Rebellion (Prime)

This article is about the Prime episode. For the Armada episode, see Rebellion (Armada).

« Transformers: Prime ep 56 »
It happens. But miracles happen, too.
"Rebellion"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	April 12, 2013
Written by	Steven Melching
Directed by	Scooter Tidwell
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

Team Prime wages war against the Decepticon citadel.

Synopsis

As the Autobots prepare for battle, Fowler points out that the military has the weapons necessary to take down the fortress, but can't attack while Darkmount's fusion cannons are pointed at major cities. Ultra Magnus resolves to disable the cannons. As Darkmount has GroundBridge jamming capabilities, they will have to attack in a more roundabout way.

In an underground cavern, Smokescreen expresses his doubt that he's ready to be a Prime, but Optimus points out that the decision will be made by the Matrix of Leadership.

Move out, Predacons; we've waited a long time for this. Yesss, let us be close enough to enjoy it.

Jack uses his cellphone at a gas station, and his signal is promptly picked up by the Decepticons. Starscream dispatches his seekers to investigate, but Ratchet GroundBridges Jack back to the Harbinger before they can reach him. Miko likewise calls for pizza from a New York alley to lure Decepticons there. Ratchet has Jack make a fake transmission from an Energon Mine, forcing Starscream to send Insecticons to check the location. With the Decepticon forces thus scattered, the Autobots bridge to the fortress while Fowler stands ready at a nearby air base with a squadron of jets.

They've deduced our strategy, such as it was.

As the report comes in that the Energon Mine is safe and not under attack, Megatron demands to know why the Decepticons have been spread so thin. Soundwave solves the mystery of where the Autobots are by pointing out the existence of the Harbinger, however before Starscream can dispatch his armada to attack it, Darkmount itself comes under attack. Down below, Wheeljack and Bulkhead toss grenades at the base of the fortress and use their new weapons to stave off the Vehicons that attack them. Meanwhile Bumblebee and Arcee take a more subtle route.

Shockwave humbly suggests releasing the Predacon to repel the attackers. The beast enters the fray, but is quickly distracted by Ultra Magnus's ship. As it attempts to chase Magnus, Ratchet opens a GroundBridge, sending the creature to the Arctic, where it quickly freezes. Shockwave leaves the Nemesis and starts jumping down the side of the fortress.

The dying Optimus begins to have a vision of the Allspark and Alpha Trion. Though Prime worries about the fate of the Matrix, his old teacher assures him it will pick a new leader.

Arcee reports to Magnus that she and Bumblebee have run into some trouble and are pinned down. Ultra Magnus decides to take matters into his own hands, entering the fortress and attacking the fusion cannon control room directly. He swiftly takes care of the Decepticons at the controls, only for Megatron himself to arrive. Meanwhile Shockwave reaches the bottom of the tower and incarcerates Bulkhead and Wheeljack with a single tank cannon blast, and Arcee and Bumblebee are surrounded by Decepticon troops. Ultra Magnus fights bravely against Megatron, but ultimately loses and is dragged up to the throne room.

Alpha Trion invites Optimus to join with the Allspark. In the cavern, the Optimus's optics flicker out and his chestplate opens up to reveal the Matrix. Smokescreen has other ideas, and drags the Forge of Solus Prime over in order to place it in Optimus's hand. A surge of energy emanates from the hammer.

My turn.

As Ultra Magnus won't tell Megatron anything, the Decepticon leader orders the prisoners executed and the fusion cannons fired, however Starscream points out that there's something incoming. In the Harbinger, Ratchet also detects the inbound object, and it has an Autobot signature. It reaches visual range of the Decepticons, revealing itself to be Optimus himself, in a new upgraded form. Landing in the throne room, Optimus deals Megatron a series of concussions before smashing the Decepticon leader all the way into the throne. Once the other Decepticons have been dealt with, Magnus deals Starscream a shattering uppercut before briefing Optimus, who sets out to destroy the fusion cannons. The Autobots at the base of the tower, on hearing the news, overthrow their captors.

Enraged, Megatron takes to the air and attempts to shoot down Prime. The news that there are incoming human forces has Starscream order the fusion cannons to fire, but while they're still powering up, Optimus Prime punches Megatron and flings the Decepticon leader directly into the fusion cannon power core, disabling the cannons. The Autobots make a hasty withdrawal as Fowler's squadron unleashes missiles on Darkmount. The Decepticons likewise retreat to their warship. Smokescreen drives up the highway in time to see the fortress come crashing to the ground.

Later, at a military base, Fowler gives the Autobots a speech of thanks. The Autobots note that the Forge's power has been completely drained, but Ratchet assures Smokescreen he made the right choice.

In the meantime, I've got a lot of catching up to do. People to meet, things to do, specifically to have Rattrap clear all of his junk out of my quarters!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Ultra Magnus (1) Bulkhead (2) Wheeljack (3) Ratchet (4) Arcee (5) Bumblebee (6) Smokescreen (12) Optimus Prime (13) Alpha Trion (22)	Starscream (14) Soundwave (15) Vehicons (16) Decepticon Miners (17) Insecticons (18) Megatron (19) Shockwave (20) Predaking (21)	William Fowler (7) Jack Darby (8) June Darby (9) Miko Nakadai (10) Raf Esquivel (11)

Quotes

"Guess we'll have to sneak past enemy lines, Wrecker-style."
"I couldn't deal with 'Wrecker-style' back on Cybertron, and I refuse to deal with it here."

