Editing Aerial Assault

{{episode
|image=Giantpurplegriffon.jpg
|caption=MERV GRIFFIN!!!!!
|series=G1toon
|ep=58
|series2=SRLFtoon
|ep2=46
|prev2=Hoist Goes Hollywood
|next2=Trans-Europe Express
|series3=''[[Generation 2 (cartoon)|The Transformers: Generation 2]]''
|ep3=45
|prev3=B.O.T. (episode)
|next3=Cosmic Rust (episode)
|title="Aerial Assault"
|written by=[[Douglas Booth]]
|production code=700-57
|airdate=[[December 10]], 1985
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''Slingshot and Skydive go undercover to discover who is responsible for the theft of planes in the Middle East.'''

:''Japanese title:'' 突撃エアーボット (''Totsugeki Airbot'', "Charge, Airbots")
:''Italian title, dub 1:'' '''Rotta di collisione''' ("Collision course")
:''Italian title, dub 2:'' '''Assalto aereo''' ("Aerial assault")

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Aerialassault.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Hey, look, no arms!]]

In an unnamed Middle Eastern country,<ref>The country is retconned to be [[Iran]] in ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II]]''.</ref> the [[Aerialbot (G1)|Aerialbots]] are searching for clues to a group that is stealing planes. After flying over a bazaar (in which is a [[Swindle (G1)|hauntingly familiar jeep]] being driven by a suspicious man loading equipment), the Aerialbots receive a distress call. Heading into a nearby canyon, they are attacked by the [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticons]] and [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]], and [[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] ends up being buried within a cave by [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]]. However, [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]], [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] arrive and drive off the [[Decepticon]]s. After unearthing Slingshot, the [[Autobot]]s return to a nearby air base for repairs. Slingshot is fixed, but his weapons systems have been damaged, and he needs a new console from the [[Ark (G1)|base]]. [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] gets the idea to let himself serve as bait, which [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]], in his infinite wisdom, believes is a good idea, and Slingshot decides to join as well. As night comes, the two Aerialbots are soon stolen by the plane-nappers, but they are disassembled and their [[radio transmitter]]s are disabled.

[[Image:AerialAssault Slightshot newchest.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Retooling gone badly wrong.]]

Transporting their ill-gotten planes in laundry trucks, the plane-nappers manage to get past security, but are followed by a young boy named [[Jumal|Hassan]]. Getting into the truck carrying the Aerialbots' nose cones, he meets up with them and identifies the man heading this operation as [[Ali (Sunbow)|Ali]]. As it turns out, Ali has deposed Prince Jumal, the young ruler of the country, and has allied with [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] to create both [[plane drone]]s for conquering the oil fields of the [[Middle East]], and a...[[Giant Purple Griffin]] that will...do...stuff. As the convoy reaches the Palace, the Decepticons begin reassembling the planes, but the Aerialbots cause themselves to short-circuit, leaving their parts free to be reassembled. They manage to get everything except Slingshot's chest plate, but Hassan manages to borrow the front grill assembly from a car that Prince Jumal owned.

[[Image:AerialAssault Onslaughtheadinsand.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Onslaught's head in the sand serves subtly as a scathing rebuke of isolationism as foreign policy.]]

As the Decepticons prepare to mobilize, Skydive and Slingshot manage to contact the other Aerialbots, who come to help. Meanwhile, Hassan has slipped aboard the...fortress to steal a new weapons console for Slingshot. As the Aerialbots arrive, Blast Off, [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]], and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] take control of the drone forces. The Aerialbots are able to dispatch the drones and their commanders, so [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] decides to off them himself, only to be stopped by Slingshot. Blast Off orders the Combaticons to [[Transformation|transform]] into [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]]. Slingshot bravely tries to prevent the merge, as [[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]]'s absence prevents his own team from merging into [[Superion (G1)|Superion]]. Eventually, Bruticus forms after Slingshot is thrown into the head of the now mobile...fortress. Hassan gets a weapon console to Slingshot, frees them, then heads to attack Bruticus. Fireflight finally arrives, and the Aerialbots form Superion and damage the...fortress, causing it to crash into an oil field. Superion separates into his Aerialbot components, causing the diving Bruticus to fall into the oil field. The Aerialbots then set fire to the field, forcing the Decepticons to retreat.

At the palace, the Aerialbots are trying to figure out what to do with Ali and what he did with Prince Jumal, only to discover that Hassan ''is'' Prince Jumal. He explains that Slingshot may keep the new chest plate as a gift, as Jumal's hobby is fixing old junk cars. Slingshot feels honored...till he thinks that Jumal is calling him a piece of junk.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]] (6)
* [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]] (7)
* [[Air Raid (G1)|Air Raid]] (8)
* [[Slingshot (G1)|Slingshot]] (9)
* [[Fireflight (G1)|Fireflight]] (10)
* [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (16)
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (17)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] (18)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (19)
* [[Superion (G1)|Superion]] (25)

|c2=
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (4)
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (11)
* [[Brawl (G1)|Brawl]] (12)
* [[Vortex (G1)|Vortex]] (13)
* [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (14)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (15)
* [[Megatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Megatron]] (20)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (21)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (22)
* [[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]] (23)
* [[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] (24)

|c3=
* Auto parts merchant (1)
* [[Jumal|Hassan/Prince Jumal]] (2)
* [[Ali (Sunbow)|Ali]] (3)
* Ali's henchmen (5)
}}

==Quotes==
"About time too. That high altitude was making me dizzy."
:–Thankful for a reason to land, '''Silverbolt''' reveals he's still afraid of heights.


