Editing Triple Takeover

{{episode
|image=TripleTakeover Blitzwing Astrotrain stadium.jpg
|caption=In which we learn exactly why Megatron is in charge of the Decepticons.
|series=G1toon
|ep=50
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=39
|prev2=Kremzeek!
|next2=Child's Play (episode)
|series3=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=18
|prev3=Kremzeek!
|next3=Starscream's Brigade
|title="Triple Takeover"
|season=2
|season ep=34
|written by=[[Larry Strauss]]
|production code=700-49
|airdate=[[November 19]], [[1985]]
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[Unknown Generation 1 animation studios|Unknown]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMPu4Adi7JQ
|videosite=YouTube
}}
'''Astrotrain and Blitzwing depose Megatron and Starscream, then proceed to wreak havoc.'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:TripleTakeover Mount Deceptimore.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Admit it. That is pretty cool.]]
[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], [[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] and [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] are using their weapons to carve their faces along with [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]]'s into a mountainside. They agree one of the faces doesn't belong, then decide to band together and overthrow Megatron. Flying back to base, Blitzwing and Astrotrain decide who should lead Megatron into the trap, one of them suggesting Starscream while the other counters how the [[Air Commander]] has constantly been attempting to become leader of the [[Decepticon]]s and failed. Starscream retorts as usual and says he will do it, and the other two gloat about manipulating him.

Starscream leads Megatron into the sewers, stating that a secret [[Autobot]] energy base is present there, but the doors close around them. Megatron recognizes it's a trap but gets frozen. Starscream gloats and tries to escape through a hatch but finds out that it's been locked by his "allies". This leaves Astrotrain and Blitzwing as joint Decepticon leaders.

[[File:Tripletakeoverblitzwingcoach.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|The Coach rivals Prowl, Jazz, and Ultra Magnus as "Best Sub-Commander ever".]]
Heading for a stadium, Blitzwing, in a display of great intelligence, drafts a [[football coach]] to be his [[second-in-command]] and demands tactical advice from him, keeping him stuffed in a locker when not needed. Blitzwing misinterprets the coach's suggestions of "zone defense" and "long bomb" and has the [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] build a massive highway maze, then begins firing "long bombs" from the stadium into the surrounding city. [[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] leads a group of Autobots to investigate, but they end up crashing into each other in the Constructicons' maze and getting mashed flat by Blitzwing in tank mode. Meanwhile, Astrotrain heads to a train station, where he "conscripts" the [[Astroforce]], human trains which are to be his army. He sends them into a tunnel to collect energy lines and convert them into [[energon]]. It actually goes quite well for Astrotrain. The Astroforce? Not so much.

[[File:TripleTakeover Astrotrain trashedroforce.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|"You're embarrassing me in front of the guys!"]]
Meanwhile, [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] flies over the maze, where [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] has built himself a throne... made of Prowl, [[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]], [[Skids (G1)|Skids]], and [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]]. Guided by Powerglide from the air, [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] and [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] manage to rescue the Autobots, causing Blitzwing and Scrapper to crash into each other. At the train station, the [[Seeker (body-type)|Seekers]] come to see how Astrotrain is doing. To his credit, he has gotten a lot of [[energon cube]]s, but his Astroforce has somehow gotten off their tracks and into a knot. Astrotrain urges one of the trains to gather some energy from a gas main, but it turns out to be a water main, which floods the tunnel. Worse, it heads into the tunnel in which Megatron and Starscream are trapped. Online again, Megatron accuses Starscream of another attempt at treason and begins the customary throttling. Starscream maintains that he was tricked. The pair go in search of the two traitorous [[Triple Changer]]s.

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]], and [[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike]] see the two Decepticons, only to be distracted by the water main flooding the city. Optimus rescues Spike after the boy is washed away, handing him off to Powerglide to take to safety. [[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] uses his [[force field]] to push back the water, while Optimus and Ironhide seal the main. Heading for the station, Megatron and Starscream encounter Prime, who claims that he's looking for the real leaders of the Decepticons, implying it isn't the two of them. This really angers Megatron, who tries to kill the Autobot leader, but Prime escapes. Megatron leaves to put Astrotrain and Blitzwing in their place, while the Seekers watch and place bets on who will win. Optimus, however, is content to sit back and wait for the outcome.

