Editing Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1

{{disambig2|the ''Generation 1 cartoon episode'' |the Legends event|Five Faces of Darkness: Part 1}}
{{episode
|series=G1toon
|prev=The Transformers: The Movie
|ep=66
|series2=2010
|ep2=1
|prev2=The Transformers: The Movie
|next2=Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2
|image=FHE-FFoD.jpg
|caption=Boy, I sure did love that part in "Five Faces of Darkness" where [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Powermaster Prime]], [[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]], [[Cloudburst]] and [[Rev]] fought a giant floating Quintesson head.
|title="Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1"
|production code=#700-86
|production company=[[Sunbow Productions]]
|animation studio=[[AKOM]]
|airdate=[[September 1]], 1986
|written by=[[Flint Dille]]
|continuity=[[Generation 1 cartoon continuity]]
}}

'''In the wake of Unicron's defeat, the battered Decepticons struggle to survive, and the Autobots enjoy a period of peace and celebration.  But peace never lasts...'''

{{TOCclear}}
==Synopsis==
''The closing scenes of [[The Transformers: The Movie]] show us the destruction of Unicron and the Autobots escape, along with their victory celebration on Cybertron.''

It is the year 2005. Autobots have reclaimed [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] while the Decepticons, now squabbling with each other for [[energon]], retreated to the planet [[Chaar]].  Astrotrain returns to the planet with a pitiful number of energon cubes, resulting in a tussle as the Decepticons fight for their share.  Cyclonus realizes that to return the Decepticons to fighting form, they need drastic measures.

[[File:Blurr watching jazz.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Blurr would have that not-Jazz eat his vapor trails... instead he gets a date with rhyming boy.]]

Somewhere else, the first [[Galactic Olympics]] are being held. Blurr is griping about being stuck in a mission with [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] when he wants to join the events. But [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] wants them to go to [[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] on Earth, to deliver the new [[transformation cog]] for Metroplex, as his old one was damaged during the [[Battle of Autobot City|battle]] the [[The Transformers: The Movie|year before]].

Meanwhile, the Galactic Olympics are being sabotaged. A [[Skuxxoid]] detonates the Olympic flame, raining smoke down on the area and allowing a group of Sharkticons to land.  The Autobots fight back, but in the confusion, Spike, Kup and Ultra Magnus are kidnapped.  Rodimus Prime immediately suspects Decepticon shenanigans and orders the planet quarantined, but they are unable to prevent the Skuxxoid's spaceship from taking off. [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] and [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] set off to find a spacecraft of their own so they can pursue it.

[[File:FFOD1 Cyclonus in Unicron.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Cyclonus is looking for free porn.]]

Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps sneak into [[Unicron]]’s head, still orbiting Cybertron. They're able to access Unicron's memory banks and watch footage of Rodimus's battle with Galvatron, culminating in the Decepticon leader being flung into space. Cyclonus then does some fast calculations and works out that Galvatron would eventually have reached the planet [[Thrull]]. There they see their leader soaking in the hot lava pools.

On Earth, Blaster and Outback go to the [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Federated Republic of Carbombya]] to investigate [[Earth Defense Command|EDC]] reports of Decepticons in that country. Despite the country's ruler, Abdul Fakkadi, claiming that they would never harbour such criminals, the Autobots land. Outback, equipped with a “[[Decepticon detector]]”, then flushes out Dirge and Ramjet. The two Autobots get the coordinates of Chaar from them... which they report to Rodimus Prime who wants to go there to investigate. 

[[File:FFOD1 Springer Arcee threaten Skuxxoid.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|Oh, boy, kill'em! Kill'em all!]]

Arcee and Springer, meanwhile, have pursued the Skuxxoid to an asteroid, which he ducks behind.  The Autobots follow, only for their ship to be seized by a huge claw.  They evacuate the ship, only to find that the "asteroid" is actually a [[Rockeroid|disguised spacecraft]].  Springer hijacks it from the Skuxxoid, who escapes in his smaller ship and then calls his benefactor to confirm that the Autobots indeed suspect the Decepticons to be behind the disruption. The [[Quintesson|tentacled, egg-shaped benefactor]] listens to the report and then tunes out as he sees their prisoners, Spike, Kup and Ultra Magnus, being led by a [[Sharkticon (G1)|Sharkticon]]. 

