Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!
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 Why do the Predacons always attack when I'm on the can? | |||||||||
| "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fushion!" "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!" (Kyōsei Gattai! God Fire Convoy) "Forced Fusion! God Fire Convoy" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Studio Gallop | ||||||||
| Airdate | 20 September 2000 (Japanese) October 13, 2001 (English) | ||||||||
| Written by | Junki Takegami (Japanese) Matthew V. Lewis (English) | ||||||||
| Director | Yoshiaki Tsutsui | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Studio Gallop | ||||||||
Optimus retreats
But his refuge is not safe
Is the Matrix lost?
Synopsis
Optimus is disappointed to find that Ultra Magnus is holding onto his old grudge and attempts to retreat, letting Magnus know he won't fight even as the other Autobot opens fire.
Back at base Koji is concerned. The Autobot brothers leave to try to rescue Optimus, pondering why he's refusing to fight Magnus.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the battle is not going well for Optimus—Magnus blasts the ground out from under him, and Optimus falls into a chasm. Movor, spying on the fight from space, transmits footage to the Megastar on Easter Island, where Megatron watches with amusement. He wonders aloud why his Decepticons have so much trouble defeating Optimus when Magnus appears to have managed it with ease, and decides to sit back and watch the pair destroy each other.
Meanwhile, Sky-Byte, having been fruitless in his search for the O-Parts, stumbles on the battle and watches in amazement as Optimus lays defeated at Magnus' feet. Magnus tells the fallen leader he has one cycle to hand over the Matrix, however before he can inflict further damage on the Autobot leader, the Autobot brothers arrive. Side Burn is spoiling for a fight and Prowl reminds him they're there only to rescue Optimus. The trio retreat with their leader, but not before Sky-Byte is able to tag him with a tracking device. Furious, Magnus is too late to stop them leaving, slamming into the cliff wall as the space bridge portal closes and burying himself temporarily in rock.
Sky-Byte follows the signal from his tracking device, musing that if he defeats Optimus, it'll make Megatron happy. After a short panic attack due to losing the trace, he flies on in the belief he'll eventually find Optimus, unaware he's being tracked by both Movor and Ultra Magnus. The shark soon closes in on an island which causes his memory banks to replay images from Landfill and Ruination's recent battle. As it turns out, Optimus has indeed retreated to the island to recover from his fight with Magnus.
As Side Burn enjoys an oil bath, Optimus admits that Ultra Magnus is his brother, and is carrying a grudge because Optimus was chosen as commander of the Autobots over him. Although Side Burn expresses concern, Optimus asks for some time alone, and Side Burn departs through the space bridge. Sky-Byte, having reached the island at last, promptly seals the portal to the space bridge with a number of large boulders and happily announces that he'll be able to fight and defeat Prime without interference. His joy is shortlived, as Megatron and the Decepticons hove into view over the water and confront Optimus. Before the Decepticons can fire, Ultra Magnus arrives and starts knocking them about like skittles. Ruination is formed, and he and Megatron ignite the oil deposits, turning the island into an inferno.
Alarmed, Koji and T-AI contact the Autobot brothers, who've discovered that the end of the space bridge has been sealed and are working to clear the blockage.
As Megatron gloats, Magnus tells Optimus he wants to make amends, however it's a trap—Magnus uses the opening to try to steal Optimus' power. The two Autobots combine into a new form: Omega Prime. While the Decepticons are standing stunned at this turn of events, the Autobot brothers finally break through the rocks blocking the space bridge and are similarly surprised to see what's happened. The biggest surprise is on Magnus—he soon finds he doesn't have any control over the combined form, and is unable to do anything as Omega Prime makes short work of Megatron and his Decepticons. Megatron calls a retreat, and Sky-Byte flees after them.
Optimus Prime watches regretfully as his brother flies off.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"I'm going to hit him so hard he'll have to open his trunk to find his headlights."
- —Side Burn knows his car-carrier anatomy.
"Extra, Extra! Optimus Prime found crushed at the bottom of a canyon at the hands of a brilliant bot named Ultra Magnus! Does Prime still shine? Read on!"
- —Beneath Movor's tough exterior beats the heart of a 1930s paperboy.
"Where are the O-Parts, where can they be? La, la, la, la... La, la, la..."
- —Sky-Byte branches out in the arts.
"Oh, what great rapture! A big fins up for me! Who's the shark now, baby?! Oh no, my sweet signal! No, please don't leave, no! Come back! Come back please, little dot! Please don't go away now..."
- —Sky-Byte loses it in more ways than one.
"Bitter? Bitter is not sending you postcards, but this whacko... He knocked you off a cliff!"
- —Side Burn just doesn't understand sibling rivalry.
Scourge: Well, well, Prime. Have you got any last words for us?
Mega-Octane: Yeah, something short and sweet. Very short.
Armorhide: Speech! Speech! Ahahahaaa!
Ro-Tor: Maybe the great Optimus Prime has stage fright.
Movor: I don't know, Ro-Tor. Looks to me like this Autobot's got a whole lotta regular fright.
- —The Decepticons, having earned their moment of glory, proceed to milk it for all it's worth.
"Oh my... This is either really good or... completely catastrophic!"
- —Sky-Byte wisely stays under cover.
"Is that all you've got?"
- —Omega Prime is all out of bubblegum.
Notes
Differences with Car Robots
Animation or technical errors
The better the fushion
Or so I am told!
- When originally aired, the title of this episode was spelled "Ultra Magnus: Forced Fushion!".
Continuity errors
- The first few minutes of the episode are a recap of the end of "Ultra Magnus", but the dialogue has been changed.
- Ultra Magnus says in the recap (and in the last episode) that the Matrix chose Optimus to inherit it, and then it's said Vector Sigma chose him.
- How does Movor get into orbit again? He's shown to need outside assistance in "Attack from Outer Space", yet somehow he gets into space in time to watch Optimus and Magnus fight.
- Scourge blames his continuing failure to destroy Optimus Prime on his Decepticon underlings, stating that they've "come close, but then Movor goes and shoots the wrong target, or Armorhide can't fly that day". Granted, the first seems like a legitimate complaint, but Armorhide is a tank. On which days can he fly?
- One moment Ultra Magnus is demanding Optimus turn over the Matrix that instant, the next he's giving Optimus a cycle to hand it over. What? The action on screen simply indicates that Magnus is preparing to finish off Prime with one final - if a tad overly dramatic - kick, but the dub threw in the jarring switch in Magnus' demands. Magnus' sudden activation of his jetpack - perhaps indicating that he was about to leave, rather than getting some height for his kick - may have confused the dub crew.
- Koji is present at Autobot HQ from the beginning of this episode, despite not having been there at the end of "Ultra Magnus", which took place just minutes earlier.
- Sky-Byte summons images from his memory banks of the climactic battle in "A Test of Metal" to identify Optimus's island...despite not actually having been present at that battle.
Continuity notes
- The island Optimus retreats to recuperate is the same island from the end of "A Test of Metal".
Transformers references
- Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus were both created by Alpha Trion.
- Optimus was selected to command Cybertron by the All Spark, Vector Sigma.
Home video releases
- DVD
2001 — Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 7 (Pony Canyon) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 2 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season Two (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)
