Trial of Megatron, Part 3

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« Transformers Animated ep 45
"Trial of Megatron, Part 3"
Airdate	August 17, 2019 (TFNation 2019)
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Continuity	Animated cartoon continuity

Megatron makes his ultimate play as he sets the Decepticon capital city, Kaon, on a collision course with Earth.

Synopsis

Act I

File:AllSparkAlmanacII-KaonBlastsOff.jpg

and there he goe's...
WE HAVE.
LIFDOFF

Inside Trypticon Prison, Sentinel Prime is surrounded by Decepticons as Megatron gloats. When Lugnut insists that everyone bows before their leader, a scuffle breaks out amongst the Decepticon troops. Megatron is forced to smack them back into order before explaining that he has learned to speak to the Mini-Cons. Not wanting to let Megatron escape, Sentinel locks down Kaon with a shield.

Megatron takes this opportunity to reveal that he has no plans to leave the Decepticon capital because it is the state of the rest of Cybertron which disappoints him. The planet begins to rumble as massive boosters emerge from Trypticon Prison. Kaon tears itself free from the surface and rockets into space, leaving behind a volcanic pit. Many Autobots are trapped in rubble and the Sonic Canyons are destabilized. If nothing is done, they pose a threat to the entire planet.

Meanwhile at Fortress Maximus, which has been thrown into chaos, the Autobot High Council instructs Optimus Prime to lead his crew and a rescue team led by Perceptor to the crater. As part of the mission, they must bring the AllSpark to make a shield, allowing Perceptor's team to work on stabilizing the Sonic Canyons. Omega Supreme is happy to learn that he will partake in the rescue operation. Being forced to choose between boarding Omega or the Elite Guard's ships, Bumblebee nobly tears off his stripes and rejoins Optimus' crew. In response, Optimus removes his Eternal Flames.

The Elite Guard mobilizes in pursuit of Kaon and acting leader Rodimus Prime makes contact with Megatron, demanding that Sentinel be released. When Megatron refuses, the fleet fires on Kaon. As the Decepticons start to lose power, Megatron uses his sword to cut off Lugnut's Punch of Kill Everything before asking an oblivious Rodimus for his word that they will not be harmed if he agrees to surrender Sentinel. Once Rodimus deactivates the fleet's weapons, Megatron returns Sentinel using a cannon, with the severed POKE strapped to his head.

Act II

Sentinel impacts the ship and the resulting explosion causes some serious damage. By throwing the stolen techno-organic Energon into Kaon's fusion reactor, Megatron gives it the boost it needs to escape. Bulkhead identifies Kaon's destination as Earth. When Rodimus requests the coordinates of the planet from Optimus, he points out that they will not make it there in time. As Optimus' crew begins boarding Omega, Ratchet is forced to say goodbye to Arcee again when she insists on remaining behind on Cybertron. Bumblebee is initially enthusiastic about the mission until he learns that Bulkhead will be staying behind at the Energon farm, and the two regretfully part ways. Joining the team is Ironhide, who is still playing his part as Optimus' bodyguard.

Omega takes off and transwarps after Kaon, which has completed its hyperspace jump and arrived in Earth's vicinity. Omega closely follows and, after some encouragement from Ratchet, transforms into robot mode to open fire. Trypticon brings more cannons to bear and fires back. Optimus notes that this altercation is just another distraction. Ratchet gives him Sentinel's Powermaster armor, allowing him to fly out into space (despite being a little too big for the door). Bumblebee, Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide follow Optimus under the cover of Omega Supreme's fire and touch down on Kaon.

Sari's technopathy lets her determine how to sabotage the ship's surge regulators. Splitting up to carry out the plan, Optimus and Bumblebee go one way while Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide go another. Megatron orders the Mini-Cons to concentrate fire on Omega's head. In response, Ratchet is forced to shut down Omega's higher functions and take manual control, converting him back to ship mode. Aboard Kaon, the Autobots succeed in their plan. With its surge regulators taken out, Kaon suddenly burns through all its fuel. Unfortunately, Optimus and Bumblebee stumble into the cell block, where they are immediately surrounded by several Decepticons.

Act III

YEET!

Desperately seeking to keep Kaon online, Megatron decides to thrown the Starmscream clones into the fusion reactor so that the AllSpark fragments in their spark chambers can provide the city with power. Sunstorm is sure to compliment Megatron on this course of action as he tosses the sycophantic clone in. Ramjet claims not to have a fragment of the AllSpark in his spark chamber, but Megatron pays him no heed and tosses the lying clone in too. With power temporarily restored, Megatron directs the ship to the location on Earth with the highest Energon concentration: the greater Detroit area.

Optimus and Bumblebee are easily overpowered by the Decepticon prisoners and tossed into their former cells. Recalling the Decepticons, Megatron throws Shockwave and Blitzwing into the reactor before Lugnut jumps in willingly. Even after the sacrifice of its crew, Kaon continues to lose power. Megatron goes to get Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, but gets blocked by an armored Ironhide and attacked by Jazz. Rattletrap, who also had been thrown into the cells, vanishes during the battle.

