Toxicity
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| "Toxicity" | ||||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | May 26, 2012 | |||||
| Written by | Steven Melching | |||||
| Directed by | Scooter Tidwell | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures | |||||
Bulkhead encounters life-threatening danger during the last relic hunt.
Synopsis
With other teams dispatched to find relics, Megatron visits the Insecticon hive and calls for a volunteer. Hardshell steps forward and Megatron sends him and three others to find the fourth and final relic. The four Insecticons arrive in a volcanic region on the equator and immediately split up.
At the Autobot base, Bulkhead watches Miko leave with her team before he is dispatched to the area at the equator. Though he arrives at the correct coordinates, there's no relic there, but he's soon alerted to the approach of Hardshell. The Insecticon attacks Bulkhead and, after a brief exchange of words, the pair fight. The Wrecker flattens Hardshell, knocking a mandible off the Insecticon in the process. Bulkhead then heads downhill, realizing that an old lava flow may have taken the relic in the same direction. He keeps Agent Fowler updated back at base via radio. Hardshell comes to and heads with the other Insecticons to find their target.
Though leaking energon from his fight, Bulkhead manages to find the relic. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a toxic form of Energon known as Tox-En, which Megatron could refine into a lethal bioweapon. Though Fowler suggests bringing it to base, Bulkhead realizes that he's going to have to dispose of it himself, "Wrecker style". Hardshell and the other Insecticons find the vessel shortly after, but as one of them goes to grab the small piece of Tox-En within, the grenade Bulkhead left behind explodes, leaving him fatally riddled with Tox-En shrapnel. Hardshell lets Megatron know about the Tox-En, but Megatron wants to know why Hardshell doesn't have the stuff yet.
Bulkhead, meanwhile, runs away from the volcano with the rest of the Tox-En, leaving a trail of leaking energon to throw off the Insecticons. As he turns and starts to head up the volcano, Bulkhead strikes up a conversation with Fowler about their past war-time careers and discovers they've more in common than they'd previously thought. However, as Bulkhead continues his journey, he begins to feel the effects of the toxic energon and almost succumbs to its spark-sapping properties. After Agent Fowler convinces him to keep going for the sake of duty and family, namely Miko, Bulkhead trudges on.
Meanwhile, Hardshell figures out the false trail, and he and the other Insecticons fly uphill. They catch up to Bulkhead, who has just arrived at the volcano's mouth, and surround him. Bulkhead throws a grenade at one Insecticon and jabs the Tox-En into Hardshell. The third Insecticon charges in bug mode, but Bulkhead decks it with the Tox-En and jabs the chunk into its shell before turning back to face Hardshell. Receiving the news that Miko is safe, Bulkhead begins sparring with Hardshell, though they are both now weakened from the toxic energon. Though Hardshell manages to get the better of Bulkhead, as he moves to finish the Wrecker off, Bulkhead works up the strength to throw Hardshell over to the Tox-En before flinging the monster towards a hole in the caldera crust leading down into the molten lava. Bulkhead then throws the Tox-En to Hardshell, and the dizzied Insecticon falls into the volcano, destroying the toxic relic. As Bulkhead heads for the GroundBridge, Hardshell climbs out of the volcano and shoots the Autobot in the back, sending him flying through the GroundBridge to land within the Autobot base, his back burning. Ratchet, Raf, and Fowler see the smoke coming out of Bulkhead and run to his aid.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"I can has cheeseburger!"
- — Yes, Agent Fowler actually said that.
"Leave it to Megatron to send a bug to do his dirty work."
"You would know a thing or two about dirty work yourself, Wrecker."
- — Bulkhead receives a "right-back-at-you" from Hardshell.
"Well, what're you talkin' to me for? Get far away from that Tox-En, pronto! If it's as deadly as they say, the 'Cons won't want it either."
"No, they'll want it even more! During the war for Cybertron, Megatron figured out a way to refine raw Tox-En; turned it into a weapon of mass destruction. I witnessed an entire unit wiped out by this sickness... no way can I leave this stuff for the 'Cons to find and abuse!"
- — Agent Fowler and Bulkhead debate what to do with the Tox-En.
"When were you ever behind enemy lines?"