At the stadium, the Constructicons demand a share of the power Blitzwing promised, but he refuses and tells them to go jump off a bridge. Bad idea, for the Constructicons form [[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]]. The flood from the water main finally dies out at the stadium, depositing Astrotrain, who decides to scrap Blitzwing as well. 

[[File:Tripletakeoverautobotthrone.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Unfortunately, the "Seatmaster" line never really took off...]]
Megatron and Starscream arrive, and Megatron beats his would-be usurpers senseless, but Devastator knocks out Megatron, then turns his sights on the Air Commander. Starscream manages to dodge Devastator, then Megatron slams the giant. Megatron, Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Starscream, and Devastator then engage in a battle royale which sees Megatron emerge victorious. He decides to spare the traitors, saying the Decepticon cause is too important, but warns them never to betray him again. 

As the Autobots look on, they're impressed that Prime knew that Megatron would handle the Decepticons for them. The previously injured Autobots form a throne for their commander to sit on, but Optimus Prime declares that he'd rather [[Roll out|roll]].
{{--}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (14)
*[[Tracks (G1)|Tracks]] (15)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Prowl]] (16)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (17)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (18)
*[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (19)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (20)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (25)
*[[Ironhide (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ironhide]] (26)
*[[Trailbreaker (G1)|Trailbreaker]] (28)
|c2=
{{collist|2|
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (1)
*[[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (2)
*[[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (3)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (8)
*[[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (9)
*[[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]] (10)
*[[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (11)
*[[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (12)
*[[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (13)
*[[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (21)
*[[Thundercracker (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Thundercracker]] (22)
*[[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (23)
*[[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (24)
*[[Devastator (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Devastator]] (29)
}}
|c3=
*[[football coach|Coach]] (5)
*Football players (6)
*Train conductor (7)
*[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Spike Witwicky]] (27)
}}

==Quotes==
"No planet ever lost its orbit underestimating the stupidity of Starscream."
:—'''Astrotrain'''


[[File:TripleTakeover Football coach.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"You're playing stupid football, and I'm not going to have it!"]]
"Coach, it's a tank! What do I do?"<br>
"GIVE HIM THE BALL!"
:—A hapless '''halfback''' and his '''coach''' meet Blitzwing.


"Tell me what's on your mind, or I'll splatter it on the wall and see for myself!"
:—'''Blitzwing''' to <s>the football coach</s> his second-in-command.


"Scrapper calling Blitzwing. What is the purpose of this highway maze you ordered us to build?"<br>
"It's a ''zone defense'', you ignorant fool!"
:—'''Blitzwing''' explains the perfectly obvious to '''Scrapper'''


"Scrapper, how big is our zone defense?"<br>
"Can't tell. All the others are lost in it! All I know is, it's ''big!''"
:—Decepticon "leader" '''Blitzwing''' and '''Scrapper'''


[[File:TripleTakeover-ThrustAndAstrotrain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A single double-crossing Triple Changer.]]
"Astrotrain couldn't lead rats to a garbage can."
''(Other Decepticons snicker)''
:—Astrotrain gets no respect from '''Thrust'''.


"''You'' led me into this trap!!"<br>
"I was tricked! The Triple Changers! They told me it was a power station!"<br>
"You are either lying, or you're ''stupid!''"<br>
"I'm stupid! I'm stupid!"
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream''' cut straight to the chase


''(Constructicons drive through scoreboard)''<br>
'''Scrapper''': Victory is ours!<br>
'''Blitzwing''': What do you mean, ''ours''? You broke my scoreboard!<br>
'''Scrapper''': We built your maze. Now you keep your part of the bargain.<br>
'''Blitzwing''': What bargain?<br>
'''Scrapper''': You promised us a partnership in leading the Decepticons.<br>
'''Blitzwing''': Tell you what, guys. Why don't you go build a bridge...and ''jump off it''!<br> 
'''Scrapper''': Constructicons... transform into Devastator!<br>
''(Constructicons form Devastator and advances menacingly on Blitzwing)''<br>
'''Blitzwing''': Hey! No offense, big guy!
:—Blitzwing learns an important lesson: never shortchange the Decepticon team that can combine into a giant robot mode.


