Editing The Agenda (Part III)

{{episode
|series=BWtoon
|ep=39
|image=G1Prime BWMegs.jpg
|caption=Head ''off''.
|title="The Agenda" (Part III)
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[March 12]], 1998
|written by=[[Bob Forward]]
|directed by=[[Asaph Fipke]]<br />[[Colin Davies]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}
'''His plans crumbling, Megatron takes a final stab at winning the Beast Wars and changing history.'''

==Synopsis==
With [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] and his [[transwarp cruiser]] backing them up, the [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] unleash a full assault on the [[Maximal]] [[Axalon (BW)|base]]. [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] changes to [[beast mode]] and jumps onto the back of the transwarp cruiser, where he begins cutting into the ship's hull. On the battlefield, [[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus]] and [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] are pinned down by the Predacons' firepower, but the [[autogun]]s manage to knock [[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] from his perch atop [[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] and a short time later the larger Predacon runs him over.

[[File:Agenda 3 Rampage axalon.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Who decided to give the experiment awesome firepower?]]
It's not long before Ravage and Rampage bring down the base's shield, and [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] emerges to fire on Rampage.  Ravage has [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] transfer all the cruiser's power into one enormous missile. Before it can fire, Rattrap bursts into the ship's weapons hold and tosses a pair of [[Fusion weaponry#Fusion grenade|fusion grenade]]s that adhere to Tarantulas's hands. The bombs obliterate Tarantulas, the ship's interior, and Ravage—who faces the onrushing fireball with a stoic cry of "[[Decepticon]]s forever!" The cruiser falls out of the sky, coming to rest mere feet from Rampage—who is then blasted by the still-armed missile.  

With the cruiser destroyed and his minions out of commission, [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] flees. Optimus notes that he's not headed back to base, realizes [[Mount St. Hilary|where]] he's probably going, and orders the Maximals to pursue.

[[File:Ark BWAgenda1.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|OK, remember where we parked.]]
Meanwhile, [[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] and [[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] make their way into the caves of the volcano, uncovering the object of Blackarachnia's quest—the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]. Blackarachnia explains to Silverbolt that the ship was launched long ago, containing the Autobots' "finest heroes", and was shot down by Decepticons. The ship has members of both factions stored inside, who will awaken in the distant future to restart the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]]. Blackarachnia is concerned only with the power it possesses—but Megatron arrives just then, blasting Silverbolt offline and sealing the entrance to the caves behind him.  

[[File:Agenda 3 Blackarachnia codes.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|What's it like to see things like Neo?]]
The Maximals arrive hot on his heels, find the sealed entrance, and start digging their way in. Inside, Megatron threatens to vaporize Silverbolt, convincing Blackarachnia to use the access codes to gain access to the Ark (though she vehemently maintains it's only so they'll have some cover in the face of the imminent Maximal attack). The Maximals burst through in time to see the two Predacons sealing the Ark behind them.

Blackarachnia activates the ship's defenses to hold off the Maximals, while Megatron goes to "effect a more permanent solution." Entering the main bridge of the ship, he hovers among the fallen Autobots and Decepticons, eulogizing the Decepticons and cursing the Autobots, until he comes face to face with his intended target—[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]], the original [[Prime (rank)|leader]] of the [[Autobot]]s, who kept the Decepticons from victory (and therefore left their Predacon descendants in a subservient position to the dominant Maximals). Though the risk is incredible, Megatron decides to carry out [[Megatron (G1)|his namesake's]] instructions, charges his main weapon, and prepares to fire.

[[File:Agenda3 MegatronOptimusPrime.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Don't worry, we know [[The many deaths of Optimus Prime|the drill]].]]
In the caves, the Maximals are pelted by fire from the ship's cannon, until Rattrap manages to force a backblast that deactivates the cannon and shields. [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] struggles to open the mighty doors of the Ark. But the Maximals are too late—Megatron unleashes a full-power blast at Optimus Prime's head, destroying it. 

