I was more annoyed by how they said the opposite of sound was "white noise". But yeah, I didn't do the research here.

 

The Quintesson Journal

Plot Summary: We begin on Cybertron, where the Autobots are hosting a peace conference for the planets of Xetaxxis and Lanarq, who hate each other's guts so much that they will most likely drive each other to extinction within a decade or two. This extends to the conference itself, where the delegates can't resist beating the everloving crap out of each other WHILE SHAKING HANDS.

Meanwhile Predaking is cruising around, generally being a pimp, when he detects a mysterious signal of unknown origin. He calls Cyclonus to meet him at the coordinates and sets off. Perceptor however has also detected the signal, and dispatches Outback, Blaster, and The Abberation to investigate. The Abberation screams into the atmosphere of the planet from which the signal is being broadcast, but refuses to dirty his ethereal talons upon the soil, and forces Outback and Blaster to leap to the planet's surface. They come across the source of the signal soon afterwards, a mysterious golden cylinder, which is activated after Outback blasts a tree off it. Turns out it is a Quintesson Journal, a recording device that details essentially every single evil plot the Quintessons have ever been involved in. The Predacons show up at that moment though and a battle breaks out. The Abberation dives down, riding upon a chariot of broken dreams to rescue the Autobots only for Cyclonus and the Sweeps to attack. Just then, a completely random warp gate appears at swallows the Abberation whole, screaming in pain as The Abberation flies through.

Turns out that the warp gate was actually being projected by a Quintesson Screwship, and The Autobots are taken prisoner as the Abberation is bound with chains forged from the sheer willpower of the gods to prevent him from transforming. The Quintessons take the journal back and lock up Blaster and Outback. Outback manages to convince the guard to let them go though by offering him some sweeties, and the Autobots leap into the parasitic saddle of the Abberation and take off, only to find the Decepticons waiting for them outside. They manage to evade them, but the Decepticons attack the Screwship instead and steal the journal for themselves. Back at the peace conference the two races storm off in disgust and decide to go buy some doomsday weapons to end the whole thing once and for all. Turns out they are both buying from none other than the Quintessons!

Back on...some random planet, the Decepticons try to extract information from the journal, only to find the majority of it is just about Quintesson economic ventures. The Autobots have tracked them down though and covertly listen in, and discover that the record of the war between Xetaxxis and Lanarq is also on the journal...and the Quintessons orchestrated the whole thing! Realizing this could end the war the Autobots try and steal it back, only for the Quintessons to swoop down and nab it again! Back on Cybertron Rodimus is forced to resort to force to get the two delegations to sit down and talk, only for both to storm off again and demand the Quintessons hurry up and fork over the bombs. The Quintessons decide to deliver both bombs at once after they have been paid, only for the Autobots to break in and steal the journal AGAIN.

The Autobots return to Cybertron and show the journal's contents to the two delegations, who are horrified to find they have been played for fools for the last few millennia. The Quintessons realize they've been found out and call Cybertron to gloat about how they are going to use both bombs on Xetaxxis and Lanarq. Too bad they were flying past Cybertron, as Rodimus and Ultra Magnus use reins of Hellfire to ride the Abberation into space and destroy the Screwship, ending the conflict once and for all.

Comments:

-Why does Cyclonus have two voices? Sometimes he sounds like the quiet, no nonsense deadly warrior he SHOULD sound like, but other times he sounds like a southern Baptist preacher!

-Couldn't the Abberation just hover over the planet's surface and disgorge Blaster and Outback from his labyrinthine intestine? Or does he just enjoy watching them suffer. I'm going with option 2. And a few minutes later he even tries to kill them by dropping a tree on them!

-I love how Blaster acknowledges how stupidly easy it was for them to escape.

Score: While my initial assessment of the Quintessons was a positive one, I always felt that after Five Faces of Darkness they became more and more boring. I mean they had all the evil schemes the Decepticons had, but never had any of the Decepticon's charisma. The fun part of the 'cons is that half the time I WANTED to see them win. Here though the Quintessons come roaring back full force, as they are shown to have orchestrated almost every bad thing that has ever happened in the universe ever. THIS is the kind of plots the Quintessons should be involved in; behind the scenes deception, trickery, and manipulation. As such, this episode gets an 8/10.

