Armada (episode)

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The name or term "Armada" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Armada (disambiguation).
« Transformers: Prime ep 36 »

Megatron remembers seeing this scenario on Tumblr.
"Armada"
Production company Hasbro Studios
Airdate April 21, 2012
Written by Matt Wayne
Directed by Vinton Heuck
Animation studio Polygon Pictures

Bulkhead is trapped on the Nemesis amid dual attempts on Megatron's life.

Synopsis

Bulkhead recovers consciousness, and realizes he's on the Nemesis. Unable to contact base, he begins to explore, but while hiding from Vehicons, he runs into Starscream. Starscream is reluctant to help, and strikes at Bulkhead, so Bulkhead returns the favor by jumping on Starscream and literally beating the life out of him. Guiltily justifying his actions by muttering that Starscream left him no choice, Bulkhead returns to his exploration.

Quick! Reprogram them into Combaticons!

Some 24 hours before, Starscream reaches the wreck of the Harbinger in his search for energon. Instead, he finds a laboratory containing five protoforms. Elsewhere, Bulkhead picks up a strong energon reading. Starscream finds information in the Harbinger's computer on cloning, and fires up the lab equipment. Soon, five duplicates of himself stand before him. Meanwhile Bulkhead, clambering into a hole he's found, realizes there's boxed energon at the bottom of it, and that the Nemesis is arriving overhead, ready to pick it up. As he struggles, he falls among the energon and, losing consciousness, is transported up to the Decepticon ship with it.

Starscream discovers that his clones are complete duplicates of himself, personality, memories, and all. The one significant difference seems to be that the clones have intact Transformation Cogs, and thus can fly. As the Harbinger is able to track where the Nemesis is, he sends his clones to eliminate Megatron once and for all. The five clones board the Nemesis and split up, one of them running into Bulkhead, who terminates the clone. The original Starscream is dismayed to discover that he feels the same pain his clones feel. Bulkhead locates a comm unit and attempts to use it to contact the other Autobots, only to set off an alarm and bring Vehicons running. As he escapes, the Vehicons are distracted by another Starscream clone, but unbeknownst to anyone, Bulkhead has inadvertently triggered a Decepticon beacon.

The beacon is detected by Airachnid, who releases her Insecticon army from their stasis pods to go terminate Megatron. The activity is detected by the Autobots, and Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Arcee GroundBridge to the location to investigate, discovering Airachnid in the middle of sending her troops. She sets some of the Insecticons after the trio, but Arcee bursts through the explosions and begins pursuing her. Optimus and Bumblebee begin mowing down Insecticons.

Bulkhead crawls through a service duct, and spots Megatron. Megatron starts heading for the bridge in response to reports that Starscream's there.

Arcee continues her pursuit of Airachnid, despite having to contend with two Insecticons. After the Insecticons are taken out, Airachnid disappears underground, and Arcee follows.

On the Nemesis bridge, Megatron finds himself face-to-faces with the four remaining Starscream clones. He offers to make them all second-in-command if they terminate Starscream for him, but the clones are stable enough to keep to the mission. Before they can open fire, the ship is attacked by Insecticons. The distraction is all Megatron needs, and he starts taking out clones. The last of the clones manages to escape as the Insecticon attack intensifies, and Megatron finally checks on what's going on outside.

Megatron also remembers this from Tumblr.

Optimus and Bumblebee finish off the last of the Insecticons that were attacking them, and start looking for Arcee. Their comrade is currently deep underground hunting Airachnid. Arcee exchanges fire with her foe, and manages to manoeuvre Airachnid onto one of the open stasis pods, which promptly closes and puts the rogue Decepticon on ice. The Insecticons attacking the Nemesis all immediately stop their attack, drop on to the ship's hull, and proclaim their loyalty to a bemused Megatron.

Within the Nemesis, Bulkhead finds the ship's power core, and severely damages it with his mace, causing it to explode. The ship slowly begins its descent. As he runs to the exit, Bulkhead encounters the Starscream clone, who promptly takes off. Bulkhead is puzzled at the fact that Starscream is alive and can transform. Once the Nemesis has crashed to earth, Bulkhead is able to drive off and speed away. He soon reaches base, where the Autobots are inspecting the stasis-locked Airachnid.

