Crossfire (Prime)

« Transformers: Prime ep 33 »
"Crossfire"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	March 31, 2012
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Directed by	Shaunt Nigoghossian
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

Airachnid and Starscream struggle to control an Insecticon warrior.

Synopsis

Airachnid muses to Megatron about Soundwave's inevitable decryption of the Iacon files, and requests for her tracking abilities to be enlisted in the search for the resulting coordinates. Megatron dismisses her, and Soundwave replays the audio of her suggestion to leave Megatron earlier. He contacts Dreadwing, who replies with an oath of loyalty. The leader orders him to perform a task he normally performs himself, but now leaves to his first officer. The Seeker is confused, as Airachnid holds that position, but his mission becomes clear—he is to dispose of the treacherous spider.

Breakdown, Dreadwing, and Airachnid follow the trail of an unconfirmed energon deposit. Airachnid is amused at the heavy backup, and takes the opportunity to grill Breakdown on his lack of skill, and lack of eye. Dreadwing attempts to calm him, but another insult puts him into a frenzy. He jumps at the spider and fires at her. Dreadwing joins the fray, but is pinned to a tree by Airachnid's webbing. Breakdown catches a web to the face, and as he falls, he lets off a blast which collapses a tree on Airachnid. She finds one of her legs damaged, and retreats. Breakdown gives chase, and finds her collapsed in a ravine. As he raises his hammer to finish her, webs—not from Airachnid—immobilize it in the air. Airachnid raises a leg to slice him through.

A contingent of MECH soldiers come upon Breakdown's remains.

In a cave, Starscream pities his lot in life as he jumps for a meager scrap of energon. He is interrupted by a nearby rumbling that surprises him—it is an Insecticon, unearthing a large chunk of energon. He orders the brute to hand it over, but it attacks him, forcing him to hide. He witnesses the Insecticon bowing to another surprise—Airachnid. He makes himself known, and she makes her rogue status known, giving Starscream the idea to propose an alliance to overthrow Megatron with the help of her oversized herald. She proposes an alternative—she overthrows Megatron, and orders the Insecticon to destroy Starscream.

At base, Ratchet recieves another high frequency message on a restricted band, again from Starscream, who promises valuable intel for medical aid. His intel proves none-too-relevant until he mentions the Insecticon, and provides Airachnid's location. Back at base, Arcee berates Ratchet and Bulkhead for letting him go again, but Optimus is confident in sparing helpless lifeforms, regardless of personal vendettas.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Optimus Prime Ratchet Bulkhead Bumblebee Arcee	Dreadwing Breakdown Megatron Soundwave Vehicons	MECH Soldiers	Airachnid Starscream Insecticon

Quotes

"I know we've never seen things eyes-to-eye, but I'm sure we can patch things up."

—Airachnid baits Breakdown with extra-strength puns

"Easy prey."

—Breakdown on the crippled Airachnid

"You and your beast would do well to remember—I honed my skills in the pits of Kaon!"

—Megatron reminds all that he is not so easily beaten.

"You disobeyed my orders in following me here-You will make a fine first lieutenant."

-Megatron might have finally made a good choice for second-in-command.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Arcee reminds the team yet again of how Airachnid took Tailgate away from her.
• Starscream hasn't forgotten how Arcee let him live after their last encounter from "Partners".
• Airachnid wanting to leave Megatron behind during "One Shall Rise, Part 3" has caught up to her.
• MECH comes across the dismembered remains of Breakdown, and sites it as a "familiar face".
• Starscream contacts Ratchet the same way he did back in "Orion Pax, Part 2", and meets him and Bulkhead in what appears to be the same place.
• Evidently, Breakdown forgot about the missile launcher mounted on his shoulder when his arm was strung up.
• The "task" Megatron normally performs himself—the disposal of treacherous soldiers—previously occurred in Rock Bottom, where Starscream was the recipient.

Transformers references

• Megatron refers to his skills and training as a Kaon gladiator.

Trivia

• Breakdown is the first of the show's main cast to die.
• This is the first episode to feature an appearance from MECH but not Silas.