[[File:FFOD1 Cyclonus Astrotrain energon.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|"It's probably just the Energon talking...but I love you, man."]]

Cyclonus, Scourge and the [[Sweep]]s return to Chaar, where the rest of the Decepticons are convinced that the solution to their problems is to have a strong leader again. They cheer when they hear that Galvatron lives, and are desperate enough that they give their remaining scraps of energon for reviving him. Rodimus Prime and Grimlock are spying nearby. Rodimus almost pities them, while Grimlock finds it funny (giving a rather possessed-sounding chuckle). Rodimus realizes that the Decepticons are too down on their luck to be the ones responsible for the kidnappings. Their cover suddenly gets blown and the Decepticons attack.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Hot Rod (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (1)
* [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] (2)
* [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] (3)
* [[Jazz (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Jazz]] (4)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Bumblebee]] (5)
* [[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (6)
* [[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (7)
* [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] (11)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (12)
* [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (13)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (14)
* [[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] (15)
* [[Warpath (G1)|Warpath]] (24)
* [[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (25)
* [[Wheelie (G1)|Wheelie]] (26)
* [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] (29)
* [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] (30)
* [[Grimlock (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Grimlock]] (34)

|c2=
* [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] (16)
* [[Hook (G1)|Hook]] (17)
* [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]] (17)
* [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] (17)
* [[Long Haul (G1)|Long Haul]] (17)
* [[Bonecrusher (G1)|Bonecrusher]] (17)
* [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] (17)
* [[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (18)
* [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]] (19)
* [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] (20)
* [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (21)
* [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] (22)
* [[Sweep]]s (23)
* [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] (28)
* [[Dirge (G1)|Dirge]] (32)
* [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]] (33)
* [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (35)
* [[Motormaster (G1)|Motormaster]] (36)
* [[Soundwave (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Soundwave]] (37)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (38)
* [[Thrust (G1)|Thrust]] (39)
* [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (40)
* [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (41)
* [[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (42)
* [[Wildrider (G1)|Wildrider]] (43)
* [[Octane (G1)|Octane]] (44)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] / [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (45)
* [[Tantrum]] (46)
* [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (47)
* [[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (48)

|c3=
* [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] (9)
* [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel Witwicky]] (10)
* [[Carly]] (28)
* [[Abdul Fakkadi (G1)|Abdul Fakkadi]] (31)

|c4=
* [[Unicron]]'s head (8)
* [[Skuxxoid]] (27)
* [[Quintesson]]s (34)
}}

==Quotes==
"Let's do it!"<br>
"Didn’t you want to say something about concord and tranquility in the galaxy?"<br>
"Aww, give me a break.  ''Start the games!''"
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' and '''Ultra Magnus''' open the Galactic Olympics


"Ah, Rodimus is missing a few chips."<br>
"Nah, I was the same way until I got blown apart a few times."
:—'''Ultra Magnus''' and '''Kup'''


[[File:Grimlock happy.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Perceptor and Rodimus watch as Grimlock does a jaunty jig on the enemies' heads.]]
'''Cyclonus''': There’s nothing to fear; Unicron is dead.<br>
''[They hear a groan]''<br>
'''Cyclonus''':  Must be the wind.<br>
'''Scourge''': There ''is'' no wind in space.<br>
'''Cyclonus''': Quiet!
:—Cyclonus and Scourge learn that [[Unicron|daddy]]'s still home.


"Our charts don’t show any planets in that sector—no, wait. Here it is. I thought it was a smudge on the screen."<br>
"Yeah, that fits the description of Chaar."
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' and '''Outback'''


"I say we pulverowderize the Autobots! I say we powderulverize 'em!"
:—'''Rumble'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s inspirational rally.


"If we surrender our energon, we're doomed."<br>
"If we don't, we're doomed, too."<br>
"Face it.  We're doomed."
:—'''Dead End''' and '''Breakdown''' realize they're screwed.


"These guys are hurtin'.  I never thought I’d feel sorry for the Decepticons."<br>
"Me Grimlock, not feel sorry. Me Grimlock laugh!" ''[snickers]''
:—'''Rodimus Prime''' pities the Decepticons, while '''Grimlock''' mocks them with a disturbing chuckle.

