Revisiting BEAST WARS

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:15 pm

The Probe
written by Craig Miller and Marv Wolfman

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ldppgXi8I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgkZXyxbTfA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71I9iDH8LrY&feature=related

It's been a few months now that our beasty buddies have been stranded on Ear- uh... I mean a strange, prehistoric planet with TWO moons. TWO MOONS, so you know it's NOT Earth! But as I was saying it's been a while and things have started to settle in. Everyone's used to the primordial surroundings by now. What do you think, shall we expand the scope of things a little? How about we start with a shot of Cybertron?

WOOOOOO!

*sigh* I guess it kind of loses its impact now, but back in 1996 when this episode was being aired for the first time, I was flipping out. Afterall, this is the 11th episode in the series. At one episode per week, that's 11 weeks without seeing Cybertron or anything beyond the small scope of the rocky landscapes. And if you count from the time that G1 ended to the opening shot of this episode, the wait had been even longer.

But finally we see Cybertron. No longer is this simply a new show with a couple of passing references to some old, forgotten toon from the 80s. It's official now. This is a Transformers show and this is Cybertron we're seeing. *swoon*

The Axalon has long since gone missing, so the Maximals on Cybertron send out several temporal probes to search for, and hopefully locate, the missing ship and its crew.

Cut to the Maximals still stranded on the blue/green planet (not Earth). Primal, Dinobot, Rattrap and Cheetor are on their way back to the base. It's pretty mellow and with the Axalon in sight, Cheetor decides to race Rattrap to the ship. Primal and Dinobot give each other a look and shake their heads. It's a one-second moment but I like it. It's almost like after "Gorilla Warfare" Primal is starting to see some validity in Dinobot's warrior point of view. Or maybe since Dinobot was the one stressing strategy while psycho Primal was all about blowing everything up, he (Primal) can see a little more clearly that Dinobot isn't about mindlessly blowing things up. Gotta' put some thought into first.

But anyway! I'm rambling today, I know. It's a good episode! Primal calmly says, "Maximize," and transforms. *ahh* Such a nice change from all the screaming, "HENSHINS!", and "TRANSFORMS!!!" of the anime series. Primal flies in front of the racing cheetah and rat and drops down right in front of them. Cheetor smacks into Primal and bonks his head. Very uncool, right? Primal reprimands Cheetor, saying his fooling around left him wide open to attack. What if he had been a Predacon scout?! Primal's attitude about the Preds has really started to change now since the last episode when he all but brushed them off as a minor nuissance.

After the lecture they finish their walk back to the Axalon, where Rhinox is hard at work. Seems he's detected the probe that Cybertron sent out while the other Maximals were away. I love how he keeps tuning their equipment and it sounds like a HAM radio. That's classic.

Dinobot: "It's probably a Predacon trick... or something worse."

Hm... I kind of get the feeling that Dinobot already suspects it's a probe and that he doesn't think it's a tirck at all. More on that later. They're able to boost their long-range sensors and confirm that it is in-fact a temporal probe. Rhinox cuts the celebrations short and tries sending it a signal. Unfortunately, there's too much interference for the signal to get through. The party... is over.

Primal: "You did your best, Rhinox. No one could've done more."
Rattrap: "Yeah, fearless leader is right."
Rhinox: "No he's not."

I love that exchange. Anyone else would, y'know, take it in stride and be cheered up just slightly, but not Rhinox. He sees right through the good-intentioned kindness. BUT! There's still a chance they can contact the probe! Yeah, this is Rhinox's pick-me-up! He's practical, he's a realist, and he knows that the probe will make a second pass by the planet on its way out of the solar system! All they need to do is build a stronger transmitter and boost the signal!

*gasp!* And a beautiful shot of the probe as it passes by Saturn. Er- I mean, you know, a planet that has a ring around it. Not Saturn, because they're not on Earth. SLAG!

Not a moment to lose! The Maximals locate the highest patch of land they can find, and it happens to be in Predacon territory. No choice! Must build, must build, slag it! No worries, Tigatron's watching their backs.

