Countdown to Extinction (episode)
| This article is about the episode Countdown to Extinction. For the comic issue, see Countdown to Extinction (issue). |
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 "Whoa, what, really? My bad, Prime." | |||||||||
| "Countdown to Extinction" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-11 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | December 1, 1984 | ||||||||
| Written by | Reed Robbins and Peter Salas | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Toei | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
In the aftermath of Cybertron's catastrophic orbit of Earth, both sides regroup, while Starscream puts into motion a plan to destroy the planet.
- Japanese title: 地球消滅計画 (Chikyū Shōmetsu Keikaku, "The Earth Obliteration Plan")
- Latin American title: "Cuenta atrás hacia la extinción"
Synopsis
The previous threat of Cybertron's orbits over Earth have passed. Optimus Prime and the Autobots work to help repair cities and do other generous/benevolent type things. After all, Megatron is MIA, believed killed in the explosion that moved Cybertron from Earth's orbit. But they are not the only ones to notice Megatron's absence.
Starscream, believing Megatron destroyed, forces Doctor Arkeville to take him to his secret laboratory. Once there he discovers another of the Doctor's inventions, the Exponential Generator, a power source that, if it overcharges, will detonate with enough energy to destroy the Earth.
Seeking to gain power for himself, Starscream links the generator to a timer and then takes Doctor Arkeville with him to Cybertron, which is still nearby. He plans to collect the energy unleashed by Earth's destruction to revitalize Cybertron. He coerces Shockwave into serving him, and to help in the restoration of Cybertron.
Meanwhile on Earth, Megatron has returned to the Decepticons, having survived the explosion of his starship. When he learns that Starscream and Doctor Arkeville are apparently working together he sets off in pursuit with the other Decepticons.
The Autobots detect the Decepticon activity and set off after them. After a short battle the Autobots are trapped in quicksand. Ironhide freezes the quicksand with his liquid nitrogen allowing them to escape. Laserbeak, who was standing guard over them, is captured and Jazz forces him to play his findings. The Autobots learn that the Decepticons are heading for the Doctor's secret laboratory and they set off to follow them.
The Doctor, unwilling to let Starscream benefit from the Earth's destruction, attempts to sabotage the energy collectors but the Decepticon security system stuns him with a blast of electricity. Starscream has the badly-injured Doctor 'repaired' by the medicroids, leaving him more machine now than man. Of course, he was twisted and evil to start with, so.
The Autobots and Decepticons arrive at the laboratory and battle each other again. Unaware of the danger it represents, Megatron covets the exponential generator and fights Optimus Prime for its possession. During the fight Megatron receives a communication from Shockwave on Cybertron.
Shockwave, unwilling to serve Starscream, warns Megatron about the timer and Starscream's plan. Megatron rips the timer from the wall just in time. On Cybertron, Starscream is baffled that the Earth has not exploded and sets off back to check the timer.
The exponential generator has become volatile and begins to go critical, ready to explode. Prime rips it away from Megatron, but the Decepticon leader says he needs the Autobot leader's help. Transforming, Megatron tells Prime to load the generator into his gun barrel, and then fires it into space. It explodes and the blast sends Starscream crashing to Earth where Megatron is waiting for him.
With the threat ended, the Autobots let the Decepticons go. Bumblebee wonders what will happen to Starscream, and the other Autobots are amused at the thought of what Megatron plans to do.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Can't you do anything right, Skywarp?"
"Watch it you metallic mini-meatball or I'll step on you!"
- —Skywarp and Rumble shortly before the latter gets owned.
"Hey, I didn't volunteer for this geeky assignment. I want Skywarp's job."
"Butt out, Frenzy. Geek work's made for a geek! Like you!"
- —Skywarp and Frenzy bickering before resorting to violence.
"I, Doctor Arkeville, genius of science, say... OPEN SESAME!"
"How original."
- —Dr. Arkeville shows Starscream the entrance to his secret lab.
"Hey Optimus, how'd you like to hear the number one on the Decepticon hot cassette charts?"
"As I believe the Earthlings say...lay it on me, man."
- —Jazz and Optimus Prime
"Your destiny is to serve me, my potent beauty."
- —Megatron's interest in the exponential generator gets a little creepy.
Rumble: Megatron, it's...it's the Autobots!
Megatron: Impossible! They were doomed!
Skywarp: Don't worry. We'll make them regret undooming themselves.
- —The Decepticons prepare to kick some exhaust port.
Megatron: Here! Have a ton of fun!
[Megatron throws a boulder at Optimus and misses.]
Optimus: Hahaha! Your aim's improving, Megatron!
- —Optimus Prime is having a blast.
"Welcome home, noble voyager."
- —Megatron missed Janeway too.
Bumblebee: Hey Prime, what do you think Megatron's gonna do to Starscream?"
Optimus: Nothing gentle, I would say.
[general laughter]
Jazz: I think we seen the last of ol' Starcreep alright! And that's the first thing that's gone right all day.
