Editing Darkmount, NV

{{episode|
|otherseries=''[[Transformers: Prime (cartoon)|Transformers: Prime]]'' ep 53
|prev=Darkest Hour (episode)
|next=Scattered
|image=DarkmountNV-Jasper.jpg
|caption=Sigh.  Tourists.
|title="Darkmount, NV"
|airdate=[[March 15]], [[2013]] (Singapore)<br />[[March 22]], 2013 (USA)
|written by=[[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Shaunt Nigoghossian]]
|animation studio=[[Polygon Pictures]]
|production company=[[Hasbro Studios]]
}}

'''Optimus struggles to survive while the other Autobots try to find each other.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Decepticon]]s search the ruins of [[Autobot Outpost Omega One|Outpost Omega One]]. [[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] has investigated the wreckage of the ''[[Jackhammer (Prime)|Jackhammer]]'', and returns with [[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] as captive. [[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] orders him taken back to [[Darkmount (Earth)|Darkmount]] for questioning while the troops continue to search not far from where [[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus]] is half-buried. The Decepticons eventually dig up [[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]], still trapped in her stasis chamber, and the [[Forge of Solus Prime]] but are unable to find any bodies. This turns out to be because [[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] has spirited Optimus away using the [[phase shifter]]. The young [[Autobot]] shelters his badly-damaged leader in an underground cavern. Meanwhile, as Megatron orders [[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] to monitor frequencies Earth-wide for Autobot communications, Starscream spots an incoming human military force and offers to dispatch the armada to deal with them. Megatron instead turns Darkmount's [[fusion cannon]]s on them, devastating the human forces as well as [[Jasper]].

[[File:DarkmountNV-Bumblebee.jpg|left|thumb|300px|''Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow.'']]

Megatron contacts [[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]], warning him that the Decepticons should not be interfered with, but with the news that Megatron bears the humans no ill will and simply wants to settle on Earth in peace. Starscream is impressed with Megatron's talent for deception. Fowler, meanwhile, reports to [[Bryce|his superior]] that Jasper's evacuation was completed in time and a cover story in place, but the military want to nuke the Decepticons. [[June Darby]], working as a medic on the military base, asks if there's been any word from the others, but there's no way to contact anyone without giving away their position.

A patrolling [[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]] scans cars moving along a road, but fails to recognize [[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]], who has a new paint job. Bumblebee and [[Raf Esquivel|Raf]] stop and discuss how they're going to find the rest of the team, concluding the best bet is to continue heading towards Jasper. In the Rockies, [[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] and [[Miko Nakadai|Miko]] head towards a [[Wrecker]] meeting spot Bulkhead and Wheeljack had decided on.

Back in Darkmount, Starscream's interrogation of Wheeljack is not bearing fruit as Wheeljack doesn't know anything. Megatron orders [[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] to take a team back to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to search for Iacon relics at their previous battle site.

[[File:DarkmountNV-SmokescreenOptimus.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Smokescreen, am I... turning grey yet?]]

Optimus stirs, and Smokescreen relates how he snuck back to the base during the evacuation, and used the phase shifter to get Optimus out. While Smokescreen is keen to go find Ratchet, Optimus stops him, saying cryptically that there is "no hope" of finding Ratchet, but powers back down into unconsciousness before he can explain.

[[Jack Darby|Jack]] and [[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] pause in their travels and spot a helicopter. Arcee leaves Jack to go investigate, whereupon Jack decides that sending a text message to his mother might be safe. Unfortunately his message is detected by Soundwave, and the Decepticons swiftly dispatch a force. Jack only has time to put away his phone before a Vehicon starts strafing him. Arcee, having identified the helicopter as civilian, sees the explosions and heads back. Jack unsuccessfully seeks shelter under a truck, but Arcee gets back in time to save him. The pair set up a trap at a nearby gas station, destroying it to take out the two Vehicons and [[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]], before fleeing.

The search for relics on Cybertron turns up the [[Apex Armor (Prime)|Apex Armor]], and... something else. Back on Earth, Soundwave is examining Laserbeak and failing to retrieve any of the surveillance data when Knock Out's call comes through. Knock Out returns triumphantly through the space bridge with a surprise guest: [[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]]!

