Megatron's Sword

This article is about the Energon episode. For the weapon sometimes called "Megatron's Sword", see Energon Sword.

« Transformers: Energon ep 4 »
Not your father's Excalibur
"Megatron's Sword" メガトロンの証 () (Megatron no Akashi) "Proof of Megatron"
Production company	TV Tokyo, NAS
Airdate	30 January 2004 (Japanese) February 21, 2004 (English)
Writer	Shōji Tonoike
Director	Tadao Ōkubo
Animation studio	Actas, Studio A-CAT (3D)
Continuity	Unicron Trilogy

The survivors on Mars are attacked again, but the Autobots must turn their attention elsewhere.

Synopsis

Plot points derived exclusively from the Super Link version of the Energon cartoon are in italics.

A group of Terrorcons arrive at Unicron, offloading the energon they captured to help restore the Chaos Bringer. Alpha Q complains that the restorations are not happening fast enough, due to the Autobots' interference. Alpha Q plots their destruction by reviving Megatron, but first, he requires more energon, so he orders Scorponok and Tidal Wave to initiate another raid.

In a practice session, Jetfire and Ironhide aren't having much luck in Powerlinxing, as Ironhide can't seem to properly synchronize his breathing with Jetfire. Jetfire leaves in a huff, but Ironhide seems to have a revelation.

Meanwhile, Scorponok's mobile fortress approaches Mars. At the battered Mars City base, a group of rookie Autobots have found a new energon source and make radio contact for backup. They nervously await a response.

The transmission makes its way to Cybertron where Dr. Jones passes message on to Optimus Prime on Earth and asks for backup. Optimus orders the evacuation of Mars City, as there are no Omnicons present to mine the energon that has been discovered. Ironhide, realizing that the rookies on Mars are his friends, jumps at the chance to join the mission.

Two unidentified Transformers approach Mars City. The Autobots on Mars prepare to defend themselves, as Tidal Wave makes his arrival, telling the rookies to stand down, as he is a friend. When he gets confirmation that the planet is rich with energon, he begins his attack. Hordes of Terrorcons swoop in taking out the first line of defense, meanwhile, Tidal Wave blasts into the mine, confronting the Energon Saber Mini-Con Team, who manages to fly past the slow titan, before sustaining any damage.

In Ocean City, the Autobots are about to deploy, when Optimus suddenly hesitates to leave the city, anticipating an attack in their absence. He calls off the mission, much to Ironhide and Kicker's frustration. Kicker waits for the attack to come when he suddenly senses something; a space bridge opens, and a squad of Omnicons arrives, along with the missing Cyclonus. An excited Demolishor greets his old comrade with a friendly spar match, as the crazed-Cyclonus taunts him, saying that he's forgotten how to fight. During the scuffle, Demolishor tells Cyclonus the rumor of Megatron's return to lead the Decepticons to a new glory, to which Cyclonus and Demolishor brush it off, claiming that Tidal Wave is foolish to believe that it's true. The Energon Saber Team arrives as well, reporting the situation on Mars.

Star Saber or Lightsaber? You decide.

In space, Scorponok's mobile fortress returns to Unicron, where Alpha Q delivers the Energon Sword to Scorponok; a sword crafted from Galvatron's corpse and infused with his spark.

Back on Earth, Ironhide and Kicker are restless and want to go help out on Mars. Meanwhile in Plains City, a Divebomb drone shows up, causing the Transformers stationed there to prepare for an attack. Upon hearing that Plains City is now under attack, the Autobots of Ocean City prepare to move out. Optimus orders Demolishor, Cyclonus, the Street Action and Energon Saber Mini-Cons to stay behind to guard the city while they're gone, but the two Decepticons ultimately disobey his orders and head off on their own anyway.

At Plains City, Scorponok and Tidal Wave lead the Terrorcons into battle. There, Cyclonus and Demolishor find themselves facing off against their old comrade. When Optimus's team arrives, he sends Hot Shot to draw the Terrorcons away, while Ironhide helps out any civilians that may be left in the city.

As Tidal Wave argues and fights with Cyclonus, Scorponok unleashes the Energon Sword's power. As Ironhide and Kicker enter the city's mine, Kicker notices that he can't sense anyone, meaning that everyone must have already evacuated. Upon seeing the sword, Prime wonders if Megatron could really still be alive, while Demolishor and Cyclonus freak out as a result of the news. Tidal Wave declares that with energon, they can resurrect him—to which Cyclonus decides to switch sides; leaving Demolishor behind in startled in disbelief.

Kicker and Ironhide return to the city's surface, where the Energon Saber Team combines and offers themselves to Kicker as a weapon/hoverboard. At Jetfire's request, he and Ironhide manage to successfully Powerlinx, while Kicker tosses the Energon Saber to them; allowing them to save Optimus from Scorponok. Optimus and Ironhide double-team Scorponok, who retreats before they can do any damage. Scorponok leads his troops away, and Cyclonus follows. Demolishor is left full of doubts.

