Fire on the Mountain (episode)
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 "I don't understand it, baby. This has never happened to me before, honest." | |||||||||
| "Fire on the Mountain" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-06 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | December 22, 1984 | ||||||||
| Written by | Douglas Booth | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Toei | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
The Decepticons uncover the Crystal of Power in Peru, and the Autobots resurrect Skyfire to stop them.
- Japanese title: インカの秘宝 (Inka no Hihō, "Incaic Jewel")
Synopsis
While patrolling a refinery, Trailbreaker and Brawn spot Thundercracker and Starscream stealing steel. The Decepticons get away with the loot by collapsing the refinery behind them. The Autobots report back to Optimus Prime, who is puzzled about the Decepticons' motives. The Autobots launch a Sky Spy to home in on any Decepticon activity, and the satellite picks up strange energy readings in the Peruvian Andes.
There, the Decepticons have followed an Incan legend to an ancient temple that rests on a shaft leading deep into the Earth's core, capped by the Crystal of Power. With the metal acquired by Starscream, the Decepticons have fashioned a weapon frame to accommodate the crystal. Laserbeak spots the Sky Spy, and Megatron tests the weapon by blowing the satellite out of the sky. The metal, however, proves inadequate and melts with exposure to the raw energy unleashed from the Earth’s core. Starscream tries to shift blame to Thundercracker for the faulty metal, but Megatron blames them both and has them stay behind at the temple while he soars to a nearby mining town to find replacement metal.
The nearby Peruvian mining town is abuzz with the sudden show of power from the ancient temple. A reactionary elder proclaims that long-forgotten gods have come back to punish them, but her more level-headed granddaughter, Luisa, realizes that someone must have uncovered the fabled Crystal of Power.
In the Arctic, Sideswipe and Wheeljack are jackhammering through the ice to resurrect the fallen warrior Skyfire. The massive jet emerges from the ice and transforms into robot mode. Wheeljack immediately assigns him to fly back to Autobot headquarters to pick up Brawn and Windcharger before heading down to the Andes mountains.
In short order, Skyfire is in the Andes, closing in on the Decepticons. Windcharger and Brawn skydive from the jet, tangling with Soundwave and Reflector while Skyfire goes to investigate the strange energy readings from the Incan temple. While the smaller Autobots are able to hold their own against Megatron’s lieutenants, the Decepticon leader proves too powerful for them and they scatter. Windcharger desperately calls for Skyfire to return while Brawn bites off more than he can chew in the form of an angered Megatron.
Skyfire zooms in to the rescue and gracefully airlifts Brawn and Windcharger from the thick of Decepticon danger. Skyfire quickly returns to the Ark to pick up some reinforcements and streaks back to Peru. He deposits the Autobots near the mining town to take care of Megatron while he goes to investigate the Incan temple.
The Autobots stop Megatron, Reflector and Soundwave mid-raid, with Brawn having the ball-bearings enough to swipe Megatron's arm cannon and blast the Decepticon leader with his own weapon! Laserbeak steals back the weapon and Megatron swears vengeance. He has gathered a metal strong enough for the Crystal, and requests that Skywarp come to retrieve it, adding further insult to Thundercracker and Starscream who are left guarding the temple.
A stray blast during the battle nearly drops an electrical tower on top of Luisa, but she is saved by Spike and Bumblebee. Luisa quickly explains that these "evil creatures" have stolen the Crystal of Power. She leads Bumblebee and Spike to a secret entrance in the temple. Soundwave detects their presence, and dispatches Ravage to follow them.
Meanwhile, Thundercracker spots Skyfire skulking about the temple. The Decepticon warrior is torn; if he blasts Skyfire, Starscream is likely to take all the credit. Conversely, if he lets Skyfire destroy the Crystal-based weapon, perhaps Starscream can take the blame. Starscream overhears Thundercracker plotting, and blasts Skyfire. He then blackmails Thundercracker to do his bidding, lest Starscream reveal to their leader just how uncertain Thundercracker's loyalties can be.
The Decepticons load up their stolen steel with Skywarp's help and depart. To cover their exit, Megatron blasts a nearby mountain, creating a deadly rockfall that threatens the mining town.
