Hurt

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You could have it all/My empire of dirt
"Hurt"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	August 24, 2012
Written by	Mairghread Scott
Directed by	Shaunt Nigoghossian
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

Miko and Wheeljack embark on a quest for revenge.

Synopsis

Manhattan. Arcee, Jack, Bumblebee and Miko are on their way back from their successful relic mission. While Miko is feeling victorious and listening to rock music, she announces she's ready to get back to hanging with Bulkhead. As they arrive through the GroundBridge, they almost run into Bulkhead's body, still laying by the entrance as Ratchet attempts to revive the Wrecker with defibrillators. Fowler has to restrain Miko as Ratchet explains what has happened to Bulkhead while the other Autobots drag Bulkhead to the medical bay. Miko blames herself for not going with Bulkhead, but Fowler points out there's nothing she could have done against Hardshell.

On the Nemesis, Megatron rages that only Soundwave brought back a relic. Hardshell claims that, though he failed to secure the Tox-En, Bulkhead was terminated in the process. He and Knock Out almost come to blows over the effectiveness of Insecticons.

Fowler is called away to cover up the activities in New York, but makes Optimus promise to keep him updated. Arcee reports that Wheeljack is coming in, which causes Miko to storm off as she believes the others are giving up on Bulkhead. As Ratchet reports that Bulkhead is stable, Wheeljack arrives and promises to go after whoever did this. Optimus, however, refuses to say who's responsible. Wheeljack rushes off anyway, but doesn't get far in the Jackhammer before Miko reveals herself. Though Wheeljack's immediate instinct is to take her back to the base, Miko makes a deal to tell him who's responsible for Bulkhead's damage, if he takes her with him.

It's in Knock Out's contract to periodically throw the Tumblr shippers a bone.

Hardshell boasts to his fellow Insecticons, but they overhear a couple of Vehicons badmouthing them. Knock Out's buffing session is thus interrupted by an all-in brawl between the two groups, and ends up being punched by an Insecticon.

Miko and Wheeljack find an energon mine that Wheeljack intends to attack to draw out Hardshell. Miko goes in first, using her phone to transmit footage back to Wheeljack. Mid-way through her recon, Wheeljack himself assaults the cave, leaving her to duck for cover while Vehicon parts fly everywhere. He makes swift work of the Decepticon contingent.

Knock Out takes his concerns about the Insecticons to Megatron, insisting they be confined somewhere. Hardshell is defiant, but the discussion is interrupted by a transmission from the mine—Wheeljack informs Megatron that the mine is his and he's going to attack more mines until the Decepticons give him Hardshell. To underscore the threat, he blows up the mine. Megatron is more upset at the news that Bulkhead might not be dead, and announces Hardshell owes him a spark.

Hold still! There's a bug on your... oh wait...

As they head to the next mine, Miko and Wheeljack discuss Bulkhead's chances, but Miko's so tired she falls asleep mid-conversation. She wakes up when they arrive, but Wheeljack leaves her in the ship with instructions to use the auto-pilot to return to the Autobot base. She watches from the cockpit as Wheeljack approaches the mine and calls out Hardshell, who promptly appears on the clifftop above. Wheeljack and Hardshell clash, though the latter is wise to the former's grenade trick. The much-larger Insecticon soon gets the better of Wheeljack, tossing him about and landing solid blows, until the Autobot is left lying on the ground. With the fight's outcome clear, Miko goes to press the autopilot, but instead uses the controls to fire off a couple of missiles that strike Hardshell. As Wheeljack stands, more Insecticons appear at the clifftop, and he has to limp back to the Jackhammer. The swarm follows the ship, but Wheeljack throws a box of grenades at them, and the explosions dissipate the swarm. He congratulates Miko by welcoming her to the Wreckers, but she remains despondent over Bulkhead's condition.

