Trial of Megatron, Part 3

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« Transformers Animated ep 45
"Trial of Megatron, Part 3"
Airdate	August 17, 2019 (TFNation 2019)
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Continuity	Animated cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

Megatron makes his ultimate play as he sets the Decepticon capital city, Kaon, on a collision course with Earth.

Synopsis

Act I

and there he goe's...
WE HAVE.
LIFDOFF

Inside Trypticon Prison, Sentinel Prime is surrounded by Decepticons as Megatron gloats. When Lugnut insists that everyone bow before their leader, a scuffle breaks out amongst the Decepticon troops. Megatron is forced to smack them back into order before explaining that he has learned to speak to the Mini-Cons. Not wanting to let Megatron escape, Sentinel locks down Kaon with a shield.

Megatron takes this opportunity to reveal that he has no plans to leave the Decepticon capital; after all, it is the state of the rest of Cybertron which disappoints him. The planet begins to rumble as massive boosters emerge from Trypticon Prison. The prison tears itself free from the surface and rockets into space, taking the city of Kaon (or "at least a good-sized chunk of it") along with it, leaving behind a volcanic pit. Many Autobots are trapped in rubble and the Sonic Canyons are destabilized. If nothing is done, they pose a threat to the entire planet.

Meanwhile, Fortress Maximus has been thrown into chaos. The Autobot High Council instructs Optimus Prime to lead his crew and a rescue team led by Perceptor to the crater. As part of the mission, they must bring the AllSpark to make a shield, allowing Perceptor's team to work on stabilizing the Sonic Canyons. Simultaneously, Rodimus Prime is to lead the Elite Guard in pursuit of Trypticon/Kaon; Omega Supreme is happy to learn that he will partake in the former operation, rather than the latter. Forced to choose between boarding Omega or the Elite Guard's ships, Bumblebee nobly tears off his stripes and rejoins Optimus' crew. In response, Optimus removes his Eternal Flames.

In space, Rodimus makes contact with Megatron, demanding that Sentinel be released. When Megatron refuses, the fleet fires on Kaon. As the Decepticons start to lose power, Megatron uses his sword to cut off Lugnut's Punch of Kill Everything before asking an oblivious Rodimus for his word that they will not be harmed if he agrees to surrender Sentinel. Once Rodimus deactivates the fleet's weapons, Megatron returns Sentinel using a cannon, with the severed POKE strapped to his head.

Act II

Sentinel impacts the ship, and the resulting explosion causes some serious damage. By throwing the stolen techno-organic Energon into Trypticon's fusion reactor, Megatron gives it the boost it needs to escape. Bulkhead identifies Kaon's destination as Earth. Rodimus requests the coordinates of the planet from Optimus, who simply points out that they will not make it there in time. As Optimus' crew begins boarding Omega, Ratchet is forced to say goodbye to Arcee, who is remaining behind on Cybertron. Bumblebee's initial enthusiasm over the mission fades once he learns that Bulkhead will be staying behind at the Energon farm, and they too regretfully part ways. Joining the team is Ironhide, who is still playing his part as Optimus' bodyguard. Omega Supreme takes off, and transwarps.

Kaon completes its hyperspace jump, arriving in Earth's vicinity, but is closely followed by Omega Supreme. After some encouragement from Ratchet, the Autobot ship transforms into robot mode to open fire. Trypticon brings more cannons to bear and fires back. Optimus notes that this altercation is just another distraction. Ratchet gives him Sentinel's Powermaster armor, allowing him to fly out into space (despite being a little too big for the door). Bumblebee, Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide follow Optimus under the cover of Omega Supreme's fire and touch down on Kaon.

Sari's technopathy lets her determine how to sabotage Trypticon Prison's surge regulators. Splitting up to carry out the plan, Optimus and Bumblebee go one way while Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide go another. Megatron orders the Mini-Cons to concentrate fire on Omega's head. In response, Ratchet is forced to shut down Omega's higher functions and take manual control, converting him back to ship mode. Aboard Kaon, the Autobots succeed in their plan. With its surge regulators taken out, Trypticon suddenly burns through all its fuel. Unfortunately, Optimus and Bumblebee stumble into the cell block, where they are immediately surrounded by several Decepticons.

Act III

YEET!

Desperately seeking to keep Trypticon online, Megatron decides to throw the Starscream clones into the fusion reactor so that the AllSpark fragments in their spark chambers can provide the city with power. Sunstorm, a sycophant to the last, is sure to compliment Megatron on this course of action as he is tossed in. Ramjet claims not to have a fragment of the AllSpark in his spark chamber, but Megatron pays him no heed and hurls the lying clone in too. With power temporarily restored, Megatron directs the ship to the location on Earth with the highest Energon concentration: the greater Detroit area.

The Decepticon prisoners overpower Optimus and Bumblebee, and throw them into their former cells. Recalling the Decepticons, Megatron tosses Shockwave and Blitzwing into the reactor. Lugnut jumps in willingly. Even after the sacrifice of its crew, Trypticon continues to lose power. Megatron goes to fetch Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, only to be blocked by an armored Ironhide and attacked by Jazz. Rattletrap, who also had been thrown into the cells, vanishes during the battle.

In his Powermaster armour, Optimus stands eye-to-eye with Megatron for the first time. Megatron's swords are unable to penetrate the armor; he tosses aside his fusion cannon, leading Optimus to do the same with the Magnus Hammer. They fight hand-to-hand as Kaon descends on Dinobot Island (much to the horror of Scrapper). Optimus manages to fly the Autobots out right before the city crashes on top of the island, obscuring it from view.