The last Starscream clone returns to the Harbinger and lets the original Starscream know the mission failed. He's about to shoot his progenitor, when Starscream turns and blasts him, complaining about the shared pain he experiences as he finally terminates him.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"This is for Cliffjumper! For Bumblebee! For everything."

—Bulkhead delivers some much-deserved payback unto Starscream. Well, actually his clone, but what's the difference?


"You left me no choice."

—Bulkhead pulling an Optimus.


"My genetic code provides my clones with a T-Cog I no longer possess and all I get is their agony?!"

—Starscream laments over the side-effects of cloning.


"Exterminating you was so gratifying the first three times."

—Megatron approaching the last of Starscream's clones.


"When you extinguish my spark, make it hurt. You know I would extend that courtesy to you."

—Airachnid, creepy to the last.


Bulkhead (rushing inside the Autobot's base): Guys, you are not gonna believe the day I had!
Bulkhead spots Airachnid in stasis, then looks at Ratchet and Arcee
Bulkhead: Oh, you too, huh?

—It's been a busy day for everyone.


"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHH! Scrap, that hurt!"

—Starscream after killing the last clone.

Notes

Animation and technical errors

  • When Airachnid commands the Insecticon rear guard to fight, 6 are seen flying off the group. In the next scene, there are 5.
  • Apparently, nobody on the Nemesis could hear Bulkhead's yells and the sound of pounding Starscream into scrap.

Continuity errors

  • Previously, one Insecticon was so powerful that it was able to fight toe-to-toe with Megatron (deprived of his fusion cannon). The Insecticons in this episode are considerably weaker, enough that several go down in one hit and another is taken out by crashing into a tree. You can do plenty of rationalizing—the Autobots have an open battlefield and their ranged weapons which Megatron did not, a lot of Insecticons die from crashing out the air rather than from attacks—but this downgrade is nothing special, being a widely observed phenomenon with armies of generic henchmen in fiction of all kinds. The Insecticons position as freakishly powerful is restored in Tunnel Vision and Toxicity, but gone in New Recruit.
  • So where does Starscream keep getting those replacement missiles from, anyway?

Continuity notes

  • Starscream returns to the Harbinger, first seen in "Partners", the episode in which he defected.
  • Starscream references sneaking on board the Nemesis and meeting Optimus Prime in "Orion Pax, Part 1".
  • Starscream mentions killing Cliffjumper and sparing Arcee's life... again.
  • Bulkhead pounds Starscream (well, his clone really, but still...) for killing Cliffjumper and damaging Bumblebee's T-cog in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2".
  • Starscream laments over losing his T-cog in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2".
  • Airachnid had apparently repaired her severed limb. It didn't last.
  • In "Grill", Agent Fowler said the next time Arcee and Airachnid meet, only one is going to walk away. That's exactly what happened.

Transformers references

Real-world references

  • Starscream's activation of the clones, with all the electricity and cackling, seems inspired by Frankenstein.
  • The Nemesis has Jefferies tubes.

Trivia

  • The Insecticons speak for the first time. They're still vermin, though.
  • Soundwave, Knock Out, and Dreadwing do not seem to be on board the Nemesis to defend it from its Insecticon assailants for some unknown reason. While you could argue they were present and simply off-screen (e.g. when Megatron arrives, Vehicons are seen in the background firing on the Insecticons), considering how prominent the three of them are their absence is rather odd. Dreadwing, in particular, would most likely be heading the counterattack because of his position of second in command.
  • Oddly, immediately after he laments the lack of energon on the HarbingerThe name or term "Robots in Disguise" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Robots in Disguise (disambiguation).

Let's see what you can see... This article is in need of images.