"I wasn't always a 'Bot sitter."
"Huh. Next you're gonna tell me that your mother doesn't tuck you in bed at night."
"Not since basic training."
- — Bulkhead finds out that Agent Fowler knows things about being a soldier.
"Wrecker! Put down the rock, and allow us to put you out of your misery!"
"Gotta swat some flies..."
- —Hardshell confronts Bulkhead at the volcano's crater.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- In "Triangulation", Bulkhead is shown running through the GroundBridge for his mission. However, in this episode he is shown just walking through the bridge.
- Both of Bulkhead's maces silently transform during his first fight with Hardshell.
- In the establishing shot of the Tox-En before the commercial break, there are two samples in the container; the larger one which Bulkhead takes with him, and the smaller one he leaves as a booby trap. After the commercial break, the same shot shows only the larger sample.
- When Bulkhead incapacitates one of the Insecticons with the Tox-En ("Here, hold this!"), it is in its beetle alt-mode. After it manages to shake to Tox-En off of its body, it is suddenly in robot mode after the shot of the crystal rolling on the ground.
Continuity notes
- This is the final episode of the four-part relic-hunting arc, all four parts of which happen concurrently. This episode focuses on Bulkhead and Fowler. Fowler's handling of Vogel in "Tunnel Vision" and the Antarctic research base in "Triangulation" are shown from his point of view. Raf is also seen programming the virus that Ratchet installs in Laserbeak in "Triage". The ending scene is the same as in "Triage".
- The room currently occupied by the Insecticon hive was previously used to store Dark Energon way back in "Darkness Rising, Part 2".
- At the end of Bulkhead's first fight with Hardshell, he hits the Insecticon upside the head, knocking off one of his mandibles. The scene plays out in a suspiciously similar fashion to how Cliffjumper lost one of his horns to a Vehicon in "Darkness Rising, Part 1".
- Fowler makes mention of his old Army Ranger days, which he first mentioned in "Nemesis Prime".
- Bulkhead flashes back to numerous episodes from the first season when Fowler is trying to get him to continue the mission. First, he remembers several instances where his life was threatened, including:
- Leading Scraplets through the GroundBridge into the Arctic in "Scrapheap".
- Getting his Energon drained by the energon harvester in "Deus ex Machina".
- Clashing with Breakdown in "Out of His Head".
- Getting blown back by the malfunctioning GroundBridge in "Shadowzone".
- Protecting Miko from falling rocks in "Rock Bottom".
- Clashing with Breakdown in "Operation: Breakdown".
- Being wired to one of Dreadwing's bombs in "Loose Cannons".
- Getting attacked by Scraplets in "Scrapheap".
- Shortly after the above, Bulkhead remembers several interactions with Miko, including:
- Miko assuring him that she's protected before Bulkhead heads down a slope in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
- Bulkhead showing Miko a new battle scar in "Metal Attraction".
- Miko revealing herself from inside Bulkhead's chest in "Darkness Rising, Part 4".
- Bulkhead trying to dissuade Miko from using him as a role model in "Deus ex Machina".
- An exhausted Miko trying to clear rubble in "Rock Bottom".
- Miko trying to get an amnesiac Bulkhead to remember her in "T.M.I.".
- Bulkhead's tactic of hiding a grenade in the Tox-En container is similar to the one proposed by Wheeljack in "Triage".
Transformers references
- Hardshell is the modern name for the G1 Insecticon Bombshell.
- During Bulkhead's flashback to the victims of Megatron's refined Tox-En weapon, one of the corpses looks like an Ironhide from another continuity.
- Hardshell says "yes" in a suspiciously familiar fashion, yesss...
Real-world references
- While still recovering from the shock he received in "Flying Mind", Fowler blurts out "I can has cheeseburger", a popular cat-based internet meme.
- Considering its green coloration, mineral-like composition, and fatal effects from prolonged exposure, Tox-En is essentially Cybertronian Kryptonite.
Trivia
- In the past, the Wreckers have generally been a small, closely knit unit (despite their horrific attrition rates). However, Hardshell's comment that he's faced Wreckers numerous times suggests the team is much larger in the Aligned continuity.
