Darkness Rising, Part 1
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| "Darkness Rising, Part 1" | ||||||
| Airdate | November 26, 2010 | |||||
| Written by | Duane Capizzi | |||||
| Directed by | David Hartman | |||||
| Animation studio | Digitalscape | |||||
Optimus Prime and the Autobots investigate the return of the Decepticons while being forced to account for a group of young humans who have unwittingly become involved in their centuries-old conflict.
Synopsis
Cliffjumper is on the open road, boasting to Arcee over the comm about how he's been messing with the humans, when he detects a large amount of energon nearby. As he goes to investigate, a Decepticon ship appears over the crater and Decepticons drop down to attack him. Arcee alerts the rest of the Autobots, who head back to base. Cliffjumper fights on, destroying several of the Decepticons, but their blasts detonate the energon, causing a huge explosion. They drag his defeated form back to the ship, where Starscream is upset about the loss of the energon. Cliffjumper is defiant, but Starscream executes him. The Autobots arrive at the crater via Ground Bridge, only to find the aftermath of the fight. Arcee picks up a horn Cliffjumper lost during the battle, and Ratchet reports that Cliffjumper's life signal has terminated.
Back on the Decepticon ship, Soundwave replays a recording of Arcee's comms talk, and Starscream decides she will be their next target.
Optimus reminds the other Autobots that they must continue to work to survive to honor the memory of their fallen comrade. Arcee refuses to dwell on it and drives off. In a nearby city, Jack Darby is working at the KO Burger drive-through. Arcee finds herself being chased by a couple of Decepticons, and ducks into the KO Burger parking lot, where Jack mistakes her for a real motorcycle, fantasizing about one day having a motorcycle of his own, hops on. Sierra and a friend catch him apparently talking to the motorcycle, but while Jack has an awkward moment, the Decepticons spot Arcee. She takes off with a startled Jack still on board. After a short chase, she attempts to let Jack off, sending him down a side alley with a warning not to tell anyone what he's seen. As she speeds off, she spots one of the Decepticons heading after Jack and is forced to double-back and pick him up. The chase moves onto the freeway where Bumblebee arrives to help them out.
In a nearby drainage canal, Rafael Esquivel is playing with a remote-controlled car when Arcee and Jack literally drop in. The Decepticons drop in as well, and first Arcee, then Bumblebee is blasted to the ground. Raf draws the 'cons' attention, which unfortunately works too well, and the two kids are forced to flee into a drain. While they make their escape, Bumblebee and Arcee stand defiant against the Decepticons and, as Bulkhead joins the fight, and the two Decepticons flee.
At Autobot headquarters, Optimus Prime informs the Autobots that since the Decepticons have seen the two boys, they may be targeted. At High School, Jack and Raf meet up again and Bumblebee and Arcee come to take them to HQ. Though Raf roars off in Bumblebee, Jack walks away. Miko Nakadai, sitting outside the school, draws Arcee, but when the motorcycle disappears, she peeks around the corner and spots Arcee in robot mode arguing with Jack. She takes both kids and catches up to Bumblebee. They drive to the Autobots' HQ, concealed in a mountain, where the three kids marvel at the rest of the Autobots and Optimus Prime gives them some exposition regarding the Transformer war. Optimus fears the imminent return of Megatron.
Soundwave detects a transmission from deep space, and Starscream orders the space bridge activated. As it opens, Megatron emerges, announcing his return.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"So if you guys are robots, who made you?"
"Puh-leez..."
- —Rafael and Ratchet
"We are autonomous robots from the planet Cybertron..."
- —Optimus Prime likes to repeat the same introduction over and over again.
"Decepticons! I have returned."
- —Megatron likes to state the obvious.
"Clean that up!"
- —Starscream after killing Cliff and not washing his servos
"Scrap!"
- —Arcee showing her fluency with Cybertronian expletives
Notes
Animation or technical errors
Continuity errors
Transformers references
- Miko asks Bulkhead if he's ever used a wrecking ball. Hmmm...
Foreign dubbing
Real-world references
- Jack's statement "The first rule of robot fight club is that you don't talk about robot fight club" is a reference to, well, Fight Club.