Robots in Disguise Toyline Cartoon Commercials


Optimus and Koji valiantly protect T-AI from becoming part of Kiss Players. But it's still too late. Transformers: Robots in Disguise is the first Japanese-original Transformers cartoon ever officially dubbed and broadcast for a US audience. Debuting about eighteen months after its Japanese incarnation, it aired—not without problems—from September 8, 2001 to March 30, 2002, in support of the toyline of the same name. Contents [hide] 1 Overview 2 Storyline 3 Cast 4 Connections to other fiction 5 Episodes 6 Home video releases 6.1 Car Robots 6.2 Robots in Disguise 7 Notes 7.1 Foreign titles 8 External links [edit]Overview


When Hasbro scrapped their plans for the Transtech series that was initially intended to follow Beast Machines, material was suddenly needed to fill the void until a new series could be developed. At the eleventh hour, the Japanese series Car Robots, which had screened in Japan the previous year, was selected for his task, and in the process, it became the first Transformers anime to make the leap across the Pacific in an official capacity. Although "only" filler, the series marked a partial return to the roots of Transformers fiction, reintroducing the Autobot and Decepticon factions and insignias and realistic modern Earth vehicles to the brand, after the Beast Era's five years of Maximals, Predacons and alternate modes based on animals or abstract/futuristic vehicles. Given Takara's method of operation at the time, Car Robots was aimed at a younger audience than that targeted by Hasbro, meaning that it feature a more light-hearted, comedic tone overall, which storylines that were typically light or goofy and sometimes relied on bad jokes, absurd imagery and slapstick. This approach divided fans, but regardless, comic foil Sky-Byte became the real breakout character of the series and a fan-favourite whose enduring popularity saw him break into the top five nominations for the 2012 Transformers Hall of Fame's fan vote. The animation of the series, meanwhile, was cel-based, a significant change from the CGI that had been a hallmark of Transformers television series in the US since 1996. In-keeping with the show's general tone, the cartoon features many standard anime light-comedy stylings, and is replete with overdone facial expressions, comic effects like sweat drops surrounding a character's head to signify confusion or consternation, and the traditional streaked background behind the character for high-action shots or stock footage transformation/attack sequences.


There's the signpost up ahead... your next stop: The T-AI-Light Zone. The Robots in Disguise English dub was produced by Saban Entertainment, who were riding high at the time with the early 21st Century anime boom in full force, and broadcast on the Fox Kids programming block, which was at the peak of its popularity. The series was subject to some notable editing and re-writing in the traditional Saban style, often involving the addition of numerous references to other Transformers series (see below). Curiously, the three clips shows that were part of Car Robots were cut entirely, and replaced with brand new clip shows, created whole cloth from reused footage by the American production team. As a dubbed product, most of the voice actors involved in the series, though veterans of other Saban properties, had never worked on a Transformers series before, save for actor/director Michael McConnohie. Perhaps the best-remembered element of Robots in Disguise's legacy, however, was the fate that befell it following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which occurred after only two episodes of the series had been broadcast. A scramble resulted to re-edit multiple episodes of the series before they reached air to remove scenes that were considered distasteful after these events, but as the first two-thirds of the series was airing on a daily basis, five times a week, this quickly left the series airing in a disjointed, out-of-order fashion, with sheer misfortune causing the majority of episodes effected to be ones that dealt with the show's sporadically-referenced ongoing O-Parts plot. The first victim was "The Secret of the Ruins", production on which had already been finished, and had to be pulled from broadcast to be re-written. A trio of episodes—"Attack from Outer Space", Landfill" and "Sky-Byte Saves the Day"—could not be salvaged and were simply not aired in the US at all; it seems possible that at least two of the clip shows, mentioned above, were specifically re-created to patch over the holes in the plot that resulted from the removal of these episodes, though the episodes did later air in the United Kingdom and Canada with their questionable plot elements intact. The Walt Disney Company acquired ownership of Robots in Disguise when it purchased Saban's assets in late 2001. Disney's ownership and apparent lack of desire to do anything with the show has resulted in it being the only American-broadcast Transformers cartoon to not be even partially released on DVD in the United States (though the complete series was released in the UK). Although Saban did reacquire several of their programmes in 2010, there is presently no evidence that Robots in Disguise was among them. Car Robots's opening song is "Honō no Overdrive ~Car Robot Cybertron~" and ending song is "Marionette". [edit]Storyline

