Bad Spark
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 Herrrree'sss Jonnnny! | |||||||||
| "Bad Spark" | |||||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | February 22, 1998 | ||||||||
| Written by | Greg Johnson | ||||||||
| Directed by | Steve Sacks Jonathan Goodwill | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | ||||||||
An oversized stasis pod reveals the secrets of Protoform X.
Synopsis
Cheetor, on recon patrol, spots a giant stasis pod (labeled with a big yellow "X") crashed inside a patch of unstable energon deep inside a murky swamp. Optimus Primal orders Cheetor not to open the pod until he arrives. As Optimus and Silverbolt leave, Rhinox invokes the help of Primus if "that thing survived". However, the Predacons intercept the transmission, and Megatron sends Blackarachnia and Waspinator to retrieve it, subtly planting a listening device on the former. He calmly taps his chair armrest, possibly aware that Tarantulas left a bug of his own under it.
When Optimus and Silverbolt meet Cheetor beside the pod, they find the protoform within apparently dead, and Primal seems relieved. When the other two ask why, Primal tells them what the pod means: The stasis pod holds "the dark secret of Axalon's journey," Protoform X. Protoform X was created in experiments attempting to replicate the mutation in the spark of Starscream, making it indestructible, but the subject was treacherous and insane, so the Axalon was to dump the protoform "somewhere far, someplace barren."
Blackarachnia and Waspinator strike, attempting to take Protoform X for themselves. Attacking Silverbolt, Blackarachnia is angry that his code of honor won't allow him to fight back by hitting a female. Then Tarantulas arrives and threatens her. Silverbolt defends her, but the battle accidentally ignites the energon beneath Protoform X's stasis pod, which explodes and triggers an energon storm that scatters everyone for miles.
Blackarachnia and Silverbolt crash-land next to each other. They agree to work together, as they are far from their respective teams and Silverbolt's wing is broken. Tarantulas lands next to the pod; he investigates it, only to find it empty. He then turns to find something looming over him through the mist. His scream echoes for miles...
Optimus Primal and Cheetor return to the Axalon, too damaged to search for Silverbolt. Blackarachnia and Silverbolt journey by foot, learning to trust each other, but Megatron is eavesdropping on them. They soon discover a piece of Tarantulas and conclude with dark humor that he is no longer a threat. Inferno is disgusted by their alliance, but Megatron notes that with Tarantulas out of the way, Blackarachnia no longer needs a protector. This becomes apparent when Silverbolt is the first to cross a log bridge, only for Blackarachnia to pull her weapon on him. However, a saber-toothed cat attacks her, which Silverbolt defeats, but is left dangling on a vine. Blackarachnia saves Silverbolt, awkwardly saying that it was in case there were more tigers around. Megatron is disgusted, as it is apparent that she may have feelings for the Maximal.
As the two Transformers walk on, Silverbolt tries to appeal to Blackarachnia's "inner Maximal goodness", only to receive gunfire in return. As Blackarachnia stomps off, she finds Tarantulas's stasis locked body—in several pieces. Silverbolt notes that Protoform X must have done this, and tells Blackarachnia about the protoform's indestructible spark. Megatron, still eavesdropping, fashions an energon blade in preparation. Blackarachnia, freaked, prepares to high-tail it out of the area as an ominous form skitters through the fog behind them. Suddenly, the two find themselves face-to-face with Protoform X! Huge and frightening, it knocks them around effortlessly and is immune to their firepower. The monster lifts Silverbolt in its powerful claw, relishing his victim's mounting terror. Silverbolt screams in pain as X crushes him.
Primal and Cheetor arrive in the nick of time and attack, freeing Silverbolt. Blackarachnia joins them in blasting Protoform X, eventually driving it off a cliff edge. However, it transforms into tank mode and ascends the cliffside. Silverbolt throws a feather missile, knocking him down into another pile of raw energon, but not before Protoform X fires at Blackarachnia, knocking her off the other side of the cliff. Silverbolt jumps after her, unsure if his wing mechanism is healed, but he succeeds, and she is saved. The Maximals let her go before returning home. Blackarachnia watches them depart, then uses her grappling wire to depart, emphasizing a claim that she didn't need Silverbolt's last rescue.
