Nemesis Prime (episode)
| The name or term "Nemesis Prime" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Nemesis Prime (disambiguation). |
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 The first person to suggest a race gets banned. | ||||||
| "Nemesis Prime" | ||||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | April 7, 2012 | |||||
| Written by | David McDermott | |||||
| Directed by | Todd Waterman | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures | |||||
When Optimus Prime appears to attack Agent Fowler, the Autobots discover MECH's ultimate plan.
Synopsis
Agent Fowler drives out of a military base, listening to a few tunes, when a semi truck begins to tailgate him too close for comfort. He realizes that it's more than a case of road rage when the truck rams him. Fowler notices a familiar symbol on his attacker's grille-the Autobot symbol. He contacts the Autobot base, where Optimus Prime is not present. The apparent Optimus Prime continues to attack, and as Fowler comes upon a bridge, he pushes his car through the divider, where it hangs precariously. The Autobots receive his message and bridge in, causing Prime to flee and Arcee to give chase. Bumblebee catches Fowler's car as it falls, but the bumper detaches, and Bulkhead catches it before it hits the ground. Arcee comes upon Optimus, but is knocked out when he runs her over.
The next thing she knows, she's back at base, being checked up on. Ratchet doubts Arcee's assertion that Optimus ran her down, and the big 'bot arrives at base. The team goes on guard, but is soon convinced that this is the real Prime.
The other Optimus drives full speed into a military base, wrecking helicopters and prompting chase until he stops. As soldiers surround him and open the door to find no driver, he transforms, and aims a weapon at them.
Fowler receives a call about the rampaging Prime-in robot mode.
Back at the base, the other Prime tears through lines of soldiers, prompting Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead to bridge to his position. He retreats, and arriving military helicopters mistake the real thing for the fake, firing on them. They retreat to base.
Fowler fields a call asking about the attack, and receives the news that all Autobots are to be shot on sight. The team realizes that MECH has finally succeeded in replicating Cybertronians, inside and out, using human-made parts after studying Transformer anatomy so carefully.
The false Prime arrives at a MECH bunker, with Silas in the control seat, expressing extreme satisfaction at the test run.
In attempting to locate the MECH base, Optimus notes that, unlike them, Nemesis must rely on his vehicle mode to move. This places him within driving distance of both incidents, giving a range for them to follow. The 'bots fan out, and Bumblebee comes upon a large complex. Optimus and the rest plan to rendezvous at his position. He enters, while Silas watches him. He powers up Nemesis Prime, and sends him out. Nemesis does badly to fool Bumblebee, and he quickly overpowers the scout.
The rest of the Autobots enter the compound, cautious of any lookalikes. Bulkhead and Arcee are both taken out individually, leaving Optimus for the final showdown.
At base, Ratchet attempts to use the control frequency of Nemesis to pinpoint his location. He does, and Fowler insists to bridge in, citing that he is the one best equipped to deal with the human element.
Nemesis squares off against Optimus, showing equal strength and ability. Fowler bridges in, and makes for the control bunker as the two Primes continue to spar. Nemesis catches Optimus, and shoves his blade in. Silas gloats, showing his intent to build an army of these soldiers, when Fowler enters. They spar as well, and Fowler falls, to reveal that he was just buying time for Optimus. The real Prime dominates Nemesis, and their fight crumbles the ceiling of the bunker, tumbling Silas's creation and a ton of rubble on top of him.
Optimus meditates on MECH's seemingly impaired functionality, noww that it lacks a leader. However, Fowler brings him troubling news—in the pile of wreckage, no body was found.
A group of MECH soldiers monitors Silas's condition, noting that his injuries are terminal by normal standards—but MECH is anything but, as they have the body of Breakdown all wired up.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Yes, that's it. Follow the light."
"Wait, what? Not the best choice of words, Ratchet."
- —Ratchet and Arcee
"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, and I bring you this message."
- —Nemesis Prime steals one of Optimus's catchphrases.
"Be on your guard. My double could be anywhere."
*Bumblebee beeps a reply*
"I'm sorry. What?"
- —Nemesis Prime tries and fails to fool Bumblebee.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- When the soldiers confront Nemesis Prime at the military base, right when one says "This is a restricted area!", one of the soldiers is running but not moving in any direction; running in place.
- As Nemesis Prime begins to climb the tower, his battle-mask appears to retract to reveal a face.
- Despite being ordered by Optimus to go covert, Arcee does not have her holographic driver on when in her motocycle form.
Physics errors
- After Fowler's car starts falling, Bulkhead jumps off the bridge, falls past the car and lands with enough time to catch it in his hands. Barring wind resistance which in this case should have negligible impact on the results, objects should fall at the same rate.
- Also after such a fall, being caught by a giant metal robot should be equally as devastating on the car as landing on rock, but that's a common thing in fiction.
Continuity notes
- MECH has Breakdown's reassembled remains, which they collected after Airachnid killed him in "Crossfire".
- Ratchet recalls MECH's study of Breakdown in "Operation: Breakdown".
- Optimus recalls the theft of Starscream's T-Cog, which they learned about in "Crossfire" after it happened in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2".
- Silas took a scan of Optimus at the end of "Convoy", which is evidently how he was able to produce a nearly-identical copy of him in this episode.
- Optimus' right blade is repaired at last since the events in "One Shall Fall".
Transformers references
- Fowler listens to an instrumental version of "The Touch" on his car radio.
- Miko and Ratchet refer to the false Optimus Prime as "Nemesis Prime", which follows the description of several continuities.
- Nemesis prime's first transformation in the military base, is similar to [[Blackout's]Blackout(movie)] first transformation from the 2007 live-action movie.
Real-world references
- The opening scene with Fowler references Steven Spielberg's 1971 film Duel, starring an evil truck.
Trivia
- Silas is a former member of the Special Operations branch of the military, while Fowler is an ex-Army Ranger. Fowler is also trained as a gunman.
- Nemesis Prime's transformation uses a modified version of the regular transformation sound effect, which makes it sound as if the transformation is not as smooth as that of an actual Cybertronian.
- This is the first time Silas and Fowler meet face-to-face--and fight too.
- Not once did Nemesis Prime retract his battle-mask.
