Trial of Megatron, Part 1

From MediaWiki
Revision as of 14:26, 17 November 2019 by DevinM626 (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search
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.

« Transformers Animated ep 43 »

I'm sure we'll find out Sari's origin this time!
"Trial of Megatron, Part 1"
Airdate August 17, 2019 (TFNation 2019)
Written by Marty Isenberg
Continuity Animated cartoon continuity

In the aftermath of the Decepticons' defeat, an unprepared Optimus Prime is pushed into conflict with Sentinel Prime for the position of Autobot leader — and Sentinel isn't afraid to play dirty.

Synopsis

Act I

On a newsreel, Optimus Prime leads Megatron, Shockwave, and Lugnut through the streets. The newsbot Uplink presents several soundbite interviews with Optimus and his Autobots. Bumblebee is characteristically excited, Ratchet is characteristically cranky, and Jazz plays it cool as always. Arcee, while glad to be back, is disoriented by everything that has happened in all the stellar cycles she's missed. Bulkhead, on the other hand, is overwhelmed by all the attention - they are celebrities, just like they were upon their arrival on Earth.

Optimus has the Magnus Hammer but plans to return it to Ultra Magnus as soon as he gets the chance. As for the protoforms that were stolen by the Decepticons long ago, they have all been recovered and are entrusted to the Cyber-Ninja Corps led by Dai Atlas, along with the AllSpark.

Unfortunately, not all of the Autobots are so warmly welcomed. Omega Supreme - a living reminder of the Great War - is shunned by Cybertron's populace. Many of them are also terrified outright by Sari Sumdac, having never seen an organic being before.

Optimus is hailed as being responsible for the victory, and the public wants him to be the next Magnus. When Uplink points this out, Sentinel Prime is quick to downplay his rival's achievements. The feed cuts to Blitzwing, Sunstorm and Ramjet, being held in the new Trypticon Prison in Kaon. Their mouths are clamped shut and they wear stasis cuffs. Mini-Cons attend to them. Uplink asks why the Decepticons are being held in their own ex-capital-city. Sentinel states that it breaks their spirits. When Uplink suggests that the starving Decepticons have nothing to lose, all he has to say is "bring it on".

A memorial for Prowl is held at the Cyber-Ninja Dojo, presided by Jazz. Arcee stares at the protoforms; although she no longer has any students of her own, she might do soon. Seeing this, Sari offers to be Arcee's student, hoping to find out more about her own Cybertronian origins and the world she finds herself in. Prowl's body is lowered into a forge, where it is turned into a brand new protoform just like the others.

Sentinel arrives, having missed the funeral entirely. He declares that he is too busy as Magnus and begins to speak insensitively about "Pow-Wow" until he is caught on camera by Uplink. He changes tone mid-sentence, praising Prowl. A disgusted Jazz rips off his Elite Guard stripes. Sentinel turns to Optimus and demands the Magnus Hammer. Optimus agrees that it is time the hammer was returned to its rightful owner, Ultra Magnus, and leaves.

When Optimus finally gives the hammer back to Ultra Magnus, it temporarily revives the comatose leader. Ultra Magnus declares that he was wrong about Optimus' programming, that the younger Autobot did have the makings of a hero all along, and hands the hammer back. Optimus does not know what to say; as far as he is concerned, he was just doing his job. As he remarks that it would be refreshing to see a Magnus with humility, Ultra Magnus finally dies.

Alpha Trion is not so easily moved, and declares that the council will make the final decision as to who will succeed Ultra Magnus. "Not if I have anything to do about it," says an overhearing Sentinel.

Act II

Ratchet prepares for the reopening of Maccadam's Old Oil House, with the rest of Optimus' crew joining in on the celebration. Arcee does not want to go, and neither does Omega, who is too big to fit in the establishment. As for Sari, she is much too small for the bot-sized furniture. Omega flies off as the Autobots shriek at Sari.

Sentinel is also present at Maccadam's, standing at the back with Jetstorm, Jetfire, and some Autotroopers. Bumblebee teases his old classmate Ironhide despite Bulkhead's best efforts to stop him. Sari, meanwhile, resorts to using her jetpack to remain at eye level with the larger bots. She cannot drink oil because she has enough energon to last her a lifetime.

Rattletrap begins to spread rumours that Optimus is to become the next Magnus, and snaps a photo with the Autobot. Sentinel's Autotroopers try to shut him down, but it is no use as Bumblebee toasts "Optimus Magnus". A furious Sentinel sics the Autotroopers on Bumblebee but the rest of the Autobots come to his defense. Things quickly escalate into a full-blown bar brawl that is recorded in its entirety by Uplink. The next day, Sentinel sees the broadcast, including (to his embarrassment) one particular moment where Optimus comes to his rescue, and smashes the screen in anger.

