Megastorm's Reckoning
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| "Megastorm's Reckoning" (Megastorm no Keisan) | ||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Ashi Productions | |||||
| Airdate | 26 August 1998 | |||||
| Writer | Kazuhiko Gōdo | |||||
| Director | Kazuhiko Kikuchi | |||||
| Animation studio | Ashi Productions | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
Megastorm recruits the Seacons in his plan to attack the Maximals.
Synopsis
At night, Megastorm meets with Halfshell on a cliff overlooking the sea. Megastorm offers an alliance between the Predacons and the Seacons to take down the Maximals, as they're a thorn in both their sides. Halfshell, however, demands payment, and Megastorm offers 1/10 of the Predacons' Angolmois Energy per Maximal, but Halfshell is a better negotiator, getting 1/8 per Maximal, and 3/8 for Lio Convoy himself. Back at the Galvaburg II, Megastorm boasts of his deal-making to Galvatron, but Starscream takes the wind out of his sails with basic math: 5 Maximals times 1/8 plus 3/8 for Lio Convoy equals 8/8, or the entirety of the Predacons' Angolmois Energy. Galvatron is irate at his brother's apparent idiocy, but Megastorm tries to talk his way out of it, explaining that he has a plan... and walks out frantically thinking of a solution to his mess.
At the Seacons' photon sailer, the Seacons commend Halfshell for duping the Predacon, who is currently trying to conceive a way of getting out of the deal with the Seacons. Thrust and Dirge asking about the transmitters Megastorm plans to use to lure out the Maximals gives the Duke of Destruction an idea: plant explosives in them to destroy both the Seacons and the Maximals! The two Combatron jets drop the transmitters at select locations, attracting the attentions of Artemis and Moon, who as per usual are incapable of warning the Maximals of Megastorm's plot.
At the Maximal base, NAVI informs the crew that she has detected Angolmois Energy at multiple points throughout the area, and the Maximals split up to take care of all of them, with Lio Convoy taking the farthest one. In the ocean, Scuba investigates the area and runs into Halfshell, who starts blasting at the squid. Also underwater, Diver is attacked by Sea Phantom, who threatens to slice the frog to ribbons. On land, Apache finds the transmitter... and Terrormander, who immediately headbutts the Maximal. In the jungle, Scylla faces off with Tasmania Kid while Coelagon surprises Bighorn elsewhere.
Dirge and Thrust, with the controller for the explosives, wait at the last transmitter and prepare to blow up Lio Convoy themselves. However, when the commander actually shows up, the duo are surprised and lose the controller. While Lio Convoy investigates the transmitter, Dirge begins pressing random buttons, which inadvertently blows Megastorm (observing the fight between Halfshell and Scuba) out of the sea. Halfshell, untouched by the explosion, is baffled on what's happening and loses Scuba. Megastorm lands on the beach, where he is blown away by the explosion meant for Apache and Terrormander. Lio Convoy, losing interest in the transmitter, goes to see what Dirge and Thrust are up to, and the two blow up the transmitter nearby, fouling up their opportunity to get Lio Convoy. Realizing how badly they screwed up the plan, the two fly off.
Megastorm stumbles through the forest, running into Bighorn and Coelagon and taking the blast meant for the two of them. He lands near Scylla and Tasmania Kid, unsurprisingly being blown away again by the bomb for them. The Maximals gather together and confront Megastorm at the beach where he landed, telling him his plan, whatever it was, failed. An arrogant Megastorm threatens to fight all of the Maximals right there and then when Sea Phantom comes running... with the last bomb. Both shoot off into the ocean.
At the Galvaburg II, Starscream takes delight in pointing out Megastorm's failure and sucks up to his commander. At the photon sailer, the Seacons still don't really understand the sequence of events that just took place other than one thing: Megastorm sure is clumsy. Elsewhere, the Maximals now finally realize how tough the Seacons are, and Lio Convoy warns his soldiers to prepare themselves for tough battles.
Artemis & Moon II Report
Artemis and Moon remark on how tough and strong the Seacons were, but thankfully Megastorm's plan failed. Megastorm calls in to show his indignation and blames Dirge and Thrust for fouling up the scheme. Artemis asks him about the title of "Emperor of Destruction" and he answers that being the Emperor is like being number one in the universe and that he desires it for himself. Megastorm gets angry again at the duo for watching footage of his injuries, and a flustered Artemis ends the segment, promising to see the viewers in the next report.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Seacons | Others |
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Quotes
Bighorn: "Are you really an old man?"