"On my way to a turkey shoot. Isn’t that right, turkeys?"
:–'''Blast Off'''


"Megatron, you promised me world domination!”<br/>
"You’ll be lucky if I let you live, fool!"
:–'''Ali''' pushes his luck with '''Megatron'''


"Hey. Did you just call me a... junker?"<br>
"Don't worry, Slingshot. No matter what you're made of, you'll always be a Rolls Royce to me!"
:—'''Slingshot''' and '''Jumal'''

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
[[Image:Slingshot undercover.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Hmm let's see... Autobot symbol... nope, nothing suspicious to see here!]]
* While towing Slingshot from the canyon, Optimus' cab windows are red.
* After Ratchet repairs him, the top of Slingshot's head is orange. In the next shot, it's white. It changes from one to the other throughout the episode.
* Slingshot flips his new Rolls Royce grill chest plate over, and its backside matches his original chest design, but colored gray.  After this scene, however, his chest has its normal coloration.
* When Megatron is ordering Blast Off, Ramjet, and Vortex to attack Silverbolt and Air Raid, Onslaught transforms into a very small anti-aircraft truck.
* An odd sound editing error clips the end off of Blast Off's line "So I can blast him into oblivion!" and the start of Onslaught's following line, "Combaticons unite and transform into Bruticus!"
* Rumble is shown alternatively with ''one'' missile on his back and nothing on his back throughout the episode. After the Aerialbots blow up the oil field, he suddenly has ''two'' missiles on his back for the only time.
* When Fireflight finally arrives to help the rest of the Aerialbots against Bruticus, he is colored entirely black.
* Ramjet has Dirge's color scheme in the scene just after the griffin starts firing on the Aerialbots.
* During the final scene, Slingshot's first few lines are mouthed by Air Raid (then Air Raid speaks his lines as normal).
* During the final scene, when Slingshot and Prince Jumal are discussing the Rolls Royce grille Slingshot was using as a chest plate, the grille appears and disappears into thin air several times. 


===Continuity errors===
* This episode was produced and aired well out of sequence. Most visibly, the Combaticons appear, placing the episode chronologically after "[[The Revenge of Bruticus]]". It also presumably occurs after "[[War Dawn]]", because the Aerialbots have no problem fighting Decepticons ''and'' aren't jerks towards humans.
* Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet and Hoist disappear from the episode after Ratchet repairs Slingshot. If they're in the Middle East already and there are Decepticons in the area, why don't they stick around for a while? They could have helped during the final battle.
* Nobody in the "laundry" truck notices Hassan coming up behind them in his motorcycle.
* Skydive and Slingshot are shown to be disassembled to the point where only a small portion of their cockpit remains in the laundry bin. Yet when Hassan finds them, they transform into their full torso, even sporting their nosecones which were clearly removed.  
** Later on when Blast-off inspects them, they are no longer in the bins, and are now suddenly composed of the entire front half of their jet forms, as a retroactive correction to the earlier scene.
* For a piece of equipment so vital to Slingshot that it prevents him from joining the battle, the weapon console seems to have little to no use in the griffin. Even after Hassan removes the console, the griffin shows no detrimental effects, as it can still use its weapons, as well as being able to fly without issue.
* We never learn the reason for Fireflight's protracted absence.
* No reason is given for Megatron to give his fortress the form of a griffin.
* The prince's compound sits next to an oil drilling rig, yet we never see the Decepticons make energon cubes.

===Trivia===
* Deleted scenes in this episode include Hassan reconstructing Slingshot and Skydive to disguise them as refrigerators to get them past the border guards; the trucks transporting the jet parts breaking down in the desert and some camels being stolen to tow them when Swindle refuses to do so; and Swindle discovering the Aerialbots, being knocked out and having his memory banks wiped so he forgets they were there.
* The Giant Purple Griffin has become one of the most mocked creations in Trans[[fandom]].
* In this episode, [[Ed Gilbert]] takes over the role of Superion from [[Frank Welker]], who voiced him briefly in "[[The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2]]".
* For some reason, quite a few [[fandom|fans]] misremember this episode as being set in [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]], a country that didn't get identified by name until season 3.

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2001 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Exclusively from Blockbuster ([[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. 7 (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 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta ([[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.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/aerial_assault.html Dossier on the Cybertron Chronicle]


[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]
[[Category:Generation 2 episodes]]
[[Category:MSTF]]