Orion Pax, Part 1

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"Orion Pax, Part 1"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	February 18, 2012
Written by	Nicole Dubuc
Directed by	Vinton Heuck
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

Megatron manipulates the impaired Optimus into joining the Decepticons.

Synopsis

With the Autobots back at base after Unicron's defeat, Ratchet grimly outlines the situation and speculates that Optimus has reverted to Orion Pax, his pre-Prime self.

On the Nemesis, Megatron makes a ship-wide announcement that Orion Pax is to be treated as a guest. Airachnid doesn't think it's wise to let an Autobot on board, but Megatron isn't concerned and has his own plans for Orion. Elsewhere on the ship, Knock Out affixes a new Decepticon insignia to Orion's shoulder.

Fowler wonders why they can't just track down Optimus's signal, but Ratchet says it hasn't been on their sensors since they left the Earth's core. They must find some way to track down Optimus regardless, so they can somehow restore his memory. The best bet seems to be to use the Key to Vector Sigma, but the problem is, Vector Sigma's on Cybertron.

Megatron begins to fill Orion Pax in on what's been happening, spinning a yarn about how Orion has been a captive of the Autobots, who are led by the Warlord Ratchet. Orion is shocked at the images Megatron shows him of a war-ravaged Cybertron.

June announces that there's no way Jack is going to Cybertron, but Ratchet says only Jack can use the key to access Vector Sigma. The point's moot anyway, as they don't have any way to get to Cybertron. As Raf points out, the GroundBridge barely made orbit, though Miko wonders why Ratchet can't just "turbo-charge" it.

With Megatron finished "informing" Orion, the latter vows to help the Decepticons overcome Ratchet and the Autobots. Megatron has Soundwave remove any incriminating evidence from the ship's data core so Orion can be put to work furthering the Decepticon cause without any risk of him finding anything embarrassing.

Sierra turns up at KO Burger to visit Jack as he works at the drive through, confused that she never sees him outside school. Their discussion is interrupted by Arcee picking him up as his shift ends. Sierra jumps to the obvious conclusion after hearing the female voice, and seems unconvinced by Jack's claim that it's his mother. Arcee reports that they haven't detected Optimus yet.

Megatron discusses their new comrade with Knock Out, specifically his task to decrypt records stolen from the Iacon archives near the end of the War. Knock Out wonders if they shouldn't beef up the security, but Megatron feels that Orion will work better if he feels he is not under threat. In any case, Orion's workstation has been located close to the energon storage, which is under heavy guard.

Back at base, Ratchet is "tinkering" with the GroundBridge.

Orion has managed to decode some of the data from the Iacon archives, giving coordinates on Earth of stashed Cybertronian technology, possibly weapons. He is puzzled by the absence from the Nemesis of Starscream who is mentioned in the documents as being Megatron's second-in-command, but Megatron claims Starscream is dead. Megatron returns to the bridge, where he tells Soundwave he's concerned that Orion will soon learn the truth.

Fowler contacts the Autobots to let them know that the Decepticons are attacking one of the military bases they hit two months before. Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee respond, finding Knock Out and Breakdown in the process of stealing a power source. As the pair GroundBridge out, Arcee races through after them and begins speeding through the Nemesis, bashing Vehicons and hunting for Optimus. Soundwave soon relays her presence to Megatron, and though Airachnid offers to deal with it, Megatron sends Soundwave to ensure the Autobot is escorted off the ship. Alerted by the fighting, Orion emerges from his quarters, but Soundwave manages to GroundBridge Arcee off the ship just before Orion can see her.

Deposited somewhere Arctic, Arcee is soon back at base admitting she didn't succeed in determining the location of the ship or whether Optimus was even aboard. Fowler makes a brief call to yell at them for the human casualties at the base, and tensions among the Autobots soon spill over into arguing. Jack, however, believes they can commandeer the Decepticon space bridge once it's complete, and use it to reach Cybertron. The Autobots are doubtful, but determined to try and find the space bridge.

