you about fair play? 
'''Auggie Cahnay''': I'm gonna win that million bucks! 
'''Bluestreak''': Keep driving like that, and you won't live long enough to win it. Not that that would be any great tragedy, but some decent people might get hurt! 
''[Bumblebee drops Auggie onto the ground.]'' 
'''Auggie Cahnay''': I got a race to win! 
''[Auggie jumps into his car and drives off.]'' 
'''Bumblebee''': What a creep.
:—Bumblebee and Bluestreak totally road-rage the asshole Auggie Cahnay.

"So help me, if one more of those metal maniacs gets in my way..." ''[Motormaster blocks Auggie's way, and Dead End pulls the human out of his car.]'' "That does it, and I'm not takin' it anymore!" 
"That's right, 'cause ''we're'' taking your car."
:—'''Auggie Cahnay''' is car-jacked by '''Dead End'''.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* We get a brief flashback to the crash of the [[Nemesis (G1)|Decepticon starship]]; its jungle crash site is reasonably consistent with the ship's location as shown in "[[Microbots]]".
* This episode has the final appearances of Bluestreak, Smokescreen and Sunstreaker with spoken dialogue. From here on, all of their appearances are as silent cameos.
* This episode is one of four prior to the 1986 movie in which [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] does not appear.
* Symultech Industries, the company that custom-built Auggie's car, would later be mentioned in [[Hirofumi Ichikawa]]'s ''[[Transformers: Alternators#Binaltech|Binaltech]]'' story. According to Dead End's system description, Symultech was responsible for building the body that was originally intended for Sunstreaker, but ended up getting hijacked by the Decepticons to create ''Binaltech'' Dead End.
* Much is made of the "weird metal" that Auggie's car's engine is made out of... but at no point is the metal actually ''named''. The [[dialogue script]] has Wheeljack propose in a deleted line that it's "triple-adamantium" (misspelled as "admantium"), which Auggie refuses to comment on. Confirmed comic geek David Wise was surely thinking of [[Wolverine (Marvel)|Wolverine]] when he wrote that line.
* [[Auggie Cahnay (RID)|Auggie Cahnay]] is mentioned in the American dub of the 2001 [[Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001 cartoon)|the 2001 ''Robots in Disguise'' cartoon]] episode "[[Skid Z's Choice]]". There, he is stated as having been deceased, and [[Skid-Z (RID)|Skid-Z]] is seemingly possessed by his spirit. Likewise, that episode features a race called the [[Europa 400]], supposedly named after the [[Europa 2000]] from this episode.

===Real-world references===
[[File:TransEurope Istanbul.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1|A flawless portrayal of Istanbul circa 1985, we're sure.]]
* According to writer [[David Wise]],<ref>http://therealmtoys.com/wordpressorg/5708/vintage-interview-david-wise/</ref> the title of this episode was directly taken from the {{w|Kraftwerk}} {{w|Trans-Europe Express (album)|album of the same name}} (which in turn is named after the former international railway service, more correctly known as {{w|Trans Europ Express}}).
* Megatron's first interrogation victim "swears by the beard of the Prophet", that prophet presumably being [[Muhammad]]. A moment later, the second interrogatee mentions a mosque.
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** [[X-wing Fighter|X-Wing]] engine whine and [[TIE Fighter]] roar as Megatron and Soundwave leave Abdul Ben-F'aisal's home and land at the valley.
** [[Death Star]] slamming door sound is used when Soundwave ejects Rumble.
** Deflected Seeker bolts and clashing [[lightsaber]]s as the Pearl is exposed to the atmosphere in Megatron's flashback.
** More lightsaber sounds as Bumblebee cracks open the Pearl's casing.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' sound effects:
** ''The Original Series'' Enterprise door opening sounds when Soundwave is scanning for the Pearl

===Animation and technical errors===
* When Megatron fires a warning shot at his second interrogation victim, a missile-launching sound effect is used instead of the usual fusion cannon sound.
* Coloring errors:
** As Megatron asks the mystic about the pearl, his ab controls are uncolored.
** In the first shot of his scanning the valley for the pearl, Soundwave's chest is missing its gold frame. Two shots later, his arms are missing their red stripes. And the sound effect for his chest opening should be the "Star Trek door" effect, but since that's used for the scanner, a different sound plays.
** "There's only one charity I care about" - Tracks' rear window section (behind his head) is gray; only the top portion should be gray, while the rest should be blue.
*** The same error repeats much later, in the close shot of the three surrounded Autobots.
**** And a third time as the Autobots react to Auggie driving away.
** Smokescreen's forehead crest is blue instead of yellow as he and Tracks transform.
** In the overhead shot of the race's start, Tracks' whole roof is yellow.
** Sideswipe has light gray tires just before he and Sunstreaker get blown off the road.
** Dead End's head has too many yellow bits just before he transforms back to [[Alternate mode|car mode]].
** "This'll shake you off!" - Wildrider is light gray instead of his usual dark gray.
** After Scavenger picks up the Pearl's energy readings, Megatron's Decepticon sigil is colored red.
** As Dead End takes Auggie's car out of Motormaster, the "eyes" on Megatron's Decepticon symbol are painted in purple (they should be gray).
** As Bluestreak jumps to avoid Breakdown, his chest is almost entirely black. Breakdown's Decepticon sigil is coloured red.
** As Megatron and the other Decepticons chase after Bumblebee, Megatron's feet are coloured grey like the front of his legs.
** When Menasor initially marches up to the Autobots, Bluestreak is colored like Prowl.
*** The error repeats as the trio is cornered by Menasor.
** "The Pearl is lost!" - Soundwave's forehead has some white on it that shouldn't be there.
** Bluestreak's eyes are red instead of blue as he climbs the cliff to escape Menasor; when he turns to leap onto Menasor's arm, part of his hood/chest is missing.
** As Menasor prepares to smash the cornered Autobots, his inner arms are purple instead of light gray. Of course, they really shouldn't be there at all: Dead End and Drag Strip aren't supposed to ''attach to'' Menasor's arms; they're supposed to ''be'' his arms.
* When Wheeljack scans Auggie's car, the engine is located in the back. However, when the Decepticons try to remove the engine, all the work is being done in the car's front.
* As they transform to join the race, half of the Autobots (Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Bluestreak) have the ascending pitch sound effect instead of the descending effect.
[[File:Simultech car.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Someone's overcompensating for something.]]
* As Bumblebee catches up to Wheeljack and the camera angle changes to an overhead shot, the crookedly drawn background of the road continually edges close to Wheeljack, then pulls back as the animation loops, creating the impression that the image is jerking back and forth. In the same shot, Wheeljack is missing his green hood details.
* In the first shot of Scavenger and Scrapper, they both have misdrawn heads, and Scavenger's legs are fused together.
* As Soundwave reports to Megatron about the race, he has two eyes instead of the usual red visor.
* After running Bumblebee off the road, Auggie can be seen driving through a pack of cars that has the sheer cliff face on the right side of the screen, despite having just driven on a road that had the cliff edge on the left side. Additionally, Wildrider and a deformed Jazz are visible in the pack of human-driven cars.
* The reversed cel and background problems continue as Auggie pulls away from the rest of the drivers, but are fixed as Bumblebee and Bluestreak catch up to Auggie.
* As the Stunticons appear in Sunstreaker's rearview mirror, they continue rising from behind the horizon until they are floating above the road.
* In the overhead shot of the Stunticons surrounding Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Dead End moves under Sideswipe.
* Dead End's first shot uses Megatron's fusion cannon sound effect. After the commercial break, it has the usual (correct) Decepticon laser sound effect.
* Reversed cel problems continue during Wheeljack and Motormaster's chase scene. When Wheeljack initially appears on the location, the Black Sea is on the left side of the screen as he drives up the road, but as the chase progresses, the sea is now on the right side of the screen, as if they had turned around during the chase or were driving on the opposite coastline.
* Motormaster makes a U-turn on a two-lane cliffside highway. While this kind of crazy driving was specifically shown and explained to be part of the Stunticons' abilities, Motormaster actually achieves it by driving into the shot, shrinking in the process, until he's small enough relative to the background matte to make the turn!
* Tracks's scan of the Stunticons has Wild Rider labeled as "WIRD RIDER."
* After Drag Strip pushes Auggie's car into Motormaster's trailer, as the trailer door closes, Drag Strip's Decepticon sigil turns into a purple blob.
* Scavenger reports that "Hey! There's something glowing down here!", but no such thing is seen in the animation.
* When Bluestreak picks up Auggie from the side of the road, Professor Teranova is not present inside the Autobot. Yet when the Autobots arrive at the site of the Pearl's excavation, Teranova can be seen exiting Bluestreak along with Auggie.
* During Megatron's retelling of the Pearl's history, as the villagers dig it up in the fourteenth century, the animation depicts it as already having the "pure gold protective casing" that was made for it afterwards.
* When Breakdown hits the cliff after missing Bluestreak, despite an explosion being animated, no sound is heard.
* Megatron's mouth doesn't move when Bumblebee grabs the Pearl right out of his hand. Of course, he also just stands there while Bumblebee drives right up to him, leaps up onto his arm and grabs Pearl.
* After Menasor smashes the ground to stop Bumblebee from escaping with the Pearl, a large crack forms in the earth, yet it vanishes when Bumblebee reacts to the Pearl rolling away.
* As Megatron and the Decepticons fly away from the battle, Sideswipe is shown next to Megatron (it should probably be Soundwave). The same error happened in "[[The Secret of Omega Supreme (episode)|The Secret of Omega Supreme]]".
* When the Autobots react to Auggie's apparent escape, Bluestreak is animated mouthing Tracks's line.
* When Auggie jumps from his car (from the ''passenger side''), he is not wearing his helmet, but it reappears after Menasor is defeated.
* Auggie's car isn't nearly as long as it should be when it crashes into Menasor.
* Menasor starts falling over before Auggie's car actually hits him.
* Superhuman Auggie:
** After leaping from his car onto the cliff edge, Auggie lets go and drops about 30 feet onto solid rock, but lands on his feet like it's nothing.
* As Bumblebee drives towards the tornado, he's layered incorrectly. It looks like he's driving above the ground for a moment.
* The gold casing around the pearl clearly cracks in half, yet as Auggie and the Autobots walk away from the battle, it's back together (and still making the sound effect as if the pearl is still in it!).

===Continuity errors===
* Professor Teranova frees himself with some kind of lamp device that the 'cons have left sitting around... but we have no idea what the thing actually is or why it's there or anything.
* Somehow, Megatron knows much of the human history and legend surrounding the Pearl, yet still needs to speak to Abdul Ben-F'aisal to know where it is hidden.
* Auggie Cahnay is reputed to be the best driver in the US, and the implication is he's also one of the best drivers in the race, yet twice in the episode, he is seen having to barge his way through the pack from behind.
* Sunstreaker, Sideswipe and Smokescreen all use "shortcuts" during the race. Doesn't seem very sporting, does it?
* Professor Teranova flees from the Decepticons, who are "two miles past the finish line". The finish line is in Istanbul. Bluestreak still hasn't made it ''to'' Istanbul when he finds Teranova; in fact he's still in the wilderness. So the good professor fled all the way into town and all the way back out the other side. No wonder he's collapsed in the dirt when Bluestreak finds him!
* On seeing the approaching Stunticons, Bumblebee somehow deduces that "Now they're after Auggie's car!" After he and Tracks avoid them, Bumblebee makes the rather non-sequitur observation that "Boy, they sure gave ''him'' the road!" The two lines seem to indicate that Auggie was supposed to be involved in the scene, but he's not shown.
* Auggie attacks Scrapper with a blowtorch. Where did it come from?
* Professor Teranova is last seen in the shot where Bumblebee loses the Pearl, not even reappearing in the post-battle scenes. Did he fall into Menasor's earthquake crevasse?
* The tornado that the Pearl and Bumblebee are sucked into is blowing over the Galata Valley while it is active, but when Bumblebee destroys the Pearl, it is suddenly over a huge forest, where he is eventually found in a tree.
*How does Auggie have the pearl at the end when he gives it to the Autobots when Bumblebee destroyed it?

===Geopolitical errors===
[[File:Europa 2000.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Not to Scale.]]
Quite a bit of real-world European geography pops up in the course of the episode, including the cities of Istanbul, Turkey; Paris, [[France]] (with the Eiffel Tower); [[Italy]]; and the Black Sea. Being the G1 cartoon, of course, this means a lot of it is portrayed wrongly in one form or another:
* Istanbul is drawn as though it were medieval [[Russia]], with lots of onion dome towers.
* Paris is shown with a number of skyscrapers around the Eiffel Tower. In real life, almost everything in the city is six stories or less.
* The Arc de Triomphe is shown at a regular intersection; it actually sits within a large traffic roundabout.
* Wheeljack says it's 2,000 miles total; because we are nitpicking here, we'll point out that the actual route is closer to 1,600 miles.
* The map of Europe is, erm, very inaccurate.

===Trivia===
* Auggie Cahnay's car has automatic transmission, which is unusual in a race car.
* At least one other car in the race appears to have "Citanes" endorsements.
* Apparently Soundwave's scanner thingy can't distinguish solid rock from ''not''-solid rock.
* This episode is one of several from late in Season 2 in which characters get severely smashed and beaten up - perhaps a precursor to the violent demise of several characters in the then-forthcoming [[The Transformers: The Movie|animated movie]]. Other such episodes include "[[Triple Takeover]]" with its throne made of smashed Autobots, "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]" in which Omega Supreme explodes, "[[Masquerade]]" which sees the Stunticons beaten to a pulp, and "[[War Dawn (episode)|War Dawn]]", where characters - both generic and otherwise - drop like flies.
*David Wise, [[David Wise#Recycle-o-matic|infamous for recycling ideas]] from old stories for his later work, reused the weather-control device climax of this episode for his ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (1987) story "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X".

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (European French broadcast and DVD release):'' "'''Europa 2000'''"
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast):'' "'''L'Europa 2000'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''La perla di Istanbul'''" ("The Istanbul Pearl")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Trans-Europe Express'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Europa Ōdan Tokkyū'''" (ヨーロッパ横断特急, "Trans-Europe Express")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 6]], [[1986]]
::*The Pearl of Bahoudin is called the "Pearl of Jehuddin" in the Japanese dub. This was actually the pearl's preliminary name in early draft scripts of the episode. As such, it seems evident that the Japanese dub of the series used early scripts for dialogue translations rather than the actual broadcast scripts (which accounts for many of the numerous errors in the dub).

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Qìchērén Dàjiǎngsài '''" (汽车人大奖赛, "Autobot Grand Pix")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' '''?'''
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This episode's original translated title is currently lost due to a glitch in the only known surviving copy of the audio track.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;{{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 13 ([[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://web.archive.org/web/20210506045541/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-2/synopses/700-59.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GrSo2D3J1zNwDswcpGnrq_yZxRrBjsGb Episode dialogue script with deleted lines]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Star Trek

2023-07-28T06:56:36Z

White Cat: /* Notes */ Missing comma

[[Image:Trek-infest01 coverdetail.jpg|thumb|300px|"Space. The final frontier..." "Permission to speak, commander?" "Permission granted." "You're a dork!"]]
'''''Star Trek''''' is a [[human]] [[television]] series.

{{quote|''Star Trek'', I've seen that one.|[[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] is momentarily enthusiastic, then disappointed|''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (novel)|Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]''}}

==Fiction==
===3H comics===
[[Packrat]] felt like a "red shirt" in ''Star Trek'' after recognizing that he was not a recurring character. {{storylink|Visitations}}

===''Transformers'' film===
[[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] used audio of [[Nyota Uhura]] saying "''Messages from [[Starfleet]], captain''" after downsizing the [[AllSpark]]. {{storylink|Transformers (film)|Transformers}}

===2005 IDW continuity===
[[Verity Carlo]] compared her communication work to Uhura. {{storylink|Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 1|Last Stand of the Wreckers #1}}

===''Dark of the Moon'' film===
While rolling around [[Sam Witwicky|Sam]]'s apartment, Wheelie was mildly interested to see an episode of ''Star Trek'' playing on television. At least, he was until he realized that he'd already seen the episode. It was [[memoryalpha:Amok Time (episode)|the one]] where [[Spock]] goes nuts. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon}}

===''Dark of the Moon'' novel===
When Wheelie realized that he had already seen the particular episode playing, he suggested a plotline he'd like to see: the ''[[USS Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' revealed as a [[Decepticon]], with the nacelles becoming cannons. {{storylink|Transformers: Dark of the Moon (novel)|Dark of the Moon}}

===''Age of Extinction'' film===
After being injured by [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s [[fusion cannon|fusion shotgun]], Lucas said that the resulting welt on his head made him look like a ''Star Trek'' character. {{storylink|Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)|Age of Extinction}}

===''Star Trek vs. Transformers''===
:''See [[Star Trek vs. Transformers]]''

==Notes==
[[File:Intersectionality humans.jpg|thumb|right|150px|''Boldly going...'']]
* Inside the original [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys|Optimus Prime]] toy's [[Combat Deck (G1)#The Transformers|trailer]], one of the [[sticker]]s depicts the Romulan Neutral Zone.
* Several well-known actors from ''Star Trek'' have played prominent roles in ''Transformers'', including [[Leonard Nimoy]], [[George Takei]], [[Michael Dorn]], [[Wil Wheaton]], [[LeVar Burton]], [[Jeffrey Combs]], [[Michelle Yeoh]] and [[John Noble]].
* Also, many IDW ''Transformers'' staff have done work on the ''Star Trek'' comics, including [[Chee Yang Ong]], [[Chris Mowry]], and [[Andy Schmidt]].
* [[Roberto Orci]] and [[Alex Kurtzman]] have written entries in the current series of ''Star Trek'' films.
* [[Ikard]]'s name is a combination of the Japanese word for squid (''ika'') and "Picard", because Ikard is a starship captain.
* ''[[Beast Wars: Uprising]]'' takes place largely in the 24th century. As such, it includes a large number of ''Star Trek'' nods, including having Ikard speak many of Captain Picard's catchphrases, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''-inspired uniforms for the [[Confederated Terran Colonial Fleet]], and a [[The Inexorable March#Quotes|glorious string of classic TNG technobabble]].
* [[Tantalus Five|Tantalus V]], a planet from the original ''Star Trek'' series, appears in both "[[Intimidation Game]]" and ''[[Transformers Animated: The Complete AllSpark Almanac|The Complete AllSpark Almanac]]''.

