So, whether or not the ship was Trypticon, I hope it was, there's still the question of who gave it the orders to prioritize Project Iacon.

HIGHLIGHT to view:
I'm thinking Shockwave.

Between this and some of the previous episodes, Jack's shaping up to be rather hardcore.

At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if they did the whole "your father was black ops / intelligence / super-human (et cetra) and disappeared while on a mission" angle to justify it.

I'm glad all 3 kids finally got a chance to get in on the action; I felt there's kinda been a lack of that this season (not saying we should go back to Miko being an idiot over and over, but I like seeing all the kids getting in on the act every now and again).

And for everyone joking last episode that Megatron never acts with surprise about anything, he sure as hell didn't see the Nemesis gaining sentience and overthrowing him as a possible consequence. Seeing him momentarily flustered was actually pretty entertaining.

Knock-Out playing dentists with Jack at the end and Ratchet's last minute rescue was great. Like the kids, I enjoy seeing Ratchet physically take part every now and again.


Also, NEW YORK CITY! What is THAT gonna be like in this show? We're going to go from a small town that's mostly desert with about 4 background citizen to one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas on the planet? I hope the animators can handle that.

Subway tunnels.

Lots and lots of subway tunnels.

Another fun episode, I love how this show just keeps throwing things at us again and again.

I laughed at Ratchet punching Knockout at the end.

Youtube link.

They'd better watch out for Alligatorcons. I understand they are both big and heavy.

I don't think military training is genetic. But if you're on to something, I hope Fowler is his father. Not Silas though.

So, here's what I'm thinking.. and maybe it's a red herring or I'm reading too much into it. I think the ship is Unicron and he's trying to get out of Earth.

Obviously, the ship wasn't John Nobel, but the way he referred to them as "Cybertronions" and the call back to Galvatron being tortured in the 1986 film with the ship doing the same to Megatron, to me those are clues that build on the premise that it was being fueled by Unicron's blood. The same dark energon that Unicron was using to control Megatron, a sentient creature where as the ship is just a (pardon the pun) vessel.

I was more stoked to see Fowler in on the action than anything else. I hope he puts in a lot more face time.

Especially now that we know he's Jack's dad.

Also, had a bit of a nerd-rection when I heard the ship's 'stasis blasts' were actually Zat'ni'katel blasts. Guess it's a good thing no one got shot twice.

It just seems to me like half the time folks in Hollywood need to justify why a seemingly random Joe / Jane is suddenly awesome, that's the excuse they whip out: one or both parents were so awesome at their jobs they wound up proving Lamarck right.

...wait, what? When did that come up?

Good episode.

Nice to have the trio team up with Fowler (SWEET LADY LIBERTY!!)


The Ship's voice was great, and mysterious.

He's just taking something I said earlier and running with it.

Personally, I think that was just a heavy handed way of saying that only the humans will be able to sneak on board.

Megatron explained that the ship had become an extension of his will, so I didn't take it as being possessed by Unicron, but as basically becoming a second Megatron (hence its refusal to take orders). The Dark Energon, I think, was just a plot device; a means to create the conflict and solve it just as quickly.

Good episode, but was anyone else expecting that the kids would end up using the spark extractor on the ship? I mean, the episode seemed to make a big deal of putting the McGuffin in play, only to leave it unused. Eh, I suppose it might get used in the next episode.

Er... That's a good point.

The kids could've wiped everyone out in a single blow; screw the Iacon files.

D'oh!

I dunno, asking a handful of kids to commit mass murder miiiight not fly for Hasbro.

Well honestly I forget how big an area the spark extractor effects, but I was thinking it'd get used to eliminate the ship's personality. I wasn't thinking in terms of eliminating everyone.

Of course, that is another use. It just didn't occur to me.

Well, apparently Prime felt confident that if Bumblebee activated it while still on the ground (or jumping up to the halfway point between the ground and the Nemesis), it would be effective-enough to wipe out all the Decepticons. So I guess it has a pretty wide radius.

good episode, and I guess we can assume what the saved budget dollars from the clip show episode are going toward

Yeah. My dad is a mechanic, and you REALLY don't want me working on your car!

Cool ep, I was kinda hoping that Megatron would still be kind of aware and have Jack look him right in the eye and say "Now that's TWO you owe me!" or something like that. "One" being when Jack chose not to drill straight through Megatron's head.

I think having the spark extractor was to silence all those people who go apejive when something gets stored and never seen again.

So the next 4+ episodes will be the Autobots and Decepticons going to the four locations as decoded from the Iacon files, huh?

Yeah, I noticed that too. Someone got their hands on MGM's sound effects file.

And as for the Nemesis prioritizing Project Iacon, didn't Starscream use to be in charge of Trypticon Station back on Cybertron? If the Nemesis is Trypticon, it could still have some hardwired loyalty to Screamer. It's about time he caught a break. . .

Well, it wasn't just the sound effect but the exact same kind of weapon. I thought it was neat.

