Haven

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"Haven" 秘密基地を守れ! () (Himitsu Kichi o Mamore!) "Protect the Secret Base!"
Production company	TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency
Airdate	January 22, 2005 (Japanese) September 20, 2005 (English)
Writer	Gyō Yamatoya
Director	Masashi Nagao
Animation studio	GONZO, Azeta Pictures
Continuity	Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity

Can the Autobots finish protecting their base before the Decepticons discover it?

Synopsis

Home Improvement has NOTHING on these guys.

With the Autobots needing to establish a base on Earth, Lori offers up a chunk of canyon that her father was going to use for a housing development, but is currently going unused. Scattorshot gives the site a technical appraising and Optimus Prime approves the location. The Autobots begin going over the blueprints for the base, but Lori is loudly unimpressed by the cold, inefficient layout, and quickly redesigns the whole shebang. The Autobots don't really see the difference, but they all agree with her, rather than bring on her infamous wrath. As the Autobots begin blasting out the canyon wall to begin construction, Vector Prime returns his attention to the Atlantis Pattern and the search for the Omega Lock, prompting the three kids to clutch their ears and demand he knock off the racket. Vector Prime realizes that they are hearing the trans-sonic signal given off by the Omega Lock, while the Transformers are unable to detect, and that the three humans are going to be even more important than he realized.

In the fire dimension, Starscream urges Megatron to forget the Autobots and initiate the search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Megatron, however, is concerned that the Autobots are up to something on Earth, and is determined to find out what.

That's mine... that's mine... oh, that's mine...

Back on Earth, the Autobots have hollowed out the canyon walls and initiated building work. Coby is drafted in to help set up the computer systems when he impresses Hot Shot with his intuitive knowledge of machines, while Bud proposes the installation of a catapult to launch the flying Autobots into action at high speeds. While the boys are busy being hands-on, Lori ropes Overhaul into helping her feng shui the base, and everyone's combined efforts gets the base successfully finished before sundown. Unfortunately, as soon as the base systems are brought online, alarms begin blaring as the approach of Megatron and Starscream through Earth's atmosphere is detected. With the stealth beam coating that will protect the base from external detection incomplete, Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, Vector Prime and Jetfire head out to hold the two Decepticons off while the other Autobots finish the coating to keep their base hidden from the villlains.

After deploying from the base in prolonged dramatic fashion, the flying Autobots engage the Decepticons in the upper atmosphere, where Vector Prime attempts to reclaim his map from Megatron, only to be blasted out of the sky. The fight moves down closer to the planet's surface, but the Autobots' weapons have little effect on the Decepticons, and Starscream soon realizes that the Autobots have formed a defensive line to keep them away from something. The nefarious duo break through the Autobots' line.

"I want my key lime energon goodies, fraggit!"
"I told you, they're not ready yet!"

At the base, Overhaul races over to D Block to finish the stealth coating alone as Megatron gets closer and closer. Moments before Megatron reaches the base perimeter, Vector Prime suddenly teleports in front of him. With a mighty roar, Vector Prime glows with shimmering blue light that extends in a column from his body into the skies above. With a cry of "CYBER KEY POWER!", Vector Prime summons a Cyber Key, activating his "Tachyon Shield" power and generating a force shield that stops Megatron cold. Optimus uses this opportunity to switch to Super Mode, and blasts Megatron, wounding the Decepticon leader and forcing him and Starscream to retreat through a warp gate. Seconds later, Overhaul announces that the stealth coating is complete.

As the sun sets, the Autobots thank Vector Prime for stopping Megatron, and ask him what the heck a Cyber Key actually is. Bemused that the Autobots are unaware of the existence of the Keys, he explains that they are a small part of the power of Primus. With a wave of his sword, Vector Prime grants all the Autobots Keys of their own, telling them they have earned their powers this day.