 

From my understanding the voice actor playing Cyclonus had trouble keeping the voice he used for the character consistant for some reason. This eventually caused him to be replaced by John Stephenson (I think) in the final three episodes of the show... if my memory is serving correctly...

 

for some reason i find that kinda funny.

 

Damn, I missed it, but I do belive The big broadcast of 2006 should be before The Quintesson Journal, well too late now. Besides that one and Fight or flee (that should have been watched early on), the rest of the episodes should be in order.

Next up is The Ultimate Weapon I belive. One of my favourites. Made me love one certain little protectobot when I was a kid.

 

I think Roger C. Carmel was struggling a bit because at the time he had some serious health problems and couldn't keep consistency with Cyclonus' (or his regular character's) voices. Jack Angel replaced him because he sadly died (from congestive heart failure) before the final 3 episodes could be aired

 

So many jokes... 

 

He listened to us with season 2, and watched them in the suggested order which was to his benefit. This time around, he is ignoring our pleas and is paying the price.

 

I'm sorry! I just got confused and decided to plow on ahead! FORGIVE ME THIS HORRID OFFENSE!  

 

=( That's really a shame. I take back what I foolishly said earlier.

 

The Ultimate Weapon

Plot Summary: We begin in the horrible, war torn third world nation of...HOLLAND. Where old ladies wearing silly hats hide laser guns in flowerpots, french stereotypes chuck grenades willy nilly, and...palm trees grow for some reason. The Protectobots and Rodimus prime arrive to quell the violence, as Rodimus mulls over his role as leader. Turns out the Decepticons were waiting for them and attack. In the battle Blades is injured, and First Aid carries him back to Metroplex for repairs. Back at the battle Galvatron gloats about his "ultimate weapon" before taking off. At Metroplex meanwhile Swindle sneaks in and steals Metroplex's transformation cog only to be confronted by First Aid. First Aid tries to reason with Swindle, but Swindle just shoots him.

Meanwhile at sea, Trypticon bursts from the waves and starts om nom nomming aircraft carriers. Galvatron is not happy with his rampant destruction (oddly enough) and orders him to get a move on to Metroplex. Swindle though pulls Galvatron aside and suggests rather than using it for whatever Galvatron had in mind, they sell it back to the Autobots for a healthy profit. Galvatron makes him another offer; shut up and hand over the cog, or get his head blown off. Back at Metroplex First Aid is feeling guilty for being unable to stop Swindle due to his pacifism. Rodimus comforts him, saying that they would never ask him to break his moral code, but First Aid still wanders off to think. The Autobots learn about Trypticon's approach though and roll out to intercept him.

Trypticon meanwhile gets bored and hurls a train into the air, only for Defensor to arrive and despite missing one arm due to First Aid's absence, still manages to catch it and save everyone aboard. The Aerialbots move in to attack and Silverbolt manages to injure Trypticon after flying right down his gullet and blowing apart his innards. Trypticon is forced to retreat, but the Autobots realize they have only bought some time, as only Metroplex can defeat Trypticon, he's still stuck in city mode, and only First Aid can install the transformation cog. Hot Spot decides to track him down.

Rodimus and Ultra Magnus meanwhile disguise themselves as repair trucks being driven by Daniel and Spike and head to Trypticon's hiding place. They almost talk their way past Vortex but he sniffs them out and hurls Daniel into a nearby gorge. Ultra Magnus leaps down and saves him, and heads back up to distract the Decepticons while Spike and Daniel infiltrate Trypticon and steal his transfomation cog. They take the cog back to Metroplex and install it, meaning both city bots have swapped transformation cogs. Thing is, the new cogs don't work too well, and frequently leave the two trapped between modes. Even so, Trypticon sets out to beat the everloving crap out of Metroplex.

First Aid meanwhile is hanging out with NUL-A, a robot who runs a junkyard, repairing refrigerators in an effort to keep his mind off the Autobots. Hot Spot manages to track him down though and informs him of Metroplex's plight, and convinces him to rejoin the Autobot cause. They return to the scene of the battle and First Aid manages to get inside Metroplex and realign the cogs, giving Metroplex the upper hand and allowing him to beat Trypticon by throwing him into ANOTHER large body of water. Galvatron though is not finished, and threatens to unleash his ultimate weapon, which looks like...a remote control. Rodimus though is getting pretty genre savvy by this point, and claims Galvatron is bluffing. Galvatron throws down the remote in disgust and takes off, giving the victory to the Autobots.

