Warp

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<tr> <td colspan="2" style="background-color:#e7d492;text-align:center;font-size:12px;"> <table width="100%" style="background-color:transparent">

<tr style="font-size:14px;"> <td class="tti_buttonlink">« </td><td>Transformers: Cybertron ep <strong class="selflink">38 </strong>

</td><td class="tti_buttonlink">» </td></tr> <tr class="tt1_secondarynav"> <td class="tti_buttonlink"> </td><td>Galaxy Force ep <strong class="selflink">39</strong> </td><td class="tti_buttonlink"> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 12px; background-color:#ffffff;" align="center"> <img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/c/c7/Warp-title.jpg/300px-Warp-title.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" /><br />His eyes are fine. Hand, though? Burn-scar city. </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center"> "Warp" <div style="font-size:x-small;font-weight:normal;">超時空トンネル突破 <br />(Chōjikū Tonneru Toppa) <br />"Breaking Through the Super Space-Time Tunnel"</div> </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Airdate </td><td> 1 October 2005 (Japanese) </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Animation studio </td><td> GONZO </td></tr>

</table> The Autobots head for the warp-hole leading to the alternate universe where Gigantion rests.

Synopsis

In the Autobot base on Cybertron (which is still in the form of Primus' robot mode), Coby is working on a deactivated Scrapmetal. Optimus checks in on him, and Coby enthusiastically replies he's been tinkering... and Optimus knows he's doing it to keep from being depressed about his brother Bud, who is stranded along with Jolt and Reverb aboard the missing Atlantis starship. Vector Prime alerts them that they've found the time-space tunnel to the alternate dimension where Gigantion and the final Cyber Planet Key wait.

Vector tells the assembled Autobots that the tunnel, located in the Skeleton Nebula, is only open for a few days before closing down for an entire year. Red Alert warns that travelling through the tunnel could separate their minds from their bodies, a prospect that scares Jetfire considerably. Red assures them all that they've created a vaccine program based on data from Vector Prime's sword, which can create warps safely. Vector then reminds Coby that humans and Mini-Cons are already immune to the tunnel's effects.

You wanna get that thing outta my driveway? I gotta get to work!

Wing Saber is ready to go, but the Autobots have no ship capable of getting the non-flying Autobots there (or, as Leobreaker quips, a "really big slingshot"). Override calls in then, with a surprise... the colony-ship that brought her ancestors (and a Cyber Planet Key) to Velocitron, the Ogygia. She recounts that Brakedown and Clocker had been searching for the legendary craft, and finally uncovered it recently. As the Autobots prep the Ogygia and load it with supplies, Coby, Lori and Six-Speed are pushing a crate into the bay. Landmine asks what's in it, but Coby simply says it's a surprise.

With the ship ready, the Autobots line up to install Red Alert's vaccine program, which apparently is done via injection. Leobreaker is apprehensive about needles, but not as much as Jetfire is, the last Autobot in line. He says that he should stay behind to keep watch over the power-drained Primus... and then Primus steps in via glowing orb, saying his power levels are rising and he'll be just fine, thank you, so you can all go on to Gigantion. Shut down by god, Jetfire hems and haws a lot, then finally admits defeat and gets the shot, which Red Alert takes a mild sadistic pleasure in administering.

With everyone all shot up, the Ogygia takes off for the tunnel. Vector Prime warns everyone that the tunnel is unstable, and that even the psychic imprints formed by doubts, fears, etc. might distort the warp and basically destroy them. Coby grips Lori's hand to assure her (aww). However, as they enter the tunnel, they come under attack from behind, by the Atlantis! The Autobots realize they can't shoot back, because of their comrades trapped aboard the ship.

Speaking of, Bud peers out a window to see the Ogygia, confused by the appearance of what looks like another Atlantis. Jolt picks up Six-Speed's energy signature coming from it, which gets Bud excited and ready to act! He encourages the Mini-Cons to follow him: Jolt is scared, but Reverb doesn't hesitate.

So many quips, so little space.

Another blast takes out the Ogygia's main engine, and the ship starts to sink towards the edges of the tunnel. Coby says he'll fix the engines, and Optimus sends Red Alert and Six-Speed to help him. In the engine room, Coby hits on the idea of re-routing the power from the weapons (whcih they're not using anyway) to the engines. He and Six-Speed re-patch the cables, and hit the toggle switch to restart the engines in a Dramatic Moment. The Ogygia pulls from the edge, but the celebration is short-lived... a gigantic asteroid is right in their path! With no weapons, no room to evade, and Starscream still on their tail, things look bad, until Coby gets a message from Bud.

Bud has been reading too many comics.

The trio on the Atlantis start smashing up the engine room, which causes the ship to lag behind and give the Autobots some breathing room. Optimus decides the only way to get past the asteroid is on a personal level... all of the Autobots with projectile weapons (save Red Alert) Cyber-Key up and unleash a barrage on the asteroid, which cuts a hole through it large enough for the ship to fly through.