A time storm immediately wells up, spreading outward from the Ark and into space. The Maximals find themselves phasing in and out of past bodies—as well as out of existence—as Megatron emerges from the Ark, triumphant.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=
*[[Optimus Primal/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] (2)
*[[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]] (3)
*[[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] (6)
*[[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] (7)
*[[Silverbolt (BW)|Silverbolt]] (10)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (1)
*[[Quickstrike (BW)|Quickstrike]] (4)
*[[Rampage (BW)|Rampage]] (5)
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (8)
*[[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (9)
*[[Blackarachnia (BW)|Blackarachnia]] (11)

|h3=[[Autobot]]s|c3=
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (12)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (13)
*[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (14)
*[[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (15)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (16)

|h4=[[Decepticon]]s|c4=
*[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (17)
*[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (18)
*[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (19)
}}

==Quotes==
"Decepticons forever!"
:—'''Ravage'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s last words


"What're you looking at?"<br />
"That star.  Well, planet, actually.  Venus. It reminds me of you."<br />
"You mean hot, poisonous, and deadly? Aww, you're sweet."<br />
:—'''Blackarachnia''' and '''Silverbolt''', with a ref to the former's [[Venus Terzo|voice actress]]


"Stay with the group. When Megatron lands, we'll need all our firepower."<br />
"Where's he headed, Big Bot?"<br />
"To the beginning of everything, Cheetor, and quite possibly the end."
:—'''Optimus Primal''' and '''Cheetor'''


"I think we're almost through."<br />
"Then, stand back."<br />
"Wait, we just—"<br />
''Silverbolt blows the rocks away''<br />
"Uh, never mind.  What is it with guys and high explosives?"<br />
:—'''Blackarachnia''' and '''Silverbolt'''.  ([[Michael Bay|Guys]] really don't know either.)


"Aw, man! That ship wasn't built, it was poured!"<br />
"[[Die-cast]] construction!" [''He [[wikipedia:Breaking the fourth wall|looks at the audience]]''] "It's a lost art."
:—'''Rattrap''' and '''Optimus Primal''' comment on the sturdiness of the Ark.


"Now I enter these hallowed halls...a conqueror...yesss. Autobots and Decepticons, still frozen in emergency stasis, awaiting the moment, four million years hence, when they will awaken to start the Great War. Hmmm, the Great War, when the Autobots defeated the Decepticons, and thus their descendants, the Maximals, rule we Predacons. Archaic energon [[guzzler]]s! How ''dare'' they? Hmmm, unwilling though I was to follow my namesake's instructions, it has all come down to this: the ultimate risk, for the ultimate prize. A day of reckoning with ''those'' who made ''us'' slaves!"
:—'''Megatron''' enters the command bridge of the Ark.


"So, we are now face to face, Optimus ''Prime''. In one future, you awaken and become the great leader of the Autobots. But time shall take a different track, now. Computer! All available power to primary weapon! ... And now, Optimus Prime, in memory of the Decepticons...for the glory of the Predacons...for the Cybertron that is rightfully ours—and ''mine''—to rule! ...I unleash the storm of vengeance...''farewell!''"
:—'''Megatron''' rewrites history


"Say goodbye to the universe, Maximals! The future has changed. Yessssss. The Autobots lose! Evil ''triumphs!'' And you...''YOU'' NO LONGER EXIST!"
:—'''Megatron'''

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* During the opening battle scene, Optimus Primal takes several shots to the chest, leaving it blackened and dented. In the shot of the Maximals watching Ravage's ship explode, his chest is undamaged-and then it goes back to damaged as he talks about why Ravage betrayed them.
* After Ravage's ship goes down and the Maximals decide to chase after Megatron, Optimus transforms to flight mode. His front, back, and upper torso are all messed up, to the point that he has to spin around a few times after transforming. (While this is happening, the scene mostly switches to Rattrap climbing on Cheetor.) Optimus is normal again when he tells Rhinox to "Get on."
* In the first close-up of Megatron's face in the volcano (after he shoots Silverbolt and Blackarachnia), his face is very dark-almost black.
* After Megatron blasts the entrance shut and the Maximals get off and find it covered, for a split second, the colors on Rattrap's wheels (on his back) and his rat legs are reversed.
*Rattrap's front rat legs are the same shiny red as his rat body as the Maximals land outside the mountain.
*In the Ark flashback, Optimus Prime's autobrands are on the back of his shoulders.

