The Trigger, Part 2

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Lord Zedd got a makeover. By which we mean sex change.
"The Trigger" Part 2
Production company	Mainframe Entertainment
Airdate	November 19, 1996
Written by	Bob Forward
Directed by	Michaela Zabranska
Animation studio	Mainframe Entertainment
Continuity	Beast Wars continuity

With the flying island under Predacon control, the Maximal base and the Beast Wars are in jeopardy.

Japanese title: 浮島のデスマッチ後編 (Ukishima no Death Match Kōhen "Floating Island Death Match Part 2")

Latin-American title: El Detonante Segunda Parte

Synopsis

Even rocks have tattoos.

On the floating paradise island of unknown origin, Tigatron resolves to be the island's dedicated defender, protecting it from the Predacons who would abuse its power. With the injured Airazor on his back, he gets moving. Meanwhile, the Predacons plan to make Tigatron's fear come true. Blackarachnia deduces how to detect traps on the island and that the obelisk that fires the laser weapon must be where the island is controlled.

At the same time, Optimus Primal (with Rattrap on his back) flies towards the island, maintaining radio contact with Rhinox on the Axalon's bridge. Cheetor rushes onto the scene again, as he's spotted Waspinator and Terrorsaur leaving the Predacon base. As soon as he receives the news over the radio, Primal gets into an aerial scuffle with the two fliers, and because of his handicap from carrying Rattrap, is soundly blasted. Primal and Rattrap free-fall out of control.

Terrorsaur probably felt like he had a monkey on his back; it turned out to be a rat.

Rattrap, falling to his death, transforms and blasts the taunting Terrorsaur, commandeering the pteranodon as his new mode of transport. The battle between Primal and Waspinator ends in Waspinator's usual fashion.

Airazor and Tigatron have trouble with another of the island's deadly traps, but Tigatron cleverly blasts his and Airazor's way to freedom. Out of danger, they rendezvous with Primal and Rattrap (who is abandoned by his steed). Tigatron fills in his allies on how the symbols around the island denote the location of traps. Rattrap speculates the function of the island is, in fact, a test of the survival capabilities of whomever visits it.

Blackarachnia and Scorponok reach the obelisk that controls the island. Seeing the fliers, she fakes aggression against them so they attack her, which triggers the island's laser defense, giving Blackarachnia the chance to blast her way inside of the obelisk safely. The black widow marvels at the power of the alien technology she discovers inside. She gleefully announces her plan to use the island to win the Beast Wars for herself. Scorponok objects, but is quickly tricked into one of the island's traps.

I AM THE POWER!

Inside of the ornate control room, Blackarachnia steps on a strange symbol on the floor, which bathes her in light. The light alters her colors and her voice and gives her mind a direct connection to the island's power. She blackens the sky and uses the obelisk to rain destruction on the island (in a literal sense). The monolith elongates as she directs the island towards the Maximal base. Optimus radios to Rhinox the command for the crew to evacuate the Axalon.

Rattrap's leg is pinned down by some heavy stone debris, but he commands Tigatron to leave him behind so the cat can stop Blackarachnia's chaos. As Tigatron presses forward, Rattrap uses an energy weapon to get the obelisk's defense beam to free himself. Inside the obelisk, Tigatron reluctantly destroys the island's reactor, knowing that this action will doom the paradise.

Someone stole the Master Emerald.

Without an energy source, the island loses altitude and guidance, narrowly swooping over the Maximal base. The island crumbles as it crashes into the ground, robbing Blackarachnia of her chance to dominate. The fallen obelisk sends one final pulse of energy into the sky, which bounces off of a similar obelisk on the smaller of the planet's two moons, then vanishes into space.

Tigatron knows the beam was a signal, telling the creators of the island how the Maximals and Predacons ruined their island paradise. A reoccurring butterfly symbolically dies. The Maximals wonder what's next, and how the builders of the island will react to the vandalism.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals	Predacons
Tigatron (1) Airazor (2) Optimus Primal (5) Rattrap (6) Rhinox (7) Cheetor (8) Dinobot (11)	Blackarachnia (3) Scorponok (4) Terrorsaur (9) Waspinator (10)

Quotes

"Have a nice... trip? Hehehahahahaha!"

—Scorponok is easily amused.

"We should move... how are you feeling?"
"Better. Still thrashed... (grunts) ...can't fly".
"In that case... the lady shall ride a tiger!"

—Tigatron and Airazor

"Now fly, ya featherless freak, or I'll toast ya tachyons."

—Rattrap, aiming his gun somewhere near Terrorsaur's tail.

"You're a real piece of work, Rattrap."
"Eh, ain't it the truth?"

—Optimus and Rattrap.

"Pterodactyl idiot!"

—Waspinator re: Terrorsaur.

"Uhhhh... yeeeesss...I FEEL the power. I have the control! Let there be...light."

—Blackarachnia takes control of the flying island

"May I be forgiven for what I must do."

—Tigatron, just before destroying the flying island's power source

Notes

• In the Bible, "Let there be light" is a phrase used by God when he creates the universe.
• Oddly enough, there are no silver redecos of Blackarachnia available for sale. Are you sensing a pattern here?
• As Rhinox makes contact with Primal, much Cybertronix appears on his screen. Though some is gibberish, the words "toilet", "Rod was here", and "you look too close" can be made out.
• Despite spewing massive amounts of firepower in every direction, the monolith under Blackarachnia's control fails to hit any of the Maximals. "Just stop and aim, you idiot!"
• Dinobot appears but gets no lines at all (which is odd given they had Scott McNeil there to voice Rattrap anyway).

Continuity errors

• Despite Blackarachnia's observation that the monolith needs to recharge when it fires, it has no difficulty in firing a precise blast at Rattrap when he shoots at it, and it's dispersing energy all over the place at the time. Even if there are separate mechanisms for the different kinds of fire, the apparently large amount of energy consumed by the main beam seems as though it would cause some sort of pause in the barrage, at the least.

Real-world references

• When Airazor is too injured to fly, Tigatron declares that "The lady shall ride the tiger". This is a reference to Frank Stockton's famous short story, "The Lady or the Tiger?"