And somewhere nearby... Tigatron spots Waspinator flying aimlessly around and blasts him out of the sky. That was easy. Too easy, in fact. Turns out Waspy was merely bait to lure out any roaming Maximals, and Tarantulus is right there to surprise Tigatron with his new invention; a transformation-lock lens. I hope you like your fur coat, Tigatron, because you'll be wearing it for a while! He's trapped in tiger form!

Tarantulus: "It woorks, how gratifying."

Aw, that's just cute!

The other Maximals hear the missle/laser fire and send Cheetor off to help. Dinobot offers to assist, but Primal wants him to stay in case their construction site comes under attack.

Dinobot: "Well, of coourse. We wouldn't want to miss our chance to go home."

Ah, one of my favorite pieces of dialogue in the show. Dinobot says that he's still a Predacon despite their alliance and that when the Maximal ship arrives to rescue the Maximal crew, he'll be lumped in with Megatron and all the rest of the Predacons. Primal assures him that he'll personally see to it that Dinobot will be treated like a Maximal.

Dinobot: "And what makes you think I want to be."

Zing!

Cheetor arrives to help Tigatron (after the snowy tiger got beat up some), but Tarantulus uses the lens on him too! Two down and four to go.

Tarantulus: "Isn't life just full of surprises."

Oh, and before I forget, "Don't cats ever get tired of being stupid." It's the running gag throughout this episode. Everyone thinks cats are stupid in this episode. Who knows? Maybe one of the writers was having a bad week with their cat.

Back at the Axalon Rhinox is putting the finishing touches on the transwarp signal booster. He's just matching the artificial signal to mimic their transwarp engines so the probe can pick up on it. He checks the clock to see where the probe is and... a hologram of the whole solar system comes up.

There's a giant yellow sun at the center of it, and several planets rotating around it that look like... Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter... uh... yeah. They've all but said that they're really on Earth and this only helps confirm it. But Two moons, man! Two moons! Ah, whatever. We all know it's Earth.

Anyway! The probe passes by... a... blue planet with a vertical ring. Which one is that, Neptune or Uranus? I can never remember. *checks real quick* It's Uranus. Love those shots of space. They look so pretty!

Back on the planet! Optimus is trying to contact Cheetor and Tigatron to no avail. He doesn't even realize that Scorponok and Terrorsaur are hiding right behind a boulder not more than 50 yards away. Scorpy records the footage of the Maximals building stuff and sends Terrorsaur back to base to show Megatron.

At the base the Predacons puzzle over what the structure is (Tarantulus figures that one out in 2 seconds) and why they'd risk building it in hostile territory. Just then the deep space scanner goes off. They've detected something!

Cheetor: "The probe!"
Megatron: "Probe? (Oh, Snap!) Prepare for full-scale assault! Bring everything you've got! Now, Now, Now!"

The Preds, ALL the Preds, tear out of the base, leaving Tigatron and Cheetor to escape unnoticed. They make quick use of the Predacon CR chambers and are able to transform again. All they have to do now is reach the battle before it's too late (it took them a while to escape, I'm just summing it up real quick).

The Maximals have completed the signal array. They're just waiting on Rhinox to deliver the replicated transwarp signature. And Scorponok isn't waiting for anyone! He blasts Dinobot right in the back! He's down! He fires a couple more missles at the structure, but Primal blasts them out of the sky. Scorpy goes to fire a missle at Primal and- OMG- RATTRAP BLEW HIS CLAW-HAND OFF!!! Dinobot gets back on his feet and finishes off the one-handed scorpion, but they know the rest of the Preds are on their way...

The probe! It's coming back around Earth!

OMG, Terrorsaur! He shoots! They shoot! Everyone shoots, nobody gets hit. Terrorsaur flies away. OMG! More Predacons! Megatron, Blackarachnia, and Tarantulus snuck up behind the Maximals while Terrorsaur distracted them! The Preds are really good at this baiting tactic today, I notice. Anyway! BATTLE!

Dinobot runs right into the beam of the Lock Lens and reverts to his beast mode. Before he even knows what's going on, Blackarachnia kicks him in the head about... 30 times. He's down! Rattrap gets a little does of revenge and blasts Blackarachnia backwards until she falls off a cliff.
He goes over to check on his veloci-buddy and gets hit by the lens too. Rat mode! Stuck in rat mode! They both get blasted across the ground by Megatron. Dude, that lens is messing up the whole Maximal team!