Coelagon: "I'm 100,000 years old…. no, maybe it was 110,000 years old?"
- —Bighorn and Coelagon exchange smack talk.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Galvatron will remind Megastorm of his idiocy in for the next two episodes.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Scylla chases Tasmania Kid with a barrage of Skyulaser.
- Coelagon uses Coela-Lock against Bighorn, though without naming his move. He has a good laugh about his dentures getting stuck on Bighorn's head.
Animation and technical errors
- There are six transmitters, but seven are depicted when Megastorm makes the decision to rig them with explosives.
- Coelagon and Bighorn run up to each other and butt heads. Coelagon visibly clenches his teeth as the impact sends the both of them backwards. Yet when they've both recovered, Coelagon's dentures are stuck on Bighorn's head.
- In several shots, no spikes are drawn on the transmitters. This first occurs with the three transmitters carried by Thrust, then with the transmitter Dirge and Thrust are guarding, then with the transmitter that Lio Convoy sits down next to, then with the transmitter near Bighorn and Coelagon when it blows up, and lastly it happens with the transmitter stuck on Sea Phantom's dorsal fin.
- After asking Coelagon about his seniority, Bighorn's bison eyes are colored green.
- When Megastorm approaches Bighorn with raised fists, the protrusions from his lower arms are on opposite sides from his hands. On the right, the protrusion is against the back of his hand and on the left, it's against the palm.
Continuity errors
- It's strange that the Seacons agree to be paid in only Angolmois Energy. Sure, it is the treasure they came to Gaia for, but since then they've gotten stranded due to damage to their ship and lack of materials to repair it. In the previous episode, they discussed that they could likely get materials from the Maximals or the Predacons, so why don't they at all demand materials here? In "Face the Setting Sun", they'll agree to work for cheaper than they're worth just to get the materials necessary to fix up their ship.
- NAVI only mentions three energy readings despite that six traps are set up. There's one in the sea, which both Scuba and Diver are sent out to, but as later shown, while they both explore the seafloor, they do so in two different locations. Another reading's location is not specified beyond the coordinates, but as Lio Convoy says he'll go to the farthest one and this is the only not assigned, it follows that this is the beach. The third reading's location is in the jungle, which is where Tasmania Kid volunteers to go to. No mention is made of the two energy readings Bighorn and Apache go to.
- Why does Terrormander engage Apache in a fistfight? Any other time he fights one-on-one, he flies and stays out of his opponent's reach while raining down lightning and torpedo missiles on them. The only other time he doesn't fly during battle is when he and Sea Phantom gun at the Jointrons in "Face the Setting Sun" which still guarantees a safe distance.
- Due to an explosion, Halfshell explicitly loses sight of Scuba, while another explosion gets Diver rid of Sea Phantom. It is not shown how the explosions near Apache and Tasmania Kid get them out of their fights with respectively Terrormander and Scylla, but it might be assumed they use it as a distraction like Scuba did. Bighorn, however, is still talking with Coelagon after the explosion and no mention is made of how he gets away. Based on Coelagon's state back on the pirate ship, Bighorn did not defeat him.
Real world references
- Tasmania Kid asks Scylla if she's at a disadvantage on land the way a kappa is. He follows it up be wondering what a kappa even is.
Trivia
- This episode contains a transformation seen in no other episode, namely that of Scylla. The only other Seacon to transform in the cartoon is Halfshell, but his transformation is taken from God Neptune's combination sequence. Likewise, this is the only episode that sees a Seacon use their battle mode in battle.
- Coelagon claims to be either 100.000 or 110.000 years old, expressing confusion over which one it is. His various profiles state that he is 80.000 years old. It's possible he's older in the context of the cartoon, but it's also possible that this is supposed to add another layer to the joke that Coelagon doesn't know his own age. In "Showdown in the Sea", Halfshell reiterates the claim that Coelagon is 100.000 years old, but he could just be repeating Coelagon.
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers — ACT. 8 (Pioneer LDC)
- DVD
2011 — Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers — DVD-BOX (Video Maker)
