Editing Megatron's Sword

{{disambig2|the ''Energon'' episode|the weapon sometimes called "Megatron's Sword"|Energon Sword}}

{{episode|
|series=Energon
|ep=4
|prev=Scorpinok (episode)
|next=The New Cybertron City
|title="Megatron's Sword"
|japanese=メガトロンの証
|romaji=Megatron no Akashi
|translation=Proof of Megatron
|image=Energon Megatron'sSword.JPG
|caption=Not your father's {{w|Excalibur}}
|production code=
|production company=[[TV Tokyo]], [[Nihon Ad Systems|NAS]]
|writer=[[Shōji Tonoike]]
|director=[[Tadao Ōkubo]]
|animation studio=[[Actas Inc.|Actas]], [[Studio A-CAT]] (3D)
|airdate=[[January 30|30 January]] [[2004]] (Japanese)<br>[[February 21]], 2004 (English)
|continuity=[[Unicron Trilogy]]
}}

'''The survivors on Mars are attacked again, but the Autobots must turn their attention elsewhere.'''

==Synopsis==
[[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] can feel the newly captured [[energon]] reviving the form of his master, [[Unicron]]. But it's not fast enough, due to the [[Autobot]]s' interference. Alpha Q plots their destruction, by re-energizing the inert form of [[Megatron (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Megatron]]. This, of course, requires energon.

In a practice session, [[Jetfire (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Jetfire]] and [[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] aren't having much luck in [[Powerlinx]]ing, as Ironhide can't seem to properly synchronize his breathing with Jetfire. Jetfire leaves in a huff, but Ironhide seems to have a revelation.

[[File:E4 Tidal Wave.jpg|thumb|left|200px]]
A comet-thing approaches [[Mars (planet)|Mars]]. At the battered [[Mars City]] base, a group of [[Transformer]]s have found a new energon source, and [[radio]]ed the Autobots for backup. They nervously await a response.

[[Brian Jones|Dr. Jones]] radios the discovery to [[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Prime]] and asks for backup. Prime wants to evacuate Mars City completely, because the mining operations can't happen there without the [[Omnicon]]s. Ironhide jumps at the chance to go on the mission.

Two Transformers approach Mars City without identifying themselves. The Transformers there prepare to defend themselves.  The Transformers turn out to be Decepticons, including [[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]], who presents himself as a friend... till he confirms that there is energon on the planet. Hordes of [[Terrorcon (Energon)|Terrorcon]]s attack. Tidal Wave attacks and blasts into the mine. The [[Energon Saber|Energon Saber Mini-Con team]] makes their escape from the mine, into a sky filled with Terrorcons.  

The Autobots are about to deploy from [[Ocean City]], but Prime suddenly hesitates to leave the city, anticipating an attack in their absence. He calls off the mission, to Ironhide and [[Kicker Jones|Kicker]]'s frustration. Kicker waits for the attack to come; suddenly a [[space bridge]] opens, and a squad of [[Omnicon]]s arrives, along with [[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]]. [[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] greets his old comrade. Cyclonus scuffles a bit with him, however, taunting him that he's forgotten how to fight, and telling him that "[[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]]'s been reactivated" and will lead the Decepticons to new glory. The Energon Saber team arrives as well, reporting the situation on Mars.

[[File:Energon AlphaQ with Megatron'sSword.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Star Saber or Light Saber? You decide.]]
The comet-ship-thing returns to Unicron, and Alpha Q delivers a reward to Scorponok: [[Energon Sword|Megatron's Sword]], pulled from his very carcass.

Like the Energon Saber Mini-Con team, Ironhide and Kicker are restless, wanting to go help out on Mars. Meanwhile, a Terrorcon shows up at another [[Earth]] city, and the Transformers stationed there prepare for attack.  Prime's team prepares to move out; Prime refuses to allow Demolishor and Cyclonus to tag along, but they head off on their own anyway.  

Scorponok and Tidal Wave lead the Terrorcons against the city; Cyclonus and Demolishor arrive and find themselves facing off against their old comrade. Prime's team arrives. Prime sends Hot Shot to draw the Terrorcons away, and Ironhide to help out any civilians left in the city.  

[[File:Demolishor MegSword.jpg|thumb|200px]]
As Tidal Wave argues and fights with Cyclonus, Scorponok unleashes the sword's power. Ironhide and Kicker contemplate violating their orders; Kicker notes that he doesn't sense anyone in the city, meaning that everyone got out. Upon seeing the sword, Prime wonders if Megatron could still be alive, while Demolishor and Cyclonus have panic attacks on hearing that, and Tidal Wave declares that with energon, they can resurrect him. It's unproven, circumstantial, and something any reasonable mind can reject—which is probably why Cyclonus decides to switch sides, but Demolishor isn't so sure, and is left confused and hesitant.  