In his Powermaster armour, Optimus stands eye-to-eye with Megatron for the first time. Megatron's swords are unable penetrate the armor; he tosses aside his fusion cannon and Optimus does the same with the Magnus Hammer. They fight hand-to-hand as Kaon descends on Dinobot Island (much to the horror of Scrapper). Right before it crashes, Optimus manages to fly the Autobots out. A while later, Sari reports that Kaon is sealed shut. Optimus decides that they should remain on Earth to monitor the situation. Ironhide is unsure of the mission, as he has not visited Earth before, but Jazz reassures him.

Unseen by all, a hatch on the exterior of Trypticon Prison opens and a Mini-Con peers out...

Quotes

"You wanted me to put you on trial! It was just another distraction!"
"How could I have been so... deceptive?"

—Sentinel Prime realises he's played into Megatron's hands.

"All hail Megatron!"
"On your knees, infidel."

—Lugnut and Shockwave pay homage while the latter chastises Blitzwing.

"I must admit my time in prison has severely eroded my patience."

—Megatron puts a stop to his underlings' tomfoolery.

"I speak Mini-Con now. I find them much more efficient than my usual unreliable help."

—Megatron sasses his minions.

"Sadly, seeing what your leadership has done to this planet, it is no longer worthy of the Decepticons."
"If that's your attitude, why don't you just leave?"
"My sentiments exactly..."

—Megatron launches Trypticon Prison, to the surprise of Sentinel Prime.

"Ready to save some lives?"
"Saving lives, not destroying them... that is how I want to fit in."

—Ratchet encourages Omega Supreme.

"Lugnut, my loyal servant, is there anything you would not do for me...?"
"Nothing, my liege."
"Because I really need a hand right now."

—Megatron gets the POKE from Lugnut.

"Let's go big guy!"
"Sorry, little buddy. Not this time. There's too much work to be done here. They need me back on the energon farm."
"I hate long goodbyes..."

—Bumblebee and Bulkhead part ways.

"I still prefer saving lives."
"There's about seven billion of them down on that planet you're saving right now."

—Omega Supreme is persuaded by Ratchet to attack Kaon.

"Oh no, not again."

—Scrapper watches Kaon bear down on him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Sentinel Prime (1) Optimus Prime (6) Perceptor (7) Rodimus Prime (8) Omega Supreme (9) Bumblebee (10) Bulkhead (11) Arcee (12) Ratchet (13) Jazz (14) Ironhide (15) Rattletrap (19)	Megatron (2) Lugnut (3) Shockwave (4) Blitzwing (5) Sunstorm (17) Ramjet (18) Scrapper (20)	Sari Sumdac (16)

Notes

Continuity notes

• At a first glance, this episode seems to rack up an unusually high body-count, and it is not exactly clear purely from the outline whether or not the Decepticons who are hurled into the reactor in this episode are actually offlined. In the case of the Starscream clones, at least, Megatron had previously been able to power Omega Supreme using the AllSpark fragment in Starscream's head back in "TransWarped" without killing Starscream, suggesting they might survive the process.
• Scrapper last appeared in "Human Error, Part II"; it was established in that same episode that he had been living on Dinobot Island since the events of "Three's a Crowd".

Transformers references

• Prime dons the Powermaster armour in this episode. Apparently, Hasbro had pushed for "Powermaster Prime", hoping to get a couple of new Animated toys out at higher price-points, so Isenberg worked the armour into his pitch.
• Isenberg has stated that they did plan to bring some of the Decepticons hurled into the reactor back over the course of the season. As such, it is reasonable to speculate that Lugnut, whose figure received an "Atomic" redeco late in the Animated toyline, would survive the process.

Real-world references

• The appearance of the pit left behind by Kaon was (apparently) to be inspired by the firepits of the planet Apokolips from Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" comics. Two concept pieces for Kaon itself are included in The AllSpark Almanac II, one of which depicts it blasting off from Cybertron while the second is of Kaon after crash-landing in Lake Erie.

Continuity errors

• While this episode does show Bulkhead staying on Cybertron to protect the Energon farms from Decepticons, Sari is present on Earth with Optimus' team when it is said in the pitch for season 4 that she would be staying on Cybertron to continue her education and learn more about her origins.

Subsequent episodes

Both The AllSpark Almanac II and issue #71 of the Collectors' Club magazine list a variety of episode pitches proposed for season 4. As the total number of proposed episodes exceeds the standard season length of 13, it's almost a certainly that not all of these would have been made had the season gone ahead, but in addition to the three parts of "Trial of Megatron," proposed stories included:

• "Turf War" - The Autobots find themselves in the midst of a "turf war" between the Constructicons and other Decepticons when Dirt Boss discovers a new way of becoming the "big bot" of Detroit by gaining control of Energon deposists in the city. To this end, Dirt Boss unleashes his latest "project": Devastator.
  • The AllSpark Almanac II confirms that Mixmaster and Dirt Boss survived the events of "Three's a Crowd" and alludes to something called "Devastator".

