Editing Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!

{{episode
|otherseries=''[[Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers]]'' part 2
|prev=Clash! Beast Warriors
|next=Bad Spark
|image=LioConvoyImminentDangertitlecard01.jpg
|caption=
|title="Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!"
|japanese=ライオコンボイ危機一髪!
|romaji=Lio Convoy Kikiippatsu!
|production company= "Beast Wars" Production Committee ([[Toei Animation|Toei]], [[TakaraTomy|Takara]], [[we've|AEON]], [[TV Tokyo]])
|airdate=[[December 19]], 1998
|story by=[[Yūjin Ishikawa]]
|written by=[[Toshiyasu Nagata]]
|directed by=[[Akira Nishimori]]
|animation studio=[[Ashi Productions]], [[Tsuburaya Productions]]
|continuity=[[Beast Wars continuity]]
}}

'''Galvatron kicks the Beast Wars on Gaia into overdrive when he summons forth one of the greatest monstrosities of the past, Majin Zarak, to lay waste to the Maximals.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:BWII-Mysterious Ship Vs Combiners.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]

Above the Planet [[Gaia]], where [[Lio Convoy]] and his [[Maximal]]s are fighting the [[Beast Wars (event)|Beast Wars]] against [[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] and his [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]], a strange ship appears. It disrupts a musical battle between the [[Jointron]]s and the [[Seacon (BW)|Seacons]], plowing through them and breaking apart their combined forms. As the ship draws nearer, the radar on the ''[[Yukikaze (BW)|Yukikaze]]'' warns the Maximals of its approach. They turn to Lio Convoy for directions. Lio Convoy rises with a twinkle in his eye.

Over on the ''[[Galvaburg II]]'', Galvatron and [[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] have discovered the approaching ship, too. Gigastorm recommends destroying it, but Galvatron has a "feeling" that it will bring the Predacons great fortune.

The ship crashes into the frozen tundra of Gaia's North Pole. [[Apache]] picks it up on his scanners and Lio Convoy orders a unit to investigate. [[Lio Junior]] begs to go, but the other Maximals shoot him down, telling him to go to his room and take a nap or whatever it is whippersnappers do these days. Lio Convoy orders Lio Junior to stay behind in case they need back-up, much to his dismay. [[Tasmania Kid]] interjects, asking Convoy to let Lio Junior go and that he'll take responsibility for him. Lio Convoy concedes and allows Lio Junior to participate.

Taking [[Santon]] and [[Skywarp (BW)|Skywarp]] along, Lio Junior and Tasmania Kid arrive in the frozen north. They then change to [[beast mode]] and begin searching. They eventually find the ship, seemingly abandoned, and Lio Junior wastes no time rushing inside to explore. Against Skywarp's advisement, Lio Junior begins pressing random buttons on a computer console and activates a teleport gate. No one knows what a "[[teleport gate]]" is except Tasmania Kid (oddly). He explains that it is a device that can control space-time and pluck living creatures from any point in history, including Transformers! The computer, however, requires a "control unit" in order to function.

Lio Junior finds the control unit (a rock-like spear) inside a floating ball, but before he can grab it, [[BB|Max-B]] drops in and swipes it. He then leaves and meets back up with [[Starscream (BW)|Hellscream]], [[Thrust (BW)|Thrustor]] and [[Dirge (BW)|Dirgegun]]. Being a brash young stereotype, Lio Junior chases after Max-B by himself and demands the Predacons fork over the control unit. Hellscream casually brushes his threat aside, telling Lio Junior to "go home and suck on [his] mother's breast". Lio Junior attacks, but is tossed aside by Hellscream without much effort. The other Maximals finally catch up and Lio Junior tells Skywarp and Santon its time to combine. Skywarp refuses, telling Lio Convoy that they aren't spiritually in sync enough to combine.

[[File:Liojunior.jpg|upright=1.4|right|thumb]]

Lio Junior gets frustrated and recklessly attacks Hellscream, snatching back the control unit. Hellscream responds by firing a powerful "Terrorstorm" blast at him. Tasmania Kid, however, leaps in front of him and takes the whole of the blast. Before he passes out, he tells Lio Junior that apparently there's nothing that can stop his selfish behavior. The Predacons then combine their power and attack the injured Maximals with a volley of firepower. Like a helpless little baby, Lio Junior cries and begs for them to please stop. Luckily, Lio Convoy and the other Maximals arrive just in time to stop them and scare them off.