==Season 5==
{{note|When this episode was rebroadcast in [[The Transformers (cartoon)#Season 5|the fifth season]] of ''The Transformers'', it contained new bookending segments with original story material.}}

[[Image:TommySurprisesPrime.jpg|thumb|right|250px|"Gettin' real sicka yer shit, Tommy."]]

[[Powermaster]] [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Optimus Prime]] arrives in the barren wasteland looking for [[Tommy Kennedy (G1)|Tommy]], but he's nowhere to be found.  Suddenly, Tommy climbs up on Prime's shoulder and screams, surprising the Autobot.  Optimus is not happy with the joke, warning Tommy that he could have mistaken him for a Decepticon.  Tommy doesn't understand Prime's attitude and asks if he's ever been surprised before.  Prime says that few have ever ''tried'' to surprise him.  However, he does recall "a time when the Autobots faced surprises at every turn".  It was shortly after [[Unicron War|the war with Unicron]]...

{{--}}

==Notes==
===Animation or technical glitches===
"Five Faces of Darkness" is one (five) of the most notoriously error-plagued episodes in the entire series.  Brace yourself...
* Quite a few Transformer voices appear to be processed with a very heavy bass end in this episode, including Rodimus, Arcee, Outback, and Springer.
[[File:FFOD1 Chaar landscape.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* Chaar's moon and sun are bizarre.  If the opening animation is to be believed, the moon takes about 20 seconds to orbit the planet, yet when we see it again later, it's just sitting there.  The moon also appears to set with the red dusk sky ''behind'' it.  The red dusk sky is a red dusk sky despite the sun having passed overhead in the opposite direction.  The red dusk sky is also visible along the horizon in all directions.  Maybe Chaar sits in a nebula?
* Long Haul is missing when the Constructicons combine.
* After he knocks Astrotrain away from the energon cube, Devastator's mouth does some lip-flapping, but there's no dialog to go with it.
* Menasor's "hi-yah!" sword grunts aren't in his voice.  He sounds more like an unprocessed Astrotrain or Bonecrusher.  When he finally speaks a non-grunt line, he suddenly goes to his own voice, right after a generic-voice grunt.
[[File:FFoD1 devastator nomnom.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* Devastator goes from his usual eyeband, to two large separate eyes as he grabs the energon cube, to two small separate eyes as Menasor whacks him apart.
* Menasor's first sword strike clearly knocks Devastator into his components (well, ''some'' components, anyway; none of them look like actual pieces of Devastator.) Devastator then re-forms with no transformation noise.
* When Menasor smashes Devastator apart the second time, only Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Hook and Long Haul are shown.  Bonecrusher shouldn't be there (he didn't "have the energy to hang on"), and Scrapper and Mixmaster are totally unaccounted for.
* As a shot hits the energon cube next to him, Kickback grunts with the same generic voice that Menasor had earlier.
* Kickback is drawn with the more toy-centric version of his insect mode, wherein his robot face is clearly visible on the bottom of his insect head; he even visibly emotes and looks around with it.  Most episodes portray him with his robot face concealed in his insect mode.
* The vehicle-mode Sweeps first show up in their incorrect "early" models, with their robot-mode heads sticking out of the top.  This model would appear again and again and again through the series.
* As Cyclonus and company approach, Astrotrain finally completes his transformation to robot mode, but with no transformation noise.
* The first Sweep to transform and land is also missing his transformation sound.
* As Jazz races towards the finish line, the Autobot symbol on his hood is colored in reverse (it's white with red inlays).
[[File:Munka Spanka hurdles.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* Jazz is shown winning the first race in the Galactic Olympics, but a few seconds later an announcer declares that "the winner is [[Munka Spanka]]."  It's possible a generic character was intended for use in the scene and Jazz was mistakenly picked at random; however, given Jazz's prominent survival of the movie, it seems more likely that an editing mistake failed to portray the passage of time (and other races) after Jazz's win.   Fans also have speculated that this was an intentional name change, prompted by the fact that [[Scatman Crothers]], Jazz's voice actor, had recently passed away, though why this would be necessary for a non-speaking part is unclear. It could also be that the announcer was announcing the winner of another competition not shown on screen.
* The Quintesson monitor shows Magnus and company against a blue sky, when they'd been standing against an orange wall a second earlier.  
* Improbable viewpoints:
** How did the Quintessons get that footage of the Autobots, anyway?
** Okay, ''maybe'' Unicron can monitor and record events within his own body.  But does he really have a camera ''outside'' himself to show things like Galvatron flying out of him and off into the distance?
* In addition to lighting up, the button that the Quintesson pushes changes shape when pushed.