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Jolt (2) Optimus Prime (4) Hot Shot (5) Landmine (6) Overhaul (7) Scattorshot (8) Jetfire (9) Vector Prime (11)	Starscream (12) Megatron (13)	Coby Hansen (1) Bud Hansen (3) Lori (10)

Quotes

[The kids and the Autobots are examining the proposed blueprints.]
"Looks like we got everything."
"What? Are you serious? I just think you could use a more efficient design, that's all."
"So, what's wrong?"
"Are you kidding? There's no workflow, no ventilation, and if you haven't noticed, there aren't even any bathrooms! You gotta work smarter, not harder. That's my dad's first rule of business. Catch my drift? You should organize everything around a central hub, with easy access to all the other work areas."

—Scattorshot and Lori

"Hey, ahh, Hot Shot? How come you use a crystal oscillator?"
"That's, uh, kinda technical..."
"'Cause, I just thought that a phase-locked loop would be, ah, much more stable."
"Hmm. [Pause.] Hey, uh, how would you like to help me set up the transmitter?"
"You got it!"

—Coby and Hot Shot

Bud: "You need to shoot out of here at top speed, just like a catapult!"
Jetfire: "A catapult?"
Jolt: "Humans use them to launch planes off ships."
Bud: "All you have to do is step on the platform, and then—blam! You're in the stratosphere!"
Jetfire: "Look kid, I don't know what the heck..."
Scattorshot: "No, Jetfire, I think the kid's got the right idea."
Jetfire: "What idea?!"
Scattorshot: "The catapult thing! You could reach maximum velocity before you leave the base! Without using extra energon."
Jetfire: "Really? Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?"
Bud and Jolt: "We did!"

—Bud, Jetfire, Scattorshot and Jolt

"Hey, good job, you guys! This totally looks like a real secret headquarters!"
"Gee, maybe 'cause it is one!"

—Bud and Hot Shot

Scattorshot: "Okay, nobody panic, it's probably just a glitch."
All: "Huh?!"
Scattorshot: "Just let me tie this down here... gimme a second... adjusting frequency..."
[Two blips are approaching Earth.]
Coby: "What is that?"
Scattorshot: "Hang on! Let me see if I can boost the resolution. They're still pretty far away."
[The screen reveals the blips are Megatron and Starscream.]
Scattorshot: "Oh no."
Hot Shot: "Hmm?!"
Scattorshot: "Now you can panic!"

—Scattorshot, Coby, and Hot Shot

"VILLAIN, RETURN MY MAP!"

—Vector Prime holds grudges

"Okay, stealth-beam coating is completed on A Block, B Block, and C Block. And now it's all up to Overhaul... We are so doomed!"

—Scattorshot's faith in his teammate warms the heart, doesn't it?

"We made it!"
"Yeah, I knew we would."

—Lori and Scattershot, who's a big ol' fibber.

Notes

Differences with Galaxy Force

In addition to simple re-writing and addition of dialogue, notable changes from the Galaxy Force version of this episode include:

• Among the additions Lori insists the Autobots make to their base is a kitchen. This is why the plans that she is seen holding during the construction montage are clearly those of an ordinary human kitchen.
• In a reversal of the norm, Cybertron actually adds the Autobots calling out their attack names as they clear the rock; Galaxy Force simply has them do generics grunts as they work.
• This episode introduces the concept of the Omega Frequency, a "trans-sonic signal" emitted by the Omega Lock that only the human kids can hear. This signal does not exist in Galaxy Force, and is a rather clever addition by the Cybertron dub in order to justify the continued presence of Coby, Bud and Lori, after their usefulness in helping the Autobots hide on Earth effectively comes to an end in a few episodes' time. References to the Omega Frequency are consistently added to Cybertron episodes where pertinent for the rest of the series.
  • With this in mind, when Vector Prime is inspecting the Atlantean symbol, Galaxy Force implies the kids are simply holding their ears due to all the noise the blasting and construction is causing, while Cybertron reinterprets this as them hearing the Omega Frequency.
• Cybertron amps up Coby's technical know-how in his scene with Hot Shot during the construction of the base; while in Galaxy Force, Hot Shot is simply impressed that he is able to identify the hunk of machinery he is lugging around, in Cybertron, Coby offers opinions on ways to make it better.
• Optimus Prime and Vector Prime's brief exchange before heading out to battle the Decepticons is flip-flopped: in Galaxy Force, Vector Prime tells Optimus that he will join the fight even if Optimus orders him not to, while in Cybertron, he asks Optimus if he is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.
• In Galaxy Force, the minimum safe distance from the Autobot base is 150 kilometers; in Cybertron, it is 150 miles.
• In Cybertron, Vector Prime unlocks the ability of the Autobots to summon Cyber Keys. In Galaxy Force he merely tests to see whether they have the slots for them.