The battle over and Kid not responding to treatment, Lio Convoy asks for a ''private'' meeting with Lio Junior. Lio Convoy scolds him, telling him that he ordered him to ''investigate'', not engage in battle. Lio Junior snaps back, saying that if it weren't for ''him'', the Predacons would have the control unit. Now, the Maximals have the power of the teleport gate in their hands. Lio Convoy tells him none of that matters, since it may be at the cost of Kid's life. He asks Lio Junior if the control unit was worth his friend's life. Lio Junior responds by saying he doesn't ''have'' any friends because everyone's always making fun of him and he just wanted to prove himself. Lio Convoy asks him if he's forgotten the ''reason'' the Maximals are fighting. Lio Junior apparently has, so Convoy reminds him that it's to protect the peace in the universe. He then says that anyone who has forgotten the Maximal reason for fighting is no comrade of his. Lio Junior throws a tantrum, saying he no longer wants to be a Maximal and that with the power of the control unit, he'll defeat the Predacons ''himself''. He then transforms and runs off.

As the Maximals fly off in the ''Yukikaze'', tending to a mortally wounded Tasmania Kid, Dirgegun reports to Galvatron on the ''Galvaburg II'' that the control unit is required to operate the teleport gate. Galvatron is apparently aware of Lio Junior's tantrum and mocks Lio Convoy's inability to take command of a single brat. He then finds Lio Junior alone in a forest and, with the rest of the Predacons, approaches him. Galvatron says that he came to help; the forest is full of dangerous animals and pitfalls. The Predacons will happily take the wayward cub in and protect him so long as he hands over the control unit. Lio Junior refuses. Galvatron then sits down and decides to tell him "the truth". The teleport gate is actually a doomsday weapon capable of destroying a whole planet. The Predacons activated it by mistake and now they need the control unit to shut it down, otherwise the planet will be destroyed in under an hour.

Lio Junior is about to buy it, when the still injured and bandaged Kid comes crawling out of the woods, warning Junior not to listen. Junior isn't sure who to believe, but decides that preventing the destruction of Gaia is a sure way to earn the respect of Lio Convoy and the others. 

As Kid collapses, Junior returns with Galvatron to the ''Galvaburg II'' and hands over the control unit. Immediately, Galvatron orders Gigastorm to release the teleport gate and summon the most powerful and vicious Transformer in history: [[Megatron (BW)|Megatron]]. Hellscream then throws Lio Junior in a cell and taunts him with the imminent destruction of the Maximals.

On the ''Yukikaze'', Kid returns and tells everyone that Lio Junior has defected to the Predacons. Lio Convoy swears to give him a lot more than a stearn talking to when they get him back, but Tasmania Kid urges them not to judge Junior so harshly. He says he knows how Lio Junior feels, as he was also a young runt trying to prove himself not long ago.

[[File:GalvatronBW1.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb|"Yarr, it's drivin' me nuts!"]]

At the teleport gate, Gigastorm locks onto Megatron's wavelength and activates the machine. Three units pop out of the side of the ship, float into the sky and open up a triangular interdimensional doorway. Through it, something big, horrible and most certainly ''not'' Megatron falls through, nearly crushing the [[Autoroller (BW)|Autoroller]]s in the process. Galvatron smacks his brother for screwing up the coordinates and demands Hellscream find out what that thing is. Galvatron's mood changes when he learns that it is the great [[Majin Zarak]]. Majin Zarak transforms into a gigantic ''holy crap gonna kill you'' monster and Galvatron takes command of his control unit (an old fashioned nautical stearing wheel, oddly). After thanking Lio Junior via video phone for providing him with a weapon superior to Megatron, he uses Majin Zarak to destroy a gigantic iceberg and then transforms him to aircraft carrier mode.

At the ''Yukikaze'', their sensors discover the legendary Majin Zarak, much to everyone's horror. Lio Convoy orders them to attack, anyway. They arrive, only to find that Majin Zarak's aircraft carrier mode can ''also'' move over land. The Maximals attack in a small craft, but are quickly swatted away by Zarak's superior firepower. They decide to land and attack from the ground.