A little later, the Autobots visit the island and try to break into Trytpicon Prison, but Sari reports that it is sealed shut. Optimus decides that they should remain on Earth to monitor the situation. Ironhide is unsure of the mission, as he has not visited Earth before, but Jazz tells him he'll dig it.

Unseen by all, a hatch on the exterior of Trypticon opens and a Mini-Con peers out...

Quotes

"You wanted me to put you on trial! It was just another distraction!"
"How could I have been so... deceptive?"

—Sentinel Prime realises he's played into Megatron's hands.

"All hail Megatron! On your knees, infidel!"

—Lugnut pays homage then chastises Shockwave.

"I must admit my time in prison has severely eroded my patience."

—Megatron puts a stop to his underlings' tomfoolery.

"I speak Mini-Con now. I find them much more efficient than my usual unreliable help."

—Megatron sasses his minions.

"Sadly, seeing what your leadership has done to this planet, it is no longer worthy of the Decepticons."
"If that's your attitude, why don't you just leave?"
"My sentiments exactly..."

—Megatron launches Trypticon Prison, to the surprise of Sentinel Prime.

"Ready to save some lives?"
"Saving lives, not destroying them... that is how I want to fit in."

—Ratchet encourages Omega Supreme.

"Lugnut, my loyal servant, is there anything you would not do for me...?"
"Nothing, my liege."
"Because I really need a hand right now."

—Megatron gets the POKE from Lugnut.

"Let's go big guy!"
"Sorry, little buddy. Not this time. There's too much work to be done here. They need me back on the energon farm."
"I hate long goodbyes..."

—Bumblebee and Bulkhead part ways.

"I still prefer saving lives."
"There's about seven billion of them down on that planet you're saving right now."

—Omega Supreme is persuaded by Ratchet to attack Kaon.

"Oh no, not again."

—Scrapper watches Kaon bear down on him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Sentinel Prime (1) Optimus Prime (6) Perceptor (7) Rodimus Prime (8) Omega Supreme (9) Bumblebee (10) Bulkhead (11) Arcee (12) Ratchet (13) Jazz (14) Ironhide (15) Rattletrap (19)	Megatron (2) Lugnut (3) Shockwave (4) Blitzwing (5) Sunstorm (17) Ramjet (18) Scrapper (20)	Sari Sumdac (16)

Notes

• A full and completed script for this episode was never written, only a detailed outline. Written by Marty Isenberg sometime in (probably) 2008, the outline was converted into an "audio play" for unofficial UK convention TFNation in 2019, featuring almost the entire cast of the cartoon (minus Tara Strong and Judd Nelson) reprising their roles. See the Transformers Animated season 4 article for more details.

Continuity notes

• This episode seems to rack up an unusually high body-count, with Megatron hurling all his troops into Trypticon Prison's fusion reactor. However, the outline doesn't actually say whether or not this is a fatal process; after all, we did previously see the AllSpark fragment in Starscream's head being used to power Omega Supreme (back in "TransWarped") without killing Starscream. Synopses for later episodes in the unproduced fourth season do mention appearances by Blitzwing and Shockwave, and note that the Decepticons would have been seeking revenge on Megatron for his "betrayal," but these were synopses produced before "Trial of Megatron" was expanded to a full outline; see "Continuity errors," below. Exactly how it would have gone had it ever reached the screen will never be known, but Marty Isenberg did indicate at TFNation 2019 that at least some of the Decepticons would've returned.
• Scrapper last appeared in "Human Error, Part II"; it was established in that same episode that he had been living on Dinobot Island since the events of "Three's a Crowd".

Transformers references

• Among the ships leaving Cybertron in the illustration created for the TFNation reading are the Axalon and Xantium, resembling their original incarnations rather than the Omega Sentinels that share their names. The Lost Light is also visible, as it was in Part 2.
• Prime dons the Powermaster armour in this episode. Apparently, Hasbro had pushed for "Powermaster Prime", hoping to get a couple of new Animated toys out at higher price-points, so Isenberg worked the armour into his pitch.

Real-world references

• As in the previous part, the ship from X-Bomber can be spotted amongst the Cybertronian fleet.
• The flaming pit left behind after Kaon is torn from Cybetron's surface is likened to the firepits of the planet Apokolips from Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" comics. Two concept pieces for Kaon itself are included in The AllSpark Almanac II, one of which depicts it blasting off from Cybertron while the second is of Kaon after crash-landing in Lake Erie.

Continuity errors

The expansion of "Trial of Megatron" from simple premise to detailed outline introduced some contradictions to the intended plots of future episodes. As such, if the season had been produced, either these episodes would have been modified, or "Trial" would have been amended to account for them—another good reminder that these outlines and ideas don't represent exactly what would have occurred on-screen.

• The pitch for season 4 stated that Sari would be staying on Cybertron to continue her education and learn more about her origins, but here, she returns to Earth with Optimus and his team.
• The synopsis for "This Is Why I Hate Organics" has the Decepticons whom Megatron betrays in this episode attempting to break into Kaon to get revenge on him. Well, given the specific way the "betrayal" unfolds in the outline, they wouldn't be outside Kaon needing to get in, since they were all thrown into the reactor at its heart.

Trivia

• Judd Nelson did not return to reprise his role of Rodimus Prime, whose voice was instead provided for the TFNation reading by Chris Finney.
• According to Isenberg, starting with the show's third season, there had been increasing pressure from the higher-ups to tell darker stories, to bring the show closer in line with other series that had aired on Cartoon Network at the time (such as Ben 10: Alien Force and Star Wars: The Clone Wars). Omega Supreme's origins were one product of this.