{{-}}

==External links==
* The official [http://www.startrek.com/ ''Star Trek'' website]
* ''{{w|Star Trek}}'' on Wikipedia
* [[memoryalpha:|Memory Alpha]], the ''Star Trek'' Wiki

[[Category:Beast Wars]]
[[Category:Dark of the Moon]]
[[Category:Star Trek| ]]
[[Category:Movie]]
[[Category:Television programs]]

The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1

2023-07-26T07:35:40Z

White Cat: /* Real-world references */

{{disambig3|Key to Vector Sigma}}

{{episode
|image=Stunticons.jpg
|caption=Megatron's latest addition to his troops. He's really going to regret this one...
|series=G1toon
|ep=56
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=42
|prev2=The Search for Alpha Trion
|next2=The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2
|title="The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1"
|season=2
|season ep=40
|written by=[[David Wise]]
|production code=700-55
|airdate=[[November 25]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAn3Z1Q6lZY
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''After being beaten by the Autobots once again, Megatron hatches a plan to create a team of Decepticons that will give him supremacy over the roads.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:KeyVectorSigma1 Rumble carjack.JPG|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Rumble makes an excellent carjacker. Why are we not surprised?]]

The [[Autobot]]s are escorting a convoy of tankers which carry a new [[superfuel]] which the government has given to the Autobots. Things have been quiet so far, but [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] is wary. [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] thinks that the [[Decepticon]]s are unaware of the superfuel, when they take that moment to attack. [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] sends the [[Conehead]]s to attack, but they are unable to follow them into the tunnels and canyons on the road. Megatron himself decides to destroy the superfuel, but [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] manages to distract him, while Optimus and Prowl drive Megatron off.

Megatron is furious that the Autobots beat them, and decides to rectify the situation. [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] is sent to steal cars of various models, and [[Possum Brown]]'s truck, all of which Megatron alters with Decepticon technology, such as anti-gravity boosters and automatic [[force field]]s. Using a remote control, Megatron tests the cars' abilities. Rumble is amazed with their stunt driving, and Megatron decides that it's a good name. Bringing them about, he has them [[Transformation|transform]] into [[robot mode]], and dubs them the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]].

[[File:KeyVectorSigma1 Alpha wall.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"I'm not quite dead."]]

Learning that the Decepticons are making new soldiers, Prime realizes they'll need Cybernetic personalities to truly live, and there is only one way to do that. [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] takes a group of Autobots to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], where Megatron is informed by [[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] that he has located [[Vector Sigma]], the megacomputer that gave the [[Transformer]]s life. But they will require the [[Key to Vector Sigma|circuit key]] to activate it. The Key is in the possession of [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], and the Decepticons head for [[Alpha Trion's base‎|his lab]]. After a brief struggle, [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] locates the Key and gives it to Megatron.

Arriving on Cybertron, the Autobots hurry to Alpha Trion's lab, only to find a dying Alpha Trion. [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] are able to save his life, and he explains to Optimus what Megatron intends to do. The Autobots head into the tunnels for Vector Sigma.

[[File:Centurions.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|We came, we saw, we kicked some ass.]]

In the tunnels, the Decepticons encounter [[Centurion droid]]s, which Megatron discovers he can control with the Key, and instructs them to attack the Autobots. The Autobots encounter the drones and, unable to destroy their attackers, retreat to a derelict hangar. Heading to Vector Sigma, Megatron activates the super computer, which gives [[Spark|life]] to the Stunticons: [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]], [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]], [[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]], [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]], and [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]]. The Decepticons return to Earth, where the Stunticons are set loose on human roads.

[[File:KeyVectorSigma1 Wildrider fly.JPG|right|upright=1.1|thumb|This isn't gonna end well.]]
In the hangar, Ratchet and Wheeljack set about repairing the damaged [[maintenance drone]]s which are scattered around, sending them out to fight the Centurions, with little success. Finally a column of maintenance drones marches off a cliff, and the Centurion drones blindly follow them. The Autobots reach Vector Sigma, learning that it already gave the Stunticons life. Optimus plans to use a series of ancient rockets and have them rebuilt as Earth style jets, planning to fight the Decepticons in the air.

At a human base, the Stunticons arrive attempting to make another attempt to steal the superfuel, and the soldiers believe they're being attacked by the Autobots.

[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2|To be continued...]]
{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (1)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (2)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (4)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (20)
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (22)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (23)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (24)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (25)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (26)
*[[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (27)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (5)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (6)
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (7)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (8)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (9)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (10)
*[[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (12)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (13)
*[[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (15)
*[[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (17)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (18)
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Shockwave]] (21)
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (28)

|c3=
*Tanker drivers (2)
*Race commentator (11)
*Robbers (14)
*Truck driver (16)
*Soldiers (32)

|c4=
*[[Teletraan I]] (19)
*[[Centurion droid]]s (29)
*[[Vector Sigma]] (30)
*[[Maintenance drone]]s (31)
}}

==Quotes==
"So much for your security, Prowl."
:—'''Smokescreen''', as the Decepticons attack

"I knew I'd never make it."
:—'''Dirge''', accepting his lot in life.

"No, Megatron, you'll have to blow us all up, and frankly, I don't think you have the guts."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' goads Megatron to shoot at the super fuel.

"Annnnd Mueller takes it! ...What in the world?" 
"You mean ''Rumble'' takes it!"
:—'''Race track announcer''' and '''Rumble''', who proceeds quite literally to take it

"Incredible! Not even the Autobots can do that kind of stunt driving." 
"Stunt driving...yes! Behold—the ''Stunticons!''"
:—'''Rumble''' gives '''Megatron''' an inspiration.

"This can't be the way those Deceptigoons came." 
"On the contrary, it definitely is." 
"What makes you so sure?" 
"Because who else would have sent ''them'' to kill us?"
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Alpha Trion''' as the Centurion droids approach

[[File:Vector sigma.jpg|right|thumb|The early concept of the disco mirror ball, which the humans stole, millions of years later.]]
"I am Vector Sigma. Before Cybertron was, I was! Who reactivates me?"
:—'''Vector Sigma'''

'''Megatron''': I am Megatron, your leader. Declare yourselves to me. 
'''Motormaster''': I am Motormaster. I swear loyalty to you! 
'''Dead End''': I am Dead End. I guess I'll have to do what you say. 
'''Breakdown''': I'm... I'm Breakdown. I'll obey too. 
'''Drag Strip''': I am Drag Strip. I ''live'' to obey! 
'''Wildrider''': I'm Wildrider! And I wanna bust something up!
:—The '''Stunticons''' speak [[Introdump|their first words]].

"Big ''and'' stupid."
:—'''Blaster''' on the Centurion droids who, in their zealousness, ran off a cliff to chase the maintenance robots.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:G1tf56-shuttleships.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.67]]
*In the scene where the Autobots walk through a chamber with lots of destroyed Transformers in it, there are two [[generic]]s in the foreground. The same character models previously appeared during the "[[Early war history records Transformers|historic footage]]" segment in "[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2]]". The green and yellow generic retained his color scheme, whereas [[Internuncio|the blue one]] is now one solid shade of blue. The model will appear again in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]", again in different colors.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Soundwave actually uses that gun on his shoulder while fighting the Centurion drones.
**Soundwave extends a lock-picking electrical widget from his fingertip.
**The newly-built Stunticons show off their ridiculously fancy driving abilities - they smash through trees, buildings and solid rock, they launch themselves into the air, spinning and flipping while doing so, and they make hairpin 180-degree turns.

===Real-world references===
*Vector Sigma's line "Before Cybertron was, I was" is a paraphrase of what Jesus says in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208:58&version=KJV John 8:58].
*For robots that have never been exposed to human culture, the Centurion droids demonstrate surprising proficiency in pro-wrestling, performing moves such as the German Suplex, body slam, headlock and Irish Whip.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**[[TIE Fighter]] roar as the coneheads dive to attack the superfuel convoy.
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine roar as the coneheads follow them into the canyon.
**Truncated [[lightsaber]]-vs-seeker-ball as Megatron inserts the key.

===Animation and technical errors===
*Coloring errors:
**As Prime notes how quiet it's been, his headlights and bumper are red instead of white and gray.
**The back of Megatron's leg is colored blue during his "Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, after them!" line; apparently the colorists thought it was part of the sky.
**Ramjet's wings are white instead of maroon as he emerges from the canyon.
**When Thrust transforms to rescue Ramjet, it's actually Dirge's animation model with Thrust's deco.
**"If it weren't for those accursed Autobots..." - Megatron's left arm is colored white instead of gray, and his forehead is missing its detailing.[[File:KeytoVectorSigmaPt1 stealing DragStrip.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
**Rumble's visor flashes between white and red when he steals the F1 car which will become Drag Strip. Oddly enough, it's stable red when the Autobots review the same sequence on Teletraan I later on!
**Blue eject button on Soundwave as Megatron prepares to test his newly upgraded cars.
***And again after he exists the space bridge.
**Omega Supreme's head is red instead of gray as he transforms to rocket mode outside Autobot Headquarters.
**Omega's visor is gray instead of clear as he reverts to [[robot mode]] on Cybertron.
**"Let's roll!" - the inside of Prime's cheekguard changes from gray to blue.
**As he dives into the Vector Sigma tunnel, Blaster's forehead changes from red to its correct white.
**As he watches Vector Sigma rise, Soundwave's cheekguards are blue instead of gray.
**As Megatron welcomes the Stunticons to Earth, his waist is light gray instead of its usual dark gray.
*The coneheads don't have the standard Decepticon laser noise as they dive to attack.
*When Ramjet crashes, he reverts to robot mode without the transformation sound.
*As the Autobots open fire on Megatron, they get a weird mix of Prime's laser noise and the standard Decepticon laser noise.
*One of the bank robbers, the getaway driver and the lorry driver are all wearing [[hard hat]]s; have Spike and Sparkplug started a fashion trend?
*As Rumble steals the semi truck, two of his shots start with Megatron's fusion cannon sound effect and end with the usual Decepticon laser effect.
*The establishing shot of Cybertron is very different than the stock shot usually used on the show; it's a greatly simplied version of the planet, without all the giant holes and war damage (maybe it's just "the other side".) Still another version can be seen briefly as Omega Supreme flies toward the planet, much closer to the usual stock shot but still not the same model.
*The inside of the space bridge elevator continues glowing pink after the doors open.
*As the Autobots race towards Alpha Trion's lab, Omega Supreme actually clips through Blaster.
*"Good grief!" - the illumination of Wheeljack's "ears" doesn't quite line up with the ears themselves.
*In the first shot of their approach, the Centurion droids are walking in place rather than advancing.
*When the Centurion droids attack, Megatron's nose is colored dark gray.
*Soundwave's Decepticon insignia is missing as he avoids a Centurion's fist.
*After the Autobots leave the hanagar, Blaster's mouth is jumping up and down independently of his face.
*"Soon! Very soon." - Megatron's voice is missing its robotic processing.

===Continuity errors===
*The central premise of this episode—that bringing new Transformers to life requires the supercomputer Vector Sigma—is highly problematic in the context of.... well, every other episode before or since in which new Transformers are created:
**The [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] were simply built on Earth.
**The [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]], in their first episode, are likewise described as having been built on Earth (though that's [[Constructicon (G1)#Origin inconsistency|a whole can of worms]] in itself.)
**Later episodes would likewise contradict it, showing [[Trypticon (G1)|Trypticon]] and the [[Technobot (G1)|Technobots]] being brought to life without Vector Sigma.
**Megatron emphatically declares that Vector Sigma gave ''all'' his contemporaries life, and introduces himself to the computer as "one of your own creations". In "[[Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4]]", Megatron is shown being built on a table by the evil Constructicons, with Vector Sigma nowhere in sight (the same Constructicons who would later be turned evil, and still later be built on Earth).
**"Five Faces of Darkness" also presents the Quintessons as the original creators of the Transformers. Vector Sigma was apparently involved, as Alpha Trion states that he was a first generation product of Vector Sigma, and he also led the Transformer rebellion against the Quintessons. It is possible that Vector Sigma was ''built'' by the Quintessons.
***Optimus ''sort of'' explains most of this by saying "There's no place on Earth to give them cybernetic personalities like we have", the "like we have" part perhaps insinuating that personalities from Earth would end up with low intelligence. For Trypticon and the Dinobots at least, this appears to be correct; the Technobots, meanwhile, were built by a temporarily super-intelligent Grimlock, using parts of Unicron, so... who knows.
*Why does Warpath drop out of the convoy? Why doesn't he return fire? Was he supposed to have been damaged by the first assault? If so, the animation doesn't show it.
[[File:Ktvs1 megs builds breakdown.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*Megatron apparently builds the Stunticons by himself. Where are the Constructicons, who were useful in creating the robotic cars in "[[Make Tracks]]"?
*Rather than launching an assault to commandeer the [[space bridge]] as they've previously done in "[[Divide and Conquer]]" (and [[The Revenge of Bruticus|will do again]]) to instantly transport themselves back home, Optimus Prime calls for Omega Supreme to fly them to Cybertron the long way. Naturally, this facilitates the Omega Supreme subplot which will ultimately result in the Aerialbots dropping their bad attitude, but it's still an odd choice considering the urgency of the situation.
[[File:KeyVectorSigma1 Trion's base interior.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*In "[[The Search for Alpha Trion]]", Alpha Trion was introduced as an enigmatic old Transformer hiding in an underground base. This episode ignores the brunt of that. For starters, [[Alpha Trion's base]] is no longer underground and doesn't appear to be secret anymore. Nor does Alpha Trion himself. For some reason, the Decepticons know that Alpha Trion still lives, that he has the Key to Vector Sigma and what the location of his laboratory is. Wheeljack makes the situation even more peculiar by remarking that Alpha Trion's base is messier than it's ever been, insinuating that he's been there before. On a sidenote, in "The Search for Alpha Trion", Alpha Trion's lab was neat and tidy.
*"It's a miracle we survived that blast" - see Trivia notes below for more on Prime's non sequitur line.
*Speaking of urgency - despite the repeated need for speed, the Autobots never use their [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]s on Cybertron - not to hurry to Alpha Trion's lab, not to rush to the Vector Sigma tunnel, not to travel IN that tunnel, not to get away from the slow-moving Centurion droids...
*"Megatron's been battling us on the roads" - the Autobots haven't actually faced the Stunticons yet. Megatron took them directly to Earth after creating them.

===Trivia===
*According to episode writer [[David Wise]] at various conventions (such as [[BotCon 2009]]), he was instructed to include Vector Sigma when writing this episode as part of the [[Hasbro]] episode mandates. Not knowing what Vector Sigma was, he pressed story editor [[Bryce Malek]], who in turn had to go to Hasbro to learn that Vector Sigma was "the computer that gave all the Transformers personalities". This caused Malek to respond: "Well, it didn't do a very good job, did it!"
*At the script stage, this episode had the uninspired sub-title "Creation of the Stunticons".
*The shooting scripts for both installments of this two-parter contain several "deleted scenes" which expand greatly upon some of the more significant events in the story. In this episode:
**"That blast" mentioned by Prime in the finished episode actually happens.
**While the other Autobots are busy down in the tunnels, Omega Supreme battles Shockwave on the planet's surface throughout the second act of the episode. Shockwave refers to Omega as his "old enemy," and is on the losing end of the fight until he gets his hands on a "cyberbomb," which he uses to defeat Omega, leaving him very badly damaged. There is a vestigial reference to this battle in Part 2, and further scenes relating to its consequences are removed from that episode, altering the nature of its turning point quite a bit.
*The tank vehicles seen at the army base are the [[MOBAT]] and the Armadillo from the ''[[G.I. Joe (franchise)|G.I. Joe]]'' animated series.
*Rumble is shown capturing a Tyrrell P34 during a Formula 1 race, the year presumably being 1986. In actuality, the six-wheeler Tyrrell P34 was retired after the 1977 season, and did not appear again on any race circuit until 1999.
*When the Stunticons first veer into traffic, several Earthen cars swerve to avoid them - and they're all in the Stunticons' color schemes. The beige one even has a purple patch where Breakdown's Decepticon insignia is.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' "'''La clé de Victor Segma'''" ("Vector Sigma's Key")
:*''Title (European French DVD release):'' "'''La clé du succès - Partie 1'''" ("The Key to Success - Part 1")
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast):'' "'''La clé pour Vecteur Sigma, partie 1'''" ("The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Gli Stunticons'''" ("The Stunticons")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''La chiave di Vector Sigma - I'''" ("The Key of Vector Sigma - I")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Vector Sigma no Kagi PART I'''" (ベクターシグマの鍵 PART I, "The Key of Vector Sigma PART I")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[May 2]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mólì Shénqiú (Shàng)'''" (魔力神球(上), "The Magic Ball, Part I")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''A Chave Para Vector Sigma, Primeira Parte'''" ("The Key to Vector Sigma, First Part")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Klyuch ot Sigma Comp'yutera'''" (Ключ от Сигма Компьютера, "The Key to Sigma Computer")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — The Key to Vector Sigma & War Dawn ([[Video Gems|A.M.T. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''The Transformers'' — The Key to Vector Sigma & War Dawn ([[Video Gems|V.I.P. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''The Transformers'' — The Key to Vector Sigma ([[Video Gems|Little Gems Video Club]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2000 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 4: The Key to Vector Sigma ([[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 13 ([[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 France.png|20px|France]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — Le Journal des Quintessons ([[UFG Junior]]) — European French audio only. 
[[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)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200217143800/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-2/synopses/700-55.html Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=19SAt1ANZYlItgpSj_ZXbblAZdMdQNfj7 Episode dialogue script with deleted lines]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1}}
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]

More than Meets the Eye, Part 3

2023-07-24T05:05:48Z

White Cat: /* Trivia */ Typos

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=3
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=3
|prev2=More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=3
|prev3=More than Meets the Eye, Part 2
|next3=S.O.S. Dinobots
|next2=Transport to Oblivion (episode)
|image=More Than Meets Part 3.jpg
|caption= NOW ENTERING AREA 51 - ACCESS RESTRICTED! NO TRESPASSING, NO PHOTOGRAPHY PERMITTED
|title="More than Meets the Eye, Part 3"
|season=1
|season ep=3
|production code=4025
|airdate=[[September 19]], 1984
|written by=[[George Arthur Bloom]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]], [[Ashi Productions]], [[Nakamura Production]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|packaged with=[[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Universe (2008)|Optimus Prime]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6XpDmtizL0
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''When an Autobot attempt to lure the Decepticons into a holographic trap fails, the villains succeed in gathering the energy they need, leaving the Autobots with only one chance to stop them returning to Cybertron.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:MTMtE Part3 PushingPrimeupright.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|After a bad fall, it's important that you move every part of the victim. Forcibly if needed.]]
Caught in the blast of [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack's]] explosive, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] tumbles down the mountainside. Shaken but not defeated, he musters the energy to transform into [[robot mode]]. The [[Autobot]]s begin digging through the rubble and [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] finds [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] alive and unharmed. Before the Autobots can begin celebrating what they presume to be the end of their enemies, there's a blast from the rubble. The [[Decepticon]]s have survived their burial and have blasted their way out. With their [[energon]] haul unscathed, the Decepticons take to the air.

