Victory (episode)
| The name or term "Victory" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Victory (disambiguation). |
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 "I never noticed what great legs Tarantulas had." | |||||||||
| "Victory" | |||||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | November 1, 1996 | ||||||||
| Written by | Wendy Reardon | ||||||||
| Directed by | Steve Ball | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | ||||||||
| Packaged with | DX Convoy | ||||||||
A rebellion (and explosion) at the Predacon base seemingly leads to a Maximal victory.
Synopsis
"We know!"
Through a secret spy cam installed in the Predacon base, the Maximals watch as the Predacons attempt to use a device to increase the size and power of energon crystals. But when the experiment fails and Megatron demands another crystal specimen for a retest, his troops refuse; apparently, the continuous testing has wasted most of their energon supplies, and this latest failure has convinced the other Predacons to turn on their leader. A firefight soon breaks out, which ends up detonating the remaining energon in a huge explosion that seems to destroy the Predacon base. As the video feed goes dead, the Maximals are shocked; they have just won the Beast Wars.
Heading to the Predacon base to investigate, the Maximals find it in ruins, with little more than charred debris and a few scant Predacon parts to confirm the group's demise. Rattrap, sensitive guy that he is, is rather pleased at the development, while Dinobot is more somber, enough to completely ignore Rattrap's attempts to pick an argument with him; despite defecting, he still feels some kinship with the Predacons, and laments their destruction. However, Dinobot's loss is the other Maximals' gain, as they decide to ransack the Predacon base for its star drive components in order to repair the Axalon for the trip home.
As the repairs are completed, Dinobot comes clean with Optimus Primal about his mood as of late; he's convinced that he'll be executed as a Predacon criminal if he returns to Cybertron, and would rather try and tame the wild world they've found themselves on. Optimus Primal, being an Optimus, tries to convince him that they'll stand up for him, but his mind is set, and he is eventually let go to wander the wilderness. Just as the Maximals are ready to take off, though, the wandering Dinobot stumbles upon the very alive and functional Predacon crew hiding in a crevasse; they had found the spy camera before the incident, and used it to trick the Maximals into thinking them dead, planning on stealing the repaired Axalon and leaving the Maximals stranded. Dinobot makes a mad dash back to the Maximal ship to warn them of the Predacons' duplicity, but gives himself away to the Predacons, who give chase in an attempt to stop him.
Fortunately, Dinobot is able to get within the Maximals' visual range before he's gunned down, and Optimus Primal and Cheetor head down to help him; the launch cannot be aborted, though, so he insists they take off without him or Dinobot if they're not able to get back on in time. Cheetor is able to get Dinobot to safety in the ensuing firefight, but Optimus is tagged by an errant missile from Scorponok, sending him plummeting. Soon afterwards, Megatron himself manages to get on board, and briefly takes out most of the other Maximals, before being subdued and ejected from the ship by Rhinox. The scuffle, though, has the unforeseen consequence of jamming Megatron's tail weapon into the control console, cutting the Axalon's engines and sending it on a one-way trip back to terra firma.
All seems lost, when Optimus—now fully recovered—comes in to save the day, pulling a Superman and exhausting his jetpack to slow the ship's descent enough to ease it back in its original place. Although no one is critically injured, the collateral damage has been done; the Axalon will never fly again. And just to ensure that everything is back to normal, Rattrap and Dinobot are right back to verbally tearing into each other, to the other Maximals' amusement.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
|
Quotes
"Cool. Now, aren't you glad we got cable?"
- —Cheetor upon seeing the fake uprising.
"Alas, poor Tarantulas. I knew him, Cheetor. This is the leg that stalked so many victims. That it should come to this..."
"Aww, do you need a hug?"
- —Dinobot and Cheetor, sharing a moment.
"I understand. Nonetheless, let the record show that I advise against this action. It will eventually lead to your destruction."
"Eventually... Eventually can be a long time, Optimus Primal."
- —Optimus is about to leave Dinobot in charge of prehistoric Earth. Eesh.
"Give Waspinator more room! Tarantulas fat enough already!"
"If Waspinator does not stop cuddling me like a stuffed toy when he sleeps, I'll eat him as well!"
- —Tarantulas, shedding light on Waspinator and his soft side.
"You all make me sick! Ah, I can't stand this any longer, Megatron! I—I've gotta get out!" [laughs manically]
- —Terrorsaur cracks under the pressure of close quarters with his teammates
"This is strategically unsound."
- —Dinobot on his imminent rescue.
"You...<coughs>...should have left me behind."
"Hey pal! Optimus got left behind just to save your scaly skin! So don't spoil the sacrifice, capiche?"
"Oh, but it is already spoiled! Yeeees."
- —Dinobot and Rattrap's latest argument is interrupted by Megatron.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIE!"
"Wait! Look! Down in the sky! Is it a bird?"
"Maybe a plane!"
"Nah! IT'S OPTIMUS!"
- —Rattrap, Dinobot, and Rhinox looking at "Super Primal" saving them.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- When the Maximals are watching the false rebellion, the markings on Dinobot's chest are out of alignment, leaving half of his chest light brown and the other half dark brown.
- The Energon-filled tube that Megatron hides behind during the false rebellion has a large scorch mark before the Predacons even start firing at their leader.
