Fire in the Sky

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"Fire in the Sky"
Production code	#700-04
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	December 8, 1984
Written by	Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek and Alfred A. Pegal
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity

While siphoning the Earth of its energy, the Decepticons uncover a long-lost colleague of Starscream.

Synopsis

This snow isn't as fun as Spike said it was!

What’s this? A blanket of snow over the Ark's volcano? The Autobots and Spike engaged in a snowball fight? In July? In the middle of the desert? Something is amiss with the world’s weather. According to Teletraan I's scans, temperatures are 40 degrees below normal and falling rapidly.

Im in ur ice cave, steamcleanin ur crystal

Somewhere in the Arctic Circle, the Decepticons have tapped a crystal shaft leading directly to the Earth's core to siphon the planet's heat energy into energon cubes. While excavating the icy caverns surrounding the crystal, Rumble uncovers a Transformer frozen in the ice. Starscream recognizes it as his old colleague Skyfire.

The Autobots finally pinpoint the source of the Earth’s energy drain, and Teletraan I confirms Decepticon activity surrounding a crystal outgrowth in the Arctic Circle. Optimus Prime hastily assembles an assault team, and they roll out, with Spike and Sparkplug accompanying.

The Decepticons have hauled the frozen titan out of the ice and proceed to repair it. Starscream explains his past: millions of years ago, before the final falling out between the Autobots and Decepticons, Starscream and Skyfire were both explorers. They were charting an unknown planet, Earth, when a storm separated the two and Skyfire was lost.

Skyfire awakens and Megatron welcomes him to the Decepticon cause. Though Skyfire is grateful for having been thawed out, he shows doubts about being a warrior rather than a scientist. He commits to the cause out of loyalty to Starscream. When the Autobots arrive in the Arctic, Skyfire targets them for destruction.

A changing faction symbol? It's Sideways! Get him!

Skyfire opens fire, scattering the Autobots. Spike tumbles through the ice into the arctic waters. Sparkplug pulls him out, but they are trapped on an ice floe. They cry out for help. Skyfire is intrigued by the new lifeforms and tries to befriend them, not realizing that they are terrified by Decepticons. Spike and Sparkplug try to explain that it’s the Decepticons that are the true monsters. The naïve Skyfire takes the humans to Megatron to prove the Decepticons' good intentions. Megatron and Starscream promptly imprison Spike and Sparkplug behind bars of ice, and plan their execution, leaving Skyfire troubled.

Optimus leads his Autobot team into the icy caverns, but a cave-in splits the team in two. Prime's group finds the humans and frees them, while the other team—including Ironhide, Ratchet, Hound and Gears—find the crystal shaft tap. Megatron discovers this second group and has his soldiers capture them. To test Skyfire's loyalty, Starscream orders Skyfire to execute the captives. Skyfire refuses, and in a fit of rage, Starscream blasts his old friend. Starscream then blasts the prisoners to pieces.

Well, not really. Once again, one of Hound's holograms has saved the day, creating the illusion of blasted Autobot parts. When Starscream departs, Hound drops the illusion. An ailing Skyfire awakens and is pleased to see the Autobots functioning. The disparate Autobot teams unite as Ratchet repairs the fallen titan. Laserbeak spies Ratchet's work and reports to Megatron. The Decepticon leader chews out Starscream for failing to kill the prisoners. Megatron orders his soldiers to attack.

"Rest in peace, Skyfire."
"I'm not dead!"
"I can still hear his voice on the wind... *sniff*"

As the battle progresses, Prime and Megatron each grab shards of crystals and engage in a duel. Skyfire appears on the battlefield, and Megatron orders him to attack Prime. Skyfire refuses, and proudly declares himself an Autobot, attacking Megatron and his Decepticons instead.