Tarantulus throttles Primal (how often do you see that?). Good bit here, Primal swings his sword and Tarantulus catches it with his other hand! Primal still has his forearm canons though, and punches a hole through Tarry at point blank range. And then Primal gets hit by the Locking Lens too. The whole team has been trapped in beast mode! They're completely defenseless!

Megatron fires a missle at the signal array, but Primal won't let it be destroyed without a fight. He picks up an I-beam and *BATS* the missle! Of course, the missle explodes on impact, which always made me think of the horrible reverberations that must've gone through that thing and right into Primal's hands. You ever hit something solid with an aluminum baseball bat and feel that horrible pain in your hands? Multiply that by about a thousand.

Primal's on the ground and Megatron takes the opportunity to *GRIND* his heel into the monkey's back! Crazy pain! *takes a picture*

This has been a crazy battle so far, but you know who they forgot about? Rhinox. And he's right there to knock Megatron clear across the battlefield. He's down! Rhinox goes over to install the disc with the replicated transwarp signature when he's hit by the lens. Rhino mode! NOOOOOOOO! But really, how was he to know there was some crazy new device on the field?

It's so awful! He keeps trying to Maximize to no avail and as he slowly trucks his way over to Primal, you can see Megatron groggily reviving in the background. Hurry up already! He hands the disc off to Primal, the only one with hands capable of inserting the disc in beast mode, but it's too late. Megatron is back on his feet.

Megatron: "No Predacon will become a Maximal prisoner while I rule."

Ah, how sweet! He fires a missle at the signal array in glorious slow-motion. The explosion rocks the area and sends Primal and Rhinox flying through the air. This, I believe, is the first time the Predacons have had a real solid, clear-cut victory and it's such an event, that the explosion is played a few more times with Megatron's echoing laughter filling the room. Oooooh, so evil.

Time to finish the job. He moves in to finish off Primal and Rhinox, but the cats show up! First order of business is to destroy the Transformation-Lock Lens. With that out of the way it's two against one. But you know what? Megatron is feeling mighty happy with how the day's gone and and doesn't feel up to anymore fighting. He heads for home... and the Maximals... don't.

Mmmm- mm! I love this episode! I'm sure there's plenty more that can be said about it, but this is running a bit long as it is (I think). I guess I'll leave it as is, but this really is one of my favorite season 1 episodes if you couldn't already tell. Love it! Oh wait, there is one more thing- I didn't hate Tigatron in this one!

Next up- Victory.

Post by **andersonh1** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:53 pm

That's a good episode, and a real downer when the Maximals lose at the end.

Post by **Sparky Prime** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:52 pm

andersonh1 wrote:That's a good episode, and a real downer when the Maximals lose at the end.

That's one of the things I liked about Beast Wars. The good guys didn't always win. But then if they had won in this episode, more Maximals would have come to rescue them and show would have been over...

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:06 am

You never know. I mean, Megatron has a way of getting people to stick around.

Been a while, right? Yeah, that's college for you. Completely overwhelmed by homework and huge blocks of reading. I swear though, I'm going to get this thing going again. Right then, where'd we leave off at?

Victory
written by Wendy Reardon

on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BQd2woWQVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nZLCh0szrg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzFPlbSUUIE&feature=related

This episode opens inside the Axalon where everyone's crowding around the TV to watch their new favorite soap opera: "As the Preds Burn", courtesy of a spy camera that Rattrap secretly installed in the Pred base.

It seems that Megatron has been using what precious little energon the Preds have to conduct experiments in growing artificial energon crystals. Unfortunately his experiments have all been complete failures thus far. Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Scorponok look on with growing contempt as this latest experiment results in yet another failure. Megatron demands another crystal immediately. You can just see where this is going. The Predacons revolt!

Cheetor: "Now aren't you glad we got cable?"

I've been waiting so long to quote that line.

Yes, Cheetor, yes I am. *Grin!* The Maximals watch the revolt unfold as the Preds open fire on Megatron. He takes cover, but the experimental energon crystals are hit and detonate. The monitor goes static. The explosion at the Pred base is felt miles away inside the Axalon.