Just saw it today and really enjoyed it.

Everything seemed to firing on all cylinders.

Finally caught up.

So, is no one going to comment on the fact that Optimus was going to use a DOOMSDAY DEATH DEVICE SPARK EXTRACTOR on the ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE NEMESIS?

Nobody gets to comment about Movie Prime 'taking faces' again or 'being mean to Demolishor' again. That was just as vicious - if not more so - as anything Baytimus Prime pulled.

Otherwise, all right episode. I'm disappointed they didn't namedrop Trypticon or mention exiles (as I'm fairly certain that's who it's supposed to be), but it's conceivable they're saving that for a later surprise. Wonder just where the hell Dreadwing, Soundwave and Knockout were last episode.

Really strong episode. A good showing by Fowler and the kids, and of course, Ratchet. And yes, seeing Megatron flustered and frustrated by his own planning was indeed a treat.

Optimus has indeed come to some sort of crossroads in regards to this war. I hope that gets explored further.

I think it comes back to what many of us have repeated many times over. It's not that Bay Prime killing Decepticons was in any way bad. It's entirely in how the character was portrayed. After all, no one complained when Prime decapitated Bonecrusher in the first movie. It was in the heat of battle after he'd been attacked. But executing a Decepticon who was apparently crippled? That's the sort of thing that looks bad and needs to be justified. Same goes for killing someone who just saved his life and was not attacking, or again executing an opponent who was defeated and defenseless. Throw in enough events like that that don't get any sort of justification and sandwich them around lines like "Give me your face" and Prime rather quickly starts appearing to have more in common with the bad guys than with his predecessors.

Prime Prime really doesn't have that issue. He's actually had development that shows he wants peace, but has finally accepted that the war will only ever end if the Decepticons are destroyed. That conflict doesn't need to be shown here because it's already been seen previously in the show. And now that he's resolved to end the war, the only question is how to do so. Destroying the Decepticon warship and all those aboard is unquestionably an acceptable military strategy. If he had the botpower and armament to simply launch a direct assault, there wouldn't even be anything to discuss. But since that isn't an option (as they even reiterated within this episode), he's using the only option he has. I doubt many people would have a problem with that.

The issues people have with the movies are absolutely valid and could have been easily avoided. Simply having Bay Prime comment on how they don't have the resources to hold prisoners (as Prime Prime did) would have quelled any controversy about Demolshor and Sentinel. And having Megatron actually attack Prime, or even strongly hint that he was about to, would have put away that controversy. But they didn't, so we're left to speculate about why Prime does the things he does. And with the numerous unexplained questionable actions he takes, along with very brutal violence accompanied by uncharacteristic one-liners, it's pretty easy to assume the worst.

Like maybe have him say "We need to have a truce" and then reloading his gun while saying "I want to be in charge".

Out of curiosity, was this ep shown at BotCon?

Just seems a shame that, in a manner of speaking, the most dedicated fans around wind up missing out on it due to the pilgrimage to the official Transformers convention...

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Yeah, that's a pretty perfect example of the ambiguity I was talking about. He offered a truce. Was it genuine? Apparently Bay intended it to not be, but it clearly was genuine in the novelization (and the original script presumably). If it wasn't genuine, why didn't he just wait another half second before attacking Sentinel? He reloaded his gun apparently, but he didn't seem to be trying to shoot Optimus. Was he merely trying to placate Optimus until he was ready to kill him, or was he merely preparing in case Optimus refused his offer? If he was going to just kill him, why bother offering the truce and slowly reloading rather than just immediately killing him? He says he wants to be in charge. Of what? Does he merely want to be in charge of his Decepticons again, as implied by the fact that he was moved to action by Carly's words? Or is he saying that he's going to immediately start trying to conquer the universe as soon as he's regrouped?

That is exactly the problem. You have to make guesses or assumptions about what's going on because the movies themselves fail to make it clear. Prime has thankfully not taken that path to that extreme. Prime leaves just enough ambiguity to invite some discussion, but it makes it very clear that the worst possibilities from the movies definitely don't apply here.

It wasn't, I was only able to catch up last night after getting home. Shame too, when Animated was on the air, they did a live screening of both "Garbage In Garbage Out" and a preview of "Black Friday" (If memory serves). And the next year at TFCon, we were shown both episodes of "Human Error". Not so this year.

You are psychic my friend:
http://io9.com/5906578/autobots-and-decept...mers-prime-clip

I found it amusing how Dreadwing, Knockout, and Soundwave were suddenly on the bridge of the Nemesis despite being M.I.A. last episode. I half expected to see Megatron turn around and say "....Have you all been there the entire time?"

A huge improvement over last week's episode. Kid-centric episodes in Transformers have no right to be this fun, but I really hope you get to run around as them in the Prime videogame. And that ending had me seriously laugh out loud.

Umm, no. Megatron explained that he programmed the ship himself. It was basically an extension of his will. Why it turned against him? Plot convenience?