"Don't waste your time, Megatron. Incinerating you is of no interest to me. I'm looking for the leaders of the Decepticons."<br> 
"''I'' am the Decepticon leader!"<br>
"You and Starscream are just a nuisance. A couple of metallic mosquitoes."<br>
"Mosquitoes?! Then feel my BITE!"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' brilliantly manipulates '''Megatron'''.


'''Thundercracker''': I say Megatron will prevail!<br>
'''Thrust''': Three energon cubes says you're wrong!<br>
'''Thundercracker''': Make it four!<br>
'''Ramjet''': My money is on Devastator.
:—Who becomes new leader of the Decepticons? PLACE BETS NOW!


"Get this straight: ''I'' am Decepticon Leader. YOU are recyclable!"
:—'''Megatron''' disses Blitzwing and Astrotrain


"Megatron is a wimp!"<br>
"So is ''Starscream''!"<br>
:—'''Starscream''' finds that kissing up doesn't work so well on '''Devastator'''

==Notes==
===Production information===
* First draft script submitted: 23rd May 1985
* Dialogue recording: 10th June 1985

===Continuity notes===
[[File:TripleTakeover Skids.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Blink and you'll miss him! Unless you're Prowl, in which case you'll smash right into him.]]
*By this point in the series, Starscream's voice had gotten rather high-pitched, and this is one of the most notable instances.
*The Triplechangers' trap uses "[[absolute zero degree molecules]]".
*Astrotrain refers to the fleeing humans as "spineless plasm-heads".
*Gadgets and powers: 
**Hoist unfolds an incredibly long length of telescoping crane to save a driver whose car ran into the river. No wonder they call him "Hoist"!
**Ironhide fires "supercool nitrogen" from his hand gun to patch the broken water main. It's a blue laser beam that solidifies as a dark blue substance.
**Trailbreaker's forcefields are rainbow-coloured. Pretty! He fires them from his gun arm [[Dinobot Island, Part 1|again]].
**Powerglide can float in place in jet mode. 
*This is the second and last time that Skids shows up in the Generation 1 cartoon. He has a completely different voice than he did in "[[Quest for Survival]]".
*Where did the trailer go?
**Prime's trailer rolls in from off-screen when he transforms during the flood, and rolls away again when he returns to [[robot mode]].
**The trailer follows him ''everywhere''! Even when he transforms inside a random human building, the trailer comes rolling in!
*Scrapper making a throne from the trashed Autobots is based on his bio, which says he incorporates defeated Autobots into his works.
*Devastator makes his first attempt at usurping control of the Decepticons from Megatron and actually attacks his former leader, something that goes against previous character portrayals, in which he was shown as a loyal follower (particularly notable in "[[The Core]]"). Also, how Megatron was able to defeat him is unknown, since the battle ended off-screen. Earlier on in the fight, Megatron's fusion cannon shots just bounced off him, so it's a big mystery.
*'''[[Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1|&lt; &lt;]]''' What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's gotten himself frozen! Unfortunately, so has Starscream. '''[[Starscream's Brigade|&gt; &gt;]]'''

===Real-world references===
*The weirdly improbable face carving is, of course, an homage to [[Mount Rushmore]].
*Astrotrain's line about "No planet ever lost its orbit underestimating the stupidity of Starscream" is a paraphrase of a famous quotation by early 20th Century satirist and journalist {{w|H. L. Mencken}}.
*''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
**Some ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine rumble as the Seekers fly into the subway tunnel.
**The sliding door sound effect from the [[Death Star]] is used for the trains venting steam.
**More ''Falcon'' noise as Megatron and Starscream take off to attack Blitzwing.
**[[X-wing Fighter|X-Wings]] diving, and faint [[TIE Fighter]] roar, as Megatron takes off from the stadium.