Whoa. The Predacons just blew themselves up.

There's more a sense of complete bewilderment than anything else. The tone is kept reserved, as the Maximals go to check out the Pred base and confirm the destruction. Smoke is billowing from the wreckage and the ship lists. We all know it's a trick, but honestly- the Preds are really going the distance in making it believable. How badly did they have to trash their base to make it realistic?

Primal: "We may have to accept a rather unexpected development, friends. It looks like the Maximals have won the Beast Wars."

Ohh, tsch. I know what he meant, but it came across all wrong. It's unexpected that the Maximals won? Way to rain on the parade. No, no, I'm sure he meant that it was unexpected that the Predacons blew themselves up. Oh well, minor point.

So they head into the Pred base and the whole place is just in shambles. Rhinox is scanning for signs of life but coming up with nothing. It's off to the engine room to see what they can salvage and use to repair the Axalon.
The whole time Dinobot is just completely somber despite Rattrap's constant needling. After the engine room is deemed secure, Dinobot stalks off down a corridor to look for any survivors. Watching as he goes, Rattrap delivers what happens to be my favorite bit of dialogue in the episode. Basically he says that despite their alliance, Dinobot is still a Predacon at heart and only sided with them, because he knew they'd win. Now is not the time to drop his guard, because there's just no telling what Dinobot will do next. Good stuff.

And! And just down the hall even Cheetor is playing practical jokes on Dinobot with some of Tarantulus' spare spider legs! Crikey, it's a wonder that Dinobot didn't bite his head off right there! Ohhh, I swear, Cheetor's going to pay for that later. You just know Dinobot's thinking about cheetah tar tar.

Anyway, mission accomplished. They got the engine parts they were after and there's no sign of Predacon life. They head back to the Axalon.

Repairs are the top priority now. I just love seeing more of the Axalon. Seems like we've seen only the command bridge and a couple side rooms. The engine room looks pretty cool too.
Dinobot arrives after much contemplation and informs everyone that he's not returning to Cybertron with them. Convinced that he'd only be seen as a Predacon criminal, staying behind on this primitive world unequaled in power seems like the better choice.

Primal: "It will eventually lead to your destruction."
Dinobot: "Eventually... Eventually can be a very long time, Optimus Primal."

Ooh, snappy! One of my favorite lines. Dinobot doesn't wait for everyone to start tearing up and exits the Axalon. Rattrap, for the first time today, seems surprised and maybe even a little disappointed that Dinobot's not coming with them.

Outside- Dinobot stomps around surveying the vast wilderness that he intends to conquer. He steps over a narrow crack in the ground and proceeds on his way. But it's a deep, canyon-like crack in the ground and at the bottom are all of the Predacons in hiding.

I'm not sure how long the Predacons have been hiding in here, but the events of this episode seem to span the course of at least a couple days. Tarantulus is munching on field mice and slobbering all over Terrorsaur. Terrorsaur is just losing his mind being cramped up in such a tiny crack in the ground. Claustrophobic? Maybe. The best part is the revelation that Waspinator has been cuddling Tarantulus like a stuffed animal when he sleeps at night! Awww! And even more, that Tarantulus was completely aware of this and let him do it anyway! Awwwww! That's so sweet!

It seems the whole plan began when Terrorsaur accidentally tripped over the cable to the Maximal's spy camera (was it really that blatant?). Having discovered the spy cam, the Preds hatched this plan to fake their own deaths and let the Maximals repair the Axalon. Then, once the repairs were complete, they'd jump out of the crack in the ground and steal it from them!

Sounds fairly foolproof until Dinobot happens to spot them down there. OH SNAP!!! Every Predacon comes thrashing out of the tiny canyon and gives chase! Dinobot runs like mad back towards the Axalon (managing to take out Terrorsaur and Waspinator in the process).

But it's too late! The Axalon is already prepping to lift off. The engines are warming up and in the condition that the ship is in, there's just no way to shut it off.
Dinobot is shot down! He can't move! He can still shoot though and holds the remaining Predacons at bay as long as he can... which isn't long. I know it's only four Predacons running at the base, but they're cranking up the epic music that usually only gets used when the Vok are on the scene- and it works! It totally works! This feels epic!