Helpless in the pile of raw energon, Protoform X sees Megatron appear over him with the energon blade. X wakes up in the Predacon base to find that Megatron has carved out a piece of his spark and put it in a tiny cage that, when squeezed, causes him tremendous pain. Megatron has Protoform X at his mercy and renames him "Rampage".
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
"Primus help us all if that thing survived."
- —Rhinox, on Protoform X
"Spiders spin their webs, yes. But I spin them larger."
- —Megatron after placing a cloaked tracking device on Blackarachnia
"Are you...damaged?"
"Ah...just enough to make me...interesting."
- —Silverbolt and Blackarachnia
"Forget the rescue plan, Optimus, and start devising an attack plan! Megatron has lost two, but we have only lost one."
"I'll remember that...next time you're out missing in an energon storm."
- —Dinobot and Optimus Primal debate priorities.
"Is that fear you're feeling, Maximal? Mmm...yes. My spark, it feeds on terror. Let it grow! Let it consume your circuitry! Feel it! Yes, feel it! Feel the fear!"
- —Protoform X with Silverbolt in his claws. Half of the audience now has nightmares.
"Your persistence is futile! I rise again...!"
"In that case, let us give you further to fall!"
- —Protoform X and Silverbolt
"Welcome to the Predacons, RAMPAGE. You shall be an honored member...so long as you never forget one important fact about your new life: It's mine. Welcome, my new servant, yes. Welcome...to the Beast Wars!"
- —Megatron gains a new conscript.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- During the flashback scene there are two robots with Optimus's season one head design. One is trying to restrain Protoform X, and the other is watching on from a distance (and is heavily implied to be the actual Primal.) Sorry animators, those antennae are just too distinctive.
- As Optimus is departing the bridge with Silverbolt in tow, the panels that make up his boogie board/robot lower legs are missing.
- In one scene what appears to be a drawing of Silverbolt's torso stands behind Blackarachnia instead of his CG model.
- When Tarantulas grabs Blackarachnia and she begins struggling, her head at one point clips into his chest.
- As he spins around upon noticing Rampage, Tarantulas' spider-leg kibble clips through the stasis pod.
- Nothing comes out of Blackarachnia's gun when she fires her grappling hook at the end of the episode, but the string is there in the next shot.
Continuity errors
- The circumstances of Protoform X's reactivation aren't quite clear. He's already gained a beast mode, suggesting that his stasis pod carried a DNA scanner, but he's also offline; previous episodes made it clear that the protoform had to be active and functioning in order to properly assume a beast mode. Much like Optimus Primal, he's also mutated (well, mutated further) into a Transmetal, when all other Earth-"born" Transformers were immune to the Transmetallization process. Some of these discrepancies can probably be ascribed to his inherently unusual nature.
- Why would Optimus Primal be so quick to assume Protoform X's indestructible spark was permanently offline? (Admittedly, he didn't have much time to examine it before the Predacons showed up, and his later assertion that it was offline may have only been to deter Blackarachnia.)
- Blackarachnia mocks Optimus' claim that Protoform X is offline when she first attacks, but she later seems to believe it when she and Silverbolt find Tarantulas (or what's left of him).
- Optimus is remarkably assured that Protoform X - the immortal, indestructible mutant- isn't going anywhere after he falls off a cliff. Surely he could have assigned Cheetor to sentry duty while he conferred with Rhinox.
Continuity notes
- Protoform X's stasis pod was presumably one of the many knocked out of orbit back in "Other Voices, Part 2".
- Silverbolt first encountered Blackarachnia back in "Tangled Web", where he found that his chivalrous code prevented him from hitting Blackarachnia.
- This episode confirms that some of the Axalon's crew (at least Cheetor, and possibly Rattrap) were kept in the dark about some aspects of the Axalon's mission, and also an early hint that post-war Cybertron isn't quite as idyllic as one would believe.
- Optimus noted in "Possession" that Starscream's records were sealed; the Council probably didn't want anyone else to make the same mistake they did in trying to recreate Starscream's immortal spark.
