Editing Chain of Command (BW)

{{disambig2|the ''Beast Wars'' episode|the ''Prime'' episode|Chain of Command (Prime)}}
{{episode 
|series=BWtoon
|ep=5
|image=Coc getshorty.jpg
|caption=An armed society is a polite society.
|title="Chain of Command"
|production company=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|airdate=[[September 24]], 1996
|written by=[[Jesse Winfield]]
|directed by=[[Andrew Doucette]]
|animation studio=[[Mainframe Entertainment]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
|packaged with=[[Cheetor (BW)/toys#Beast Wars Telemocha Series|Cheetus]]
}}
'''After Optimus Primal is abducted by an alien probe, the remaining Maximals must decide on a new leader.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Chain of Command Standing stones glow.jpg|left|200px|thumb|No wonder Stonehenge is popular.]]
The [[Maximal]]s detect an [[energon crystal]] under the {{w|cairn}} in the [[Standing Stones]].  [[Rattrap (BW)|Rattrap]] thinks it reeks of 'bait' and [[Rhinox (BW)|Rhinox]] notes that the [[energon]] on [[Earth|this planet]] isn't natural, as it does not conform to the planet's geology. The [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] attack, putting an end to the discussion. During the battle, [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] purposely fires directly on the buried energon crystal, causing it to destabilize. His prize now useless, [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] orders a retreat while the Maximals head for cover as it builds to overload. But instead of a debilitating [[energon wave]], it sends a signal to the stars, depleting the crystal's energy. With the Predacons gone and the energon reduced to dust, the bewildered Maximals return to base.

[[Image:Chain of Command Dinobot probe.jpg|right|200px|thumb|You are getting sleepy...]]
Later, an [[Vok probe|alien probe]] emerges from [[Transwarp|transwarp space]] and enters the atmosphere. The Predacons initially mistake it for a [[stasis pod]], but Rhinox immediately recognizes it as something else.  Both sides head to intercept it at the Standing Stones. [[Optimus Primal (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Optimus Primal]] and [[Dinobot (BW)|Dinobot]] confront Megatron and [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]], but when they transform and begin to battle, the probe puts out an energy burst that renders them unconscious and causes Primal to vanish into thin air. 

A disoriented Dinobot awakens in the ''[[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]]'''s [[CR chamber]] and, seeing three angry Maximals standing over him, momentarily mistakes it for a [[Maximal Torture Chamber]].  The probe, as it turned out, somehow dumped Dinobot, Megatron and Waspinator outside of their respective bases. Believing Primal to be destroyed, Dinobot attempts to take command of the Maximals.  Rhinox heads off a fight between Dinobot and Rattrap by insisting on a secret ballot, the traditional Maximal method for resolving such problems.

After the vote results in stalemate, with two votes for each contender, Dinobot giddily rebukes the shortcomings of their peaceful solution. He declares that he will break the tie by force and prepares to attack Rattrap. Before the fight can begin, they are contacted by Optimus Primal, who is ''not'' dead. Primal's body has been digitally stored, but his consciousness remains active within the probe. Optimus puts Rattrap in charge. Dinobot glares at him.

[[Image:Chain of Command Rhinox device.jpg|left|200px|thumb|"How's it going?"<br> "Good, good". <br> "... you just welded your hand to it didn't you?" <br> "Yes, yes I did".]]
Megatron, also believing Primal dead, sends [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] and Waspinator to the Standing Stones while the other Predacons attack the Axalon. Dinobot fights Megatron one-on-one, ignoring Rattrap's order to disengage and reset the Axalon's failing [[shield circuitry]]. Rattrap scrambles and is able to restore the shields at the last moment. The Predacons retreat when Dinobot beats Megatron back, and Dinobot apologizes to Rattrap for not following his orders, affirming himself "dishonored".  Dinobot's uncharacteristic deference and respect makes Rattrap uncomfortable, and he brushes it off.

[[Image:Chain of Command Maximals probe.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Maximals prepare to fight [[Trukk not munky|G1 fanatics]].]]
The Maximals head to the Standing Stones with a device Rhinox has built to attempt to extract Optimus from the probe. The Predacons attack them at the Stones, Rhinox unloading his frustrations on Waspinator when his device malfunctions, blasting him to bits with his chaingun. Waspinator shorts out and comes in contact with one of the stones which activates, revealing the entire Standing Stones site is a single device. The probe opens in response, and Primal materializes. The Predacons retreat before his considerable firepower, but the probe dematerializes before the Maximals can decide what to do with it.