Cheetor and Optimus Primal head outside with blast shields to try and rescue Dinobot. I love those blast shields. So cool. Tigatron is here too and can't stand the idea of sitting idly by while everyone else is fighting.

Rhinox: "Sit down!"

Tigatron: "But Optimus and Cheetor get to-"

Rhinox: "I SAID SIT!!!"

Pure awesome.

It's a crazy fire fight, but Optimus is able to get to Dinobot and secure him. Seems Terrorsaur's recovered though and nails Primal right in the back. A crazed Cheetor fires wildly at Terrorsaur before getting himself taken out by Megatron. See, that's what happens when you don't pay attention.

The Predacons all charge the Axalon, but are easily dispatched by the ship's auto-canons (which were being operated by Tigatron). However, the Axalon is lifting off ever so slowly. The epic music has ceased. All we can hear now are the roar of the engines as the ship inches ever higher. Cheetor manages to crawl his tattered body onto the elevator platform as a weary Optimus carries Dinobot in his arms. He looks completely exhausted, but he digs deep and summons the last bit of his strength to throw Dinobot up onto the platform. With one last burst of energy he jumps and latches onto Cheetor's hand. It's going to be okay! They all made it and now they're heading home for Cybertron!

Not if Scorponok has anything to say about it. He fires off a missle that breaks the grip Cheetor had on Primal and in deafening silence, Primal falls to the ground in slow-motion. I swear, this episode is epic.

Cheetor: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

At the very last second Megatron jumps onto the Axalon before it's out of range and makes his way inside. Long story, short- he takes out all the Maximals and decides to savor crushing Rattrap in his T-rex jaws. Just that Rhinox doesn't go down so easily and hoists himself back up onto his feet. If you were wondering what kind of a powerhouse Rhinox was, check it out- he PICKS Megatron UP and PILEDRIVES HIS FACE into the elevator platform. Then, just for fun, he STOMPS Megatron's butt out the hatch and lets him fall back to the Earth. You don't mess with that rhino when he's in a bad mood.

The ship's controls were damaged during the battle though (there's a big T-rex tail sticking out of the console, slaggit!) and the Axalon plummets once more towards the planet! Sirens are blaring, red lights are flashing, everything's flying through the air and no one can get to the control panel to try and right the ship. But then, by some miracle, it's Optimus! He's flying right at them and catches the frickin' Axalon! Well, more like he helped guide the ship to a soft landing, but still- that had to be some kind of super strength.

The mission was a failure, but everyone's glad to have Optimus back. Rattrap and Dinobot are back to throwing insults at each other, so really- it's not all bad. The end!

Between this episode and the last one (The Probe), I kind of see a two-part story. It's like, with the Probe we were all starting to wonder where the search parties were and what was taking them so long. Then, after failing to contact the probe, we get this episode which shows the Maximals trying to leave the planet (rescue is out of the question at this point). And there's the developing story of Dinobot's apprehension of returning to Cybertron. So now we see that there is no rescue party coming and the Axalon is never going to fly again. The Beast Wars will be going on for some time after this. Also, love that despite being called "Victory", this whole episode is somber. The sky is gray and overcast the entire time. There are no celebrations- even when they think the Preds are all dead. Everything's got a kind of slow, quiet, stillness about it in this episode. Maybe that's why everything seems so incredibly dramatic at the end when the epic music cranks up and everything becomes very loud. All in all, just a great episode all around.

Next up- Dark Designs

Post by **andersonh1** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:46 am

Victory is one of my favorite first season episodes. I love the grim and gloomy atmosphere that most of the episode maintains, at least up until the last few minutes. We're all fairly certain that this is some ploy by Megatron, but as the Maximals get the engine components they need and repair the Axalon, it actually looks like they just might make it. There's some great character work with Dinobot who would rather stay behind alone on the planet than go back to Cybertron. And then the ship goes without Optimus, only to be damaged during the fight with Megatron, making it look like the Maximals will go down with the ship.

Of course, the silliness when Optimus catches the falling Axalon deflates things far too much. But then it is kind of absurd that one tiny Maximal could catch and slow the relatively massive ship, AND land it right where it took off. If only Primal had moved it, Rampage couldn't have knocked it off the cliff later. But maybe the concept was a little too much, and adding some levity to the events was the only way the director could see to play the scene.