On the ''Galvaburg II'', Lio Junior breaks out of his cell and escapes. Thrustor and Diregun give chase, but luckily for Junior, Skywarp and Santon arrive to even the odds and fight them off. Skywarp invites Junior to help in the battle against Zarak, but Junior says there's a place they must go, first. Skywarp suggests they all go as one and the three of them fuse into [[Magnaboss (BWII)|Magnaboss]]. He gets blasted in the chest by the retreating Thrustor, though, and is forced to march to the alien ship with a bad injury. With his last ounce of strength, Magnaboss uses his own power source to charge the teleport gate and summons a mysterious figure.

[[File:BWII-Majin Zarak blast.jpg|upright=1.4|right|thumb|Ahhh! Hairball!]]

Back at the canyon, the Maximals fight their way past the Autorollers, Hellscream and Max-B, but are still overwhelmed by Majin Zarak's power. Lio Convoy makes it onto the carrier and sends Gigastorm flying away with his Lio Typhoon. Galvatron's decided he's had enough and transforms Majin Zarak into his frickin' Godzilla mode. Zarak then uses the three cannons on his back to destroy a whole mountain range and scatter the Maximals. Galvatron thinks he's won, but he suddenly receives a Maximal text message: "You think you've won, but we won't be defeated. Let us settle this. Come to point B-2. -Convoy"

Buried beneath tons of rock, Lio Convoy hears a familiar voice urging him to fight on. He explains that he was summoned by Magnaboss, a selfless warrior who used his own power to bring him here. Lio Convoy is sorry he underestimated Magnaboss (and by extension, Lio Junior) and asks who the mysterious warrior is. They shake hands and in a blast of light, the tons of rock are cleared. Magnaboss greets Lio Convoy and tells him he's rescued the other Maximals. He then introduces them to...wait for it...''wait for it''...
{{-}}
[[File:OptimusPrimalAnimeOMG01.jpg|center|upright=1.4|thumb]]

<center>[[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]]!</center>

The "legendary Supreme Commander" swears to help the injured Maximals win at all costs. Lio Convoy decides that while he, Primal and Bighorn attack Majin Zarak, [[Scuba]], [[Apache]] and the rest will try and find his weak point. Magnaboss wants to fight, but Lio Convoy says he's too injured. Once again, Tasmania Kid convinces him to let the brat fight. The [[Insectron]]s then report that Majin Zarak is headed for point B-2, a narrow canyon where his bulky body will be useless. The Maximals then rally for their final battle.

[[File:DoubleConvoyTogetherAtLast01.jpg|upright=1.4|left|thumb]]

At point B-2, Primal and Convoy confront Galvatron, much to his surprise to see the two warriors standing together. Galvatron attempts to rush the leaders, but with Tasmania Kid's power source channeling into him, Magnaboss is strong enough to pick the aircraft carrier up and hurl it onto its side. The blow knocks Galvatron out of the ship, but he's rescued by Gigastorm, who carries him off in his hovercraft mode.

Suddenly, Majin Zarak transforms on his own. Turns out, he's alive! Majin Zarak appears invincible until Diver chimes in, having just discovered his weak spot. The third eye on his forehead is where all his nerve centers are clustered. A direct hit will destroy him, just like in a video game!

[[File:FlashBurningConvoy01.jpg|right|upright=1.4|thumb|It's called style, people. Look it up.]]

Hearing this, Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy synchronize their [[Energon Matrix|Energon Matrices]] and upgrade into Flash Lio Convoy and Burning Convoy. Burning Convoy transforms to monkey mode and rides atop Flash Lio Convoy's lion mode. They then leap into Zarak's face and Burning Convoy lands a mighty punch into his third eye. Flying away, they then combine the power of the Energon Matrices into the "Double Matrix Blaster", destroy his eye and blow him to smithereens.