[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] is tired of this string of defeats, and he soon takes to the air to follow. [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] takes off to try to rein him in. Ironhide takes a few pot-shots at the fleeing Decepticons, and [[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]] breaks formation to teleport behind their pursuers. He lands a rocket square in Ironhide's back, knocking the old Autobot out of the chase. Ironhide crashes into a lake, and the Autobots catch up with him to pull him out of the water and into [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]]'s waiting repair bay. The Autobots return to base.

Back at the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] taunts the captive [[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] and discusses the Decepticon spy's apparent abandonment by his comrades. In using a hologram of [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to goad Ravage, Hound and [[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] brainstorm an idea: to use an enormous hologram to trick the Decepticons into a trap. He pitches the idea to Optimus Prime, and the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] agrees.

Soon after, Hound talks to Mirage about a report from [[Teletraan I]] of a secret supply of rocket fuel. He says all this quite within earshot of Ravage, explaining how there's enough fuel there to make "four trips back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]." As Mirage and Hound walk away, Hound "accidentally" drops the key to Ravage's cage. The Decepticon retrieves it and escapes captivity.

[[File:MTMtE Part3 Starscreambegs.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|The genesis of a whole lot of slashfic.]]
Back at the Decepticon camp, Ravage reports in to Megatron about the rocket base. Megatron is delighted; it's the last energy source they'll need before they can return to Cybertron. As Megatron gloats, [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] grouses about the need for a change in leadership. In a foolish move, Starscream tries to blast Megatron in the back. [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] warns his leader, who deflects the blast with a built-in energy shield. Starscream has spent all his ammunition in this single shot, and he is left defenseless. Megatron returns the sentiment by blasting Starscream in the arm, knocking his disloyal lieutenant to the ground. Groveling, Starscream huddles to Megatron's feet, who answers his pleas only by issuing the command: "We attack the rocket base at sunrise!"

In a flat stretch of desert, Hound creates the rocket base hologram. The Decepticons move into position, and Megatron orders them to attack.

[[File:MTMtE Part3 Jazz ScrapDecepticon.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Jazz soon regrets buying from eBay.]]
The Autobots spring their trap, running out from hiding to ambush the attacking Decepticons. However, when they engage in hand-to-hand combat, the Decepticons break apart like poorly made machines. Optimus Prime realizes they've been had. These aren't the Decepticons, but are instead decoys. Megatron, the only real Decepticon present, laughs at Prime's misstep. He saw through the phony release of Ravage. Megatron reveals to his defeated enemy that the real Decepticon army has been attacking the real rocket base.

Cut to [[Cape Carlson]], the real rocket base, where the Decepticon jets arrive. They transform and neutralize the human army's attempt to stop them. In short time, Megatron rejoins them, and they soon return to their launch base with all the fuel they need. Soundwave reports the space cruiser's readiness, and Megatron orders the Decepticons to prepare to blast off.

[[File:MTMtE Part3 Optimus overacting.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|KHAAAAAAAAAN!]]
Back at the Autobot ship, Optimus Prime briefs his soldiers on the grim situation. He tells them that Megatron is on the verge of returning to Cybertron, where he could become unstoppable with the energon he has tapped from [[Earth]]. The Autobots have no choice but to directly attack the Decepticons. Prime asks for volunteers, and all the Autobots—and their human allies [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] and Sparkplug—step forward. The Autobots transform into [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] and roll out.

As the Decepticons begin to board the [[Victory (G1)|cruiser]], the Autobots encircle the base. Prime's forces transform into robot form and begin the attack. The Autobots grapple with the Decepticons, but the battle is brief. Megatron and his forces get aboard their ship and blast off into the sky.

[[File:MTMtE Part3 ExtinctiontoallTraitors.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Naturally, Megatron is a firm advocate of the Second Amendment.]]
Optimus Prime refuses to concede defeat. He orders [[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] to hand over his [[Jet pack|rocket pack]]. Donning the pack, Prime takes off to personally pursue the Decepticon cruiser. Starscream spots Prime in pursuit. The cruiser opens fire, blasting Prime who falls out of the sky and hits the ground hard.

The Autobots gather to see if Prime is okay, and the tough Autobot shrugs off their help. It's then that he notices that Mirage is missing from their ranks.

Aboard the cruiser, Starscream makes his move to usurp Megatron. Waiting for the Decepticon leader to lower his guard and remove his arm-cannon, Starscream raises his weapon to Megatron. Just then, Mirage drops his invisibility power to fire a few shots in the cruiser's controls. Starscream turns to blast Mirage, and Megatron takes advantage of the distraction to retrieve his cannon and fire on Starscream. Chaos erupts aboard the cruiser as Mirage's sabotage begins spreading and Soundwave loses control of the ship.

[[File:MTMtE Part3 Mirage HALOjump.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|WHEEEEEE!]]
Mirage scrambles to his feet and jumps from the doomed ship as it crashes into the ocean. The Autobots on the ground stare incredulously as the Decepticons are suddenly and mysteriously defeated. They then spot Mirage, the unlikely hero, floating to the ground in a parachute rig. The Autobots celebrate their victory.

Spike writes in [[Spike's diary|his journal]] that because the Autobots stopped the Decepticons from stealing Earth's resources, the governments of the world have decided to give Optimus Prime the energy he needs to revitalize Cybertron. The Autobot ship is being refurbished, and Spike and Sparkplug eagerly await their trip to the Transformers' home world.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ocean, the Decepticon space cruiser rests. Bubbles emerge from a hatch that is pulled free from the inside by massive metal hands. Megatron still functions.

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

==Quotes==
"You gave us all a pretty good scare." 
"It's been worse. I remember the time on Cybertron—" 
"Save the war stories, hot shot. Just remember, there's a thin line between being a hero, and being a memory."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Ironhide'''

"The rocket base is one hundred and forty kilometers due west of the Autobot camp."
:—'''Ravage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s sole line of dialog in the entire series.

"I am the leader of the future!" 
"You couldn't lead [[ant-droid]]s to a picnic. How can you pretend to lead the Decepticons?"
:—'''Starscream''' and '''Megatron''' arguing over Starscream's competence... again.

"Beware, Starscream... if you dispose of me, there will always be someone waiting to dispose of ''you''" 
"Let them try! I've waited for this moment a long time, Megatron... and my time is ''now!''
:—'''Megatron''' channeling his inner Nostradamus to '''Starscream'''

"We knew you were anxious to get back to Cybertron, but at least you could have waited for us." 
"Sorry, Prime. The ship was... full."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' and '''Mirage''' uttering a classic line.

==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:PrimeKennedySpecialProject.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|"That's... That's just ''wonderful'', Tommy. I'm so... ''proud'' of you. It's going ''right'' on the fridge! Yep! The fridge."]]
[[Tommy Kennedy]] and [[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] convene in the barren wasteland. Tommy has something hidden under a tarp and says it's a sneak preview of the "special project" he's been working on for school. Optimus sighs, "''Finally!''" but Tommy once again denies him, saying that Prime must first finish the story about how the Autobots first came to Earth. Prime whines that he's ''already'' told him the whole story, but Tommy reminds him that he never got past the explosion at the ruby crystal mine. Prime says he'll finish the story, but ''only'' on the condition that Tommy finally shows him the "special project". Tommy crosses his heart and so Prime continues...

With the story finished, Prime '''demands''' to see what's under Tommy's wonderful tarp of mystery. Tommy pulls aside the cloth and reveals a masterfully crafted bust of Prime's head. Prime is floored, saying that his own programmer couldn't tell the difference. Tommy says that the "special project" was a celebration of the anniversary for when the Autobots came to Earth. The statue will be presented to all the Autobots to commemorate "The greatest Autobot of all: Powermaster Optimus Prime!"
{{--}}

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:Mtmte3 ironhide flies.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Ironhide and Bluestreak cannot fly. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?]]
*Gadgets and powers:
**Ironhide, perhaps the most gadget-laden of all Autobots, brings out a forearm-mounted drill from inside his wrist.
**Later, he deploys a missile launcher out of his back. Like the van mode gun he had last episode, this one appears based on the launcher on his toy's combat platform.
**Jazz's ubiquitous grappling line makes its third appearance.
**Ravage deploys a little grappler waldo from his forepaw.
**Megatron generates a little deflector shield out of his fusion cannon.
**Hound can make a seriously HUGE hologram.
**Megatron can rotate his gun barrel around to his waist to fire it, which coincidentally resembles the original Megatron toy's barrel placement a fair bit.
**We get our first and last look at Sideswipe's [[Jet pack|rocket pack]].
**Skywarp can shoot a white fire-extinguishing substance from a wrist nozzle.
*This is the only time in the original series that Ravage speaks, relaying the information on the rocket base with his own voice instead of merely replaying Hound and Mirage's conversation about it. When he reappeared in ''[[Beast Wars: Transformers (cartoon)|Beast Wars]],'' he was similarly growly, but he had gained an [[Accent|Eastern European accent]].
*In a continuing trend during the Generation 1 cartoon, Prime's Combat Deck looks nothing like its toy counterpart or like it will appear in any future episodes. Not really an error since it's blown up here and could've been rebuilt differently.

===Real-world references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**[[Death Star]] superlaser as Skywarp rematerializes behind Ironhide.
**[[TIE Fighter]] engine roar as Skywarp pursues Ironhide and Bluestreak.
**[[Lightsaber]]-slicing-equipment sound as Skywarp blasts Ironhide.
**Lightsaber-slicing-equipment as Megatron deflects Starscream's blast.
**Roller's sounds are all taken directly from [[R2-D2]]. Then again, the Transformers really ARE from long ago, in a galaxy far away...
*Rocket base Cape Carlson may be a reference to {{w|Cape Canaveral Space Force Station|Cape Canaveral, Florida}}.

===Non-final premises===
*As with the two preceding episodes, the Autobots can all fly in [[robot mode]].

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:Autobot Soundwave.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Autobots superior, Decepticons inferior.]]
[[File:Hufferg1animated.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Okay, you can't really see it here. But a second later, Cliffy leans back, and boom, no insignia.]]
*Coloring errors:
**As the Autobots gather around Optimus Prime's fallen form and Mirage and Cliffjumper fly in, Cliffjumper is colored yellow like Bumblebee, who is currently buried under tons of rubble. He's also missing his horns.
**As the Autobots gather around the rescued Bumblebee and Sparkplug, Wheeljack's launcher is tan instead of light gray.
**Bluestreak has Prowl's color scheme as Ironhide protests letting the Decepticons escape.
**"I've made my contribution!" The center of Starscream's chest is red instead of gray during his line.
**"It's empty!" Starscream's nose is the dark gray of his helmet instead of medium gray.
**"You failed to dispose of me..." The red parts of Megatron's waist are gray.
**Megatron's fusion cannon is light gray as Starscream grovels.
**Starscream's nosecone and the center of his chest are once again red instead of gray as he lands at the rocket base.
**Prowl's chest-sides and neck are black instead of white as Prime does his William Shatner imitation.
**Ratchet's lightbars are white as he drives toward Prime's crash site. All three Autobots in the shot kind of slide sideways instead of driving forward.
*As he wonders about Roller, Prime is shown with round headlights instead of square.
*Cliffjumper is missing his insignia as he encourages Prime.
*Inside the mines, Soundwave is shown with a [[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|purple Autobot insignia]].
*Generic Decepticons:
**Two Skywarps as the Decepticons prepare to fly out of the mine.
**Two generic light purple jets as the Decepticons fly off.
**Two (fake) Starscreams as the "Decepticons" prepare to attack the "rocket base" (with their "lasers".)
**Eight jets fly toward the rocket base: the core three, 2 lavenders, 3 dark blues.
**15 Decepticons are visible from the Cape Carleson control tower.
**5 jets are seen landing at the base.
**A wingless lavender jet and the legs/feet of four other generics as the Decepticons cheer.
**A purple and two lavenders (one of whom changes to dark blue mid-shot) head toward the cruiser.
**An all-lavender jet leaps off the platform (infamously dubbed the Lady In Purple by a few fans), following Thundercracker and Skywarp, already shown to be on the ground.
**One lavender jet retreats from the final battle.
**One lavender jet backs away from Megatron as Starscream challenges him.
*After the Decepticons fly out of the mines, Skywarp and two generic purple Decepticon jets are drawn with the silhouettes of pilots sitting inside their cockpits.
*As Bluestreak catches up to Ironhide, Ironhide's back-mounted rocket launcher is shown in firing position (and Ironhide's shoulders are red instead of gray.) In the next shot, the launcher is missing, then is shown emerging from Ironhide's back.
*The energon cubes that Megatron holds when giving Skywarp permission to teleport are uncolored. To answer Skywarp's request, Megatron turns ''away'' from him.
*Skywarp's destroyed tailfin is back to normal after he teleports.
*Bluestreak and Ironhide continue to stare at each other for a ''very'' long time after Bluestreak says his line.
*Ironhide says he can't move... then immediately raises his arm.
*As Bluestreak carries Ironhide into Ratchet, he has one of Prowl's Highway Patrol symbols on his door.
*In the cavalcade of Autobots heading home, Jazz's blue stripes are colored red, and Wheeljack is missing his orange and green roof colors.
*A mislayering of animation cells when Hound creates a hologram of Megatron to taunt Ravage causes it to appear as if Hound is standing in the prison cage with Ravage.
*Jazz's visor is massively oversized during his "It might just work" line, and is missing its center crease line.
*After Ravage escapes, Hound is shown lip-flapping during Mirage's line.
*In the reaction shot of the Autobots when Optimus Prime is pleased at Ravage's escape, the tips of Prowl's doors are colored as parts of Jazz and Mirage's heads, and Mirage's shoulders are red.
*"You're in the driver's seat" - Prime only has 4 of his running light housings. Two of them extend all the way to his back.
*The flight controller's line is cut off by an editorial gaffe; he says "There's nothing we can - ".
*In the pan across the Autobots (during which the Autobots have conveniently divided themselves by toy size):
**The Autobots have completely changed positions from where they were in the previous shot. Most obviously, Bumblebee was between Bluestreak and Hound; but now he's with the other mini-bots. To make it worse, the scene recycles the two shots several times in succession.
**Ratchet's hands are white.
**Jazz's waist is colored windshield blue.
**Prowl is missing his insignia.
**Jazz is shown in the line-up, while at the same time he's standing next to Prime, giving instructions.
*As Jazz says "Autobots, transform", Optimus Prime is shown saying it.
*Ironhide and Hound have strange black dots on them as they step forward. These were presumably supposed to be "battle scars", as the script for the episode suggests that these two could show signs of damage, but the effect is not well-accomplished.
*All the transforming Autobots get the wrong transformation sound (ascending pitch instead of descending pitch) as they change to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]].
*As the Autobots approach the Decepticon base, they're shown driving at a snail's pace.
*Soundwave is missing his insignia as the Decepticons cheer.
*Soundwave's eject button lights up each time he hits it. While cool (and intentional), it's a conceit not used in any future episode.
*Laserbeak is huge as Skywarp and Thundercracker fall into formation with him. The animation of the trio turning to dive is remarkably clunky.
[[File:OptimusCDeckMTMTE3.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|"Look away from the animation errors!"]]
*Prime orders [[Combat Deck (G1)|Combat Deck]] to fire during a series of identically-framed shots. The first shot shows buttes in the background behind him. The second shot shows a solid mountainside. The third shot shows clear sky.
*Megatron's gun barrel is missing as he prepares to face Prime. So is his insignia.
*How long's it take for the animators to forget that Megatron lost his cannon? About 1 scene. It's back in place as Prime judo-throws him, then gone again as he regains his feet a shot or two later.
*How long's it take for the animators to forget that Starscream lost an arm-cannon? No time at all. It's back in place as the Decepticons retreat, despite being smushed by Prowl.
*Mirage is clearly visible (prominent, in fact) during the Autobots' final, desperate assault on the space cruiser, despite later being shown to have snuck aboard it. This is either a major continuity error or the one time that Mirage's electro-disruptor works in the cartoon in the way his [[bio]] says it does.
*The establishing shot at the start of the third act uses a flubbed take: A major piece of artwork—the Decepticon starship blasting off into the sky—is missing, meaning the Autobots on the ground are reacting to nothing. (The completed shot does appear in the teaser for the episode at the end of Part 2, however.)
[[File:Sideswipejetpack.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|"Sideswipe, give me your plot device!"]]
*Sideswipe's rocket pack seriously just appears out of nowhere when it's called for by the plot. It's not part of his animation model and is never seen before or after, even when Sideswipe needs to fly.
*"You got him!" Starscream is missing his wing insignia.
*As the Autobots help their battered leader to his feet, the animation is ''really'' wobbly; Prime's head grows bigger, the detail patterns on his legs change completely, and the line-art is just very crude and "shakes" a lot in general.
*Similar to the scene of the Autobots attempting to capture Ravage in the previous episode, the various congratulations given to Mirage after he brings down the Decepticon ship were not attributed to individual characters in the script, and were simply listed as being delivered by the Autobots as a group. As such, they are delivered by random actors who are not using any of their normal Transformers character voices. We hear "Mirage!" from [[Frank Welker]], "You did it!" from [[Ken Sansom]], and "You stopped the Decepticons!" from Welker again, his delivery on that last one making it sound an awful lot like Mirage is congratulating himself.
*As with the previous two parts, [[Norm McCabe]]'s name is listed as Nor M McCabe in the credits.
*Frank Welker's name was mistakenly left out of this episode's voice credits, as they were in the previous two parts.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:MTMtE Part3 Dullsurprise.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|[[Dull surprise|DULL SURPRISE!]]]]
*Mirage, Hound, Jazz and Prowl all react with shock at Optimus's statement that Ravage's escape was a good thing. Yet they were all in on the plan to let Ravage get away to tell the Decepticons about the secret hologram rocket base that is most certainly not a trap. Did they just forget?
*For that matter, how ''did'' Megatron figure out the Autobot trick? Ravage reports the same rocket base location that he heard from Hound. Was Hound dumb enough to accidentally blurt the ''real'' rocket base location in front of Ravage? Or did Megatron somehow figure out the ruse ''after'' Ravage made his report? Why would he do that? When we last see him, he's all excited to attack the same rocket base that Ravage just told him about. Or maybe he just has absolutely zero faith in Ravage's ability to escape on his own, and put two and two together.
*What ''is'' the point of rigging up the dummy Decepticons? Did Megatron go through all that trouble just to rub Prime's nose in it? Wouldn't it be smarter to leave the Autobots waiting and wondering?
[[File:MTMTE3 Bumblebee labcoat.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1]]
*The [[Mini Vehicle]] Autobots are shown disguised as lab-coat-wearing scientists to complete the holographic illusion of a rocket base, though it's a pretty poor disguise when you realize these scientists are big enough to turn into trucks and cars. Also, where'd they get the lab coats? (For that matter, why not just make holographic scientists?)
*Superhuman Spike:
**Spike can throw a rock with enough force to knock Starscream's Null Ray off his arm.
*Prime is nearly knocked out of commission by the explosion that collapses [[Ruby crystal mines of Burma|a Burmese ruby mine]], yet he simply seems to shrug off the effects of getting hit by a cruiser cannon and falling to Earth from the very edge of the atmosphere.
*Mirage only shoots the ship's control panel. How does this set the entire ship on fire?
*Despite the heights the space cruiser certainly reached before the sabotage, Mirage parachutes down to exactly the spot where the Autobots were assembled.
*The space cruiser is shown crashing into the ocean near the coast. However, later episodes show the cruiser is well far away from any coast line.
*Spike's narration is a bit confused; the Autobots ''didn't'' stop the Decepticons from stealing Earth's energy. They just up and left on their own!
*In the biggest continuity goof of the entire series, the next episode will completely ignore the premise of the Autobots preparing to return to Cybertron, which is the entire point of this episode's closing scenes. In fairness, they did think the Decepticons were destroyed, and maybe they were forced to abandon the plan to return to Cybertron when they realized that wasn't the case, but still.

