War Dawn (episode)
Trapped in Cybertron's past, the Aerialbots learn the truth about Megatron and the rise of Optimus Prime.
Writers: David Wise
Major Characters: Aerialbots, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Orion Pax, Alpha Trion
Minor Characters (in order of appearance): Ariel, Dion
Original Air Date: 25th December 1985
Detailed synopsis
Notable quotes
"Are those guys crazy?"
"Crazy or even dumber than I first suspected."
- -- Skywarp and Starscream talking about the Aerialbots who stopped fighting and wanted to "talk" to the Seekers.
"Those things give me the creeps"
"Yeah, they used to give us a pounding back in the old days."
- -- Skywarp and Thundercracker talking about the damaged Guardian robot.
"A warrior doesn't need a head, just a good strong body."
- -- Megatron, commenting on the damaged Guardian robot that is about to be reprogrammed to serve the Deceptions.
"You - who are you?!"
"Your worst nightmare!"
- -- Megatron & Optimus Prime, confronting each other for the first time.
"You may not recognize him, for he is no longer Orion Pax. He is the first of our new defenders... Optimus Prime."
"I was wrong, my friends. I admired Megatron merely because he was powerful. I failed to see how he used that power."
- -- Alpha Trion introducing Optimus Prime.
"It all began about nine million years ago."
"Oh, great! This is going to be one of those long stories!"
- -- Optimus Prime and Ratchet
Other notes
Animation and/or technical glitches
- Ariel is shown with the Aerialbots running to find her own body.
- For whatever reason, John Stephenson wasn't in this episode and thus Thundercracker had a different voice.
Continuity Errors
Transformers References
- References
Real-World References
- Reference
Miscellaneous trivia
- This takes place "a few weeks" after The Key to Vector Sigma, according to Optimus Prime.
- This episode introduces a lot of major mythological elements from the G1 cartoon, incluing the origin of Optimus Prime and Elita-1 and showing the start of the Third Great War.
- In a interview, writer David Wise says that the meeting between Orion Pax and Megatron happened differently in the original version of the script. Megatron was to blast Orion's arm off and then use it to decapitate him. Sunbow, fearing the scene was too violent, had it changed.
