Secret Files of Teletraan II

The Secret Files of Teletraan II were a series of short (1–2 minute) segments which aired in 1986, at the end of select episodes of the third season of the original Generation 1 cartoon. They were primarily created to help bring episodes that ran short up to the required running time, due to Marvel Productions' decision to cut down on original animation for various shows produced during the summer of 1986. This included Transformers, Inhumanoids (which used the similar "Data Files" information segments), and Jem (which used replays of the show's music video segments).

The segments included recaps of past events, character and group profiles, and "where are they now" guides, helping to explain the 20-year time gap between seasons 2 and 3 to viewers who had not seen The Transformers: The Movie. The "Secret Files of Teletraan II" moniker was only attached to the last two segments created, but is used to retroactively refer to them all collectively.

Secret Files

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Secret File Episodes
Predacons "Forever Is a Long Time Coming", "Surprise Party"
Autobots "Starscream's Ghost", "Webworld", "The Big Broadcast of 2006", "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1"
Decepticons "Thief in the Night", "Madman's Paradise", "Nightmare Planet", "The Dweller in the Depths", "The Burden Hardest to Bear"
Quintessons and Sharkticons "Nightmare Planet", "Carnage in C-Minor", "Fight or Flee"
Metroplex and Trypticon "The Quintesson Journal"
Ultra Magnus "Grimlock's New Brain", "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2"
Cassette Transformers "Money Is Everything", "Call of the Primitives", "The Face of the Nijika"

Continuity notes

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The Secret Files occasionally included background information not found elsewhere in the series or movie, establishing that the new characters introduced in the movie and season three came from "other regions of the galaxy", and that the Junkions were explicitly a "tribe of Autobots".

However, there were times when this information was greatly simplified, to the point that it was openly in conflict with the movie and cartoon itself. For example, it is erroneously stated in dialog that:

  • The Autobots were reunited with their comrades from other regions of the galaxy when they returned to Cybertron after the movie, when most of the characters named were already on Earth before the movie started.
  • By 2000, the Decepticons had lost the war and that Unicron recreated Megatron as Galvatron to reinvigorate their army, when in truth, by the time of the movie, the Decepticons were at the peak of their power and Unicron created Galvatron for entirely self-centered purposes.

Animation did not always match up to the narration, either; the "Metroplex and Trypticon" trailer used footage of the Autobots being attacked on Cybertron by Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and an off-color Cyclonus generic<ref>One of the Armada?</ref> to represent the destruction of the Autobots' volcano headquarters, which was actually perpetrated by Trypticon in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5". The "Cassettes" trailer, meanwhile, used a clip of Ramhorn ejecting to represent Eject in cassette mode.

Notes

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  • The Secret Files were narrated by Victor Caroli, narrator of the Transformers series, not Frank Welker, who provided the voice of Teletraan II.
  • The file on Metroplex and Trypticon is unique among the Secret Files, as it features a piece of exclusive animation of Scamper and Slammer not found anywhere in the series.
  • None of the "secrets" within the Secret Files are really a secret nor anything worth protecting from the opposing forces.

Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 version

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For the Japanese version of the series, Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010, the "Secret Files..." moniker was dropped from the beginning of each segment. Though the segments focusing on the history of the Predacons, the Autobots, the Decepticons, the Quintessons & Sharkticons, and Metroplex vs. Trypticon were used, the segments focusing on the Cassettes and Ultra Magnus were discarded. Instead, several new segments exclusive to the Japanese version of the show were assembled:

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References

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