Dash (episode)
| The name or term "Dash" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Dash (disambiguation). |
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| "Dash" (Uragiri) "Confidence: Betrayal" | ||||||
| Production code | TF: A-45 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | |||||
| Airdate | September 26, 2003 (English, United Kingdom) 7 November 2003 (Japanese) November 21, 2003 (English, United States) | |||||
| Writer | Isao Shizuya | |||||
| English adaptation | Ward Perry | |||||
| Director | Tokio Yamauchi | |||||
| Animation studio | Actas Inc. | |||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | |||||
Hot Shot goes on a solo mission to convince Galvatron that the Autobots and Decepticons should unite to stop Unicron.
Synopsis
On Cybertron, Galvatron and Thrust command the rest of the Decepticons not to pay any attention to the black hole outside and to disregard the Autobots' offer for a collaborative effort against it. Away from the rest of the Decepticons, Thrust cackles at how he's manipulating both armies.
The Autobots wait, impatient and tense. The kids aboard the ship feel depressed as they watch the combat lights on Cybertron's surface. Hot Shot passes them, on his way to personally charge into the Decepticons' stronghold and reason with Galvatron. The kids and Red Alert do their best to dissuade him—but Rad realizes that everybody should let Hot Shot go and convinces the others that it's the best idea.
Once Hot Shot is gone, the rest of the Autobots fly to assist Jetfire but come under attack. The Mini-Cons assist by forming several holographic copies of the ship to distract the Decepticons.
Fully armed, Hot Shot takes a small craft and buzzes through the Decepticon's defenses to their front door. He motors around their base, passing plenty of opposition. Eventually, Wheeljack arrives to fight Hot Shot one-on-one. The rumble between the two carries into the Decepticons' throne room, where Thrust was seconds away from receiving the Star Saber from Galvatron.
Wheeljack tries to convince Galvatron to listen to Hot Shot's message, and Wheeljack's compassion convinces Galvatron to open his ears. As Hot Shot explains Unicron, Galvatron notices Thrust panicking and connects the sudden presence of Unicron to the Hydra Cannon's un-Cybertronian technology. Starscream pipes up, mentioning that Thrust has been conspiring against Galvatron. With his plans exposed, Thrust grabs the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield and reveals that he's been working in the service of Unicron, then he runs away. Starscream, Hot Shot, and Wheeljack chase after the traitor.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"...and stop overworking your brain by thinking!"
- —Thrust to Cyclonus
"I wonder what's gonna happen now."
"Stressful times like these call for large quantities of comfort food."
- —Billy and Fred show just what humans are made of.
"Galvatron, you were never worthy of controlling the Transformers. I've got news for you: You're nothing compared to my true master, Unicron!"
- —Thrust declares his true allegiance
Notes
Differences with Legends of the Microns
- After Scavenger stops Hoist from going after Hot Shot, Scavenger proclaims it's important that the Autobots stay together right now and that Hot Shot can take care of himself. The kids then object that Hot Shot needs their help since he is doing it for all of them, but Blurr says that it's too risky to follow him and the Decepticons will be all over them. Legends of the Microns changes this dialouge to a more negative tone as Scavenger says Hot Shot would have to be punished due to his decision disrupting military discipline, with the kids then saying that Hot Shot is doing what he thinks is best for the Autobots, followed by Blurr saying that they aren't playing any games. The shot of the kids is also entirely redrawn from the Armada version.
- The last scene has Thrust saying with the Mini-Con weapons he stole, he can finally see Unicron in Legends of the Microns, but he's silent in Armada. This is the opposite for when Starscream appears, as he's silent in the Japanese version, but says he's coming for Thrust in the English version.
Animation and technical errors
- In the fifth shot, Demolishor has an Autobot logo, albeit in purple.
- The second time Jetfire radios the rest of the Autobots, he's colored like Optimus.
- Right after Jetfire radios the Autobots, Blurr's head is behind the headrest of his seat.
- The Decepticons' starship officers refer to the Axalon as the "Cybertron ship" as a general description, Cybertron being the Japanese name for the Autobots.
- In one shot, Wheeljack's Autobot insignia is colored purple.
- When Thrust declares his true loyalty to Unicron, he initially appears without the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield he grabbed moments before, instead holding one of his missile launchers (which are also missing from his legs). They appear subsequently after a reaction shot of Galvatron.
- After the Decepticons are all blown away by Thrust's spinning wings attack, the spinning animation has disappeared and he merely fades away instead of being animated running away (which is how he is shown to be escaping moments later)
- Though the character model of Generation 1 Decepticon Misfire also appears as a Decepticon weapons officer in the blockade fleet, he later appears in different colours, missing half of his cockpit backpack as an Autobot questioning Optimus Prime's orders for a withdrawal.
- Scavenger calls Optimus Prime the commander of the 'Cybertron' army, yet another case of the dubbing team not translating instances of 'Cybertron' (the faction) into 'Autobot'.
Continuity notes
- Rad have feelings that he met High Wire before his arrival on Earth foreshadows the reveal in the next episode.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Hot Shot wields two generic rifles and a portable turret this episode.
- Wheeljack uses his guns as swords.
- This episode depicts the only use of Thrust's toy spinning wing gimmick, though he activates it independently of his Mini-Con Inferno.
Continuity errors
- It is unclear how Wheeljack's missile/guns/sword things are able to withstand the power of the Star Saber when he saves Hot Shot from Galvatron's enraged attack.
- Red Alert agrees to "cover for" Hot Shot when the latter is planning to make an unauthorized mission to Galvatron on Cybertron. The very next scene sees Hoist describing, in precise detail, the events of the previous scene, while Hot Shot has barely cleared the Axalon. Apparently Red Alert's definition of "cover for" is "run and tell everyone that". It could be a poorly translated reference to the decoy pod and rock disguise for Hot Shot's pod though, since Hot Shot thanks him for it not long after.
- In the same sequences, when Scavenger insists that Hot Shot "can take care of himself", the kids, including Rad, get upset and urge the other Autobots follow him and back him up. This, in spite of the fact that Rad said exactly the same thing only moments ago to convince the other kids and Red Alert into letting Hot Shot go in the first place. Erratic tween emotions or bipolar script writers? You decide. Fortunately, Legends of the Microns doesn't have this glaring inconsistency since the conversation is entirely different.
Trivia
- The Decepticon starship crew attacking the Axalon use recoloured character models of Generation 1 Decepticons Misfire and Weirdwolf.
- Alongside Bonecrusher and Grindor, generic recolors of the Space Mini-Con Team appear very briefly. The generic recolor of Payload also somewhat resembles the 2001 Robots in Disguise Spy Changer Optimus Prime toy, while Sky Blast's recolor shares Thrust's color scheme.
- Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003 has some interesting tidbits on this episode:
- Wheeljack was actually thinking of joining back with the Autobots once he chases Thrust with Hot Shot, but Hidehito Ueda thought it would be emotionally unforgivable, which is why he went back to Galvatron in Portent.
- The tension of the team was raised thanks to Wheeljack's loyalty and the true intentions of Thrust being at play in this episode.
- The Decepticon's base alarm is played by Rad's voice actor, meanwhile the Decepticon soldiers during Hot Shot's break in are played by Fred's voice actor.
Foreign localization
German
- Title: "Enthüllungen" ("Revelations")
- Original airdate: 17 December 2003
Hungarian
- Title: "Összeütközés" ("Collision")
Portuguese
- Title: "Golpe" ("Hit")
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Armada — Vol:14 (Warner Music Video)
2004 — Transformers: Legends of the Microns — Volume 12 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Armada — The Collector's Edition (Universal)
2009 — Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