- —The Autobots muse on Starscream's fate after Megatron is last seen carrying him off screen.
Notes
- In the Family Home Entertainment VHS promotional blurb for this episode, the narrator claims the exponential generator's explosion is powerful enough to destroy the entire universe. So, uhhh, maybe every bit of TF fiction produced after this actually represents a different universal stream!
Technical or animation glitches
- As the Dinobots push the building back into place, Grimlock has his old head design, and Sludge has that strange yellow mouth interior again.
- As Wheeljack raises his hand to indicate where the Dinobots should stop, the flashing glow of his "ears" is layered on top of his hand.
- Two Brawns are seen repairing the damaged dam, one handing the other a concrete block. In the next shot, one of them has turned into Gears, in time for Huffer to hassle him.
- When Skywarp's hand and arm reach into the frame to slap Rumble, they're in Thundercracker's colors.
- Missing Seeker insignia:
- Skywarp and Thundercracker are both missing the insignia on the back of their wings as Thundercracker steps in to tell them to shape up.
- Soundwave is missing the yellow lines around his tape door as he mocks Thundercracker.
- As the sliding doors start to open to admit Megatron, he disappears for a frame or two.
- As Megatron asks about Arkeville, Skywarp's chest intakes are colored black. Both he and Thundercracker have the bottom segments of their canopies colored orange instead of black/blue respectively.
- Skywarp is drawn delivering Thundercracker's "He's gone!" lines.
- As usual when he's playing back a tape report, Soundwave's tape door suddenly becomes transparent as Laserbeak plays back. Behind him, Thundercracker's canopy is still over-oranged, and his wings aren't symmetrical.
- The Laserbeak tape is blue in the first shot, but during the close-up, its coloring changes to Laserbeak's normal red-and-white.
- As Megatron orders his troops to move out, Soundwave's hand is white, then changes to blue.
- Wheeljack is missing his ears as he watches Megatron & co. on screen.
- Improbable viewpoints:
- How DID Teletraan-1 get that image of the Decepticons flying along?
- Starscream's foot is light gray instead of blue as he comments on the Doctor's originality.
- Bumblebee is tan instead of yellow as the jets fire on the Autobot convoy.
- The area in front of Starscream's neck is dark gray instead of light gray as Dr. Arkeville says he must work under his supervision.
- As Starscream prepares to flip the switch, his wings are missing most of their paint details.
- As Starscream congratulates the Doctor for understanding his intent, the stripes on his wings are white instead of red.
- In the next shot, the bridge of Starscream's nose is dark gray instead of medium gray. In fact, Starscream's nose changes color a lot throughout this episode, too much to mention.
- "Puny flesh creature!" The insignia on Starscream's wing-back is badly out of place.
- Starscream's air intakes are light gray instead of red as Dr. Arkeville boards his jet mode.
- As Starscream talks to Dr. Arkeville in space, his voice is muffled as though coming over a radio. Since Arkeville is inside him, shouldn't Starscream's voice be normal?
- Brawn's helmet is yellow instead of gray in the big lineup of firing Autobots. Jazz is missing his insignia. Wheeljack's ears flash for a single frame even though he's not speaking, and they're orange; he's missing his missile launcher.
- Thundercracker has no stripes or insignia on his wings as he, Soundwave and Rumble half-heartedly dodge Autobot fire (instead of landing like Megatron just ordered.)
- Starscream's elbow segment is red instead of gray after he threatens Shockwave.
- Optimus's antenna is white instead of blue as he looks up at Megatron perched on the rock peak, and again as he watches the Decepticons fly off.
- As he stands over the generator, the red button on Megatron's waist is colored blue.
- Thundercracker is drawn delivering Skywarp's "undooming themselves" line.
- The end of Megatron's fusion cannon is much too thin as he aims at Prime in front of the generator.
- As Prime warns Megatron to be careful, his faceplate drops almost all the way to his chin as he speaks.
- The damage caused to Megatron's chest by the exponential generator disappears after he leaves the lab.
- Starscream's tailfins are miscolored as he falls to Earth and impacts.
- The chest segment above Starscream's canopy is colored yellow instead of gray as Megatron looms over him.
- As the Autobots drive past cam, Ironhide and Ratchet's passenger side windows are HUGE.
- Prime's strange half-sloped windscreen design appears in the next shot.
Shout! Factory DVD release
- The volume of the sound effects in the Shout! release of this episode are noticeably reduced from the original; the beeping of the timer after the first commercial break, for example, is barely audible.
Continuity errors
- Narrator Victor Caroli claims that Cybertron's orbit of Earth has "left the world in ruins". Yet somehow, after the opening scenes of this episode, we never see any signs of this catastrophic damage - in this episode or any future one.
- Megatron was beat to hell at the end of last episode. When he returns to Decepticon Headquarters, he's brand-spankin' new. Where did he get the resources to repair himself so thoroughly?
