Metamorphosis (Armada)
| This article is about the episode of Armada. For the Cloud story, see Metamorphosis (Cloud). |
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 Grindor phone home | ||||||
| "Metamorphosis" (Henshin) "Mimicry: Metamorphosis" | ||||||
| Production code | TF: A-02 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | |||||
| Airdate | August 23, 2002 (English) 17 January 2003 (Japanese) | |||||
| Writer | Ryō Motohira | |||||
| Director | Takashi Sano | |||||
| Animation studio | Actas Inc. | |||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | |||||
Pursued by the Decepticons, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis find they have allies in the form of Optimus Prime and his Autobots.
Synopsis
"Aw, but I liked "Generations" more..."
Billy and Fred find that a cave-in has trapped them both underground. Above ground, the fight between Optimus Prime and Megatron continues. Rad, Carlos and Alexis attempt to flee with their new Mini-Con friend, only to be cut off by two new robots teleporting in: Starscream and Demolishor. As Demolishor reaches for Rad and Carlos, two more robots appear and the youngsters find themselves surrounded. Alexis begins to lead her friends away, but Starscream spots High Wire and moves to grab the Mini-Con. He's blocked by Hot Shot, however, and the pair grapple.
Alexis has enough time to spy the Autobot sigil on Hot Shot's shoulder before Rad announces they're heading for the caves. Before Demolishor can make a move to stop them, he's tackled by Red Alert and pummeled repeatedly, so that his optical sensor is damaged. Megatron scornfully calls him "a weakling", but a moment later he is knocked down to the ground by Optimus Prime. Optimus demands that they surrender, but Megatron suddenly disappears, promising that he will return again. The other two Decepticons quickly retreat via teleport, leaving three surprised Autobots. Optimus tells his troops they have to stop Megatron getting hold of the Mini-Cons. Hot Shot points out the Decepticons are using short-warp equipment and must have a base nearby, which leads Red Alert to suspect they're based on the Moon.
The Decepticons are indeed using the crashed Mini-Con spaceship as a base. The three Decepticons arrive there, waking Cyclonus who is taking a nap in a hallway. The latter immediately begins fawning over Megatron and is ignored. His inquiry over whether they found the Mini-Cons is met with glares, and Starscream suggests he could be put in charge of finding them. Megatron agrees but makes clear the price of failure.
Back in the caves, Rad thinks they're safe, but Alexis is sure the giant robots will come after them, or, more specifically, High Wire. None of the kids can understand High Wire's speech but they follow the Mini-Con into another chamber and a door slowly slides closed behind them. Rad and Carlos assure Alexis this is a good thing. The lights come up and the trio realise they're standing on the threshold of a spaceship. Rad is able to access the ship's computer, letting the kids learn about Megatron and Optimus Prime. Alexis recognises the Autobot symbol from earlier.
Up on the Moon, Megatron stands outside the ship musing over how he will find the Mini-Cons and spies a glint of light on the Moon's surface.
High Wire goes nuts, much to the confusion of the three children. He opens a wall panel, revealing two Mini-Con storage panels which Alexis and Carlos activate. The panels reveal an orange she-Mini-Con and a blue Mini-Con, who pair up with Alexis and Carlos respectively.
On the Moon, Megatron has found another storage panel, which he activates to reveal his old Mini-Con Leader-1. Megatron is filled with evil glee.
Fred and Billy finally manage to pull themselves out of the cave, only to panic at the sight of a giant footprint. Underground, Carlos and Alexis let the Mini-Cons scan their skateboard and scooter for alternate modes.
Back on the Moon, Megatron demands to know why Cyclonus was unable to detect a Mini-Con right under his nose. Cyclonus can offer no excuse, and Starscream's chuckle only enrages the Decepticon leader further. Megatron tells them to witness the power of his Mini-Con, prompting Leader-1 to show his fire power. The two Decepticons are frightened and astonished. Demolishor arrives to report with the news that two more Mini-Cons have been activated on Earth. Megatron puts Cyclonus in charge of the recovery team and gives his troops new alt-modes based on Earth vehicles. Starscream transforms into a supersonic jet-fighter, Demolishor can become a self-propelled gun, Cyclonus looks like a military helicopter, and Megatron himself transforms into a tank. They leave for Earth again.
