Editing River Race Ruckus

{{episode
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Cyberworld (cartoon)|Transformers: Cyberworld]]'' episode 4
|prev=Crate Point, Well Fought
|next=Episode 5
|title="River Race Ruckus"
|season=1
|season ep=4
|airdate=[[August 2]], 2025
|writers=[[Ali Lightfoot]]
|animation studio=[[Omens Studio LTD]] 
|continuity=Cyberworld
|video=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP0kwTfYLfw
|videosite=YouTube
}}

'''Meeting with a friend'''<br>
'''Chased by a menacing shark'''<br>
'''Can they win the fight?'''

==Synopsis==

[[Elita-1 (Cyberworld)|Elita-1]] races along a river through the jungle region, sealed inside an energy tube, with [[Sky-Byte (Cyberworld)|Sky-Byte]] in hot pursuit. Switching rapidly between speedboat and robot mode, she dodges mines, blasts her opponent, and is handily in the lead. Meanwhile, [[Bumblebee (Cyberworld)|Bumblebee]] tries to show [[Optimus Prime (Cyberworld)|Optimus Prime]] a cool jump as they walk a little way downstream, only to be thwacked by the energy tube as it generates ahead of the [[energon]] challenge. They turn to examine it as Elita rushes past. Her and Optimus catch each other's gaze, both surprised to see the other, and this is enough to throw her off her game, hitting a mine on the way down. Optimus and Bee set off in pursuit, taking turns riding the other to break into the barrier separating them from their comrade, even as Elita yells for them to stop. Bee's attempts are thwarted by incoming branches, but Optimus manages to use his new axe to shatter the barrier, then throws it at Sky-Byte, knocking him away. However, due to their outside interference, Elita is declared forfeit, and is drained of energon while Sky-Byte is refuelled.  

Elita-1 and Sky-Byte exchange barbs, with Sky-Byte bringing up the loss of her entire team at his hand before attacking. As they dive for cover, Elita fills Optimus in on the backstory - while he was indisposed, Elita-1 had been leading a team of Autobots, including [[Wheeljack (Cyberworld|Wheeljack]], only for Sky-Byte to take them all out. With her experience facing him, she knows they can take out Sky-Byte even with his energon boost by working together. Optimus decides on a different route, leaving cover to try and negotiate a peaceful solution. Sky-Byte rebuffs him, focused on finally eliminating Elita after all this time, but when she tries to call him back by name, he realises he is facing down a Prime, and decides he now has a much more satisfying target. He harpoons Optimus to a rock with his energy blaster and jumps him, which gives Bumblebee and Elita the opening they need to catch him off guard. Elita tackles him, but he uses her as a Cybertronian shield to ward off Bee's blasts. Optimus leaps into the fray, and seeing that he is injured and outnumbered three-to-one, Sky-Byte takes his chance to run off. Elita goes to give chase, but Optimus refuses, letting him retreat. She calls him out, angrily wanting Sky-Byte to pay for what he did to her entire team, and rebuffs accusations of this being unlike her. Optimus and Bee fill her in on their side of the story - they still want to get to the Autobot shuttle in the desert, but have no way past [[Scorponok (Cyberworld)|Scorponok]]. Elita recognises the name, having heard that beating him is the key to victory on Cyberworld, and apologises to the pair. Her anger was partly born out of worry, with the Autobots on Cyberworld having thought Optimus and Bee hadn't made it. She knows a way that they could potentially defeat Scorponok, but the way to it is guarded, and she will only help them acquire it if they help her defeat Sky-Byte. Optimus acquiesces, agreeing to bring him to justice.

In a stone temple, Sky-Byte reports to [[Megatron (Cyberworld)|Megatron]], informing him Optimus Prime has arrived.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Elita-1 (Cyberworld)|Elita-1]] (1)
*[[Bumblebee (Cyberworld)|Bumblebee]] (3)
*[[Optimus Prime (Cyberworld)|Optimus Prime]] (4)

|c2=
*[[Sky-Byte (Cyberworld)|Sky-Byte]] (2)
*[[Megatron (Cyberworld)|Megatron]] (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"Sky-Byte, there's no need for us to fight! You seem a reasonable bot."<br>
"'He does??'"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' attempts to negotiate. '''Bumblebee''' doesn't fancy his chances.


"Lord Megatron! Optimus Prime is on Cyberworld!"<br>
"How upsetting."
:—'''Sky-Byte''' gives '''Megatron''' the bad news about the better gamer arriving.

==Notes==

===Continuity notes===
* Elita-1 has been on Cyberworld for many [[Units of time|cycles]] prior to Optimus and Bee's arrival. She did have a team of Autobots, including [[Wheeljack (Cyberworld)|Wheeljack]], but they are all "gone".
* Despite Megatron's comments [[Prime Target (Cyberworld)|a couple of episodes ago]] about there not being "Autobots or Decepticons, only survivors" on Cyberworld, he seems to have set himself up as a Decepticon leader anyway.


===Character levels===
*Elita-1 is at level 4, close to level 5.
*Optimus seems to have done a bit of leveling between episodes as he's now halfway thorough level 2.


===Transformers references===
* Elita-1 asks, "What in [[Primus]]'s name were you thinking?"
* Elita-1 leading an ill-fated team of Autobots while Optimus Prime is elsewhere, leading to conflict between her angry war-driven outlook and his cooler head, calls to mind the set-up of the recent [[Skybound Entertainment]] ''[[Transformers (2023 comic)|Transformers]]'' comic.
* Elita-1's gun resembles the gun she used in [[Transformers: Tactical Arena]].
* Sky-Byte's voice evokes a bit of his [[Sky-Byte (Cyberverse)|Cyberverse incarnation]]. 


===Real world references===


===Trivia===
* Following the pattern of previous Cyberworld episodes, this episode was initially uploaded in a combined video with [[Crate Point, Well Fought|the previous one]] with the SEO-baiting title "Elita-1's High Speed Jungle Race". The title comes from series writer [[Ali Lightfoot]]'s twitter feed. <ref>{{citesocial|quote=If my musings are correct, Transformers: CYBERWORLD episode 4 "River Race Ruckus" will drop this Saturday 2nd August - @ 2PM BST | 1PM UTC | 9AM EST | 6AM PST

What are y'all excited to see?|link=https://x.com/HedlesChkn/status/1950613706477371490|name=Ali Lightfoot|site=Twitter|year=2025|month=07|day=30}}</ref>


===Foreign localization===
'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Regatta Randale'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' [[August 2]], 2025

'''Italian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Gara lungo il fiume'''"
:*''Original airdate:'' August 2, 2025

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cyberworld episodes]]