Kingdom episode 1
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 Video games, toys, comics... now even cartoons and movies.....yeah, we're definitely back baby! | ||||||
| Episode 1 | ||||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation, Rooster Teeth, Entertainment One | |||||
| Airdate | July 29, 2021 (Netflix) | |||||
| Written by | Mae Catt | |||||
| Director | Takashi Kamei | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures | |||||
The Autobots and Decepticons crash land on Earth, meeting their descendents—the Maximals and Predacons respectively.
Also, a truck load of exposition.
Synopsis
The Nemesis burns up in its descent to the Earth's surface, while the Decepticons onboard are violently thrown about their bridge. Starscream and Megatron both freak out over their predicament, and the Nemesis shortly crashes in a lavish jungle on the surface. Megatron receives a vision of Unicron's abduction via teleportation and alleged punishment of Galvatron, including the glimpse of a Golden Disk. Awakening from his vision, Megatron ties the Matrix of Leadership to his chest via crude metal straps.
The Autobots slowly recover from their unconsciousness, with Ratchet expressing gratitude that they survived the Ark's crash landing. Optimus Prime calls for Wheeljack, who checks the surrounding area and discovers that they crash-landed next to an active volcano, not to mention serious ship system failures. Optimus realizes he is leaking Energon, but assures Ratchet he will be okay. Wheeljack discovers Teletraan I isn't 100% out of commission—it is mumbling something. Optimus orders Wheeljack to fix the ship and reiterates the importance of locating the Allspark.
Noticing an Earth cheetah on the ship's monitor, Bumblebee becomes nervous about its whereabouts. Wheeljack then finds a large rat in the Ark's underbelly, and the ship's crew is suddenly attacked by a rhinoceros and a white tiger! The cheetah Bumblebee spotted arrives on the ship and sees through Mirage's holographic field. Optimus shoots the organic creatures with his Ion blaster to halt their attack only to be assaulted and floored by a huge ape.
As Optimus throws his assailant off, the gorilla transforms into Optimus Primal, a Cybertronian whose robot mode is eerily similar to Prime himself. As the other organics reveal their Cybertronian modes, Primal vehemently denies any affiliation with the Nemesis and orders Prime's team to cease their attack. Primal refuses to believe that his opponent is the original Optimus Prime and demands that he sees the Matrix of Leadership for validation of Prime's title. Prime begins to suffer from his wound more seriously, forcing Ratchet to intervene between the two's fight to tend to the Autobot leader.
A falcon spots Laserbeak flying around the Nemesis. Megatron orders his troops to work on the ship so they can leave Earth, asserting his desire to locate the Allspark and repeating his claims about "saving Cybertron". Megatron turns down Starscream's request to scout the area, while Soundwave reports that Laserbeak has spotted intruders...
The Decepticons wander into the jungle and find a purple Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Velociraptor, the former of which recognizes Megatron as his ancestor and showers him with praise. "Beast" Megatron and his partner Dinobot reveal their robot modes and bow to the Decepticons. "Beast" Megatron shows the original Megatron the Golden Disk.
Back at the Ark, Prime barely recovers from his wound and asks Prowl for information on their visitors. Primal suggests to his Maximals that they salvage materials from the Ark to fix their ship and leave the Autobots behind. Rightfully enraged, Bumblebee demands that the Maximals explain themselves, but Primal churlishly says they owe the Autobots nothing. However, Prime offers an alliance with their former attackers, recounts their dreadful journey through space, and offers to donate parts to the Maximal cause. Primal insults Prime for losing the Allspark, which caused the downfall of Cybertron and the Maximals' suffering for it. When Prime explains his quest to find the Allspark lost on Earth, Primal realizes that the restoration of Cybertron would wipe out his crew—the Maximals come from a dystopian future timeline where the Allspark was never returned to Cybertron. The tiger Maximal, Tigatron receives a transmission from his comrade Airazor–the falcon Maximal who spotted the Nemesis–in distress, causing Optimus to realize the Decepticons are also on Earth.