===Home release changes/errors===
*In the Rhino DVD release, the establishing shot at the start of the third act uses a flubbed take: A major piece of artwork—the Decepticon starship blasting off into the sky—is missing, meaning the Autobots on the ground are reacting to nothing. (The completed shot does appear in the teaser for the episode at the end of Part 2, however.) Oddly enough, the bonus disc on the Rhino DVD set calls out the error in a collection of bloopers and oddities.
*All three parts of "More Than Meets the Eye" were spliced together into a single continuous episode for the ''More than Meets the Eye 25th Anniversary Special Edition'' disc, included as a pack-in with ''[[Transformers: Universe (2008 toyline)|Universe]]'' [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#Universe (2008)|25th Anniversary Optimus Prime toy]]. During Part 3, the sound effects for the [[Cybernet Space Cube]], added for the [[Transformers: Generation 2 (franchise)|Generation 2]] broadcast of the episode, can be heard over the scene transitions, despite the original broadcast version of the visuals being used; the result is a lot of strange mechanical noises being inserted with no clear on-screen source.

===Trivia===
[[File:MTMtE Part3 ExaggeratedPrime.jpg|right|upright=1.1|thumb|Apparently Pat Lee had this as a poster in his office.]]
*There is a nice touch by the animators during the scene where the Autobots assist Optimus Prime after he rolls down the hill at the start of this episode. After Mirage, Prowl and Ratchet have pushed Optimus Prime's truck mode upright, he bounces as his suspension compensates for the weight of the truck landing on its wheels.
*After Ironhide assures that he'll be right back in action, Optimus Prime is depicted with rather exaggerated 'puffy' proportions for a brief sequence before he transforms into vehicle mode, which is similarly exaggerated with large wheels in comparison to the rest of the truck, followed by an exaggerated Ratchet in vehicle mode. Part of this animation is later reused near the end of the episode after the Decepticon space cruiser crashes, with the rest of the Autobots having similar proportions in both robot and vehicle mode. [[Masami Ōbari]] is credited as the animator for Prime's "transformation sequence", and this bizarrely proportioned Prime certainly fits with Ōbari's design aesthetic. Numerous other shots in the episode, including Megatron during Starscream's coup at the episode's end, and the Autobots when encouraging Optimus when he struggles to transform after surviving the mine explosion also take heavy cues from Obari's style.
*During the showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, an animation oddity results in what a few fans have taken as evidence of an obscure, little-used ability of Optimus: the ''Finger of Doom!'' Optimus deploys Combat Deck to shoot Megatron's cannon off of his arm. Simultaneously, Megatron fires his arm cannon and destroys Combat Deck. However, during the shot of Combat Deck exploding, the animation of Prime pointing at Megatron is ''re-used''. The next shot is Megatron being disarmed by an energy blast, which would seem to have come not from Combat Deck, whose blast should have already arrived, but from Prime's immediately prior pointing finger... his ''Finger of Doom!''
*Spike writing in [[Spike's diary|his journal]] looks ''disturbingly'' like Beavis of ''Beavis and Butt-Head''.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Plein la vue - Partie 3'''" ("Show off - Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die letzte Schlacht'''" (''Generation 2'', "The Last Battle")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[May 14]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Megatron'''"
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Molto più di quel che appare - III'''" ("More than Meets the Eye - III")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Chikyū Dasshutsu!'''" (地球脱出!, "Escape from Earth!")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 20]], [[1985]]
::*In the scene where Ironhide chases after Megatron and Skywarp, it is ''Thundercracker'' who is heard requesting permission to teleport.
::*'''Cut:''' When Ironhide is loaded into the back of Ratchet, after he says, "No way", his lines about being back in action, Prime's "Let's get out of here!" (with the aforementioned "puffy proportions" shot) and the footage of all the Autobots transforming and rolling out have been cut. The following scene of Spike sitting by the Ark, writing that Prime would make a neat President, has been cut entirely.
::*'''Cut:''' After Ravage escapes and jumps off the cliffside, a few seconds of the Autobots gathered there reacting have been shaved off. The fade-in to the next scene and Prime and Gears standing together have also been cut. The sequence resumes at the shot of Hound, Mirage and the others walking together.

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dìsān Tiān'''" (第三天, "The Third Day")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mais do Que Os Olhos Veem, Parte 3'''" ("More than Meets the Eye, Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This episode did not air in the 1980s and was first released on DVD with a different dub from the rest of the show.

'''Serbian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Više nego što se vidi treći deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Више него што се види трећи део, "More than Meets the Eye Part 3"), "'''Sile zla treći deo'''" (''Generation 2'', Силе зла трећи део, "Forces of Evil Part 3")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
*'''''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' MP-27 Ironhide (TakaraTomy, 2016)'''
:This ''Masterpiece'' figure includes a pair of accessories seen in this episode: The back-mounted missile launcher is included by default with it, while the drill hand was a preorder bonus for the figure's second release in Asian territories other than Japan.

*'''''Masterpiece'' MP-44 Convoy (TakaraTomy, 2019)'''
:One of the accessories included with the third iteration of Optimus Prime in the line is the rocket pack he borrows from Sideswipe in this episode. As a further note, the pack is molded so that it can be used by the ''Masterpiece'' Sideswipe mold too.

*'''''Masterpiece'' MP-47 Hound (TakaraTomy, 2019)'''
:One of the accessories included with this figure is the key he used to close Ravage in the cage.

*'''''[[LEGO]]'' 10302 Optimus Prime (LEGO, 2022)'''
:One of the accessories included in this set is a completely brick-built version of Sideswipe's rocket pack, which can be attached to Prime's back in robot mode.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1985 — ''The Transformers'' — Volume 1: "More than Meets the Eye" ([[Family Home Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1985 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' ([[VAP]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|A.M.T. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|V.I.P. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1991 — ''The Transformers'' — Arrival from Cybertron ([[Video Gems|Little Gems Junior Video Club]]) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — More than Meets the Eye ([[Malofilm|Seville Entertainment]]) 
[[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]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers: Generation 2'' ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Original Series: Volume Two (Sony Wonder) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — First Season Collector's Edition ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume One (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 1: Series 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 1 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — The Best of ''The Transformers'' (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2006 — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Classic Transformers'' — Series One: Part One (Metrodome) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2007 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season One (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 First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — More than Meets the Eye (Shout! Factory) 
[[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]] 2011 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2011 — ''Transformers'' — L'Attaque des Autobots ([[UFG Junior]]) — European French audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200217184156/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-1/synopses/4025.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C7h238LAv9ixlcHb1_hjDeBTk8OvkmZa/view?usp=drive_link Full episode script with revision pages dated 13th March 1984]

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

A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court (episode)

2023-07-03T11:41:25Z

White Cat: /* Continuity notes */

{{disambig2|the cartoon episode|the mobile game event|A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court (Legends)}}
{{episode
|image=G1toon starscream king of the castle.jpg
|caption="It's only a model." "Shhh."
|series=G1toon
|ep=40
|prev2=Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
|next2=The Golden Lagoon (episode)
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=30
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=11
|prev3=The Master Builders (episode)
|next3=The Golden Lagoon (episode)
|title="A Deceptacon Raider in King Arthur's Court" "A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court"
|season=2
|season ep=24
|airdate=[[October 24]], 1985
|written by=[[Douglas Booth]]
|production code=#700-39
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Unknown Generation 1 animation studios|Unknown]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci98CseGP-g
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''The Transformers go to the sixth century but avoid Camelot, as it is a silly place.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Ramjetinpast.gif|left|thumb|You yellow bastard! Come back here, and get what's coming to you! I'll bite yer legs off!]]

[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] are battling it out with [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]], [[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]], and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]. When the [[Decepticon]]s retreat out of exhaustion, Rumble detects energy in a nearby cave, only for the Decepticons to get caught in a cave-in when they enter to investigate. While searching for the energy source, they accidentally activate ancient runes that transport them to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] in the year 543 A.D. There, they are greeted by Sir [[Wigend of Blackthorn]] and his knights, who believe the [[Transformer]]s are knights of an enemy realm.

[[File:Raiderrumblejoust.jpg|thumb|Listen... in order to maintain airspeed velocity, Ramjet needs to spin his turbines 43 times every second, right?]]

The Decepticons agree to help Wigend's knights win their conflict with rival Sir [[Aetheling the Red]], but Starscream obviously wants to rule and have a land of his own. Nearby, Aetheling's daughter [[Nimue]] is spying on their conversation and runs to warn her father, but is detected by Ravage and pursued until the newly arrived [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]], Warpath and Hoist rescue her.

Aetheling decides to organize a jousting tournament in hopes of settling his feud with Wigend peacefully. After Spike fails in the tournament, Wigend sends Ramjet and Rumble to compete on his behalf (Rumble riding Ramjet in [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]]), but they are defeated by Warpath and Sir Aetheling. An enraged Starscream is sick of chivalry, kidnaps Nimue and threatens her life unless Sir Aetheling agrees to give up his realm. The Autobots give chase but cannot keep up due to lack of energy and collapse out of exhaustion. The chase is also observed by an [[Solomon|owl]], who flies off to inform his master, the wizard [[Beorht]], of this new development.

[[File:Raiderstarscreamcooks.jpg|left|thumb|What manner of man are you, that can summon up fire without flint or tinder?]]

Starscream holds Nimue prisoner in Wigend's castle, which he has commandeered, and forces its residents to construct and power a primitive electrical generator to keep the Decepticons energized. Having gathered sulfur, charcoal and rock salt to make gunpowder, Starscream then sends Rumble to get the last ingredient...{{w|potassium nitrate}} from lots of bird droppings.

[[File:Raiderrollinthehay.jpg|thumb|Yes! Yes! You must give us ALL a good spanking!]]

Spike attempts to rescue Nimue from Wigend's keep, only to find Sir Wigend has switched sides and the two of them are now a happy couple. Despite feeling rejected, Spike still agrees to help fight the war against the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Autobots and Sir Aetheling's knights charge towards the castle to battle it out with the Decepticons. The Autobots help the knights cross the moat and scale the walls, but they can't put up much of a fight due to their dangerously low energy levels. Starscream's gunpowder projectiles make short work of the invading forces.

[[File:Raiderdragonvsautobots.jpg|left|thumb|When suddenly... the ANIMATOR suffered a fatal heart attack! And the cartoon peril was no more.]]

Beorht the wizard appears and summons lightning that repowers Warpath and Hoist back up to fighting strength, though not enough to use their weapons. They take back the battle with Starscream and are victorious, destroying Starscream's power dynamo. Beorht concludes the robots are [[time travel]]ers and that the cave they arrived in was the [[Dragon Mound]], a time travel structure of his own design. He leads the Autobots and captive Decepticons back to the cave, only to find it guarded by the eponymous [[dragon]]. Starscream refuses to go any closer, but Beorht pulls out a pouch of "[[Dragon's Bane]]", his own name for gunpowder, noting that a little bit of it works every time. He throws the concoction at the dragon and it explodes, frightening away the beast.

Spike and the Transformers re-enter the Dragon Mound and return to the present. When they arrive back in their own time, they are greeted by multiple cannon blasts by [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. Starscream tackles his leader in a burst of enthusiasm at being back safely. Megatron, on the other hand, isn't nearly as happy to see Starscream, who has just ruined his shot...
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (5)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (6)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (1)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (2)
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (3)
*[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (16)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (17)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (18)
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]] (19)
*[[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] (20)

|c3=
*[[Nimue]] (7)
*[[Wigend of Blackthorn]] (8)
*[[Wulf]] (9)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (11)
*[[Deore]] (12)
*[[Aetheling the Red]] (13)
*[[Beorht]] (14)

|c4=
*[[Solomon]] (10)
*A [[dragon]] (15)
}}

==Quotes==
[[File:Beorht01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Look! It's the old man from Scene 24!]]
[[File:Raiderrumblepoo.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|"Who's that there?" "I dunno. Must be a king." "Why?"]]

"Oohh! I just changed heads last week!"
:—A ground-bound '''Ramjet''' learns that even a tough jet is no match for [[Warpath (G1)|a tank]].

"Out of the way, Rumble! It could be dangerous. As your leader, I must take the risk. Anyway, I'm lower on energy than you!"
:—'''Starscream''' acting true to form.

"Huh! Inferior construction, even for an Autobot. One good whack, it breaks right in two!"
:—'''Ramjet''' examining the "wreckage" of Sir Wulf and his horse.

"What's more important is that we have 1,451 years to go before we have to worry about the Autobots and that bungler Megatron!"
:—Even trapped in the past, '''Starscream''' looks on the bright side, unaware his math is failing.

"Whatcha waiting for, Red Knight? Don't you wanna rumble with Rumble?"
:—"Sir" '''Rumble''' prepares to joust.

"Make some idiot twenty feet tall, and he thinks he rules the Earth."
:— '''Beorht''' isn't too impressed by Starscream.

"Starscream! Lower the drawbridge! ''Ugh!'' I got your stupid potassium nitrate!"
:—'''Rumble''', carrying a pot of bird droppings while also covered in same.

"What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see us?" 
"RRRRAGGGH!!"
:—'''Starscream''' asks a rather loaded question of '''Megatron'''.

