Crack (episode)
| The name or term "Crack" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Crack (disambiguation). |
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 Is whack. | ||||||
| "Crack" (Pride) "Decision: Pride" | ||||||
| Production code | TF: A-37 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | |||||
| Airdate | May 10, 2003 (English) 19 September 2003 (Japanese) | |||||
| Writer | Isao Shizuya | |||||
| Director | Shigenori Awai | |||||
| Animation studio | Actas Inc. | |||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | |||||
Starscream must choose between the human friends he has made among the Autobots and his hunger to destroy Megatron. Betrayal and conspiracy are so addictive.
Synopsis
In a secret meeting, Sideways and Thrust plot how to get the Mini-Con weapons away from the Autobots. It's all very ominous.
On Earth, Starscream finds he doesn't feel very motivated to help the Autobots build their stupid spaceship. He feels it's a waste of time when they could be off killing Megatron instead of worrying about Mini-Cons. Optimus Prime explains to Hot Shot, who is exasperated with Starscream's apathy, that the Autobots should take this opportunity to try and understand what makes Autobots and Decepticons different, and learn how to work together; after all, an inability to make such a rapport is why the two factions have been fighting for so long.
Starscream, meanwhile, is quite shocked to find the human kids throwing him a surprise party. It was Alexis's idea, to thank him for the Mars rock he previously gave her. The kids present him with a crudely stitched but brightly colorful chamois, which they have made for him themselves and claim is for cleaning the Star Saber. Starscream explains to them that he has never received a present before, so he doesn't know how to react. When Jetfire arrives to assign Starscream to monitor duty, Starscream figures that if he just slacks off, someone else will do it; Alexis has to explain the notion of teamwork to him. Starscream storms off after her abortive lecture, claiming that he needs some peace and quiet.
As with most of what Starscream says and does, this is total bluster, and he does in fact end up doing his monitor duty as assigned. When a bizarre signal appears on the screens, he goes out to investigate its source. He finds Thrust, who tries to talk Starscream into rejoining the Decepticons so that the two of them can work against Megatron from within. Fred and Billy happen by just in time to hear Thrust mention that if Starscream were to bring the Skyboom Shield to Megatron, he might be welcomed back.
Back at the Autobot base, Starscream watches the Race Mini-Con Team—the Mini-Cons who combine to form the Skyboom—and broods.
Fred and Billy tell the Autobots about Thrust's appearance and how Starscream chased him away. Jetfire makes a crack about how Fred shouldn't consider Starscream a hero, which is, of course, the moment when Starscream walks in on the conversation. An awkward moment is shared by all. Smokescreen arrives shortly thereafter, reporting that the Race Team have disappeared. Billy and Fred remember that Thrust wanted them, which leads the Autobots—especially Smokescreen—to accuse Starscream of stealing them. Hot Shot tries to give Starscream a chance to explain himself, but the former Decepticon doesn't bother to defend himself; since the Autobots had already made up their minds that he is a traitor, he believes that trying to get along with the Autobots is a failed experiment.
The tense situation is interrupted by a Decepticon attack, which draws the Autobots out to fight. While his erstwhile comrades face the main Decepticon force, Starscream seeks out Thrust alone high in the clouds. Brandishing the Star Saber and his chamois, Starscream rebuffs Thrust's offer, claiming he would rather stay with robots he can trust. Thrust is still bent on convincing Starscream to work with him against Megatron.
Hot Shot, who had been chased into a forest by Tidal Wave, runs into Alexis, Carlos, Rad, and the Race Mini-Con Team. He learns that the kids had simply taken the Mini-Cons for a walk, without notifying anyone. Hot Shot realizes he was wrong to accuse Starscream, and asks the Mini-Cons to help him.
Meanwhile, Starscream is at a loss to explain to himself why he won't just kill Thrust and be done with the whole sorry affair. Thrust opines that working alongside the Autobots has caused him to go soft and forget his heritage.
On the ground, Smokescreen tosses the Skyboom Shield to Optimus Prime, but Starscream intercepts it. Wielding both it and the Star Saber, Starscream rushes to meet with Thrust, letting the chamois fall back to Earth behind him. He wonders momentarily if he's doing the right thing, but he knows that he must go to any length to bring Megatron down. He knows that he will never forget the human kids, and in his heart he thanks them.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons | Misc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Red Alert: "Hey, enough chit-chat ladies, we got a job to do."
Hot Shot: "Ah—sorry, Red Alert, but what about Starscream?"
Blurr, the jerk: "You mean Star-traitor, don't you?"
"Why now? Why...am I doubting myself?"
- —Starscream broods while training.
Fred: "Guys! We just saw a cone-headed Decepticon!"