Some time later, the pair drag themselves back into the Autobot base. Ratchet sadly reports that Bulkhead will survive, but may not be fully-functional again. While Miko rushes to her friend's side, Wheeljack opts to leave, not wanting to see Bulkhead that way.

Megatron looks in fury down at the corpse of Hardshell, and is shocked when he's told that the one responsible is a human girl.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Arcee (1) Bumblebee (3) Bulkhead (5) Ratchet (6) Optimus Prime (14) Wheeljack (15)	Megatron (9) Knock Out (10) Dreadwing (11) Soundwave (12) Hardshell (13) Insecticons (16) Vehicons (17)	Jack Darby (2) Miko Nakadai (4) William Fowler (7) Raf Esquivel (8)

Quotes

"Let me guess. You and Raf spend all your drive-time listening to chiptunes."
"Wraaaaaaaa?"

—Miko and Bumblebee on music.

"Pit-bound scavengers."
"Scrap-eaters."

—Two Vehicons and their take on Insecticons.

"Detailing was so much easier when Breakdown was around!"

—Knock Out gives fangirls an inch.

"Wheeljack. The one who enjoys explosive devices."

—Megatron, describing more Wheeljacks than one.

"Talk during battle is a sign of weakness."
"Only when you're too primitive to do two things at once."

—Hardshell and Wheeljack exchange smack talk.

"I thought I told you to hit autopilot."
"Bad things happen to bots when I leave their side."

—Wheeljack shows concern for Miko, who is not entirely wrong.

(Looking at Hardshell's corpse) "The Autobot did THIS?!''
"No, my lord... it was... a human... girl."

— Megatron quickly learns that some humans make good on the promises they make.

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• How did the Insecticons know Miko fired the missiles? Most importantly, how did they know there was someone other than Wheeljack in the ship?
• When Wheeljack retreats back into his ship after his fight against Hardshell, he sits down without a grenade at his hip. As he's standing up to open his case of grenades, he suddenly has one in its usual spot, as well as his swords, despite not picking up new ones in the interim.
• As Wheeljack limps towards his ship, he has his mouthplate retracted. However, when he gets on the ship, his mouthplate is back out again.

Continuity notes

• Miko, Jack, Bumblebee, and Arcee return from their mission, which occurred in "Tunnel Vision". They are followed shortly by Optimus, whose mission took place in "Triangulation". Bulkhead is suffering from Tox-En poisoning from the previous episode. On the Decepticon side, Hardshell is the last to return from his mission, which is also shown in the previous episode.
• Miko mentioned their success in obtaining the phase shifter from "Tunnel Vision", which happened to be sitting next to her at the time.
• Twice Knock Out refers to Breakdown's demise.
• Wheeljack shows the newfound respect for Ratchet that he gained in "Triage".
• Knock Out comments that it has been a long time since a Decepticon extinguished an Autobot's spark. Starscream's murder of Cliffjumper was the first and last successful termination of an Earth-bound Autobot by a Decepticon, which occurred all the way back in the series premiere.
• Hardshell easily predicts Wheeljack's "one grenade, one shot" strategy, having watched his men fall victim to Bulkhead's own grenade booby trap in the previous episode.

Real-world references

• Energon mine TVC 15 is named after the David Bowie song of the same name.
• Miko asks Bumblebee if he and Raf listen to chiptunes, electronic music which intentionally sounds like an 8bit video game console synthesizer.

Trivia

• Wheeljack's "one grenade, one shot" strategy is actually more of a "one grenade at a time, one shot" strategy, as Wheeljack says when Miko sees his case of grenades in the Jackhammer.
• Wheeljack lets us know that Insecticons are bound by a single mind.
• Miko is the second human in the series to have killed an Insecticon, Jack having destroyed the first one on Cybertron in "Orion Pax, Part 3". So... Raf... no pressure, then?
• Unlike previous episodes where he has shown annoyance, Fowler seems to have developed concern for Bulkhead's condition since "Toxicity".