Mistaken Identity
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| File:Mistaken Identity Karl.jpg Let's Samuraize, guys! | |||||||||
| "Mistaken Identity" (Black Convoy no Yabō) "Black Convoy's Ambition" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Studio Gallop | ||||||||
| Airdate | 6 December 2000 (Japanese) March 2, 2002 (English) | ||||||||
| Written by | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi (Japanese) Michael McConnohie (English) | ||||||||
| Director | Akira Katō | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Studio Gallop | ||||||||
Sky-Byte needs Koji
To move Fortress Maximus
Oops, got the wrong kid
Summary
Karl and Jenny find their friend Koji in a park, pondering how to control Fortress Maximus. They're both impressed that Koji was able to control the giant robot, but their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Scourge and Mega-Octane, who attempt to kidnap Koji. Fortunately the Autobot Brothers are nearby and soon chase the two Decepticons off. Back at base, Optimus explains he's detailed the three brothers with protecting Koji since the Decepticons seem to think he's their best bet at controlling Maximus.
Indeed, in the Megastar, Scourge is telling Galvatron the same thing. Sky-Byte questions Scourge's loyalty, but Galvatron will hear nothing of it, and demands that Koji be captured and brought to him.
Meanwhile, Koji and Karl are skateboarding, and Koji laments that the Autobots are keeping him from wandering far, but he has a plan. Soon afterwards, Side Burn follows "Koji", only to find that the two boys have switched clothing, and he's following the wrong one. Side Burn and Prowl quickly catch up with the real Koji and take him back to base to be told off by Optimus. Wedge suddenly calls in to report in panic that Koji has just been kidnapped by Sky-Byte—which Koji quickly realises means that the Predacons have Karl.
Sky-Byte's pride in having successfully done Galvatron's bidding is short-lived, as Scourge points out the captured boy is not actually Koji. Galvatron rages, but Scourge suggests that they should try having Karl attempt to control Fortress Maximus. Movor reports that Maximus is currently located in a forest in Sector Gamma Four, and it doesn't take long for the three evil-doers to arrive there with Karl and Cerebros. Karl is able to command Maximus to transform, and a tractor beam pulls him into Maximus's command centre. At Scourge's order, he makes Maximus punch a mountain, with devastating results.
T-AI manages to trace Maximus's location, and Optimus and the Autobot Brothers set out, with Koji managing to persuade Side Burn to take him along.
Karl finds controlling Maximus exhilarating and realises he can now help the Autobots by destroying the Decepticons. On the ground, Scourge orders Karl to destroy Galvatron and Sky-Byte, much to their respective fury and alarm. Galvatron transforms into "Iron Mammoth" mode and waits. As it turns out, Maximus refuses to obey the command, and stops short of crushing the pair underfoot.
The Autobots arrive and begin attacking Galvatron. Sky-Byte sees his chance to capture Koji, but Karl has Maximus grab the Predacon and toss him away. The giant expels Karl gently onto the ground, and he's reunited with his friend. A second attempt by Sky-Byte to capture Koji is foiled by the newly arrived Ultra Magnus. Omega Prime and the powered-up Autobot Brothers are soon seeing off Galvatron, but not before he disables Scourge and promises pain in the Decepticon's future. Fortress Maximus sinks into the ground once more.
Koji apologises to Karl for letting him get kidnapped, but Karl is just happy to have gotten the chance to command Maximus.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Karl: Bet I could control it.
Jenny: Who'd do what you'd say?
- —Karl and Jenny will probably end up married someday.
Prowl: Hey! You don't bother kids on my watch.
Side Burn: In fact, you just don't do it at all!
- —The Autobots do not approve of bothering kids. Teleporting them into a desert is all good, though.
"In those clothes, he looked exactly like Koji."
- —Side Burn subtly brings the deficiencies of the character design to our attention.
Scourge: That is not Koji. You failed again!
Sky-Byte: Urrrghhh! I have no idea how this could've happened, sir. I was led astray!
Galvatron: You will pay for this!!
Sky-Byte: Would you... take a check?
Galvatron: Shut your mouth, fool. How'll you fix it? Tell me that.
Sky-Byte: Well, I still have the receipt, I could see about doing an exchange.
- —Sky-Byte attempts to dig himself out of a hole. Even by his standards, it's a poor effort.
"Pompous fool! I am here for Fortress Maximus. When I awoke from protoform stasis, I got more than you planned. I got a heavy dose of your ambition!"
- —Scourge demonstrates the overlooked pitfalls of cloning your spark when you're a ruthless, egotistical megalomaniac.
"Sir, you may not have noticed, but actually, he's just a little bit larger than you..."
- —Sky-Byte, on the other hand, is highly observant.
Galvatron:"Sky-Byte, bring Scourge back to base. Don't hurt him...that's something I'm looking forward to."
- —Hell hath no fury like a jet-bat-dragon-hand-car-transport-griffin-mammoth-robot scorned.
Notes
Differences with Car Robots
Animation and/or technical glitches
- When Sky-Byte dumps Karl on the ground in front of Galvatron, both his and Sky-Byte's shadows appear purple.
Continuity errors
- Scourge appears ignorant of the fact that Fortress Maximus responds to any human biosignature, only realising the truth midway through this episode; apparently, he has totally forgotten that he already worked this out in "The Human Element", and had previously used the knowledge to control Fortress Maximus himself.
Transformers references
- Fortress Maximus appears to be common knowledge among the humans (but then, he did stomp around in a major city and was then yelled at by one thousand small children, so...).
Miscellaneous trivia
- Scourge has new transformation stock footage. Good for him.
- Koji's helmet has a "Y" on the back, which stands for his Japanese name, Yūki, whilst the "K" on Karl's stands for his Japanese name, Kenta, as well as his English one.
- Speaking of names, Scourge seems to have a bit of difficulty remembering Galvatron's. It can be hard to keep up sometimes...
- It's not entirely clear where Cerebros ended up at the end of the episode; he's last seen detaching from Fortress Maximus.
- Wedge isn't designed to chase flying sharks. A completely understandable oversight.
- Judging from the bit of paper he holds up when he says it, it would appear that Sky-Byte genuinely does have a receipt for the child he kidnapped. Commerce works strangely in Metro City...
Home video releases
- DVD
2001 — Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 9 (Pony Canyon) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 2 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season Two (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)