Meanwhile the three kids have a good time with their Mini-friends. They race on the Mini-Cons through a forest, across water and up a cliff. But there they run unexpectedly right into Megatron and his troops. They try to run away but the Decepticons surround them, as does Megatron's triumphant laughter. It seems to Rad that it's all over for them... until Megatron is rammed into a rock wall by a large red-and-blue truck. Cyclonus and Starscream are so astonished that they simply remain poised in mid-air instead of doing anything. The truck pulls up by the three kids and asks them to get in; Alexis recognises the Autobot symbol on its side and jumps right in. Rad and Carlos are more hesitant, until Demolishor looms up behind them. The Decepticon attempts to stop the truck leaving and gets shot repeatedly in the face, then run over. Attempting to pursue, he's promptly rammed by a yellow sports car.
Safely out of danger, the truck lets them out and transforms into robot mode — it's Optimus Prime, naturally. Likewise Hot Shot and Red Alert appear in car mode and transform into robots. The kids observe the oncoming Decepticon forces, and Optimus combines with his trailer into super mode. Rad reflects that the Autobots might need his help while they're on Earth. The Autobots and Decepticons prepare to do battle.
Featured characters
((Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"What a weakling."
- —Megatron is not impressed at Demolishor being taken down by Red Alert.
Hot Shot: They're using short-warp equipment, so they must have a base set up somewhere near here.
Red Alert: (looking at the moon) They're up there.
- —200,000 miles is "near"?
"You had better not. If you do, I'll have you dismantled for scrap, then I'll launch what's left of you straight into the sun, understand?"
- —Megatron on what will happen if Cyclonus fails.
"So he really is from outer space! I bet he came from some distant galaxy a long time ago, to escape those big robots. Maybe they use small robots like him to increase their power or something. His ship must have crash landed on Earth and now they've tracked him down."
"Wow, you think so?"
"That's the only reason I can think of why those big robots would come after him."
- —Rad comes up with the most far-fetched, unbelievable explanation ever. Alexis is impressed.
"Hey, guess what? He understands me! He does, he really does!"
"Are you sure? This one's not reacting to anything I say. Aw, his batteries must be low. Maybe he needs to be recharged or something."
- —Alexis and Carlos on meeting their Mini-Cons.
"Shut your mouth, you worthless piece of junk!"
- —Megatron on Cyclonus' failure.
"Megatron! Uh... sir? What happened in here?"
- —Demolishor is surprised at Leader-1's redecorating.
Notes
Differences with Micron Legend
- Armada has Red Alert express concern for Optimus Prime after the fight, but as is so often the case with Autobots in Japanese fiction, they're all business in Micron Legend, where Prime goes straight to talking about short-range warp equipment. The brief extension made to the conversation in Armada means that Hot Shot is given this line in the English version.
- In Armada, Red Alert immediately twigs that the Decepticons have their base on the moon, whereas our heroes have no idea where they've gone in Micron Legend. This is, of course, a huge continuity error going forward, since their lack of knowledge about the location of the villains' base factors into the plot on a few occasions.
- The discussion the Decepticons have in the Mini-Con ship is entirely different across the two versions of the show. In Armada, Megatron wants to know if Starscream has had any luck finding Mini-Cons by scanning the planet, and Starscream suggests Cyclonus would do a better job, prompting the crazy 'copter to reluctantly take up the task. In Micron Legend, on the other hand, the exchange is about how Cyclonus went to sleep instead of searching the ship for any Mini-Cons, this task having been the reason he didn't accompany the others to Earth. Megatron tells him to get back to work, but is far less threatening about it than in Armada, since the Autobots don't know about the ship yet and they can afford to take their time.