Coby wakes up, having been knocked out when the asteroid was blasted, to find they're safely in the alternate universe. The Autobots thank Coby for saving them, and they head for Gigantion...

But they're not the first to get there. Guided by a mysterious robot, Megatron and his Decepticons have made it to the planet first.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

<table border="5" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" align="center" style="border:#800000"> <tr> <th style="background:#FFEEEE"> Autobots</th><th style="background:#EEEEFE"> Decepticons</th><th style="background:antiquewhite"> Humans</th><th style="background:#FFEEB8"> Others </th></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top">

• Optimus Prime (2)
• Vector Prime (3)
• Safeguard (4)
• Wing Saber (5)
• Snarl (6)
• Jetfire (7)
• Leobreaker (8)
• Six-Speed (10)
• Scattorshot (11)
• Red Alert (12)
• Landmine (13)
• Hot Shot (14)
• Override (15)
• Clocker (17)
• Brakedown (18)
• Evac (19)
• Primus (20)
• Jolt (21)
• Reverb (22)

</td><td style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top">

• Starscream (25)
• Nemesis Breaker (26)
• Ransack (27)
• Crumplezone (28)
• Megatron (29)
• Thundercracker (30)
• Thunderblast (31)
• Scourge (34)

</td><td style="background:antiquewhite" valign="top">

• Coby Hansen (1)
• Lori (9)
• Bud Hansen (23)

</td><td style="background:#FFEEB8" valign="top">

• Dirt Boss (16)
• Sideways (24)
• Soundwave (32)
• Laserbeak (33)

</td></tr></table>

Quotes

"What matters is not how you start a race, but how you finish it."

—Optimus Prime

Leobreaker: Would you cool your turbines, Wing Saber?! Some of us can't just take off, y'know! <br /> Wing Saber: Uh, I almost forgot! Not all Transformers know how to fly. <br /> Snarl: That doesn't mean flying Autobots are better. <br /> Hot Shot: Yeah, but where are we gonna find a spaceship? <br /> Leobreaker: Or a really big sling-shot? (Snarl falls to the ground, anime style, and almost immediately gets up.) Snarl: Will you get serious?!

—The Autobots' "strategy" on how to get to Gigantion

"Hey, Big Sister! Where you been?"<br /> "Well, I took your advice, Lori... and went shopping."

—Lori and Override as the latter returns with the Ogygia

"Are you Autobots or Autonots?"

—Bud

"I've learned from the Autobots that sometimes one must save the moment before he can save the whole day!"

—Coby

Notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• When Override asks Jetfire why he thinks he should stay behind, it's Hot Shot who steps forward. Of course, we don't see anyone's lips moving... but characters in this series tend not to move unless they have lines... so take whichever way it works out that makes you happier.

Continuity errors

• Not really continuity, but... why doesn't Red Alert push the toggle switch to restart the engines, being right there and not apparently doing much, rather than have the two tiny beings that are smaller than the switch do it? Other than laziness, that is.

• How Soundwave has led Megatron to Gigantion is unexplained, not just in this episode, but ever. A fire dimension warp-gate is seen closing upon their arrival, so they clearly didn't arrive via the tunnel.

Real-world references

• <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogygia" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Ogygia">Ogygia</a> is, of course, a "real" mythical lost land.

• Coby guesses "Brigadoon" as the name of another colony-ship. "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadoon" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Brigadoon">Brigadoon</a>" is actually a musical play from 1947, about a (made-up) town in Scotland that only appears one day every hundred years.

• Jetfire snaps "Enough giggles!" when Red Alert takes his time before administering the vaccine shot. This might (or might not) be a reference to the horror movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Giggles" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Dr._Giggles">Dr. Giggles</a>.

• Optimus gives the order "Second star to the right, then straight on 'til Gigantion!", referencing the directions for flying to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverland" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Neverland">Neverland</a> in the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Peter_Pan">Peter Pan</a>" stories ("Second star to the right, then straight on 'til morning!"). In a way, this mirrors Vector Prime's whole "happy thoughts" deal in the warp-hole later... intentional?

• Bud muses "Do Mini-Cons dream of electric ships?"... a play on the title of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Philip_K._Dick">Philip K. Dick</a> novel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep%3F" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep?">Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</a>, which was adapted into the movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Blade_Runner">Blade Runner</a>.

• This is one reference-heavy episode! Wing Saber quips "It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that Wing!", a play on the jazz hit "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)".

Miscellaneous trivia

• Dirt Boss is barely seen in the flashback to the Ogygia's uncovering... he's got his back to the camera in the slow-pan across the crew. Apparently he turned over a new leaf (hence his being listed as an "Other" in the cast list above).

• Nemesis Breaker makes one of his two exceedingly rare robot-mode non-stock-footage appearances here. The other is in Escape

• When Coby is previewing the next episode in Galaxy Force, he mistakenly says it as "Megaronia no Gigaro Convoy" ("Gigalo Convoy of Megalonia"), although Optimus corrects him on the correct title. You can stop snickering now.