Optimus commends Rattrap on his performance as commander, though Rattrap is more than happy to hand the title back. The Maximals are left wondering what the probe's purpose was, and Rhinox ominously observes the [[Vok|aliens]] have learned they have the ability to reason... and of their destructive capabilities.

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

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]]s
|c2=
* [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Waspinator (BW)|Waspinator]] (7)
* [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]] (8)
* [[Tarantulas (BW)|Tarantulas]] (9)
* [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] (10)

|c4=
* [[Vok probe]] (11)

}}

==Quotes==
"Hey power down!  You're on our side now, remember?"<br /> 
"And Maximals don't have torture chambers!  Though, you know... I could get behind that idea."
:—'''Cheetor''' and '''Rattrap''' to Dinobot


"Wait, stand by here!  Who died and made you Prime, scaleface?"
:—'''Rattrap''' trying to show Dinobot who's boss.


"Megatron back! Megatron back! Scorponok alone with Tarantulas and Terrorsaur.  Very ''bad!''"
:—'''Scorponok''' loses coherence under pressure.


"I know just how the weakling Maximals will respond to Optimus's death. Confusion!  Bickering!  Recriminations! The perfect opportunity for a surprise attack."
:—'''Megatron''' deals with loss like a true villain.


"Ha ha, great system, your 'democracy.'  No mechanism to break a tie!"
:—'''Dinobot''', who's actually a socialist, believe it or not.


"Make a device to extract physical molecular structure from an alien probe? Man, I've gotta be a miracle worker!"
:—'''Rhinox''', channeling [[Scotty]].


"You were selfless in putting that shield back online.  I ought to have followed your command I... am dishonored."<br />
"Ehh... next time."
:—'''Dinobot''' and an uncomfortable '''Rattrap'''


"But why would they want to know?  And more importantly, who are they?  Friends, enemies, or... something ''more''?"
:—'''Dinobot''', on the mysterious aliens

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
* If that's a solar eclipse in the opening shot, how come there's light coming from below the horizon? 
* When Waspinator first appears, his [[beast mode]] is all messed up with random bits being misaligned and sticking out of him oddly.
* During the initial fight, as Waspinator and Terrorsaur swoop up towards Optimus, Terrorsaur's upper body distorts for a fraction of a second before the shot changes.
* When Optimus is zapped into the alien device, his right gorilla hand is missing, his arm ending in a stump.
* Some of Rattrap's fingers are clipping though his hip as Rhinox announces the second vote for Dinobot.
* Both times when Rhinox says "Oh no", his lips don't move.
* When Dinobot executes his flying kick, his foot actually passes through Megatron's head. This is more apparent in the closeup shot.
* When Dinobot blasts away Megatron with his eye beams, the jaw of Megatron's ''T. rex'' head dislocates and snaps way wide open.
* Then, as Megatron lands and gets up, his dinosaur head clips through his leg.
* As Rhinox exclaims "This whole place ''is'' a single device!" and the view zooms out, Cheetor in the back keeps twitching and jumping poses between frames, as if he was still firing his gun.

===Continuity errors===
* Considering future revelations regarding the planet the Beast Wars occur on, the shots from space in this episode are odd. When the Standing Stones are first activated, we see a shot of the planet from space with the beam apparently originating from a large, unknown continent. When the Probe arrives we see it heading towards a continent that doesn't seem to match the earlier one. And the final shot of the episode also shows the planet, this time with a continent that looks the same shape as South America, but with Mexico missing. This time there's a continent to the right that could be Africa, but it's far too close if it is, and above is something that could vaguely be Europe if you squint, but it's also in the wrong place. It's possible that the vague geography was intentional on the part of the writers, to deliberately obfuscate future developments.
* The dialogue makes it very clear that the incapacitated Dinobot and Predacons did not return to base under their own power, but through some outside force. No one seems particularly concerned by this, though. Did the probe take everybody home? A genuine ''deus ex machina'' to move the plot forward?