Elsewhere, Arcee is preparing material for Sari's lessons when Ratchet arrives with a gift: a pair of laser swords. He admits that he was actually trying to make laser pointers, but got a little carried away. He then says that things at Maccadam's the previous night did not go the way he had hoped and asks Arcee on a second date. She agrees, but just as Ratchet suggests that they do something that night, Ironhide arrives, summoning Ratchet to the Project Omega lab. At the lab, Sentinel tasks Ratchet, Wheeljack, Perceptor, and Red Alert to build him a suit of flying armour, dubbing the assignment "Project Powermaster", and expects results within the decacycle.

Out in deep space, a bored Beachcomber pilots an energon transport ship and bemoans his job; at least he is not on space bridge repair duty. Suddenly, the lights go off as Blackout punches his way into the ship from the outside. Grabbing Beachcomber, the large Decepticon drains the life out of the Autobot in mere moments. Heading back outside, Blackout shifts to vehicle mode and begins to tow the ship away.

Act III

In her classroom, Arcee lectures Sari about the life cycle of Cybertronians: after a protoform is molded, it is given life by the AllSpark. Under her breath, Sari remarks that she actually misses Tutor Bot. When Arcee tells her to share that remark with the rest of the class, Sari snaps back that she is the rest of the class. At that moment, Bumblebee and Bulkhead arrive with Burger Bot hamburgers brought from Earth via space bridge.

Thanks to a "subspace tachyon transmitter" installed in Sumdac Tower by Bulkhead, Sari is able to speak to her father. All around Detroit, strange crystalline growths are forming - raw energon. Sari impresses Arcee by linking this phenomenon to the AllSpark. When Sumdac sees the protoforms, he is unable to recognize them because Sari's was much smaller. Bumblebee promises that they will find answers.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead take Sari to the Cyber-Ninja Dojo, where Jazz (at Optimus Prime's word) lets them in. Sari does not know what to ask the AllSpark but ultimately finds out that she does not have to ask anything. The ghost of Prowl appears, having become one with the AllSpark, and tells her that she has become the key to the future of Cybertron and Earth. The AllSpark grants visions to those present: Sari sees a spark merging with a DNA double-helix; Optimus sees a larger version of himself fighting Megatron; Bumblebee sees himself wearing Elite Guard stripes.

Outside of the Metroplex, Sentinel meets with Cliffjumper and asks the commander of Cybertron Intelligence to help make him look good. Cliffjumper is sceptical of this request, noting that it falls outside his job description, but Sentinel persists, asking not just as a leader but as a friend. Cliffjumper bluntly remarks that he is neither. Rattletrap arrives, and says that he has a photo of Optimus being friendly with Megatron. It turns out to be the photo of Optimus Prime and Rattletrap at Maccadam's, with Megatron's head crudely edited in place of Rattletrap's. Sentinel sends Rattletrap off, but the photo has given him an idea of his own.

Bulkhead returns to the energon farms on the moon, where the Cybertronian energon is withering. Earth's energon is ten times more potent, but because of its organic component it cannot be grown on Cybertron. Another Autobot named Trac-Tor is tending to the crops. The harvest gets worse every year; whoever controls the energon controls the planet.

Back on Cybertron, Sentinel, Jetstorm and Jetfire meet with Bumblebee. Sentinel invites Bumblebee to join the Elite Guard (leading the young Autobot to remember his vision) on the condition that he endorses Sentinel as Magnus. A conflicted Bumblebee requests time to think on the matter, so Sentinel gives him one solar cycle to make up his mind. Once Bumblebee is gone, the twins ask Sentinel why he has stooped to bribery. "It's war," says Sentinel.

Ironhide arrives with an urgent message, but Sentinel does not notice because he is too busy cooking up another plan, one which requires an unremarkable Autobot which he can plant as Optimus' bodyguard to get dirt on his rival. Eventually, the twins point out Ironhide, and Sentinel realises he will be perfect for the job.

Bulkhead is enjoying the relative quiet of the energon farm... but not for long. Suddenly, a Decepticon strike force led by General Obsidian attacks!

Quotes

"His spark still grooves with us."

—Jazz gives Prowl's eulogy.


"I'm splitsville on the Elite Guard. From now on, I'm swingin' a full-time Cyber-Ninja gig."

—Jazz leaves the Elite Guard.


"Humility... something that would be refreshing to see in a Magnus."

—Ultra Magnus passes the torch.


"Dude, that is so not cool... seriously dude, what do you get by taking meee offffliiiiiine..."
"A message."

—Beachcomber is (finally) murdered by Blackout.


"Once you carried the key... now you are the key... to the future of Cybertron... and Earth."

—The ghost of Prowl foreshadows events that won't occur later in the season.


"So what is its will? What does it want?"
"What it wants, has always wanted... life."