===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:AstrotrainTakeover.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.25|For this shot, Astrotrain's helmet and shoulder-wheels are colored purple, as on his finalized design, but his wings are mostly grey, in accordance with the outdated color model the rest of the episode uses.]]
*Astrotrain is a real mess this episode.
**He spends virtually the entirety of this episode with an outdated color model which makes his helmet and most of his wings and shoulder-wheels grey instead of the standard purple of his finished design usually seen in the series. This alternate model can also be spotted in "[[The Secret of Omega Supreme (episode)|The Secret of Omega Supreme]]", and will be consistently used by [[AKOM]] in season three.
**Further, in a small handful of scenes (most notably, the shot of him transforming as he arrives at the train station), he appears with a color scheme "in-between" his outdated and finished designs, with purple helmet and shoulder wheels, but still mostly-grey wings (right). It's not clear if this came from an actual, third model sheet that was created between colour revisions, or if it was just a goof by the colorist combining aspects of the two. This particular screenshot has been widely shared online as if it were Astrotrain's true cartoon coloration (it's one of the first things you get it you google "cartoon Astrotrain"), and consequently, it [[Miscolorings based on the Generation 1 cartoon|went on to influence]] the appearance of his [[Astrotrain (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Siege|2019 ''Siege'' toy]].
**Additionally, throughout the episode, he ''also'' intermittently appears with a different rear-view character model previously seen in the [[Commercial/Generation 1|commercial]] for his toy, which omits the shuttle tailfin that's normally on his back, and makes the backs of his wings much more detailed.
*The conspiracists' laser-sculpting is not very credible. Several shots in a row produce no effect, and then Megatron's face appears in the rock after one additional shot. The three Decepticons aren't even moving their arms as they shoot. They also keep firing after the four faces are already complete.
*Coloring errors:
**As they fly in the beginning, Starscreams' chest is red when it should be white.
**As Starscream says, "I will get Megatron," Decepticon HQ is miscolored as white instead of purple.
**Starscream's eyes are blue as Megatron yells at him for failing.
**Blitzwing's tank barrel is purple as he aims at the football player with the ball.
**Blitzwing's head is purple instead of yellow as the transforms after hitting the scoreboard.
**The side of Blitzwing's eyeband is white instead of red as Scrapper yells for help.
**Thundercracker is colored as Starscream when the jets transform and land in the tunnel; not only is Starscream not part of the group, he is still frozen underground at this point.
**Blitzwing's head is purple again (instead of yellow) as he chastises the Constructicons for breaking his scoreboard.
**Megatron's helmet is a shade lighter than the rest of him as he tells Starscream to shut up. It changes back to normal as they start walking off.
**During the "Three energon cubes says you're wrong" profile shot, Thrust and Ramjet's color schemes are switched.
**Megatron's helmet is ''darker'' than the rest of his body as he says "Why not?" It changes to normal as Devastator picks him up.
*Starscream has only one wing emblem as he and Megatron walk through the sewer, and it's on right side up instead of the usual upside down.
*"Straight ahead, Megatron." Starscream's mouth isn't moving.
*When Blitzwing plows through the goal at the football stadium, the debris left behind vanishes in the next frame.
*When Blitzwing grabs the football coach, the coach is yelling, "Okay! Okay....commander!", but ''Blitzwing'' is the one mouthing the words!
*The camera shot during whole conversation between Blitzwing and the Coach is strangely cropped, so that Blitzwing's head is cut off above the mouth.
*The train conductor makes the bizarre deduction that Astrotrain has no driver. Couldn't the driver just be on the other side of the cab, out of sight? Hard to tell, since Astrotrain's forward-facing windows are missing in the shot. As is the rear half of his wheel assembly.
*Astrotrain rather flagrantly changes from all-purple to all-gray as he transforms.
*In the station, strange shot cropping again, as Astrotrain's head gets cut off for part of the shot.
*As Astrotrain walks up to the trains, the trains have changed positions from where they were in the previous shot, when they were visible through the hole in the station wall.
*A line of Astrotrain's appears to have been cut between "Even soldiers need brains" and "Astrotrain can fix that". This was presumably an assessment that the trains have no brains.
*When Astrotrain wrests down a computer component to start work on his train army, the component vanishes as he rips out the engine. The vent he ripped off is still on the train a moment later. And for a brief moment afterward, it appears as if Astrotrain picks up thin air with his hands.
*The lockers that Blitzwing kicks open to stuff his "second in command" into are [[Scale|extremely huge]]. If one compares the size of the coach to one of those lockers, he would need to ''jump'' just to reach one of the handles.
**On that note, how ''exactly'' does Blitzwing kick the locker door open? By all rights, it should be a lump of scrap metal on the floor.
*The guy whose car falls off the bridge yells "Help!" in Spike's voice.
*As Hoist rescues the guy on the bridge, the music glitches as if a tape had been damaged.
*Scrapper is seen scooping a load of dirt when he appears, but as he transforms, not only is the dirt gone, but he appears in an entirely different location.
*After the first commercial break, Blitzwing's cannon shots randomly change from having the Decepticon laser noise to Optimus Prime's rifle noise.
*As Blitzwing first runs over Prowl and Skids, the two Autobots have switched positions from where they were in the previous shot. Perhaps in an attempt by the colorists to fix this, their color schemes are switched.
*Blitzwing runs over Prowl and Skids twice from the same direction. The second time he runs over them with ''no'' sense of vertical motion, as if they were flat as paper. He couldn't possibly have crushed them ''that'' flat. 
*For some reason, Astrotrain gets a red glowing effect as he transforms out of train mode in the tunnels. 
*Despite Astrotrain's orders to do various things, the train just keeps doing exactly the same thing over and over, courtesy of recycled animation.
*As the train backs up to bump into the pipe again, the glow effects of its headlights are floating in front of the headlights themselves.
*The Autobot throne changes quite a bit between shots. When we first see it, it's a lumpy pile of beat-up Autobots. When Hoist lassos it, it's mostly just Prowl and Skids, sitting back to back, undamaged. Prowl is even holding his gun!
*Thrust is shown during Thundercracker's "Leader?! How do you figure that?" line.
*When the seekers land in the tunnel, Starscream is shown landing, despite being frozen solid elsewhere. A couple shots later, you can see it was a miscolored Thundercracker.
*Two successive musical cues overlap for a second or two as the water comes bursting out of the tunnel.
[[File:Tripletakeover megatron frozen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"Hey fellas, what's cooler than bein' cool?"]]
*When the water bursts in and frees Megatron and Starscream, Starscream is standing upright. When he froze, he was crouching by the exit hatch. In the same shot, Megatron is missing his Decepticon insignia.
*After they unfreeze, Megatron floats past the camera three times in a row.
*When Spike is washed away, Optimus yells "Spike!," but Peter Cullen uses Ironhide's voice.
*Also, the animation used for those shots is strangely distorted, making Spike looking like a child for a few moments.
*When he finds Spike, Optimus sort of transforms around him. In the next shot, Spike is in the driver's seat but there's no steering wheel. And when Powerglide lowers his ladder, Prime's trailer has a red stripe on it rather than a white one.
*The depth of the water varies all over the place. In one shot, Trailbreaker drives it away from a building, revealing several floors that were completely inundated; in another shot, it's almost to the top of a streetlamp. In other shots, it's shallow enough for the Autobots to wade through. In one scene, Optimus is wading through water up to his shoulders, yet when he transforms, it only comes up to his fenders.
*A huge pipe is shown breaking when Optimus first tries to fix the broken water main. The pipe that he and Ironhide repair later, however, just has a tiny little crack in it, nowhere near enough to flood a tunnel, let alone a whole city.
*Trailbreaker's forcefields are rainbow-colored rather than golden in this episode.
*Blitzwing is doing a strange little boogie before the Constructicons smash his scoreboard, with electrical effects around his hand. It's not really clear what this is meant to be. Is it his endzone victory dance?
*Scrapper's cab roof is misdrawn during Blitzwing's "What bargain?" line.
*Megatron reaches off-screen during his confrontation with Optimus, and something electrical lights up; we never do see what it is, though.
*As Megatron and Starscream shoot at Optimus, Starscream suddenly shifts from behind Megatron to in front of him. This makes him look tiny for a moment.
*Megatron gets the standard Decepticon laser sound for his fusion cannon, layered on top of its normal sound effect.
*Someone mistook Prime's blinding headlights for a laser attack, and inserted his standard rifle sound effect a couple of times.
*Megatron is shown with foot thrusters as he and Starscream take off.
*Among the Decepticon jets following Prime to the stadium is an off-model Seeker (or maybe an off-model Blitzwing) colored like Astrotrain; this should be Thundercracker. The jets are flying extremely low; Thrust can't be more than 10 feet above the road.
*As they fly toward Blitzwing's position, Ramjet and Thrust are flying alongside.... Blitzwing.
*As the Autobots stand on the building roof, the water lapping at the building's edge is drawn as though it were surf coming in on a flat beach; parts of it just drift right over the building parapet.
*The same scene is supposed to show Trailbreaker using his forcefield to push Astrotrain toward the stadium, but it's so badly drawn and edited that it's very easy to miss.
*Devastator and Blitzwing are almost the same size as they grapple.
*As Starscream crashes after strafing Devastator, he passes in front of Blitzwing. The relative size makes it seem like he was meant to land behind him.
*While Astrotrain and Blitzwing are grappling, Devastator stomps Astrotrain's train mode underfoot, crushing it flat, shouting "You're next, Blitzwing!" As Astrotrain is still grappling with Blitzwing in the next shot, it's not clear what this was supposed to be. It's possible this shot was meant to come later, when Devastator is fighting the other four Decepticons.