The Energon Saber team combines and offers themselves to Kicker as a weapon/hoverboard. Ironhide manages to Powerlinx successfully with Jetfire; Kicker gives him the sword, and they manage to save Prime from Scorponok. Demolishor stares at the sword in further confusion. Prime and Ironhide double-team Scorponok, who retreats before they can do any damage. Scorponok leads his troops away, and Cyclonus follows.

Demolishor is left full of doubts. Prime thanks Ironhide for the save, and reassures him that despite the day's tragedies, he did well.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (Energon)|Ironhide]] (2)
*[[Jetfire (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Jetfire]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (7)
*[[Hot Shot (Armada)/Cartoon continuity|Hot Shot]] (11)
*[[Inferno (Energon)|Inferno]] (12)
*[[Skyblast (Energon)|Skyblast]]s (19)
*[[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]]s (20)
*[[Prime Force]] (24)

|c2=
*[[Tidal Wave (Armada)|Tidal Wave]] (13)
*[[Demolishor (Armada)|Demolishor]] (17)
*[[Cyclonus (Armada)|Cyclonus]] (21)

|c3=
*[[Rad White]] (8)
*[[Brian Jones]] (9)
*[[Kicker Jones]] (10)

|c4=
*[[Alpha Quintesson|Alpha Q]] (1)
*[[Scattor (Energon)|Scattor]] (4)
*[[Skyboom (Energon)|Skyboom]] (5)
*[[Wreckage (Energon)|Wreckage]] (6)
*[[Battle Ravage]]s (14)
*[[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebomb]]s (15)
*[[Scorponok (Energon)|Scorponok]] (16)
*[[Grindor (Armada)|Grindor]] (18)
*[[High Wire (Armada)|High Wire]] (22)
*[[Sureshock (Armada)|Sureshock]] (23)
}}

==Quotes==
"Look. The energon flows through him. Perhaps we can ''use'' him!"'
:—'''Alpha Q''' hasn't thought this whole reviving-Megatron thing through very well.


"Yes, Optimus. There is still some energon at Mars City. We thought that it had been completely decimated but a hidden reserve was discovered by a squadron of Mini-Cons. I was hoping you could send a support team there to investigate."<br>
"There are Mini-Cons at Mars City?"
:—'''Dr. Jones''', who doesn't know what "decimated" means and can't keep track of current events, and '''Optimus Prime''', who can't keep track of his own troops.


"Mars City?! I'm in! I know I can teach those rookies a thing or two. You gotta let me lead the mission, sir!"
:—'''Ironhide''' is a victim of bad dubbing


"Huh? Where are those Autobots go."
:—'''Demolishor''' speak pretty one day.


"You chump! Scorponok wants you to believe Megatron is still alive to ''use'' you!"<br>
"But I have proof!"<br>
"Oh yeah? Well let's see it then!"<br>
"Not now. Later."<br>
"I ''knew'' you'd say that! Heheheahahahaha!"
:—'''Cyclonus''' reasons with '''Tidal Wave'''.  Now ''there's'' a true battle of the wits.


'''Demolishor''': "Megatron's still alive?!"<br>
'''Cyclonus''': "What do mean he's still alive?! He can't be! Can he?"<br>
'''Tidal Wave''': "We need energon for his resurrection."<br>
'''Cyclonus''': "No problemo! HAHAHAHA!"<br>
:—'''Cyclonus''' defects in his own unique way.


"Kicker. Help me. I don't know what I am anymore!"
:—'''Demolishor''''s self-doubt begins to grow.
{{--}}

==Notes==
===Differences with ''Super Link''===
*Jetfire claims that Ironhide needs to "synchronize his breathing" in order for them to combine. Err, ''right''. In ''Super Link'', he talked about feeling the pulse of his [[Spark of Combination]].
*''Energon'' presents the Autobots manning Mars City as Mini-Cons, when in actuality, they're Optimus Prime's own team of trainees, as seen in the [[Cybertron City (episode)|first episode]] of the series. This is why Ironhide is so determined to accompany Prime's team to Mars (to save his old friends), and why Prime and he share an emotional moment at the end of the episode (because they fail to save them).
*In ''Super Link'', when Cyclonus arrives, Demolishor tells him a rumor that Megatron has revived; Cyclonus is skeptical, and they both think Tidal Wave is an idiot for going along with it. In ''Energon'', Cyclonus tells Demolishor a rumor that ''Scorponok'' has been revived, despite the fact that neither of them have ever met Scorponok before.
*In ''Super Link'', the sword was made from Megatron and infused with his [[spark]]. ''Energon'' mangled this into the sword having belonged to Megatron.
*In one of the more famous ''Energon'' dub gaffes, Alpha Q claims that [[Energon Sword|Megatron's Sword]] is the [[Star Saber (Armada)|Star Saber]], which makes absolutely no sense.
*Ironhide speculates that "there could still be Mini-Cons on Mars who need our help!"  Well, yes, there's a whole city of them.
*The entire point of this episode—which is that the surviving Transformers on Mars possibly being wiped out—is pretty much glossed over. Can't have a bunch of guys getting killed in a kids show!