===Continuity errors===
* This episode called into sudden question the location of the Maximal and Predacon bases. The events of "[[Code of Hero]]" seem to place the series firmly somewhere in Africa, where early Humanity evolved; the templates for the Maximals' [[beast mode]]s (gorillas, cheetahs, rhinos) would seem to back this up.  However, the Ark is traditionally seen to have crashed in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. If this is the case, the Maximals pursued Megatron across the Atlantic Ocean and over an entire continent! Even if the Ark touched down in Africa in this continuity, in "[[Possession]]", [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream's]] spark is ''clearly'' shown landing in the southwest United States. Also, the early humans still appear after any theoretical "crossing of the Atlantic" took place.
** In an early script for "[[Nemesis Part 2]]" the Maximals would launch not the Autobot shuttle, but the Ark itself. This variation would have perhaps provided some sort of explanation to the mystery, as the Ark might, for example, have wound up in North America after fighting with the Nemesis again.
* Either way, it doesn't make much sense that the Maximals make ''no'' attempt to shoot down Megatron while he's still on the run, rather than waiting till he reaches his destination. In his defense, Optimus may have thought that they were at a disadvantage during the chase: Only Rattrap is in any position to attack (Optimus and Cheetor being in flight mode and Rhinox probably having enough problems balancing on Optimus's hoverboard), and Megatron would be hard to hit (he's pretty far away, and not presenting much of a target from Rattrap's position). Of course, that still doesn't explain why Optimus doesn't just let Cheetor and Rattrap fly ahead and get a better shot—after all, [[Changing of the Guard|a later episode]] would prove that the espionage expert has pretty good aim even when hitching a flight.
* Blackarachnia claims that the [[Great War (G1)|Great War]] started in [[1984]], when [[Mount St. Hilary]] erupted. In both the Marvel comics and the cartoon, the war had started long before the ''Ark'' even crashed and gone on without interruption. At best, the reawakening of the ''Ark'' and ''Nemesis'' crews intensified the conflict. Megatron made the same mistake in the previous episode.
* Ravage was in his cassette mode in the ship at the end of last episode, but is piloting it from the cockpit in this one. Given the nature of the former mode as essentially [[GEEWUN|fanservice]], this may not be terribly surprising.
* Surely the Maximals would have breached the Ark much faster if Optimus Primal had helped Rhinox force open the doors, seeing as he's previously demonstrated physical strength on par with or superior to Rhinox.  But no, he just kinda stands back and tells Rhinox to "hurry!".

===Transformers references===
[[File:Agenda3-AutobotsonArkattack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|At the time, these guys hadn't gotten any work in a while.]]
*In reference to the strength of the Ark, Rattrap claims, "That ship wasn't built, it was poured!" Primal replies "Die-cast construction. It's a lost art," in homage to the original Transformer toys, which featured some [[die-cast]] parts.
*We get to see the Ark launch from Cybertron, along with a brief glimpse of Optimus Prime, [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]], [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] and [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] moving about, as well as a glimpse of the ''Nemesis'' attacking the Ark.
*The final act features a bonanza of cameo appearances by the original Generation 1 Transformers, including Prowl, Optimus Prime, [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], Ironhide, [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]], and [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]].

===Real-world references===
* Rattrap refers to his [[alternate mode|vehicle mode]] as Knievel mode, a reference to [[wikipedia:Evel Knievel|Evel Knievel]].
* When Rattrap's torch goes out and he has to break through the ship with his beast mode's teeth, he calls himself the [[wikipedia:The Stainless Steel Rat|Stainless Steel Rat]].
* During the short fight between Rhinox and Rampage, Rhinox dives through the air firing his guns in a homage to ''[[wikipedia:The Killer (1989 film)|The Killer]]''.
* As Rattrap rides the missile connected with Ravage's ship, he lets out a cowboy yell. This is an homage to Stanley Kubrick's ''[[wikipedia:Dr. Strangelove|Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb]]''.
* Blackarachnia refers to Silverbolt as "Jo-Jo", possibly in reference to [[wikipedia:Fedor Jeftichew|Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy]].

