The Mystery of Planet Master
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 Nobody was willing to take the blame for the missing chunk of planet. | ||||||
| "The Mystery of Planet Master" (Master-sei no Nazo) | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | July 10, 1987 | |||||
| Writer | Toyohiro Ando | |||||
| Director | Takao Yoshizawa | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
After learning of the origins of the Headmasters and the planet Master, the Autobots race to recover the missing Matrix.
Synopsis
As the battle between the newly-arrived Autobot Headmasters and their Decepticon counterparts rages around him, Optimus Prime ventures into the depths of Cybertron, heading for Vector Sigma in order to stabilize and restore an Autobot power balance on the planet. Fortress subsequently dispatches the Decepticons within the power of his battleship, Maximus, and Kup realises that he and the other Autobot Headmasters are refugees who fled the planet millions of years beforehand. Fortress relates the story of the civilisation they have established on the planet Master, and how several of their number rebelled under the leadership of a shadowy figure named Scorponok and were banished from Master, only to join up with the Decepticons.
Meanwhile, Optimus Prime is aided in his mission by the ghostly figure of Alpha Trion, but without the Matrix, which has been left on Earth to recharge, there is little he can do to stabilize the fluctuating computer. Realizing the importance of the Matrix in Prime's task, the Autobots divide into teams in order to track down the secret location where the Matrix has been hidden and bring it to Cybertron. However, Soundwave and his cassettes catch wind of their plan, and various Decepticon squads intercept the Autobot forces searching for the Matrix. The Stunticons battle the Aerialbots in the desert, but their conflict eventually moves to the Arctic, and they wind up in the midst of Hot Rod, Blaster and the Autobot cassettes' clash with the Predacons. Soundwave and his cassettes arrive to pick off Hot Rod, but Blaster and his team leap to the rescue, culminating in a one-on-one battle between the two communicators that ends with their mutual destruction. Soundwave's exploded remains are recovered by his cassettes, while Blaster dies in Hot Rod's arms, and the young Autobot vows to complete his mission.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Darn that Soundwave. EEEEUUUAAAAAAGH!"
- —Galvatron on the death of Soundwave.
Hot Rod: Billy, are you all right?
Blaster: Not really. Find the power pack. Rescue Optimus Prime. Go...
[Blaster turns gray]
Hot Rod: Billy, I swear. I'll get those dirty scum for you.
- —The
epiclackluster death ofBillyBlaster.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- As the tale of the Headmasters-to-be is recounted, Fortress is shown leading civilians onto spaceships, looking as he does now. This, of course, is wrong—he should appear as his smallest Headmaster component (Spike, in the English cartoon), as he's not a Headmaster yet.
- Wheelie is at least twice his normal size in this episode. Whereas Daniel normally reaches the small Autobot's shoulder, he's only at waist level here, seen most clearly when Daniel cries on Wheelie's arm after Blaster dies.
Transformers references
- This episode revisits the concept of Transformers becoming drained of colour whenever they die, as seen in The Transformers: The Movie. In this case, however, Soundwave and Blaster turn white when they meet their ends, rather than various shades of grey, which instead recalls "Call of the Primitives", where the same thing happened to all Transformers when they were drained of all their energy.
- The Centurion droids from "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1" reappear, once again guarding the path to the mega-computer.
- Although Scorponok will not appear for five more episodes, a silhouette of him appears in this episode. Notably, the silhouette is of his Transtector, which will not be unveiled fully until "Explosion on Mars!! MegaZarak Appears".
Trivia
- Steeljaw has abruptly developed the power of speech with this episode. Although his fellow animal cassette, Ramhorn, previously talked in "Forever Is a Long Time Coming", Steeljaw never indicated he had the gift of gab until now.
- Raiden actually first appears in this episode, although it's nothing more than an extremely short cameo. And he's forced to run off thanks to Bruticus.
- People who haven't seen it think the fight between Blaster and Soundwave is awesome. It's really not.
- Steeljaw is shockingly unaffected by Blaster's death. After Blaster's tragic last words the only thing he says is a cheery "ALRIGHT CHIEF!" after Rodimus tells him to continue on.
Foreign localization
English
- Title: "The Tale of the Master Star" (Omni Productions dub)
- Original airdate: ?
- Title: "The Mystery of Planet Master" (Shout! Factory sub)
- The review of the last episode shown before the title card is omitted.
- Blaster refers to his Mini-Cassettes as "Deployers" when noting their sensors. This term is consistently used in this translation.
- In the original, the "energy" on Earth that was being used to recharge the Matrix was left unspecified. Shout!'s subtitles have it to be plasma energy.
- Fortress is referred to as "Cerebros". This will continue throughout the series.
Russian
- Title: "Istoriya planety Master" (История планеты Мастер, "The History of Planet Master" )
- Original airdate: ?
Home video releases
- Laserdisc
1996 — Transformers: The Headmasters Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2002 — Transformers: Takara (Sony Wonder) — Omni dub only.
2002 — Transformers: The Headmasters — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — The Takara Collection Vol 1 — Transformers: Headmasters (Metrodome) — Optional commentary by Chris McFeely.
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome) — Optional commentary by Chris McFeely.
2007 — The Transformers: Headmasters (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