- As Dinobot menaces Cheetor after the latter suggests he needs a hug, there are a multitude of clipping errors: Cheetor's hand slowly passes into Dinobot's chest, Dinobot's chin clips through his own shoulder, Rattrap's left hand clips through Dinobot's arm, and finally, still in the same shot, Dinobot's sword clips completely through Rattrap's shoulder.
- When Tarantulas devours the rat, a large drop of drool slides down the outside of his fangs before dripping on Terrorsaur's head. Presumably, the drool should have come from the inside edge.
- As Tarantulas transforms to robot mode prior to chasing Dinobot, his chest is briefly light purple before visibly changing to a darker shade of purple.
- When Dinobot is shot by Megatron's forces, he falls. After the cutaway to Optimus Primal, it pans out to show Dinobot "floating" on the ground for a few seconds.
- As Optimus covers Dinobot during the Predacon assault, the latter's helmet clips into Optimus' shield.
- Sounds of Waspinator's gun firing can be heard as the Predacons attack Optimus, despite Waspinator himself apparently being taken out before the Preds even arrived at the Axalon.
- While Optimus begins flying away from the Predacons with Dinobot in tow, one of the shots that hits his shield clearly has the sound effect of Terrorsaur's cannons. However, Terrorsaur immediately appears to shoot Optimus from behind, so it couldn't be him.
- On the subject of Terrorsaur, his shoulder cannons are shown to be deployed and undeployed at the same time when he shoots Optimus; the deployed cannons are hovering over the raised "bumps" of their undeployed forms.
- When the Predacons charge the Axalon as it fires at them, Tarantulas is missing the beast mode kibble on his back (the purple and yellow part that forms his spider-mode abdomen). It's especially noticeable since Tarantulas is shown in the next shot with his kibble intact.
- As the Axalon is falling from the sky, the ship itself is flipped. The antennas and such are normally on the port side of the ship, however during the fall they are on the starboard side.
Continuity errors
- The Predacon plan involves hiding until the Maximals repair the Axalon, at which point they attack and steal the ship for themselves. However, there seems to be no way for them to tell that the ship is repaired; they only arrive at the Axalon while pursuing Dinobot. So how, exactly, was Megatron going to know when the Axalon was flight-capable without giving away the plan?
- When Dinobot is shot, Optimus Primal is in his robot mode. However, when we come back from the break and Dinobot's retaliation against the Predacons, Optimus is in his beast mode, which he changes out of less than a minute later. Weird.
- Cheetor only drags himself halfway onto the Axalon's lift before collapsing, but a moment later he's fully on the lift.
- It's pretty clear that the rear section of the Axalon was damaged in the original crash. Not only were the fins bent out of position, the rear is missing much of its armor, and is bent. This is quite clearly shown in the computer targeting system Tigatron uses to lock to the Predacons. From the moment the ship takes off to the end of the episode, the entire rear section, fins included, are "reconstructed" and in their proper places. However every episode that follows shows the ship as it was before. Screwy.
Continuity notes
- Dinobot's aversion to being rescued was explained in the previous episode.
- Right after the white rat falls into the crevice, you can FAINTLY hear a wolf cry that is later used by Noble.
- While bickering with Tarantulas, Waspinator speaks in first-person.
Real-world references
- Dinobot paraphrases Hamlet for the first time upon finding several of Tarantulas's legs.
- The exchange between Dinobot, Rhinox, and Rattrap as Optimus saves the Axalon ("Look! Down in the sky! Is it a bird"? "Maybe a plane?" "No, it's Optimus!") riffs on a cliché line from Superman, as does the John Williams-esque music that plays immediately afterwards.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Victoire" ("Victory")
- Title: "Victoire" ("Victory")
Italian
- Title: "Vittoria" ("Victory")
Japanese
Portuguese
- Title: "Vitória" ("Victory")
Spanish
- Title: "Victoria" ("Victory")
Trivia
- Though the two have been at odds since the beginning of the series, this is perhaps the first episode where Rattrap and Dinobot's constant feuding is treated less like outright hatred for each other and more just a schtick of theirs and hallmark of their relationship. Rattrap is relieved when angsting Dinobot starts issuing comebacks to his insults again and offers constructive criticism on them, and at the end of the episode, Optimus and Cheetor watch them volley insults back and forth with fondness. One could say that this episode (along with the preceding The Probe) is when Rattrap and Dinobot's relationship shifts from outright rivalry to friendly rivalry, though it's unlikely either would admit it.
- Megatron displays the ability to "charge" his laser weapon, opening the jaws of his beast-mode head with a visible orb of energy within it. Why he never seems to use it beyond this one episode is unclear, but his Transmetal form would make extensive use of a similar mechanic.
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars — Beasties Escape (Alliance Video)
1998 — Robots-Bêtes — L'Évasion (Alliance Video) — French audio only.
1998 — Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers — The Destrons Make Drama (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — Beast Wars / Robots-Bêtes Three pack (Alliance Video) — Available in English or French audio.
2001 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Beginning: Vol. 2 (Universal)
2002 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Volume 4 (Rhinomation)
- Laserdisc
1998 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Maximal Edition (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
- DVD
2000 — Beast Wars: Transformers — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2002 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Volume 2 (Rhinomation)
2003 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete First Season (Rhinomation)
2005 — Beast Wars — Classic Episodes: Volume 2 — The Saga Continues! (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2005 — Beast Wars — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2006 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Beast Wars — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