Blurr: "You mean Thrust?"
Billy: "He was just outside our base."
Hot Shot: "What are we waiting for? C'mon, let's go get him!"
Side Swipe: "Yeah, baby!"
Fred: "Hang on a sec, Hot Shot. Starscream chased the creep away, already! Starscream is my hero."
Hot Shot: "You are one twisted kid."
"Have you made your decision?"
"I have, Thrust. I think I'll stay put here with bots I can trust."
- —Starscream answers Thrust's offer with a strange assertion, given the Autobots had earlier accused him of theft.
Hot Shot shoots Tidal Wave in the eye with his axle-zooka
"All right! That's a bullseye—literally!"
- —Hot Shot being Hot Shot.
Notes
Differences with Legends of the Microns
- During Optimus and Hot Shot's talk about Starscream, Optimus states in Legends of the Microns Starscream changing sides is a major step towards peace between the Autobots and the Decepticons, which is why he accepted him. Armada changes this to just having him suggest that they should know their differences and then come to a mutual agreement. Armada also adds an extra line from Optimus saying to get back to work, whereas as the rest of the scene in Legends of the Microns is silent.
Animation and technical errors
- Starscream's wings vanish when he walks away from the rest of the Autobots. Legends of the Microns adds them back in.
- When Starscream and Thrust meet, Starscream makes hand motions like he's drawing his sword and using it, but there's nothing in his hand. A few shots later, he's actually holding his sword.
- During Thrust and Starscream's meeting in the woods, after Thrust disappears and reappears, he is layered behind the treeline, making him enormous.
- After meeting Thrust, Starscream lets out his frustrations by practicing his swordplay. During a close up of the tip of his blade, it is incorrectly drawn as the distinctive Runway-shaped tip of the Star Saber.
- Smokescreen is still referred to as such in his new "Hoist" body, likely due to the fact the character was still referred to as "Grap" (his Japanese name) on both bodies in the original Japanese scripts.
- Demolishor's purple Decepticon lasers that he fires at Jetfire become red Autobot lasers as they fly towards the Autobot.
- The kids look very off model in their last shot, noticeably lacking noses. Legends of the Microns redraws them with more accurate models.
Continuity notes
- As stated above, the Japanese version of this episode has Optimus explaining to Hot Shot that he accepted Starscream to the Autobots because it's a major step for achieving peace between them and the Decpticons. Armada makes no mention of this and instead simply has the reason being that he "didn't have a choice at the time", as explained by Scavenger in Remorse.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Smokescreen's new arm is used like a catapult to launch the Skyboom Shield.
Continuity errors
- Rad's line (in response to Starscream leaving the party) "What's his problem? He sure is self-centered!" doesn't appear to jibe with the animation of he and Carlos smiling happily. Additionally, Starscream claiming to leave for some "peace and quiet" doesn't work with the next scene, which shows him indeed dutifully following Jetfire's order of performing monitor duty.
- Hot Shot instructs the kids to Powerlinx with the Skyboom Shield.
- After being punched in the face by Starscream, Thrust falls over and lands with a thud. It's usually impossible to land on a cloud and generally impossible to make a "thud" with them.
Real-world references
- The line "You can't handle the truth" is from the movie A Few Good Men. Moments after delivering the line, Starscream isn't wearing a necktie.
Transformers references
- Thrust is referred to by Fred as a "cone-headed Decepticon", a possible reference to the fan term for the Generation 1 jets Ramjet, Dirge and of course, Thrust.
Trivia
- Starscream calls Thrust a "pathetic snake", which is an amusing coincidence as Thrust's voice actor, Colin Murdoch, previous played the cobra-headed Quickstrike on Beast Wars.
- After the Autobots learn that Starscream "drove off" Thrust from Billy and Fred, Blurr's appreciative line is delivered in a rather hostile, accusatory tone by voice actor Brian Drummond. Then again, Blurr is kind of a jerk.
- As the main focus of this episode is on Starscream's angst and eventual betrayal, the battle between the Autobots and the other Decepticons is left unresolved.
Foreign localization
German
- Title: "Falscher Verdacht" ("Wrong Suspicion")
- Original airdate: This episode was never shown on TV, but was dubbed in 2003. The dub premiered in 2009 with the German DVD release of the show.
Hungarian
- Title: "Árulás" ("Treachery")
- Confusingly, that's the same title the episode "Credulous" was given.
- Title: "Árulás" ("Treachery")
Korean
- Title: "스크림의 선택 1부" ("Scream's Choice Part 1")
Portuguese
- Title: "Ruptura" ("Rupture")
Home video releases
- DVD
2004 — Transformers: Legends of the Microns — Volume 10 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
