Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1: Difference between revisions
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* In an interview with Flint Dille, he said that the Quintesson origin story came from "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]," an aborted script for the movie by him and his fellow writer, [[Jay Bacal]].<ref>[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/flint_dille_2.html Flint Dille interview on the Cybertron Chronicle]</ref> | * In an interview with Flint Dille, he said that the Quintesson origin story came from "[[The Secret of Cybertron]]," an aborted script for the movie by him and his fellow writer, [[Jay Bacal]].<ref>[http://cybertronchronicle.freewebspace.com/60-astrominutes/flint_dille_2.html Flint Dille interview on the Cybertron Chronicle]</ref> | ||
* When originally aired, this and the other four parts of the story all had a unique set of opening credits. Unfortunately, the DVD release of the mini-series only includes this opening on parts 3 and 5. | * When originally aired, this and the other four parts of the story all had a unique set of opening credits. Unfortunately, the DVD release of the mini-series only includes this opening on parts 3 and 5. | ||
* When Cyclonus and the Sweeps chant "Hail Galvatron!", they use a gesture that's very, very wrong. | * When Cyclonus and the Sweeps chant "Hail Galvatron!", they use a gesture that's very, very wrong. Hail Hitler | ||
==Home video releases== | ==Home video releases== | ||
Revision as of 22:40, 8 April 2009
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 Boy, I sure did love that part in "Five Faces of Darkness" where Powermaster Prime, Mainframe, Cloudburst and Rev fought a giant floating Quintesson head. | |||||||||
| "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-86 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | September 1, 1986 | ||||||||
| Written by | Flint Dille | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
In the wake of Unicron's defeat, the battered Decepticons struggle to survive, and the Autobots enjoy a period of peace and celebration. But peace never lasts...
- Japanese title: 新たなる戦い (Arata Naru Tatakai, "The New War")
Synopsis
It is the year 2005. Autobots have reclaimed Cybertron while the Decepticons, now squabbling with each other for energon, retreated to the planet Chaar. Astrotrain returns to the planet with a pitiful number of energon cubes, resulting in a tussle as the Decepticons fight for their share. Cyclonus realizes that to return the Decepticons to fighting form, they need drastic measures.
Somewhere else, the first Galactic Olympics are being held. Blurr is griping about being stuck in a mission with Wheelie when he wants to join the events. But Perceptor wants them to go to Autobot City on Earth, to deliver the new Transformation cog for Metroplex, as his old one was damaged during the battle the year before.
Meanwhile, the Galactic Olympics are being sabotaged. A Skuxxoid detonates the Olympic flame, raining smoke down on the area and allowing a group of Sharkticons to land. The Autobots fight back, but in the confusion, Spike, Kup and Ultra Magnus are kidnapped. Rodimus Prime immediately suspects Decepticon shenanigans and orders the planet quarantined, but they are unable to prevent the Skuxxoid's spaceship from taking off. Arcee and Springer set off to find a spacecraft of their own so they can pursue it.
Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps sneak into Unicron’s head, still orbiting Cybertron. They're able to access Unicron's memory banks and watch footage of Rodimus's battle with Galvatron, culminating in the Decepticon leader being flung into space. Cyclonus then does some fast calculations and works out that Galvatron would eventually have reached the planet Thrull. There they see their leader soaking in the hot lava pools.
On Earth, Blaster and Outback go to the Federated Republic of Carbombya to investigate EDC reports of Decepticons in that country. Despite the country's ruler, Abdul Fakkadi, claiming that they would never harbour such criminals, the Autobots land. Outback, equipped with a “Decepticon detector”, then flushes out Dirge and Ramjet. The two Autobots get the coordinates of Chaar from them... which they report to Rodimus Prime who wants to go there to investigate.
Arcee and Springer, meanwhile, have pursued the Skuxxoid to an asteroid, which he ducks behind. The Autobots follow, only for their ship to be seized by a huge claw. They evacuate the ship, only to find that the "asteroid" is actually a disguised spacecraft. Springer hijacks it from the Skuxxoid, who escapes in his smaller ship and then calls his benefactor to confirm that the Autobots indeed suspect the Deceptions to be behind the disruption. The tentacled, egg-shaped benefactor listens to the report and then tunes out as he sees their prisoners, Spike, Kup and Ultra Magnus, being led by a Sharkticon.
Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps return to Chaar, where the rest of the Decepticons are convinced that the solution to their problems is to have a strong leader again. They cheer when they hear that Galvatron lives, and are desperate enough that they give their remaining scraps of energon for reviving him. Rodimus Prime and Grimlock are spying nearby. Rodimus almost pities them, while Grimlock finds it funny (giving a rather possessed-sounding chuckle). Rodimus realizes that the Decepticons are too down on their luck to be the ones responsible for the kidnappings. Their cover suddenly gets blown and the Decepticons attack.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Resist me, and be destroyed!"
- —Menasor, threatening to kill people.
Cyclonus: Once Decepticons nearly held the quadrant through terror. Now we scrap like slaargs over a few energon cubes. Is this how you honour the memory of Galvatron?! Is this the fate of the mighty Decepticon Empire?!
