Trial of Megatron, Part 3
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| "Trial of Megatron, Part 3" | ||||||
| Airdate | August 17, 2019 (TFNation 2019) | |||||
| Written by | Marty Isenberg | |||||
| Continuity | Animated cartoon continuity | |||||
Megatron makes his ultimate play as he sets the new Decepticon capital city, Kaon, on a collision course with Earth.
Synopsis
Act I
Inside Trypticon Prison, Sentinel Prime is surrounded. Megatron gloats, and Lugnut insists that everyone bows before their leader. A scuffle breaks out amongst the Decepticon troops, and Megatron is forced to smack them back into order. He explains that he's learned to speak to the Mini-Cons.
WE HAVE.
LIFDOFF
Not wanting to let Megatron escape, Sentinel locks down Kaon with a shield - but Megatron reveals that he has no plans to leave the Decepticon capital. No, it's the state of the rest of Cybertron that he's disappointed with. The planet begins to rumble as massive boosters emerge from Trypticon Prison. Kaon tears itself free from the surface and rockets into space, leaving behind a volcanic pit and trapping many Autobots in rubble. The Sonic Canyons are destabilised - if nothing is done, they pose a threat to the entire planet.
Fortress Maximus is in chaos. The Autobot High Council meet with Optimus Prime. He instructs them to bring the AllSpark to the crater and make a shield, to allow Perceptor and his team to stabilise the Sonic Canyons. He also says to mobilise the Elite Guard in pursuit of Kaon. Optimus Prime's crew is to lead the rescue team into the crater, while Rodimus Prime leads the Elite Guard. Omega Supreme is happy to learn that he will be in the former group. Bumblebee is forced to make a choice between boarding Omega Supreme or the Elite Guard's ships - finally, he tears off his stripes and joins Optimus Prime, who in turn removes his Eternal Flames.
Rodimus makes contact with Megatron and demands that Sentinel be released. When Megatron refuses, the fleet fires on Kaon. The Decepticons start to lose power. Megatron uses his sword to cut off Lugnut's Punch of Kill Everything, and asks an oblivious Rodimus for his word that they won't be harmed if he agrees. Rodimus deactivates the fleet's weapons, and Megatron returns Sentinel - using a cannon, with the POKE strapped to his head.
Act II
Sentinel impacts the ship, and the resulting explosion causes some serious damage. By throwing the stolen techno-organic energon into Kaon's fusion reactor, Megatron gives it the boost it needs to escape. Bulkhead identifies its destination: "Earth!"
Rodimus requests the coordinates of the planet from Optimus, but Optimus knows that they won't make it there in time. Optimus Prime's crew boards Omega Supreme. Arcee is remaining behind on Cybertron, and Ratchet is forced to say goodbye to her again. Jazz is coming too. Bumblebee is enthusiastic about the mission, until he realises Bulkhead will be staying behind at the energon farm. They part ways. Ironhide joins, still playing his part as Optimus Prime's bodyguard, and Omega Supreme takes off and transwarps.
Kaon completes its hyperspace jump, arriving in Earth's vicinity, but is closely followed by Omega Supreme, who transforms and - with some encouragement from Ratchet - opens fire. Trypticon brings more cannons to bear and fires back. Optimus Prime notes that this altercation is another distraction. Ratchet gives him the Powermaster armour, and he uses it to fly out into space - though he's a little too big for the door. The other Autobots follow suit under the cover of Omega Supreme's fire and touch down on Kaon. Sari's technopathy lets her determine how to sabotage the ship's surge regulators, and the team splits into two to carry out the plan: Optimus Prime and Bumblebee on one team and Sari, Jazz and Ironhide on the other.
Megatron orders the Mini-Cons to concentrate fire on Omega Supreme's head. In response, Ratchet is forced to shut down Omega Supreme's higher functions and take manual control, converting him back to ship mode.
Aboard Kaon, the Autobots succeed in their plan, and with its surge regulators taken out Kaon suddenly burns through all its fuel. Unfortunately, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee stumble into the cell block, where they are immediately surrounded by several Decepticons.