—Bumblebee and Prowl discuss the motivations of the AllSpark.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others

Development

Before each season of Transformers Animated was greenlit, the production staff would come up with story ideas and a wishlist of things they wanted to include. Prior to the fourth season, because of restrictions put in place by Cartoon Network, Hasbro had story editor Marty Isenberg create a full set of outlines for its three-part-opener. For a variety of reasons, the fourth season was never greenlit, and those outlines languished in Isenberg's drawer for a decade. Things changed when the organisers of TFNation 2019 invited Isenberg to the UK-based Transformers convention, and he offered to bring the outline with him to read - on the express condition that nobody be allowed to record it.

The convention organisers expected Isenberg to read the draft himself - what they didn't expect was for him to get in touch with the entirety of the show's original cast, asking them to record narration and dialogue, and for the entire cast (well, bar two) to agree to reprise their original roles in that fashion. Eric Siebenaler even created brand new designs for Uplink, Trac-Tor and an Animated version of Obsidian - the three new characters introduced in the three-part opener - which were used by the convention organisers to create artwork to accompany the reading.

Although recording was strictly prohibited at the event, a couple of people took extensive notes throughout the reading, which were adapted into a full summary for The Allspark fansite.

It's important to note that the content of the outline is only that: an outline, which like any other episode of the series, would have been subject to review and alteration during the production. Isenberg threw everything he could in, fully expecting not all of it to make its way into the finished product. Thus, it does not necessarily represent precisely what would have been seen on-screen had the episode actually been made.

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Prowl went offline back in "Endgame, Part II"; his presence in this episode as a ghost was first mentioned in the synopsis of the unproduced season 4 episode "AllSpark-alypse Now!".
  • Ultra Magnus had been in spark support ever since being attacked by Shockwave in "Where Is Thy Sting?". His death was one of the planned details for the unproduced fourth season.
  • Blitzwing, Sunstorm, and Ramjet have been in custody since "Decepticon Air".
  • Megatron, Lugnut, and Shockwave have been established as inmates of Trypticon Prison in the follow-up story "The Stunti-Con Job", where Team Stunticon tried (and failed) to break old Megs out.
  • The beat in which Prof. Sumdac notes that Sari's protoform (featured in "Transwarped") was much smaller than the protoforms seen in this episode is another piece of the puzzle that is her origin. Though this mystery would've been explored over the course of the season, Isenberg has actually stated that they never really worked it out!
    • However, the fourth season was originally been pitched as having a strong emphasis on Maximals and Predacons, which historically have had much smaller protoforms than Autobots and Decepticons. While this is pure speculation, it'd be remiss of us not to highlight Prowl's dialogue: "You are the key... to the future of Cybertron... and Earth." Perhaps Sari's protoform would've literally have turned out to have come from the future?

Transformers references

  • Although the Mini-Cons are not named individually in the outline, designs for five of them appeared in The AllSpark Almanac Addendum.
  • Obsidian makes his Animated debut in this episode, though he receives no dialogue in the outline. He and Strika have their origins in Beast Machines, for which Isenberg was a story editor.
    • In his panel at TFNation 2019, however, Isenberg admitted that Obsidian's inclusion in the outline might've been a simple slip-up on his part, one which would've been corrected to General Strika in the final cut of the three-parter.
  • The concept of Earth-grown Energon that's more potent than its Cybetronian counterpart is reminiscent of Ore-13.

Trivia

Wait, you don't look like a gorilla!
  • When Marty Isenberg was writing these episodes, he asked Derrick J. Wyatt if he knew of any Transformer journalists. None sprang to Wyatt's mind, and thus Uplink was born. When the outline was read at TFNation 2019, Uplink served as the story's narrator; his part was played by fan (and professional voice actor) Chris Finney.
  • Trac-Tor was an in-joke amongst the Animated production team. Isenberg didn't know if Hasbro would be onboard with the character or not, but threw him in the outline anyway. He was voiced by TFNation guest Peter Spellos.
  • Though Bumper Robinson returned to voice Bumblebee, he did not reprise his role as Blackout, whose voice was instead provided by TFNation staff member David Wallace. Meanwhile, Tara Strong did not return to reprise her role as Sari, whose voice was instead provided by fan Aimee "Ladywreck" Morgan.
  • Beachcomber had originally been slated to show up in "TransWarped," in which he would have died at the hands of Shockwave. At the time, Isenberg asked Wyatt for an established character he'd be able to kill without anyone getting mad, and Wyatt - apparently without hesitation - put forward Beachcomber. As originally planned, Beachcomber would have seen Shockwave converting from his Longarm disguise, and would've said "Dude, not cool." Shockwave, raising his weapon, would've said "I have a very simple explanation," to which Beachcomber would've responded "I don't get it..." before being blown to bits. The scene was cut for time, leading Isenberg to make another attempt on Beachcomber's life in this story.
  • In The AllSpark Almanac II, the title for the three-part opener to the fourth season was given as "The Trial of Megatron" - however, TFNation consistently referred to it simply as "Trial of Megatron", and this was reflected in the reading itself. We've gone with the latter.
Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.duckdns.org/index.php?title=Trial_of_Megatron,_Part_1&oldid=1379858"