The battle won, they return to the teleport gate. Lio Junior begs Primal to stay, but he reminds them that he still has to win the Beast Wars on planet [[Earth|Energoa]]. Besides, he says, their army is fine just the way it is. Apache interjects and says that, after some research, he's concluded that because the device plays havoc with time and space, it could conceivable destroy the universe, hence why whoever built it sent it to Gaia to be destroyed. Optimus Primal then returns to his proper place and time and the Maximals destroy the gate behind him.
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|h1=[[Maximal]]s|c1=

*[[DJ (BW)|DJ]] (1)
*[[Motorarm (BW)|Motorarm]] (2)
*[[Gimlet]] (3)
*[[Tripledacus]] (10)
*[[Apache]] (11)
*[[Diver (BW)|Diver]] (12)
*[[Scuba]] (13)
*[[Lio Convoy]] (14)
*[[Bighorn]] (15)
*[[Tasmania Kid]] (22)
*[[Lio Junior]] (23)
*[[Santon]] (24)
*[[Skywarp (BW)|Skywarp]] (25)
*[[Magnaboss (BWII)|Magnaboss]] (31)
*[[Optimus Primal (BW)|Optimus Primal]] (32)

|h2=[[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]]|c2=
*[[Megastorm|Gigastorm]] (16)
*[[Galvatron (BW)|Galvatron]] (17)
*[[BB|Max-B]] (18)
*[[Starscream (BW)|Hellscream]] (19)
*[[Thrust (BW)|Thrustor]] (20)
*[[Dirge (BW)|Dirgegun]] (21)
*[[Autostinger]] (26)
*[[Autocrusher]] (27)
*[[Autojetter]] (28)
*[[Autolauncher]] (29)
*[[Majin Zarak]] (30)

|h3=[[Insectron]]s|c3=
*[[Bigmos]] (33)
*[[Drill Nuts]] (34)
*[[Mantis]] (35)
*[[Powerhug (BW)|Powerhug]] (36)
*[[Scissor Boy]] (37)
*[[Tonbot]] (38)

|h4=[[Seacon (BW)|Seacons]]|c4=
*[[Halfshell]] (4)
*[[Scylla]] (5)
*[[Coelagon]] (6)
*[[Sea Phantom]] (7)
*[[Terrormander]] (8)
*[[God Neptune]] (9)
}}

==Production staff==

*Director: Akira Nishimori 
*Executive Producer: Tan Takaiwa, Hirohisa Sato, Tetsuya Suzuki, Yoshio Yamasaki, Araichi Miyagawa 
*Producer: Kozo Itagaki, Yukihiro Akutsu, Reiko Sawa
*Unit Director: Tetsuya Watanabe, Tomoharu Katsumata 
*General Animation Director: Takashi Yamamoto 
*Screenplay: Nagata Toshiyasu 
*Drafting: Hiroto Ishikawa 
*Director of Photography: Hitoshi Torigoe
*Music: Masae Sagara 
*Music producer: Hajime Tachihara, Hirokuni Maeyama
*[[theme song|Theme tunes]]:
**Opening song: "[[Space Dreamer: Haruka naru Beast Wars]]" 
**Ending song: "[[My Shooting Star]]"
*Art director: Geki Katsumata 
*Sound Director: [[Yoshikazu Iwanami]]
*Voice Director: Satake Tetsuya 
*Editing: Hajime Taniguchi 
*Character Design: Takashi Yamamoto 
*Animation Cooperation: [[Tsuburaya Productions]]
*Production Team: "Beast Wars" Production Committee ([[Toei Animation|Toei]], [[Ashi Productions]], [[TakaraTomy|Takara]], [[WE'VE|AEON]], [[TV Tokyo]])
*Distribution: Toei

==Notes==
===Transformers references===
[[File:PrimalLeadershipMatrix1.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
*The episode "[[Enter Lio Junior]]" established the [[Energon Matrix]] as a powerful device issued only to [[Supreme Commander]]s of the Maximal army. As this piece of tech only appeared in the Japanese ''Beast Wars'' media and not the American cartoons, the orb at the center of Optimus Primal's chest plate is [[retcon]]ned into being his Energon Matrix.
*As he departs, Optimus Primal refers to the world he's returning to as "[[Earth|Energoa]]". For those unfamiliar with the Japanese dub of ''Beast Wars'', Energoa is what the characters called the "alien world" they were stranded on until they learned it was actually prehistoric Earth.
*Originally, Majin Zarak was going to be [[Scorponok (G1)#Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Scorponok]], last seen in an upgraded version of his BlackZarak form in ''[[Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas!|Zone]]''. For whatever reason, he was changed to a new character, although Majin Zarak's weakness being in his head points to being leftover from Scorponok's status as a [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmaster]].<ref>[http://www.allspark.com/forums/topic/116666-3-new-botcon-facebook-character-pages-rook-andromeda-and-axiom-nexus-news-editor/?p=2967922 AllSpark Forum:] "Back when the Beast Wars II movie was being developed, the actual Scorponok from Headmasters was set to appear, but that was scrapped for some reason.