The battle takes to the air as Starscream and Skyfire engage in an aerial dogfight. A midair collision sends Skyfire out of control. In a last ditch effort, his blasts bury the crystal, but Skyfire crashes into the ice. The Autobots mourn Skyfire’s heroic sacrifice.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Jazz (2) Bumblebee (3) Hound (4) Cliffjumper (5) Ratchet (6) Optimus Prime (7) Gears (8) Skyfire (14) Ironhide (15)	Skywarp (9) Reflector (10) Starscream (11) Megatron (12) Rumble (13) Soundwave (17) Thundercracker (18) Ravage (19) Laserbeak (20)	Spike Witwicky (1) Sparkplug Witwicky (16)

Quotes

"Not snowman, Spike. Snowbot! There's a flurry in a hurry!"

—A snow-covered Jazz, surprising Spike

"Okay, Spike. You rat on me, I'll splat on you!"

—Bumblebee, after Spike warns Ratchet about Bumblebee's incoming snowball

Ironically, Gears is the one with the junk in his trunk. Well, truck bed, anyway.

"Ironhide's carrying too much lead in his caboose!"

—Ratchet, predating the "junk in the trunk" standard after they all fall through an ice sheet

"Lucky for you my laser has a defrost cycle."

—Cliffjumper breaks Spike and Sparkplug out of an ice prison.

"Well, I'll be reprogrammed with a rivet roller."

—Ironhide reveals yet another unusual piece of Cybertronian technology.

"I'm a scientist, not an executioner!"

—Skyfire objecting to Starscream's demand that he execute the captives.

"You shall pay for your treachery!"

—Starscream to Skyfire. You know what, Starscream-- never mind.

"He won't be forgotten, Spike. He will live forever... so long as freedom exists. We shall remember you, Skyfire."

—Optimus Prime's eulogy for Skyfire

Notes

Animation or technical glitches

ManBearPig - I'm serial!

• Jazz laughs at Spike's "I get the drift" line in Cliffjumper's voice.
• His voice apparently stolen by Jazz, Cliffjumper oophs and grunts in a Don Messick voice as he bangs into a tree. It's similar to the "What does it instantly immobilize?" flub from the later episode "The Immobilizer".
• As Optimus Prime muses about how the heat from the Earth's core is being drained away, Gears can be seen in the background sitting in front of a console with a very small screen. But during the closeup of Gears, the screen is much larger. The screen also makes a mechanical whirring noise as the view pans across a native village, as if the screen itself were moving.
• While Megatron and Starscream are talking at the energon cube-filler machine, Reflector places an already-filled energon cube at the machine, seemingly to have it filled. In the same shot, another Reflector bot's chest is all gray.
• Rumble's mouth moves after Skywarp taunts him, but rather uncharacteristically, he doesn't actually say anything.

"If I talk to you for two minutes, I consider you my friend."

