First Encounter

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This article is about the Armada episode. For the Armada comic story, see First Encounter!{{#switch:{{#sub:First Encounter!|-1}}

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<tr style="font-size:14px;"> <td class="tti_buttonlink"> </td><td>Transformers: Armada ep <strong class="selflink">1</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/e/eb/ArmadaPrime_firstappearance.jpg/300px-ArmadaPrime_firstappearance.jpg" width="300" height="389" border="0" /><br />Just look at that thousand light-year stare. </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center"> "First Encounter" <div style="font-size:x-small;font-weight:normal;">遭遇 (であい) - encounter <br />(Sōgū [Deai]) <br />"Encounter"</div> </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Airdate </td><td> August 23, 2002 (English)<br />10 January 2003 (Japanese) </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Written by </td><td> Ryo Motohira </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Directed by </td><td> Hidehito Ueda </td></tr>

</table> Three ordinary children find themselves faced with robotic visitors from another world, and an extraterrestrial war on their own planet.

Synopsis

Eons ago, the Transformers were sent out as explorers, by a "unique digital entity". One of the first planets they inhabited was Cybertron. But the Transformers warred with one another over tiny robots named Mini-Cons, who were used as tools to boost power. Eventually the Mini-Cons were awakened by an internal protocol and joined forces to resist domination by either Autobots or Decepticons. After a long war, the Autobots and Decepticons called a truce. A craft was constructed for the Mini-Cons and blasted into space to stop them being used in another war. It traveled for millions of years until it collided with a moon; damaged, it crashed to the surface of the moon's parent planet. The Mini-Cons lay dormant for millions of years, as the planet's terrain shifted and changed around them...

In the present day, a human named Rad narrates, introducing himself and his friend Carlos. They race to school (Rad wins) and meet a girl named Alexis. Rad asks her if she wants to come with them to explore a cave, but she rejects him. They then meet and argue with two boys named Billy and Fred. They then head to class for the day.

After school they race up the mountain to the cave. Billy and Fred follow them using a locator stuck to Rad's bike. Rad and Carlos head into the cave, using a rope, and a trail of rocks to mark their path. Billy and Fred follow them at a distance, and accidentally destroy part of the trail. Rad and Carlos dislodge a large slab of rock which they ride down into a cave filled with the wreckage of the Mini-Con spaceship. Billy and Fred are lost, having been scared by some bats. Rad finds a Mini-Con storage panel, and picks it up. This activates a beacon, which causes an earthquake.

Alexis notices the earthquake and heads off to investigate the cave. The beacon disables the geological station's computers. Then the beacon is shown firing out of the cave, in three parts, one red, one purple and one green. The green part of it activates the spaceship wreckage on the moon, causing Mini-Con panels across earth to activate. The other two portions of the beacon alert the Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron to the location of the Mini-Cons.

Back on Earth Rad and Carlos exit the cave, and meet Alexis, only to be confronted by the hulking Megatron. The Mini-Con panel Rad has activates, and High Wire emerges. High Wire scans Rad's bike and reforms himself so he can transform into a bicycle. Rad can almost understand him, and the three ride High Wire to try and escape Megatron. Megatron flicks a boulder at them which knocks them off High Wire. Megatron demands they give him High Wire. But suddenly another giant robot teleports in, grappling with Megatron.

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"> Mini-Cons </th></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top">

• Optimus Prime (9)

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• Megatron (8)

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• Rad White (1)
• Carlos Lopez (2)
• Alexis (3)

Guests

• Billy (4)
• Fred (5)
• Homeroom teacher (6)

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• High Wire (7)

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Quotes

"Hey, we were just wondering if you'd like to come with us after school. We're heading the the mountains to scope out this wicked cave we found..."<br /> "Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I've got a math test and I told my mom I'd come straight home. So for the last time, the answer's no!"

—Alexis uses the old "math test" excuse to blow off Rad.

"Would you hurry up? They've probably gone home already!"<br /> "Hey! You don't have to yell at me, I got feelings too, ya know! I-I'm trying my hardest, but no, nothing's ever good enough for you!"<br /> "Aw, quit your bellyaching!"<br /> "My therapist says I don't have to take this from you because you're not the boss of me! Besides, I'm getting hungry again."

—Billy and Fred arrive at the cave Rad and Carlos are exploring.

"Ah, it would have had more fun if I'd brought my sister."

—Billy reflects on the company he keeps.

Megatron: "You have something of mine."<br /> Alexis: "We have what?"<br /> Megatron: "Give it back immediately, or you shall suffer the consequences."<br /> Rad: "Oh...great."<br /> Megatron: "I have given you your chance, Earthling."

—Megatron giving chances?! Unthinkable!

"Stand down, Megatron!"

—The line that made a room full of fans cheer at BotCon 2002, as Optimus Prime appears.

Other Notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• The narrator at the beginning of this episode uses light-years as a unit of time measurement, when it's actually a unit of distance measurement. This mistake periodically reappeared throughout the Armada series as well as the Energon sequel series.

Transformers references

• The narrator mentions a 'unique digital entity' coming into being and creating a race of living machines to explore the galaxy, making it the first reference to Primus in the Unicron Trilogy.
• Many Generation 1 character models are used as generic Autobots and Decepticons during the scenes on Cybertron. This trend would continue throughout the series for all scenes with random Transformers set on Cybertron.
• This episode marks the first time that a variation of the original Generation 1 theme music has been used as the main theme for a Transformers series since the Generation 1 television series.

Miscellaneous trivia

• Billy and Fred appear in this episode as recurring guest characters, but later become part of the regular human cast. According to Micron Legend Year Book 2003, the producers of the Armada cartoon kept meaning to write Billy and Fred out of the series, but ultimately never got around to it. Their staying through to the end of the show was, thus, wholly unintentional.