The Search for Alpha Trion
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 Disco didn't die. It just went into stasis lock. | |||||||||||||
| "The Search for Alpha Trion" | |||||||||||||
| Production code | 700-52 | ||||||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||||||
| Airdate | November 12, 1985 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Beth Bornstein | ||||||||||||
| Animation studio | Toei | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
Discovering that his long-thought-dead love, Elita One, is in the hands of the Decepticons, Optimus Prime speeds to Cybertron on a rescue mission, only to end up discovering something about his own history in the process.
Synopsis
On Cybertron, three Female Autobots (Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar) sneak into Shockwave's headquarters under orders of their leader, Elita One. They raid Shockwave's stockpile of energon cubes to power their fight against the Decepticons. On the way out, Moonracer decides to try and take some extra Energon, as they desperately need it, and accidentally trips an alarm and is trapped but freed by Chromia. Shockwave, surprised to see female Autobots still alive, attempts to stop them but is stunned by being hit with some energon cubes and sends a sentinel after them.
The Female Autobots escape the sentinel and return to Elita One, though Shockwave deduces the approximate location of their underground headquarters. Shockwave contacts Megatron who sends Starscream, Astrotrain, Rumble and Ramjet to assist in the apprehension of the Female Autobots. Rumble starts an earthquake which damages their headquarters. Elita One attempts to lure them away from the base by attacking, but is captured. Rumble continues shaking things up until Starscream believes the base is suitably destroyed, though the Female Autobots have actually survived.
Megatron contacts Optimus Prime and shows him the imprisoned Elita One. Optimus rushes to her rescue, even though he knows it's a trap. Apparently, 4 million years ago, Optimus and Elita had a "thing" going. Right before boarding the Ark, Elita begged to go with him, but Optimus told her it was too dangerous. As they spoke, the Decepticons attacked Iacon and Elita vanished in the chaos, leaving Optimus to think she had perished. Not wishing to lose her a second time, Optimus heads for Cybertron via the Decepticon space bridge. Powerglide, Ironhide and Inferno become curious as to why Optimus is heading to Cybertron alone and follow in secret.
As soon as Optimus arrives, he is taken prisoner by Starscream, who dangles him over a barrel of acid to torture Elita. Rumble drops Optimus, but before he lands in the barrel, Elita uses her special power, which stops time. Elita rescues Prime, but at the cost of her own life force, as the special power uses up so much energy. Prime loads Elita into his trailer and races to find Alpha Trion, the only Autobot who can save her.
Back at Shockwave's headquarters, the Decepticons believe Optimus had perished in the acid. Just then, the three Autobots arrive and attack. In the Female Autobots' underground headquarters, Moonracer comes up with a plan to dig their way out. They detonate the energon cubes they had stolen, creating an exit. They soon meet up with their male counterparts and together they take on the Decepticons.
Optimus eventually finds Alpha Trion's base, and the old Autobot uses his skill to repair Elita One as best he can. In the end, Alpha Trion instructs Prime to interface with her for a power transfusion, as he is the only Autobot compatible with her design. A confused Prime remarks that only his creator could know that. After the transfusion, Elita One recovers, and the two then return to help the Autobots fight off the Decepticons. Outnumbered, the Decepticons retreat. Alpha Trion then sets the Female Autobots up with a new secret base, and the two Autobot groups bid each other farewell when the Autobots prepare to return to Earth.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
"Female Autobots? I thought they were extinct."
- —Shockwave obviously hasn't kept up to date on Cybertron's Discovery Channel.
"Such noble nonsense."
- —Shockwave disses Chromia and gives Megatron material to rip off.
"Elita One knows no fear!"
- —Elita One need not worry about Man-Thing, then.
"Optimus Prime, something rather exciting has been discovered on Cybertron. I thought you might like to know about it."
- —Megatron calls to say he's discovered girls.
"Please, let him go."
"Very well, my dear...let him go...into the acid!"
- —Elita One's plea to Starscream to free Optimus Prime doesn't have the expected result.
"How quaint! The girls have come to rescue their boyfriends!"
- —Jealous, Starscream?
"Alpha Trion...I never expected to see you again."