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Wheeljack (Prime)|Wheeljack]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (WFC)|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Smokescreen (Prime)|Smokescreen]] (8)
*[[Bumblebee (WFC)|Bumblebee]] (11)
*[[Bulkhead (Prime)|Bulkhead]] (13)
*[[Arcee (Prime)|Arcee]] (17)

|c2=
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticon]]s (1)
*[[Vehicon (Prime)|Vehicon]]s (2)
*[[Megatron (WFC)|Megatron]] (3)
*[[Starscream (WFC)|Starscream]] (4)
*[[Airachnid (Prime)|Airachnid]] (7)
*[[Knock Out (Prime)|Knock Out]] (15)
*[[Soundwave (WFC)|Soundwave]] (18)
*[[Laserbeak (WFC)|Laserbeak]] (19)
*[[Shockwave (WFC)|Shockwave]] (20)

|c3=
*[[William Fowler|Agent Fowler]] (9)
*[[June Darby]] (10)
*[[Raf Esquivel]] (12)
*[[Miko Nakadai]] (14)
*[[Jack Darby]] (16)
}}

==Quotes==
"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race... peacefully. Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality."
:—'''Megatron''' on the phone.


"Earth is our planet now, Starscream, and we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them."
:—'''Megatron''' off the phone.


"He's feeding me a load of horse puckey, trying to crush our spirit."
:—'''Agent Fowler''' is not buying what Megatron is selling.


"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?!"<br />
"Well, in my experience-"<br />
"Not a riddle, Starscream."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream'''

==Notes==
===Animation and technical errors===
[[File:DarkmountNV-Louisiana.jpg|right|thumb|250px|]]
*As previously seen in "[[The Human Factor]]", the map of the continental [[United States]] shows [[Louisiana]] rendered within [[Texas]], with a noticeable gap along the coastline where Louisiana should be.
*In "[[Darkest Hour]]", Optimus Prime had his mouthplate retracted when he was preparing to destroy the GroundBridge controls. When he is seen lying in the rubble, he is wearing it, only for it to disappear once Smokescreen pulls him into the cavern.

===Continuity errors===
*The shape of the Decepticon citadel appears to have changed since the previous episode to accommodate the four huge fusion cannons.
*The Decepticon citadel was previously named as "New Kaon" in "[[Darkest Hour (episode)|Darkest Hour]]", only to be called Darkmount in this one. While a change of heart regarding the name isn't out of the question, there can't be more than a few hours' difference between this episode and the previous one.
*Smokescreen's return to the base is inconsistent with the previous episode, or even the flashbacks to it in this episode. He is shown to have returned within moments of the base's destruction, but was the second-to-last to use the GroundBridge, Ratchet being the last. Since Ratchet changed the coordinates, he should have returned well before the blast, and should have been spotted by Optimus when he did.

===Continuity notes===
*Fowler contacts his superior, [[Bryce|General Bryce]], previously seen in "[[Grill]]".
*This episode covers the fates of the various Iacon relics and other things left unattended in the previous episode. With the exception of the phase shifter, the relics taken by Prime's team were left on Cybertron. The Forge of Solus Prime and Airachnid both survived the destruction of the Autobot base. Still unaccounted for are Prime's [[Star Saber (Prima)|Star Saber]] and Megatron's [[Dark Star Saber]] (and the [[Dead Prime|Dead Prime's]] arm that goes with it).
*Megatron has his original arm back, last seen being removed by Knock Out in "[[Alpha/Omega]]". Evidently he kept it in storage.
*Starscream expresses surprise at Megatron's diplomatic skills, echoing an exchange in ''[[Transformers: Exodus]]''.
*The [[Milky Way]] is shown outside Cybertron, consistent with the stellar cartography in ''Exodus''.

===Transformers references===
*The name "Darkmount" comes from the [[Darkmount (Cybertron)|fortress of the same name]] first introduced in the [[The Smelting Pool!|G1 comic]]; the name was later used for a toy representing [[Straxus (G1)|the commander of Darkmount]].
*Fowler references containment procedure "G-1000" when describing the evacuation of Jasper.
*Bumblebee's new black-and-yellow paint job resembles an [[Bumblebee (Movie)#Robot mode and CG model(s)|unused redesign]] for him in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (film)|Revenge of the Fallen]]''.

===Trivia===
*This episode was initially revealed in [[The Hub]]'s March highlights document under the name "Darkmouth, NV".
*The worldwide premiere screening of the first three episodes was held at the Globe Theater in Universal Studios Hollywood on [[March 14]].
*The worldwide television premiere of "Darkmount, NV" was a day later on okto, a Singaporean channel, where it aired back-to-back with "[[Scattered]]" and "[[Prey]]".

[[Category:Prime episodes]]