===Continuity errors===
*Astrotrain reads the temperature in the trap room as "470 degrees below zero", but actual absolute zero is only 459 below zero. 
*The coach is introduced commanding the team with the same colors as his own clothing, but by the time the game gets interrupted by Blitzwing, he's commanding the ''other'' team.
*The bridge that Hoist repairs is clearly blown in half, yet once Hoist leaps into the river to shore up its supports, traffic keeps rolling across it.
*The four Autobots are pretty much destroyed by Blitzwing. Bluestreak explodes, and chunks of him (and three of his tires) go flying in different directions. Prowl, Skids, and Tracks all crash explosively and are all crushed under Blitzwing's tank treads. Unsurprisingly, none of them are nearly so damaged when they show up again later.
*Despite what he says, Astrotrain doesn't ''have'' any score to settle with Blitzwing. (It's possible, though, that he just needed a good punching bag to beat up after the humiliation the Seekers gave him.)
**In the draft script this made significantly more sense, as for the bulk of the episode Astrotrain and Blitzwing were competing after they each blamed the other for a shared massive failure to attack Autobot headquarters in which they embarrassed themselves by leveling ''the wrong volcano''.<ref>[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wYU85J-1QGjmvpaYsIUeSiXGMUmnVbZu/view Full episode script]</ref>