• Coloring errors:
  • As Starscream berates Skywarp and Rumble for standing around, Skywarp's cockpit fringe is gray instead of black, and Rumble's eyeband is gray.
  • "Give him 50,000 volts" - Starscream's "collar" is red instead of gray.
  • As Soundwave deploys the electrical device, his face is misdrawn with a strangely pointy faceplate, and his eyeband is colored gray instead of red.
  • "I knew him once" - the tip of Starscream's gun turns the same blue as his glove as he gestures.
  • "Hail Cybertron!" - Skyfire's face is white instead of gray.
  • Skyfire's Decepticon symbol alternates between red and purple throughout the episode, but it is mostly red.
  • As the Autobots roll toward Skyfire in profile, Jazz's fenders are colored windshield blue.
  • "I'll take you to Megatron, my leader" - red Decepticon symbol on Skyfire again.
  • Spike and Sparkplug's fur hats are beige instead of brown as they look at each other in fear.
  • "We'd better find Optimus and the others before..." Ironhide's backside is entirely dark gray; there should be some red and light gray.
  • "With pleasure, Megatron!" The bridge of Starscream's nose is light gray; it should be dark gray.
  • In the wide shot of Ratchet repairing Skyfire, Skyfire's got a red Decepticon symbol yet again.
  • Skywarp's nosecone is all orange as he transforms and takes off.
  • Prime's bumper is yellow as he spins around to transform his trailer.
  • Skyfire's thruster nozzles are white as he approaches the crystal.
  • As the Autobots cheer for Skyfire's apparent victory, Optimus Prime's whole torso is colored blue.
• The first bit of Skyfire that's sticking out of the ice doesn't correspond to any actual part on his body.
• After Starscream melts away more of the ice, that first part of Skyfire is no longer sticking out.
• While watching the Sky Spy's footage, Spike describes a "weird light", but the screen shows nothing of the sort. The big, green, not-a-light crystal is plain as day, though.
• When the Autobots roll out, the background is moving far too quickly, making them appear to be sliding across frame while transforming. It doesn't help that they aren't drawn very well, either.
• Appearing / disappearing Autobots:
  • Only Prime, Jazz, Ironhide and Hound are shown rolling out. Gears shows up in the convoy on the way to the north pole. Cliffjumper, Ratchet and Bumblebee finally show up when the group transforms in front of Skyfire.
• In Skyfire's memory monitor, a distant shot shows Starscream looking like a short, dumpy version of Inferno.
• When Skyfire first wakes up and asks where he is, Starscream's mouth appears to be moving, but he isn't actually saying anything. In the same shot, the back of Thundercracker's head is white instead of black.
• The base of Megatron's fusion cannon is the same silver as his arm, as he introduces himself to Skyfire.
• When the Autobots stop in front of Skyfire, they're tiny - maybe as tall as his feet.
• When Spike yells for help, one of Hound's laser blasts comes out of mid-air instead of his gun.

Gotta admit it...that boy has really gotten a lot better.

• When Skyfire picks up Spike and Sparkplug, his entire right arm, including his gun, is drawn as the Macross Valkyrie-styled arm from his original animation model.
• In a rather odd shot set up, Skyfire is too big to fit into a cave that Megatron and Starscream stand in. He’s forced to peer through the cave’s opening.
• After Starscream shoots his hand, Skyfire has an extra line on his face that makes him look like an old man (the same trick later used to distinguish Hot Rod from his Rodimus Prime persona.) His arm jointing seems oddly drawn, as well.
• When Bumblebee tells Optimus that he can't find Ironhide and the others, the animation makes him look like he's floating a foot or two above the ground.
• Prime clearly drives into the caves without his trailer. When Bumblebee reports in, Prime does have his trailer. In the next shot, he lacks the trailer again. His smokestacks are rendered as thin red lines, too.
  • Later, during the big fight at the end, Prime's trailer appears again so he can use its weapons.
• Gears is missing his forearm as he and the others peer at the green crystal.
• As Hound gets to his feet, he leaves a copy of his missile launcher behind, briefly giving him two launchers. In the same shot, Ratchet's mouth goes missing.
• Megatron's missing his back gun barrel as he spins 180 at the waist.
• Optimus is shown mouthing Megatron’s order to Skyfire (to destroy Optimus Prime!)
• Starscream fires strange cross-hatch lasers at Skyfire. As he swoops in, a purple Autobot symbol is briefly visible on his wing.
• Spike and Sparkplug are both shown mouthing Spike's "Belt him in the burners" line.