- Optimus says that "we can't let [Megatron] and the Decepticons regroup"... but it should be obvious from the screen that they already have regrouped.
- The timer that Starscream connects to the exponential generator, which starts at 8:00:00, leads to some dubious situations:
- It takes Starscream less than 30 seconds to reach outer space (and have a good bit of distance between him and Earth). He then reaches Cybertron in about 4 hours. For what it's worth, Starscream's toy bio states that he can reach Mach 2.8.
- There's a time lapse of around 15 minutes between the moment Megatron finds the exponential generator and when he opens it up. That, of course, could be overlooked seeing how it may take Megatron, who's unfamilar with the lab, that much time to figure out the controls.
- The battle outside Doctor Arkeville's lab goes on for 2 hours. Maybe not so dubious, but it's not the norm for the television series.
- How is it that everyone seems to know where Doctor Arkeville's secret laboratory is? (The very prominent front staircase might be a clue.)
- When we last see Laserbeak, he's held prisoner in Jazz's tape deck. We never do learn how he gets free.
- If the generator can melt Megatron's chest, why doesn't it melt his hands?
- The explosion from the exponential generator is supposed to be powerful enough to destroy the Earth, and yet the actual explosion is so small, all it does is knock Starscream out of the air. (See also War of the Dinobots for another example of an "Earth-destroying" explosion). In fairness, Megatron by this point has spent some time de-wiring and perhaps de-powering the device.
- While this episode is supposed to take place immediately after "The Ultimate Doom", the Japanese continuity places that three-parter at the end of the series, leaving everyone clueless as to how Starscream and Arkeville know each other and how Arkeville is turned back into a human from a cyborg.
Continuity notes
- This episode follows on from "The Ultimate Doom, Part 3" and includes a narrative recap of that episode's crucial events.
- Frenzy first appears in this episode...and he's red.
- Gadgets and powers:
- A relatively rare instance of Wheeljack firing his missile launcher.
- An even more rare instance of Mirage firing his.
- Ironhide unleashes his old favorite, supercooled nitrogen. It's a whitish-clear gas this time, coming from his retracted wrist.
- Megatron's communication with Shockwave on Cybertron is indicated by his upper-chest rectangles blinking.
- As proof of his leadership, Starscream shows a badge with the Decepticon symbol. Every other leader just had Laserbeak perch on his shoulder or arm.
- We never see Arkeville again; Starscream leaves him on Cybertron as an immobilized, half-man, half-machine freak.
- The episode is amazingly consistent about showing the same 13 Autobots in Prime's strike force.
- < < What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron's ship blew up! > >
Real-World references
- Star Wars sound effects:
- Millennium Falcon engine burst as Starscream approaches the secret lab.
- TIE Fighter engine roar and Falcon whine as Skywarp and Thundercracker open fire on the Autobot convoy.
- More Falcon rumble as Skywarp is hit by Wheeljack's missile.
- More TIE engine as the Decepticons move to land a second later.
- Death Star firing noise as the Decepticons launch to retreat.
- Diving X-Wings as the Decepticons leave the quicksand pit.
- TIE/Falcon as Laserbeak launches to stop Ironhide.
- A sound effect more commonly used for the Road Runner is repurposed as Skywarp and Thundercracker diving to attack the Autobots.
Trivia
- The Sunbow Productions cast list for this episode lists "Tyrex" and "Bronton" as Dinobots appearing with non-speaking roles. Evidence points to these being early names for Grimlock and Sludge coined by writer Donald F. Glut; in an interview with Glut[1], he revealed that, prior to the Dinobots receiving their final names, he had submitted more "dinosaurian" names for them. Why Glut's proposed names were used on a cast list page for an episode he did not write — particularly when Grimlock and Sludge had been referred to in prior cast list pages under their proper names — is unknown.
- For some reason, this episode was commemorated by an exclusive Super Collection Figure giftset sold at the Wonder Festival 2002 convention in Japan. The set included both a metallic-painted PVC of Optimus Prime holding Megatron in gun mode and a metallic-painted PVC of Prime in truck mode.
- Yes, that is the Heroic Autobots laughing over how Megatron is going to torture Starscream at the very end.
Home video releases
- VHS
- 1986 — The Transformers — Volume 11: "Countdown to Extinction" (Family Home Entertainment)
- Laserdisc
- 1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
- 2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- 2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume Three (Maverick Entertainment)
- 2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Maverick Entertainment)
- 2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Kid Rhino)
- 2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume Three (Kid Rhino)
- 2003 — Transformers — Collection 1: Series 1 (Madman Entertainment)
- 2004 — Transformers — Season 1 (Metrodome)
- 2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
- 2007 — Classic Transformers — Series One: Part Two (Metrodome)
- 2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
- 2008 — Transformers — Volume 02: Stagione Uno Parte Seconda (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
- 2009 — Transformers — Season One (Metrodome)
- 2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
- 2009 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
- 2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