===Pain count===
*"Uh?": 3
*We need/they want energon: 6
*We've gotta: 4
*Let's do it: 1

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:Scorponok blacklines.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4]]
*In ''Energon'' when Jetfire and Ironhide go outside the base to help the Mini-Cons, as they run, the background of the main tower doesn't move. It does in ''Super Link''.
*In ''Energon'' when the Terrorcons begin bombarding the stone city fortress, the music track switches. This is because in ''Super Link'', there was no music before the attack commenced.
*When Scorponok is first handed Megatron's Sword, his entire body outline hasn't been resized to match his model's sizing for the scene. As the the camera pulls out, his model's outline returns to normal, meaning that they enlarged the CGI model to create the zoom effect. A cheatsy but ingenious animation trick, unfortunately executed very poorly.
*In ''Energon'', Scorponok gives Tidal Wave an order, the camera then zoom-pans-in on Tidal Wave while a crudely animated nutcracker style mouth says "EN-ER-GOOONN". Scorponok then transforms out of the shot. Tidal Wave's mouth moving is a dub-only addition as is Scorponok transforming. In ''Super Link'', Tidal Wave drops down out of the shot and the camera zoom-pans-in on Scorponok, who then does not transform, which makes sense, since he is next seen still in robot mode.
*In ''Energon'' when Scorponok first uses the Megatron Sword against Hot Shot a red shape is shown instead of the completed flame effect seen in ''Super Link''. Later at when Scorponok destroys Optimus Prime's [[Prime Force]] drone units with a sweep of the Megatron Sword, red circles appear, instead of the properly animated explosions seen in ''Super Link''. Also, in this shot Optimus and Scorponok are hovering in mid-air. In ''Super Link'' a foreground painting of the bridge covers up this error so it looks like then are standing & sitting on the bridge.
*When Cyclonus tells Tidal Wave that he is being used by Scorponok, his propellers stop moving for a minute before the angle changes.
*Tidal Wave's size is exagerrated as he attack Cyclonus, much like it is back in ''[[Transformers: Armada (cartoon)|Armada]]''.
*The animation of the ending battle sequence is amazingly unclear.
*When Ironhide and Jetfire finally Powerlinx together, they refer to it as "Super Linking," which is obviously the Japanese term.

===Continuity notes===
*This is the first time the Terrorcons are shown to speak.
*It appears Megatron's most loyal Decepticons were assigned to different posts as they are likely to cause trouble when placed together—something that is evident when Demolishor and Cyclonus disobey Optimus Prime's direct orders.
*Demolishor starts to question his loyalties.
*Gadgets and powers:
**Scorponok wields [[Energon Sword|Megatron's Sword]].
**Kicker can apparently sense living creatures/Transformers, not just danger and energon.
**Scorponok's visor is down for battle.
**Kicker uses the [[Energon Saber]] as a hover board.
**Powerlinx Ironhide [[Powerlinx]] with the Energon Saber.
**Optimus Prime disengages from his [[Super Mode]] and launches his Prime Force components at Scorponok, much like he did with his [[Trailer|container]] in the ''Armada'' episode "[[Trust (Armada)|Trust]]".
*Powerlinx forms:
**Optimus Prime Super Mode
**Energon Saber (first use)
**Powerlinx Ironhide with Jetfire (first use)

===Continuity errors===
*The fact that Mars City was previously a smoking bomb crater, with no detected life signs, is completely forgotten in this episode.  Instead, Dr. Jones reports to Prime that an energon source has been discovered there, rather than the more crucial fact that there were survivors of the first attack.
*Why at this point would Demolishor know or care who Scorponok is?
*Skyboom is called "Sonar" by Optimus—perhaps not so surprising since Skyboom's toy is a retool of [[Sonar (Armada)|Sonar]].
*Cyclonus was last seen guarding the moon base before it was attacked and destroyed in "[[Cybertron City (episode)|Cybertron City]]". So... where's he ''been'' all this time?. And why were there Omnicons with him when he came back?
*All the characters recognise the sword as Megatron's, when he ''never used it before''. This manages to make even ''less'' sense in the Japanese version, where the sword was explicitly created anew by Alpha Q.

===Trivia===
*More spiffy generics in this one, both in Mars City and in the unnamed [[Plains City]]. One of the Mars group is totally wearing a trash can lid on his head. With some slight modification, this same character model would later be recycled as [[Padlock (Energon)|Padlock]], the only distinguishing factor between the two of them being that Padlock lacks a mouth.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon ([[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]])<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2004 — ''Transformer: Super Link'' — Volume 001 ([[Interchannel]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2004 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2008 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — The Complete Series ([[Shout! Factory]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2014 — ''Transformers: Energon'' — Volume One (Shout! Factory)

[[Category:Energon episodes]]