===Trivia===
*[[Transformers Comic issue 2.3|In an issue of Titan's Transformers comic]], the movie Decepticon [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] would reveal he's seen this episode.
*Signs in the city: STAR Daster, Hotel, Kend.
*Final score: Visitors 0; Blitzwing 1,569!

===Foreign localization===
'''French'''
:*''Title (Canadian French broadcast and European French DVD release):'' "'''La prise de pouvoir'''" ("The Takeover")
:*''Title (European French broadcast):'' "'''La dernière tentative'''" ("The Last Attempt")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*For the first time in the French version, the commercial bumpers were left in the episode, despite not sporting any voice.
::*The sportsmen don't say anything as they play, the exception being the player who faces Blitzwing with the ball.
::*Blitzwing's name is never pronounced throughout the episode. For example, Scrapper's line "Scrapper calling Blitzwing" is dubbed by "Hello, hello, do you read me?".
::*Blitzwing's lines  "I must thank my advisor for such great strategy. With an assault of my long bombs, I'll totally level this city in no time!" is missing.
::*The dialogue between Prowl and Skids as they drive to the action is missing.
::*During the battle in the maze, Blitzwing's line "Ha ha! Wait for me!" is missing. Just after, his line "Autobots! Worth 10 points each!" is missing too.
::*Powerglide does not say anything as he guides Hoist and Smokescreen in the maze, which makes the scene incomprehensible.
::*Optimus Prime calls Ironhide "Iron", despite his usual nickname in the dub being "Irok".

