City of Steel (episode)
The Decepticons invade New York City.
Detailed synopsis
Over New York City, Laserbeak flies into the Decepticons' underground base. The Constructicons are digging a hole in the ceiling and the Autobots don't have a clue. After hours of digging, the Constructicons manage to sink the Empire State building underground. The Autobots finally get wind of this and head to the city. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee and Ratchet plan to meet the rest of the Autobots at Central Park. However, Laserbeak spots them and reports back to Megatron. He plans to give the Autobots a surprising welcome.
At Central Park, the Autobots are ambushed by Soundwave and his crew whilst underground the Constructicons inform Megatron that they're underneath Optimus Prime. Megatron orders them to dig while Optimus Prime is fighting Soundwave. Taken by surprise he falls into the Decepticons underground base where Megatron severs his motor relays causing Optimus Prime to go into suspended animation. Megatron the threatens the remaining Autobots that unless they leave he will melt their leader down to scrap. He also shows them his master plan which is to rebuild New York into New Cybertron by bringing the Empire State building back up but now it looks like a Cybertron Fortress. Forced to leave the city the Autobots are gloomy until Spike comes up with a plan to get into the city undetected.
Seemingly victorious, Megatron gloats over Prime's still body. However Megatron is still worried that Optimus Prime might try something and orders Hook to disassemble him. After Optimus is now a pile of parts Megatron picks up his head and gloats again in which Prime responds that even though he's in pieces he will still fight. Prime then activates his arms and trips up Megatron. Megatron then orders the Constructicons to dispose of Prime's body with exception to the head.
Meanwhile Spike, Bumblebee, Rachet, Hound and Mirage enter the City through the sewers planning on rescuing Prime undetected. The scene the changes to the Constructicons very pleased with themselves to what they did with Prime's body and have special plans with his right arm.
Meanwhile Hound is confused that Prime is now behind them instead of in front. Mirage then spots a giant robot alligator (dubbed the Alligatorcon) and they run from it not wanting to fight for fear of alerting the Decepticons. They trap it in a train and send it and the train packing. When they reach the underground base they find Prime's head and reattach his circuits so he can speak. Prime the activates his legs to come to him and the rest of the Autobots figure out that the Alligatorcon was made up of Prime's parts. After capturing it Ratchet reassembles Prime, minus the right arm. Now that Optimus is safe the Autobots attack. The Decepticons have turned half of New York city into New Cybertron complete with killer taxi's and they're using Prime's arm as a weapon on top of their fortress.
After breaking through their defenses Optimus Prime, Ironhide and Ratchet plan to scale the fortress to reclaim Prime's arm. Bumblebee and Spike plan to distract Megatron and Soundwave to help. Megatron orders an air strike but when that fails the Constructicons become Devastator and he follows Prime's team up the building. Meanwhile Spike and Bumblebee manage to sneak in and annoy Megatron, by calling him Megaklutz, and tricking him into destroying the device that controlled Prime's arm. Outside Devastator captures Prime and knocks Ironhide and Ratchet into the fortress. Wheeljack the comments that the whole thing reminded him of King Kong as he tried to assist with his remote controlled helicopters. Spike then informs Prime that his arm is no longer controlled by Megatron in which Prime uses this opportunity to use against Devastator. After Devastator gets hit Prime falls but is saved by Ironhide and Ratchet and as usual the Decepticons retreat.
Now the city is saved, Prime is back together and Bumblebee got a souvenir (a 'I love NY' bumper sticker) the Autobots roll out and return home.
Stats
Original airdate: ???
Written by: ???
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Regulars
Guests |
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Notable quotes
"It sickens me to say it, Reflector, but this one time I have to hand it to Megatron. The place is starting to feel like home."
- -- Starscream agrees with one of Megatron's plans, which heralds the coming of the apocalypse.
"I feel like I'm in some messy swamp, not underneath the largest city in North America."
- -- Ratchet, trudging through the sewers of New York.
"I may not have a weapon, but I can still transform and roll!"
- -- Optimus Prime, preparing to crush the battle taxis.
"You'll never catch us, Megaklutz!"
"Megaklutz! You dare to insult me in my own command post?!"
- -- Spike Witwicky daring to insult Megatron in his own command post.
Other notes
Animation and/or technical glitches
- When Megatron is looking at Optimus through the monitor, Prime has both arms. The camera switches to Megatron and then back to Optimus, who now has only one arm.
- The scene freezes for several seconds as the rebuilt Empire State Building is about to be raised above ground, complete with non-moving clouds of dust and smoke.
- The Empire State Building is depicted as far too small in relation to the Transformers in several scenes.
- At one point, Megatron's helmet appears in white rather than grey giving the impression that he is wearing a white wig.
- Why didn't the Constructicons find the Matrix when they took apart Prime?
- Prime "activating" his legs consists of somehow making them come magically tumbling through the air to him.
- There's an odd moment when Mirage and Ratchet say, in perfect synch, "This alligator is big and heavy!" Prime then responds with the sage observation: "From the looks of it, I'd say a little of both." The scene appears to be the result of an editing and directorial snafu. Prime should be responding to the Autobots' previous lines: "Now we've got him!" "Or should I say, we've got you?" And the combined Ratchet and Mirage line was likely intended to be a series of ad libs as the Autobots struggle with the Aligaticon, rather than a straight line.
- Let's not even get into the plausibility of lowering a thousand-foot building into the ground, rebuilding it for beings several times the size of a human, and then rebuilding it again into its original form.
Real-world references
- Devastator climbs the Decepticons' "improved" version of the Empire State Building, very similarly to King Kong, as Wheeljack points out.
- The alligatorcon is likely an allusion to the persistent rumors of alligators living in New York City's sewers.
Miscellaneous trivia
- Along with "The Core" and "The Autobot Run", this episode is one of a trio featuring distinctively bright and "cartoonish" art and animation, a somewhat more juvenile plot and script than normal, and a common set of animation model oddities, such as Chip Chase's blue jacket and Optimus Prime's white backpack.
- Though it is widely regarded in the fandom as his normal way of speaking, this is in fact the only time Mixmaster's speech oddity ever shows up.
- The final shot in this episode shows Bumblebee with an "I [heart] NY" bumper sticker.
- This was one of several episodes subjected to the MSTF treatment at BotCon 2000.