* One of the scrambling Olympians walks right through a column during the torch attack.
* Arcee and Springer's "cooking my sensors" lines carry an echo that shouldn't be there, as if they were in a soundproof room.
* When Rodimus starts shooting, he gets the second half of Optimus Prime's laser rifle sound effect.  A second later, he gets the whole sound effect. Later, his rifle has the generic laser sound.
* How are the Sharkticons so consistently in shadow when ''everyone'' else is not?
* Rodimus is missing the "age lines" on his face as he threatens to trash the Decepticons, which basically makes him Hot Rod.
* The center piece of Rodimus's spoiler is yellow instead of orange as he watches Springer and Arcee leave the stadium.
* Cybertron's appearance has changed a LOT since the movie.  The first shot shows it looking like one of its own moons, with almost no detailing.  The second shows it with much more detailing, but still very different than its previous appearance.
* Cyclonus is far too large as he stands on Unicron's face, taller than Unicron's eyes. He should be a speck at that distance.
* One of Scourge's helmet rims is white instead of blue as he says the "no wind in space" line.
* Unicron's snoozing groan is recycled as Scourge spots Galvatron's hand on Thrull.  Is Scourge supposed to be hearing Galvatron snore from across millions of miles of space?
* The first time we see Blaster, his left eye has a line through it.
* The helmet rim around Outback's eyes is consistently colored blue instead of light gray.  This could be an alternate model sheet, given its consistency.  Later episodes would show him with his eyes the same color as the rest of his face.
* Rodimus's "smudge on the screen" is a sharp, glowing, blinking dot. He's also shown wiping it, but is too far away from it in the subsequent shot to have been able to reach it.
* As Perceptor tells Rodimus to take Grimlock with him to Chaar, his Autobot symbol is all-gray (it's usually red with a slim gray outline).
* The Skuxxoid's ship is white when it leaves the Olympics planetoid, but light orange as Arcee and Springer pursue it through space.
* In an odd moment of [[Humanization|humanizing]], Springer and Arcee clench their eyes shut when their ship is grabbed by the claw.
* Springer and Arcee's ship is clearly shown facing to the left of the claw before the commercial break, but afterward it's facing to the right.
* A repeat of the establishing shot of Chaar includes its moon (which, by the by, is a recycled Cybertron moon design.)  This time, instead of warping around the planet, the moon is hanging in the sky, stationary.
* Two different pans across the assembled Decepticons show quite a few robots that don't correspond to any actual character.  The characters are distant enough that the animators probably figured we wouldn't notice.
[[File:Ffod1 cons on chaar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* Dirge is with the Decepticons on Chaar as they debate leadership.  How'd he get back there from Earth?  In the same shot, Soundwave's shoulder button is blue instead of white, and Blast Off's forehead is colored as though it were an optic visor.
* Cyclonus has consistently had three Sweeps up to this point, but as they return to Chaar there's suddenly half a dozen of them.
* Drag Strip has a gray optic visor during the "I'll think of something" line.  It should be red.
* The subsequent shots of cheering Decepticons are infamously screwed up.  The first one features: 
** Tantrum well before the Predacons have actually been introduced to the series.  To be fair, the Predacons' later introduction is so ambiguous that it might not be a genuine screwup to have one of them present.
** An off-model non-conehead Seeker in Ramjet's colors
** Octane also makes his inauspicious debut here, without any sort of explanation or introduction, though it doesn't actually contradict anything to have him there.
* The second cheering shot has Soundwave with a malformed, half-colored visor.
* When Motormaster throws down his energon, Hook and Long Haul are standing nearby.  When he falls over in the subsequent shot, they've both been replaced by generics in the same pose.  Also, after the Energon is thrown, Motormaster's mouth moves without us hearing any dialog.
[[File:Decepticons w galvatron.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|Yeah! We're going to save that guy on the left from the deadly lava pools of Thrull!]]
* The third cheering shot ("Giiiiive till it hurrrrts!") features two more made-up Seeker models, a random blue guy, and ''Galvatron himself'' cheering for his own imminent rescue.
* As the Decepticons rally to attack Rodimus and Grimlock, two Motormasters run past the camera.
* When Cyclonus fires on the rock outcrop, some guy in Fireflight's colors is behind him.  The subsequent shot of charging Decepticons includes several made-up guys.
* The line of charging Decepticons at the end includes a Seeker in Silverbolt's colors.
* The final shot has Soundwave colored mostly in purple instead of blue. Also, his chest door disappears for a moment.