'''German'''
:*''Title (Generation 2 dub):'' "'''Der Aufstand'''" ("The Revolution")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[August 27]], [[1994]]

'''Italian''' 
:*''Title (dub 1):'' "'''I Triplex ribelli'''" ("The Rebel Triple Changers")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?
::*This is one of the few episodes after ''[[Quest for Survival]]'' in which Optimus Prime is voiced by [[Piero Tiberi]] instead of [[Angelo Nicotra]].
::*Blitzwing's line: «But one head does not belong!» is oddly changed to: «Yes, but one head managed to resist!».
::*Football is called "rugby". The same thing already happened in ''[[Atlantis, Arise!]]''.
::*"Long bomb" is changed to "time bomb", totally ruining the joke. Still, this is understandable giving the difficulty of translating such a pun.
::*Powerglide's line: «Turn right» is heard '''after''' Smokescreen and Hoist already started turning right. Also, the line in Italian uses a singular verb, like if Powerglide was talking to just one character.
::*Astroforce's name is kept in English, but since Astrotrain is known in Italy as "Triplex Uno", an Italian viewer totally wouldn't understand that "Astroforce" comes from the character's name.
::*Energon cubes are once called ''cubi energetici'' ("energetic cubes") and later ''cubi energo-genetici'' (which can be roughly translated as "energo-genetic cubes").
::*Once, Starscream calls Astrotrain and Blitzwing "those three traitors"... despite them being two!
::*Constructicons are called "Constructor", which is sort of a mash-up of the English name and the Italian one ("Escavator").
::*In Ironhide's line: «I guess Prime was right: Megatron took care of the Decepticons for us», Prime's name is not pronounced in Italian, making not clear who Ironhide was referring to.
:*''Title (dub 2):'' "'''Triplice congiura'''" ("Triple Conspiracy")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Triple Changer no Hanran'''" (トリプル・チェンジャーの反乱, "The Rebellion of the Triple Changers")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[April 11]], [[1986]]

'''Mandarin'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Zhēng Quán Duó lì '''" (争权夺利, "Scrambling for Leadership")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Brazilian Portuguese''' 
:*''Title:'' "'''Domínio Tríplice'''" ("Triple Dominion")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Troynoy perevorot'''" (Тройной переворот, "The Triple Upheaval")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

===Toys inspired by this episode===
[[File:WFC-Siege-Leader-Astrotrain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|]]
*'''''[[War for Cybertron: Siege|Siege]]'' Leader Class Astrotrain''' (Hasbro [[2019]])

:''Siege'' (and its ''Earthrise'' repack) Astrotrain features the errorous pre-final character model-inspired wing deco patterns.
{{-}}
*'''''[[Dramatic Capture Series]]'' Triple Takeover''' (TakaraTomy [[2025]])

:The ''Dramatic Capture Series'' 3-pack features Astrotrain (without the battle damage and the tender/launchpad), Starscream (and his Coronation kit), and Blitzwing (without his Energon Fists and Gauntlets). Astrotrain still retains the same old erroneous wing deco pattern from the original.

{{-}}

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;{{w|LaserDisc}}
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] [[1995]] — ''Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers'' — Megatron Set ([[TakaraTomy|Takara]]) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] [[1999]] — ''The Transformers'' — Decepticon Edition ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] [[2001]] — ''The Transformers'' — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] [[2003]] — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 6 (Rhino Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[2004]] — ''Transformers'' — Season 2 Part 2 ([[Metrodome]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 3: Series 2.2 ([[Madman Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of France.png|20px|France]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Volume 16 ([[Déclic Images]]) — European French audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] [[2006]] — ''Transformers'' — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] [[2007]] — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of Italy.png|20px|Italy]] [[2009]] — ''Transformers'' — Volume 05: Stagione Due Parte Terza ([[Medianetwork Communication]]) — English and Italian audio.<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection ([[Shout! Factory]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] [[2011]] — ''The Transformers'' — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] [[2014]] — ''The Transformers'' — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2014 — ''Transformers'' — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wYU85J-1QGjmvpaYsIUeSiXGMUmnVbZu/view?usp=sharing Full episode script]
*[https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pZqvrqtckaaZ4Nn9WJh89fhB8djWG7-6m Episode dialogue script]
*[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1axaGBcBZmONCVzB7bWNa8e57SsZZUYi9/view?usp=drive_link Episode model sheets]

[[Category:The Transformers episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]