- —Optimus Prime doesn't have much faith in his deadbeat dad.
Notes
Continuity notes
- The episode marked the first appearance of genuine female Transformers in official fiction.
- Alpha Trion's relationship to Optimus Prime would be touched upon again in "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2", and explained more fully in "War Dawn".
- "War Dawn" would also go on to explain precisely why only Prime's power supply would interface with Elita's, as seen in this episode (because she was rebuilt at the same time).
- Proof that Prime's trailer exists in subspace: He goes over the space bridge to Cybertron and transforms, and his trailer rolls in from out of nowhere!
- This episode is the fourth and final appearance of Prime's trailer's "artillery robot" in the animated series; it's seen briefly bringing Elita inside with its claw arm.
- The episode's ending sequence of pan-outs from Cybertron gives us a precise location for Decepticon Headquarters - it's in the planet's northwest quadrant, on the flat plains between the two largest buildings.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Chromia uses a built-in communicator, but unlike most Autobots, hers is in her shoulder.
- Ironhide again shoots from his retracted fingertips. This time it's an orange blast that melts a hole in the wall.
- Starscream uses his null ray; it acts more like a radio wave than an energy beam.
- And of course, Elita-One's time stop power, which creates colorful light effects when in use.
- Ironhide must hate the wall in Shockwave's base - this is at least the second time he has blown through it!
Real-world references
- Star Wars sound effects:
- Clashing lightsabers as Moonracer trips the security laser.
- Death Star defense cannons as Ramjet and Shockwave shield themselves from the Autobot assault.
- The "Energy transfer" is basically the robot version of a blood transfusion, right down to the compatibility issues.
Animation and technical errors
- The weapon sound effects in general are "off model" throughout the whole episode. Autobots and Decepticons alike are constantly stealing the other team's laser sounds, and nobody's gun is consistent even within the episode. Many shots use a generic sci-fi laser effect that's not standard for either side. Some examples:
- Chromia's gun makes the Decepticon laser sound as she blasts open the hidden control room, and again as she tries to free Moonracer a moment later. She gets the sci-fi effect when she shoots down the Sentinel.
- Shockwave's gun arm gets Optimus Prime's laser sound effect as he shoots at Firestar; then he gets the generic sci-fi laser as he shoots at Chromia and Moonracer in the energon storage room. His gun mode shots get a sizzling explosion sound.
- Elita gets the sci-fi sound effect when she shoots at Starscream and company outside her base.
- Ramjet gets a totally random laser sound, layered over the standard Decepticon laser, as he shoots at Elita.
- The Autobots get the sci-fi effect as they open fire in Decepticon HQ. When they're having their firefight with the 'cons two scenes later, they have the standard Decepticon laser sound.
- Ironhide's finger lasers use the sound effect of Megatron's fusion cannon.
- Prime's gun gets an explosion sound effect as he shoots at Starscream.
- And we could go on.
- Likewise, the transformation sound effects are "off model" as well. Normally, a robot converting to ground vehicle mode gets the descending pitch sound, while vehicle-to-robot gets ascending pitch.
- Firestar gets the ascending pitch transformation sound when she converts to truck mode; then she gets the descending pitch version when she converts back to robot mode at headquarters.
- As the trio escapes from Shockwave, Moonracer's transformation sound effect is missing the first part.
- Ironhide's team converts to vehicle mode with the ascending pitch sound.
- Prime returns to robot mode at the space bridge with the descending pitch sound. On Cybertron, he changes into a truck with the ascending pitch sound.
- Again, this continues ad nauseum.
- The wall that Firestar cuts through has details on it which suddenly vanish as she finishes cutting through it, and the area behind the Female Autobots is drawn as a very plain area with light gray walls (which should be purple). Chromia also says "Good shot, Firestar" in reference to cutting the hole, which... makes no sense - she didn't shoot it; she cut it.
- Moonracer removes two cubes from the second stack to reveal a black void, rather than more cubes.
- Moonracer is carrying two cubes when she triggers the trap, but as it activates, they're lying on the floor next to her. In the same shot, the security laser beam is not shown.
- When the Autobots used Shockwave's elevator, it had a door that closed before lowering. When Shockwave uses it a moment later, it lowers without the door shutting. It also doesn't seem to have a floor when Shockwave runs into it.