• "This is Why I Hate Organics" - Rattletrap finds himself on Earth, surrounding by the one thing he fears: organics. He manages to scan an Earth vehicle mode, but he quickly finds himself a target for both Autobots and Decepticons alike.
  • Rattletrap makes a brief appearance in this episode, when he is locked in the cellblock along with Optimus and Bumblebee before vanishing mid-battle.

• "Mirror, Mirror" - Attempting to transwarp back to Earth to rejoin their friends, Bulkhead and Sari enter a mirror universe with evil Autobots and heroic Decepticons.
  • The Complete AllSpark Almanac talks a bit about this mirror dimension, including some of its inhabitants.

• "Gremlins in the Gears" - The Mini-Cons who run Kaon are on the loose and causing all kinds of havoc in Detroit by disassembling all machinery they come across- including the Autobots. To save their friends, Ratchet and Captain Fanzone must team up to stop the renegade Mini-Cons.

• "What a Tangled Web We Have" - The circumstances of Blackarachnia falling in with the Decepticons, as well as her connections with both Blitzwing and her new army of techno-organic "Predacons", are revealed.
  • Blackarachnia's return following the events of "Predacons Rising" and the Predacon army were first alluded to in The Complete AllSpark Almanac; Blackarachnia was first revealed to have been responsible for Blitzwing's transformation into a Triple Changer in The AllSpark Almanac; Blitzwing's appearance in the episode would confirm his survival in this one.

• "S.T.E.A.M." - The Autobots are forced to save their detractors when steampunk tool-using, anti-technological vigilantes called "Save The Earth And Mankind" fight back against what they think spells the end of humanity and run afoul of the returning Soundwave.
  • Soundwave, and by extension Laserbeak, would have returned following "Human Error, Part II".

• "It Came from (Planet) Cybertron" - An Autobot named Cosmos has an important message for Optimus, and comes to Earth to tell him. After scanning a prop flying saucer from the set of a B-movie, hi-jinks ensue as Cosmos loses his memory and comes to believe he is a legitimate alien invader.
  • The plot of this episode was briefly considered for the original version of Prime season 3 before the theme was changed.

• "Triple Threat" - In his new Triple Changer form, Megatron proceeds to ruthlessly obtain Energon. However, this body has the tragic side effect of Megatron developing the unstable personality of a one-bot army blowing away anything and anyone in his path.
  • Megatron's new body would essentially serve as the basis for the unproduced "Marauder Megatron" toy.

• "Allspark-alypse Now!" - Sentinel comes to Earth and intends to use the AllSpark to kill Megatron. Using AllSpark fragments and Cybertronians empowered by them as a way of communicating from the Well of AllSparks, Prowl tells Optimus about the consequences of Sentinel's ideas.
  • Sentinel is confirmed in the outline of this episode to have survived the POKE explosion, though it takes him out of commission.

• "Process of Elimination" - Bumblebee investigates a series of deadly attacks on his old boot camp platoon who are being picked off by a mysterious assailant. All signs point to either Waspinator or Shockwave until they are also attacked, thus deepening the mystery.
  • Shockwave's appearance in the episode would confirm his survival in this one; Waspinator would return following the events of "Predacons Rising".

• "Trukk vs. Munky" - Optimus faces off against one of Blackarachnia's loyal Predacon subjects: a failed cloning experiment named Primal Major.

• "Megatron Must Be Destroyed! (Part 1)"- As Megatron's machinations of reformatting Earth into a new Decepticon homeworld reaches fruition and threaten the entire planet, unholy alliances arise between the Autobots, Decepticons under the command of Slipstream, Blackarachnia's Predacons, and the Dinobots to defeat Megatron once and for all with many casualties abound.
  • Slipstream would have returned following "Endgame, Part I"; the Dinobots would have returned following "Human Error, Part II".

• "Megatron Must Be Destroyed! (Part 2)" - As a Powermaster-enhanced Optimus battles Megatron, Sari discovers a deeper connection between herself and someone familiar that may save the Earth and Cybertron.
  • This episode would have ultimately closed the circle regarding Sari's origins.

Additionally, in an unknown and/or additional episode, Bludgeon was proposed for inclusion in this season.

Trivia

File:AllSparkAlmanacII-KaonInLakeErie.jpg

It's a Casio on a plastic beach...

• Judd Nelson did not return to reprise his role of Rodimus Prime, whose voice was instead provided for the TFNation reading by Chris Finney.
• According to Isenberg, starting with the show's third season, there would been increasing pressure from the higher-ups to tell darker stories, which Omega Supreme's origins being one product of this, to bring the show closer in line with other series that had aired on Cartoon Network at the time (such as Ben 10: Alien Force and Star Wars: The Clone Wars).