In the end, it's another Predacon victory, with Rhinox sadly saying of the Axalon: "She won't fly again." Between this and The Probe, things are bleak.

Like Gilligan's Island and Star Trek Voyager, the heroes can't actually suceed in getting home or the series is over (although, with Beast Wars we do get Beast Machines), so failure is pretty much the only option for the Maximals in a show like this. Nevertheless, even with that limitation, it's possible to construct a solid episode that works regardless of the outcome being a given, and Victory works very well. An excellent Beast Wars episode.

Mirage · Post by **Mirage** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:09 pm

Yep-- definitely one of my favorites. I remember being bummed that I missed the original airing because I didn't realize the "Power Block" was going to start airing Beast Wars on Fridays. Apparently GI Joe Extreme, Vor-Tech or one of those other shows wasn't cutting it...

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:34 pm

Dark Designs
written by Ian Weir

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdhaKDzPzQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s7ACyr4 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7_Wg6K ... re=related

Lots of good stuff happening in this episode, so let's get right into it. The Maximals are out looking for energon, but they've reached a dead end. And already we get a great line.

Primal: "Well as far as dead ends go, at least this one has a view."

You know, I really like little moments like this. I'm not sure when it began exactly, but it feels like the dialogue of the show has matured a little. Not "grim and gritty" matured, but in the sense that the characters are able to express thoughts and feelings you don't normally see in an action cartoon based on a toyline. Like in the last episode when Rattrap pointed out that Dinobot's insults were a little lame (but was happy to hear them) instead of taking offense. Anyway, the unproductive trip goes south when the Predacons launch a sneak attack from above on a rocky mountainside.

SHAKEY CAM!!!

The camera is shaking everywhere! This is the only time I can recall seeing the shakey cam used *this* much, but for the most part it works. Makes the action seem that much more crazed and frantic. Except that sometimes the shakey cam shakes around when characters aren't moving or shooting or sometimes it wants to get shakey on an empty landscape. No, wait! I can see someone's foot in the bottom of the screen! Great shot of Tarantulus blasting away, but it doesn't look like his feet are on the ground.

BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE SHAKEY CAM!

Rhinox keeps firing on the loose rocks just above the Predacons until he causes an avalanche that buries the whole lot of them. Ah, that was easy. With that done, the Maximals head for home. Primal comments that Rhinox really did a great job. Some quick wits and sharp thinking- yeah, yeah. Sounds like leadership material to the boss monkey, but Rhinox is happy where he is- bringing up the rear.

Here's a moment that always stuck in my head as odd. Tarantulus is digging Megatron out of the boulders and the first thing Megatron says when he gets the rocks brushed off his face is how he's impressed with the rhino and would like to make him a Predacon. It's just kind of funny, seeing that he's still completely buried in boulders. No coughing or yelling or anything. He already concocted a brand new plan while he was buried! That's how fast he is!

Sooo... the Maximals are trekking back to the Axalon and Rhinox is bringing up the rear... about a mile back. It's no trouble at all for Tarantulus to snare the lumbering slow-poke in a stasis web and kidnap him. Sometime later Rhinox wakes up to find himself shackled inside the Predacon ship. Megatron is going on, blah blah blah, so what does Rhinox do? Yeah, you know it, he's not even afraid. Meanwhile, the Maximals have finally noticed that Rhinox is no longer behind them. Rattrap hacks into Rhinox's personal communicator and they can hear the whole thing.

Megatron: Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Rhinox: "I'm dying of boredom here."
Megatron: "Blah, blah, blah, Transmutor, blah, blah, Make you a Predacon, blah, blah, blah."

Megatron hits a switch and Rhinox is struck by four bolts of energy. When he comes to again, he's sporting a new paint job! All the gold bits on his robot mode are now silver and his eyes are glowing EEEEVIL red! They made him into a Predacon! Now, before we move on, let's consider Megatron's little plan here for a second. Last episode we saw how easily Rhinox stomped Megatron's face into the ground. We already know how smart Rhinox is. Now you take all that power and intelligence and combine it with the treachery and deceitfulness that Predacons are so well known for and... how was this supposed to benefit Megs again? Hehehe.