Following the battle, Optimus thanks Ironhide for the save and the two share a moment of solace over the fallen Autobots on Mars. Optimus reassures him that despite the day's tragedies, he did well.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Ironhide (4) Jetfire (5) Optimus Prime (9) Hot Shot (13) Inferno (14) Skyblasts (19) Strongarms (20) Prime Force (24)	Galvatron's corpse (3) Tidal Wave (15) Demolishor (17) Cyclonus (21)	Rad White (10) Brian Jones (11) Kicker Jones (12)	Divebombs (1) Alpha Q (2) Scattor (6) Skyboom (7) Wreckage (8) Battle Ravages (16) Scorponok (17) Grindor (18) High Wire (22) Sureshock (23)

Quotes

"Look. The energon flows through him. Perhaps we can use him!"'

—Alpha Q hasn't thought this whole reviving-Megatron thing through very well.

"Yes, Optimus. There is still some energon at Mars City. We thought that it had been completely decimated but a hidden reserve was discovered by a squadron of Mini-Cons. I was hoping you could send a support team there to investigate."
"There are Mini-Cons at Mars City?"

—Dr. Jones, who doesn't know what "decimated" means and can't keep track of current events, and Optimus Prime, who can't keep track of his own troops.

"Mars City?! I'm in! I know I can teach those rookies a thing or two. You gotta let me lead the mission, sir!"

—Ironhide is a victim of bad dubbing

"Huh? Where are those Autobots go."

—Demolishor speak pretty one day.

"You chump! Scorponok wants you to believe Megatron is still alive to use you!"
"But I have proof!"
"Oh yeah? Well let's see it then!"
"Not now. Later."
"I knew you'd say that! Heheheahahahaha!"

—Cyclonus reasons with Tidal Wave. Now there's a true battle of the wits.

Demolishor: "Megatron's still alive?!"
Cyclonus: "What do mean he's still alive?! He can't be! Can he?"
Tidal Wave: "We need energon for his resurrection."
Cyclonus: "No problemo! HAHAHAHA!"

—Cyclonus defects in his own unique way.

"Kicker. Help me. I don't know what I am anymore!"

—Demolishor's self-doubt begins to grow.

Notes

Differences with Super Link

A lot of this episode's plot points—specifically those revolving around the Energon Sword and the Autobots on Mars—are screwed up in the English version of the episode. In order to convey the most accurate recount of the episode's events, we have merged plot points from both dubs, as seen above.

• Jetfire claims that Ironhide needs to "synchronize his breathing" in order for them to combine. Err, riiight. In Super Link, he talked about feeling the pulse of his Spark of Combination.
• Energon presents the Autobots manning Mars City as Mini-Cons, when in actuality, they're Optimus Prime's own team of trainees, as seen in the first episode of the series. This is why Ironhide is so determined to accompany Prime's team to Mars (to save his old friends), and why Prime and he share an emotional moment at the end of the episode (because they fail to save them).
• In Super Link, when Cyclonus arrives, Demolishor tells him a rumor that Megatron has been revived; Cyclonus is skeptical, and they both think Tidal Wave is an idiot for going along with it. In Energon, Cyclonus tells Demolishor a rumor that Scorponok has been revived, despite the fact that neither of them have ever met Scorponok before.
• In Super Link, the sword was made from Megatron and infused with his spark. Energon mangled this into the sword having belonged to Megatron.
• The entire point of this episode—which is that the surviving Autobots on Mars have possibly been wiped out—is pretty much glossed over. Can't have a bunch of guys getting killed in a kids show airing in the West!

Pain count

• "Uh?": 3
• "We need/they want energon": 6
• "We've gotta": 4
• "Let's do it": 1

Animation and technical errors

His outlines are on their way to competing with the sword blade in thickness.

Look ma, no hands!

• In Energon when Jetfire and Ironhide go outside the base to help the Mini-Cons, as they run, the background of the main tower doesn't move. It does in Super Link.
• In Energon when the Terrorcons begin bombarding the stone city fortress, the music track switches. This is because in Super Link, there was no music before the attack commenced.
• In one of the more famous Energon dub gaffes, Alpha Q claims that the Energon Sword is the "Star Saber", which makes absolutely no sense.
• When Scorponok is first handed the Energon Sword, his entire body outline hasn't been resized to match his model's sizing for the scene. As the camera pulls out, his model's outline returns to normal, meaning that they enlarged the CGI model to create the zoom effect. A cheatsy but ingenious animation trick, unfortunately executed very poorly.
• In Energon, when Ironhide says, "Oh no! Earth's under attack!", Ironhide is somehow missing his left foot and there is a very large smoothing error on the windshield of his right shin. The few seconds immediately preceding it, Ironhide has no mouth animations whatsoever during his whole conversation with Kicker about Mini-Cons.
• In Energon, Scorponok gives Tidal Wave an order, the camera then zoom-pans-in on Tidal Wave while a crudely animated nutcracker style mouth says "EN-ER-GOOONN". Scorponok then transforms out of the shot. Tidal Wave's mouth moving is a dub-only addition as is Scorponok transforming. In Super Link, Tidal Wave drops down out of the shot and the camera zoom-pans-in on Scorponok, who then does not transform, which makes sense, since he is next seen still in robot mode.
• In Energon when Scorponok first uses the Energon Sword against Hot Shot a red shape is shown instead of the completed flame effect seen in Super Link. Later when Scorponok destroys Optimus Prime's Prime Force drone units with a sweep of the Energon Sword, red circles appear, instead of the properly animated explosions seen in Super Link. Also, in this shot Optimus and Scorponok are hovering in mid-air. In Super Link a foreground painting of the bridge covers up this error so it looks like they are standing & sitting on the bridge.
• When Cyclonus tells Tidal Wave that he is being used by Scorponok, his propellers stop moving for a minute before the angle changes.
• Tidal Wave's size is exaggerated as he attack Cyclonus, much like it is back in Armada.
• The animation of the ending battle sequence is amazingly unclear.
• When Ironhide and Jetfire finally Powerlinx together, they refer to it as "Super Linking," which is obviously the Japanese term.

