Trial of Megatron, Part 3
| This is Apocrypha
The content of this page is considered to be apocrypha or pseudocanon. Fiction that is considered pseudocanon generally falls into one of two categories. It is most likely either unofficial fiction from an official creator that is so informative as to the creator's thought process and/or so influential to the fandom as to be worth documenting, or fiction that is published in such a way as to render it unofficial, such as fan works published as ancillary or bonus images/fiction with other official work. As such, new ideas and concepts introduced here may not hold true for work that is completely canonical. |
| ||||||
| ||||||
| "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 by Decepticons as Megatron gloats. When Lugnut insists that everyone bows before their leader, a scuffle breaks out amongst the Decepticon troops. Megatron is forced to smack them back into order before explaining that he has learned to speak to the Mini-Cons. Not wanting to let Megatron escape, Sentinel locks down Kaon with a shield.
WE HAVE.
LIFDOFF
Megatron take this opportunity to reveal that he has no plans to leave the Decepticon capital because he is disappointed with the state of the rest of Cybertron. 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. Many Autobots are trapped in rubble and the Sonic Canyons are destabilized. If nothing is done, they pose a threat to the entire planet.
Meanwhile at Fortress Maximus, which has been thrown into chaos, the Autobot High Council instructs Optimus Prime to lead his crew and a rescue team led by Perceptor to the crater. As part of the mission, they must bring the AllSpark to make a shield, allowing Perceptor's team to work on stabilizing the Sonic Canyons.
The Elite Guard mobilizes in pursuit of Kaon under the command of Rodimus Prime. Omega Supreme is happy to learn that he will partake in the rescue operation. Being forced to choose between boarding Omega or the Elite Guard's ships, Bumblebee nobly tears off his stripes and rejoins Optimus' crew. In response, Optimus removes his Eternal Flames.
Rodimus makes contact with Megatron and demands that Sentinel be released. When Megatron refuses, the fleet fires on Kaon. As the Decepticons start to lose power, Megatron uses his sword to cut off Lugnut's Punch of Kill Everything. He then asks an oblivious Rodimus for his word that they will not be harmed if he agrees. Once Rodimus deactivates the fleet's weapons, 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 as Earth, and Rodimus requests the coordinates of the planet from Optimus. However, Optimus points out that they will not make it there in time.
As Optimus' crew begins boarding Omega, Ratchet is forced to say goodbye to Arcee again when she insists on remaining behind on Cybertron while Bumblebee begrudgingly parts ways with Bulkhead, who will be staying behind at the ergon farm. Joining the team is Ironhide, who is still playing his part as Optimus' bodyguard. Omega then takes off and transwarps after Kaon.
Kaon completes its hyperspace jump, arriving in Earth's vicinity, but is closely followed by Omega, who transforms and opens fire thanks to some encouragement from Ratchet. Trypticon brings more cannons to bear and fires back. Optimus notes that this altercation is just another distraction. Ratchet gives him Sentinel's Powermaster armor, allowing him to fly out into space (despite being a little too big for the door).
Bumblebee, Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide follow Optimus 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. Splitting up to carry out the plan, Optimus and Bumblebee go one way while Sari, Jazz, and Ironhide go another. Megatron orders the Mini-Cons to concentrate fire on Omega's head. In response, Ratchet is forced to shut down Omega's higher functions and take manual control, converting him back to ship mode.
Aboard Kaon, the Autobots succeed in their plan. With its surge regulators taken out, Kaon suddenly burns through all its fuel. Unfortunately, Optimus 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. The 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 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 before Lugnut jumps in willingly. However, despite sacrificing his own soldiers, the move is no use as Kaon is still losing power. Megatron goes to get Optimus and Bumblebee, but an armored Ironhide blocks the Decepticon's attack. As Jazz makes an attack of his own, Rattletrap has vanished to parts unknown.
In his Powermaster armour, Optimus stands eye-to-eye with Megatron for the first time. Megatron's swords are unable penetrate the armor; 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 manages to fly the Autobots out.
A while later, Sari reports that Kaon is sealed shut. Optimus decides that they should remain on Earth to monitor the situation. Ironhide is unsure of the mission, given that has not been to Earth before, but Jazz reassures him he will eventually get used to 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 while the latter chastises Blitzwing.
"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 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Notes
Continuity notes
- At a first glance, this episode seems to rack up an unusually high body-count...
- 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 offlined. 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.
- Sentinel Prime is confirmed by the outline itself to have survived the POKE - though it takes him out of commission - and he appears in the "Allspark-alypse Now!" episode pitch revealed in The AllSpark Almanac II.
- Scrapper last appeared in "Human Error, Part II"; it was established in that same episode that he had been living on Dinobot Island since the events of "Three's a Crowd".
Transformers references
- Prime dons the Powermaster armour in this episode. Apparently, Hasbro had pushed for "Powermaster Prime" (and the "Marauder" form Megatron would have obtained later in the series), hoping to get a couple of new Animated toys out at higher price-points - so Isenberg worked the armour into his pitch.
- Isenberg has stated that they did plan to bring some of the Decepticons hurled into the reactor back over the course of the season. Episodes featuring Shockwave and Blitzwing in prominent roles (Process Of Elimination and What A Tangled Web We Weave respectively) are among those known to have been pitched for Season 4, while late in the Animated toyline Lugnut's figure received an "Atomic" redeco which seems to gel with his fate in this episode; as such, it's reasonable to speculate that these three, at least, would have survived the process.
Real-world references
- 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. Two concept pieces for Kaon itself - one depicting it blasting off from Cybertron, and another of it after crash-landing in Lake Erie - are included in The AllSpark Almanac II.
Trivia
- Judd Nelson did not return to reprise his role of Rodimus Prime, whose voice was instead provided for the TFNation reading by Chris Finney.
- According to 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 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars).
