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
[edit]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. While 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 help 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 on 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
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
[edit]"...and stop overworking your brain by thinking!"
- —Thrust to Cyclonus
"Ugh, ripoff. I'm a decorated flying ace and thanks to these Decepticons, I've been grounded."
- —Jetfire faces the biggest challenge of his life.
"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
[edit]Differences with Legends of the Microns
[edit]- After Scavenger stops Hoist from going after Hot Shot, Scavenger states 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 it's too risky to follow him, and the Decepticons will be all over them. Legends of the Microns changes this dialogue to a more negative tone as Scavenger says Hot Shot would have to face punishment for his decision disrupting military discipline. Then the kids say that Hot Shot is doing what he thinks is best for the Autobots, followed by Blurr saying 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. It's the opposite when Starscream appears, as he's silent in the Japanese dub but says he's coming for Thrust in Armada.
Translation errors
[edit]- While staking out the surface of the planet, Jetfire says "let's see if I can turn things around", as if he's about to launch his own plan against the Decepticons. In Japanese, the line is more along the lines of "just you wait, Decepticons", explaining why it doesn't go anywhere.
- As the kids try to talk Hot Shot out of infiltrating the Decepticon base to convince Galvatron to join forces after all, Billy says, "You can't change his mind, Alexis!" Would it surprise you to learn that in the original Japanese, he wasn't addressing Alexis, but rather speaking to Hot Shot, same as the other kids? Clearly, it's "You can't change [Galvatron's] mind, [Hot Shot]!"
- When Hot Shot is setting off on this unauthorized mission, Red Alert finally agrees, "All right, I'll cover for you!" He then apparently immediately goes to tell all the other Autobots. In Japanese, Red Alert's only agreeing to let Hot Shot go, and says nothing about "covering" for him.
- In Japanese, Red Alert does mention "one more thing", referring to the otherwise-unexplained asteroid camoflage—when Hot Shot uses it to slip past the Decepticon ships, he even says, "Hey, thanks a lot, Red Alert! I owe you one!" in the dub.
- As Hot Shot leaves, Rad says: "He'll be all right, guys. Hot Shot's smart, he knows how to take care of himself." In the subsequent scene, when all the Autobots are discussing this, Scavenger says almost the exact same thing: "Hot Shot can take care of himself." At this, the kids immediately become upset and insist that the Autobots should follow and back him up—including Rad, who protests: "But what if Hot Shot can convince Galvatron to join us?" Dude sure seems to have lost faith in Hot Shot pretty quick! The original conversation in Japanese is different, and so naturally doesn't have this inconsistency.
- Multiple times this episode, Armada forgets to translate the name of the heroic faction—the "Cybertrons" in Japanese. When referring to the Axalon, the Misfire-lookalike starship officer says, "The Cybertron ship has begun to move!" Later, he says, "Sir! Which one of these is the real Cybertron ship?" But then when he refers to the ship for a third and final time, suddenly the translators do remember what they're supposed to be doing, and he instead says, "We've got them now. One of those is the real Autobot ship." At the end of the episode, meanwhile, Scavenger says: "Deep inside, Optimus appreciates what Hot Shot did for us today—but he's the commander of the Cybertron army and he can't play favorites."
Animation and technical errors
[edit]- Demolishor has an Autobot logo, albeit purple in the fifth shot.
- The second time Jetfire radios the other Autobots, he's colored like Optimus. Legends of the Microns corrects this mistake.
- Right after Jetfire radios the Autobots, Blurr's head is behind his seat's headrest.
- Wheeljack's Autobot insignia is colored purple in one shot.
- When Thrust declares his true loyalty to Unicron, he initially appears without the Requiem Blaster and the Skyboom Shield he grabbed moments before, instead of 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 escapes moments later).
Continuity notes
[edit]- Rad feeling 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 in 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
[edit]- It is unclear how Wheeljack's missile/guns/sword things can withstand the Star Saber's power when he saves Hot Shot from Galvatron's enraged attack.
- According to Starscream all the way back in "Swoop", lasers don't run out of ammo. Despite this, one of Hot Shot's laser rifles ran out of ammo while storming the Decepticon base.
Trivia
[edit]
- 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 Basic Class Optimus Prime toy, while Sky Blast's recolor shares Thrust's color scheme.
- Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003 has some tidbits on this episode:
- Wheeljack was thinking of rejoining the Autobots once he chases Thrust with Hot Shot; however, Hidehito Ueda thought it would be emotionally unforgivable, which is why he returns to Galvatron in "Portent."
- Wheeljack's loyalty and Thrust's true intentions being at play in this episode raise the team's tension.
- The Decepticon's base alarm is played by Rad's voice actor, while Fred's voice actor plays the Decepticon soldiers during Hot Shot's break-in.
- 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 colors, missing half of his cockpit backpack as an Autobot questioning Optimus Prime's orders for a withdrawal.
Foreign localization
[edit]German
- Title: "Enthüllungen" ("Revelations")
- Original airdate: 17 December 2003
Hungarian
- Title: "Összeütközés" ("Collision")
Italian
- Title: "La missione" ("The Mission")
- Red Alert never states that he's going to cover for Hot Shot, which in fact makes more sense.
Portuguese
- Title: "Golpe" ("Hit")
Toys inspired by this episode
[edit]
- Transformers: Legacy: Evolution Armada Universe Powerlinx Hot Shot / Armada Universe Jolt (Multi-pack, 2023)
- The two rifles Hot Shot wields in this episode were immortalised in plastic as part of a multipack with Jolt and some Fire Blast effects in the Legacy: Evolution toyline.
Home video releases
[edit]- 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)
