Starscream's Brigade
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 Surely, this will be his moment to shine...or not. | |||||||||
| "Starscream's Brigade" | |||||||||
| Production code | 700-61 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | January 7, 1986 | ||||||||
| Written by | Michael Charles Hill | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
After his latest attempt to overthrow Megatron's rule of the Decepticons, Starscream is banished from HQ, but this time, he hatches a plan...
- Japanese title: スタースクリーム軍団 (Starscream Gundan, "Starscream's Brigade")
- German Generation 2 title: "Starscreams großer Kampf" ("Starscreams big Fight")
Synopsis
In 1943, at the height of World War II, humans waged war on one another on the island of Guadalcanal in the south Pacific. Their wrecked and useless vehicles lay there untouched through the decades, until the present time—1985.
Within Decepticon headquarters, Starscream and Megatron are having a spat over the fact Megatron favors Shockwave. Predictably, it ends with Starscream shooting Megatron in the back and proclaiming himself the new leader. Megatron recovers after a few seconds, knocking Starscream to the ground. The rest of the Decepticons refuse to obey Starscream's order to kill Megatron, so he attempts to flee, only to be shot down by Megatron. At the Decepticon leader's order, Laserbeak carries Starscream away and dumps him on Guadalcanal.
Humiliated and infuriated, Starscream stumbles upon the remnants of some old World War II vehicles, which inspire him to create an army of his own. He forces his way past Thundercracker and Skywarp, who are guarding the space bridge, and travels to Cybertron. There he breaks into a Decepticon Detention Center and liberates the personality components of five Renegade Decepticons. Returning to Guadalcanal, he installs them into the wrecked vehicles, which transform into the Combaticons. The quarrelsome warriors are not happy with their new bodies and threaten simply to beat Starscream to a pulp, until he reveals that their new bodies do not contain energy absorbers, without which they cannot refuel: "No energy, no life." In exchange for the needed equipment, the Combaticons agree to obey Starscream's orders for the moment.
Jazz and Cliffjumper are making a public appearance at the unveiling of the Optimus Prime Memorial when Starscream and the Combaticons attack. The two Autobots are badly outnumbered. The statue is soon in ruins, and pair are abducted in Vortex's cargo bay. The Decepticons return to Guadalcanal, where Starscream celebrates triumphantly and the Combaticons squabble over who was responsible for the victory. He tells them to settle down and informs them that until they obtain five energy absorbers, no one is getting one.
At the Decepticon base, Shockwave informs Megatron that the Combaticons' personality components are missing. Assuming the Autobots are responsible, Megatron launches an attack on the Ark. The Autobots, meanwhile, have learned of the attack on the memorial and the abduction of Jazz and Cliffjumper, and they have assumed Megatron is responsible. When the Decepticon forces attack, the Autobots are confused by Megatron's demand for the personality components, and Optimus Prime's demand to turn over Jazz and Cliffjumper causes Megatron to suspect Starscream. Before he can complete his thought, a hit from Optimus knocks him to the ground and, realising that he and his men are low on energy, he orders a retreat. The Autobots consult Teletraan I again for the scoop on the personality components.
Starscream and the Combaticons attack the Decepticons while they're attempting to refuel. With the refueling incomplete, Megatron and his forces are compelled to retreat, allowing Starscream to capture Dirge and Ramjet as well. The energy absorber count is now four, and Starscream and his men retire to a power plant to recharge.
Megatron, meanwhile, rallies his troops (except the Stunticons, who are "busy"), and moves against Starscream and his army. In the ensuing battle, Megatron pulls out his trump card: Devastator. Unfortunately for him, Starscream pulls out his trump card when he reveals that the Combaticons can likewise combine into a single titan: Bruticus! Bruticus makes short work of Devastator, laying out the combined Constructicons. The massive combiner then scoops up Megatron in one hand and forces him to acknowledge Starscream as the new Decepticon leader.
The Autobots use the battle's distraction to rescue Jazz and Cliffjumper; meanwhile, the late-arriving Stunticons look over the situation and decide that Starscream is too likely to continue his rampage. Merging into Menasor, they defeat the unsuspecting Bruticus with one massive punch.
From the resultant crater, Megatron emerges; grabbing Starscream by the throat, he decrees that Starscream and his army are banished from Earth. The usurpers are hauled away by Astrotrain and left stranded on a distant asteroid in deep space... from which Starscream swears vengeance.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"NOBODY TURNS HIS BACK ON ME!"
- —Starscream, as Megatron turns his back on him.
"I have with me two members of the Autobot team: Jazz and Cliffjump."
"That's 'Cliffjumper'."
- —Marty Minkler and Cliffjumper.
"I see incompetence breeds even more incompetence. HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
- —Megatron to Starscream, after the latter fails in his attempt to destroy the Decepticon leader.
"Now, Megatron: who is the new Decepticon leader?"
"Enough! Uhm...you are."
"I can't hear you!"
"You are!"
"I am now the leader of all Decepticons!"
- —Megatron in the grip of Bruticus (literally), and Starscream.
Motormaster: Megatron's in trouble.
Dead End: Who cares?
Wildrider: It looks like Starscream's defeated him.
Dead End: So?
Motormaster: So, you think Starscream's going to stop here?
Dead End: Good point. He never knows when to quit.
Motormaster: Stunticons, unite to form Menasor!
