Fallout (episode)
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 War. War never changes. | ||||||
| "Fallout" | ||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Airdate | February 9, 2000 | |||||
| Written by | Robert N. Skir Marty Isenberg | |||||
| Directed by | Raul Sanchez Inglis | |||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | |||||
After releasing a doomsday weapon, Optimus Primal must face the consequences of his actions.
- French title: Retombées ("Fallout")
- French-Canadian title: La Chute ("The Fall")
- Japanese title: 勝利の代償 (Shōri no Daishō, "The Cost of Victory")
- Spanish title: Lluvia Radiactiva
Synopsis
The storm continues to rage, as Primal (controlling the lethal Plasma Energy Chamber) and Megatron (wielding the deadly Key) fight, pushing their energies back and forth.
As this happens, Optimus sinks into the Matrix again, seeing a vision of Cybertron destroyed. He lashes out and blames Megatron, who takes no credit. Cybertron is doomed not because of Megatron's actions, but because of Primal. Suddenly, Optimus finds himself back on prehistoric Earth, the battleground where the Beast Wars are fought and where he proved himself a true leader.
He is attacked, not by Megatron or another marauding Predacon, but by a red-eyed copy of himself. The clone scolds Primal for his fanatical behavior and pushes him off a cliff, sending him plummeting back into space. Faces come and go, and he finds himself being blamed by the Maximals he led in all their various forms and faces, blamed that he failed them. Primal realizes that he must make his own decisions, not the computer. The Oracle acknowledges this fact, but tells him that his fate still lies with him.
The arrival of another old friend, Rhinox, comforts him. He has suffered the consequences for his actions, he tells his former friend, and must remain in the Matrix. Primal shoots through another tunnel where the faces of Transformers he has yet to encounter flash before him and finds himself back in the heated battle. Taking control of both energies, he redirects them back into the Matrix itself. The remaining Maximals reawaken, back in their techno-organic bodies and free of the Key's energies.
With Megatron gone, the Maximals are the only active Cybertronians on the planet. An eerie wind blows as the camera pans over the discarded bodies of Vehicon Drones. Finding one another, the surviving Maximals head to the Throne Room in the Citadel, only to find the bodies of their former friends—and foes. Megatron's body crumbles to dust, leaving only his control-shell. When Rattrap touches the inert body of Tankor, it falls to pieces. Cheetor looks at Primal's flattened body, lamenting the fallen "Big Bot". Unsympathetic, Nightscream says that Cheetor only ever wanted him out of the way. Angered, Cheetor denies the fact, but reluctantly takes control.
Outside, Rattrap plugs into Cybertron's system, only to find that the planet is, in fact, brain-dead. But things change when Jetstorm and Thrust show up, and the Maximals and Vehicons prepare for another fight. Cheetor comes between them, telling them that the war is over, while Blackarachnia invites Jetstorm onto their side. The two Vehicons leave.
Some time after this, the Maximals decide to head down to the Oracle in an oddly familiar manner. However, the foursome find Optimus Primal inside the Oracle. Communicating with them via the supercomputer, he asks that the Maximals forgive him for being a zealot and his genocidal behavior. Rattrap protests, as "there is nothing to forgive," but Optimus does not listen and disappears. Back in the void, he sees the collective Sparks of Cybertron past, present, and future, inviting him into the Transformer afterlife: the Matrix. But Optimus has other plans. He is ready to join the Matrix, but not today.
Primal steps out into real-space again, and the Oracle tells him that it has taught him everything and that he must make his own way in his mission. Around him, plants spring upwards, as Optimus explains to the Maximals their destiny: not to have the organic destroy the mechanical, but to create a balance, the same way that the Oracle did with him. Cybertron to be neither purely organic or purely technological world, but a technorganic world.
Finally, the Maximals head above ground, only to find themselves face-to-giant-face with an enormous vessel bearing the likeness of Megatron!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Vehicons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"My spark has rejoined the Matrix. I paid the price for my misguided deeds, but it is not too late for you. Embrace the true nature of your spark."
- —Rhinox dispenses advice.
"If I had to guess, I'd say we won't be getting any holiday cards from him for a while."
- —Rattrap's own special way of saying "He's dead, Jim."
"Ah, y'know, this place just ain't gonna be the same without Megatron's toys to play with. Wha?"
"Be careful what you wish for, cheddar-breath!"
- —Rattrap and Jetstorm
"Why is she so hung up on getting her old boyfriend's spark outta that guy?"
"Eh, you're young. You'll learn."
- —Nightscream and Rattrap
Optimus: "All I ask is you forgive me my transgressions so I can move on from this plane."
Rattrap: "There's... nothing to forgive, Optimus."
Nightscream: "You gave me a family when I lost everyone."
Blackarachnia: "You lead us to victory at the cost of your own life."
Cheetor: "I can forgive you for your mistakes, but not for giving up. Without your leadership, we'd have all gone offline when we first hit this planet. Without your guidence, we'd would've never mastered transforming in these technorganic bodies. And without your vision, Cybertron will never truly be restored."
"But the Matrix never intended for the organic to replace the technological. It didn't want us to fight a war, but to create a balance. the technorganic balance between the machine and the organic. Yes, I am ready to join the Matrix, but not today."
- —Optimus realises he does actually have something to live for.
"Congratulations, Optimus Primal. You have passed your greatest test by asserting your own free will, the very thing that makes you more than a mere machine. Clearly there is nothing left to teach you. The time has come for you to seize your own destiny."
- —The Oracle gives Optimus a passing grade.
Notes
Technical/animation glitches
- Glitch
Continuity errors
- The recap at the start of this episode concludes with Optimus Primal's hand disintegrating and him insisting that "if this is the will of the Matrix, then so be it." However, the cliffhanger simply ended with Primal looking on as his hand disintegrated.
Transformers references
- When the four remaining Maximals head downwards to the Oracle, it is very similar to the same sequence in The Reformatting.
- As he exits the Allspark and comes back to life, Optimus has brief prophetic visions of characters who have not actually appeared yet.
- Rhinox must remain in the Matrix forever. Until he doesn't. Except when he gets killed even deader. (Multiple canons are fun, kids!) Either way, in-show, this is the last appearance of Rhinox/Tankor.
- The Beast Wars gets referred to, with the retcon of the Matrix wanting them to go to prehistoric Earth to pick up beast modes there (or so Optimus figures). Since it was Megatron who decided to go there, then either Optimus is reading too much into it or the Matrix has been giving Megatron some nudges...
- This episode features clips from the Beast Wars episodes Aftermath, Cutting Edge, Feral Scream Part 1, Feral Scream Part 2, and Nemesis Part 2
Miscellanous references
- When Primal's dead, he looks flat.
- Amusingly, Blackarachnia tells Jetstorm right in his face, "You don't want to be Silverbolt again? Fine. I won't force you." Oh, really?
Real-world references
- In rejecting Cheetor's offer of alliance, Jetstorm says: "With you as the new boss? Don't think so, pussycat. We just got rid of the old boss!" It's likely a sidelong reference to the Who's classic rock anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again", with the famous lyric "Meet the new boss / same as the old boss".
Home video releases
- DVD
2005 — Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 4 (Geneon Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Beast Machines: Transformers — The Complete Series (Rhinomation)
2007 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Season Two: Volume One (Sony)
2007 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Complete Season Two (Sony)
2009 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Intégrale Saison 2 (Sony) — French audio only.