Act III
Desperately seeking to keep Kaon online, Megatron throws Sunstorm into the fusion reactor so that the AllSpark fragment within him can provide the city with power. Starscream's sycophantic clone is sure to compliment him on this course of action as he goes. Ramjet claims not to have a fragment of the AllSpark in his spark chamber, but Megatron pays him no heed, and tosses the lying clone in too. With the power temporarily restored, Megatron directs the ship to the location on Earth with the highest energon concentration: the greater Detroit area.
Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are overpowered by the Decepticons and tossed into the cells - alongside Rattletrap. Megatron recalls the Decepticons and throws Shockwave and Blitzwing into the reactor too, while Lugnut jumps in willingly. It's no use; Kaon's still losing power. Megatron goes to get Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, but Ironhide - armour active - blocks the Decepticon's attack. Jazz makes an attack of his own. Meanwhile, Rattletrap has vanished.
In his Powermaster armour, Optimus Prime stands eye-to-eye with Megatron for the first time. Megatron's swords can't penetrate the armour - he tosses aside his fusion cannon, and Optimus does the same with the Magnus Hammer. They fight hand-to-hand as Kaon descends on Dinobot Island (much to the horror of Scrapper). Right before it crashes, Optimus Prime manages to fly the Autobots out.
Later, Sari reports that Kaon is sealed shut. Optimus Prime decides that they should remain on Earth to monitor the situation. Ironhide hasn't been to Earth before - Jazz tells him he'll dig it.
Unseen by all, a hatch on the exterior of Trypticon Prison opens, and a Mini-Con peers out.
Quotes
"You wanted me to put you on trial! It was just another distraction!"
"How could I have been so... deceptive?"
- —Sentinel Prime realises he's played into Megatron's hands.
"All hail Megatron!"
"On your knees, infidel."
- —Lugnut and Shockwave pay homage.
"I must admit my time in prison has severely eroded my patience."
- —Megatron puts a stop to his underlings' tomfoolery.
"I speak Mini-Con now. I find them much more efficient than my usual unreliable help."
- —Megatron sasses his minions.
"Sadly, seeing what your leadership has done to this planet, it is no longer worthy of the Decepticons."
"If that's your attitude, why don't you just leave?"
"My sentiments exactly..."
- —Megatron launches Trypticon Prison, to the surprise of Sentinel Prime.
"Ready to save some lives?"
"Saving lives, not destroying them... that is how I want to fit in."
- —Ratchet encourages Omega Supreme.
"Lugnut, my loyal servant, is there anything you would not do for me...?"
"Nothing, my liege."
"Because I really need a hand right now."
- —Megatron gets the POKE from Lugnut.
"Let's go big guy!"
"Sorry, little buddy. Not this time. There's too much work to be done here. They need me back on the energon farm."
"I hate long goodbyes..."
- —Bumblebee and Bulkhead part ways.
"I still prefer saving lives."
"There's about seven billion of them down on that planet you're saving right now."
- —Omega Supreme is persuaded by Ratchet to attack Kaon.
"Oh no, not again."
- —Scrapper watches Kaon bear down on him.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
- The appearance of the pit left behind by Kaon was - apparently - to be inspired by the firepits of the planet Apokolips from Jack Kirby's "Fourth World" comics.
- Judd Nelson did not return to reprise his role of Rodimus Prime, whose voice was instead provided for the TFNation reading by Chris Finney.
- It's not exactly clear purely from the outline whether or not the Decepticons who are hurled into the reactor in this episode are actually destroyed; in the case of the Starscream clones, at least, Megatron had previously been able to power Omega Supreme using the AllSpark fragment in Starscream's head back in "TransWarped" without killing Starscream, suggesting they might survive the process. Isenberg has stated that they did plan to bring some of the characters back over the course of the season; one could speculate that Lugnut would've been amongst them, as late in the Animated toyline his figure received an "Atomic" redeco which seems to gel with his fate in this episode.
- Still, even if only temporary, it's a unusually high body-count for the show. According to Marty Isenberg, starting with the show's third season, there'd been increasing pressure from the higher-ups to tell darker stories - Omega Supreme's origins being one product of this - to bring the show closer in line with Cartoon Network's other shows (such as Ben 10: Alien Force).