I am also extremely tired of AIs not noticing carbon-based beings. Even if the ship was scanning for sparks, it still had cameras. It saw that some odd small beings are crawling inside it...

And why did the effect of the stasis beam end when the ship was deactivated? Umm.... magic?

Another forgettable episode, at least next story will have Knockout, who is always entertaining to watch.



He already met Jack's mom before... I should think she'd have had a stronger reaction to seeing him again (or well, any reaction at all).

His repeat of the "getting woozy and saying silly things about grandma from being electrocuted" schtick from the first episodes was as unfunny as before.




Much like Knockout (in the preview of the next episode) suddenly mentioning Breakdown (a LOT) some 4 episodes after his death. It's like the creators are reading the TF message boards!



After how he basically went out all-berserk to murder Megatron in cold fuel in season 1, I am not surprised at anything this Prime does. Besides, this is still written by the same two guys who created Facerippimus Prime. Why should we be surprised?

Because it isn't? Seriously, they are only the producers. They haven't written anything for the show.

I assumed dark energon disapeared when unicron died. If it is still around then where were the terrorcons when Jack went to cybertron, or did the writers forget what happened in the first few episodes.

Well your first point answers your second point -- Megatron considers flesh creatures to be beneath him, so too did the ship. If someone is breaking into your house you don't check to see if you also have mice.

Unicron's not dead.

That is not dead that can eternal lie... yatta, yatta, yatta.


-ZacWilliam, and in upcomming seasons even temporary defeat may die...

This, exactly this.

I don't have a problem with Captain America shooting Nazi's. I do have a problem with him executing wounded Nazis who pose no threat to him.

Prime's actions in this episode were akin to Stauffenberg's suitcase bomb on the Nazi leadership just without the disguise or subtly part.

That and, y'know. After they left the movies, Optimus only got more ruthless with the Decepticons. But then I don't expect a rational argument at this point.

Megatron thought the ship would become an extension of his will. I don't think it actually worked out that way at all, however. The ship just did it's own thing entirely independent of Megatron because of Unpredictable Evil Dark Energon Magic.

It was a good episode, and proof positive that when you have an American show with some awesome writers, the show has a much bigger depth than when the show's just subbed from Japanese footage. I thought the sound-effect was really familiar, I just couldn't immediately place it, because I haven't seen anything Stargate in a couple of years. And yes, I totally loved Ratchet's not only punching out Knockout, but having a really nice one-liner ready to go, as well.

The one thing that was annoying, is that I forgot the Nemesis is supposed to be a stasis-locked Trypticon. Thus totally ruining any clues the episode might have given, about the nature of sparkless AI's in the Aligned Continuity, and what that meant for the Vehicons. On the other hand, we were given clear evidence that the Vehicons are at least as independent as the Diagnostic Drone from Beast Machines, because the one actually had several lines, in reporting the ship's takeover to Megatron. Then again, with Megs acquiring the Insecticon hive, Vehicons are going to be seen less and less.

Is there actually a scrap of evidence that "this" Nemesis is actually a stasis locked Trypticon? I mean, if it was, presumably Megatron would know about it, right? If that is the case, it seems absurd that Megatron would be in the least bit suprised when the ship started acting of it's own free will since it would have been a "dead" Cybertronian life form, therefore revivable by Dark Energon.

I think Vehicons are fully sparked Cybertronians, just sharing the same mold. This is indicated since Bulkhead is shown concern for killing one in front of Miko (which he probably wouldn't if they were drones), they actually plenty of dialogue in the Orion Pax episodes- especially commenting on how they enjoyed beating up on Optimus Prime at the end, and it's unlikely that Optimus would have cared about Ratchet torturing the miner in Stronger, Faster, or that such torture would be effective to a non-sentient/sapient life form.

On an unrelated note, who else thinks it was INCREDIBLY bone-headed of Soundwave to try and hack the computer system that just quick-baked a Vehicon right in front of him. Yes, it makes sense on some levels for him to try it, since he is the Decepticon's computer guy, but still, the lack of any caution shown seems to show his thinking was less "Must hack system to recover the ship for Lord Megatron!" and more like "Whelp, ship's gonna knock us all out for a while, might as well get ahead of the game and stick my tentacles in a power outlet".



Edit: On an even more unrelated note, I think since the show has basically been trying to show Jack as being effectively a "spiritual successor" to Optimus Prime, it kinda makes his parentage kinda meaningless (and also implies that a single mother can't raise a kick ass kid without genetics playing in, but that's neither hither nor tither).

Edit2: Also, Fowler's line saying the Nemesis was crossing the Atlantic was interesting, since it implies that the Nemesis crashed in western Eurasia or Africa, despite the fact that Bulkhead was able to drive home and the location of the Insecticon Hive was implied to be in... South America I think? I mean, this is presuming the Nemesis was making a beeline for Manhatten, and I can't think of any reason it wouldn't.

They are also series editors/writers, AFAIK.