Pretzel Logic
| ||||||
| File:RiD 2015 Pretzel Logic Grimlock and Brother Gunter.jpg "If you immediately know the white dust everywhere is flour, then the pretzels were baked long ago." | ||||||
| "Pretzel Logic" | ||||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | September 24, 2016 (Canada) November 5, 2016 (USA) | |||||
| Writer | Will Friedle | |||||
| Director | Scooter Tidwell | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures | |||||
Grimlock encounters a surprising new ally as the Autobots continue their relic hunt.
Synopsis
Bumblebee's team is having a video conference — currently they are scattered at different sites around the world where there has been Cybertronian activity, placing beacons to alert them if the Scavengers search for tech there. Fixit lets Bumblebee know there's no news on news on Optimus's arrival. Grimlock is annoyed that he's been sent to a mountain monastery with only one beacon to set up, but as Bumblebee explains, he's limited to one mission due his being a bit accident-prone lately. When the conference ends, an irritated Grimlock punches the monastery wall in frustration, the noise causing a small avalanche that unearths a cave and attracting the attention of a friendly monk who invites him inside for pretzels.
Outside, a GroundBridge portal opens up as Thermidor and his Mini-Con companion Tricerashot arrive. Grousing angrily about Clawtrap stealing his ship, Therimdor scans for Cybertronian tech and spots the nearby cave.
Bumblebee contacts Fixit for a status report, however Denny and Russell's cleanup of Grimlock's mess is not going well. He checks in with Grimlock, only to be confused by the latter saying he's busy making pretzels with Brother Gunter.
Grimlock is disappointed by his failed attempts to make pretzels, though Brother Gunter assures him it just takes practice. A tremor from the catacombs leads the pair to investigate. There, Thermidor has located a relic which he intends to use to take his ship back from Clawtrap, however he's about to grab it when Grimlock and Gunter arrive. Despite Gunter's warning that the room is unstable, Grimlock rushes in and when he attacks Thermidor, the roof collapses on him. Thermidor is about to claim his treasure when Brother Gunter shoves a shelfcase on top of him. Tricerashot reluctantly follows Thermidor's order to transform to blaster mode so the scavenger can blast Gunter, but Grimlock manages to free himself in time to save the human. Recalling Gunter's lesson in patience, Grimlock pauses to contact Bumblebee for help before resuming the fight. Thermidor manages to grab the Cybertronian artifact, an energy gauntlet that allows him to knock Grimlock flying. The rest of Team Bee arrives, and in the ensuing battle, Tricerashot attempts to take control of Grimlock, but finds himself unable to.
Bumblebee is disappointed that Grimlock's blown his cover, but Gunter promises to keep his silence. Thermidor meanwhile contacts Clawtrap to find that his ship's GroundBridge is out, leaving him and Tricerashot to fend for themselves. Grimlock emerges on the mountainside and tries to tell Bumblebee to wait for him before he starts climbing down the mountain, however the other Autobots are already pursuing the scavenger. Thermidor manages to take out Drift, Sideswipe and Strongarm, before leading Bumblebee to a ski lift, intending to snap one of the poles if the Autobot doesn't let him go. Eventually, Bumblebee charges him only for Thermidor to knock him down and then go to break the pole anyway. Tricerashot protests that it's unnecessary as they've already won, and is about to charge his partner when Grimlock arrives and lays into Thermidor. The pair are unaware that they're being observed by another Decepticon, who reports on the fight via comm to Starscream. The battle is going in Grimlock's favor, until Thermidor manages to knock him back with the energy gauntlet. Tricerashot 'accidentally' trips up Thermidor as he moves in to finish Grimlock off, and the Dinobot, recalling Gunter's lessons in patience, is able to dodge Thermidor's attacks and deprive him of the gauntlet. The scavenger and his Mini-Con are pulled through a GroundBridge as Grimlock checks on Bumblebee, though the gauntlet is left behind.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Ugh, I'm gonna be rusty and obsolete by the time we finish this!"
- —Sideswipe is not looking forward to setting up beacons.
Bumblebee: "How's everything going there, Fixit?"
Fixit: Not too badly, lieutenant. Denny and Russel are just about finished winging...ringing...cleaning up Grimlock's little mess. The scrapyard should be 100% in no time."
(Explosion is heard in background)
Fixit: "Strike that."
"Grimlock, what's your-"
"Can't talk. Making pretzels with Brother Gunter."
"He's making what with who?"
- —Bumblebee finds Grimlock more confusing than usual.
"Robots in disguise, Grimlock. Robots in disguise!"
- —Bumblebee takes the opportunity to remind Grimlock about operational security and to title-drop all in one go.
Brother Gunter: "Do not be frustrated vith Grimlock. I vill tell no one I have seen you."
Grimlock: "Brother Gunter's cool, Bee. We can trust him."
Bumblebee: "How can you be so sure?"
(Heavenly light shines on Brother Gunter with angelic choir)
Bumblebee: "Yeah...okay...uh, hey, back to business."
- —Brother Gunter's totally trustworthy.
"Can we skip our usual 'I have this, no, I have this' argument and just work together for once?"
"Sounds like a plan. Does this mean we're growing up? Meet you in the middle."
(Thermidor pulls back and makes them hit each other and fall off the road.)
"Let's go back to arguing."
"Yeah, why mess with a proven formula?"
- —Strongarm and Sideswipe try to break routine.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Starscream was last seen about to have Predaking, Skylynx, and Darksteel happen to him in "Predacons Rising", and his "weapon" (i.e. his severed arm) was in the possession of Predaking in issue #6 of RiD's tie-in comic.
Transformers references
- Grimlock complains that one of his failed pretzels looks like "a Snaketicon swallowed a bag of ball bearings". While not named as such before, it's possible that Vertebreak is a Snaketicon.
Real-world references
- Thermidor swears by the Sargassoid Sea, which is most likely a reference to the Sargasso Sea.
Animation and technical errors
Trivia
Foreign localization
French
- Title: La Logique du Bretzel ("The Logic of Pretzel")
- Original airdate: December 1, 2016
Italian
- Title: La Logica del Pretzel ("The Pretzel's Logic")
- Original airdate: November 23, 2016
Japanese
- Title: Micron-tachi o Ou Kage (マイクロンたちを追う影, "The Minicon Team Chases Shadows")
- Original airdate: November 27, 2016