===Continuity notes===
* The Maximals are not entirely convinced Dinobot didn't off Primal himself for the job, as he attempted to 3 episodes prior.
* The episode opens with the [[Planet Buster|second moon]] eclipsing the sun.  The moon's unnatural nature will again be mentioned in "[[The Trigger, Part 1]]", and it plays a critical role in the season finale.
* Megatron initially mistakes the alien probe for a Maximal stasis pod. Later episodes will show that a falling stasis pod is a big deal for both sides, as it gives them a chance to add a new member to their respective army.
* The ongoing [[Vok]] storyline put in its first appearance since "[[Beast Wars (Part 2)]]", it will feature again in "[[The Trigger, Part 1]]".  The Vok will not be named until the series is almost over.
* [[Scorponok (BW)|Scorponok]] exhibits his "babbling" personality in this episode as, apparently, being left alone with the scheming Terrorsaur and Tarantulas while Megatron is undergoing major repairs makes him ''extremely'' nervous. Given Tarantulas's dietary habits, this might be understandable...
* This episode features the (fairly awesome) debut of Rhinox's "Chaingun of Doom" (occasionally called the "Chaingun of Command" after this episode). It also involves the first time Waspinator is blown to scrap.

===Real-world references===
* Rattrap mentions "B-movies", a uniquely [[human]] concept.
* The "Standing Stones" resemble many European stone circles, of which [[Stonehenge]] is the most famous.  (However, the shot from space of showing the location of the Standing Stones certainly isn't Britain, and doesn't resemble Europe either.)

===Trivia===
* The initial fight by the [[Standing Stones]] features shadow, a rare luxury in early ''Beast Wars'' episodes.
* Optimus Primal is reading late at night below the ''Axalon'' when the probe comes down, a rare quiet character moment.
* During the battle at the Maximal base, Megatron tries to gain the upper hand by ramming his face into Dinobot's airborne foot. Megatron clearly fails at this attempt and takes note to dodge easily evadable flying kicks in the future.
* It is fairly certain that Rhinox is the one who voted for Rattrap and Cheetor is the one who voted for Dinobot. Rhinox was clearly unpleasantly surprised by the second vote for Dinobot, and when Optimus tells them that Rattrap is in charge, Cheetor is seen visibly annoyed in the background while Rhinox pats Rattrap happily on the back.
* Scorponok's missiles sport a Predacon insignia instead of the Maximal logos they've carried until now. Apparently the original idea was that they showed Maximal kills, but fans were confused as to why Scorponok, a Predacon, would have a Maximal logo on his weapons, so they changed it.
* On three separate occasions Maximals are stood at the Standing Stones staring at them while Predacons sneak up behind them. It's a good thing that Megatron seems to prefer dramatically interrupting the Maximals while they are speaking rather than just, y'know, shooting them in the back.

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La Disparition'''" ("The Disappearance")


:*''Title:'' "'''Disparition'''" ("Disappearance")


'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Il passaggio del comando'''" ("The Passage of the Command")


'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Kieta Convoy'''" (消えたコンボイ, "Convoy Disappeared")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[October 29|29 October]] [[1997]]


'''Portuguese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Cadeia de Comando'''" ("Chain of Command")


'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Cadena de Mando'''" (America, "Chain of Command")


'''Spanish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Jiērèn zhī Zhēng '''" (接任之争, "Dispute of Succession")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1996 — ''Beast Wars'' — A Feature Length Beasties Adventure ([[Alliance Atlantis|Alliance Video]])<br>
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1996 — ''Robots-Bêtes'' — Une Adventure Cybernetique (Alliance Video) — French audio only.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers'' — Convoy Disappeared ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars'' / ''Robots-Bêtes'' Three pack (Alliance Video) — Available in English or French audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2001 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Beginning: Vol. 1 ([[Universal]])<br>
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 2 ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]])
;Laserdisc
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1998 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Maximal Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — English and Japanese audio.
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2000 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2002 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Volume 1 ([[Rhino Entertainment|Rhinomation]])<br>
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete First Season (Rhinomation)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Shout! Factory]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2011 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Chain of Command (Shout! Factory)<br>
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — Classic Episodes — Where the Beasties Began! ([[Alliance Atlantis]]) — English and French audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Canada.png|20px|Canada]] 2005 — ''Beast Wars'' — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2006 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers'' — Season 1 ([[Madman Entertainment]])<br>
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers: Beast Wars'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)


[[Category:Beast Wars episodes]]
[[category:Beast Wars Telemocha Series]]
[[Category:Pack-in material]]