Editing Drift (episode)

{{disambig3|Drift}}

{{episode|
|series=Armada
|ep=46
|prev=Dash (episode)
|next=Portent
|title="Drift"
|furigana=しんじつ
|japanese=運命<!--drift-->
|romaji=Shinjitsu
|translation=Fate: Truth
|image=driftepisode.jpg
|caption=It's ''Armada''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Wolverine.
|production code=TF: A-46
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]]
|writer=[[Ryō Motohira]]
|director=[[Hidehito Ueda]],<br>[[Mitsuru Kawasaki]] (asst. dir.) 
|animation studio=[[Actas Inc.]]
|airdate=[[September 27]], [[2003]] (English, United Kingdom)<br>[[November 14|14 November]] [[2003]] (Japanese)<br>[[November 28]], [[2003]] (English, United States)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy]]
}}

'''Everybody's hunt for Thrust leads to the revelation of the truth behind the Mini-Cons.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Screenshot-arm-47-1.jpg|left|thumb|It's a very "Gundam" moment.]]
With [[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] gone, [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] orders [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] to find the traitorous [[Decepticon]] who stole both the [[Skyboom (Armada)|Skyboom]] shield and the [[Requiem Blaster (Armada)|Requiem Blaster]]. He disregards the [[Autobot]]s' activities and commands all his resources to hunt Thrust down. [[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]] and [[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] are already on Thrust's trail.

Meanwhile, the Autobots are having difficulty getting the soldiers to withdraw from their fortifications. The soldiers are reluctant to let the threat of [[Unicron]] trivialize all the work they've done to try to take back the planet.

[[File:Screenshot-arm-47-2.jpg|thumb|This is when [[fan fiction|fanfics]] happen.]]

[[Carlos Lopez|Carlos]] walks in on [[Rad White|Rad]] having a shower. Rad considers how much of a major difference in their lives it made to meet the [[Mini-Con]]s, and he speculates it might have been part of a larger design, based on a strange feeling he might have met [[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] in the past. Carlos dismisses the theory entirely.

[[File:Drift kids hide from Decepticon.jpg|left|thumb]]

Hot Shot and Wheeljack radio the news about Thrust to [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], and High Wire sees on the video that the tunnels the two Autobots are venturing through are the same tunnels where the Mini-Cons were created. After disconnecting, Hot Shot and Wheeljack also notice the suspicious organic nature of the caverns. [[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] also hounds Thrust on his own. The three kids, donning their color-coded space suits, also head to the same tunnels, guided by Rad's gut instinct.

The first to locate Thrust is Starscream, so Thrust offers Starscream a job under Unicron. Starscream declines the offer and then he hears [[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] call out his name, indicating the kids have arrived. Noticing the kids, Thrust points the Requiem Blaster at them, threatening to shoot. Starscream attempts to stop him, but Thrust turns back to him and fires a shot from the Requiem Blaster, blowing Starscream into the distance. Alexis calls out his name in fear and in the blaze of light from the blast...

:''A younger Rad awakens on his mother's lap in the family car. Rad inquires about where the [[Transformer]]s are, but the parents dismiss his ramblings. High Wire's voice calls Rad's consciousness to another point in time.''

[[File:Screenshot-arm-47-4.jpg|thumb|Bradley's mom has got it goin' on.]]

:''In mysteriously colorful caves, the three kids see Hot Shot's body strapped to the terrain. Hot Shot doesn't identify the kids, but just mentions that the Mini-Cons were created by Unicron's cells. He brings their attention to other Transformers, lying dormant and embedded into the walls of the mysterious cavern, even the Decepticons. As Rad deduces that he and his friends have gone millions of years into the past, Alexis is creeped out. Hot Shot's body begins to be absorbed into the cavern, and there's another flash of time.''

:''The three kids witness several Mini-Cons emerge from glowing eggs, knowing they're watching the Mini-Cons being created by Unicron. Rad sees High Wire, but when he tries to speak to his friend, all he receives is a mind's glimpse at Unicron. Rad, creating a kind of "bootstrap" paradox, instructs the Mini-Cons to find their way to [[Earth]]. High Wire reads a few images of Earth from Rad's mind.''

Starscream's life is saved by time reversing just a bit as the kids' minds return to the present. Seizing the second chance, the [[Street Action Mini-Con Team]] combine and save Starscream's life, giving him a brief window to get close enough to be in no danger from the Requiem Blaster. An upwards shot alerts the two exploring Autobots to the location of the battle and brings the cavern down, letting Thrust get away while Starscream protects the children. 

