Depart

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They're actually both looking for characterization.

<span style="font-size:125%;font-weight:900;">Let's see what you can see...</span><hr /> This article is in need of images.

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<tr style="font-size:14px;"> <td class="tti_buttonlink">« </td><td>Transformers: Armada ep <strong class="selflink">41 </strong>

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<tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center"> "Depart" <div style="font-size:x-small;font-weight:normal;">出立 (たびだち) - depart <br />(Shuttatsu [Tabidachi]) <br />"Departure (Setting off)"</div> </td></tr>

<tr> <td> Airdate </td><td> October 24, 2003 (English)<br />10 October 2003 (Japanese) </td></tr>

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The Autobots prepare to return to Cybertron, joined — having acquiesced to the demands of Perceptor and the other Mini-Cons — by the kids.

Synopsis

Hot Shot addresses the Mini-Cons collected by the Autobots so far, announcing that they're soon going to leave for Cybertron. The kids observe how unsure of himself the Autobot is, as he invites the Mini-Cons to decide whether they want to come or not. Carlos wants to go to Cybertron too. Rad follows High Wire, who unexpectedly tells him in English to stay on Earth. After Rad reacts in surprise to this, High Wire beeps and wanders off, leaving the boy to wonder if he imagined it after all.

Rad has breakfast with his parents and asks his father if he ever wanted to go into space. Rad's mother seems more concerned with them finishing their breakfast. At base, the Autobots and Mini-Cons are preparing the spaceship for lift off. Billy and Fred arrive with luggage, only to be disappointed when Red Alert informs them they won't be able to come along. The other three kids watch, glumly reflecting that most likely they won't be able to come along either.

Megatron expresses dissatisfaction that they haven't made much progress towards Cybertron, but Thrust says they have to escape Earth's gravitational pull before they go to warp.

That night, Rad wakes his parents to explain to them about the Autobots and Decepticons, and is told to go back to bed. He dreams of the Autobot ship under attack, and High Wire asking him for help. On waking abruptly, his father comes in to chat, confiding that when he was Rad's age, he dreamed of going into space too. He also gives Rad permission to go to Cybertron, but only if Rad promises to come back.

The next morning sees Rad interrupting Carlos brushing his teeth. Carlos is already packed, and the pair meet up with Alexis, also all packed, on their way to the Autobot base.

Hot Shot asks the Mini-Cons to step forward if they're coming to Cybertron, and they all volunteer to go. The kids arrive too, but Hot Shot refuses to let them go. Reacting to this, the Street Action Mini-Con Team combine into Perceptor and begin making a strange whistling noise. The Mini-Cons start running out of the room. Red Alert, prepping the ship for launch, is surprised when the Mini-Cons storm in and block all the control panels on the bridge. While the Autobots are confused, Perceptor announces that the humans should come too. Side Swipe suggests taking the kids somewhere safe, but the Mini-Cons start whistling until Hot Shot capitulates.

Billy and Fred turn up while everyone is piling into the ship, and Hot Shot resigns himself to letting them come along too. Once everything is ready, the ship, dubbed the Axalon, moves along an underwater corridor to a nearby lake, where it lifts off. The kids rush to a window to see Earth from space.

The Decepticons detect the Autobot ship leaving Earth. Thrust laments that their superior engines will enable them to pass the Decepticon ship and reach Cybertron 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"> Mini-Cons </th></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top">

• Hot Shot (1)
• Scavenger (6)
• Smokescreen (12)
• Blurr (13)
• Jetfire (14)
• Side Swipe (15)
• Red Alert (18)

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• Megatron (19)
• Thrust (20)
• Cyclonus (21)
• Wheeljack (22)
• Starscream (23)
• Demolishor (26)

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• Alexis (7)
• Carlos Lopez (8)
• Rad White (9)
• Billy (16)
• Fred (17)

Guests

• Rad's father (10)
• Rad's mother (11)
• Research center technicians (25)

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• Sureshock (2)
• Grindor (3)
• High Wire (4)
• Mini-Con horde (5)
• Perceptor (24)

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Quotes

"I think I'm going to leave it up to you to decide your own stations. And, uh, if any of you decide to join us and defeat the Decepticons once and for all, that's up to you. Oh, and if you decide to stay back here on Earth, that's okay, too."<br />

—Hot Shot is the best Autobot leader ever.

"Please, Red Alert. We're here to help you battle. You really think you can do it without us?"<br /> "You need us!"

—Billy and Fred overestimate their importance.

"How many times have I told you? Sci-fi is for your friends, not your parents."

—Rad's mother doesn't want to hear about the Transformers.

"Ah, but now those are just childhood memories for me. Memories of when I let my imagination run wild and the world was filled with endless possibilities."<br /> "Whoa, dad!"<br /> "Never give up on your dreams. Sometimes that's all that we have."

—Rad's father tells Rad about how it was before his soul was crushed.

Other notes

Animation and/or technical glitches

• More short cuts are employed in a few shots to depict the huge number of Mini-Cons amassed by the Autobots so far, at one point making it look like they've assembled into colour-coordinated lines.

Miscellaneous trivia

• This episode features an entirely new title sequence, which unfortunately spoils the return of Optimus Prime, and "The Unicron Battles" is appended as a subtitle.
• Two days travel, and the Decepticons are still in scanner range of Earth? Tell Tidal Wave to pedal faster!