===Continuity errors===
[[File:KickbackShrapnelFFOD1.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* Most of the character screwups on Chaar are probably just cheap/lazy/screwed up animation; in fact, all the off-model and made-up designs could really be excused as generic Decepticons we've never met before, if one is so inclined (and one is prepared to accept that for some reason, we never see them again, either.)  However, Kickback and Shrapnel have a whole sequence dedicated to them landing, trying to munch an energon cube, and then fleeing, which is far too long and explicit not to be a scripted appearance.  Both characters were supposedly reformatted into Sweeps during ''Transformers: The Movie''.
* Why does Astrotrain wait until he's landed to gobble some of the energon he's struggling to reach?
* So why didn't Menasor grab and eat the energon cube he just fought so hard for?
* Perceptor's description of the transforming cog is rather confusing. He introduces it as ''Autobot City's'' transformation cog, but then says "it controls ''Metroplex'''s ability to transform". This begins an ongoing trend of the cartoon dialog treating the two as if they were one and the same, despite the animation showing them as two distinct (though [[:File:G1 Autobot City.JPG|sometimes related]]) entities.
* "How we gonna find the Decepticons?  It's like looking for a needle in a haystack!" It would be, Blaster, except that they conveniently left their Decepticon insignias in place for you to see.
* How do Arcee and Springer hear the Skuxxoid's voice?  He's inside a ''space ship'', and they're on the outside.  Does the ship have its own external atmosphere?
[[File:FFoD1 DamagedOnslaught.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|"What is our chance of defeating the Autobots, when we can barely remember what our own voices sound like?"]]
* Voice consistency for the show's more obscure characters took a nosedive after the movie, starting with this episode:
** Ramjet has nearly the right voice, but it lacks the clipped mannerism that characterized his speech throughout the second season.  Instead of sounding like an enforcer, he sounds... cheerful.  In fairness, he occasionally lost that mannerism during Season 2.
** Onslaught's lines, beginning with "I admire your passion, my friend...", are provided by [[Terry McGovern]] in this episode, as opposed to his regular actor, [[S. Marc Jordan]].  Jordan would later be replaced again by [[Steve Bulen]] for Onslaught's final line of the series in "[[The Rebirth, Part 3]]".
** Terry McGovern tries on a brand new voice for Wildrider's two lines.  He'll also develop a hick accent that he didn't have before in "[[The Burden Hardest to Bear]]".
* We never do find out why Cyclonus is carrying around a big black box.  It's not present in the next episode.

===Continuity notes===
[[File:FFOD1 Dirge and Ramjet shot down.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* This episode picks up an unspecified amount of time after ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' (which had played in theaters during the summer preceding this episode's debut), and draws directly on many of its events.  References include the [[Battle of Autobot City]], Unicron's head orbiting Cybertron, the loss of Optimus Prime, the rise of Galvatron, and more.  
* The episode even opens with some of the closing scenes from the movie.  The scenes were re-soundtracked with the cartoon's standard background music for television airing.  A second movie excerpt, also resoundtracked, is used to show the end of Rodimus's battle with Galvatron.
* First appearances: Outback, Octane, Tantrum (who probably shouldn't be here yet) and Abdul Fakkadi.
* Dirge's "Death comes to he who crosses me," line is a slight paraphrase of a line cut from the original ''[[The Transformers: The Movie|Transformers: The Movie]]'' script, "[http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~sstoneb/tf/tidbits/tftm_script.txt Death comes to anyone who crosses me.]"  It was to be delivered aboard [[Astrotrain (G1)|Astrotrain]] as the Decepticons squabbled over leadership.  Another iteration comes in the later episode "[[Starscream's Ghost]]" ("I know, I know - 'Death comes to anyone who hides behind my marker!'"), though Dirge is not mentioned by name.