Once the debris from the cavern stops falling, Alexis thanks Starscream. He smiles warmly at her and takes off after Thrust, continuing his hunt. High Wire speaks with Rad, validating Rad's theory that he had met the Mini-Cons before meeting on Earth. Hot Shot and Wheeljack arrive and are astounded to hear what Hot Shot had told the kids millions of years before.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)|Hot Shot]] (4)
*[[Side Swipe (Armada)|Side Swipe]] (6)
*[[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*[[Smokescreen (Armada)|Hoist]] (9)
*Autobot soldier (10)
*[[Scavenger (Armada)|Scavenger]] (11)
*[[Laserbeak (Armada)|Laserbeak]] (23)

|c2=
*[[Thrust (Armada)|Thrust]] (1)
*[[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (2)
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (3)
*[[Wheeljack (Armada)|Wheeljack]] (5)
*Decepticon soldier #1 (16)
*[[Starscream (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (17)
*Decepticon soldier #2 (22)
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] (26)

|c3=
*[[Carlos Lopez]] (12)
*[[Rad White]] (13)
*[[Alexis Thi Dang|Alexis]] (18)
*[[Billy (Armada)|Billy]] (20)
*[[Fred (Armada)|Fred]] (21)
*[[Rad White's parents|Rad's mother]] (24)
*[[Rad White's parents|Rad's father]] (25)

|h4=[[Mini-Con]]s|c4=
*[[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (14)
*[[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (15)
*[[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (19)
*[[Perceptor (Armada)|Perceptor]] (27)
|h5=Other|c5=
*[[Unicron]] (28) (silhouette)
}}

==Quotes==
"Be careful, Hot Shot! I almost bought the big one here!"<br>
"Aw, it's not too bad." ''[falls down hole]''
:—'''Wheeljack'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s warning goes ignored by '''Hot Shot''', to the latter's peril.


"I'd rather fight and die than follow the likes of you and Unicron."
:—'''Starscream''' refuses '''Thrust's''' offer with a furmanism.


"Who would have thought the Mini-Cons were created by Unicron's cells?"
:—'''Past Hot Shot''' spoils the show's big twist for anyone waiting to see it.


"So much for evolution, but one time we were told we could use them. But instead, we were the ones who were being used."
:—'''Past Hot Shot''' savors the irony.

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Micron Legend''===

===Animation and technical errors===
*When the kids see the dead Transformers in the alternate world, Optimus is correctly shown in his Cybertronian form (since he never came to Earth), but his chest is colored white instead of red. Megatron, meanwhile, is shown in his Cybertronian body in the long shot, but in the close up is drawn according to his Earth model.
*The alternate Hot Shot says "So much for evolution" when talking about using the Mini-Cons. "Evolution" being the Japanese term for Powerlinking, this could be a mistranslation.

===Continuity errors===
*The dialogue in the recap at the start of the episode doesn't match that of the same events shown in [[Dash (episode)|the previous episode]].
*If the Autobots had [[Depart|no intention of bringing the humans along]] when building the Axalon, and only acquiesced at the last moment, why is there a human-sized shower on board?

===Trivia===
*The Autobot arguing with Hoist has [[Lander]]'s character model with a different color scheme.
*[[Metalhawk (Masterforce)|Metalhawk]]'s character model, minus the wings, turns up as one of the Decepticons searching for the kids.
*The scene with Hot Shot and the other Transformers, despite Rad's understanding they've gone into the past, makes more sense as having gone into an alternate-timeline present where he never interacted with High Wire in the next scene/on Earth, considering Hot Shot references the Mini-Cons as having turned on the Transformers, and if the Transformers were all dead, why were they active in the present, unless they had their memories erased and were reactivated, which would almost make sense considering the way Unicron functions but my god I've gone cross-eyed.
*This episode marks the first time Starscream and Alexis meet after he rejoined the Decepticons.

===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Zurück in die Vergangenheit'''" ("Back to the Past")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[December 18|18 December]] [[2003]]

'''Hungarian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Visszatérés'''" ("Return")

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2003 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Vol:14 ([[Warner Bros.|Warner Music Video]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Micron Legend'' — Volume 12 ([[Columbia Music Entertainment]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2006 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Season One: Part Two ([[Rhino Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2009 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — Volume Two ([[New KSM]]) — English and German audio.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Armada'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])

[[Category:Armada episodes]]