Alliance
| The name or term "Alliance" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Alliance (disambiguation). |
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| "Alliance" (Unicron) "Awakening: Unicron" | ||||||
| Production code | TF: A-49 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS | |||||
| Airdate | September 30, 2003 (English) 5 December 2003 (Japanese) | |||||
| Writer | Isao Shizuya | |||||
| Director | Masayuki Motsumoto | |||||
| Animation studio | Actas Inc. | |||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy | |||||
Starscream's sacrifice spurs the Autobots and the Decepticons to join forces. But Unicron awakens...
Synopsis
Demolishor is astonished to hear about the truce between the two armies and asks if Galvatron is functioning. Cyclonus is disgusted that they're doing this simply because the traitorous Starscream asked that they do it, but then suggests that they simply use the idea of a truce to ambush the Autobots. Outraged, Galvatron makes Cyclonus respect his authority with the usual amount of physical punishment. Galvatron is upset at how poorly things have turned out, but Starscream's sacrifice has convinced him: they're going to ally with the Autobots...for now in order to stop Unicron. Galvatron went far stating of the reasons of why Starscream rebelled against him in the first place, calling him a true soldier.
Seeing Galvatron's point of the crisis, the rest of the Decepticons agree to the truce, except for Cyclonus, who is still disgusted by this. Inside of Unicron, Thrust and Sideways plan their inevitable victory and conquest of the universe. The power of the Star Saber allows Unicron to shed the remains of his moon-disguise shell. The dark god hovers over Cybertron, sucking up parts of the terrain. Both armies evacuate the surface, assisted by the Mini-Con swarm.
In a ceremonial procedure, Galvatron and his Decepticons meet with Optimus Prime and the Autobots for a handshake to seal the truce. The leaders shake hands, and Perceptor also grabs on as his way of representing the allegiance of the Mini-Cons. The kids observe this, astonished that it's actually happening. Alexis begins to tear up and when Carlos asks her if she's all right, she says she was just remembering Starscream and how he would have loved to see this happening for himself. Forming a single front, the Autobot/Decepticon armada heads towards Unicron. The first volley of fire does no damage against their enemy. Two larger ships perform reconnaissance and are blasted, so a team of Hot Shot, Side Swipe, Demolishor, and Cyclonus (and some others) are sent in, based on a theory that smaller ships will elude Unicron's detection. On Unicron's surface, Cyclonus and the generics fly away to break stuff, and Demolishor leaves to avoid Hot Shot, leaving the two Autobots by themselves.
Unicron's geography shifts and folds, disturbing his visitors and causing Demolishor to lose Blackout. From the base, Galvatron suggests another attack, which Optimus Prime makes sure won't harm the recon crew, who have their hands full fighting against swarms of Dead End Drones. Demolishor saves Cyclonus from falling into a fissure, while the Autobots assist their begrudging allies. Demolishor saves Side Swipe from falling into another fissure, and Hot Shot thanks the Decepticon by re-uniting Demolishor with Blackout—a tender moment. Optimus and Galvatron arrive to bring the group home.
From a distance, the armada witnesses Unicron complete his transformation into robot mode, ready to devour the planet.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Mini-Cons | Other |
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Quotes
"Right now, all I can think about is the comrade we lost. Sure, he challenged my authority in a failed coup attempt, and even though Starscream was a traitor, he never lost sight of his oath to the Decepticons. He was a true soldier, unlike most of you!"
- —Galvatron defends Starscream's memory from the jibes of the other Decepticons.
Demolishor: "I'm only doing this because I'm following Galvatron's orders."
Cyclonus: "Ha! I can't believe I'm fighting for harmony! What a load of bunk! I'm a lean, mean, fighting machine! Hahahaha!"
Side Swipe: "I gotta work with this guy? I'm not so sure about this."
- —The truce gets off to a shaky start.
"Tidal Wave..."
"Uh...nice meetin' ya."
- —Tidal Wave and Jetfire shaking hands.
"I can't believe I just saved Prime!"
- —An incredulous Galvatron after he destroys a cannon targeted at Optimus Prime.
Notes
Differences with Micron Legend
Animation and technical errors
- Several Mini-Cons are standing in the hangar bay of Megatron's flagship after the Decepticons run inside to escape from Unicron's gravitational pull, and they are the size of normal Transformers.
- The Race Team Mini-Con Mirage appears among the Mini-Cons there, but he should be with Thrust inside Unicron by now, as the traitorous Decepticon had stolen the Skyboom Shield several episodes earlier.
- Several of the Mini-Cons protecting the Axalon and the Autobot fleet during the lift-off from Cybertron use Generation 1 character models instead of Mini-Con character models.
- The four generic Decepticons on the mission to Unicron change colour depending on the shot.
- When Jet Optimus attacks the Dead End drones surrounding Hot Shot and Demolishor's recon team, the laser blast comes from in front of the first drone destroyed, rather than behind (the direction from which Prime is coming).
- In the distance while the kids first see Unicron's form on the main monitor. Unicron has no face!
Continuity errors
- Cyclonus is in danger of falling into a hole, having apparently forgotten that he can fly, which he was doing moments before. It's possible that he's just that stupid, but not likely.
Transformers references
- Several parts of Unicron's transformation sequence are clearly a visual homage to his transformation in the original Transformers movie.
Foreign localization
German
- Title: "Mit vereinten Kräften" ("With Joint Forces")
- Original airdate: 13 January 2004
Trivia
- The English version of "Alliance" first aired in the United Kingdom. It aired in the United States on December 9, 2003.
- Various cameos appear in the hand-shaking scene, including Soundwave and a palette-swapped Dead End of the Stunticons.
- The generic Decepticons sent to Unicron to assist the named characters have Generation 1 character models (namely Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Bonecrusher and Buster) but with radically different color schemes. They totally all died.
- Assuming the episode was entirely in real-time, Unicron's transformation took close to seven minutes.
- Yes, the combined forces of Autobots, Decepticons, and Mini-Cons is what the "Armada" in the title of the series stands for.
Home video releases
- DVD
2004 — Transformers: Micron Legend — Volume 13 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (New KSM) — English and German audio.
