Formidable

« Transformers: Energon ep 47 »
It's too dark to put the keys in my ignition.
"Formidable" オメガコンボイ再び () (Omega Convoy Futatabi) "Omega Convoy Once Again"
Production company	We've
Airdate	26 November 2004 (Japanese) February 25, 2005 (English)

The Autobots must stop Galvatron from smashing Cybertron into Plains Planet.

Synopsis

Misha stands in a field of dead grass and notes that a planet has been destroyed. Roadblock calls in, reporting that Cybertron is about to emerge from the warp gate.

Remember that painting in the Super Energon Temple? It's still there.

Primus is still glowing within Cybertron, where Kicker and his family anxiously wait for him to awaken. With their energon running out, the Omnicons can't spare any more energon stars for him.

Somewhere in space, the Unicron sphere glows.

The gas grid snaps and crackles.

Planets float in space... and Cybertron emerges from the warp gate, appearing out of the blackness of space.

The Autobots and Decepticons are shooting it out on the planet's surface. Galvatron and Starscream urge Six Shot to finish repairing the energon grid, but he gives them lip, saying that they could win easily if they'd just follow his plan. Galvatron relents; Six Shot advises them to clear the area. Soon, a build-up of gas detonates the planet's surface beneath the Autobots, forcing them into a hasty retreat. Six Shot is pleased with the results; a huge cloud of energon gas emerges in the central city.

The Autobots have been blown into space and are drifting, damaged. Optimus calls in to the others, who promise to prepare energon stars. Misha reports that the planet is accelerating and will soon collide with Plains Planet. The Autobots don't have the manpower to take back the control room. Dr. Jones says to leave it to him, and heads off to investigate the gas grid flow. Kicker follows.

Cybertron impacts three smaller planets, which explode. Misha explains that their atmospheres aren't strong enough to withstand the energon. Roadblock theorizes that if they impact Plains Planet, a worst-case scenario could be a chain reaction that would destroy the entire universe.

Somewhere in space, the Unicron orb glows.

Optimus (still combined with Omega) watches the exploding planets and realizes that "the evil" is still somewhere in Cybertron. He heads that way, despite his troops' urging. Galvatron happily meets up with him in the gaseous atmosphere, gloating at his damaged condition.

Kicker and Dr. Jones work on the gas grid. They plan to cut off some of the towers that are accelerating the planet, but that still won't stop its forward motion. Before they can figure out a way to stop it, Ironhide reports strange activity in the Primus chamber.

Unicron orb? Still there.

Optimus demands to know why Galvatron has kept Unicron's spark alive. Galvatron denies everything, and shoots him. Prime calls out to Primus for help.

Meanwhile, Super Energon Temple painting? Still there.

Unicron orb? Still there.

As Galvatron moves in for a killing blow, the light of Primus streaks forth, enveloping both leaders. The gas is sucked back into Cybertron, and Optimus Supreme stands enormous, almost half as tall as the planet itself. Galvatron just laughs. Six Shot reactivates the energon towers to keep the planet moving forward.

Groaning a deep and guttural groan, Optimus smashes his fists into the planet to try and stop it. Kicker contacts Rodimus's team and has them head for the north sector, to destroy the energon towers there. The recently-recovered Jetfire joins the team and takes command, having Rodimus stay behind to watch Optimus's back.

Galvatron sends his troops to stop Jetfire's team, and attacks Optimus as he strains against the planet. Rodimus engages him, despite his injuries. Jetfire's team keeps the Decepticons at bay, while Kicker and the Omnicons begin destroying towers. Galvatron orders Six Shot to increase the tower output; Six Shot refuses, saying it's too dangerous with the towers exploding. Galvatron responds to this in predictable fashion: with insults. Six Shot basically says "hell with it" and increases the power.

Rodimus is distracted by the sight of Plains Planet looming near, allowing Galvatron to score a hit. Meanwhile the towers are going crazy, exploding left and right, prompting both sides to flee. Galvatron rebukes Six Shot, but he protests that he's just following orders. Galvatron sends Starscream back to the control room to deal with him.

Galvatron happily points out to Rodimus that Optimus has become infected by Unicron; he flies away, saying they'll finish this later. The towers shut down, and Optimus brings the planet to a halt. Rodimus has a brief moment to be relieved... until Optimus continues smashing his arm into the planet's depths. Rodimus urges him to stop, which he does.

Optimus glows green, and his enormous form dissolves into green light, as Alpha Q observes and wonders what Galvatron meant.

Oh, and the Unicron orb? Remember that? Still there.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Something isn't right."

—Optimus Prime, watching four planets explode. Gee, ya think?!

Other Notes

Lost in Translation

• It starts right away, as Misha makes the nonsensical observation that "That planet is destroyed!" while standing in a field. She's supposed to be noting that the planet is deteriorating (due to the lack of a sun.)
• As Cybertron exits the warp gate, the dub has Optimus make the sage and timely observation that "It looks like they're about to fire up the warp gate!"
• The dub adds in some talk from Six Shot about how they can use the gas to propel the planet, and has him saying that the explosion released "a huge gust of energy" (conflicting with the animation, which shows that the explosion released the green energon gas.) He's supposed to just say that they no longer need the energon towers (for repelling the Autobots), since the gas is covering the planet again.
• Misha's explanation about the exploding planets omits her mention that they are "unripened", and that the green energon gas is reacting with the energon in the planets.
• Galvatron makes the strange dub observation that Optimus is "over one thousand feet tall"... which, based on the previous shot, would make Cybertron maybe one mile in diameter.
• The dub consistently identifies the planet-propelling energon towers as being in the "north"... but the animation (assuming north is at the top) show them near the planet's equator. Super Link says they're in the east.
• When Optimus smashes his fist into the planet to stop it, sending reverberations through the Primus chamber, Kicker immediately responds with "Hey, what'd you do that for?!"... even though he's inside the planet and could have no idea what caused it. It's a random dub addition.

Pain Count

• "Uh?": 16
• Stock footage: 1
• It's time to: 1
• Let's do it: 1
• (X) is counting on you/me/us: 1

Super Link:

• "Aht?" 3
• Your opponent is me: 3
• This is...?: 1

Miscellaneous trivia

• Another excellent example of Energon's bizarre scene editing. Stock shots of various elements are shown randomly, as if implying some monumental significance, but mainly serving to confuse the viewer and disrupt the story flow.
• Given a chance to actually use their vehicle modes to escape the energon gas explosion, Downshift and Cliffjumper instead choose to just run.
• Yay, magic glowing lights!
• So... Optimus is apparently becoming contaminated by Unicron. You might think this is leading up to something, but no, after a two-second scene in which Optimus smashes a bit of Cybertron, the (totally unexplained, by the way) Unicron power within him is never mentioned again except as just another magic mushroom power-up device. It did crop back up in Super Link, in the episode "Spark" (only to be mangled out for the dub), but even there, it served little purpose besides causing Optimus and Galvatron to fight one another, which... they would have done anyway.