- —The Stunticons survey Starscream's victory.
"Bruticus?"
"No, Starscream, not Bruticus. It's Megatron—your leader!"
"Megatron, don't, please!"
"This time, it really is 'goodbye', Starscream! Astrotrain, get him and his giant ally off this planet! They are banished from Earth...forever!"
"You'll regret that you did not destroy me, Megatron! I shall have my revenge!"
- —Starscream and Megatron after the Decepticon leader survives Starscream's latest mutiny.
Notes
Animation or technical glitches
- During the first scene in Decepticon headquarters, right before and immediately after Starscream shoots Megatron in the back (about a minute and a half into the episode), Soundwave's visor is absent. He appears to have two separate, red optics instead, which, when compared to his usually emotionless expression, is actually kind of scary. In addition, his tape door has the wrong shape.
- Early in the episode, the animators can't seem to decide which way up to have Starscream's Decepticon insignia.
- At several points in the episode, such as when Starscream approaches the Space Bridge, his eye colour changes from red to blue.
- Megatron's head seems a little small when he's chatting to Shockwave over the comm.
- When Megatron is attacking the Autobot headquarters, a black Thrust can be seen standing to his left. The camera cuts to Prime and then back to Megatron, who now has a properly decoed Thrust standing to his right.
- When Starscream says, "Don't think that it hasn't been fun," when he confronts Megatron, his wings are missing. Briefly afterwards, when Megatron says, "I see incompetence breeds even more incompetence!", Starscream's wings appear slightly bigger than they're supposed to be.
- When Megatron rallies the Decepticons before going after Starscream, Shockwave is seen among the group, even though he had been shown to be still on Cybertron. Dirge is also seen in the group, despite the fact that he's supposed to be a prisoner of the Combaticons at that point. (Maybe it's Thrust miscolored.)
- When Powerglide flies over the Decepticons, his plane mode is not only white, but a different model. Or, could it be...?
- As usual, Devastator's transformation sequence is all kinds of screwy. This time, Hook transforms not only into his own portion of Devastator, but also most of Long Haul's and much of Bonecrusher and Scavenger's as well. A second later, Bonecrusher and Scavenger transform into their usual Devastator components—including the parts that Hook already formed!
- Devastator repeatedly switches between having separate eyes and his usual eyeband.
- Devastator's voice is missing its usual reverb.
- During their demolition derby the stunticons duck under the cars for a split second and then go back up and reverse.
- While confronting the Combaticons Starscream's mouth disappeared once.
Continuity errors
- Starscream maintains control of the Combaticons by not installing energy absorbers into them, thereby preventing them from re-energising, and a repeated point is made that they must capture five Transformers in order to take their energy absorbers for the Combaticons. Yet the Combaticons are somehow able to recharge after capturing only four Transformers.
- After the Autobots figure out what's happening with Starscream and Megatron, Optimus dramatically orders his troops to "Transform and roll out!" But it seems they forgot to figure out where they were going; they're never shown arriving anywhere! The next time we see the Autobots, Optimus and Powerglide are once again standing in front of Teletraan I, and Optimus orders Powerglide to search for Starscream. Who says Prime doesn't learn from his mistakes?
- This episode was aired after "Aerial Assault", which also featured the Combaticons.
- So Astrotrain, in his space shuttle mode, can transport Starscream and the Combaticons to an asteroid in deep space, but Blast Off, a space shuttle himself, can't fly them back to Earth?
Continuity notes
- Earth builds a memorial to Optimus Prime before he's even dead...Ominous.
- < < What makes Starscream the leader? Megatron said so! Well, hard to argue with that, huh? > >
Real-world references
- Elements of World War II are shown in the episode with the abandoned military vehicles.
Trivia
- According to the Generation 1 production bible, this episode was titled "30 Seconds over Megatron" before broadcast. [1]
- The WWII element of the Combaticons' origin is a strange choice, since none of their toys are actually WWII-era vehicles. The shooting script dictates specific, historically-accurate vehicles for each one, and then it describes them as their modern, toy-based forms, but no explanation or even description is given for the transition. It ended up being animated as part of their transformation to robot mode, and it remains a unique phenomenon.
- Number of times that somebody says "Jazz and Cliffjumper": 7
- The Japanese dub of the episode (poorly) super-imposes Japanese translations of the captions during the World War II recap, which shows the Combaticons' origins.
- Devastator got his tail kicked. Can you tell he's no longer a new toy, folks?
- Amazingly, a single shot from Optimus Prime's laser blaster square to Megatron's chest was somehow enough to disable the Decepticon leader's primary weapon. When Megatron attempts to return the favor by blasting Prime, his fusion cannon fires a refreshing gust of pink wind, which prompts him to stare down its barrel in disbelief. This could only have been more hilarious if a little flag with "BANG!" on it had popped out.
- The plot of this episode is reused in a simplified form in The Special Teams.
Home video releases
- VHS
1988 — The Action Adventure Collection (Tempo Video)
1989 — Transformers — Starscream's Brigade (Tempo Video)
1993 — The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Heroes (Tempo Video)
1999 — The Original Transformers — Volume 3: Programmed for Evil (Rhino Entertainment)
- Laserdisc
1995 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Megatron Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers — Decepticon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 3: Series 2.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2006 — The Best of The Transformers (Madman Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
