Landmine (episode)
| The name or term "Landmine" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Landmine (disambiguation). |
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| "Landmine" (Chip Square wo Sagase!) "Find the Chip Square!" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | February 5, 2005 (Japanese) July 9, 2005 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Genki Yoshimura | ||||||||
| Director | Kunitoshi Okajima | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO | ||||||||
The Autobots investigate their first clue to the Omega Lock, and Landmine reveals there's more to him than meets the eye.
Synopsis
On Velocitron, native racers Crumplezone and Ransack are driving along, minding their own business, when they suddenly find Megatron standing in their paths. The Decepticon leader attacks the pair, and they opt for flight over fight, but Megatron has no intentions of letting them escape. The pair transform to robot mode to try and give a decent account of themselves, but Megatron slaps them around with ease and informs them they now work for him. The defeated duo can do little but obey.
Meanwhile, on Earth, Landmine is feeling useless due to the fact that he is still recovering from his injuries at the hands of Starscream. Optimus Prime reassures him he'll be back up to fighting strength again soon. Soon, Coby, Bud and Lori arrive to cheer Landmine up, and Optimus leaves them alone, departing for a meeting with the other Autobots to discuss a plan of action for finding the Cyber Planet Keys. They agree that more info on the Atlantis Pattern and the Omega Lock is needed, so Vector Prime begins analyzing the pattern while the others head out to gather intel. Lori and Bud go too, with Jetfire and Jolt, respectively. Optimus, meanwhile, goes looking for Hot Shot, and finds him goofing off at a local race track. Optimus reprimands him for being reckless when discretion is needed, and the apologetic Hot Shot swears it won't happen again.
Back at the base, Coby is giving Landmine a checkup. He tells him he's not completely healed yet, but Landmine is eager to help look for info, so Coby agrees to let him go out, so long as he picks an Earth vehicle mode, first. They head out to a construction site, where Landmine chooses a front loader as his alternate mode, then he and Coby start their search.
Elsewhere, Bud has been surfing the net from within Jolt, and has discovered a report of an archaeological artifact bearing the Atlantis Pattern at a museum in Mexico. Jolt passes the news to Optimus, who orders the whole team to the museum. Unfortunately, Starscream and Thundercracker spot them en route, and follow them to Mexico.
The Autobots arrive at the museum first, under cover of night, but it isn't long before the two Decepticons show up. Thundercracker shows off his new Cyber Key, blasting Jetfire, and the two airborne nemeses take off to duel in the skies. The Recon Mini-Con Team and the kids clear the battlefield, and Vector Prime heads inside to check out the pattern, covered by Hot Shot and Scattorshot while Optimus Prime faces down Starscream. The treacherous Decepticon unveils his own Cyber Key Power, but before a fight can begin between the two, Landmine comes charging in, determined to get a piece of the Decepticon. Prime orders him to stand back, as he's not ready for combat, but Landmine hesitates, and Starscream takes the opportunity to shoot at him. Optimus takes the shot for Landmine, and Landmine charges at Starscream with righteous fury, but the Decepticon knocks him down, and flies toward the museum to take out Vector Prime. Scattorshot and Hot Shot hold him off, but as they battle, Jetfire and Thundercracker appear overhead, still dogfighting. One of Thundercracker's shots goes wide, heading for the kids and Mini-Cons, and Landmine leaps to defend them. Summoning his Cyber Key for the first time, Landmine activates his "Cyber Tempest" attack to detonate the incoming fire, proving that he's ready for action again.
At this point, Vector Prime emerges and declares that the object inside is not the Omega Lock, but rather an imitation. With the object of their search proven a fake, and with Red Alert and Overhaul arriving to reinforce the Autobots, Starscream calls for a retreat.
Back at base, Landmine and Coby share a moment, as Landmine tells him that their friendship has made saving Earth just as important to him as saving Cybertron. As the Autobots lament that they appear to be back to square one, Vector Prime reveals that while the object at the base was an imitation, it did contain a star map giving the location of Velocitron, where one of the Cyber Planet Keys is located. Optimus dispatches Hot Shot and Red Alert to Velocitron, with orders to be discreet and make no contact with the locals. Vector Prime combines the power of his sword with Optimus's Matrix of Leadership to open a dimension gate to Velocitron, and the pair waste no time in heading through. Hot Shot is agog at the endless speedways of the planet...and aghast when he is suddenly passed by the speeding form of a female Velocitronian, who seems to be even faster than him.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Hey, there's some big guy parked up on the road! So, you think he's friendly?"
