Puppet
| |||||||||
| Puppet (Kaibutsu [Nisemono]) "Monster (Counterfeit)" | |||||||||
| Production code | TF: A-43 | ||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | ||||||||
| Airdate | September 19, 2003 (CA) November 7, 2003 (US) 24 October 2003 (Japan) | ||||||||
| Writer | Ryō Motohira | ||||||||
| Director | Masayuki Motsumoto | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Actas | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | ||||||||
Autobots and Decepticons land on a mysterious planet where there's an evil version of Optimus.
Synopsis
On the bridge of his ship, Megatron blogs to himself about how happy he is that Optimus is alive again, which confuses his minions.
On top of the hull of the Axalon, Optimus gets reintroduced to his crew, and the Mini-Cons escorting the ship. But the welcoming party is cut short by an electrical space anomaly that suddenly appeared in the ship's path. Hot Shot and Red Alert are pulled into the hole, which fades away.
On a strange alien landscape, Hot Shot and Red Alert reawaken. Red Alert quickly acts responsibly and sends a beacon to the Autobot ship. Next, the two survey the irregular terrain they arrived in. A dark copy of Optimus Prime assaults and chases the two.
Elsewhere, the Decepticons begin their hunt on the planet for their enemies. Their attention is brought to the noise of the Autobots' fight. The three Decepticons transform to assist the black scourge who introduces himself as Nemesis Prime. Using an amazing ability to alter his own shape, Nemesis Prime turns on Megatron, holding the Decepticon leader in the air.
The Decepticons and Autobots both fight against Nemesis Prime, but the battle quickly comes down to Megatron resorting to the use of the Requiem Blaster. The resulting explosion destroys the Prime-doppleganger and damages the Autobots.
In space, the Mini-Cons guide the Autobot ship to the planet with their two missing friends.
Megatron prepares to finish off both Autobots. Starscream interjects, suggesting using the Autobots as captives. Megatron buys Starscream's disguised compassion. Nemesis Prime re-forms from fragments on the ground and battles the Decepticons again, this time with a sword, but the arrival of Mini-Cons takes the menace down. Before they leave again, the Mini-Cons bathe the gathered bulks in energy, repairing them and giving the large Transformers as well as themselves new colors and a boost in power.
The Axalon arrives over the planet, dropping Optimus and Overload onto the surface. A giant Nemesis Prime emerges from the ground for a third attempt at destroying the Transformers. When Optimus and Megatron combine their ordnance, the creature finally dies, revealing a brief transparent image of Sideways before vanishing. With Nemesis Prime destroyed, the planet begins to disintegrate, and so the Autobots and Decepticons return to their ships and continue on their voyage to Cybertron.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons | Misc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"I got kinda banged up and it looks like I sustained some collateral damage."
- —Red Alert gives Hot Shot an enigmatic damage report.
"Nemesis Prime will... destroy!"
- —Nemesis Prime
"This fighting must end."
- —Longarm
"I look like.... Thundercracker."
- —Starscream
"As Galvatron, I have even more power!"
- —Meg-err, Galvatron
Notes
Differences with Micron Legend
- Starscream, upon gaining his super mode, just wonders what is up with the different colours on his mode. He makes no references to Thundercracker.
Animation and/or technical glitches
- None known.
Continuity errors
- None known.
Real-world references
- None known.
Miscellaneous trivia
- Jetfire only appears in a single wide shot of the bridge that is reused several times throughout the episode. He has no dialogue.
- The intro to the episode has a unique narration that mentions the kids, which flows into a recap of the last episode.
- Nemesis Prime has a trailer in the animation, the toy does not.
- Why couldn't Prime have arrived on the planet seconds before the Mini-Con and received his Powerlinx colors like the rest of the Transformers with Powerlinx colors? Only Stephen Colbert knows, and he's not telling.
- Thrust and Cyclonus also had Powerlinx colorations that were never used in the series.
- Overload's sudden appearance was on the "to-do" list of things to be explained in the Linkage series, but there was never time for it. So all we can infer is that it's a big weapon set that for whatever reason Prime was unable to bring to battle before.
Home video releases
- DVD
2004 — Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 11 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (New KSM) — English and German audio.