[[Jim Sorenson|Jim]] wanted me to use that idea, and so I wrote that up.

This was very much a coordinated project we did."</ref>

===Continuity notes===
*Due to the presence of the [[Angolmois Energy]]-upgraded [[Predacon (BW)|Predacons]] but the overall lack of [[Nemesis (BW)|Nemesis]] as an immediate threat, this movie likely takes place between episode 32, "[[The Lio Convoy Assassination Plot]]" (when the last of the [[Combatron (BW)|Cyborg Beast]]s were created), and episode 33, "[[The Great Angolmois Freezing Tactic]]" (when the Angolmois Energy on Gaia begins to erupt and the Maximals initiate their countermeasures against the Nemesis). Additionally, the ''Yukikaze'' is seen intact in the film, and the Maximals begin disassembling it for parts in episode 34, "[[Knock Out Nemesis]]", so it pretty much has to take place between those episodes.
*When the two first meet in this movie, Lio Convoy indicates that he wasn't personally acquainted with Optimus Primal prior to that moment. This is in direct conflict with a small story featured in [[Catalog#Beast Wars II|early ''Beast Wars II'' toy catalogs]] that depicted Optimus Primal and Lio Convoy as familiars. However, said catalog story was already ignored by the cartoon—over two weeks ahead of this movie's release—via the far-future timeframe established in the aforementioned 36th episode, "Emissary of the Fourth Planet", writing off that catalog story as a separate [[micro-continuity]].

===Continuity errors===
*The Seacons are seen in space, battling the Jointrons. While at first glance, this seems consistent, as the Seacons left Gaia in "[[The Final Battle (BWII)|The Final Battle]]", it was later revealed that they were captured and brainwashed into Galvatron's servitude in "[[The Artificial Planet Nemesis]]". While they certainly ''could'' be working for Galvatron in the opening sequence, they show no signs of the "mindless drone" effect the brainwashing had on them, as seen in "[[Revenge of the Space Pirates]]".
*The Jointrons appearing in space is more troublesome. The Jointrons became interested in hunting down and capturing the Seacons for glory in "[[Face the Setting Sun]]", which explains why they followed them into space, but the question of ''how'' the Jointrons got into space is more pressing. The ship they used to get to Gaia was shown to be destroyed in "[[The Combined Giant, Tripledacus]]" and the Maximals being unable to get into space without an operational craft would be a major conflict in the episodes that take place after this special.
*The ''Yukikaze'' is shown to be operational throughout the film, however, it was shown marooned and unable to fly in the premier episode "[[The New Forces Arrive!]]" As previously mentioned, the Maximals being unable to reach space would be an important plot point in the last arc of the series, making the operational ''Yukikaze'' seen in this movie all the more distracting.

===Trivia===
* It would seem all of the characters introduced during the second half of the cartoon ([[Enter Lio Junior|episode 26]] onwards) received completely original [[character model]]s for the film. Evidence of this can be found in the coloration of the [[Combatron (BW)|Cyborg Beasts]] versus their cartoon counterparts and some minor design elements between several of the models (e.g. [[Dirge (BW)|Dirgegun]]'s model is more of a green in the film, than a blue; [[Magnaboss (BWII)|Magnaboss]]'s elephant head [[kibble]] is reduced to basic shapes that cup around his legs, etc.). It is uncertain why there are differing models, but a reasonable assumption would be the timeline of both productions. The particular episodes  introducing these new characters were airing in [[September]] of [[1998]], while the film released in [[December]] (only a mere few months apart), meaning that both productions were likely being made around the same time, so the particular cartoon materials weren't available for the film staff, leading them to make up their own models.
* As the end credits roll, the audience is treated to a gallery of crayon drawings of various ''Beast Wars'' characters as submitted by children. It's random but adorable.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote|japanese}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special'' — Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger!! ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]])
;{{w|LaserDisc}} / DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''Beast Wars: Transformers Special'' (Pioneer LDC)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Beast Wars II episodes]]
[[Category:Real world films]]