Continuity errors

• This episode's basic premise is one of the most bizarre and scientifically ludicrous conceits ever created by the cartoon - namely, the idea that draining the energy of the Earth's core would somehow severely and instantly affect its climate, causing plummeting temperatures worldwide. If internal heat generates the planet's climate, why would there be big frozen zones at the poles? Doesn't Earth actually have a big external heat source that would offset the devastating loss of this (infinitesimal) heat source?
• Teletraan I says the global average temperature has dropped by 40 degrees. To put that in context, the average temperature was about 8 degrees less than the present day during the last ice age.
• What exactly do green crystals have to do with the Earth's core?
• Superhuman Spike:
  • Spike not only survives (without bruising, or bleeding) a watermelon-sized snowball headshot (to the face) powerful enough to knock him off a cliff, but also rolling down said cliff with enough velocity to knock over several full-sized Autobots without so much as breaking a bone. In fact, he just gets up and is *smiling*!
  • Spike falls and nearly drowns in Arctic water, and somehow is not overcome by hypothermia. It probably helps that both he and his clothes dry out about five seconds after being pulled out.
  • Both Spike and Sparkplug seem none the worse for wear after being casually tossed onto solid ice by Starscream.
• Someone forgot that the Seekers have a pre-Earth design; in a flashback to millions of years ago, Starscream is shown transforming into his F-15 jet mode (millions of years before his arrival on Earth, or the invention of jets.) The script for the episode did call for a Cybertronian alternate mode, but evidently the animators didn't get the message.
• The Autobots can apparently drive from the United States to the Arctic in a fairly short amount of time.
• Just where did Skyfire get this whole "evil Autobots" notion, anyway? Did he miss that whole "conquer the universe" bit in Megatron's speech?
• The ad hoc icicle 'prison' created for Spike and Sparkplug first contains gaps clearly large enough for them to be able to escape through.
• Gears says that his group had better go find Optimus before they're discovered by the Decepticons. The group then stands around doing nothing until, sure enough, they're discovered by the Decepticons.

And then there's this. Did the script call for this? What the hell?

• Couldn't four Autobot prisoners overpower their captors (Starscream and Skyfire) with relative ease? Heck, Hound's still got his missile sitting there, ready to go!
• Starscream is apparently dumb enough to think that 2 piddly little null ray blasts are enough to reduce four Autobots to scrap.
• It's never adequately explained where Skyfire got an Autobot badge from. And he tears the old one off like it's made of paper.
• Why was Skyfire's whole sacrifice even necessary? Couldn't the Autobots have buried the crystal from the ground?

Rhino DVD release

"Are you happier having a red symbol than a purple one, Starscream?"
"Yes! It is far more exciting! And it goes so well with my red highlights!"

• At the beginning of the episode, the snow falls upwards and many snow effects are missing.
• In many instances Skyfire's symbol is miscolored.
• Right after he wakes up, Skyfire has a red Decepticon insignia in his chest in one shot, before they actually imprint the symbol on him.
• When Starscream blasts Skyfire, the laser blast is missing.
• The chapter stops for this episode on the Rhino DVD are Opening / Snowbot / At the Arctic Circle / "Destruction to Autobots" / An Illusion / Skyfire is Gone

Continuity notes

• Aside from astroseconds, Transformers also use astrominutes as units of time.
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Soundwave can transform his right forearm into a cylindrical electricity firing module capable of generating a million volts.
  • Ratchet uses the same forearm-mounted laser scalpel that he had in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2".
  • Laserbeak uses his forehead-mounted microphone... to broadcast a signal.
  • Megatron receives that signal with a flashing of his pectoral rectangle things, a trope that will show up again in "Countdown to Extinction".
  • Megatron can rotate his lower torso 180 degrees, which makes for some cool hand-to-hand combat maneuvers.

• Prime’s Combat Deck cannons make a rare appearance in this episode, emerging from a non-transformed trailer.
• The first appearance of Skyfire, obviously.
• "We shall remember you, Skyfire!" Optimus solemnly vows. Yeah, especially next time we need a ride somewhere.

Real-world references

• "It's educational, kids!" - we get an appearance of the Aurora Borealis.
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • Millennium Falcon engine burst as the Seekers transform and take off.
  • Death Star super laser as they launch their attack a second later.
  • Exploding X-wing Fighter (or an explosion aboard the Death Star) as the Autobots flee from Decepticon bombs.
  • Clashing lightsabers as Ratchet gets blasted away from Skyfire.
  • TIE Fighter roar as Skywarp and Thundercracker crash.
  • Clashing lightsabers again as Prime knocks Megatron's cannon away.
  • Falcon engine burst as Skyfire takes off.
  • X-wings and TIE Fighter as Skyfire aims for the crystal.

