OPTIMUS PRIME begins to doubt his leadership abilities as the DECEPTICONS mobilize for a big invasion of Earth.

(Season Finale, part 1)

Hello good ol' fights between the A-bots and D-cons! and good bye fights between the A-bots and Super Villans! (sorta)

The second season starts next month, right?

Anyways; yay! Megatron!

Holy crap... Prime just got Verbaly owned by Bumblebee!

Wow Prime is a dick this episode.

So it's over now and... oh jive...

WHOA. Just...WHOA.

Things have literally gone straight to the Pit for the 'Bots. The next part's gonna be intense...

Sumdac realizing just what he'd been up to, however, didn't quite have the impact that I was hoping for.

Anyway, much fun. Can't wait for next week.

To quote Tidal Wave from Energon:

"Megatron lives!"
"Megatron lives!"
"MEGATRON LIVES!"



Prime really shows his inexperience here when the chips start falling, he starts becoming a hardline bunghole - and it pretty much screws everything over. Especially when he pointed out to the Dinobots that they were Robots.

shoot Screamer had a Gerwalk mode when transforming.

Holy jive. that was an amazing episode.

The writers really accomplished what they wanted with the cons. They built up each con so much that when they came to Earth en mass, the impending doom was constantly felt.

In any other show 5 bots and 5 cons would be a non-issue. Here, 3 bots felt like apocalypse for them. When Blackarachnia showed up and then the epic return of Megatron, it became even more.

Plus, Ratchet had his arm frozen and snapped off. Been a long time since we've seen that, since g1 with Ironhide and Cliffjumper.

Prime was indeed a dick, but he seemed to be maturing as a leader. Being hands on in the face of crisis. Unfortunately, the cards were stacked against him and stacked against him badly. I don't think he had ANY options that would have worked out favorably. Then again, I thought taking the key should have been done after the Blackarachnia ep.

I do admit, he should have let Prowl handle the Dinobots though.

I wonder if Sari will turn bad or if she'll convince Blackarachnia to help Prime.

DID SOMEBODY SAY MEGATRON?!

Well, that revival was an awesome scene. Definitely an OHJIVE moment.

Ratchet's snapped off arm? Totally unexpected. But awesome.

I do hope the key is gone for good now that the Cons have it. Man I cant wait for next week to see what happens!

"YOU INTERRUPTED MY SPEECH!"

Starscream is going to be torn to pieces before Megs even takes a second glance at the bots.

Awesome return.

This ep was full of some more-gooder stuff!

That was a really good episode. I agree with what Onyx said, I hope the key was overloaded or some such remaking Megatron and that it's ot of the picture. If not I hope it gets destroyed in the ensuing battle.

The jive has literally hit the fan!!!

Grah, finally get to see Earth mode Megatron just to be teased. I wonder though since the key practically rebuilt him did he have a choice in his new alt mode? The whole Sari and Black Arachnia thing was not something I was expecting, but I like where they could be heading with it. Arachnias really only with the Cons for herself, and will do anything to change back to Elita. I suspect the Dinobots will have a last minute comeback, with an awesome Grimlock/Megatron fight next ep. Only one thing detracting from this episode. Wheres our ol loveable Detective Fanzone? We need his commentary on how the worlds gone to heck with all the robots tearing the city apart.

As soon as I saw the ep title on my channel guide, I was bitter. It seems too soon for the season to be coming to a close.

However, that's the kind of ep I have been waiting 2 or 3 weeks for. Future catroon writers - want to know how to build a series so that a season finale actually carries some weight? Take notes from TF:A.

I can sympathize with Prime. It doesn't matter how good a leader you are. If your subordinates carry on the way Prowl, BB, and Bulkhead have for most of the season, you can't lead effectively. Period. It's only natural for him to start turning dickish. Should have happened earlier, to be honest.

I'm looking forward to a knock-down, drag-out slobberknocker next week! I'm just wondering who the 'Bot cavalry will be-the Dinobots, Magnus, or both.

BA and Sari are the wildcards... They will decide the battle.

I just know it.

"So, kids, the moral of this story: Always remember to OH HOLY jive."

Gotta say, as tremendous as this episode was, it will be a huge cop-out if the Autobots save themselves by just a last-minute phone call to the Elite Guard. We'd better see them actually trying their personal best, bringing back other elements from throughout the series. At the very least, more Bulkhead v. Lugnut.

Holy slagging Pit, that was awesome.

Yeah, Sumdac's epiphany was a little anti-climactic, but you had three scenes happening simultaneously (Blitzwing/Lugnut, Lugnut/Megatron, Sumdac/Decepticons). Not much that could've been done; Blitz & Lugz had too much exposition to spit out.

I love how Starscream barely even reacted to Bumblebee's double-stinger attack. Kinda disappointed that 'Bee never noticed the Megahead sitting there. I know he was distracted, but it woulda' been a cool little reaction shot.

Also, I love that the snow (from last week's ep) was still around. Too many shows have weather shifting between episodes, but TF:A has had a great sense of chronology, from Halloween to Sari's birthday in either November or December, to winter --think we'll get a Christmas episode?

It'd be creepy if this was technically the Christmas episode.

Megatron's been a good little boy all year, and he finally gets his wish!

Agreed. I'm sure the Dinobots will swoop in (oh, puns), but that should be it. Build on this season's groundwork and bring in Cybertron and those folks next season and beyond.

This season is about the conflict on Earth, and those who occupy it. Let's keep it what way.

WOW.

What is it with this cartoon tackling heavy topics (self-doubt) alongside mutilating Ratchet? I'm not complaining, but whenever the chips are down, it's "everyone dismember the grouchy medic!" Poor Ratchet...


But damn, this episode was tops. We get the Dinobots, Blackarachnia, Starscream, and oh holy crap Megatron all in one. Megatron's rebirth scene was so flawlessly animated...

One flaw I did see, was the fact Sumdac got dragged under the floor when Megatron's hand was becoming re-attached, but then the hand flexed open and there was nothing in it.

Did...did Sumdac just get killed?

I wondered about that too.

But the scene did have great animation. I love that the reformatting grid appeared. It's almost like he was going to go Galvatron (Though considering how powerful/badass the new body is-it's close enough).

Just finished. The animation sucked this episode - obviously, the whole budget went into Megatrons transformation at the end.

A LOT of great set up. I can't wait till next week.

Hmm.

I'm now guessing that Magnus' ship will arrive just after the Big Fight. Just as Optimus and the others are catching their breath, Magnus will arrive to. . . punish our heroes for their insubordination.

While I'm in the minority opinion here, I felt too much of the episode was devoted to set up for part 2. Admittedly, that's understandable, but considering how non consequential Headmaster & Nature Calls were (at least IMO), I wouldn't have minded that the set up been spread out a bit more. (Survival of the Fittest is semi-important, but I feel it could've been placed before the episode Lost & Found, not afterwards.)

The fights were all one sided, and too short to be interesting. Had the Autobots taken away Sari's key one or two episodes ago, and maybe gone to the Dinobots earlier, the fights could've had more screen time devoted to them, and been a bit more satisfying.

While I've got high hopes for Part 2, Thrill of the Hunt still remains my fav episode. Don't get me wrong, I think this episode did everything it really could've done in a half hour, but I feel that the last two episodes were wasted filler. (And as I said Survival belongs before Lost & Found).

And did it bother anyone else that it took Lugnut & Blitzwing 3 episodes to pull themselves together?

Kevin

Not really.

They were blasted into tiny chunks, after all. I figure an Episode to get Starscream to find most of the major pieces, another Episode to get them quasi-Mobile, and then a third episode for Blitzwing and Lugnut to finish reassembling themselves.

Considering Megatron took 15, no, no it didn't.

This episode was completely satisfying. Best cliffhanger since Agenda I'd say. Prime filled with doubt and making wrong decision after wrong decision.

Great stuff!

That episode was awesome. I can't get enough of Starscream, Lugnut, and Megatron. All 3 are cool in their own regard, due to their character and how powerful they are. But when Megatron rebuilt himself and emerged in his new body. It was a thing of beauty. I love how awesome he looked. Man I need the toys!

The snow on the ground still was a nice touch. Blitzwing totally owned Ratchet in two seconds. I love how he broke off his arm too. I was impressed that Blitzwing's Arnie Face was able to toss Lugnut without a second thought. Discussing this with my younger brother I'm thinking he has different stats and abilities with his different personalities (if it wasn't already obvious).

Optimus was definitely being stern in this episode, but it was about time. With so much riding on a little girl and most of his troops disobeying his orders along with keeping secrets - one would be very upset. I really hope Optimus shines next episode but it's still a victory for the Decepticons.

Randy

Next Saturday can't come soon enough!

Yeah. They don't have as much practice at it as some mechs do.

He was really being a dick and this was definitely lesson 101 in how he's not like any Prime before him.

Both G1 Prime and Primal were confident in their team's ability to do things. Prime here wasn't, it had to be his way and he'd hit anybody who didn't listen with the "I'm the commander" speech. He knew stuff was going out of control and the only order he was going to get was (presumably) from his own troops but he went completely overboard. He wasn't being inspiring, he was being demanding.

Ratchet even tried to tell him that only to be curtly cut off.

If Prime had trusted Bulkhead and Prowl to recruit the Dinonots then he, Sari, Bumblebee and Ratchet could've gone to protect the Allspark instead of leaving Ratchet alone because Prime thought he had to bring the Dinobots to heel and Bumblebee was chasing after Sari (which was Prime's fault in the first place.)

Ummm, I kinda watched it a little late this morning and ended up watching it in the middle of the episode...

