Fire in the Sky
| |||||||||
 "If I talk to you for two minutes, I consider you my friend." | |||||||||
| "Fire in the Sky" | |||||||||
| Production code | #700-04 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | December 8, 1984 | ||||||||
| Written by | Alfred A. Pegal | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Toei | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
While siphoning the Earth of its energy, the Decepticons uncover a long-lost colleague of Starscream.
- Japanese title: スカイファイヤーの再生 (Skyfire no Saisei, "Skyfire's Resurrection")
Synopsis
What’s this? A blanket of snow over the Ark's volcano? The Autobots and Spike engaged in a snowball fight? In July? In the middle of the desert? Something is amiss with the world’s weather. According to Teletraan I's scans, temperatures are 40 degrees below normal and falling rapidly.
Somewhere in the Arctic Circle, the Decepticons have tapped a crystal shaft leading directly to the Earth's core to siphon the planet's heat energy into energon cubes. While excavating the icy caverns surrounding the crystal, Rumble uncovers a Transformer frozen in the ice. Starscream recognizes it as his old colleague Skyfire.
The Autobots finally pinpoint the source of the Earth’s energy drain, and Teletraan I confirms Decepticon activity surrounding a crystal outgrowth in the Arctic Circle. Optimus Prime hastily assembles an assault team, and they roll out, with Spike and Sparkplug accompanying.
The Decepticons have hauled the frozen titan out of the ice and proceed to repair it. Starscream explains his past: millions of years ago, before the final falling out between the Autobots and Decepticons, Starscream and Skyfire were both explorers. They were charting an unknown planet, Earth, when a storm separated the two and Skyfire was lost.
Skyfire awakens and Megatron welcomes him to the Decepticon cause. Though Skyfire is grateful for having been thawed out, he shows doubts about being a warrior rather than a scientist. He commits to the cause out of loyalty to Starscream. When the Autobots arrive in the Arctic, Skyfire targets them for destruction.
Skyfire opens fire, scattering the Autobots. Spike tumbles through the ice into the arctic waters. Sparkplug pulls him out, but they are trapped on an ice floe. They cry out for help. Skyfire is intrigued by the new lifeforms and tries to befriend them, not realizing that they are terrified by Decepticons. Spike and Sparkplug try to explain that it’s the Decepticons that are the true monsters. The naïve Skyfire takes the humans to Megatron to prove the Decepticons' good intentions. Megatron and Starscream promptly imprison Spike and Sparkplug behind bars of ice, and plan their execution, leaving Skyfire troubled.
Optimus leads his Autobot team into the icy caverns, but a cave-in splits the team in two. Prime's group finds the humans and frees them, while the other team—including Ironhide, Ratchet, Hound and Gears—find the crystal shaft tap. Megatron discovers this second group and has his soldiers capture them. To test Skyfire's loyalty, Starscream orders Skyfire to execute the captives. Skyfire refuses, and in a fit of rage, Starscream blasts his old friend. Starscream then blasts the prisoners to pieces.
Well, not really. Once again, one of Hound's holograms has saved the day, creating the illusion of blasted Autobot parts. When Starscream departs, Hound drops the illusion. An ailing Skyfire awakens and is pleased to see the Autobots functioning. The disparate Autobot teams unite as Ratchet repairs the fallen titan. Laserbeak spies Ratchet's work and reports to Megatron. The Decepticon leader chews out Starscream for failing to kill the prisoners. Megatron orders his soldiers to attack.
"I'm not dead, damn it!"
"I can still hear his voice on the wind... *sniff*"
As the battle progresses, Prime and Megatron each grab shards of crystals and engage in a duel. Skyfire appears on the battlefield, and Megatron orders him to attack Prime. Skyfire refuses, and proudly declares himself an Autobot, attacking Megatron and his Decepticons instead.
The battle takes to the air as Starscream and Skyfire engage in an aerial dogfight. A midair collision sends Skyfire out of control. In a last ditch effort, his blasts bury the crystal, but Skyfire crashes into the ice. The Autobots mourn Skyfire’s heroic sacrifice.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
"Not snowman, Spike. Snowbot! There's a flurry in a hurry!"
- —A snow-covered Jazz, surprising Spike
"Okay, Spike. You rat on me, I'll splat on you!"
- —Bumblebee, after Spike warns Ratchet about Bumblebee's incoming snowball
"Ironhide's carrying too much lead in his caboose!"
- —Gears, predating the "junk in the trunk" standard after they all fall through an ice sheet
"Lucky for you my laser has a defrost cycle."
- —Cliffjumper breaks Spike and Sparkplug out of an ice prison.
"Well, I'll be reprogrammed with a rivet roller."
- —Ironhide reveals yet another unusual piece of Cybertronian technology.
"I'm a scientist, not an executioner!"
- —Skyfire objecting to Starscream's demand that he execute the captives.
"He won't be forgotten, Spike. He will live forever... so long as freedom exists. We shall remember you, Skyfire."
- —Optimus Prime's eulogy for Skyfire
Notes
Animation or technical glitches
- As Optimus Prime muses about how the heat from the Earth's core is being drained away, Gears can be seen in the background sitting in front of a console with a very small screen. But during the closeup of Gears, the screen is much larger.
- When the Autobots roll out, the background is moving far too quickly, making them appear to be sliding across frame while transforming. It doesn't help that they aren't drawn very well, either.
- When Skyfire first wakes up and asks where he is, Starscream's mouth appears to be moving, but he isn't actually saying anything.
- Right after he wakes up, Skyfire has a red Decepticon insignia in his chest in one shot, before they actually imprint the symbol on him.
- When Bumblebee tells Optimus that he can't find Ironhide and the others, the animation makes him look like he's flying. In the same scene, Optimus is shown with his trailer, though it wasn't there before, and it isn't there in the next shots.