Trivia

• This episode was produced as the seventh in the season, though it aired after the eighth-produced episode, "S.O.S. Dinobots".
• This episode contains the first time that Prime gives the famous "Transform and roll out" order.
• Strangely, the official Sunbow Productions cast list entry for "Fire in the Sky" names "Decepticon Workers" who "resemble Skywarp" as silent characters ("no dialogue") appearing in the episode. No such legion of Skywarps actually appears.
• Spike and Sparkplug have fashionable fur-lined cold-weather hardhats with ear flaps.
• Skyfire gets what may be the only internal monologue in the entire series, as he reflects unhappily on the Decepticons ethos.
• If you don't get a laugh out of Megatron nonchalantly beaning Starscream with an energon cube, there's no hope for you.
• If energon is capable of getting cybertronians drunk or "overcharged", and the cubes are what the energon's stored in, then Megatron basically pulled the Transformer equivalent of throwing a beer bottle at someone. Which if you think about it makes him beaning Starscream with one even funnier.

Foreign localization

Brazilian

• Title: "Fogo no Céu" ("Fire in the Sky")
• Original airdate: ?

Italian

• Title (dub 1): "Sfida tra i ghiacci" ("Challenge in the Ice")
• Title (dub 2): "Fiamme nei cieli" ("Flames in the Skies")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: "Skyfire no Saisei" (スカイファイヤーの再生, "Skyfire's Resurrection")
• Original airdate: September 26, 1986
• The Japanese ordering of this episode places it toward the end of the series. This was done as it featured Skyfire prominently and with his toy being of Bandai design (and not sold in Japan as a Transformer), that caused some legal concerns amongst Takara (many of Skyfire's smaller scenes in other episodes were cut entirely). Though the episodes featuring him as a main character were eventually shown, the scripts were not reworked to adjust to the new chronological placement, simply being more or less direct translations of the original English versions.
• Cut: After Jazz makes his "snow fair" joke, the pan across to Bumblebee has been cut.
• Cut: After Cliffjumper crashes ino the snow-covered tree, the scene of him shaking his head, Hound sliding by and crashing into a cactus have been cut.
• Cut: The scene of Gears pointing to his monitor and blaming the snow on the Decepticons and Prime walking up and bending forward have been cut.
• Cut: After Megatron makes his speech about gathering enough Energon cubes to conquer the universe, the pan across the ice cave toward Rumble has been cut.
• Cut: Following Teletraan-1's line, "Abnormally large energy expenditure in the Artic Circle", the scene of the monitor panning across the frozen tundra toward the large green crystal cone has been cut.
• Cut: After the Autobots all transform and leave the Ark, the scene of Prime driving next to the cliffside and Spike's line, "Arctic Circle, here we come" have been cut.
• Cut: After Starscream tosses Spike and Sparkplug to the ground, the following scene of him pointing his arm gun toward them and the humans reacting in horror have been cut. The sequence resumes as his firing on the roof of the ice cave to create the ice bars.
• Cut: Once Soundwave ejects Ravage at Megatron's command, the scene of Megatron pointing Ravage in a certain direction and Ravage charging down the cave have been cut. The sequence resumes at the inward pan of the empty cave and Jazz's line about "searching these tunnels for astro-minutes".
• Cut: Immediately following that scene, the scene of Megatron sitting down and spinning an Energon cube in his hand has been cut. The sequence resumes at his blinking chest.

Russian

• Title: "Ogonj v nebe" (Огонь в небе, "Fire in the Sky")
• Original airdate: ?

Serbian

• Title: "Vatra na nebu" (Ватра на небу, "Fire in the Sky")
• Original airdate: ?

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

VHS

1985 — The Transformers — Volume 4: "Fire in the Sky" (Family Home Entertainment)
1995 — The Transformers — The Autobots vs. The Decepticons (Malofilm)

LaserDisc

1995 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Megatron Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers — Decepticon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume Three (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder)
2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — Transformers — Collection 1: Series 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 1 (Metrodome)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — Classic Transformers — Series One: Part One (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season One (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle