Editing The Search for Alpha Trion

{{episode
|image=Search4atelita%26prime.jpg
|caption=Disco didn't die. It just went into stasis lock.
|series=G1toon
|ep=53
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=41
|prev2=Child's Play (episode)
|next2=The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=36
|prev3=Sea Change
|next3=Autobot Spike
|title="The Search for Alpha Trion"
|written by=[[Beth Bornstein]]
|production code=700-52
|airdate=[[November 12]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Discovering that his long-thought-dead love, Elita One, is in the hands of the Decepticons, Optimus Prime speeds to Cybertron on a rescue mission, only to end up discovering something about his own history in the process.'''

:''Japanese title:'' アルファートリンを探せ! (''Alpha Trin o Sagase!'', "Finding Alpha Trin!")
:''Brazilian title:'' '''À Procura de Alpha Trion''' ("Looking for Alpha Trion")
:''Italian title:'' '''Alla ricerca di Alpha Trion''' ("In search of Alpha Trion")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Search4atmoonracer.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Oi! You! Cut it out!]]

On Cybertron, three [[Female Autobots]] ([[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]], [[Moonracer]] and [[Firestar]]) sneak into [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave's]] headquarters under orders of [[Elita One]]. They raid Shockwave's stockpile of [[energon cube]]s to power their fight against the [[Decepticon|Decepticons]], but on the way out, Moonracer accidentally trips an alarm. Shockwave, surprised to see female Autobots still alive, sends a [[Sentinel (G1)|sentinel]] after them. 

[[Image:Search4atelitaandalpha.jpg|right|150px|thumb|I see a bearded man in your future.]]

The Female Autobots escape the sentinel and return to Elita One, though Shockwave deduces the approximate location of their underground headquarters. Shockwave contacts [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] who sends [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]], [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]], [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] to assist in the apprehension of the Female Autobots. Rumble starts an earthquake which damages their headquarters. Elita One attempts to lure them away from the base by attacking, but is captured. Rumble continues shaking things up until Starscream believes the base is suitably destroyed.

[[Image:Search4atelitakicks.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Self Defense against sexual harassment.]]

Megatron contacts [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] and shows him the imprisoned Elita One. Optimus rushes to her rescue, even though he knows it's a trap. Apparently, 4 million years ago, Optimus and Elita had a thing going. Right before boarding the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], Elita begged to go with him, but Optimus told her it was too dangerous. As they spoke, the Decepticons attacked and Elita vanished in the chaos, leaving Optimus to think she had perished. Not wishing to lose her a second time, Optimus heads for Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]], [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] become curious as to why Optimus is heading to Cybertron alone and follow in secret.

As soon as Optimus arrives, he is taken prisoner by Starscream, who dangles him over a barrel of acid. Rumble drops Optimus, but before he lands in the barrel, Elita uses her special power, which stops time. Elita rescues Prime, but at the cost of her own life force, as the special power uses up so much energy. Prime loads Elita into his trailer and races to find [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]], the only Autobot who can save her.

Back at Shockwave's headquarters, the Decepticons believe Optimus has perished. Just then, the three Autobots arrive and attack. In the Female Autobots' underground headquarters, Moonracer comes up with a plan to dig their way out. They detonate the energon cubes they had just stolen, freeing up their exit. Moonracer, Chromia and Firestar meet up with their friends Powerglide, Ironhide and Inferno, and together they take on the Decepticons.

[[Image:SearchAlphaTrion Prime Elita Autobots.JPG|right|150px|thumb|You're lucky my chick's here, m—oh, hey, so's yours.]]

Optimus eventually finds Alpha Trion, who uses his skill to repair Elita One as best he can. In the end, Alpha Trion instructs Prime to interface with her for a power transfusion, as he is the only Autobot compatible with her design. Prime remarks that only his creator should know that. After the transfusion, Elita One recovers, and the two then return to help the Autobots fight off the Decepticons. Outnumbered, the Decepticons retreat. Alpha Trion then sets the Female Autobots up with a new secret base, and the two Autobot groups bid each other farewell when one returns to Earth.

