The Burden Hardest to Bear
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 You found me beautiful, once. | |||||||||
| "The Burden Hardest to Bear" | |||||||||
| Production code | 700-114 | ||||||||
| Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||
| Airdate | November 19, 1986 | ||||||||
| Written by | Michael Charles Hill | ||||||||
| Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||
Overwhelmed by the burdens of leadership, Rodimus Prime doesn't care too much when the Decepticons steal the Matrix of Leadership away from him.
- Japanese title: 重すぎた使命 (Omo Sugi ta Shimei, "The Mission Too Heavy")
- German title: Die Last der Verantwortung ("The Burden of Responsibility")
Synopsis
At dawn, the people of Japan are awakening to do their daily tasks: fishing, going to shrines, and sword practice. Then, the Decepticons show up to cause random trouble.
Devastator and Predaking begin harassing a few fishermen, but are chased off by Broadside. Astrotrain tries to ram a train head on (real smart) only to have the Aerialbots drive him away. Bruticus and Defensor fight it out, when Cyclonus and the Sweeps arrive, but are driven off by Rodimus, Kup, and Sky Lynx. However, instead of thanking the Autobots for saving many lives, the government of Japan is very upset, saying that the Autobots frightened people and ruined business (thankless bipeds). When Marissa Faireborn arrives and brings more problems to Rodimus, the Autobot leader loses patience, transforms, and drives off. Kup explains that Rodimus is merely strained under the burden of command, much like Optimus Prime was in his early days as leader, and Marissa decides to follow him, to let him have someone to talk to.
Meeting up on the highway, however, the two are attacked by Wildrider and Dead End, who knock Marissa into a lake and force Rodimus off a cliff. When they inspect Rodimus, they find the Matrix. Realizing that Galvatron will be really happy, they steal it and return to Chaar. In his throne room, Galvatron inserts the Matrix into his cannon, but instead of making it even more powerful like he had hoped, visions of the Ancient Autobots (including Optimus Prime himself) seep out of the barrel and demand that Galvatron return the Matrix. Galvatron orders Scourge to destroy the Matrix, believing it better to be destroyed if the Decepticons can't have it. Scourge, however, inserts the Matrix into himself, and becomes more powerful... but at a startling price.
Meanwhile, the Autobot leader wakes up, to learn that he's reverted to Hot Rod. Springer and Ultra Magnus argue that they should go after the Decepticons, but Hot Rod feels that the Matrix isn't worth it, and jets off. Real smart idea, Roddy. On Chaar, Scourge challenges Galvatron, defeating him and Cyclonus easily, before leading the Decepticons off to Earth. Galvatron and Cyclonus still function, and set off in pursuit in the Revenge.
On Earth, Hot Rod, while watching a martial arts class, gets some perspective and some wisdom from the Kendo instructor, and realizes that he needs to get the Matrix back. Meanwhile, Scourge arrives in Japan with his forces, tossing around the Autobots. Broadside tosses him to the ground and he frightens an elderly woman. One of the Kendo students comes to her aid, attacking Scourge with a sword and he begins to chase the pair. He corners them in a blind alley, only for Hot Rod to arrive. Shocked at the changes the Matrix has wrought in Scourge, Hot Rod defeats the Decepticon and reclaims the Matrix, becoming Rodimus Prime once more. Galvatron and Cyclonus find a less powerful, and very frightened, Scourge. And they are none too happy with him...
As the Decepticons retreat, Rodimus realizes that he must deal with his missing part, as have those who came before him. Kup reminds him that no matter who carries the Matrix, he will retain that part forever.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Eh, you've had worse times."
"Yeah, when do they get better? That's what I wanna know."
- —Kup and Rodimus
"He done blowed up real good."
- —Wildrider, master of grammar
"You dropped it, didn't you? You broke the Matrix, didn't you?!"
- —Galvatron
"Aren't you getting a little carried away here? I'm still me, you're still you: Matrix, schmatrix."
- —Hot Rod is flippant after losing a hand-me-down.
"I...still...function..."
- —Cyclonus in a call-back to The Transformers: The Movie
"And it has poisoned him in body and mind both. Now he leads the Decepticons on a mission against Earth and the Autobots!"
"Only Galvatron leads..." [punches]
- —Cyclonus and Galvatron. Apparently they don't have their problems fixed.
"We're too late, Galvatron! Scourge has already launched his assault!"
"He doesn't know the meaning of the word assault, but he's going to learn!"
- —Cyclonus and Galvatron
"Oh no, we're trapped! We'll be killed!"
"Remarkable! The woman is clairvoyant!"
- -Scourge mocks his intended victim.
"The Matrix did this to you? Then I have to take it back. I see now it is my obligation. I belong to it... as much as it belongs to me."
- —Hot Rod's realization at last.
"Well, son of a gun. Found that missing part, huh?"
"Not just the Matrix, Kup, a missing part of... myself."
- —Kup and Rodimus Prime
Notes
Animation or technical glitches
- When Rodimus is reverted back to Hot Rod, he's still occasionally drawn using Rodimus Prime's Character model.
- For some reason, the EDC letters on Marissa Faireborne's shoulder has been replaced with "AOC".
- When Galvatron is about to put the Matrix in his cannon, Bruticus and Devastator are among the Decepticons present, and are shown to be the same size as Galvatron.
- Galvatron's throne changes color and design multiple times throughout one scene.
- When Hot Rod regains the Matrix, he sticks it into his chest without opening a compartment for it.
- In one scene where Optimus Prime is shown among the ancient Autobots, he is colored completely blue.
- The version of this episode on the Shout! Factory DVDs features a glitch with an unstable horizontal line appearing at the top of the picture throughout the episode. The error appears to be on the episode's master copy, as the version included on the Kid Rhino DVDs has the picture slightly zoomed in order to avoid showing the offending line.
Continuity errors
- Just before he quits the Autobots, Hot Rod states that "this war has been going on now for a few dozen millennia". Back in "War Dawn", we learned that the Third Cybertronian War started nine million years ago, which is about 750 dozen millennia... assuming, of course, that we want to take Hot Rod's pointedly off-handed remark as being based on historical accuracy, which is kind of a stretch for a guy who's at the end of his rope and sarcastically railing about "the known universe and its outlying suburbs".
Transformers references
- When Galvatron inserts the Matrix into his cannon, he says "Now, all shall become one, under Galvatron's rule!"
- Optimus Prime is among the Ancient Autobots.
- This episode marks the last appearance of Springer and Broadside in US continuity.
Japanese version
- When they recover the Matrix of Leadership, the Narrator mistakenly identifies Wildrider and Dead End as Runabout and Runamuck.
Trivia
- While the episode order can vary, it's a little funny that the episode about Rodimus finally getting used to being leader of the Autobots was followed by the episode in which Optimus returns to replace him.
- When Scourge starts mutating, at one point it looks like he's... crying?
- Wildrider seems to now have a very bad Southern accent.
- This episode marks the first time in Transformers fiction that the word Slag is used as an insult.
- Isn't it convenient that Scourge launches his attack on Earth in Japan, where the Autobots happen to be located?
- The voice acting for several Japanese characters in this episode employs a very stereotypical Western view of Asian people and their pronunciation of English words.
Home video releases
- VHS
2000 — The Original Transformers — Volume 11: The Decepticon Possession (Rhino Entertainment)
- Laserdisc
1999 — The Transformers: 2010 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2001 — The Transformers: 2010 — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2004 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 3 and Season 4 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 5: Series 3.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Season's Three & Four [sic] (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2010 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