—Wheeljack wants to go Wrecker-style, but Ultra Magnus can't deal with that right now.

"I knew the humans couldn't resist using their telecommunications... That is all they seem to do."

—Starscream does have a point there...

"You left abandoned Decepticon technology fully operational and unsecured!?"

—Starscream gets a verbal bashing from Megatron.

"Your mission was most illogical."

—Shockwave shows Wheeljack and Bulkhead who the boss is.

"Ultra Magnus, you are no Optimus Prime."

—Apparently Megatron is not a fan of retooling.

"This isn't how the story's supposed to end."

—Smokescreen giving a middle finger to the tried and true leadership inheritance patterns.

"Wait, he can't fly! Can he?"

—Starscream expressing disbelief about Optimus's new badass look.

Optimus Prime: Commander?
Ultra Magnus: Sir, you are looking... robust.

—The Autobot higher-ups have a little chat.

"All units, Optimus Prime has returned."

—Ultra Magnus gives Team Prime an instant morale boost.

"Megatron, be gone!"

—Optimus Prime gives Megatron a reminder of a past beating.

"Awww, I missed it!"

—Bad timing, Smokescreen.

"Is it true the Forge has been drained of its power? Then any hope of rebuilding the Omega Lock has truly been lost."
"I... did what I felt was right."
"And your instincts once have again proven to be quite sound."

—Ratchet and Smokescreen on the Forge of Solus Prime.

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• Wheeljack doesn't have a grenade on his hip when he and Bulkhead engage the Seekers, but it appears there immediately after he uses his energy whip to destroy a few of them.
• When Wheeljack unsheathes his katanas to attack the Decepticons, the handles remain part of his character model as he draws them. The error is fixed by the next shot.
• When Optimus flies to the scene and quickly starts pounding Megatron, the latter's leg wobbling doesn't really match with background movement.
• Ratchet's "Pfft, well..." reaction to Miko suggesting the Forge might do him some good is completely out of sync with his mouth movements. The line itself is lifted from "Scattered".
• When Megatron drops to the ground about to fight Ultra Magnus, the sound from his landing seems to stop too abruptly. Normally there is a slight echo after a crashing sound effect. Maybe the room did not create an echo?
• When Megatron shoots Ultra Magnus's rifle out of his hand, the laser is red instead of purple. However Megatron is not shown when he fires, so maybe he was still using someone else's blaster?
• After being punched into the throne chair by Optimus, Megatron is covered by rubble while he's lying face up. When we see him burst out of the rubble, he is somehow lying face down, as seen by his method of getting to his feet.

Continuity errors

• When the Autobots sent the Scraplets to the Arctic in "Scrapheap", Ratchet reasoned that the smaller body mass of the Scraplets would render them much more vulnerable to the extreme cold. By comparison, both Optimus and Arcee remained functional, if somewhat impaired, for a significant period. Despite this, Predaking, who is even larger than Optimus (not counting the wings), is frozen solid in under a minute. Of course, they could have just bridged him to a far colder area.
• Wheeljack is seen in Ultra Magnus' ship holding the energy whip and a blaster. However in the battle that follows he elects to use his own built in blaster.
• Darkmount was located right next to the ruins of the Autobot base. Smokescreen retrieved Optimus from the rubble and presumably hid him in a cavern somewhere close by. Yet when Smokescreen tries to join the battle, he's seen arriving by the highway, having apparently driven a considerable distance.

Continuity notes

• The Autobots dispose of Predaking in the same manner as they did the Scraplets in "Scrapheap". It doesn't work as well as they hoped.
• The Forge of Solus Prime was established to be low on energy in "Prey". Optimus' upgrade drains it completely.
• Optimus repeats the line "Megatron, begone" from "Orion Pax, Part 3", in much the same context.
• Wheeljack retains the scars inflicted by Starscream in "Scattered".
• With Darkmount destroyed and the Autobots getting a new base courtesy of the U.S. military, both sides are pretty close to where they started off. Just like old times.
• Despite her last encounter with Shockwave, Arcee does not seem at all surprised to see him. Nor is she even given any interaction with him.

Transformers references

• Optimus Prime gets a jetpack, much like his Cybertron, film and Animated counterparts.
• Ultra Magnus could not deal with Wrecker-style on Cybertron, and he will not deal with it on Earth.
• Much like its G1 namesake, Darkmount gets blown up pretty soon after its initial appearance.

Trivia

• This episode has a different map of the United States, this time with Louisiana in the right place.
• Shockwave runs for no man. Even his vehicle mode is slow!
• This is the first time in this series that anyone has flown in robot mode.
• The Autobits edition of the episode mistakenly describes Shockwave's face as receiving "over 300 cable channels", rather than Soundwave's as intended. They had ONE job... How did it go wrong?
• Bulkhead is silent throughout the whole episode, unless you count his grunts during the various battles or his laughs heard at the tail end of the episode. Kevin Michael Richardson is still credited in the episode's credits.