{{-}}

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Chromia (G1)|Chromia]] (1)
* [[Moonracer]] (2)
* [[Firestar]] (3)
* [[Elita One]] (4)
* [[Greenlight]] (7)
* [[Lancer]] (8)
* [[Alpha Trion (G1)|Alpha Trion]] (13)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (14)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (15)
* [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] (16)
* [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (17)
* [[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]] (18)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (19)
* [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (20)

|c2=
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (5)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (6)
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (9)
* [[Starscream (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Starscream]] (10)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (11)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (12)
}}

==Notable Quotes==
"Female Autobots? I thought they were extinct."
:—'''Shockwave''' obviously hasn't kept up to date on Cybertron's Discovery Channel.


"Such noble nonsense." 
:—'''Shockwave''' disses Chromia and [[The Transformers: The Movie|gives Megatron material to rip off]].


"Elita One knows no fear!"
:—'''Elita One''' need not worry about Man-Thing, then.


"Optimus Prime, something rather exciting has been discovered on Cybertron. I thought you might like to know about it."
:—'''Megatron''' calls to say he's discovered girls.


[[Image:Searchforatprimehanging.jpg|right|150px|thumb|I can feel the heat!]]
"Please, let him go."<br>
"Very well, my dear...let him go...into the acid!"
:—'''Elita One'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s plea to '''Starscream''' to free Optimus Prime doesn't have the expected result.


"How quaint! The girls have come to rescue their boyfriends!"
:—Jealous, '''Starscream'''?


"Alpha Trion...I never expected to see you again."
:—'''Optimus Prime''' doesn't have much faith in his deadbeat dad.


"Elita One, her lifeforce is almost drained."
"She used her special power. I warned her not to."
:—'''Alpha Trion''' despite being centuries old learns just now that females simply never listen.

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
[[Image:Optimus prime nomouthplate.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Megatron has stolen my mouthplate! This time he's gone too far...]]
*In the very first shots of the episode, the wall Firestar cuts through has details on it then suddenly turns blank gray, and the area behind the Female Autobots is drawn as a very plain area with light gray walls (which should be purple).

*In a few shots, Shockwave's gun uses the sound effect of Prime's rifle.

*As the trip escapes from Shockwave, Moonracer's transformation sound effect is cut in half (missing the first part).

*Chromia's gun uses the same sound effect Shockwave's cannon made a moment earlier. At the beginning of the show, it used the sound effect normally associated with Starscream's weapons.

*As Shockwave speaks to Megatron, one of the shots of the display shows a background with a purple-squared ceiling behind Megatron, but the rest show him to be outside.

*Also, the console configuration is totally different in the last shot (as Megatron ends the communication).

*In several shots before the first commercial break, Rumble has only one gun on his back. For the remainder of the episode, he has two.

*When Ramjet delivers the line "Maybe Shockwave made an error in his calculations", he has Astrotrain's voice.  It is the same voice actor, but it has the space-echo effect that is used for Astrotrain.

*As Prime speaks with Megatron over [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]], he's missing his [[mouthplate]] for a few frames.

*When Megatron tells Optimus about the Female Autobots and shows him "proof", as he asks "How's this Prime?", Elita One appears to talk along with him.

*When the Autobots are trying to work out where Prime had gone, standing at [[Teletraan I (G1)|Teletraan I]]'s control panel is a [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] in a red and gray color scheme.

*Observing the spacebridge from afar, Ironhide notes, "If Prime got past those guards, so can [they]." The thing is, there ''are'' no guards, and there weren't any when Prime used the bridge, either.

*Prime is hanging precariously over the vat of acid in one scene, but when the perspective changes to a view from above the vat is missing. 

*When Elita revives Optimus from her stasis field, he fades from his normal colors to green, rather than the other way around. Once the fade is complete, mind you, he jumps back to his normal colors when he starts to move.

*As the Decepticons are freed from Elita's stasis field, Starscream cheers, "But Prime has disintegrated!" as if responding to some unspoken line from one of the others. The missing line is also absent from the episode's shooting script.<ref>[http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/browse_thread/thread/5821789ca800431a/68758ddf3993e5ac Secrets of the Original Scripts, Part Five]</ref> It would seem likely that the missing line covered Elita One's sudden disappearance.

*Inferno gasps "It can't be!" in response to Prime's apparent demise, but Ironhide is shown speaking.

*Ironhide's finger lasers use the sound effect of Megatron's fusion cannon.

*As Ironhide says, "Hold it right there, Starscream. You've taken your last step.", his cheeks are white when they should be red.

*Chromia's eyes are red during her line of "Ladies first."

*Alpha Trion says he will do what he can for Elita One, but he barely looks for 5 seconds while Prime walks away! There probably should have been a dissolve to show some passage of time.

*As Alpha Trion says, "Now it's your turn to help her," Prime's mouthplate is moving as if he's speaking the words.

*As Prime charges Elita One, the shot shows a wall behind him where the hallway was a moment earlier (unless her bed suddenly turned 90 degrees).

*Prime's gun has a different sound effect as he shoots at Starscream.

*The area around Alpha Trion's eyes changes from white to gray several times in the episode, sometimes from shot to shot. Powerglide's mouthplate sometimes changes from gray to dark gray in a similar manner.

===Continuity errors===
*When the Ark launched back in "[[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1]]", there was no indication of a Decepticon attack on the launch site, as this episode's flashback shows.
*Perceptor, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are shown in Autobot HQ, yet they don't transform or join Ironhide's team heading for the space bridge.
*Speaking of the space bridge, ''why'' are there no guards around it during this episode?
*As usual, Rumble's pylons bust up the ground (several feet away from him) but don't shake up the Decepticons standing right next to him.
* Optimus Prime apparently had no idea that Alpha Trion was his creator, despite the fact that in "[[War Dawn]]" after being rebuilt, he was fully conscious and actually met the guy and even knew that Elita One was built by him.
*As Starscream announces Prime's destruction, we see a bunch of parts in the vat of acid (what Starscream later calls Prime's "melted carcass"). Where did they come from? Prime escaped without a scratch!
*Why doesn't Shockwave shoot Prime and Elita One instead of just floating there?

===Transformers references===
*The episode marked the first appearance of [[female Transformers]] in official fiction. 

*Alpha Trion's relationship to Optimus Prime would be touched upon again in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]", and explained more fully in "War Dawn".

*"War Dawn" would also go on to explain precisely why only Prime's power supply would interface with Elita's, as seen in this episode (because she was rebuilt using his schematics).

===Trivia===
*Proof that Prime's trailer exists in subspace: He goes over the space bridge to Cybertron and transforms, and his trailer (complete with a platform for Elita One) rolls in from out of nowhere! 

*This episode is the fourth and final appearance of Prime's trailer's "artillery robot" in the animated series.

[[Image:G1 Prime Elita energy transfer.JPG|right|200px|thumb|I can't wait for you to operate...When I get this feeling, I need Sexual Healing...]]

*This episode contains the rather infamous scene in which Prime connects a cable from his midriff to Elita's, and utters an audible, not-entirely-unpleasant-sounding groan as energy is transmitted through it, to her. Sexy.

*Ironhide must hate the wall in Shockwave's base, this is at least the second time he has blown through it!

*The only male Transformers seen to have 'girlfriends' in this episode ALL have red as part of their color schemes.

*If we think about it, since Optimus Prime and Elita One have the same creator, they are, in some way, brother and sister, which just makes their relationship look plain weird. (Well, maybe [[Jean Minakaze|not]] [[Patty Minakaze|in]] [[Solon Kitakaze (Victory)|Japan]].) The events of "War Dawn" show that Orion Pax and Ariel existed as non-siblings before they were remade into Optimus Prime and Elita One, though Transformers has demonstrated somewhat [[Relatives|puzzling definitions of siblings]].

*Greenlight and Lancer went nameless for 25 years until they finally got their monikers in the [[Timelines (fiction)|Timelines]] text story ''[[Flames of Yesterday]]''.

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://cybertronchronicle.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/the_search_for_alpha_trion.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Search for Alpha Trion}}
[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]