"Ah . . ." [Megatron fires on them] "No, not friendly!"
"AAAAAHHH! Make tracks, buddy!" [They scarper.]
"What's with him?"
"I don't know, maybe he's related to that cute scooter you dumped. You should have been nicer to her."
- —Crumplezone and Ransack
"Jolt! Jetfire and Lori just burned us! Can't you fly any faster?"
"If you wanted to fly fast, you picked the wrong Mini-Con."
- —Bud and Jolt
"Man, wha'cha reckon this Omega Lock thing looks like? Where exactly are we headed? Gotta picture of it?"
"Oh, quit whining and keep searching."
"Aww, whining?! I'm thinking! Out loud! [Starscream accelerates away.] Hey, I was talking to you!"
- —Thundercracker and Starscream keep up the Decepticon army's record of jovial camaraderie.
"So, Atlantis is in Mexico?"
"Can't say that for sure, but I do love tacos!"
- —Jolt and Bud
"I don't wanna work!"
"Ah, it's an offer we can't refuse, Crumplezone."
"But this guy is mean! He kinda scares the oil out of me."
"Eh, go with the flow."
- —Crumplezone and Ransack having been recruited into the Decepticon army.
"Got it. Keepin' it on the down-low. The D.L."
"Oh, be still my beating heart. A secret mission with Hot Shot? I'm dizzy..."
- —Hot Shot + Red Alert OTP!
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
- Rather inexplicably, Cybertron cuts off the short sequence which precedes the title card of the Galaxy Force version of the episode, in which Crumplezone and Ransack are racing along, discussing the weather. They run a white car off the road, then drive into the mouth of a tunnel, which is where we rejoin them after the title card, and where the Cybertron episode begins.
- Crumplezone and Ransack's reaction to Megatron's proclamation that they work for him is reversed; in Galaxy Force, Crumplezone immediately agrees to work for him, prompting an irritated Ransack to ask why he's speaking for him, while in Cybertron, it is Crumplezone who turns Megatron down, with Ransack claiming it's an offer they can't refuse.
- During Landmine's talk with Coby at episode's end, Galaxy Force has Landmine refer to Cybertron being swallowed up by the black hole, a plot point consistently excised from the Cybertron dub. In its place, Landmine talks about how he was not initially interested in saving Earth, but that his new friendship with Coby has convinced him otherwise.
Pain count
- "Cyber Key Power!": 4
- "Super mode!": 1
Animation or technical errors
- When Starscream and Thundercracker arrive at the museum, they both announce their own names...but the cry of "Transform!" that should follow is absent.
- When Thundercracker says, "I just love parties, don't you, Starscream?" his mouth is not moving.
Transformers references
- Landmine is still recovering from injuries he took back in "Fallen".
- The generic sports car Autobots based on Blurr's bodyform appear again in this episode, having previously been seen in "Hidden". The white Velocitronian sports car cut from the Cybertron version of this episode is also a Blurr-type.
- In the first scene Hot Shot is seen in this episode, he refers to Optimus as "Big Bot".
Trivia
- Landmine takes an Earth altmode in this episode. However, he pretty clearly had a lot of kibble from this altmode before he acquired it (as the animators didn't have the budget to design a pre-Earth body... but couldn't they at least have removed the shovels before then? 'Course, he could have been a Cybertronian loader).
- Thundercracker and Starscream can now summon Cyber Keys, despite the fact that back in "Haven", the Autobots could not do so before Vector Prime awoke the ability within them. It is never explained how these two Decepticons (as well as Megatron, who will soon get in on the act) obtained the ability. On the colony worlds the Transformers will go on to visit through the series, however, Cyber Key Powers are common knowledge, and all the Transformers there have always had them.
- Landmine's transformation to robot mode is awfully balletic for a rough, tough, front loader.
- Landmine can use his shovel halves as shields, capable of blocking Starscream's Null Cannons, hence his Galaxy Force name 'Guardshell'.
Home video releases
- VHS
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
- DVD
2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 02 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2006 — Transformers: Cybertron — A New Beginning (Paramount)
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