When Earth is targeted by Megatron and his Predacons, Optimus Prime and his Autobots prepare for their coming by installing themselves in secret among human society, masquerading as everyday vehicles used by humankind with no knowledge of their true nature. When Megatron strikes and kidnaps famous scientist Kenneth Onishi, the Autobots ally with his son Koji to rescue him before Megatron can pry from his mind the truth of the ancient secret hidden somewhere on Earth. After successfully re-energizing his ailing craft, the Megastar, Megatron rips the first clue from Doctor Onishi's mind, and tracks the location of an ancient Cybertronian O-Part, only to lose it to the Autobots. Incensed by failure, Megatron recovers six Autobot protoforms from a crashed spaceship and brainwashes them into the Decepticons, led by the dark clone of Optimus Prime, Scourge. These new warriors prove much tougher opponents for the Autobots, who then have to deal with attacks from their own side when Optimus Prime's embittered brother, Ultra Magnus, arrives on Earth to steal the Matrix of Leadership from Prime. Realizing the Matrix can be shared between them, the brothers put aside their differences and gain the power to combine into Omega Prime, as well as using the Matrix's power to give the Autobot Brothers new super-charged bodies. Fearful of losing his position to Scourge, the bumbling Sky-Byte accidentally frees Doctor Onishi when he attempts to use the scientist to locate all the remaining missing O-Parts. Onishi is then able to help the Autobots gather all the O-Parts, which together form a map that points the way to Fortress Maximus, an ancient Cybertronian battle station hidden on Earth for untold ages and controlled by the will of human children. The awakening of Maximus in turn awakens Scourge's ambition, and he leaves Megatron to perish in a collapsing temple so that he can take command for himself. Megatron, however, is transformed into the vampiric Galvatron and puts down Scourge's rebellion before confronting Omega Prime in a final battle at the Earth's core, where he is defeated by the Matrix Blade created by a fusion of Maximus's energy and Magnus and Prime's Matrix. [edit]Cast

Autobots Predacons Humans Omega Prime (Daniel Riordan) Optimus Prime (Neil Kaplan) Ultra Magnus (Kim Strauss) T-AI (Sandy Fox) Skid-Z (Michael Lindsay) Tow-Line (Lex Lang) Fortress Maximus (Steve Blum) The Emissary Cerebros (Steve Kramer) Autobot Brothers Prowl (Wankus) Side Burn (Wally Wingert) X-Brawn (Bob Joles) Team Bullet Train Rail Racer (David Lodge) Railspike (Mike Reynolds) Rapid Run (Keith Diamond) Midnight Express (David Lodge) Spy Changers Hot Shot (Michael McConnohie) R.E.V. (Steve Kramer) Crosswise (Dan Woren) W.A.R.S. (Steve Blum) Ironhide (Michael McConnohie) Mirage (Wally Wingert) Build Team Landfill (Michael Reisz) Wedge (Michael Reisz) Heavy Load (Daran Norris) Hightower (Keith Anthony) Grimlock (Tom Wyner) Megatron/Galvatron (Daniel Riordan) Sky-Byte (Peter Spellos) Slapper (Peter Lurie) Gas Skunk (Jerry DeCapua) Dark Scream (Steve Blum) Decepticons Scourge (Barry Stigler) Commandos Ruination (Bob Papenbrook) Mega-Octane (Bob Papenbrook) Ro-Tor (Neil Kaplan) Armorhide (Richard Epcar) Rollbar (Michael Lindsay) Movor (Robert Axelrod) Koji Onishi (Jason Spisak) Doctor Kenneth Onishi (Kirk Thornton) Kelly (Philece Sampler) Dorie Dutton (Tifanie Christun) Karl (Joshua Seth) Jenny (Colleen O'Shaughnessey) [edit] Connections to other fiction