Animation or technical errors

• When Jetfire uses his Turbine Wind attack to destroy the mountainside, his eight torso missiles are missing.
• At the very end of the episode, before Vector Prime gives the rest of the Autobots their Cyber Key power, Optimus and Hot Shot's heads flash while they're talking, similar to how headlights, cockpits, etc. flash while they're talking in vehicle mode.

Continuity errors

• On the display graphics on Scattorshot's screens, the progress of the blips representing the Decepticons resets itself backward at least once.
  • Similarly at one point, the percentage progress of Overhaul's coating in D Block briefly jumps back about 20% between shots.
• Scattorshot says Meg's sensor range will be "240 kilometres max", then Optimus says "150 miles". Why does Optimus change the measurement? Does he just hate the metric system?
• Why is Overhaul the only one who can work in D Block?
  • And why didn't he do the previous block so quickly?
• Scattorshot announces that they have "less than 50 seconds" left at 16:40 or so, and tells Overhaul "there's still almost a minute" after spending twenty seconds talking. Megatron isn't stopped until about 18:18, over 90 seconds later.

Transformers references

• Optimus Prime swears "by the Allspark of Cybertron!"
• Bud bets Optimus he can't hit a boulder up on the ridge. Sounds like someone's been watching the original series.
• Hot Shot calls Optimus Big Bot.
• Vector Prime says that the Decepticons must be stopped...no matter the cost.

Trivia

• This episode was, for unknown reasons, initially skipped over when the series began airing in America, along with the first episode, and did not air until a few months after the series was underway. The first episode was also skipped in international markets such as the United Kingdom, but this episode was not, making it the first broadcast in those regions.
• After declaring the mountains as being the perfect location for a secret base for its hard and thick rock and ability to jam magnetic fields, the Autobots shoot and kick the rock as to be able to build the base—basically this means the base is vulnerable to any form of attack, barring reinforcement by the base components. And it's certainly hidden from humans.
• The Autobots can build a gigantic secret base in one day?
• Three normal Earth kids apparently know better than the Autobots how to construct a high-tech secret headquarters. While frankly quite ridiculous, this ability for design and detail does foreshadow some story developments with the Mini-Cons that come much later in the series. And, admittedly, they would know more about human-required amenities than Autobots. (In addition, the Autobots may have not had to build their base on Cybertron. And it is likely none of their areas of expertise extend to Architecture)
• So to make the base invisible to the radar they have to spray "stealth paint" on the inside of the base? (Given, that is where all the metal and equipment is.)
• Overhaul. Is. Spraying. Liquid. From. His. Groin.
  • White Liquid.
• They give the minimum safe distance as 240 kilometers, then as 150 miles. Pleasantly, this conversion is correct. (Jetfire also gives it as "a lightyear", but he's being hyperbolic.)
• This episode introduces the Autobots' over-dramatic (and over-long) "roll out" sequence, as they launch from their base through a series of extensive mechanisms. This footage will be recycled many, many times before the series is out. This episode plays it fairly straight, with Scattorshot simply making technical announcements over a loudspeaker as everyone gets into position, but starting with "Time" and running for pretty much the rest of the series, the writers start to have fun with the sequence, inserting lots of additional comedic dialogue to liven up the proceedings.
• Most of the sequence of Vector Prime summoning his Cyber Key is not stock footage, as it specifically shows the canyon he's in. Apparently the Firstforged get special treatment.
• Thundercracker is briefly mentioned in this episode, but is not seen.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Un nouveau refuge" ("A New Refuge")

Italian

• Title: "Il rifugio" ("The Haven")

• The recap at the beginning of the episode is cut out.

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

VHS

2005 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)

DVD

2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 01 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)