Meanwhile, Starscream sneaks back on board the Nemesis to steal a stack of energon cubes. Though he deals with the Vehicons guarding the energon storage, more are on their way, and he's forced to duck into a nearby room. His relief is momentary, as he finds himself face to face with Optimus Prime.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Ratchet (1) Bumblebee (2) Bulkhead (3) Arcee (4)	Megatron (10) Vehicons (11) Airachnid (12) "Orion Pax" (13) Knock Out (14) Soundwave (15) Breakdown (17)	William Fowler (5) June Darby (6) Jack Darby (7) Miko Nakadai (8) Raf Esquivel (9) Sierra (16)	Starscream (18)

Quotes

"—and the first to address him as Optimus Prime will have their voice box torn out."

—Megatron makes plain the penalty for failure.

"Your mom looks good in leather, on your bike..."

—Sierra is unconvinced that the girl on the motorcycle is really Jack's mom

"One question, Megatron, why are we called 'Decepticons'?"
"Another craven Autobot scare tactic. The name was meant to demonize us. Instead, we wear it as a badge of honor. For if speaking the truth is deception, then we are gladly guilty."

—"Orion Pax" is (ironically) deceived by Megatron.

"Bulkhead—"
"What? You needed that?!"

—Ratchet is eternally frustrated, and Bulkhead should invest in a punching bag.

"Whoa, that's a pretty good idea!"
"Oh, well if Miko thinks it's a good idea..."

—Miko gets no respect from Arcee

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• During his first appearance, the scar on Starscream's right cheek is missing. In the next scene however, it's suddenly there. It also disappeared when the lights were flickering after he killed two Vehicons. His eyes also have to endure a change during that time.
• The Vehicons fail to notice that Starscream is flying in formation behind them, and don't hear him land with them inside the ship, even though on both occasions Starscream is no more than a dozen or so meters behind them.

Continuity notes

• Fowler refers to the "microchip in his butt" that allows the government to track him, which was previously used for that purpose by the Autobots in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
• Starscream's absence is finally acknowledged by Megatron after his supposed capture in "Partners". He evidently realized that Starscream may have betrayed him again and ordered him to be detained if he returned.
• Megatron refers to Ratchet as the "Doctor of Doom", as the Autobot medic called himself in "Stronger, Faster".
• Raf is still wearing braces on his legs for the injuries he incurred in "One Shall Fall".
• Also from "One Shall Fall" (which according to Agent Fowler, was two months before this episode), the Decepticons took the same power source.
• Starscream still has the scar on his right cheek inflicted by Arcee in "Partners".
• Ratchet says that Optimus' signal never reappeared at the end of "One Shall Rise, Part 3" even though it did.

Transformers references

• In summarizing his version of history for Orion, Megatron uses the rather specific terminology of "exodus" and "war for Cybertron", pretty blatantly alluding to the novel and video game. In particular, the first name-drop is kinda forced, as the word isn't even used correctly: Megatron says they are "in exodus on another world", but he means "exile".
• Fowler calls Orion a "librarian" in disbelief that he has lost his memories: this was Megatron's favored insult for Optimus in Exodus.
• Revenge of the Fallen Ratchet stated, "Ironhide, we should leave this planet.". TFP Ratchet complains that he does not want to be fired into space.
• Megatron refers to the storming of the Hall of Records in the final days of the war for Cybertron; Exodus climaxed with the Decepticons storming Iacon, and, in Exiles, the building is occupied.
• Ratchet remarks that if the government shuts down Autobot Outpost Omega One, then maybe they'll "fire them into space", a fate that befell the Autobots when they fell out of favour with humanity in both the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Megatron's Master Plan" and the Dark of the Moon film. His other suggestion, that they be shipped off to "some island", feels like a reference to Rescue Bots, the cast of which operates on an isolated island (this episode's writer, Nicole Dubuc, is also the head writer for Rescue Bots, strengthening the potential allusion).
• Arcee remarks that perhaps Optimus gave Jack the Key to Vector Sigma because he thought there was "more to Jack than meets the eye".

Trivia

• A 12-minute sneak preview of this episode was made available On Demand on February 10, 2012.
• Polygon resolved the issue of the seemingly empty Jasper with roving cars!
• One has to wonder why Megatron would have told Optimus that Starscream was dead, if he was also prepared for Starscream to return alive.
• The Decepticon GroundBridge seems to be able to open anywhere inside the ship, since Arcee enters in the middle of one hallway, only to be sent back out at the end of a completely different one.