===Real-world references===
[[File:FiveFaces1 Athenia stadium.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1]]
* The [[Galactic Olympics]] are, obviously, based on the modern Olympic Games, including the opening parade of "nations" and the Olympic torch presiding over the events.
* Middle East tensions in the 1980s resulted in the poorly made (depending on [[Casey Kasem|whom you ask]]) spoof called [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]].
* In one scene, Blurr asks why Metroplex's new [[transformation cog]] wasn't shipped via [[Galactic Express]], an allusion to the fact that [[John Moschitta]] had previously appeared in a series of Federal Express commercials.
* ''[[Star Wars (franchise)|Star Wars]]'' sound effects:
** Kickback and Shrapnel fly in with ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' engine whine, and take off with the ship's engine burst noise.
** Ramjet and Dirge get the [[TIE Fighter]] engine sound as they lose control amid Outback's explosive.  Some ''Millennium Falcon'' engine whine can be heard as well.

===Trivia===
[[File:FFoD01CastSparkplug.jpg|100px|thumb]]
* In an interview with Flint Dille, he said that the Quintesson origin story came from "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]," an aborted script for the movie by him and his fellow writer, [[Jay Bacal]].<ref>[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/flint-dille/flint_dille_2.html Flint Dille interview on the Cybertron Chronicle]</ref>
*[[Sparkplug Witwicky]] is mentioned in the [[Sunbow Productions|Sunbow]] cast list for this episode—and the relevant [[dialogue script]] reveals that he was indeed supposed to make an appearance! He would have been with [[Outback (G1)|Outback]] and [[Blaster (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Blaster]] aboard the [[Earth Defense Command|E.D.C.]] shuttle sent to investigate reports of Decepticon activity in [[Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya|Carbombya]]. His one line—"How're we gonna find the Decepticons? It's like a needle in a haystack."—was reassigned to Blaster in the final cut of the episode. It is likely his part was cut because, by 2006, Sparkplug would likely have become too old to be of any use or died of old age.
* When originally aired, this and the other four parts of the story all had a unique set of opening credits. Unfortunately, the DVD release of the mini-series only includes this opening on parts 3 and 5.

===Foreign localization===

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Die fünf Gesichter der Finsternis, Teil 1'''" ("The Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?


'''Japanese''' 
:*''Title:'' "'''Arata Naru Tatakai'''" (新たなる戦い, "The New War")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[November 14]], [[1986]]
:*In Japan, season 3 was rebranded as a new series titled ''[[Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010 (franchise)|Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010]]''.  As the title implies, the year was changed from 2006 to 2010.
:*''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' was not released in Japan until 1989.  In order to keep the kids at home up to date, the events of the movie were summarized in the pages of ''[[TV Magazine]]''.


'''Russian'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Pyatj likov tjmy (Chastj 1)'''" (Пять ликов тьмы (Часть 1), "Five Faces of Darkness (Part 1)")
:*''Original airdate:'' ?

==Home video releases==
{{homevidnote}}
;VHS
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1990 — ''The Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness ([[Family Home Entertainment]])
;Laserdisc
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 1990 — ''The Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness (Family Home Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 1999 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' ([[Geneon Universal Entertainment|Pioneer LDC]]) — Japanese audio only.
;DVD
[[File:Flag of Japan.png|20px|Japan]] 2001 — ''The Transformers: 2010'' — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]])<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Five Faces of Darkness: Parts 1-5 (Sony Wonder)<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1 ([[The Original Transformers|Rhino Entertainment]])<br>
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2003 — ''The Original Transformers'' — Season 3 Part 1: Vol. 1 (Rhino Entertainment)<br>
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Season 3 and Season 4 ([[Metrodome]])<br>
[[File:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2004 — ''Transformers'' — Collection 4: Series 3.1 ([[Madman Entertainment]])<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 UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers'' — Season's Three & Four {{sic}} (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]] 2010 — ''The Transformers'' — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482022/ IMDb's page for this episode]
* [http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/cartoon-dossier/synopses/five_faces_of_darkness_part_1.html Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle]


[[Category:Generation 1 episodes]]