Dark Glass
"Dark Glass" was an unproduced episode planned for Beast Wars' third season, written by Christy Marx. It was replaced by "Go With The Flow".
Episode outline
On February 17, 1999, Larry DiTillio gave the following plot summary:
- "Rattrap salvages a computer bank from the Axalon, and in its circuits he and Rhinox find the core consciousness of the old Dinobot. (Dinobot was shown uploading this into the ship's computer in a previous episode.) Rattrap gets obsessed with the idea that he can restore the old Dinobot by getting his recorded mind into the new Dinobot's systems. Rhinox tells him this will probably not work, as core consciousness without a spark is only an illusion of the person to whom it belonged. And if it didn't work, it just might give the new Dinobot all the old Dinobot's datatrax on the Maximals, which could give the Preds an advantage. Optimus thus forbids the attempt, but Rattrap defies this order, sneaks out and, at much risk to himself, does manage to get the core consciousness in place. For a moment, the old Dinobot does seem to emerge, but, as Rhinox warned, he is only a shadow of his former self and must do everything he can to keep the new Dinobot from regaining control of his body, a weird mental struggle which would have been fun to animate. The old Dinobot knows he is doomed to lose this struggle and tries to "sacrifice" himself again by infiltrating the Preds and taking out Megatron before the latter can complete his master plan to destroy the Autobots. It doesn't work, and the new Dinobot regains control of his body, only to be blasted by Megatron. Rattrap comes to accept that his old pal is truly dead and realizes he cannot bring him back. However, he honors his friend's memory."
However on Madman Entertainment's 2006 Region 4 Beast Wars Season 3 DVD [1], the same Larry DiTillio said this:
Q: Is it true that there was to be an episode called "Dark Glass" in season 3, but refused production by Hasbro?
A: No, this is actually not true. "Dark Glass" was rumored as a lost episode that was to feature Rattrap attempting to restore the original Dinobot's personality to Dinobot 2, and that when the episode was refused, "Go With the Flow" was made instead. The truth is that "Dark Glass" was written for season 2 and rejected by the story editors, not Hasbro, because the script was not up to standard. The script was replaced by "Transmutate", a great episode that was a better fit for season 2."
Given that 8 years had passed when he said this, it is highly unlikely that DiTillio remembered the situation correctly. It contradicts multiple comments he made as well as a sneak peek at the list for season 3 given out at Botcon '98 and the events of Transcon III. Therefore, the first description is taken as the more accurate one.
Details of rejection
Jon Hartman claims that Claster, the series distributor, rejected the episode because the story did not have enough action [2]. Christy Marx claims that Hasbro considered the script too dark even though they approved the outline [3] and this was also the explanation that Larry DiTillio gave [4]. The two explanations are equivalent, since Claster was owned by Hasbro at the time, and most dark stories seem significantly darker when the focus is taken away from the action. The episode got at least a complete first draft script [5], but was rejected long before any animation or voice recordings would have been done.
Rarity of the script
Word that the "Dark Glass" script had been rejected reached the fan community before the third season of Beast Wars even began airing. Toy dealer Dennis Barger of Men In Black obtained the script from Christy Marx and saw an opportunity to release copies of it for free at Transcon III. [6] He would then auction off the copy for charity. [7]
Hearing concerns from fans, Barger planned on having fans sign a non-disclosure agreement to prevent spoilers from being leaked until the third season had aired. [8] Christy Marx assumed that Dennis Barger had obtained clearance from Hasbro, but in fact he did not. Both the giveaway and the charity auction were called off. Furthermore, Mainframe decided that no scripts were ever to be released to the public again, especially "Dark Glass". [9] And indeed, scripts for the third season of Beast Wars [10] as well as both seasons of Beast Machines do not seem to be available.
This has outraged a number of people, and over 500 of them have signed a petition to no avail. [11] Christy Marx has a copy but does not want to anger Hasbro by releasing it, so it is unclear whether or not fans will ever have access to the script. [12]
Story significance
Fans have extrapolated that this episode would have explained Dinobot's re-emerged personality in the show's final episode, "Nemesis, Part 2".
In that episode, Rampage, whose spark powered the Transmetal II clone of Dinobot, was killed, and his spark extinguished. At the same time, Dinobot II suddenly seemed to remember the last moments of the original Dinobot, and his behavior changed drastically; speaking of honor, he defied Megatron and essentially switched sides (before dying again).
These events are difficult to explain, perhaps especially so without "Dark Glass". The Dinobot II body was a clone of the original Dinobot, but did not (as far as is known) possess his core consciousness, memories, engrams, etc. Rather, Dinobot II seems to have been a shell program written by Megatron running on top of a fragment of Rampage's spark. In this case, it is unclear why, in the absence of Rampage's spark, Dinobot II would suddenly act more like Dinobot I. However, if the events of "Dark Glass" are taken to have occurred off-camera, it becomes easier to understand: two shell programs and a spark all fighting for dominance over a single body. With the spark gone, the Dinobot I shell may have had an opportunity to take over.
On the other hand, even with "Dark Glass", the picture is incomplete. Dinobot saw visions of the original Dinobot's last moments, his battle with the Predacons in the rift valley at the end of "Code of Hero". These memories could not have been part of the download Dinobot made into the Axalon's computer earlier in the season. For them to surface within him, they must have either been added to the datatrax he was programmed with (by either Megatron or Rattrap), or they must have come from Dinobot's own spark, if that spark somehow left the Allspark and inhabited the cloned body when Rampage's spark departed. All three of these possibilities have their share of implausibility, so it is up to each fan to pick an interpretation that they like to include in their personal canon.