"Beast" Megatron explains the origins of the Predacons to the original Megatron: they were the few survivors of the mostly extinct alternate Cybertron who traveled to Earth. When the first Megatron questions why they went to Earth of all places, "Beast" Megatron asserts that he specifically wanted to join forces with the Decepticons and deliver the Golden Disk to his ancestor—the disk contains all of Megatron's past, present, and future memories and can track his Energon signature. When the original Megatron suspects treachery on "Beast" Megatron's behalf, he explains that his existence from the alternate future of Cybertron is essentially proof that Prime never succeeded to retrieve the Allspark. As Starscream expresses disgust at the sycophantic Predacons and his lack of recognition from his peers, the arachnoid Predacon Blackarachnia sneaks up on Starscream to polish his wounded ego. The two similarly deceptive 'cons then form an alliance.
Back at the Ark, the Autobots and Maximals struggle to trust each other, with the rat Maximal Rattrap suggesting the discovery of the Allspark will halt the alternate timeline and avert the Maximals' existence, but the idealistic cheetah Maximal Cheetor argues that stopping Megatron is more important than safeguarding their own existence.
Meanwhile, Airazor is spotted by Laserbeak and gunned down, enabling Soundwave to drag her back to the Nemesis at the mercy of both Megatrons...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots / Maximals | Decepticons / Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
Continuty notes
- While Megatron is knocked unconscious by the Nemesis crashing to Earth, he sees a premonition of the aftermath of Galvatron's forced departure by Unicron in Earthrise episode 5. Megatron also makes note that Predacon Megatron is not the first to attempt to turn over the Golden Disk, as Galvatron did the same in that episode.
- Optimus Primal first believes Optimus Prime is Nemesis Prime, who previously appeared in a vision in Earthrise episode 5.
- Optimus Prime sees the same images Teletraan I processed in Earthrise episode 6, which are War for Cybertron Trilogy-style recreations of moments from the original The Transformers cartoon. A full list can be found here.
- Optimus Prime lists the major events the Autobots went through in Siege and Earthrise.
Continuity errors
- Megatron lacks the bandage and its respective wound from Earthrise episode 4 when he exits the Nemesis with the Matrix strapped to his chest. Maybe the wound healed?
- Predacon Megatron claims he decrypted a few minutes of the Golden Disk, despite only Cybertronian units of time being used in the show previously.
Transformers references
- Optimus Prime sustains a heavy hole-like injury to his side/lower torso, much like The Transformers: The Movie, albeit, the opposite side.
- Rhinox name drops the Axalon from the '90s cartoon.
- Predacon Megatron pets his dinosaur head hand, much like he did in Beast Wars.
- Starscream calls himself Air Commander, his function on his original toy.
- Arcee mentions that she wouldn't be surprised if the Maximals were Sharkticons in disguise.
Trivia
- The start of the episode reuses footage of Galvatron attempting to turn over the Golden Disk from Earthrise episode 5.
- Astrotrain and Laserbeak speak for the first time! Well, Laserbeak squawks, voiced by the voice actor of fellow cassette Ravage, Frank Todaro.
- The subtitles differentiate the "Beast" and "Generation 1" Megatrons by identifying the former as "Predacon Megatron".
- Predacon Megatron is portrayed as much more affable and mellow compared to his disingenuously polite '90s counterpart; acting as a sort of fanboy to the "original" Megatron and getting sycophantic with the Decepticons.
- Just before saying he's the embodiment of Optimus Prime's failure, (Predacon) Megatron tells to (Decepticon) Megatron he's his descendant. Probably he's just speaking metaphorically, considering that (usually) Decepticons are collectively depicted as the "ancestors" of the Predacons, but this statement (like a similiar one made by the original Optimus Primal in the episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search" of Beast Machines) seems to imply a deeper relationship between the two Megs.