O_O......

Confusing....


(Note: Will post a real comment when I see the full episode when someone posts it somewhere on the internet.)

Well, after watching a few prior episodes and thinking they were pretty darned bad, I actually enjoyed this one. There are Decepticon baddies rather than the lame human baddies. Prime finally got rid of the shrill Sari, even if it was for a little while. Bumblebee actually tried to be useful. Although Prime made mistakes, he was at least trying to take control of his team rather than letting it be the free-for-all it has been. And Megatron finally shows up at full strength.
This is closer to the sort of show I'd like to see. I enjoy stories where giant robots are all that stands between the humans and destruction at the hands of even bigger robots. I can't stand stories where some guy becomes a toxic ooze monster or another guy somehow gets strength enough to knock Optimus prime over even if all he's supposed to be able to do is run fast and use some tentacles. I'd much rather see Prime at least trying to be proactive, even if he does make some errors, than putting up with more heeelarious hijinx from his pretty insubordinate crew. I thought the past season pretty much sucked, from what I saw of it, but maybe it'll get better now. And if nothing else, I can always hope Blackarachnia accidentally drops Sari.

So yeah I liked the episode, it's nice to see things like the weather being snowy still, and I hope the dinobots get to fight next episode. Oh yeah, and I forgot one thing: OH SLAG MEGATRON'S BACK!

The best episode to date. Amazing how they managed to cram so much action into 22 minutes.

Prime's antagonistic behaviour was a bit surprising, but really, it made perfect sense. They've barely survived all their previous encounters with the Decepticons and Sari is still gleefully abusing her key, despite repeated warnings. He probably felt like he'd been acting too lenient with his troops and needed to project a tougher image, only it made him come off badly. He was absolutely in the right to confiscate the key too. If Sari had been the one to encounter Blitzwing and Lugnut, she'd have been killed, plain and simple.

Can't wait to see the Dinobots take on the Decepticons next ep. It's gonna be a rumble!

Gods, I love this show.

How soon before it's on YouTube??

Holy Wreck-Gar on a pogo stick, the look on Prime's face as the revived Megatron blew through the top of Sumdac Tower was perfect; so utterly horrified at seeing his worst nightmare come to life that if a Cybertronian could have wet themselves, Prime would have. Yes, Prime was a dick in this episode, but what I think everyone but Ratchet missed, is that Prime was acting that way because he was having a major panic attack. Think about it; the Decepticons are launching a major offensive and everything now depends on an Academy washout and the ragtag crew from an old mantaince ship. Even the key may not be enough to keep them from being scrapped. Given all that, it's no wonder Prime started overreacting, to the point of nearly handing poor Bulkhead his head for the second time, when the big green bot accidently blew the Dinobots cover.

That's what I love about this series so much. I don't think at any time since BW/M have we seen a commander with so little self confidence that he openly admits his own self doubt to his fellow Autobots. For the last three years, we've gotten: "Megatron just rose from the dead, not a problem. Optimius Prime, Almighty Combiner Mode!" Yeah, I don't doubt there'll be some last minute reprive that will pull the Autobots' lugnuts out of the furnace, but it won't feel nearly as contrived. Don't get me wrong, I love combiners, it's just that a story needs a certain amout of pathos, or else the characters come across as too heroic, too perfect.

Some other points. The moment Ratchet was left alone with the key, I'm betting everyone just knew the Decepticons would steal it from him, still, even I was suprised when Blitzwing physically ripped Ratchet's entire arm off. What happens to Ratchet, in "Megatron Rising Part 2" next week, is definately going to provide an answer to the 'Rachet's Usefullness' thread that was on the main Transformers board for a while.

Second, some have called Sumdac's reaction, anti-climatic, but you have to remember his character. The man is the closest thing I've seen to an athromorphic sloth. On realizing the massive con job Megatron's pulled on him, for Sumdac to run around screaming, having a complete fit of histerics would have been totally out of character. There's more I could say, but I'll have to watch it again, later. One final thing I'll say for now is that I loved Blitzwing's line,
*Crazy Face* (paraphrased) "You didn't have a voice in your head, you had a head in your head!"

Why WHY WHY is this not on Youtube yet?!?

This episode was also all about Prime finding out, to his horror, that the series has CONTINUITY. "Dinobots? MELTDOWN??? WTF?????"

We need a LOLBotting of Prime's "look of horror" from the final scene, with the caption, "O NOEZ, CONTINUITY!"

---Dave

*sigh* This is NOT a good time for my cable to be out.

I love this series. Prime's reaction at the end was priceless.

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Zod dammit, FanTransformers!

Since you asked so nicely, I'll do it. Just give me a bit, because my video encoder is such a bandwidth hog that I have to disconnect everything else, while using the blasted thing.

I noticed that, too. I presumed it was an animation error, but... it sure looked like he got smushed and dragged through the floorboards, didn't it?