Ruin
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Ruin (Kioku [Miyako]) "Memory (Capital)" | |||||||||
| Production code | TF: A-11 | ||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | ||||||||
| Airdate | November 15, 2002 (English) 21 March 2003 (Japanese) | ||||||||
| Writer | Ryō Motohira | ||||||||
| Director | Shigeki Awai | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Actas | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | ||||||||
The Transformers track a new Mini-Con to a ruined undersea city which was once the scene of a great disaster.
Synopsis
Carlos races frantically through the Autobot base, ducking into a lift. He bursts in on the other Autobots, who are working on Optimus. They observe he appears to be somewhat impatient and speculate it's about the holographic girl from whom they've been receiving a transmission. Carlos runs to the control centre where Alexis is waiting, and the pair watch as the holographic girl pleads for help on the monitor. Finally, the Autobots are ready, and they launch, arriving somewhere underwater. They fire up the turbines they've been attaching to themselves and begin looking for a Mini-Con, much to Carlos' dismay—he'd thought they were looking for the girl from the transmission.
Hot Shot scouts ahead and almost drives into a ravine before reporting he's found an undersea city. The Autobots drive through the city and soon encounter the Decepticons. Megatron dispatches Leader-1 and Bonecrusher to find the entrance to the ruins. While Hot Shot and Red Alert fight the Decepticons, Optimus and Smokescreen head down to find the entrance as well. Weapons fire from Megatron begins to fracture Optimus's windows, much to the alarm of the kids inside. Carlos tells Optimus to keep on going. Smokescreen yanks open the doors to the ruin, and Optimus drives through, his passenger compartment rapidly filling with water. Fortunately, the ruins contain an air pocket, and once inside, he lets the kids out. While the kids go on to try to find the Mini-Con, Optimus goes back to help fight the Decepticons.
The kids ride their Mini-Cons through tropical gardens. Rad points out the odd vibrations, which he believes mean there's something underneath them. A sharp jolt sends them to the ground, as well as knocking over Megatron, who sends his men in to face Optimus and Smokescreen. The three kids recover to find that the ruins have suddenly been repopulated by people in ancient clothing, including the girl from the transmission, who says she's been expecting them. Carlos runs after the girl. Rad attempts to follow, and finds himself passing through one of the ruin's inhabitants—they're all holograms.
Meanwhile, Carlos discovers much the same thing when his hand passes through the girl. She explains to the kids that she's from a long-lost civilisation, destroyed in a war started by three Mini-Cons who combined into a flaming sword. Her people were able to harness the power of the sword and use it as a weapon, but their enemies overcame them, toppling their civilisation.
Outside, the Decepticons are pinned down. Megatron combines with Leader-1 and begins blasting, causing the Autobots to scramble for cover.
The girl continues her story, telling how the Mini-Cons fell dormant and the fallen nation preserved themselves as holograms to warn people not to reactivate them. Despite her dire warnings, the kids resolve to try to find the Mini-Con. Carlos wants to try to take the girl with them, which Rad takes to mean not to let the Decepticons destroy the holograms. At this point, Megatron bursts through the wall, and the kids' Mini-Cons combine into Perceptor to wrestle with Leader-1. Optimus also arrives and attacks Megatron. Leader-1 finally spots the Mini-Con stuck in a damaged pillar, and Megatron retrieves it. The ground begins to shake and the ruins start collapsing, so the Decepticons teleport out with their prize.
As the Autobots begin to retreat, Carlos says goodbye to the holographic girl. Although he still wants to help her, the water closes in, and he's forced to get into Red Alert. The ruined temple collapses into the ground as the Autobots drive away.
Up on the Moon, Megatron announces they've captured one of the most powerful Mini-Cons. The Autobots explain to Alexis that Megatron captured only one of the Mini-Cons required to create the sword. Outside the base, Carlos mourns the loss of the holographic girl and speculates that she was a princess while Rad comforts him.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Guests
|
Quotes
Hot Shot: "Whoa, you're not gonna believe this!"
Rad: "Come on! Tell us!"
Hot Shot: "There's a city down here!"
Carlos: "OK, guys, it's official: Hot Shot has finally gone off the deep end."
- —The Autobots find the lost city
"And that girl we saw was..."
"It's just a hologram! I hope you're not disappointed."
"No! Of course not."
"Yeah, like I'm buying that one, Rad."
"Hey, would you just get off my case already?"
"Hmph!"
- —Rad and Alexis discuss how the ruin's populated by holograms.
"Boys. Huh."
"What is she talking about?!"
- —Alexis and Rad, who doesn't understand girls.
Notes
Differences with Micron Legend
- The holographic girl is named Wikipedia:Amphitrite/Amphitrite in Micron Legend. In the English dub, she is never given a name.
Animation and/or technical glitches
- The turbines fitted to the Autobots appear and disappear depending on the shot.
- Optimus calls Smokescreen "Hot Shot". Specifically he says "Cover me, Hot Shot!" which Smokescreen interprets as a command to open the doors to the ruin while Optimus covers him.
- Just after Megatron bursts into the temple, there's a brief shot of the Star Saber for no apparent reason.
Continuity errors
- Despite everyone seeming to be quite clear that they're seeing a holographic girl in the transmission, the kids are all surprised later when the inhabitants of the ruin all turn out to be holograms.
- None of the kids seem to notice that one of the Mini-Cons shown is the one they found earlier.
Transformers references
- Seen for the first time in the flashback are both the Star Saber and the Air Defense Mini-Con Team.
- Also seen, in silouette, is the Skyboom Shield.
Real-world references
- Alexis compares the city to Atlantis.