===Trivia===
[[File:Agenda3 opening.JPG|thumb|Yes, "Part Eye-Eye-Eye".]]
*Despite every other multi-part episode in ''Beast Wars'' using Arabic numerals in its title (including the first two parts of "The Agenda"), this episode opts for the Roman numeral for whatever reason.
* Megatron, to no one's surprise, is perfectly willing to sacrifice most of his team to defeat the Maximals.  Blackarachnia, Inferno, Quickstrike, and Rampage were all originally Maximal protoforms (or, in Rampage's case, the product of Maximal science).  If his plan to destroy the Autobots and Maximals retroactively had worked, he would have been left with a team consisting of Waspinator and Tarantulas.  (Tarantulas's precise origins are unclear, but he's definitely not a descendant of the Autobots.)
*In any event, Megatron's plan would seem to be [[wikipedia:Temporal paradox|temporally problematic]], since such a drastic change could've wiped out the Predacons (and himself) just as easily as the Maximals.  Small wonder he "was reluctant to follow my namesake's instructions" and regards it as "the ultimate risk". Megatron's ending in the ''[[Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64)|Beast Wars Transmetals]]'' video game further elaborates on this, stating that with Optimus Prime dead, there would be no [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]], and, as such, nothing to [[The Transformers: The Movie|stop Unicron from destroying Cybertron]], an act that would wipe out Autobots and Decepticons.
*Apparently, Rhinox is afraid of heights. While sitting on Primal's hoverboard, he looks straight ahead, occasionally looking down and immediately snapping straight up with what looks like pure horror on his face.
*This episode finally reveals why Optimus has been so worried about Megatron's activities for the past few episodes; he's afraid that Megatron will use the information on the Golden Disk to find the Ark and alter history. Presumably, this is the matter of "great importance" Dinobot wished to speak with Optimus about at the end of "[[Maximal, No More]]".
*This episode marks the commencement of an ongoing error, whereby [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]] is frequently pronounced "Tele''tron'' 1". The issue is resolved with [[Rattrap (BW)|extreme subtlety]] in "[[Nemesis Part 2]]".
*The word "suckers" is written on the giant missile in [[Cybertronix]]. 
*Bob Forward had originally intended to make Rattrap chew all the way through Ravage's ship in beast mode, rather than using a laser cutter first. In a sly remark on Madman's commentary of the episode, he states "My version would have been cheaper!"
*Megatron stating that "YOU NO LONGER EXIST!!!" could have also been referring to the viewer, given the fact that the show takes place on prehistoric Earth, with prehistoric humans, and the backlash of Prime's death may as well have affected the humans too.
*During the scene when [[Silverbolt]] and [[Blackarachnia]] are digging through the cave and look at a star before they find the Ark, Silverbolt is hunched over carrying a rock as big as his head. In contrast, Blackarachnia is lifting a rock bigger than both of their torsos, by supporting it with her claws to keep it on her left shoulder...with her back straight. If that is the case, why is he her hero?

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Le Programme 3'''" (Canada, "The Program 3")


'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Il coraggio di Grifo - Parte 3'''" ("The Courage of Grifo - Part 3")


'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Muka~shi Mukashi'''" (むか～しむかし, "Once Upon a Time")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 22]] [[1999]]


'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Os Planos Parte 3'''" ("The Plans Part 3")


'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''El Agente (Parte 3)'''" (The Agent (Part 3)")


:*''Title:'' "'''El Programa Tercera Parte'''" (America, "The Agenda Third Part")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Series 2 / Volume 4 ([[wikipedia:Siren Visual|Siren Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers: Metals'' — I Do Love You! ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[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.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Second Season ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]])<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Vol. 1 (Universal)<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 2 ([[Madman Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Agenda part 3}}
[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]