Dark Voyage
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 "Dude... I've got some serious CAT-aracts..." | ||||||
| "Dark Voyage" | ||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Airdate | January 27, 1997 | |||||
| Written by | Samuel Warren Joseph | |||||
| Directed by | Steve Ball | |||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | |||||
After an energon explosion, Rhinox must lead the blinded Maximals back to base.
- Japanese title: ジャングルぐるぐる (Jungle Guruguru, "Around and Around the Jungle")
Synopsis
Rattrap burrows through some rocks to uncover a piece of valuable Energon. Cheetor congratulates Rattrap's discovery, while Dinobot, disgruntled with the labour, discovers a deposit of surface Energon several times the size of Rattrap's harvest.
Suddenly, a dart from Scorponok lands on one of the larger pieces of Energon. Rhinox recognizes the dart as an explosive, and rushes to toss it away from the unstable Energon. However with the Energon already fractured, there's no stopping the gigantic explosion. Once the fireball expands and rises into the sky, Scorponok and Waspinator are confident they've destroyed their enemies and return to base to report their conquest.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the four Maximals have all survived, but because of Energon poisoning, all of them have lost their sense of vision. Cheetor, Rattrap, and even Dinobot panic and fret—until Rhinox puts his foot down and gets his team moving, in hopes they can overcome their disability and reach home—or at least avoid being easy targets.
Rhinox, at the front of the train of blind Maximals, comes to a sudden stop, causing the Maximals behind him to bump into his large posterior. Dinobot hops back onto his feet (and onto one of Rattrap's as well). Rhinox silences the group so he can use his ears to detect if something is near the group—his suspicion is confirmed as a large Snake grabs Cheetor. Dinobot comically runs into a tree. Rattrap fails to fight the snake off, but Cheetor is saved due to the reptile deciding that Rattrap would be a better meal. Luckily, Rhinox is able to save Rattrap by tossing the snake over the horizon.
Tigatron and Optimus Primal (finally!) decide to search for their comrades who never reported home. Scorponok and Waspinator, searching for evidence of the expiry of the Maximals, decide to follow the trail of energon radiation their enemies left as the four walked away from the area. Waspinator finds the four as they cross a log over a waterfall, and the Predacon easily unhinges the log, causing the quartet to plunge into the water far beneath. As Waspinator congratulates himself, Terrorsaur arrives, demanding proof of the wasp's endeavor.
The four Maximals all manage to wash up on a shore together. Dinobot feels doomed by the situation but Rhinox remains hopeful. The Predacon fliers pass overhead at high speed, finding their targets. In response, Rhinox commands his group to transform to their robot modes. Next Rhinox instructs the group to imagine the targeting grid from their training. Using all his senses to extend his sensory awareness, Rhinox gives directions for Cheetor, Rattrap, and Dinobot to aim their weapons. Terrorsaur is hit, and the sound of fire alerts Tigatron to the missing group's location.
Being in robot mode for just a few extra minutes however, accelerated the energon poisoning blinding the Maximals to the point that it causes the three gunners to fall into stasis. Luckily Primal arrives before the group's sparks are extinguished.
After Primal has brought his friends back to the Axalon, Rhinox exits the CR Chamber, the Energon poisoning cleaned from his system and his eyesight restored. Rhinox suggests that the whole ordeal was educational, and leaves to embrace his senses by smelling some flowers.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
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Quotes
"Nice find, Dino-miner. You're even better at this than Rattrap!"
"Mmm. I'm better at everything than Rattrap!"
- —Cheetor and Dinobot
"Listen to me!! You've all got to calm down."
"Calm...down...? WE CAN'T SEEEEEEE!"
- —Rhinox's order and Dinobot's reaction
"What's happening? Are we under attack?"
"Don't. Panic."
"You won't get me!" [runs into tree]
- —Dinobot and Rhinox , the former clearly not listening.
"What irony. For a warrior like me to go out blind, wet and helpless."
- —Dinobot laments his situation.
"I'm gonna go smell some flowers."
- —Rhinox having recuperated.
Notes
Animation errors
- When Optimus Primal tells Tigatron, "I'm going to put Sentinel on automatic and search from the air.", his left pectoral muscle is much smaller than his right, almost as if it's squeezing itself in. (Optimus's left, not the viewer's.)
- Earlier on in the episode, when Rattrap is in his robot mode, the underside of his chin was white like his eyes. However, when Rattrap later submits to stasis lock, the underside of his chin is red.
- When Rattrap thanks Rhinox for helping them through the events of the episode (at the moment where Rhinox awakens in the CR Chamber), his face plate is charred and burnt, and his eyes are a flat shade of red (instead of glowing red). When Dinobot speaks and Rattrap turns to face him, his face plate is as good as new.
Other errors
- While carrying Cheetor on his back, Rhinox claims he can smell fresh water. However, water is an entirely odorless liquid, and cannot be directly detected by scent. It is possible Rhinox detected the scent of the foliage that typically accompanies a water source, or felt the increased humidity in the air, and inferred the existence of water from corroborating evidence.
Trivia
- The energon explosion at the beginning is a real pyrotechnic explosion superimposed over a CGI background.
- When Rhinox flings the giant snake away in the jungle, if one listens carefully, one can hear a hard thud followed by an elephant bellowing.
- While blind, Dinobot's optics do not work for seeing but they continue to function for shooting.
- It seems likely this episode was originally intended for production and airing earlier in the season. Not only does the plot seem to retread (on a simpler level) the concepts of the just-aired "Call of the Wild", but late-arriving characters Airazor and Inferno are notably absent from the screen (however, Airazor was mentioned by Optimus in the episode—he said she was sent to look for the others in Grid Delta).