Astrotrain: In the days of Megatron, it was not like this.
Cyclonus: You mean Galvatron.
Cyclonus and the Sweeps: Hail Galvatron! Hail Galvatron! Hail Galvatron!
Astrotrain: [Muttering to Menasor] Well, they were the same guy.
- —The Decepticons remember the good old days.
"Autobots, you walk the thin line between glory and despair. Soon, you shall cross it."
- —A Quintesson.
"This is going to be a tough one."
"I can't see the attackers."
"That's what makes it tough."
- —Springer and Arcee.
"Nah, I was the same way until I got blown apart a few times."
- —Kup.
"Didn’t you want to say something about concord and tranquility in the galaxy?"
"Aww, give me a break."
- —Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime.
Rodimus Prime: This planet is quarantined. Nobody comes, nobody goes until we find Kup, Spike and Magnus.
[A spaceship escapes]
Springer: So much for quarantine. I need a ship!
Arcee: And you’ll need a gunner!
[They both rush off, leaving Rodimus with cleanup]
Rodimus Prime: Why’d I have to be the chosen one?
Cyclonus: There’s nothing to fear, Unicron is dead. [They hear a sigh.] Must be the wind.
Scourge: There is no wind in space.
- —Cyclonus and Scourge learn that daddy's still home.
"Our charts don’t show any planets in that sector—no, wait. Here it is. I thought it was a smudge on the screen.
"Yeah, that fits the description of Chaar."
- —Rodimus Prime and Outback.
"I say we pulverowderize the Autobots! I say we pulverowderize 'em!"
- —Rumble's inspirational rally.
"I never thought I’d feel sorry for the Decepticons."
"Me Grimlock, not feel sorry. Me Grimlock laugh!" [snickers]
- —Rodimus Prime pities the Decepticons, while Grimlock mocks them with a disturbing chuckle.
Notes
Animation or technical glitches
- Long Haul is missing when the Constructicons combine.
- When Menasor smashes Devastator apart, only Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Hook and Long Haul are shown. Bonecrusher shouldn't be there (he didn't "have the energy to hang on"), and Scrapper and Mixmaster are totally unaccounted for.
- Jazz is shown winning the first race in the Galactic Olympics, but a few seconds later an announcer declares that "the winner is Munka Spanka." It's possible a generic character was intended for use in the scene and Jazz was mistakenly picked at random; however, given Jazz's prominent survival of the movie, it seems more likely that an editing mistake failed to portray the passage of time (and other races) after Jazz's win. Fans also have speculated that this was an intentional name change, prompted by the fact that Scatman Crothers, Jazz's voice actor, had recently passed away, though why this would be necessary for a non-speaking part is unclear.
- In an odd moment of humanizing, Springer and Arcee clench their eyes shut when their ship is grabbed by the claw.
Continuity errors
- During the course of the episode, dead and deactivated bots are seen loitering around on Chaar. The list includes Kickback, Shrapnel, Thundercracker, Skywarp and the supposedly-on-Thrull Galvatron, celebrating his own imminent rescue. Thundercracker and Skywarp could perhaps just be other, similar seekers as in the early episodes, many more were seen on Cybertron.
- Perceptor's description of the transforming cog is rather confusing. He introduces it as Autobot City's transformation cog, but then says "it control's Metroplex's ability to transform". This begins an ongoing trend of the cartoon dialog treating the two as if they were one and the same, despite the animation showing them as two distinct (though sometimes related) entities.
Transformers references
- First appearance of Outback, Octane, Tantrum, and (gasp!) Abdul Fakkadi.
- The Quintesson who utters the line "Autobots, you walk the thin line between glory and despair. Soon you shall cross it." seems to be channelling Megatron when he says "Yesssss." afterwards.
Real-world references
- Middle East tensions in the 1980s resulted in the poorly made (depending on whom you ask) spoof called Carbombya.
- In one scene, Blurr asks why Metroplex's new transformation cog wasn't shipped via Galactic Express, an allusion to the fact that John Moschitta had previously appeared in a series of Federal Express commercials.
Trivia
- In an interview with Flint Dille, he said that the Quintesson origin story came from "The Secret of Cybertron," an aborted script for the movie by him and his fellow writer, Jay Bacal.[1]
- When originally aired, this and the other four parts of the story all had a unique set of opening credits. Unfortunately, the DVD release of the mini-series only includes this opening on parts 3 and 5.
- When Cyclonus and the Sweeps chant "Hail Galvatron!", they use a gesture that's very, very wrong. Hail Hitler
Home video releases
- Like "More than Meets the Eye" and "The Ultimate Doom", Family Home Entertainment released "Five Faces of Darkness" on VHS, editing all five parts into a single movie-length adventure. However, the box art for this release was notably... odd, being as it showcased four toys who did not exist at the time it was produced, and are thus not in it. This might be explained away by the fact that the compilation came out in 1990—Power Master Prime, Rev, Mainframe and Cloudburst were arguably more current toys than anyone actually featured in "Five Faces of Darkness". This does not explain, however, why the back of the box used screenshots from The Rebirth and The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1.