- Improbable viewpoints:
- How does Shockwave get a travelling-alongside view of the Sentinel floating along?
- As Shockwave speaks to Megatron, who is on Earth, the purple interior of Decepticon Headquarters is visible behind him. However, as Megatron instructs Shockwave that a team would be arriving shortly, the background suddenly becomes an exterior shot - the same Cybertronian background that accompanied the view of the exploded Sentinel.
- Also, the console configuration is totally different in the last shot (as Megatron ends the communication).
- The first two energon cubes to go down the hatch lose their glowing effect for a split second as the shot cross-fades to the next shot.
- Coloring errors:
- Starscream's eyes are blue as he walks out of the space bridge elevator.
- When the Autobots are trying to work out where Prime had gone, Perceptor is represented by Reflector in a red and gray color scheme.
- Prime's tires are gray instead of black as he loads Elita.
- As he gloats to Ironhide, the top and bottom of Starscream's cockpit cowling are yellow instead of gray.
- As Ironhide says, "Stop right there, Starscream. You've taken your last step.", his cheekguards are white when they should be red.
- Chromia's eyes are red during her line of "Ladies first."
- The area around Alpha Trion's eyes changes from white to gray several times in the episode, sometimes from shot to shot.
- Prime's exhaust stacks are red as he transforms at the battle site.
- Powerglide's mouthplate is medium gray as he watches Shockwave fall, rather than the same light gray as his face.
- In several shots before the first commercial break, Rumble has only one gun on his back. For the remainder of the episode, he has two.
- When Ramjet delivers the line "Maybe Shockwave made an error in his calculations", he has Astrotrain's voice, minus the space-echo effect that is used for Astrotrain.
- The crashing/smashing sound effects are notably subdued as the Autobots' headquarters collapses. Firestar gets pinned by a pipe with no sound at all.
- Elita's shot at Astrotrain is supposed to send him flying backwards. What actually happens as animated is that he ducks under the shot... then flies backwards, head over heels, for no reason at all!
- Starscream's null ray is animated as an energy wave, rather than the usual laser beam. In the same shot, the top of his cockpit cowling is colored yellow instead of gray.
- As Elita falls, Ramjet is still laying on the ground in jet mode, smoldering. In the next shot, he's in robot mode, taking Elita captive. No transformation sound is heard.
- After Megatron shows Prime the image of the captive Elita, Prime's mouthplate is missing for a very brief instant.
- When Megatron tells Optimus about the Female Autobots and shows him "proof", as he asks "How's this Prime?", Elita One's mouth is moving. In fairness, with no audio, it's possible she's just saying something to her captors.
- When Prime emerges from the space bridge elevator, the pink glow of the indicator light isn't aligned with the light itself.
- When Chromia says "Oh, we need more than hope", Moonracer is shown as the one speaking.
- Prime is shown hanging precariously over a vat of acid. When the shot changes to a view from above, the vat is missing. The smoke from it is still there, but it's not moving.
- When Elita revives Optimus from her stasis field, he fades from his normal colors to green, rather than the other way around. Once the fade is complete, mind you, he jumps back to his normal colors when he starts to move.
- As the Decepticons gloat, the acid is missing from the shot; only the yellow ripples on its surface are visible. And Starscream's air intake vents are red instead of black.
- Prime loads Elita into his trailer sideways, meaning either Elita's really small or the trailer's really big. Later, she's shown laying lengthwise in the trailer.
- Inferno gasps "It can't be!" in response to Prime's apparent demise, but Ironhide is shown speaking.
- As the Autobots run through the hole in the wall in pursuit of the Decepticons, the background behind the hole has changed from a Cybertronic exterior to a generic interior.
- Starscream's wing insignia are missing as he starts to fall off the ledge.
- Alpha Trion says he will do what he can for Elita One, but he barely looks for 5 seconds while Prime walks away! There probably should have been a dissolve to show some passage of time.
- As Alpha Trion says, "Now it's your turn to help her," Prime's mouthplate is moving as if he's speaking the words.