SO! Having heard all this, the Maximals decide that they must rush in and rescue Rhinox. Except, a wry grin comes over Optimus Primal's face as he realizes that Megatron just bit off more than he can chew- with both mouths AT THE SAME TIME! *L* Yes, I know that was lame, but whatever.

At the Pred base, Megs has just finished giving Rhinox the grand tour and now it's time to get down to business. He wants info about the Axalon that only Rhinox would know- security codes, ship layout, the basic stuff. But it seems that Megatron is having some kind of trouble with the holo-projector that displays all his tactical data. Oooh, Rhinox is so not impressed, and he makes sure to rub it in.

Rhinox: "Gee, I hope it's still under warranty."
Megatron: *glare*

Hehehe. Oh, the fun is only just beginning. Rhinox heads down to see if he can't help Scorponok figure out what the problem is. Oh hey, Scorpy figured it out real quick. Someone yanked the modem right out of the computer.

Rhinox: *fake surprise* "No!"
Scorponok: "But yes! See for yourself!" (not the actual quote from this episode, but still a quote from a movie I like if anyone knows it.

)

Scorponok turns his back for a moment and we see the modem in Rhinox's hand. He crushes the evidence! Oh hey, he found some big stacks of crates to play with now.

Scorponoky: "Hey, hey! Be careful with that!"
Rhinox: "Oh, I'm being real careful. See, I'm standing over here, and it's all gonna' fall that way." *shoves*
Scorponok: "NOOooooooo!"

Scorpy's out of the picture. Megatron and Waspinator arrive sometime later and discover his mangled corpse. Waspinator is ordered to cart Scorpy off to the regeration tank and no sooner has he done so, then he's nailed by another crate! Rhinox loves those things. Waspy takes a hard hit to the head and starts flapping all over the base, thinking he's the ancient Insection, Shrapnel. Blackarachnia and Megatron look on in disbelief.

Blackarachnia: "Shrapnell? That was a Decepticon from the Great War over 300 years ago."

Couple things about this scene. One, I love seeing Megatron and Blackarachnia together. I always got the impression that early on he took a liking to her, being that she was fairly intelligent, and kind of took her on as an apprentice. We'll see some of his tutoring in later episodes (needless to say, it doesn't last). Secondly, as rabid fans of Transformers, we all know who Shrapnel is, so it's no big deal to us. But for Blackarachnia, who's never been to Cybertron, to be able to recognize the name of one random Decepticon out of countless soldiers from over three centuries ago really says something. This won't be the last time she shows her superior knowledge of history either, which always gave me the impression that she had a strong interest in cybertronian history. It makes sense, really. Since she's never been to the homeworld, she naturally wants to learn all she can about it. The fact that she seems to know minute details that no one else picks up on just goes to show how into Cybertron's history she is. *imagines her with sexy librarian glasses and a data-pad in hand*

Anyway, Waspinator finally konks out while mumbling the old, "More than meets the eye," catch-phrase. Rhinox is mighty pleased with himself and just stomping down a random hallway when Terrorsaur pops up. He's got Rhinox all figured out, and why not? This is usually Terrorsaur's game! He wants in on the action, but Rhinox is running a one-man show. He grabs Terrorsaur by the neck and threatens to make pterodactyl hotwings out of him if he doesn't keep quiet. I'm shocked. He hasn't had any compunctions about scrapping everyone else so far. Why not do the same to Terrorsaur? Ah, well, never hurts to have a little back-up just in case, right?

Back on the bridge, Megatron's checking over the security cameras and spots both Tarantulus and Blackarachnia poisoned with their own cyber-venom and strung up in their own stasis webs.

Megs: "What's going on around here!?!!?"
Hehehe.

Outside- the Maximals have managed to sneak right up to the Pred base undetected. It seems they're still listening to everything going on through Rhinox's comm. link, because they seem aware of all the chaos going on inside. Rhinox is doing such a good job of taking out Predacons, that they decide to let him keep running amok a little while longer before they charge in for the rescue.

