At long last, it's the end of the road... well, for the season, anyway.
To that end, it looks like we're getting a three-parter. Ought to be a real hoot to watch when they run them backwards with the last episode, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Episode 34: "For the Win I: Dragon's Lair" (aka "Galvatron is UNSTOPPABLE!" on YouTube, because I guess that's where we are as a society now) is described by the aforementioned video uploading site thusly:
Succinct.
If you haven't seen it yet (and hey, if you're like me, you had a busy weekend. So, entirely plausible), here it is for your viewing enjoyment:
And for my "earning my paycheck around here" enjoyment, here's a spoiler-filled review/recap of what went down in the episode.
We pick up where we left off, more or less, with Optimus fending off Galvatron and his Armored Cyber Changer gimmick, so you know things have gotten serious.
Just as OP laments that he could really use some backup, who do we see? Why, none other than Grimlock, Elita, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee! Doing the badass walk-in-a-row thing, no less! If it lasted more than a second, I'd say someone should sync it up to the intro of the old Justice League cartoon.
As Optimus shows relief that he still has friends, or at least allies now, Bumblebee has to spoil the moment. But at least he's wearing his battle mask -- haven't seen that in a hot second -- so I'll forgive him for now.
Guess Galvatron is about as sick of his bit as of late as everyone else, as a beam of fire goes right between his head and his big shoulder kibble, striking some boxes behind him. Guess he's not getting Skybounded today.
Galvatron is quite amused at OP's friends "finally deciding to show," and hides in the thick dust and sand of the desert, given away only by his glowing eyes as he decides to make another video game reference by firing everyone. Well, spitting fire at them. You get my drift. (Actually, no, I only have the one original Drift figure, and I plan on keeping him, thanks.)
OP is thrown back by the blast, and the rest turn to face the Junkion (apparently?) dragon. You know, I have to say, one quirk I like about Galvatron is how often and freely he switches forms. It's almost like walking to him. I guess it helps that it's a beast mode, but even then.
It's exposition time! Galvatron wants all the energon! Elita asks why, so he can rule over a dead wasteland? Valid question. G-Money says it's to "return order," whatever that means. His thingamajig will bust the crust, he'll get the power, and he shall be ascended!
I'm surprised they didn't make Galvatron a train instead of a dragon, because that is one loco motive. Still, kinda refreshing. Feels like it's been a hot minute since we just had "crazy power-hungry evil" as the villain's M.O.
An interesting note: Galvatron goes on to say that "what you thought would be your salvation here will be your tomb". Now, I wonder if he's referring to OP doing whatever he did for whatever reason he did it to put them all on CyberWorld to begin with as being "their salvation"?
Bumblebee's heard enough and leads the charge. OP tries to get them to hold back, but they're not listening. Now Grimlock gets to be the leader Optimus needs, as Galvatron needles them about supposedly being a team, and OP laments that they were, once. Big Grim says they still can be again, if they have a proper leader, "hinting hinting."
Grimlock's pep talk works, as Optimus rallies to his former teammates' side, aiding Bumblebee after he gets pinned and is about to become a firebug. Bee starts to go into his "This doesn't mean" bit, but OP thankfully cuts him off, and convinces him to help get the others to pull back to a safe distance. There, he tells them "You hate me, and I hate you, but we have to work together in order to survive." Well, not in those words, exactly, but the gist is clear. A plan is formed to distract Galvatron while Wheels jacks the siphon.
A noise can be heard around the corner, and OP shushes the others as he moves in with his rifle ready. He quickly turns the corner, and it's...
Starscream!
Cue the simultaneously "You!" pointing at each other moment. It's always a good one, that's why I used it in a comic book once. </plug>
*cough* But I digress.
Starscream is there because he thinks Prime's guys are the ones destroying his city. And then literally everyone on the other side turns their guns on him. Screamer demands to know who's behind it, if not them, and, well, this was inevitable.
Galvatron lands on a high perch behind Screamer, prompting the wannabe emperor to say "MEGATRON?!"
That's about as far as any sort of reference to the movie goes, though, as Galvatron delivers an amused "Not quite" before opening fire. Unlike another time and place, Screamer gets out of the way.
Then we get another funny moment as OP takes cover, and Mirage scares the crap out of him by appearing from out of nowhere. Prime's reaction is priceless, at least as Prime reactions go.
OP does the leader thing to get them on his side, Starscream in particular, by noting that his empire is threatened as much as anything. And Starscream is nothing if not a man of the peopffft, okay, I couldn't finish that. Anyway, he agrees, but with the caveat that he's not going to make a habit of it. Good enough!
So, Operation: Distraction is put into effect, and Big G falls for it. He won't admit it, but he totally did, as he turns to fight off everyone but Wheeljack, who's put his 1337 hacker d00d hat on.
Turns out shutting it off is a no-go, but he can reverse the flow. So now you know, bro.
M'boy gets the job done, and Galvatron seems to stop receiving energy, and things begin... floating?
OP with the heroic speech, Galvatron with the "So naive..." line. He claims he's got enough energon to destroy them five times over, and he'll have things up and running before you can say "BWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Probably not what he meant, but that's what we hear as Scorponok (being ridden by Chop Shop) comes up over the hill. Turns out, Mirage is good at handling negotiations. Case in point: Scorpy has both arms again.
Galvatron ain't looking so confident now.
Yeah, this one was pretty good, I think. The gang's all here! ...almost. All we're missing are Sky-Byte, Airachnid, and Megatron, and hey, there's still two episodes left! Anything could happen!
I'm guessing this whole "invert the polarities" thing is going to have something to do with why everyone is made of translucent plastic next season.