- As Prime charges Elita One, the shot shows a wall behind him where the hallway was a moment earlier (unless her bed suddenly turned 90 degrees).
- When he shoots at Starscream, Prime his holding his gun by a handle that shouldn't be there, near the front of the barrel.
- When Optimus and Elita are saying their goodbyes to each other, the space bridge of Decepticon Headquarters is raised. When Optimus leaves, it is down, then raises up to send out the space bridge beam.
Continuity errors
- Why is Chromia breaking radio silence during a stealth mission? She doesn't receive any useful orders or information from Elita-One.
- The Sentinel is really, very, extremely not made for flight. It is a huge, bulky, awkward box with wheels on its base and no visible flight mechanisms that looks totally goofy floating along through the air. Despite this, it gets a glowing rocket engine effect on its back, precisely on the spot where there is no rocket engine.
- When the Ark launched back in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", there was no indication of a Decepticon attack on Iacon, as this episode's flashback shows.
- Perceptor, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are shown in Autobot HQ, yet they don't transform or join Ironhide's team heading for the space bridge.
- As usual, Rumble's pile drivers bust up the ground (several feet away from him) but don't shake up the Decepticons standing right next to him.
- Observing the spacebridge from afar, Ironhide notes that "if Prime got past those guards" so could his team. The thing is, there are no guards, and there weren't any when Prime used the bridge, either.
- As the Decepticons are freed from Elita's stasis field, Starscream cheers, "But Prime has disintegrated!" as if responding to some unspoken line from one of the others. The missing line is also absent from the episode's shooting script.[1] It would seem likely that the missing line covered Elita One's sudden disappearance.
- As Starscream announces Prime's destruction, we see a bunch of parts in the vat of acid (what Starscream later calls Prime's "melted carcass"). Where did they come from? Prime escaped without a scratch!
- Optimus Prime apparently has no idea that Alpha Trion was his creator. Events shown in the later episode "War Dawn" make this a bizarre conceit: Prime meets Alpha Trion after being rebuilt, and even knows that Elita One was also rebuilt by him.
- Why doesn't Shockwave shoot Optimus Prime and Elita One instead of just floating there?
Trivia
- This episode contains the rather infamous scene in which Prime connects a cable from his midriff to Elita's, and utters an audible, not-entirely-unpleasant-sounding groan as energy is transmitted through it, to her. Sexy.
- The only male Transformers seen to have 'girlfriends' in this episode ALL have red as part of their color schemes.
- Since Optimus Prime and Elita One have the same creator, they are, in some way, brother and sister, which just makes their relationship look plain weird. The events of "War Dawn" show that Orion Pax and Ariel existed as non-siblings before they were remade into Optimus Prime and Elita One, though Transformers has demonstrated somewhat puzzling definitions of siblings. It should be noted that human mythology has been directly based on a similar premise, so who are we to judge?
- Greenlight and Lancer went nameless for 25 years until they finally got their monikers in the Timelines text story Flames of Yesterday.
- Elita is the first Transformer to show time freeze ability which leaves her defenceless before a Tanuki with large balls displayed such ability 14 years later
Foreign localization
Brazilian
- Title: "À Procura de Alpha Trion" ("In Search for Alpha Trion")
- Original airdate: ?
Italian
- Title (dub 1): "Le donne Autorobot" ("The Autobot Women")
- Title (dub 2): "Alla ricerca di Alpha Trion" ("In Search of Alpha Trion")
- Original airdate: ?
Japanese
-
- Elita-One's "special power" is instead referred to as her "secret power". Just as generic-sounding, sure, but the term "secret power" would be used again years later in Japanese continuity when Elita's Decepticon counterpart, Megaempress, is introduced.
Mandarin
- Title: "Nǚ Qìchērén " (女汽车人, "Female Autobots")
- Original airdate: ?
Russian
- Title: "V poiskah Aljfa Triona" (В поисках Альфа Триона, "In Search of Alpha Trion")
- Original airdate: ?
Home video releases
- VHS
1999 — The Original Transformers — Volume 2: Revenge of the Decepticons (Rhino Entertainment)
1995 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Megatron Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers — Decepticon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 6 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 3: Series 2.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Volume 05: Stagione Due Parte Terza (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)
