Aftermath (BW episode)

« Beast Wars: Transformers ep 27 »
Stan Bush's guitar finds a victim.
"Aftermath"
Production company	Mainframe Entertainment
Airdate	October 26, 1997
Written by	Larry DiTillio
Directed by	Colin Davies
Animation studio	Mainframe Entertainment
Continuity	Beast Wars continuity

After the destruction of the alien machine and the death of Optimus, the remaining Maximals are left to pick up the pieces and fend off the Predacons... with some strange new upgrades.

Japanese title: 帰ってきたぜ! (Kaette Kita ze!, "We're Back!")

Latin-American title: El Día Después

Italian title: Dopo l'esplosione ("After the blast")

Synopsis

That's odd, I don't remember ordering a glow-in-the-dark redeco

At their respective bases, both the Maximals and the Predacons react to Optimus Primal's death. The Maximals are in a state of shock, whereas the Predacons laugh, jeer and generally have a good time. However, these moods are short-lived. The destruction of the planet buster causes a quantum surge which very soon hits the Earth. In the Axalon, Rattrap and Cheetor are affected by it in the control room, as is the dead body of Tarantulas down below. The surge also severely rocks the Darksyde, causing Waspinator to fall into the CR pool while Megatron, Scorponok and Terrorsaur catch the surge's full effect. Megatron is thrown onto the floor of the base, whilst Scorponok and Terrorsaur lose control of their hover platforms and collide into each other. The collision causes both of them to fall into the lava pit, where they are terminated. After the surge, Waspinator emerges from the CR pool, joyous to have survived. He sees Megatron in the shadows, having been upgraded by the surge into a new Transmetal body.

Look at my hands! Oh, sorry, Cheetor.

In the Maximal base, both Rattrap and Cheetor are startled at each other's new modes until each realizes the same has happened to himself. Airazor's suggests they both try out their new beast modes and vehicle modes and both end up crashing. Tigatron and Airazor go off on the hunt for the spiders who are partly responsible for Primal's death by knocking Rhinox unconscious.

Under Tarantulas's control, Blackarachnia begins to leave the Axalon while he insists she bring his body along. Unbeknownst to them, the eyes of Inferno's severed head glow back online...

Who needs a Maximal Torture Chamber with him on your team?

Back upstairs, Rhinox and Dinobot come back online. Rhinox orders Rattrap to tell him everything. Dinobot then announces that he should be leader, but after a stern throttling by Rhinox, he backs down.

Blackarachnia and Tarantulas escape the base only to be intercepted by Tigatron and Airazor. However, help for the she-spider is on its way. Megs is never above kicking somebody while they're down, so he brings a full Predacon assault (in the form of Waspinator) to join the Tarantulas-possessed Blackarachnia in an assault on the Axalon. Airazor and Tigatron are blasted offline by Megatron. The alert sounds inside the Axalon, so Rhinox sends the two new Transmetals outside while he and Dinobot try to set up the defenses. However, Inferno emerges into the room and immediately blasts Rhinox backwards using a missile, which prompts Dinobot into a physical brawl with the Predacon.

Shiny happy dino

Outside, Tarantulas forces Blackarachnia to retreat against her and Megatron's wishes. Waspinator battles Cheetor, much surprised that the "cat-bot" can fly. After a bit of a beating, Waspinator retreats. Following some more shooting, Megatron transforms into vehicle mode and charges at Rattrap, who transforms into beast mode and uses his tail to trip the Predacon. Megatron is not out of the fight yet, however, and he blasts Cheetor off the cliff. Cheetor transforms to flight mode to escape, but crashes into Rattrap. Megatron prepares to end the new bots.

Inferno and Dinobot are still locked in combat when Rhinox grabs Inferno and throws him out of the base lift. He then challenges Megatron with one of the Chainguns of Doom. Megatron realizes with only a broken Inferno in his army that he is no match for Maximals, so he calls a retreat.

Elsewhere, under one of the planet buster-generated storms, two stasis pods are shown lying in a barren area, their DNA scanners malfunctioning.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals	Predacons
Rattrap (1) Airazor (2) Tigatron (3) Cheetor (4) Rhinox (12) Optimus Primal (flashback) (13) Dinobot (14)	Blackarachnia (5) Waspinator (6) Megatron (7) Scorponok (8) Terrorsaur (9) Tarantulas (dream sequence) (10) Inferno (11)

Quotes

"Yes, I am good, aren't I?" [smacks Waspinator] "But we can discuss my brilliance later. Now, there is work to be done."
"What kind of work?"
"The Predacon kind. We must defeat the remaining Maximals while they mourn their dear, departed leader. This will be the final battle!"

—Megatron wastes no time...delivering exposition to Terrorsaur.

"I'm here, inside your pretty little head, controlling your pretty little thoughts."

—Tarantulas makes pretty little threats against Blackarachnia.

"What's with you two?" [gestures toward pants area] "Is my gear box hangin' out or somethin'?"

—Rattrap, paragon of social graces...

[Dinobot and Rattrap are about to have a fight]
"Enough. Stand down, Dinobot."
"By what right do you command me? With Optimus gone, I should be—"
[Rhinox grabs Dinobot by the neck and picks him up]
"I'm in a bad mood. Understand?"
"Uh-huh."

—Rhinox proves to Dinobot that Maximals can be scary too.

"New packaging. Same product. Losers."

—Megatron, not impressed with the Transmetalized Maximals.

"...but if you ask me, the Beast Wars just got a whole lot weirder."

—Rattrap, as he watches a robot T-Rex with roller skates fly away.

Notes

Technical/Animation glitches

• Waspinator's gun is whipped out of his hand by Cheetor, but moments later, he transforms fully, including his gun forming his Beast Mode's abdomen.
• Rattrap is seen dropping his shield (which acts as a hubcap for his wheels in beast mode) before Cheetor crashes into him, but, upon impact, both hubcaps are seen on his back.

Miscellaneous notes

• There are methods to the madness that is Transmetalization. All of the original ten Transformers who did not emerge from stasis pods on Earth would have been made into Transmetals. (This excludes Airazor, Blackarachnia, Tigatron, and Inferno.) However, Terrorsaur and Scorponok were killed while Waspinator, Dinobot and Rhinox were in CR chambers.
• Terrorsaur and Scorponok were going through Transmetalization at the time of death. This was included in case the writers were to bring them back.
  • They would come back in one continuity, about 10 years after the fact.
• Waspinator was originally intended to die in this episode, but due to fan popularity and the fact the writers needed a character for comic relief, he was granted amnesty. This is somewhat reflected in Waspinator's line as he emerges from the CR Chamber: "Waspinator is...alive! Hee hee!"
• The recap of the last episode actually shows Optimus approaching the center of the moon before the explosion, a scene cut from the first season finale.
• While both ships survived the Planet Buster's attack, the Quantum Surge severely damaged their structures. The Darksyde is now more gray than green and the rear section of the fuselage has collapsed and bent. The Axalon's surfaces now look very deteriorated and the ship is bent/fractured at about the halfway point of the forward fuselage. This metal fatigue and damage may have played an important part in the destruction of the Axalon at the beginning of season 3.
• This is the last episode to feature Terrorsaur and Scorponok.