But yeah, this was a pretty good time for the five minutes it lasted. Not exactly lore deep, but at least it feels like we're going somewhere, even if that isn't "where we find out the answers to what happened." I kinda wonder if they didn't pivot to this as soon as they got greenlit for a second season, and pushed back the big answers until then.
Still, Galvatron is a fun villain, so this was enjoyable. Can't wait to see what happens next!
Just as OP laments that he could really use some backup, who do we see? Why, none other than Grimlock, Elita, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee! Doing the badass walk-in-a-row thing, no less! If it lasted more than a second, I'd say someone should sync it up to the intro of the old Justice League cartoon.
As Optimus shows relief that he still has friends, or at least allies now, Bumblebee has to spoil the moment. But at least he's wearing his battle mask -- haven't seen that in a hot second -- so I'll forgive him for now.
Guess Galvatron is about as sick of his bit as of late as everyone else, as a beam of fire goes right between his head and his big shoulder kibble, striking some boxes behind him. Guess he's not getting Skybounded today.
Galvatron is quite amused at OP's friends "finally deciding to show," and hides in the thick dust and sand of the desert, given away only by his glowing eyes as he decides to make another video game reference by firing everyone. Well, spitting fire at them. You get my drift. (Actually, no, I only have the one original Drift figure, and I plan on keeping him, thanks.)
OP is thrown back by the blast, and the rest turn to face the Junkion (apparently?) dragon. You know, I have to say, one quirk I like about Galvatron is how often and freely he switches forms. It's almost like walking to him. I guess it helps that it's a beast mode, but even then.
It's exposition time! Galvatron wants all the energon! Elita asks why, so he can rule over a dead wasteland? Valid question. G-Money says it's to "return order," whatever that means. His thingamajig will bust the crust, he'll get the power, and he shall be ascended!
I'm surprised they didn't make Galvatron a train instead of a dragon, because that is one loco motive. Still, kinda refreshing. Feels like it's been a hot minute since we just had "crazy power-hungry evil" as the villain's M.O.
An interesting note: Galvatron goes on to say that "what you thought would be your salvation here will be your tomb". Now, I wonder if he's referring to OP doing whatever he did for whatever reason he did it to put them all on CyberWorld to begin with as being "their salvation"?
Bumblebee's heard enough and leads the charge. OP tries to get them to hold back, but they're not listening. Now Grimlock gets to be the leader Optimus needs, as Galvatron needles them about supposedly being a team, and OP laments that they were, once. Big Grim says they still can be again, if they have a proper leader, "hinting hinting."
Grimlock's pep talk works, as Optimus rallies to his former teammates' side, aiding Bumblebee after he gets pinned and is about to become a firebug. Bee starts to go into his "This doesn't mean" bit, but OP thankfully cuts him off, and convinces him to help get the others to pull back to a safe distance. There, he tells them "You hate me, and I hate you, but we have to work together in order to survive." Well, not in those words, exactly, but the gist is clear. A plan is formed to distract Galvatron while Wheels jacks the siphon.
A noise can be heard around the corner, and OP shushes the others as he moves in with his rifle ready. He quickly turns the corner, and it's...
Starscream!
Cue the simultaneously "You!" pointing at each other moment. It's always a good one, that's why I used it in a comic book once. </plug>
*cough* But I digress.
Starscream is there because he thinks Prime's guys are the ones destroying his city. And then literally everyone on the other side turns their guns on him. Screamer demands to know who's behind it, if not them, and, well, this was inevitable.
Galvatron lands on a high perch behind Screamer, prompting the wannabe emperor to say "MEGATRON?!"
That's about as far as any sort of reference to the movie goes, though, as Galvatron delivers an amused "Not quite" before opening fire. Unlike another time and place, Screamer gets out of the way.
Then we get another funny moment as OP takes cover, and Mirage scares the crap out of him by appearing from out of nowhere. Prime's reaction is priceless, at least as Prime reactions go.
OP does the leader thing to get them on his side, Starscream in particular, by noting that his empire is threatened as much as anything. And Starscream is nothing if not a man of the peopffft, okay, I couldn't finish that. Anyway, he agrees, but with the caveat that he's not going to make a habit of it. Good enough!
So, Operation: Distraction is put into effect, and Big G falls for it. He won't admit it, but he totally did, as he turns to fight off everyone but Wheeljack, who's put his 1337 hacker d00d hat on.
Turns out shutting it off is a no-go, but he can reverse the flow. So now you know, bro.
M'boy gets the job done, and Galvatron seems to stop receiving energy, and things begin... floating?
OP with the heroic speech, Galvatron with the "So naive..." line. He claims he's got enough energon to destroy them five times over, and he'll have things up and running before you can say "BWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Probably not what he meant, but that's what we hear as Scorponok (being ridden by Chop Shop) comes up over the hill. Turns out, Mirage is good at handling negotiations. Case in point: Scorpy has both arms again.
Galvatron ain't looking so confident now.
Yeah, this one was pretty good, I think. The gang's all here! ...almost. All we're missing are Sky-Byte, Airachnid, and Megatron, and hey, there's still two episodes left! Anything could happen!
I'm guessing this whole "invert the polarities" thing is going to have something to do with why everyone is made of translucent plastic next season.
But yeah, this was a pretty good time for the five minutes it lasted. Not exactly lore deep, but at least it feels like we're going somewhere, even if that isn't "where we find out the answers to what happened." I kinda wonder if they didn't pivot to this as soon as they got greenlit for a second season, and pushed back the big answers until then.
Still, Galvatron is a fun villain, so this was enjoyable. Can't wait to see what happens next!
But what did you think? Catch anything I didn't? Feel free to talk about this episode here, or the series as a whole over in the "Bumblebee is a little bitch and Optimus is lead around by his balls" (oh, my...) thread in our forums!
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