• Ironhide and Jetfire's combined form has no hands for the entirety of him wielding the Energon Saber during the final fight. Well, that's not entirely true; his completely unused concept art hands appear and disappear from inside the forearms from shot to shot.

Continuity notes

• This is the first time the Terrorcons are shown to speak.
• It appears Megatron's most loyal Decepticons were assigned to different posts as they are likely to cause trouble when placed together—something that is evident when Demolishor and Cyclonus disobey Optimus Prime's direct orders.
• Demolishor starts to question his loyalties.
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Scorponok wields the Energon Sword.
  • Kicker can apparently sense living creatures/Transformers, not just danger and energon.
  • Scorponok's visor is down for battle.
  • Kicker uses the Energon Saber as a hover board.
  • Powerlinx Ironhide Powerlinx with the Energon Saber.
  • Optimus Prime disengages from his Super Mode and launches his Prime Force components at Scorponok, much like he did with his container in the Armada episode "Trust".
• Powerlinx forms:
  • Optimus Prime Super Mode
  • Energon Saber (first use)
  • Powerlinx Ironhide with Jetfire (first use)

Continuity errors

• The fact that Mars City was previously a smoking bomb crater, with no detected life signs, is completely forgotten in this episode. Instead, Dr. Jones reports to Prime that an energon source has been discovered there, rather than the more crucial fact that there were survivors of the first attack.
• Why at this point would Demolishor know or care who Scorponok is?
• Skyboom is called "Sonar" by Optimus—perhaps not so surprising since Skyboom's toy is a retool of Sonar.
• Cyclonus was last seen guarding the moon base before it was attacked and destroyed in "Cybertron City". So... where's he been all this time?. And why were there Omnicons with him when he came back?
• All the characters recognise the sword as Megatron's, when he never used it before. This manages to make even less sense in the Japanese version, where the sword was explicitly created anew by Alpha Q.

Trivia

• More spiffy generics in this one, both in Mars City and in the unnamed Plains City. One of the Mars group is totally wearing a trash can lid on his head. With some slight modification, this same character model would later be recycled as Padlock, the only distinguishing factor between the two of them being that Padlock lacks a mouth.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "L'épée de Megatron" ("Megatron's Sword")

• Demolishor is called "Demolisher" again instead of "Démolisseur", his name from Armada and episode 1 of Energon.
• Instead of saying that two Transformers are approaching the planet, Dr. Jones says that "two transport ships are approaching the planet".
• Optimus Prime's line "Good, I'm glad to hear that" still has the TV effect, despite the shot taking place in the Autobot base.
• The bot's line "His name is Tidal Wave" is dubbed by "He probably comes as a friend".
• Kicker's lines "What are you talking about, Optimus?" and "But, what for?" mistakenly have the usual huge pitch effect applied to the robot voices.
• Optimus forgets punctuation! While in English he says "They're going to have to make it back on their own. Inferno, send out an emergency order to all Autobots", in French he says "They'll need to make it back on their own, Inferno. Send out an emergency order to all Autobots". It makes the phrase sound like he answers to Inferno when it's actually Jetfire who asked.
• Like in the English dub, Alpha Q claims that the sword is "the famous Star Saber".
• Skyblast's line "Okay you bots, gather around for your Energon booster shot" is said with a very nasal, twit voice.
• For whatever reason, Kicker and Optimus both call Ironhide "Strongarm" once he combined with Jetfire.

Italian

• Title: "La spada di Megatron" ("Megatron's Sword")

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

VHS

2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)
2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)

DVD

2004 — Transformer: Super Link — Volume 001 (Interchannel) — Japanese audio only.
2004 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)
2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)
2005 — Transformers: Energon — Volume 1: The Battle for Energon (Paramount)
2008 — Transformers: Energon — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Energon — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers: Energon — Volume One (Shout! Factory)