Maximus Emerges
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 Oh no! A giant robot is stomping on | ||||||
| Maximus Emerges (Ubawa re ta Plasma) "Stolen Plasma" | ||||||
| Airdate | 15 November 2000 (Japanese) February 16, 2001 (English) | |||||
| Written by | Kazuhiko Gōdo (Japanese) Tom Wyner (English) | |||||
Locate Cerebros
Stolen by Decepticons
Who will gain control?
Synopsis
The Decepticons arrive at an old temple, having tracked some Autobots there. Scourge scans inside to find that the Autobot Brothers and Build Team are looking for Cerebros and appear to have located his energy signature in a statue. That's all the Decepticons need, and they open fire, demolishing the temple. The Autobots are dug out by the Build Team, but are quickly confronted by the Decepticons, who demand Cerebros. Ultra Magnus arrives to help, but Sky-Byte and the Predacon trio, who have been skulking nearby, snatch Cerebros and make off with him.
The Autobots return to base, where they get chewed out by T-AI for letting Cerebros slip through their fingers. All is not entirely lost, as T-AI believes that Cerebros is programmed to ignore an enemy. Optimus sends Team Bullet Train and Build Team to look for Cerebros, while the Autobot Brothers are tasked with protecting Fortress Maximus. Side Burn is towed there by Tow-Line to prevent him from being distracted by red sports cars.
In the Megastar, Scourge and Mega-Octane revive Cerebros. Scourge believes because he scanned Optimus Prime when he was taking his Earth mode, Cerebros will obey him and, sure enough, they're able to use Cerebros to locate Fortress Maximus.
In Metro City, Maximus lights up as a beacon and is quickly spotted by the Decepticons. They move in to find the Autobots waiting for them, but Scourge has Cerebros combine with the Emissary to form the head of Fortress Maximus. Koji runs from the Autobot base, believing he can help in some way.
As the battle begins, all three combiner teams combine, Ultra Magnus arrives, and the Autobot Brothers power up. Galvatron also arrives, introducing himself and congratulating Scourge on having gained control over Fortress Maximus. Scourge commands Maximus to destroy the Autobots, but the giant begins firing at random and Optimus has to rescue Ultra Magnus from being crushed underfoot. The two brothers combine into Omega Prime as Maximus' rampage continues.
Finally Koji arrives and shouts at Maximus to stop, and the giant halts. The Autobots take the opportunity to chase the Predacons and Decepticons off. Fortress Maximus sinks into the ground, however Galvatron seizes Cerebros and makes off with the bot. As Scourge leaves, he realises that Koji may be the key to controlling Maximus.
T-AI reports that Team Bullet Train and the Build Team have been unable to locate Maximus, and the Autobots wonder why Cerebros stopped obeying Scourge and seemed to follow Koji's commands.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"He treated us like dirt. But compared to Scourge, he was Mr. Nice Guy."
- —Sky-Byte on the late Megatron.
Mega-Octane: You lose, Auto-fools! Cerebros is ours now! Well done, Predacons. You finally did something right!
Sky-Byte: Thank you. I speak for all Predacons, and especially for myself, when I say that it's an honour and a privilege to be able to help our friends the Decepticons in any way we can.
Gas Skunk: Really? I thought the only reason we were helping them is because we had no other choice. Isn't that what you said?
- —Gas Skunk has trouble knowing when to keep quiet.
X-Brawn: We all make mistakes, T-AI.
T-AI: Speak for yourself.
- —T-AI is a harsh mistress.
Side Burn: What's that? I think my audio chip is malfunctioning.
T-AI: Very funny, but I have ways of getting you where I want without distraction.
- —Very harsh.
"Today we will become the rulers of the universe. Justice and freedom will be replaced by the power of the iron fist."
- —Scourge knows all you need to rule the entire universe is a really big robot.
"Access error. Access error. Unauthorized access protocol."
- —Fortress Maximus causes Scourge to regret upgrading him to Windows Vista.
"Galvatron, you may have a new look and a new name, but one thing hasn't changed: your arrogance is your downfall! Omega Blast!"
- —Omega Prime lets Galvatron know exactly what he thinks of his upgrade.
Other notes
Animation and/or technical glitches
- When Rollbar and Armorhide transform prior to the battle for Maximus, there's a tree floating in the air on the right-hand side of the screen. Additionally, they both seem to shout "Rollbar, transform" in unison, despite the fact that, y'know, only one of them is called Rollbar.
Continuity errors
- As with most of the recap animations featured in the series, the brief flashback of Megatron's "death" uses animation taken from the previous episode, but with altered dialogue.
Miscellaneous trivia
- Apparently all you need to rule the universe is a really big robot.
- The Predacon trio don't seem to have suffered any ill effects from their draining by Galvatron; indeed, none of them even bother to mention that it ever happened.
- It's amazing that the Decepticons need Cerebros to find Fortress Maximus.
- Galvatron claims that Megatron is dead and that he himself is a different person. Not that again!
- Megatron's grand return as the all-powerful Galvatron consists of him jetting into battle, getting lightly beaten up, and calling a unilateral retreat. Even when you're a ten-changer, some things never change.
- T-AI's "scolding face" sure makes her looks like she has a toothache.
