Prepare for Departure

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"In the name of what? To preserve what? Even if we do survive, what are we? Better than what we say they are? What gives us the right to live, then? What makes us worth surviving, Groeteschele? That we are ruthless enough to strike first?"
"Prepare for Departure"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	September 23, 2017
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures

The Bee Team struggle to recover a canister with radioactive fuel rods from Steeljaw and his pack, while Grimlock struggles to learn the difference between work and play.

Synopsis

"General Stark, are there any papers or documents in New York which are absolutely essential to the running of the United States? General Stark?" "No sir. There are important documents, but none of them absolutely essential." "Will there be any warning given? A lot of lives could be saved if people had a few minutes." "On this short notice, an alert to a big city would do more harm than good. It only produces panic."

"The Matador, the Matador... me... me..."

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"How did you get to be a translator, Buck? You don't seem the academic type." "I guess I have a talent for languages, sir. I hear a language once I pick it right up. I don't even know how. They found out about it in the Army."

"The President says he may have to order our fighters to shoot down Group Six. He wants our opinion." "I oppose it, sir, on the grounds that it's premature. Our planes have not yet reached Soviet territory, they're still hundreds of miles away." "We've got to do it, and fast! Right now before it's too late!"

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Grimlock (8) Bumblebee (9) Sideswipe (10) Strongarm (11) Fixit (13)	Underbite (1) Steeljaw (2) Quillfire (3) Clampdown (4) Thunderhoof (5) Soundwave (7, voice only)	Russell Clay (12) Denny Clay (14) Hermit (15)	Goldgear (6)

Quotes

"We will depart this realm shortly for yours. Prepare for our arrival. Or you will be deactivated. Painfully."

—Soundwave ensures the Pack knows where they stand.

"Do we have to wear disguises even in the grocery store? I don't think Steeljaw is going to attack me in the deli aisle."

—The great wizard Russell is perturbed.

"I've always wanted to open you up and see what makes you tick."

—Once again, Steeljaw has Bumblebee at his mercy and forgets what kind of cartoon he's in

Notes

Continuity notes

• The (very unrealistically configured) nuclear waste disposal site was previously visited in the season-opening two-parter.
• Soundwave and the Activator Mini-Cons have been working on a secret project in the Shadowzone through the season, but this is the first time it's indicated they're associated with Steeljaw's Pack's "benefactors".
• The Pack are forced to help a powerful Decepticon who is trapped in another dimension, yet again.

Transformers references

• Thunderhoof's description of Steeljaw being "forged" draws off IDW Publishing's ongoing continuity, where the term is applied to Cybertronians who were created through one of two different methods.

Errors

• Bumblebee's Autobot insignia reappears on his chest after Steeljaw took it off by a jackhammer.
• While hydrochloric acid is used to balance the PH levels in swimming pools, it still seems very improbable that a swimming supplies warehouse would have several large canisters filled with a (very concentrated) corrosive solution.

Trivia

• Fixit uses his toy's drill hands for the first time.
• Steeljaw's line about opening him up to "see what makes [him] tick" is near-identical to what Silas said to Optimus Prime in his introductory episode.