The Extinction Event

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And the six-sided architect / Freethinking / Unblinking Holds the fate of all things / In the palm of his hand.
"The Extinction Event"
Production company	Allspark Animation
Airdate	December 8, 2018 (Singapore) December 14, 2018 (CN app/website) December 15, 2018 (USA)
Writer	Kate Leth
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio

The newly formed team of Autobots must stop Shockwave from destroying all life on the planet.

Synopsis

A fretful sky / An absent sun
A distant heat / A deathly hand

In Earth's orbit, Slipstream orders her Seekers to stand at attention in front of the planet's repaired Space Bridge, which even now flares to life to allow Shockwave's flagship to arrive...

Meanwhile, in Grimlock's impromptu headquarters, the Autobot shows Windblade, Teletraan-X and Bumblebee around, explaining his time on Earth and how his attempts to locate the Ark ended in failure, resulting in him recruiting the local dinosaurs to help build a home for himself. The happy reunion is cut short, however, when Teletraan-X picks up something on the base's orbital scanner: a massive Decepticon ship in Earth's orbit!

Above, Shockwave dresses down Slipstream for her repeated failures: her inability to find the AllSpark, the Ark, and her repeated failures at capturing Bumblebee and Windblade. Eager to simplify the hunt for the AllSpark, Shockwave announces his plan: he and the Decepticons will simply eradicate all organic life on Earth. At his command, his ship splits into two; Shockwave instructs the Seekers that two of them will join him, and the others will serve with his second-in-command Shadow Striker. The ships fly off to enact Shockwave's grand plan, as down below the Autobots watch helplessly as Teletraan-X explains the Decepticon plan: by shutting down the planet's geomagnetic field at each poles, the resulting radiation will result in complete extinction for all organic life on Earth.

The Autobots attempt to strategize, and though Grimlock initially suggests splitting up—even using his dinosaur mode to intimidate the other two Autobots—he eventualy agrees with Windblade and Teletraan-X's summation of their predicament: by concentrating all of their firepower to eliminate one ship at the North Pole, they'll be able to halt the process entirely. To get there, Teletraan-X commandeers a human cargo plane, though Grimlock is less than enthused at the tight squeeze the ship provides.

While the planet turns from gold to gray
And gray to black

At the North Pole, Shadow Striker prepares to activate the ship's magnetic disruptor, blasting a beam of radiation into the ground. As Shadow Striker prepares to finish the job, however, Thundercracker picks up an incoming hostile: none other than Windblade! Eager for vengeance, Slipstream and Nova Storm rush out and takes to the air, leaving Thundercracker alone... and, seconds later, Thundercracker picks up Bumblebee dancing on the ice to draw their attention, goading a vengeful Shadow Striker into abandoning her post and driving off to deal with her nemesis. With only Shockwave's drones for company, and his fellow Seekers felled by Windblade in a battle above the icecap, Thundercracker has to deal with an irate Shockwave when the Decepticon scientist calls to check up on their progress... only for Grimlock to sneak aboard the ship and incapacitate the young Seeker.

Despite their multi-pronged attack, Teletraan-X reports that their plan has failed—the disruptor has already gone off, and Earth's geomagnetic field will fail... unwilling to give up, however, Grimlock resorts to brute force, unleashing his dino mode to smash the ship apart, tearing his way free to help Windblade against Shadow Striker and Slipstream before the ship explodes. Their objective complete, the Autobots beat a hasty retreat aboard the cargo plane; though Shadow Striker tries to board the ship, her glitchy limbs prove her undoing, leaving her facedown in the snow as the triumphant Autobots fly away.

Shadow Striker reports back to Shockwave, who informs her that although his plan has failed, he has a backup in place: a backup plan evidenced by one of his drones, who has managed to smuggle itself aboard the plane...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Grimlock (7) Bumblebee (8) Windblade (9)	Slipstream (1) Thundercracker (2) Thrust (3) Acid Storm (4) Shockwave (5) Shadow Striker (6) Nova Storm (11) Shockwave's drones (12)	Teletraan-X (10)

Quotes

"Together we rebuilt the entire bridge of the Ark. It was not easy. You remember the communications console, and the weapons command module? Here's a tip. Never let a Velociraptor have access to your weapons command module. And a little addition of mine we all enjoyed: the hot tub."

—Grimlock

"You have failed to secure this planet. Or locate the Autobot ship. I am going to make it impossible to fail. Nothing will stand in our way. We will eradicate all organic life on this planet."
"...very...efficient."
"Indeed."

—Shockwave seriously disturbs Slipstream with his logic.

Windblade: "We can't split up. We don't have the numbers."
Teletraan-X: "If I may-"
<Grimlock interrupts him by transforming to dino mode>
Grimlock: "I AM THE NUMBERS!"

"When the civilized way fails, sometimes one has to call upon a little friend called..."
<Grimlock transforms to dino mode>
"BRUTE FORCE!"

—Grimlock

Notes

Continuity notes

• Shockwave announced his intentions to come to Earth in "Siloed."
• Windblade mentions Maccadam having led them to Grimlock, as seen in "Maccadam's."
• Grimlock notes that the only thing the base ever detected was the asteroid responsible for ending the age of the dinosaurs, as seen in the previous episode.
• Where exactly Windblade got the plane from is unmentioned in the episode itself; perhaps she stole it from the abandoned airfield the Autobots visited in "Sabotage"?

Transformers references

• Thundercracker swears by Megatronus.
• Grimlock's robot-to-dinosaur transformation animation is a homage to the Fall of Cybertron video game; in particular, his fists slamming the ground as he transforms references that continuity's Grimlock and his Hulk-like transformation from one mode to the other.

Real-world references

• The aircraft Windblade acquires is a C-130 Hercules, which is appropriately the most common aircraft used for resupply of polar bases, although the aircraft shown lacks the ski landing gear of the specalized polar-operations variant.

Animation and technical errors

• Nova Storm lacks the trim on her cockpit once again.
• The Autobots' transport plane will, in the following episode, be seen to have an insignia flag behind the cockpit that is missing in this episode.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Objectif extinction" ("Objective extinction")
• Original airdate: December 2, 2018

German

• Title: "Shockwaves Plan" ("Shockwave's Plan")
• Original airdate: January 19, 2019

Italian

• Title: "Estinzione" ("Extinction")
• Original airdate: December 15, 2018

Home video releases

• TBA

External links

• "The Extinction Event" on YouTube (US only)