==Notes==
===Production information===
* First draft script: 8 March 1985
* Script revised by [[Ron Friedman]]: 13 March 1985

===Continuity notes===
[[File:G1 DecepRaiderinKingArthurs WarpathramsRamjet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|''In war we're tough and able Quite in-de-fa-ti-gable Although at times, we're given rhymes That are quite un-sing-able!'']]
* Gadgets and powers:
** Starscream can create electric wiring out of gold coins & other treasure, simply by crushing it in his fist
* Ramjet apparently changes his head on a regular basis. Hah!
* Fans have made much of the fact that Warpath defeats Ramjet in a collision, but really, Ramjet's specialty is hitting ''other planes''. Even a tough jet doesn't compare to a ''tank''. It's impressive he withstood one hit when you get down to it.
* Warpath makes a strange observation, noting that he's so low on energy that he "can't even stay transformed". Apparently, remaining in vehicle mode consumes energy.
* Warpath speaks with a moving mouthplate in this episode, rather than the cheek blinkers he sometimes has.
* Even if he can't fire lasers, Warpath can still fire shells (and does so, trying to hit Ramjet in the castle).
* Given it was established that Starscream was a scientist before the war, it makes sense he's the one who takes the lead in creating the electric generator and the gunpowder.

===Real-world references===
[[File:Exteriordragonmound.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|SO, brave knights, if you do DOUBT your courage or your strength, come no further, for ''[[Death|DEATH]]'' awaits you all... with nasty, big, pointy [[teeth]]!]]
* The title of this episode is an homage to the novel ''{{w|A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court}}'' written by [[Mark Twain]] and published in 1889.
* The Dragon Mound is surrounded by a {{w|Stonehenge}}-like structure.
* The instrument panel on the time-travel device is written in {{w|Runic alphabet}}. [[:File:Runes1.jpg|[1]]] [[:File:Runes2.jpg|[2]]] [[File:Runes1.jpg|1px]][[File:Runes2.jpg|1px]]
* Sir Wigend was to have sworn by {{w|Wodin}} in a deleted line.
* Surprisingly, there is a slight bit of Arthurian legend present in the episode. Nimue (better known as the Lady of the Lake) is an Arthurian character who fell in love with Merlin. Unsurprisingly, that Nimue is nothing like this episode's Nimue.
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** [[Luke Skywalker]]'s [[lightsaber]] deflecting the seeker ball bolts can be faintly heard as Beorht recharges Warpath and Hoist.
** The sound of a lightsaber igniting is used as Beorht drops his electrically charged staff.
* Despite the title, [[King Arthur]] doesn't make an appearance in this tale, thus making him Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Film.

===Animation or technical errors===
*This episode omits Warpath's glowing blue faceplate-slits, which light up when he talks throughout the rest of the season. In fact, when he consoles Spike after Nimue is captured, his mouthplate moves up and down, which it doesn't do in any other episode.
*Warpath's chest cannon's length changes frequently during the episode.
* The first shot of Warpath has him rolling along in tank mode, drawn at about a 1/4-angle viewpoint, but the ground beneath him is scrolling parallel to the camera.
* A bizarre flash of energy envelopes Ramjet as he returns to [[robot mode]] after colliding with Warpath.
* When Starscream raises his right arm to point, the Decepticon emblem on his wing is no longer there.
* Again showing a wanton disregard for the background matte, Warpath slides sideways as he drives down the hill.
[[File:DecepticonRaider Nimue.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Oh, wicked, bad, evil, ''naughty'' Zoot!]]
*Nimue has cleavage that appears and disappears from shot to shot and sometimes frame to frame. And no, you are not a pervert if you watched the episode six times to chronicle this error.
* The script seems to have called for a trumpet fanfare to summon Spike to the jousting field (thus Hoist's "That's your call!" line.) The sound editors complied by timing a fanfare in the background music to coincide with the moment, but the resulting effect is that Warpath seems to be listening to the background music.
* A glint of light from Sir Aetheling's sword gets a ''very'' loud sound effect. Since sunlight is so loud, y'know.
* When Ramjet rams into Warpath in the jousting duel, his canopy is smashed and nose cone crushed in, yet less than a minute later, he's back to normal when the remaining Decepticons attempt to flee with Starscream.
* As Starscream walks up to kidnap Nimue, the background scrolls behind him much faster than the speed of his walk.
* Starscream is missing his wing emblems as he drives off with Nimue.
* Warpath's tank mode is rather consistently portrayed as bigger and taller than Hoist's truck mode. While that would be accurate in the real world, Hoist is taller than Warpath in robot mode.
* Starscream's mouth doesn't move during most of his "No, Rumble, not I..." line.
* After he throws the gunpowder and puts his hands on his hips, one of Starscream's arm guns isn't quite attached to his arm.
* The tires on Hoist's feet are white instead of black as he stands up after the lightning recharge.
* Hoist tackles Starscream even though one frame later he's seen in vehicle mode.
* A bit of clumsy sound editing towards the end of this episode results in a small but noticeable error. As Hoist says, "That is, if there's a way—" his voice is very abruptly cut off. Then Beohrt announces: "Hoist said 'time'!" when Hoist has actually said nothing of the sort. The line as recorded was "That is, if there's a way back to our own time!" and it was followed by a short scene of Starscream feebly requesting a little energy and being threatened by Warpath, before Beorht makes his proclamation. The removal of the Warpath/Starscream scene appears to have inadvertently clipped the relevant few words off the end of Hoist's line.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:Spike gets kissed.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"Look, let me go back in there and face the peril." "No, it's too perilous." "...Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?"]]
* The historical accuracy of some aspects of this episode is somewhat lacking. (No! Really?)
** While the recipe for gunpowder expressed in this episode is roughly correct, gunpowder would not make its way to medieval Europe for another eight hundred years or so, and then only from the Far East. Of course, the whole ''point'' of its appearance is that it's a rare, mysterious, wizardly type of thing, so hey.
** Plate armour of the kind worn by the various knights in this episode was not introduced into medieval Europe until around the year 1400—almost a thousand years from the stated ''anno domini'' 543. Even so, one should be fair to the writers and cartoonists, given that major motion pictures like ''Excalibur'' also made this sort of error (or used it for dramatic effect because audiences would easily recognise a stereotypical "knight" as opposed to a historically accurate version). We can let slide the armor that Hoist creates for Spike.
* Starscream's math is off by a decade: 543 + 1451 = 1994, rather than the correct date of the Transformers' awakening, 1984.
* Warpath's cannon changes from shooting lasers to shells again

===Trivia===
[[File:Deceptacon.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"Nu!" "No no no no, it's not that, it's 'ni'." "Nu!" "No no, 'ni'. You're not doing it properly."]]
* The original broadcast version of this episode featured the misspelled title, "A Decept'''a'''con Raider..." The error was corrected for the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Generation 2]]'' version of the episode. Likewise, when [[Rhino Entertainment|Kid Rhino]] recreated the title cards for their DVD release of the series, it was also amended. This flub seemed minor then, [[Scorpinok (episode)|but]] [[A Tale of Two Heros|years]] [[Imprisoned Inferno|later...]]
* Per the [[dialogue script]], Starscream was going to say the "Autobots have us trapped like [[robo-rat]]s!" after the Decepticons were caved in by Warpath, but the line was shortened as-aired. Robo-rats would later be name-dropped in "[[Sea Change]]".
* Spike actually gets a kiss from a girl. What will [[Carly]] think?
* This episode is one of four pre-movie episodes in which [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] does not appear.
[[File:DecepticonRaider-NotHank.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Fear not, Ranger! Or is that "Fear not-Ranger"?]]
* Among the audience members watching the joust is a dark-skinned man whose outfit greatly resembles the one worn by Hank the Ranger in the {{w|Dungeons and Dragons (TV series)|''Dungeons and Dragons'' animated series}}—not entirely surprising, as that program was produced by [[Marvel Productions]], who partnered with [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] on ''Transformers'', and both shows were animated by [[Toei Animation|Toei]]. Next to "Hank" are a man with a shield and a woman in a cloak, but they do not otherwise strongly resemble Eric the Cavalier or Sheila the Thief, characters who were associated with magical versions of those items in the ''Dungeons and Dragons'' cartoon.
*Beorht wishes "godspeed" to the departing time-travelers, which has to be pretty rare as '80s cartoons go.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast):'' "'''La cour du roi Décepticon'''" ("The court of the Decepticon king")
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' "'''La cour du roi Deceptican'''" ("The court of the Decepticon king")
:*''Title (European French DVD release):'' "'''Un commando Decepticon à la cour du Roi Arthur'''" ("A Decepticon Commando in King Arthur's Court")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*In the European French dub, Wigend of Blackthorn mistakenly calls Ramjet "Ratchet".

'''German'''
:*''Title (Generation 2 dub):'' "'''Sprung in die Vergangenheit'''" ("Jump into the Past")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 9]], [[1994]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Un Decepticon alla corte di re Artù'''" ("A Decepticon in King Arthur's Court")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
:* This episode was never broadcast in Italy in the '80s and, as such, it only got dubbed in Italian with the 2008 full G1 redubbing.

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Time Traveller'''" (タイムトラベラー, "Time Travellers")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 7]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bàtiānhǔ Rùqīn Yàsè Wángcháo'''" (霸天虎入侵亚瑟王朝, "Decepticons Invade King Arthur's Dynasty")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Um Cavaleiro Decepticon na Corte do Rei Arthur'''" ("A Decepticon Knight in King Arthur's Court")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Deseptikony pri dvore Korolya Artura'''" (Десептиконы при дворе Короля Артура, "A Decepticons in King Arthur's Court")
:*''Original airdate:''?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 9 ([[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]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (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'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[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]] 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 One: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20210527062521/http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/season-2/synopses/700-39.html Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/190Rwc2PF0Yk4RpKI_PPZb33WIsRV020X/view?usp=sharing First draft script, originally submitted 8th March 1985]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GFwum58xVCsE7FmWgQnnvzL0XCGAheBW Full episode script, as revised by Ron Friedman 13th March 1985]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court}}
[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1

2023-07-03T10:53:14Z

White Cat: /* Continuity errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=35
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=26
|prev2=Microbots
|next2=Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=47
|prev3=Cosmic Rust (episode)
|next3=Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2
|image=MMP1 Gavel bang.jpg
|caption=We're voting you off the planet.
|title="Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1"
|season=2
|season ep=19
|production code=#700-34
|airdate=[[October 14]], 1985
|written by=[[Donald F. Glut]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]], [[Dai Won Animation Co.]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ORZc1G3MI
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''The Decepticons manage to turn the humans against the Autobots, and the Autobots are ordered to leave the planet.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:FakeSolarplant.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.1|The least efficient solar plant ever.]]
The [[Mayor of Central City|mayor]] of [[Central City (Earth)|Central City]] is officially opening a new [[Central City (Earth)#Fake Solar Power Plant|solar tower]] when his speech is interrupted by [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]], [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]]. After the [[Decepticon]]s realize there is no energy in the tower yet, guards come out with tanks and attempt to shoo them away. The tanks are destroyed and the guards escape with their lives, while the mayor calls for the [[Autobot]]s.

An Autobot attack force, consisting of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]], [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]], arrives at the scene. Everyone transforms to [[robot mode]] except Tracks, who transforms to his flight mode and takes off after the Coneheads, who are making a quick exit. Tracks uses a radiator-mounted [[black beam gun]] to blind Dirge. Ramjet seeks revenge for this and knocks Tracks clean out the air. On the ground, Starscream is being hammered by laser blasts from Ironhide, Smokescreen, Prime and Warpath. Thrust saves him with a missile barrage. Smokescreen retaliates and fires his shoulder-mounted lasers, which damage Thrust's guidance systems. Beaten and battered, the Decepticons retreat.

The mayor thanks the Autobots and decides to honor them at City Hall. [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] comments that it's about time the Autobots got some recognition for their actions.

In his office, [[Shawn Berger]] watches the events and is infuriated, since he wants to be mayor so badly. He sends his guards out, claiming he needs to think. He picks up an odd-looking cassette on his desk, which transforms into [[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]]. The Decepticon grabs Shawn and flies out of the office and then out of the city, towards a mountain ridge.

[[File:MMP part 1 Megatron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Transformers: Shattered Glass (franchise)|Ehhh-vry thing you know is wrong...]]]]
There, [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]], [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] and Dirge await Shawn's arrival. Megatron tells Shawn that he can help get the power that he so desperately desires, even two cities if he wants. In return, Shawn must use his wealth, power and influence to help the Decepticons. Megatron tells Berger that, like many others, he's been blinded by Autobot propaganda. He persuades Berger into thinking the Decepticons are good and the Autobots are evil and that all he needs is evidence. Berger agrees to help, and Dirge takes him back to his office. After Berger's departure, Megatron tells Soundwave that Berger "thinks he will be king, but he will be nothing more than a pawn!"

At a deserted [[oil]] field, Optimus Prime shows up with a group of Autobots: [[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]], [[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] and Ironhide. Berger flies in a news helicopter overhead and records the Autobots stealing energy. Ironhide notices the helicopter and warns Prime, who begins to fire on it. Megatron, Starscream, Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet save Berger and drive off the Autobots. Wheeljack fires as he escapes and knocks off the camera beneath the copter. Dirge finds it and gives it to Megatron, who must return it to Berger, since it "contains valuable evidence".

[[File:MMP1 Autobot day banner.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Isn't Yad Tobotua a ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' character?]]
At Central City's City Hall, the public is gathered and cheering the Autobots, who are rolling parade-style through town. The Autobots all transform and head towards the Hall. Inside, Optimus Prime is joined by Hound, Ironhide, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee. After a brief moment of reading out the wrong speech, the mayor finally gets it right and proceeds to request the airing of a video of the work the Autobots did at the Solar Plant yesterday. However, Berger has had the tapes switched, and the audience sees the tape the Decepticons made. It shows additional scenes of Prime and Wheeljack turning the coneheads evil with a ray gun and Prime claiming that the Autobots will claim the Earth for their own once fully trusted.

Now hated by the public, the Autobots return to [[Ark (G1)|base]]. After a brief rest period, they end up being arrested by the mayor and Berger's private army. They and the Decepticons are taken to court. During the trial, Spike escapes and sets out to clear the Autobots' names, but Soundwave launches [[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] to slow Spike down. After slamming Ravage in a revolving door, Spike escapes. He later finds the tape room and watches one of the tapes...which reveals that the Autobots at the oil field were Decepticons in disguise. He starts to head back to the trial with the tape, only to find his path blocked by Ravage.

[[File:MMP1 Get in the ship.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Bye! Have fun on your trip back to a planet we still control!]]
Back at the trial, without evidence, the Autobots are found guilty and are banished from Earth forever. Later that night, the Autobots are taken to a shuttle and forced to board by Megatron. They blast off, heading towards [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]].

Inside the Autobot base, Megatron and Shawn Berger are at [[Ark (G1)|Autobot Headquarters]]. As Berger watches, Megatron uses [[Teletraan I]] to reprogram the rocket's guidance systems for a one-way trip into the sun.

[[Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2|To be continued...]]

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{collist|2|
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (9)
*[[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (10)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (11)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (12)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (14)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] (20)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] (21)
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]] (22)
*[[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (23)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (24)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (25)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (26)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (27)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (28)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Wheeljack]] (29)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (33)
*[[Teletraan I]] (35)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (40)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (41)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (42)
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (43)
*[[Beachcomber (G1)|Beachcomber]] (44)
}}
|c2=
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (3)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (4)
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (5)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (6)
*[[Laserbeak (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Laserbeak]] (15)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (16)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (17)
*[[Skywarp (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Skywarp]] (36)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (37)
*[[Ravage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ravage]] (39)
|c3=
*[[Mayor of Central City|Mayor]] (1)
*[[Shawn Berger]] (2)
*Tank driver (7)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (12)
*[[Chip Chase]] (17)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (18)
*Helicopter pilot (18)
*Video room engineer (30)
*[[Produce thrower|Angry spectator #1, aka the Produce thrower]] (31)
*Angry spectator #2 (32)
*Roving reporter (33)
*Industrial worker (34)
*Trial judge (36)
}}

==Quotes==

"Ah, the power of public relations."
:—'''Megatron''', possibly the most honest politician in the world.

"Hold the last order, Prime...I wanna throw some...''dark'' on the subject."
:—'''Tracks''' demonstrates his black beam gun.

"Another raid to blame on the Decepticons...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
:—'''Starscream''' as '''Optimus Prime''' with the creepiest laugh ever...(an early Nemesis Prime?)

"They're puttin' words in yer mouth. C'mon Prime! Let's get to the bottom of this!"
:—'''Ironhide''' has apparently never noticed that '''Optimus Prime''' has no mouth.

"SAVE THE HUMANS!"
:—'''Megatron'''. No, this isn't miscited.

"Hey, guys, look. Berger dropped one of his video cameras. Let's make some home movies!"
:—'''Dirge''' thinks about a career as a camera man. Follow your dreams, Dirge!

"I knew the humans would turn on us someday. They're such undependable creatures. Inferior lifeforms." 
"Ahh, I'm not so sure, Sunstreaker. Some of my best friends are humans."
:—'''Sunstreaker''' and '''Bumblebee''' discuss the worthiness of humans while Spike, Sparkplug, and Chip are right there.

==Notes==
===Production information===
* First draft script: 12th February 1985
* Script revised by [[Ron Friedman]]: 17th February 1985
* Story editor inserts: 22nd March 1985

===Continuity notes===
[[File:Nullray-jet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Get a fragging Kleenex Starscream!]]
*Gadgets and powers:
**Turns out the Decepticons don't need Soundwave to make [[energon cube]]s. The [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] can do it themselves.
**Laserbeak uses his eye beams [[Dinobot Island, Part 1|again]].
**In the oil field fight, Starscream is able to use his [[null-ray]]s from his nose in [[alternate mode|jet mode]], the first time he ever does this. (Of course, the fight was faked, so these null-rays presumably were as well.)
**Megatron can rotate a lens into the end of his fusion cannon, which makes sense considering it forms the scope for his gun mode. He uses it to reprogram the Autobot ship's flight path via Teletraan I.
**Tracks's [[Black beam gun]] extends from the front of his car's flight mode in this episode. This would later serve as inspiration for an accessory that came with his ''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' [[Tracks (G1)/toys#Masterpiece|toy]]. Interestingly, one can also achieve a similar result using his original toy's gun, by pegging it into the hole on the underside of the car mode.
[[File:MegatronsMasterPlan generic autobot pistol.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*Because some Transformers' toys didn't come with hand-held weapons, they didn't have any armament included as part of their [[character model]]s. As such, when episodes have called for these characters to wield a weapon, the animators have had to get creative, either giving them made-up guns designed on the spot, a duplicate of another Transformer's weapon, or just having them shoot energy out of their hands. Starting with this episode, however, a new model sheet is introduced for a generic Autobot laser pistol that is usually subbed as a sidearm for any weaponless characters in future episodes; in this episode, it is wielded by Ironhide and Sunstreaker. Ratchet would memorably dual-wield a pair of these guns in ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', and they've been rendered in toy form for his and Ironhide's ''Masterpiece'' toys.
*Autobot Headquarters has a retractable front door. Most of the time, the passageway is just left wide open.
*Wheeljack says that their external security has been breached, indicating that the Autobots actually do have some kind of security system outside their base.
*If Autobot Headquarters really is close enough to [[Central City (Earth)|Central City]] to fall under its jurisdiction, then it almost certainly is the same city whose skyline is seen in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", and likely is the same city that Spike and the Autobots visit in "[[Transport to Oblivion (episode)|Transport to Oblivion]]", "[[Auto Berserk]]", "[[The Immobilizer]]" and "[[Prime Target (episode)|Prime Target]]" - all involving quick trips from Autobot Headquarters into "the city". Could "[[B.O.T. (episode)|B.O.T.]]" have been set there too? The big battles of "[[Starscream's Brigade]]" and "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]" as well, maybe?

===Real-world references===
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**Laserbeak leaves the Berger, Inc. building with the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst noise.
**He continues his flight to the cliff overlooking the city with the TIE fighter engine noise, culled from one of the Death Star trench attack runs. Bizarrely, the fighter's target scope can be heard locking onto an X-Wing... as can [[Darth Vader]]'s breathing!
**More ''Falcon'' engine noise can be heard as the Decepticons leave their headquarters.
**The sound of a hatchway opening/closing aboard the Death Star is recycled as the sound of the Autobot ship venting steam.
*Megatron makes a modestly clever reference to chess: "He thinks he will be king... but he will never be more than a pawn!"

===Animation and technical errors===
*Solar panels aren't made of glass, but they're shown shattering as if they were.
*When the first tank driver opens his cockpit to bail out, the 'whirr' sound effect doesn't play until the canopy is already open.
*As Optimus runs toward the retreating Decepticons, he gets a multi-gun array of laser sound effects instead of his own normal gun noise.
*Spike's voice says "Your Mayorship", but Spike is nowhere in the shot; instead, Optimus is shown kneeling and extending a hand to the mayor.
*The window of Berger's office keeps changing size; in some shots, it's six panes wide (plus the curtains), while in others, it has 8 visible panes.
[[File:BergerInc Building.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|They've merged into Laserberger.]]
*Berger's office has a window that makes up only part of the wall; however, the outside shot of his building shows it to be made entirely of glass.
*Due to the limits of the show's stock music library, the marching band drummers are banging their drums but not making any sound.
*The Autobots walk up the steps of City Hall into a shadowy entryway. The shadowy entryway disguises the fact that there would probably only be human-sized doors there, rather than the Autobot-sized ones that would be required for the Autobots to actually enter the building. Nevertheless, in the next shot, the 'bots are hanging out in the mayor's office.
*When the second group of Autobots transform on Autobots Day parade. Sunstreaker appears to be out of proportion in relation to Brawn who is shorter than him, Smokescreen who should be about the same height and Grapple who is one of the more taller Autobots
*Improbable viewpoints:
**If Megatron really wants to convince the public that his footage was "secured at great risk", he probably shouldn't have edited in five different points of view, including a tracking close-up of Thrust.
**Likewise for the interior shots of Autobot Headquarters. A close-up of Prime is taken from the point of view of someone standing right in front of him.
**Teletraan I gets a view of Berger's tanks that travels along with them.
*The animators missed the gist of a script line: Spike yells "We're coming with you!" to Optimus, but the animation has him turning toward Chip, who's right next to him.
*The shot of Berger's tanks shows a much more rugged terrain outside Autobot Headquarters than normal.
[[File:CentralCityStadium.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Comfortably seats 30,000 hamsters.]]
[[File:G1toon starscream prime cosplay.jpg|thumb|125px|Woulda been a lot easier to just make [[A Prime Problem|another Optimus Prime clone]].]]
*Before the second commercial break, the Autobots are standing in the entryway to Autobot Headquarters, facing a large line of tanks. After the commercial break, they're in the open, with a handful of tanks surrounding them.
*As the Autobots drive off with Berger's army, the blades of the mayor's helicopter are layered in front of the copter's body, when they should be behind it.
*In its establishing shot, the stadium is wildly out of scale with the city streets surrounding it... unless the streetlights of Central City are 10 stories tall.
*Where do the Seekers' wings go when they're inside their Autobot costumes? (Maybe [[Show-accuracy|they're removable]]...)
*The crashing sound effects of Ravage bashing down the film studio door is barely audible.
*The top of Dirge's head is white instead of gray as the Decepticons march up to the Autobots.
*The Decepticons continue aiming their guns at the same spot long after the Autobots have left that spot.

===Continuity errors===
*Much like the events of "[[A Prime Problem]]", the basic premise of this episode requires ''incredible'' stupidity on the part of the players. In this case, however, those players are ''the entire human race!'' Thirty seconds of video footage and the crowd outside City Hall is throwing fruit at the Autobots. Why are the public so quickly swayed after the number of times the Autobots have saved them in the past year or so? [[Quintesson|What kind of kangaroo court]] would convict on such incredibly flimsy evidence? What kind of absurdly inept trial lawyers would fail to examine every bit of footage available? How could Berger fail to notice Megatron cackling with mad glee as he sends his foes rocketing into the sun?
*There's really no reason for the Decepticons to hang around and fight once they realize the solar plant has no energy.
*Laserbeak kidnaps Berger in mid-day. When they arrive at the cliff, just outside the city, it's [[Transformers (film)|suddenly sunset]].
*Starscream is part of the Decepticon group that repels the "Autobots" from their oil field raid... yet he's later shown to be playing the role of Optimus Prime in the same attack.
*The plot treats the lost video camera from Berger's helicopter as though it contains its own recording medium. It's far more likely that the medium would be inside the helicopter.
*The amount of time that Dirge spends filming is not nearly enough to account for the damning footage that Spike watches later on.
*Even if Autobot Headquarters ''is'' inside the city limits of Central City, a mayor isn't really a duly constituted law enforcement officer.
*Three little video tapes, and the mayor and a private army are knocking on the Autobots' door. So how come nobody ever tried to arrest the Decepticons?
*Spike could have just left the stadium through the normal exits, instead of leaping into the field and drawing the Decepticons' attention.
*Spike apparently marches into one of Berger's film studios like he owns the joint. ''And'' it's apparently deserted.
*What the hell kind of court can just order someone ''off-planet''? Isn't there like an appellate court above them or something?
**The "court" is clearly in the USA, and yet somehow it has jurisdiction to ban the Autobots from all of Earth? Talk about an activist judge!
*Despite the fact that the events are clearly meant to affect ''all'' of the Autobots, only a fraction of them are seen onscreen in any one scene. Only ten of them bother to turn up to the trial, and around about twenty of them are seen being forced to board the rocket. As is clear from the next episode, there should be at least thirty of them.
*Oh and by the way, the "trial" the Autobots are given is pretty screwed up. Once the Autobots arrive the judge tells them what they're accused of and then immediately sentences them. Shouldn't the Autobots get a chance to defend themselves? Shouldn't the Autobots have an attorney? What of the discovery process? Indictment? Jurisdictional issues? Gaaahh!
*Basically the only thing this episode gets right about the court system is the judge's robe. Seriously, just ask a lawyer to identify every problem with the trial and watch them overload, foam at the mouth, and fall into a coma.

===Trivia===
*Rather than a "next time" preview, the end of this episode got a special "To Be Continued" title card with a short voiceover from [[Victor Caroli]].
*When released on video in the UK, both parts of this story were edited together as a 45-minute "movie" instead of a two-part episode.
*The idea of an influential and powerful human joining forces with the Decepticons, resulting in the Autobots being exiled from Earth by the government via a spacecraft was used as part of the plot for ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]''.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast):'' "'''Le plan de Megatron, partie 1'''" ("Megatron's plan, part 1")
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' "'''Le plan de Megatron'''" ("Megatron's plan")
:*''Title (European French DVD release):'' "'''Le plan directeur de Megatron, partie 1'''" ("Megatron's master plan, part 1")
::*However, the expression "plan directeur" sounds very... weird.
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Autorobots in esilio-Parte 1'''" ("Autobots in Exile-Part 1")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Il grande piano di Megatron - I'''" ("The Grand Plan of Megatron - I")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Megatron Chikyū Seifuku Sakusen PART I'''" (メガトロン地球征服作戦 PART I, "Megatron's Earth Conquest Plan PART I")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[January 10]], [[1986]]
:*'''Cut:''' The scene where Spike, Sparkplug and Chip cheer for the Autobots during the Autobot Day parade was cut for time. These scenes featured signs that said "Autobot Day", which likely contributed toward their selection for being cut.

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''O Plano Mestre do Megatron, Primeira Parte'''" ("Megatron's Master Plan, First Part")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Glavnoye zlodeystvo Megatrona (Chast' 1)'''" (Главное злодейство Мегатрона (Часть 1), "Megatron's Most Evil Deed (Part 1)")
:*''Original airdate:''?

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Wēizhèntiān de Yīnmóu (Shàng)'''" (威震天的阴谋(上), "Megatron's Conspiracy (Part 1)")
:*''Original airdate:''?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:Masterpiece-MP44-Convoy-V3-StarscreamMode.jpg|300px|thumb|[[Robots in disguise]] disguised as robots in disguise!]]
*'''''[[The Transformers: Masterpiece|Masterpiece]]'' MP-44 [[Optimus Prime (G1)/toys#35th|Convoy]] ([[TakaraTomy]], 2019)'''
:Accessories included with the third ''Masterpiece'' Convoy figure enable it to be converted into Starscream-disguised-as-Optimus Prime, based on the video footage evidence Spike uncovered in this episode.

{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1986 — ''The Transformers'' — Megatron's Master Plan ([[Video Gems|A.M.T. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 1988 — ''The Transformers'' — Megatron's Master Plan ([[Video Gems|V.I.P. Video Gems]]) 
[[File:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1998 — ''The Transformers: Generation 2'' — Megatron's Master Plan ([[Malofilm|Behaviour]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2000 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Volume 10: Megatron's Master Plan ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1994 — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''The Transformers'' — Autobot Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 3 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2003 — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 7 ([[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]] 2008 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (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'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[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]] 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 One: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1fYcr9KwPvErlmfTZ-aYGBdgwtEcPcaK6 Digital restoration of first draft script, originally submitted 12th February 1985]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1so-V-WGfwVUuUKYeWgb613lmIkfF4brY Full episode script, as revised by Ron Friedman 17th February 1985]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Blaster Blues

2023-07-03T10:49:59Z

White Cat: /* A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors */

{{episode
|series=G1toon
|ep=39
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=50
|prev2=The Core
|next2=Prime Target (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=34
|prev3=Microbots
|next3=Sea Change
|image=BlasterBlues Megatron threatens Blaster.jpg
|caption=''I woke up this mornin' Feelin' like I been used, And you know by that I Got these ol' Blaster blues''
|title="Blaster Blues"
|season=2
|season ep=23
|production code=#700-38
|airdate=[[October 23]], 1985
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Toei Animation|Toei]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssYDHaF0Ba4
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''The Decepticons hijack Earth's airwaves. Yet somehow, you are still able to watch this episode.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Blasterbluesconcertcrowd.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Did Spike and Carly take an Autobot on all of their dates?]]
[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] and [[Carly]] are at a rock concert, having taken [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] along for the music. Enjoying the concert, Spike wishes that the rest of the [[Autobot]]s could hear the music, so Blaster begins transmitting to all of them. Off in space, [[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] gets a real kick out of the music.

At the [[Ark (G1)|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and [[Sparkplug Witwicky|Sparkplug]] are observing [[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]]'s target practice on [[Teletraan I]], when Blaster's music from the concert begins playing on their channel. Sparkplug and most of the Autobots are not enjoying the overwhelming volume, but [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] gets the chance to show off his dancing skills.

At the [[Haley Observatory]], [[Haley|Professor Haley]] introduces his new creation, the [[Voltronic Galaxer]], to his fellow scientists. The device is intended to translate Earth's recordings into other languages and broadcast them into space, in search of intelligent life. Seemingly, the Transformers don't count. During his first test of the device, the scientist is quite surprised when he gets a response... which turns to horror when he sees it's the Decepticons. [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], as he is oft wont to do, begins firing randomly, but [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders him to stop, saying that they need the Voltronic Galaxer.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime is so annoyed by the music that he outright tells Blaster to "shut up", but to no avail. Only a distress call from the scientist finally gets Blaster to stop. After the Autobots arrive at the observatory, they find that the Decepticons have already fled with their prize. Optimus Prime vows to find it and bring the Voltronic Galaxer back.

[[File:Blasterbluesprimedirectstraffic.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Prime's day job]]
Splitting up into groups, the Autobots begin the search. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], Spike and Carly have already searched half the hemisphere, while Cosmos and Blaster are searching outer space. They locate the Decepticons in a [[Decepticon lunar dome base|base]] on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], where Megatron is plotting to take control of Earth's radio airwaves. Blaster and Cosmos are caught, however, before they can contact the Autobots. Blaster is forced into use as a transcrambler, while Cosmos powers the device. Megatron orders the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] to return to Earth as the radio blackout commences.

On Earth, the communications blackout is scrambling even the Autobots' radio channels. [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] barely manage to stop a forest fire, while [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]], [[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]], [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], and [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] free motorists trapped on a frozen highway, where [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] and [[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] attack.

[[File:Blasterbluespgcarriesprime.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|I'm not paid enough to carry this around.]]
At an airport, Powerglide is attempting to land, when Ramjet and Thundercracker attack, damaging both Powerglide and Optimus Prime. Spike manages to strap a [[jet pack]] onto Powerglide, giving him some extra boost. As Megatron begins broadcasting his demands to Earth, Blaster plays music from the concert on the same channel. Carly recognizes the tunes and manages to track the transmission back to the Moon. They head for the Autobot base. Carly does some quick repairs on Optimus then the two teens and Powerglide load Prime onto Omega, who takes them to space.

Once Omega lands on the Moon, Megatron and Astrotrain attack him. Omega manages to get his hand on Megatron, but Astrotrain rams Omega in train mode, causing him to release Megatron. Astrotrain then flees and Omega transforms into rocket mode and follows. Seeing Optimus Prime defenseless, Megatron decides to hit him while he's down, only for the [[Prime (rank)|Autobot leader]] to reactivate just in time to defend himself.

[[File:Blasterbluesop&mdance.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|One shall stand; one shall get tossed around a little bit and run away crying "Retreat!!"]]
With no one to guard them, Blaster and Cosmos cause the voltronic galaxer to receive feedback and explode. Seeing his latest technology ruined, Megatron retreats. After freeing them, Blaster mentions that he could rebuild the Decepticon moonbase into a new Autobot base. Cosmos likes the idea, as it would give him some company. Optimus agrees, but orders him to keep an eye on his volume.

Soon, however, Blaster is back to transmitting loud rock music over the air waves again. Some stereos never learn.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (3)
*[[Cosmos (G1)|Cosmos]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Omega Supreme (G1)|Omega Supreme]] (6)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (8)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (9)
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ratchet]] (15)
*[[Cliffjumper (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Cliffjumper]] (16)
*[[Hound (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Hound]] (17)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (18)
*[[Sunstreaker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sunstreaker]] (19)
*[[Sideswipe (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Sideswipe]] (20)
*[[Mirage (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Mirage]] (21)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (22)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (24)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (25)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (26)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (30)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (31)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (33)
|c2=
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (11)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (12)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (13)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (35)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (36)
|c3=
*[[Carly]] (1)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (2)
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] (7)
*[[Haley|Professor Haley]] (10)
*Air Traffic Controllers (27)
*Pilot (28)
*Railroad workers (29)
*Meteorologist (31)
*Motorists (34)
}}

==Quotes==
[[File:BlasterBlues Professor Haley.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Hey, everyone, it's Tuuuuuuesday, and you're listening to the Giant Botcast...]]
"Where are you? In another galaxy?" 
"''Much'' closer than ''that!!'' Huhu~hwa~ha~hahaha~haha~hahaha!!"
:—'''Professor Haley''' contacts '''Megatron''', the master of dry wit.

'''Optimus''': My audio receptors! What is that noise?! 
'''Hoist''': Humans call it 'music'. 
'''Sparkplug''': Not ''this'' human! 
'''Jazz''': Sounds all right to me!
:—Sparkplug and the Autobots share their opinions on Blaster's choice in music.

"The Earth is but a speck on the arm of the universe."
:—'''Human scientist''' bolstering his race's importance in the cosmos.

"Blaster! Decrease volume! ... Blaster! '''SHUT UP!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' in another fine example of subordinate management.

'''Ironhide''': Where did the call originate? 
'''Optimus''': I don't know! All I can hear is that blasted Blaster!
:—[[Peter Cullen]]'s annoyance at Blaster's loud music.

[[File:BlasterBlues blaster altmode.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Today on Capitol Hill, the fish was delish, and according to [[United Nations|UN]] Secretary Council members, it made quite a dish. You are listening to member-supported public radio.]]
"Hey, talk about no place. I can't even get a bottom 40 station out here."
:—'''Blaster''' doesn't enjoy outer space duty inside Cosmos.

"It's Blaster!" 
"Why that son of an 8-track."
:—'''Ratchet''' and '''Trailbreaker'''

"Release Autobots, Megatron!" 
"Never!" 
"Reeeelease them!"
:—'''Omega Supreme''' adds some "hands on" pressure to dealing with '''Megatron'''

"Looks like the big boy needs a little training!"
:—'''Astrotrain''', proving the pun is indeed mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, it's not as mighty as Omega Supreme.

==Notes==
===Production information===
*First draft script: [[March 13|13th March]] [[1985]]
*Script revised by [[Ron Friedman]]: [[March 18|18th March]] 1985

===Deleted scenes===
Changed scenes
* The order of some scenes in Act II is changed from the draft script. Red Alert and Inferno’s scenes of firefighting and coming under attack are combined and moved to happen immediately after the train crash (originally placed after the Autobots roll out from HQ). Likewise, the scene of Blaster and Cosmos watching Megatron give his broadcast is moved until after Ratchet’s group are buried by the avalanche. Allowing all of the action in the mountains to flow as one continuous scene.
* When Omega Supreme grabs Megatron and demands “RELEASE THEM!”, he picks him up by the fusion cannon, crushing it in his fist. Hence why Megatron is limited to hand-to-hand combat during his fight with Prime.

Deleted scenes
* Omega Supreme’s target practice consists of firing “benign darts” at Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, who are racing around in auto mode. Cliffjumper radios Bumblebee that he’s going to use him for a ramp. Thanks to Blaster’s rock broadcast, 'Bee can’t hear this and hits the brakes, causing the speeding Cliffjumper to collide with him. Megatron has been watching all of this through a monitor and gets the idea to jam Earth’s communications.
* Optimus Prime arrives at the airport and offers to help Powerglide with guiding the planes to their runways. The boastful Autobot plane replies “I’ve got everything under control, Prime!” before immediately having to drop low to avoid crashing into another plane “Then on second thought, I suppose it couldn't hurt!”. Prime uses his gun to laser the words “LAND HERE” into the sky with accompanying arrows.
* Once Blaster and Cosmos have overloaded the Voltronic Galaxer, we cut back to Red Alert and Inferno, lying charred and damaged amid the spreading forest fire. Once they realise that their radios work again, Red Alert calls fire control for assistance, much to Inferno’s chagrin. “You’re calling for Earth firefighters? What am I…a toy fire truck?!
* With Prime having won the fight and holding him at gunpoint, Megatron radios Astrotrain for assistance, only to receive static as Blaster is using the circuits he is plugged into in order to “run a little interference – on a local channel!”

===Continuity notes===
[[File:Blasterbluestrailerchase.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Last one out of the parking lot gets stuck with the check.]]
[[File:Trailbreakerdance.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[https://shortpacked.com/comic/iammegatron '''''I... AM... TRAILBREAKER!!!''''']]]
*Jazz has righteous moves, but they are limited by his bulky body.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Blaster's boom box mode in the opening scenes is as tall as a human.
**Red Alert's "horns" flash to indicate Decepticon activity, just like in "[[Auto Berserk]]". This time they're orange, though.
**Ratchet and the rest can deploy tire studs to deal with snow-covered roads.
**Hoist deploys a long snakey tentacle with a claw at the end to catch a falling motorist. How many devices can he [[Auto Berserk|carry]], anyway??
**This time, Trailbreaker's forcefield just kind of radiates out of thin air in front of his head. He's able to form it into a dome, which he can then place where he wants it... but, to his later misfortune, he remains outside the dome himself.
**Powerglide can deploy a suction cup line capable of carrying wounded Autobots around like limp ragdolls, leaving them flapping in the breeze.... say, aren't you supposed to ''not move'' the injured?
**Omega Supreme clearly leaves most of himself behind when he launches for the Moon. When he arrives there, he lands in rocket mode amid a cloud of smoke... and when the smoke clears, the left-behind bits have appeared. Later, he transforms out of just the rocket (conveniently off-screen) while in mid-flight.
*Where's the trailer go?:
**During the scene at the observatory, Optimus transforms and drives away, and there is an extended moment where his trailer drives off after him to catch up.
*Omega Supreme actually uses whole sentences in this episode. That's just crazy.

===Real-world references===
[[File:BlasterBlues Haley Observatory.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*The names of Professor Haley and his eponymous observatory are likely inspired by {{w|Halley's Comet}}, which was beginning its once-every-76-years trip through the inner solar system when the episode aired in late [[1985]].
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine burst is strangely repurposed as the burning fires at the observatory as the Decepticons close in.
**[[X-wing Fighter|X-Wings]] diving, ''Falcon'' engine burst, and [[Death Star]] superlaser all in a row as the Decepticons launch from the observatory.
**''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron takes off from Astrotrain
**X-Wings diving as the 'cons fly aboard Astrotrain
**Death Star superlaser as Astrotrain pursues Cosmos.
**[[TIE Fighter]] engine as Cosmos evades.
**The Death Star door slide is used as a steam engine sound effect.
**A [[Stormtrooper (SW)|Stormtrooper]]'s laser gun is used to soundtrack Ramjet and Thundercracker's attack on Inferno and Red Alert, possibly taken from when [[Luke Skywalker|Luke]] & [[Han Solo|Han]] ambush the stormtroopers aboard the ''Falcon''.
**''Falcon'' engine burst as Megatron launches from the Moon.
*Trailbreaker mentions {{w|8-track tape|8-track}}s. Did kids in 1985 even know what an 8-track is?
*"Bang, zoom, to the Moon!" - Powerglide's line is a play on a signature line of Ralph Kramden from ''[[The Honeymooners]]''...whose actor Jackie Gleason was also the inspiration for Powerglide's voice.
*"Parting is such sweet sorrow!" - Megatron prepares to kill Prime while quoting one of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] most famous lines.

===Animation and technical errors===
*The rock band at the concert is playing ''two songs at once'', both "[[Cold Slither (song)|Cold Slither]]" and the generic big band/hard rock song. "Cold Slither" is missing a moment later when Blaster sends the music to the Autobots.
*The guitarist is seen 'playing' his guitar with only his right arm, as his left (which should be doing the fretwork) is up in the air.
*The arena's seats have more than a seat's width between them. The owners must've been expecting some ''seriously'' fat patrons.
*Cosmos's voice in his first couple of lines lacks his usual self-echo.
*As Megatron gloats on top of the observatory, his laugh plays over itself (i.e., the same laugh twice).
*Improbable viewpoints:
**So Blaster sends the music from the concert to the Autobots. How does he manage to send a 3rd-person view of ''himself'' at the same time?
**Do Tracks and Huffer have a video camera with them to report in to Prime?
**Does Prime have a camera stationed at the city docks to show Powerglide flying in aimless circles?
*The reporter at the observatory has already written down Professor Haley's words before he's finished saying them.
*Recycled footage:
**Prime's trailer rolling in from offscreen seems to be recycled from "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]".
**The shot of Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Hound converting to [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] is lifted from "[[Atlantis, Arise!]]"
**The pan of Sunstreaker and Sideswipe transforming comes right out of "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]".
**The same "MTMTE1" scene is mined again to show Trailbreaker transforming as the Autobots deploy to deal with the loss of radio communications.
*Astrotrain has no transformation sound effect as he leaves the tunnel and converts from train to shuttle.
[[File:Blasterbluesprowlcarries.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Coloring error not included.]]
*Coloring errors:
**Trailbreaker's eyeband is black instead of blue as Optimus quizzes the professor about the Voltronic Galaxer. The points of his cheeks are colored blue instead.
**Cosmos's "cap" is green instead of red as he lands on the Moon.
**Prowl's head crest is white instead of red as he closes Ratchet's passenger compartment (and can't Ratchet do that himself?)
**Blaster's forehead is red instead of white as Megatron threatens him.
**Cosmos's helmet is green instead of red as Prime frees Blaster (which, by the way, seems to consist of just helping him to his feet, rather than freeing him from any "welding" done by Astrotrain.)
*Appearing/disappearing Autobots: Prime's initial squad fluctuates all over the place.
**The initial group receiving the transmission is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist & Cliffjumper.
**Mirage, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Hound show up to transform prior to rolling out, and are not seen again. Trailbreaker shows up at the same time.
**Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Prowl (or maybe Bluestreak) show up as the Autobots depart.
**The group that finally arrives at the observatory is Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Hoist, Bumblebee & Trailbreaker, which means we've lost seven guys.
*When the Autobots drive away from the observatory, a shot of the Autobots from the front shows them driving over bare rock rather than the asphalt road.
*Powerglide's cockpit has changed from a fighter-plane-like single-seater (seen in "[[Dinobot Island, Part 1]]"), to a side-by-side like a passenger jet.
*When Megatron is first shown setting down the Voltronic Galaxer in their moon base, Thundercracker is to his left, Starscream to his right. In the very next panning shot showing Cosmos' approach through the window, Thundercracker is to Megatron's right.
*"This your idea of a joke?" Blaster's line lacks the usual processing.
*Red Alert's "horns" flash orange. Last time, they flashed blue.
*Despite knowing about the pending aerial attack, Red Alert keeps shooting at the trees. It seems likely that the animators recycled previous footage, perhaps not realizing he should be aiming skyward.
*Whatever damage Powerglide sustained from Ramjet pretty much disappears after Spike puts the jetpack on him.
*Blaster first pushes his left-most button. Later, it's the middle two that are deployed. After Megatron kicks him, all but one are engaged.
[[File:Omegasupreme astrotrain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Pretty damn big, that's how much.]]
*The whole sequence of Megatron discovering Blaster's subterfuge is a bit wonky. Blaster sniggers loudly, Megatron suddenly says "What was that?", then there's a beep and the rock music is heard. The animators/sound guys seem to have not quite gotten the sequence of events down correctly.
*When Spike cheers on Omega Supreme, both his lips ''and'' Carly's are moving.
*When Astrotrain rams Omega Supreme's leg, Omega holds still for two seconds, then drops Megatron.
*If Astrotrain is big enough to hold all the Decepticons, then how big does that make Omega Supreme in the picture to the right here?
*One gun, many lasers:
**When Optimus fires at the fleeing Megatron, he only has one gun, yet four or five lasers streak past Megatron.
*Blaster has four small switches on his chest for most of the episode (clearly seen as when Megatron kicks him towards the end), but is drawn with three large ones after Prime frees him.
*At the end of the episode, Blaster seemingly is supposed to be playing his rock tune yet again, complete with Prime yelling at him for it and the other Autobots chasing Blaster off into the sunset... but the music is missing. Oops!

===Continuity errors===
[[File:Blasterbluesonthemoon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"No no, it is totally worth risking the complete failure of the plan to have gloating rights over a couple of guys whose names I probably can't remember!"]]
[[File:BlasterBlues Carly Spike in spacesuits.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
*You have to wonder if Megatron thought out all the parts to this plan, given that it would be a lot easier for human society to adapt to life without radio, than life without electricity, petroleum and fossil fuels, and so on... Actually, how would we ''use'' said radio waves, without the power resources the 'Cons would strip out of the planet in exchange for ceasing their jamming?
*Furthermore, one might question the wisdom of leaving two conscious Autobots right across from the critical device... with one of them ''fully armed''. The episode's teleplay explains this a bit better: in it, Cosmos is not treated so dismissively by Megatron, who needs his "magnificent super-sonic engines" to power the transmitter, and at the episode's climax, Cosmos was not supposed to ''shoot'' the transmitter, but rather, exploit his function as a power source to help Blaster overload the machine. Still, there doesn't appear to be any good reason they couldn't have done this a ''lot'' sooner.
*In a world full of Transformers running around on the evening news (and showing up in arcades, research labs, dams, power plants, and basically everywhere), why would a scientist still speak of alien life as though it were some unproved hypothesis?
*One of the journalists in the crowd that's listening to Prof. Haley explain the voltronic galaxer has a portion of the speech ("...enabling alien life to translate them to their own language.") already written on his notepad before the professor even finishes speaking that line.
[[File:BlasterBlues Megatron voltronic galaxer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!]]
*In a rare instance of a falling human seeming to incur some actual injury, Professor Haley is apparently knocked unconscious by falling off the Voltronic Galaxer. Of course, he's up and (literally) running by the time the Autobots arrive (and still hanging out inside the burning building, apparently).
*The joy of size changing: Blaster rides inside Cosmos to the Moon, and in the next scene Cosmos and Blaster are side by side and Blaster is almost twice as tall as Cosmos. Cosmos's improbably large interior has just enough for Blaster to sit inside of. "[[Sea Change]]" and "[[Quest for Survival]]" will portray it as even larger, with room for multiple passengers to walk around.
*The passenger jets at the airport are shown swerving and maneuvering as though they were small-scaled fighters.
*Maybe Astrotrain's alternate mode ''does'' make sense in the bizarre world of cartoon Earth... because the railroad workers are trying to clear the track for a ''steam locomotive''.
*One of the railroad men says he will "radio [the train] to the auxiliary track", but no other track is actually shown.
*Only one guy leaps clear of the steam engine. Where's the fireman?
*Okay, so it's great that Optimus is directing traffic at this one airport, but... what about the hundreds of other airports out there? Much like "[[The Ultimate Doom, Part 2]]", the Autobots seem to lack a plan to deal with the actual ''cause'' of the problems.
*If Carly can trace the source of Megatron's transmissions, she really didn't need to wait until they heard Blaster's music.
*If Powerglide's [[jet pack]] is ''out of fuel'', then ''how does he keep flying??''
*Ratchet's team was mostly in [[robot mode]] when they were buried. They emerge from the snow in vehicle mode. Also, all the buried and exploded cars have vanished.
*Does Omega Supreme just keep some human-sized space suits handy? 'Cause Spike and Carly suddenly pop up in space suits when it's time to go to the Moon.

===A loony lunar lineup of astronomical errors===
*As with every other outer space episode in the series, Cosmos, Astrotrain, and all the rest get full sound effects in outer space and on the Moon's surface. Of course, media of far higher caliber than ''The Transformers'' have made the same error, generally because it'd be pretty boring to watch a bunch of silent ships fly around, so we'll let this one slide.
*The depicted activities of any Transformer on the Moon do not bear any resemblance to the movements of creatures under gravity one-sixth that of Earth's own.
*Cosmos really shouldn't have to switch off his engines once he reaches the Moon; he should have just switched them off as soon as he escaped Earth's gravity well.
*Blaster somehow manages to ''listen'' in on the Decepticons across the airless surface of the Moon.
*The burning [[Decepticon lunar dome base]] continues burning and trailing smoke as if it were in an atmosphere.
*Carly: "I've never been to the Moon before!" NO. REALLY??
**And she was just on Cybertron in the last episode. Wouldn't that have been a bigger deal?

===Trivia===
*Throughout the script, '''Trailbreaker''' is referred to as '''Trailblazer''', a name which popped up during "[[A Prime Problem]]".
*Seriously. "I've never been to the Moon before!"

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (Canadian and European French broadcasts):'' "'''La grande catastrophe'''" ("The Great Disaster")
:*''Title (European French DVD release):'' "'''Blaster a le blues'''" ("Blaster has the blues")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Italian'''
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''Linee di raggruppamento'''" ("Meeting up Lines")
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Il Blues di Blaster'''" ("The Blues of Blaster")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Broadcast Blues'''" (ブロードキャスト・ブルース)
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 27]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Lándiào Lùyīnjī '''" (蓝调录音机, "Blues Recorder")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''O Ataque'''" ("The Attack")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;{{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]] [[2002]] — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1: Vol. 4 (Rhino Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[2003]] — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 1 ([[Metrodome]]) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] [[2004]] — ''Transformers'' — Collection 2: Series 2.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 8 ([[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]] [[2008]] — ''Transformers'' — Volume 04: Stagione Due Parte Seconda ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[2009]] — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part One (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'' — Season Two, Volume One: 25th Anniversary Edition ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[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]] [[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 One: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sSKWucY2fCoV3acIOVeW0qDL_HeX_w5B/view?usp=sharing First draft script, originally submitted 13th March 1985]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=155SvBA7NOPYzRivn6VOt0lqIUrwZTjv0 Full episode script, as revised by Ron Friedman 18th March 1985]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]

Hard Knocks

2018-05-31T09:06:24Z

White Cat: /* Real-world references */

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 48
|prev=Alpha/Omega
|next=Inside Job
|image=HardKnocks-TheFourthKey.jpg
|caption="Ratchet, where are the instructions for this damn Kre-O set anyway?!?"
|title="Hard Knocks"
|airdate=[[October 5]], [[2012]]
|written by=[[Mairghread Scott]]
|directed by=[[Vinton Heuck]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''As the race grows more desperate, Smokescreen's boasts about his destiny turn out to be more than meets the eye.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] is still hard at work decoding coordinates, while [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] boasts about his defeat of Optimus. Soundwave soon comes up with another set of coordinates, and [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] insists on going. Though Megatron is skeptical, recalling [[Tunnel Vision|the last time]] the doctor tried to obtain a relic, Knock Out insists he won't fail this time, and borrows Soundwave's [[Resonance Blaster]].

In the [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|Autobot base]], [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] is likewise decoding coordinates. [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] annoys everyone by boasting it is his destiny to be a great warrior and being generally exuberant. To his disappointment, when Optimus decodes a set of coordinates, [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] are the ones selected to go on the mission, and he is left at base. Arcee and Bumblebee arrive at a lakeside and spy the second [[Omega Key]] sitting out in the open, but Knock Out is already there, waiting. Using the Resonance Blaster, both Autobots are sent flying and when they try to flank the Decepticon, he shoots it at the ground, raising a cloud of dust so he can use it as cover to zap them. By the time Arcee and Bumblebee recover, Knock Out is long gone with the key.

[[Image:HardKnocksDreadwing.jpg|thumb|right|250px|I know what you're going to ask me: Where do I keep all those bombs?... Don't ask.]]
[[Image:HardKnocksKnockOut.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Look out, Cosmo, it's Superbike!]]
Back on the ''[[Trypticon (WFC)|Nemesis]]'', Megatron inspects the relic and wonders if it is a decoy, though Knock Out protests the Autobots fought too desperately for it. Soundwave decodes more coordinates which Megatron believes will provide them with more answers, but when Knock Out declares to investigate, Megatron instead gives him the task of analyzing the key and its purpose. Meanwhile, Bumblebee undergoes repairs, and Smokescreen's swagger continues to get on Arcee's nerves so she goes to find some peace and quiet. Bulkhead reminds Smokescreen that the war has been going on a long time and he needs to have patience to work as a team player.

[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] has finished refining his [[Red Energon]], but finding it slow work and with only a small yield of a one-time use. Luckily the ''[[Harbinger]]'' computer picks up more Decepticon activity, and Starscream decides he can use the Red Energon to obtain a more valuable artifact.

The Autobots gain a new set of coordinates, and Bulkhead and Smokescreen roll out, though Arcee reminds Bulkhead to keep an eye on their eager comrade. The pair arrive on a forested mountainside where [[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] is waiting. The Decepticon knocks them flat before flying off, and the two Autobots realize that Dreadwing has mined the trees... '''all''' of the trees. They manage to outrun the explosions, and Bulkhead sends Smokescreen after the relic while he goads Dreadwing into a fight. As they exchange blows, Dreadwing plants a bomb on Bulkhead's back, and after Bulkhead manages to knock him flat, sets it to explode. Unfortunately for Dreadwing, Bulkhead already noticed the bomb and transferred it to his back during the fight, and though Dreadwing throws the bomb away, it goes off close enough to knock him out.

[[Image:HardKnocksBulkheadDreadwing.jpg|thumb|right|250px|FATALITY.]]
Smokescreen meanwhile uncovers the Omega Key, only to be rendered unconscious by a blow from behind. When Bulkhead wakes him, the key is already gone. Smokescreen is deflated by his failure, but as they return through the [[GroundBridge]], Bulkhead reminds him that they need all four keys to revive [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Starscream, hiding nearby with the key he grabbed, overhears them talking, and regards the key he holds with new respect and ambition.

Back at base, Smokescreen exclaims his inability of securing the key and Arcee lectures him on realistic expectations and tells him he needs to be a team player. Upset, Smokescreen leaves the base and Optimus, saying the young Autobot needs to clear his head, returns to decoding coordinates. On the ''Nemesis'', Megatron is unhappy at Dreadwing's failure, and checks with Soundwave regarding the project to find where the Autobot base is located. Soundwave reports that he has [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] scouting around [[Jasper]]. As both sides complete their decoding work, the final set of coordinates resolve into an image—a picture of Smokescreen himself, to both sides' surprise. Unfortunately when Optimus tries to call in Smokescreen, the rookie does not answer due to deactivating his comlink, and has instead fallen into Laserbeak's sights. Laserbeak fires on Smokescreen, who transforms to confront the drone, only to be knocked flat by Soundwave's Resonance Blaster. When the Autobots arrive at the location, they are just in time to see Soundwave dragging their unconscious friend back to the ''Nemesis'' through the Decepticon GroundBridge.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (4)
*[[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] (5)
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (6)
*[[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (7)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (8)
*[[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (9)
|c2=
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (1)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (2)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (3)
*[[Dreadwing (Prime)|Dreadwing]] (11)
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] (12)
|c4=
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (10)
}}

==Quotes==
"Last one to the Omega Key has to scrub the Energon tanks for a week." 
"Didn't know we were keeping score."
:—'''Smokescreen''' and '''Arcee'''

"Who knew that ''sound waves'' could be such a ''knock out''?"
:—See what '''Knock Out''' did there?

"Grrrrr...! Hurry up, already! How is it possible that speed-enhancing Energon takes longer to process than ''regular'' Energon?!"
:—'''Starscream'''

"Make sure you keep an eye on 'destiny's child', okay?" 
"Compared to watching Miko? Piece of cake!"
:—'''Arcee''' giving '''Bulkhead''' some advice on handling the rookie

"You love doing your dirty work from a distance, don't ya? Too bad you don't have the ball bearings to fight up close and personal!" 
"In this particular case, I would be all too happy to make an exception."
:—'''Bulkhead''' gives '''Dreadwing''' some smack talk.

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* Megatron brags about his accomplishments in [[Alpha/Omega|the previous episode]] to Soundwave.
* Megatron loosely refers to the events of "[[Tunnel Vision]]" while expressing surprise at Knock Out's willingness to get his hands dirty in light of what happened the last time, as well as more directly in his failure to obtain the [[phase shifter]].
* Optimus still has the improvised sword-holder Ratchet made for him in the previous episode.
* Knock Out and Soundwave both use the [[Resonance Blaster]], which Soundwave retrieved in "[[Triage (episode)|Triage]]".
* Starscream has refined the [[Red Energon]] he obtained in "[[New Recruit]]", though it's only enough to last for one use or two. He also remembers the loss of the [[Apex Armor (Prime)|Apex Armor]] in the same episode.
* Dreadwing reminds Bulkhead of their previous battle in "[[Loose Cannons]]".
* Megatron mentions that recent events have allowed them to narrow down the location of the Autobots' human allies, most likely referring to their discovery of [[Raf Esquivel|Raf's]] house in "[[The Human Factor]]".

===Transformers references===
* Knock Out hopes that the new relic is an [[electro-disrupter]] cannon.
* The concept of an Autobot being the Omega Key comes from the ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron (games)|War for Cybertron]]'' game, only with [[Omega Supreme (WFC)|Omega Supreme]] being the Autobot instead of Smokescreen.

===Real-world references===
* "Slow and steady wins the race," is the moral in Aesop's story, "The Tortoise and the Hare".
* Arcee sarcastically refers to Smokescreen as "destiny's child," the name of a late 90's/early 2000's singing girl group

===Trivia===
* Knock Out and Dreadwing both had the opportunity to take their assigned relics and leave, but stuck around to fight the Autobots. Dreadwing in particular must have spent hours placing bombs on all those trees.
* Unlike the other Energon variants, no side-effects are seen with the use of refined Red Energon... so far.
* Megatron sends three different Decepticons to do his dirty work in one episode. They must be taking shifts.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Harte Schule'''" ("Hard School")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 21|21 February]] [[2013]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Bakuen Henkei! Omega Key Soudatsusen'''" (爆炎変形!オメガ・キー争奪戦, "Combustible Transformation! Struggle over the Omega Key")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[March 2|2 March]] [[2013]]

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Achados e Perdidos'''" ("Lost and Found")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[August 16|16 August]] [[2013]]

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Colpi duri'''" ("Hard knocks")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[February 14|14 February]] [[2013]]

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season Two ([[Shout! Factory]]) 
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2013 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Vol. 24 ([[Avex Trax]]) — Japanese audio only. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2014 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Volume 5: Advance on Cybertron ([[Madman Entertainment]]) 
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2014 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Folge 12: Die Entscheidung ([[EDEL:kids]]) — English and German audio. 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2014 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2014 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Saison 2 Vol. 4: Bataille épiques ([[Primal Screen]]) 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season 2 Vol. 4: Darkest Hour (Primal Screen) 
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Intégrale Saison 2 (Primal Screen) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Stagione 2 Vol. 4: L'ora più buia (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — The Complete Season 2 (Primal Screen) 
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — La Seconda Stagione Completa (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio. 
;Blu-ray
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2012 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season Two (Shout! Factory) 
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2015 — ''Transformers Prime'' — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment) 

[[Category:Prime episodes]]

Tunnel Vision (episode)

2014-11-22T07:42:21Z

White Cat: /* Real-world references */ Independence Day

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 38
|prev=Flying Mind
|next=Triangulation
|image=
|caption=
|title="Tunnel Vision"
|airdate=[[May 5]], [[2012]]
|written by=[[Andrew Robinson|Andrew R. Robinson]]
|directed by=[[Shaunt Nigoghossian]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Arcee and Bumblebee go deep into New York's "underground" in an attempt to beat Megatron to the next four Iacon relics.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Team Prime|Autobot team]], having obtained the same coordinates for four [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]] relics as the [[Decepticon]]s, plan their next course of action. [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus]] suggests a dispersal so they can obtain all the relics simultaneously. Despite initial resistance from [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]], the [[New York City|New York]] site and the relic contained beneath its streets are selected for Arcee and [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] to scout. [[Miko Nakadai (Prime)|Miko]] volunteers her knowledge of subways and [[Jack Darby (Prime)|Jack]] his ability to cover for the mission; all four prepare to roll out.

Having moved away from Manhattan, [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] assigns [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] the discreet task of obtaining the relic there. At a disadvantage without [[Breakdown (WFC)|Breakdown]], Knock Out is unwillingly appointed an [[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticon]] partner, along with a small detachment of [[Decepticon Miner|Vehicon miners]]. Beyond frustrated with Knock Out's lack of concern beyond his paint job, Megatron sends them off.

In a New York alleyway, Arcee, Bumblebee, Jack and Miko bridge in. They quickly locate a construction site where they can enter the vast subway network. As they walk, Bumblebee nearly steps on a third rail, but Jack warns him of the danger just in time. A familiar sound echoes through the tunnels—a [[Energon Driller|Decepticon drill]], which Miko pinpoints the direction of. She tears off through an access tunnel, Jack in tow. On the other side, they are confronted by [[Vogel]], a sweeper train operator, and Miko constructs a hasty lie that saves their tail. He offers to take them for a ride.

[[Image:Vogel Tunnel Vision.jpg|right|thumb|150px| I can't keep running people over. I'm not famous enough to get away with it.]]
Vogel's personality soon becomes clear as he recounts tales of monsters that creep through the subways—including the mole men, who he believes are amassing their armies. Miko and Jack make an escape jumping off the back of the train, Vogel totally oblivious.

Arcee and Bumblebee find Knock Out and the miners, but don't see the Insecticon creeping up behind them. It attacks the duo, alerting Knock Out to their presence. Arcee and Knock Out exchange blows while Bumblebee occupies the Insecticon; Arcee makes a grab for the relic, but is knocked out by an electron prod to the back. Bumblebee is also quickly floored by the Insecticon. Satisfied, Knock Out cracks the relic's packaging and prepares to field-test the device on his new subjects.

[[Image:TunnelVisionArceeRelic.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Stay away from the cookie jar.]]
Jack and Miko bicker in the tunnel about Jack's sojourn to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], but are stopped in their tracks by the sound of footsteps. It's Vogel, none too happy about being ditched. Miko, capitalizing on the man's conspiratorial bent, gets Jack to tell him the truth. Vogel is enthralled and they all board his train to find their friends.

Knock Out's field test is interrupted by the arriving sweeper. The Insecticon sidesteps it, but Knock Out is hit and dragged a distance between the wall and train, suffering serious cosmetic damage. Arcee and Bumbleebee, now conscious, start fighting back as Knock Out peels out with the relic. Arcee goes after the train with the Insecticon following while Bumbleebee chases after the fleeing medic.

On the train, Vogel reveals that the brake line went out and that their course is for a dead end. Arcee is able to catch up with the train and jump onto the back of it. Informed of the approaching wall, she drives ahead for the turn switch. Trying to change the tracks, she snaps the lever, forcing her to change the track alignment physically. She succeeds just in time and with the train safe, she faces her foe. Recalling Bumblebee's previous encounter, Arcee lures the Insecticon into touching the third rail, which instantly kills it.

Knock Out faces off against the Autobot scout in a chase. Bumblebee accidentally activates the relic during a tussle which clamps onto his wrist. The train barrels in and heads straight for an oblivious Bumblebee, whom it passes right through without a scratch. It instead strikes Knock Out, grinding his face and body on the pavement for a good distance before the train comes to a stop. Horrified at his total cosmetic disfigurement, he flees, minus a wheel.

The relic is revealed to be a [[phase shifter]], which allows the user to pass through solid objects. The problem turns to Vogel, who knows about the Cybertronians. A hasty call forces [[William Fowler|Fowler]], who's now awake back at base, to deputize the worker as a "deputy of interstellar relations". Vogel is ecstatic about his new position even when he is told to maintain complete radio silence until he is called upon. As Vogel watches the Autobots and the kids leave, he ponders the idea of robots disguised as vehicles while looking at his sweeper train.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (1)
* [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (2)
* [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (3)
* [[Ratchet (WFC)|Ratchet]] (4)
* [[Arcee (WFC)|Arcee]] (5)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (6)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (7)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (8)
*[[Decepticon Miner]]s (9)
*[[Insecticon (WFC)|Insecticon]] (10)

|c3=
* [[Jack Darby (Prime)|Jack Darby]] (11)
* [[Raf Esquivel]] (12)
* [[Miko Nakadai (Prime)|Miko Nakadai]] (13)
* [[William Fowler]] (14)
* [[Vogel]] (15)
|}}

==Quotes==

"Face."
:—'''Jack''', throughout the episode.

"Well, I've actually been in subway stations. I grew up in a major metropolis. Unlike Mr. 'I've never been outside of Jasper, Nevada'." 
"I ''have'' been to Cybertron." 
"Cybertron doesn't have subways! ... Does it?"
:—'''Miko'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s argument against '''Jack''' soon falls short.

"Bananafish!"
:—'''Agent Fowler'''

'''Knock Out:''' "You have lovely features. Perfect for a painful little procedure I like to call the ''nip and tuck.''" 
''*Arcee dodges, and kicks Knock Out*'' 
'''Arcee:''' "Dodge and kick." 
''*Arcee runs for the relic, but gets plugged in the back by Knock Out's prod*'' 
'''Knock Out:''' "Shock and drop."
:—'''Knock Out''' and '''Arcee''' carry on witty repartee.

"You scratch my face, I scratch yours!" 
''*Arcee and Bumblebee cock their blasters*''
:—'''Knock Out''' tries and fails to reference a [[Speed Metal|previous episode.]]

''*Vogel watches the Autobots and kids leave*'' 
"Robots who turn into vehicles. Hmmm..." 
''*Vogel turns to look at his sweeper train*''
:—It's okay, '''Vogel''', we've all done it before.

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
*After the phase shifter attaches itself to Bumblebee, he stands straight up while inspecting it. However, his position is reversed when he stands: Knock Out is now in front of him instead of behind when the runaway sweeper train comes around the corner.
*The scratch marks from Knock Out's first encounter with the sweeper train seem to have disappeared after his transformation into vehicle mode onwards.
*Jack and Miko tell Arcee and Bumblebee to stay away from the third rail or they will be fried. However, they touch it multiple times throughout the episode, then Arcee uses it to kill the Insecticon.
* Vogel's fire axe ends up back on the wall without him actually putting it there.

===Continuity notes===
* Agent Fowler is still recovering from getting zapped in the [[Flying Mind|previous episode]].
* Knock Out wants to retrieve the relic in [[Crossfire|memory of Breakdown]].
* Miko's starting to [[Convoy (episode)|hate trains]].
* Knock Out refers to how Bumblebee was unable to transform in "[[Operation Bumblebee, Part 1]]".
* The phase shifter was alluded to in "[[Sick Mind]]" by Megatron when he was trying to figure out why he couldn't attack Bumblebee while they were in his subconscious, but he called it [[phase displacement armor]] instead.
* Near the end of the episode, Fowler appears to be communicating with someone, telling them to "[[Toxicity|dump that rock and come on home]]." A later episode will reveal that he is talking to Bulkhead.

===Transformers references===
*The Autobots receive help from a human labourer wearing a yellow [[hard hat]].

===Real-world references===
* The zoom-in from the sweeper train to the dead end references to the elevated train scene in ''[[Spider-Man]] 2''.
* Jack's description of the third rail on subway trains is real, as is the fatality of touching it.
* Knock Out's "nip and tuck" line to Arcee is a colloquial phrase for cosmetic surgery.
* Jack claiming to be the "Face" and his explanation for it might be a resemblance to Templeton Peck from ''The A-Team'', who was also mostly known as 'Face'.
* Vogel shouting "Welcome to Earth!" as he prepares to attack Arcee is an echo of when Will Smith punches the alien in the movie ''Independence Day''.

===Trivia===
* This is the first episode that we see Knock Out mention his [[Breakdown (WFC)|partner's]] death.
* There is a surprising lack of trains in the tunnels of New York.
* Insecticons are revealed to have blasters in their robot modes. Unlike most transforming guns seen so far, their blasters emerge from their forearms.
* In [[Darkness Rising, Part 1|the first episode]], the Autobots take on the burden of watching over and protecting the [[human]] children because they witnessed them in robot-mode or got caught in the crossfire of a Decepticon battle. Vogel, despite having the same "qualifications", is dispatched with a hasty cover story and left to fend for himself without Autobot protection. Apparently, you only get a "guardian" if you're tiny and cute.
* Vogel's name is most likely a reference to [[The Hub]]'s [[Mike Vogel]].

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Im Untergrund von New York'''" ("At the Subsurface of New York")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 12|12 November]] [[2012]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Dakkai Henkei! Daitokai Chika no Tatakai'''" (奪回変形!大都会・地下の戦い, "Recovery Transformation! Battle in the Metropolis Underground")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 22|22 December]] [[2012]]

'''Brazilian Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Vida nos Tuneis'''" ("Life in the Tunnels")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[June 18|18 June]] [[2013]]

[[Category:Prime episodes]]