- Dinobot is seen interfacing with the Axalon's computer. It's not quite clear what he's doing, but the unproduced episode "Dark Glass" would have established that he had created a backup of his core consciousness, foreshadowing the events of the next episode.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Megatron attaches a bug to Blackarachnia, which allows him to listen in on her conversations. He, Quickstrike and Inferno spend most of the episode voyeuristically listening in on the spider-bot.
- Megatron can apparently order the ship's computer to build items for him.
- Much like Tigatron, Dinobot can deploy a cable from his hip and interface with computers.
Transformers references
- Rhinox notes, "Primus help us all if that thing survived," which was the first reference to the creator-god of the Transformers outside of the original Marvel comics. According to Bob Forward, they took the term from a post in the alt.toys.transformers newsgroup, and were unaware of its history until afterwards.[1]
- Protoform X was created as an attempt to duplicate Starscream's "mutant indestructible spark." This is a reference (and a retcon in technobabble jargon) to Starscream's ghost in the third season of the original animated series and, more recently, to Starscream's appearance in the Beast Wars episode "Possession."
Real-world references
- Befitting the Frankensteinian nature of Protoform X, a lot of the scenes in the episode riff off horror-movie clichés: Silverbolt and Blackarachnia play the obligatory "young couple", encountering several fake-out scares as they search for Protoform X. The gloomy, boggy landscape in which the episode takes place allows for murky, atmospheric shots reminiscent of slasher films.
- The scene where Blackarachnia and Silverbolt stumble across the gruesome scene of Protoform X's last victim is lifted from basically every slasher/monster movie ever.
- Rampage/Protoform X himself is characterized in the vein of Hannibal Lecter, the antagonist of The Silence of the Lambs.
Trivia
- Cheetor's Transmetal body can soak up energon, and instead of seizing up, he can shunt it away from his body in a burst of gas. Primal thinks this is rude, and Cheetor apologizes for "blasting one off." In other words, Transformers can fart. This gag was a remnant of an early idea for the Transmetal characters, who were originally going to power their weapons by absorbing and discharging energon radiation.
- Apparently Blackarachnia can shoot a line downwards to save Silverbolt; however, she can't shoot one upwards to scale the wall of the chasm they must venture through on foot. Her usual ability to scuttle up walls in beast mode is also seemingly offline. On the other hand, immediately afterwards she said, *sigh* "Like I needed him to catch me anyway." while using her grappling gun. So it seems likely she simply wanted Silverbolt to catch her. Wacky mis-matched buddy adventures can be a tricky business.
- The original script includes an extra line from Rampage in the last scene, in which he threatens to eat Megatron's "living brain on a plate with fava beans". No doubt cut because it was just a little too on the nose regarding Rampage's Hannibal Lecter-esque characterization.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Étincelle du Mal" (Canada, "Spark of Evil")
Italian
- Title: "Il ritrovamento" ("The Retrieval")
Japanese
- Title: "Beast Wars Metals" (ビーストウォーズメタルス)
- Release date: 19 December 1998 (theatrical)
- This episode was released theatrically as the third segment in the Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers feature film.
- Its placement in the Beast Wars Metals TV broadcast was filled with a newly crafted clip show, "Where Is the Banana?".
Mandarin
- Title: "nièzhǒng" (孽种, "The Seed of Evil")
Portuguese
- Title: "Centelha do Mal" ("Evil Spark")
Spanish
- Title: "Mala Chispa" ("Bad Spark")
- Title: "Mala Chispa" (America, "Bad Spark")
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Bad Spark / Code of Hero (KB Toys)
1998 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Series 2 / Volume 3 (Siren Entertainment)
1999 — Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers Special — Clash! Beast Warriors (Pioneer LDC) — English audio only.
2001 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Volume 7 (Universal)
1999 — Beast Wars: Transformers Special (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
- DVD
1999 — Beast Wars: Transformers Special (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2004 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete Second Season (Rhinomation)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Seasons 2 & 3 (Shout! Factory)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2006 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 2 (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Beast Wars — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
References
- ↑ Forward's introduction to the Transformers: Matrix Quest TPB.