The Autobots use their firepower to reduce the falling boulders to pebbles, saving the village. Meanwhile, Megatron returns to the temple, where he successfully tests a new weapon frame that can handle the power of the crystal. Bumblebee, Spike and Luisa surreptitiously arrive in the temple, spotting the inert form of Skyfire. Spike starts repairing the fallen warrior, just as Ravage pounces. Bumblebee tries holding off the Decepticon jaguar while Spike works as fast as he can.
The rest of the Autobots arrive at the temple, but Megatron pins them down with devastating firepower from his weapon frame cannon. The Autobots are able to outflank Megatron, and the tide of battle is turned by Skyfire, freshly repaired by Spike. Skyfire strafes the weapons frame, destroying it and unleashing the power of the mountain. The Decepticons retreat, and Thundercracker takes fleeting pleasure in seeing Megatron and Starscream fail.
That night, Wheeljack caps the fire stream with a new invention that can contain the power that the crystal formerly held in check. The Autobots celebrate their victory while Bumblebee and Spike drive Luisa back to the mining town, where she promises to introduce Bumblebee to her brother’s convertible, Juanita.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Looks more like stealing to me… and I'm talking steel!"
- —Brawn confronts the Decepticons with fists and horrible puns.
"Awww, hexagonal nuts!"
- —Trailbreaker, after he and Brawn totally fail to stop the Decepticons.
"Forgive me, Starscream, you have done an excellent job."
- —Megatron. Honest. And no, this isn't Shattered Glass.
Starscream: "Don't blame me. Thundercracker swiped defective steel, not I. It was his fault."
Thundercracker: "You lie, Starscream."
Megatron: "SILENCE YOU FOOL!" (Punches Thundercracker right off the top of the pyramid)
- —Starscream shows that ol' Seeker camaraderie once again. Remarkably, Megs doesn't even doubt Starscream's word. Is he really that stupid?
"It's cold enough to freeze the ailerons off a titanium moosebot!"
- —Sideswipe
Soundwave: "The Autobot jet is afraid to fight!"
Brawn: "Wrong again, you dipstick tapedeck!"
Windcharger: "We just didn't want him to spoil our fun!"
"Have fun playing crystal nurse, Screamer! Byyyye!"
- —Skywarp, being a jerk
"Fate, schmate. It isn’t over yet, Megabum!"
- —Trailbreaker, after Megatron prematurely gloats of imminent victory.
"This is what separates the Autobots from the robot chickens!"
"Ain’t no one calling me a robot chicken!"
- —Ironhide and Brawn, referencing Robot Chicken years before the Adult Swim show.
"What’s the matter, fearless leader? You and Starscream look real geeky!"
- —Thundercracker, being a jerk.
Notes
Animation or technical glitches
- At the start of the episode, when Brawn confronts Starscream and Thundercracker, the Decepticons' colors are switched.
- When Megatron follows Starscream and Thundercracker out of the pyramid after leaving Skyfire in, his Decepticon emblem disappears for a moment.
- In the battlefield scene between Soundwave and Reflector versus the other Autobots, the Autobot lasers are colored purple.
- When Skyfire swoops over Soundwave and Reflector and destroys their stone bunkers, both the lasers hitting their targets and the explosions are missing, so it appears the walls just fall apart.
- When Skyfire is about to destroy the cannon, it already appears to be melted to slag.
- After Skyfire revives, he doesn't have the exterior damage to his chest. Spike was barely able to get Skyfire's interior damage fixed before Ravage batted Bumblebee away and tried to attack the humans.
- When Skyfire strafes the crystal-powered weapon, he momentarily has Skywarp's colors.
Continuity errors
- The Incans apparently built temples with steps large enough for Transformers to use.
- Skyfire was left for dead and mourned in his previous, debut appearance in "Fire in the Sky". Why do the Autobots return to his resting spot to dig him up out of the ice for a quick ride?
- One of the major contradictions that is often pointed out in this episode is that the Autobots apparently drive to the North Pole in order to dig up Skyfire, so he can then fly them to South America. But if they can drive to the North Pole (suspend your disbelief!), why not just drive to South America? If you think about it for a moment, however, the two specific Autobots we see at the North Pole are Wheeljack and Sideswipe, who are both capable of flight. There's nothing to explicitly indicate that they flew to the North Pole, of course, but it makes a disturbing amount of sense.