Scorponok has finally gotten out of the regeneration tank and tells Megatron everything. His timing is great. There's only two Preds left in the base (not counting Scorpy or Megs). It's pretty obvious by now. We find Rhinox just wandering about as he usually does when Megatron confronts him.

Megatron: "Traitor!"
Rhinox: "And?"

Eeee! Rhinox is just too awesome as a Predacon. Looks like Megatron brought back-up though. Scorponok and Terrorsaur surround Rhinox. Do you see concern in those rhino eyes? Hehe. With a few well-chosen words, Rhinox convinces Scorponok that he should really beat up Terrorsaur.

Scorpy: "Mango!" *headbutts Terrorsaur*

The two Preds knock each other around until Rhinox grabs them both by the collar. Laughing, he smashes them both into each other and tosses them down to a lower level. He gives the departed Preds a farewell wave. Aww. Evil Rhinox laughing evil laughter is just cool. And the wave is cool. You know what? I think we still have one Predacon left to take care of. Rhinox busts out the chain-guns of doom and fills Megatrons knees full of shrapnel! OH! YEAH! Megs falls off his floating platform and hits the floor below, followed by Rhinox shortly. And now it's time to gloat. Oh, Rhinox, your plan was almost perfect, but you just had to gloat at the very end, didn't you? Yeah, he happens to be standing right in the center of the Transmutor the whole time he's gloating. Megatron shoots the activation lever and suddenly Rhinox is reverted back to a Maximal.

Time for the Maximals to get their old buddy out of there! They blast a hold through the wall and raid the ship! RETURN OF THE SHAKEY CAM! Except this time it's being used much better than in the first battle. I have to say, this probably ranks as one of the coolest little battles in the show. Dinobot and Scorponok are having a brutal beat-down. Scorpy is landing punches non-stop, even as Dinobot grabs him and hoists him off the ground, Scorpy keeps punching and punching. Very awesome. Also very awesome when Dinobot rams Scorpy's head into his spinning blades.

Total James Bond moment when Primal is flashing his blades all over the place and Megatron just shoots him. Hmm... *imagines Megatron with Sean Connery's voice* It's not too much of a stretch. Primal ain't giving up! He leaps in the air and Megs falls on his back, catches Primal with his feet, and kicks him clear back up into the air AND THEN blasts him twice before hitting the ground! Hard-frickin'-core! Primal finally gets in a hit and it's pretty much the game-ender. He chops off Megatron's arm!

The Maximals all fall-back just as the Transmutor explodes. Rhinox is safely back and they head for Maximal territory. Later... it's just the Maximals kicking back. Rhinox is smelling the flowers and he makes some really bad joke about how being a Predacon feels like having 3 gigs of attitude rammed into a 2 gig hard-drive or some such techno-nonsense. Oy, but at least the other Maximals get a laugh out of it. Dinobot shakes his fist.

SHAKEY CAM ON THE SHAKEY FIST!!!
THE END!

Woo, 'nother great episode! The only thing I really have left to say about Dark Designs is that, it's this episode that really drives me crazy about how Primal reacted to Tankor in Beast Machines. It was the same situation; Rhinox got captured and reprogrammed by Megatron. Yet for some reason in Beast Machines, Primal thought it would be wrong to remove the reprogramming. Something along the lines of it would make them just as bad as Megatron. Well, in this episode we clearly see that the plan all along was to rescue Rhinox. And then what? Let him stay in the Axalon as a Predacon? Hell no! The implication was always that they would find some way to remove the Predacon programming and restore him to his true self. That's the Optimus Primal I know.

Next up: Double Dinobot

Mirage · Post by **Mirage** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:53 pm

Mako Crab wrote:Hell no! The implication was always that they would find some way to remove the Predacon programming and restore him to his true self. That's the Optimus Primal I know.

I just knew I wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Rampage01 · Post by **Rampage01** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:42 pm

One thing that occurs to me about The Probe: Why send a probe that scans for engine signitures to look for a missing ship? If the engines were working, the ship probably wouldn't be missing in the first place.

Are the Maximal commanders just not very bright, or did they not really care about finding the Axalon?

Post by **Onslaught Six** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:50 pm

We don't know much about how Cybertronian tech works--perhaps even with the engine busted, it puts out signals. Or perhaps they could try to trace where the signal was last coming from.

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