- In a rather odd shot set up, Skyfire is too big to fit into a cave that Megatron and Starscream stand in. He’s forced to peer through the cave’s opening.
- Megatron’s order to Skyfire to destroy Optimus Prime is voiced, oddly enough, by Optimus Prime.
- Just before Skyfire shoots the crystal, while Ratchet points in the air, Optimus Prime is colored blue in the background.
- Skywarp has a red Decepticon symbol in the shot where he mocks Rumble.
- When Optimus enters the Decepticon base, he has no trailer, yet it appears once he's outside.
Continuity errors
- This episode's basic premise is one of the most bizarre and scientifically ludicrous conceits ever created by the cartoon - namely, the idea that draining the energy of the Earth's core would somehow severely and instantly affect its climate, causing plummeting temperatures world wide. If internal heat generates the planet's climate, why would there be big frozen zones at the poles? Doesn't Earth actually have a big external heat source that would offset the devastating loss of this (infinitesimal) heat source?
- Furthermore, the Autobots never actually solve the problem! They stop the Decepticons from draining the energy, but there's no indication that this actually corrects the Earth's temperature imbalance.
- Teletraan I says the global average temperature has dropped by 40 degrees. To put that in context, the average temperature was about 8 degrees less than the present day during the last ice age.
- What exactly do green crystals have to do with the Earth's core?
- The Autobots can apparently drive from North America to the Arctic in a fairly short amount of time.
- Starscream transforms into an F-15 millions of years before his arrival on Earth, or the invention of jets.
- Were Starscream and Skyfire really friends? Starscream seems to shoot his old friend and call him "Traitor!" quite a lot. Then again, Starscream is a royal jerk.
- It's never adequately explained where Skyfire got an Autobot badge from.
- Superhuman Spike:
- Spike manages to survive this episode despite falling and nearly drowning in FREEZING COLD ARCTIC WATERS!
Rhino DVD release
- In the Rhino DVD version, Skyfire's Decepticon insignia is colored red in several shots.
- The chapter stops for this episode on the Rhino DVD are Opening / Snowbot / At the Arctic Circle / "Destruction to Autobots" / An Illusion / Skyfire is Gone
Continuity notes
- Aside from astroseconds, Transformers also use astrominutes as units of time.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Soundwave can transform his right forearm into a cylindrical electricity firing module capable of generating a million volts.
- Megatron can rotate his lower torso 180 degrees, which makes for some cool hand-to-hand combat maneuvers.
- Prime’s Combat Deck cannons make a rare appearance in this episode, emerging from a non-transformed trailer.
- The first appearance of Skyfire, obviously.
Japanese version
- The Japanese ordering of this episode places it toward the end of the series. This was done as it featured Skyfire prominantly and with his toy being of Bandai design (and not sold in Japan as a Transformer), that caused some legal concerns amongst Takara (many of Skyfire's smaller scenes in other episodes were cut entirely). Though the episodes featuring him as a main characters were eventually shown, the scripts were not reworked to adjust to the new chronological placement, simply being more or less direct translations of the original English versions.
- Cut: After Jazz makes his "snow fair" joke, the pan across to Bumblebee has been cut.
- Cut: After Cliffjumper crashes ino the snow-covered tree, the scene of him shaking his head, Hound sliding by and crashing into a cactus have been cut.
- Cut: The scene of Gears pointing to his monitor and blaming the snow on the Decepticons and Prime walking up and bending forward have been cut.
- Cut: After Megatron makes his speech about gathering enough Energon cubes to conquer the universe, the pan across the ice cave toward Rumble has been cut.
- Cut: Following Teletraan-1's line, "Abnormally large energy expenditure in the Artic Circle", the scene of the monitor panning across the frozen tundra toward the large green crystal cone has been cut.
- Cut: After the Autobots all transform and leave the Ark, the scene of Prime driving next to the cliffside and Spike's line, "Arctic Circle, here we come" have been cut.
- Cut: After Starscream tosses Spike and Sparkplug to the ground, the following scene of him pointing his arm gun toward them and the humans reacting in horror have been cut. The sequence resumes as his firing on the roof of the ice cave to create the ice bars.
- Cut: Once Soundwave ejects Ravage at Megatron's command, the scene of Megatron pointing Ravage in a certain direction and Ravage charging down the cave have been cut. The sequence resumes at the inward pan of the empty cave and Jazz's line about "searching these tunnels for astro-minutes".
- Additional narration is added describing the scene where all the Autobots are standing over the injured Skyfire and Laserbeak sneakily observing them.
- Cut: Immediately following that scene, the scene of Megatron sitting down and spinning an Energon cube in his hand has been cut. The sequence resumes at his blinking chest.
- Additional narration, "and then...", is added to the scene of Megatron receiving the message from Laserbeak.
Trivia
- This episode was produced as the seventh in the season, though it aired after the eighth-produced episode, "S.O.S. Dinobots".
- Strangely, the official Sunbow Productions cast list entry for "Fire in the Sky" names "Decepticon Workers" who "resemble Skywarp" as silent characters ("no dialogue") appearing in the episode. No such legion of Skywarps actually appears.
- Spike and Sparkplug have fashionable fur-lined cold-weather hardhats with ear flaps.
- When the Autobots are split up, the 3 members of Prime's team are the 3 members of the Ark crew who survive The Transformers: The Movie
Home video releases
- VHS
1985 — The Transformers — Volume 4: "Fire in the Sky" (Family Home Entertainment)
1995 — The Transformers — The Autobots vs. The Decepticons (Malofilm)
- 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.
2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume Three (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder)
2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume Two (Rhino Entertainment)
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 One (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima (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)