The Robots in Disguise cartoon was the first total reboot of Transformers fiction. As the first official material not set in any Generation 1 universe it established the first alternate continuity family in the line's history. However, as this was such a new idea, it took a while for fans to accept the "reboot" idea, and many would try to figure out how to fit the series into existing Generation 1 cartoon continuity. Aiding them in this endeavour were the numerous "easter egg" references added to the Robots in Disguise dub that mentioned characters and events from earlier Transformers series (typically added to scripts by Hasbro employee Andrew Frankel after they were submitted for approval). This mindeset died off with time, especially after subsequent series would create more and more reboots, eliminating the uniqueness of Robots in Disguise. Takara did not make a point of defining the relationship between Car Robots and their version of cartoon continuity either, with the only statement on its place in time and space coming from the first toy catalogue that identified Optimus Prime/Fire Convoy's crew as a "Dimensional Patrol" that followed the Predacons/Destrongers from another dimension to 21st-century Earth. This concept does not seem to have been played up in the Japanese version of the show — if it was mentioned at all — to the point that Robots in Disguise was able to dub entirely around it. However, the idea returned in force in 2006, when a retcon performed by TakaraTomy through assorted timelines and flowcharts explicitly established Car Robots as part of the Japanese Generation 1 animated continuity, occurring in the year 2000. Broadly speaking, this was accomplished by exploiting the somewhat-unresolved ending of the manga, The Battle of the Star Gate, which had ended with the majority of the Generation 1 Transformers on Earth disappearing for some time, thereby allowing Car Robots to slip in with minimal opposition. Most connections between Car Robots and other aspects of the fiction center on Fortress Maximus, who was tied into important events from Robot Masters, Kiss Players and The Headmasters. However, despite Car Robots being retconned into the Japanese Generation 1 timeline, Robots in Disguise remains unconnected to the Western Generation 1 universe, and still exists a separate continuity family there. And that's despite the fact that out of the two versions of the cartoon, the added easter eggs mean that Robots in Disguise has more Generation 1 references in it! [edit]Episodes

Main article: List of Robots in Disguise episodes The three clip shows of Robots in Disguise differ between the English and Japanese versions. Both are listed at the appropriate numbers. Battle Protocol! An Explosive Situation Bullet Train to the Rescue Spychangers to the Rescue The Hunt for Black Pyramid The Secret of the Ruins Sideburn's Obsession Secret Weapon: D-5 Mirage's Betrayal Skid Z's Choice Tow-Line Goes Haywire The Ultimate Robot Warrior Hope for the Future Gigatron's Ambitions Revealed! The Decepticons Commandos Volcano Attack from Outer Space The Test The Fish Test Wedge's Short Fuse Landfill Sky-Byte Saves the Day A Test of Metal Ultra Magnus Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion! Lessons of the Past Assemble! New Troops The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Power to Burn! Fortress Maximus Koji Gets His Wish A Friendly Contest Peril from the Past Maximus Emerges The Human Element Mystery of the Ultra Magnus Gelshark's Blues Mistaken Identity Surprise Attack! Galvatron's Revenge The Final Battle [edit]Home video releases

[edit]Car Robots


Main article: Pony Canyon The Car Robots version of Robots in Disguise was released on VHS and DVD by Pony Canyon in Japan while the series was still on air. Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 1 (2000) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 2 (2000) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 3 (2000) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 4 (2000) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 5 (2000) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 6 (2001) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 7 (2001) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 8 (2001) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 9 (2001) Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 10 (2001)

[edit]Robots in Disguise


Main article: Maximum Entertainment Maximum Entertainment, in association with Jetix, released the entire RiD series in the UK... several times. Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Volume One (2004) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 1 of 2 (2004) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 2 of 2 (April 15 2005) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Battle Protocol (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Evil Intent (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Battling the Predacons (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — 3 DVD Mega Pack (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise / RoboCop: The Animated Series / M.A.S.K. (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise / Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation / Action Man (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Special Edition 2-Disc Set (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season One (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season Two (2007) Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (2008)

[edit]Notes

[edit]Foreign titles Brazilian: Transformers: A Nova Geração ("Transformers: The New Generation") Latin American: Transformers: Nueva Generación ("Transformers: New Generation") Korean: Brave Hero of Justice Car-Bot [edit]External links

RiD Forever Japanese Wiki Transformers Car Robots article Categories: Articles in need of images | Robots in Disguise | Television series and after spending episodes going on about how he needed to scrounge for scraps just to survive, Starscream, on finding the protoforms, takes some of his own energon from his arm to power the clones. Perhaps his ambitions got the better of his common sense, or he was counting on the clones winning and he could then resupply on the Nemesis.

  • This is the second time Arcee has basically "saved" Megatron. Even though she couldn't think of a reason why she would want to stop that, Arcee's greater hatred towards Airachnid then starts a chase after her trying to kill her and Airachnid got trapped in a stasis egg freeing the Insecticons from her control, making them loyal to Megatron again. Arcee defeats Airachnid but saves Megatron and boosts the Decepticon ranks in the process.
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