- Once they have taken cover in the caves, the kids worry about the Transformers coming after them in Armada, but are hoping their parents will come find them in Micron Legend. Moments later, rather than ask High Wire if the Transformers are after him as she does in Armada, Alexis inquires if "Mini-Con" is his real name.
- As we saw in the previous episode, Rad is consistently able to translate all of High Wire's beeping and booping in Micron Legend, while in Armada, as will be anything but consistent, he cannot. As such, a lot of the dialogue that was originally him speaking for High Wire—like the Mini-Cons' history and who and what the Autobots and Decepticons are—is replaced with him guessing, deducing things on his own (and making massive leaps of logic in the process), reading from another source, or just outright filler babble.
- This extends to the other kids, too; in Micron Legend, Alexis is expressing her amazement at being able to understand Sureshock, not Sureshock's ability to understand her, as in Armada, while the claims Carlos makes in Armada about Grindor not reacting are a pure dub invention.
- In Armada, Megatron explicitly recognizes Leader-1 when he emerges from his panel, saying that he used to be his partner in the past. It's less clear in Micron Legend; he speaks the Mini-Con's name aloud, haltingly, but it's not clear if he knows it already, or if he's "learning" it for the first time as the mental link between them is forged. The later episode "Prehistory," however, would confirm that Leader-1 was indeed partners with Megatron in the past, and that that wasn't an Armada dub-ism.
- And while we're talking about Megatron, as he looks up at the Earth, he's not cursing Optimus Prime in Micron Legend, he's just vowing to find the Mini-Cons. Micron Legend Megatron is really quite calm and collected.
- While the kids merely whoop about how awesome their Mini-Cons are in Armada, in Micron Legend, Alexis expresses distress over Sureshock's alternate mode (presumably referencing the fact she has transformed into a moped, rather than the razor scooter she scanned). Rad and Carlos blame both her age and her being asleep for so long.
- Armada omits a part of Megatron's tirade against Cyclonus: the fact that Cyclonus must refer to Leader-1 with the Japanese suffix "sama", to show respect for his leader's Mini-Con. Instead of merely grovelling, Cyclonus also asks what they will be doing with Leader-1, and Megatron quietly replies that he doesn't actually know yet.
Animation and technical errors
- The giant "footprint" Fred and Billy panic over looks like a full-body imprint of Megatron. No wonder they panicked.
- When Megatron threatens Cyclonus with what will happen should he fail his task, Megatron's mouth stays shut the entire time he is speaking.
- After being threatened by Megatron, Cyclonus' hand changes color from its normal dark gray to the same yellow as his forearms and hips.
Real-world references
- Leader-1 is named for Leader-1, leader of the Guardians from the GoBots cartoon and toyline.
Trivia
- The kanji 擬態 would normally be pronounced as "gitai", while "henshin" is the kanji 変身.
- Pre-Earth mode Optimus is standing on a ledge above as a truck passes below. When he's finished scanning, the truck passes by, and we see Optimus again, already in his truck altmode. You will see this again.
- Alexis refers to the female Sureshock as male. Then again, she gives no indication of understanding anything Sureshock says either, so it's not surprising she has no indication...
Foreign localization
German
- Title: "Transformation!" ("Transformation!")
- Original airdate: 2 December 2003
Hungarian
- Title: "Átalakulás" ("Transformation")
Polish
- Title: "Przemiana" ("Metamorphosis")
Portuguese
- Title: "Metamorfose" ("Metamorphosis")
Korean
- Title: "변신하는 초로봇 생명체" ("Transforming First Robots Living Beings")
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 1 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — Transformers: Armada — Vol:01 (Universal)
2004 — Transformers: Armada — Best Battles (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part One (Rhino Entertainment)
2005 — Transformers: Armada — Triple Collection (Universal)
2008 — Transformers: Armada — Bumper Double DVD Collection (Universal)
2008 — Transformers: Armada — Volume One (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