- Presumably as a result of some kind of miscommunication in production, Sideswipe is seen using an actual hand-held jackhammer to unearth Skyfire, rather than his customary built-in arm-mounted jackhammers.
- How does Skyfire know Wheeljack's name? Wheeljack wasn't part of the Autobot group that went to the Arctic Circle in "Fire in the Sky".
- Megatron can apparently pick off the Sky Spy from the temple to the atmosphere but can't shoot Optimus Prime with his weapon from 30 feet in front of him.
- Luisa evidently can teleport.
Rhino DVD release
- The Rhino DVD version of this episode uses a number of erroneous takes as the basis of its remastered animation. As a result, the DVD introduces several coloring errors that were not present in the broadcast version. For example, Trailbreaker is colored a solid red (like Ironhide and Sideswipe) in his introductory shot. When Skywarp mocks Starscream for having to guard the Crystal, he is colored like Thundercracker. When Starscream and Thundercracker carry Skyfire's inert form, the Autobot jet has Skywarp’s colors, and as Megatron addresses Starscream, the latter has Thundercracker's colors. The broadcast version has correct colors for all these shots. (See illustration)
- The chapter stops for this episode on the Rhino DVD include: Opening / Stolen Steel / It's Skyfire / To The Mining Town / Visiting Decepticon / Invention Works
Continuity notes
- This episode references "Fire in the Sky", the previous (and first) episode that Skyfire appeared in.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Starscream has a dozen rockets in hidden chest compartments. This ability will appear again in "Full Throttle Scramble Power!". The feature was later immortalized in toy form for Starscream's Robot Masters incarnation through clip-on accessories, and again as part of his Masterpiece figure, this time actually incorporated into the figure.
- Soundwave conceals a tricorder-like scanning device in his left wrist.
- Brawn has a retractable claw that can extend in his car mode.
- Skywarp refers to Starscream by the nickname "Screamer" in this episode, a nickname used again by Streetwise in the late Season 2 episode "B.O.T.".
- Brawn humiliates Megatron with his own fusion cannon. Ironically, Brawn gets killed with the same weapon later.
- This is the only episode to play on Thundercracker's uncertain loyalties, a trait called out in his original bio. However, the official Sunbow synopsis for the episode indicates that it was originally going to take the idea even further:
- "The Autobots arrive to stop [the Decepticons], and Jetfire tries to convince a beleaguered Thundercracker to switch loyalties and join the Autobots. He is caught and wounded by Starscream. Spike, with the help of a local native girl, goes to his rescue, and Jetfire--with a little assist from Thundercracker--turns away the Deceptcions and destroys the "Crystal of Power.""[1]
- This is also one of the few episodes in which Thundercracker displays his sonic powers, and even then, only when Starscream whines about the "awful thunder noise" he's making as they fly away. His sonic powers are also mentioned in "Heavy Metal War", where Megatron uses them after gathering all the Decepticons' powers.
- Brawn vs. Soundwave, Round 1: Brawn 1, Soundwave 0 >>
Real-world references
- The title of this episode may be a reference to the Grateful Dead song of the same name.
- The Transformers visit Peru, an ancient Incan temple, and a mining village where everyone speaks heavily accented English.
- Star Wars sound effects:
- Laserbeak pursues Windcharger with a TIE fighter engine roar, and fires on him with the sound of the Death Star super laser firing. After the commercial break, he gets more TIE sounds along with some Millennium Falcon engines, during several different shots.
- Megatron launches to attack Brawn with another Falcon engine burst. The roar continues into the next shot as the sound of Skyfire's jets.
Trivia
- Luisa's name is never spoken in the episode.
- A hissing sound effect (like the sound of air escaping from a canister) is heavily used in this episode, especially when a character is jumping or taking off into the air. It's never used in such a manner again. [citation needed]
Home video releases
- The episode was released by itself on videocassette in 1984 as Volume 8 of Family Home Entertainment's Transformers collection. It had the (now somewhat quaint) honor of being available in both VHS and Betamax formats.