Comments:

-I think one of the Youtube comments said it best: "ah, laser fights in holland. takes me back to college."

-Yeah, um swindle? Don't try to reason with Galvatron. It doesn't work.

-Holy crap, that was one hell of a catch from Defensor.

-Silverbolt is in a really good mood this episode. I don't think that qualifies as a continuity error though. Somedays you are just in a really good mood!

-Dang, the animation jumped way up in quality during the fight between Metroplex and Trypticon.

Score: This episode had one thing many other episodes have failed to capture; SCALE. Even though it was just the standard 22 minutes long it still managed to give an impression of a large epic conflict. The characters though were what made it for me. Everyone was PERFECTLY within their characterization, and the development of the Protectobots was especially welcome. Great animation, great story, great character development. I think this is a 10/10.

 

Galvatron has size issue.  

I never understood why the heck Metroplex was set up in a residential area in the first place. Isn't that kind of, oh, I don't know, dangerous for humans if the Decepticons decided to attack?

Indeed it was. After rewatching this episode, though, I always wondered why the Aerialbots just stood around watching this happen when they could've transformed into Superion and helped catch the train instead.

 

Even better, perhaps they could have saved Defensor from Menasor, which saves both of them.

When they were first created in Season 2, the Stunticons, especially Menasor, were shown to be a very powerful threat to the Autobots. But by this episode, Menasor gets taken down by a few shots in the by from Rodimus and Ultra Magnus.

It's the equivalent of Devastator being taken down by Perceptor in 'Carnage in C-Minor'.

Yes. Perceptor took down Devastator. In microscope mode. With one shot.

 

Yay 10/10 I totally agree!
I need a classic/generations first aid now.

NUL-A needs a spin-off series about the life of a repair mech in a junkyard.
A Repair mech without decent hands, just a couple of pinchers, now that has to got to cause problems.

 

Galvatron's Ultimate Weapon kind of reminded me of Ronin in a way. All this excitement about a case and nobody even knew what was in it. I liked this episode as well..............
So what was Galvatron's Ultimate Weapon? The world may never know.

 

I always thought The Ultimate Weapon was a tribute to The Corbomite Maneuver.

 

Knowledge is power!
Lol

 

The Big Broadcast of 2006

Plot Summary: We begin in the far off year of four years ago, where the Quintessons have come to the planet Junkion in search of one of their missing journals. They dispatch a team of Sharkticons to retrieve it and quickly do so, but are repulsed by the Junkions. The Abberation meanwhile is soaring through the black aether, searching for souls to devour when he is attacked by Astrotrain. They pass close to Junkion during their battle and the Junkions open fire...on BOTH transformers. Turns out the Quintessons have been slipping subliminal messages into the TV broadcasts the Junkions watch, telling them that they should be neater and that all other races are their enemies.

The Abberation returns to Cybertron and tells Rodimus of the Junkion's odd behavior, speaking in the blasphemous tongue of the Great Race of Yith. Rodimus sends the Aerialbots to check it out. Meanwhile Cyclonus returns to Chaar to inform Galvatron of the same thing, but Galvatron just beats him up, causing Cyclonus to go and investigate on his own. The Aerialbots arrive just as the Quintessons and Junkions open fire on one another. Superion is caught in the crossfire and wounded, and has to be carried back to Cybertron within the vorpral claws of The Abberation.

The Quintesson transmitter though was damaged during the battle, causing the Junkions to think they should start transmitting their message all across the galaxy. Every other race in the galaxy picks up on the subliminal messages and begins attacking one another. That's right. Television caused EVERY SENTIENT BEING IN THE GALAXY TO START KILLING ONE ANOTHER. The Quintessons see it as an opportunity though, and ponder selling weapons, but decide recovering the journal is more important. The Autobots meanwhile set off in Omega Supreme to investigate, but are shot down by the Decepticons. A battle breaks out as Omega Supreme is repaired, and he eventually springs into action and drives off the Decepticons.

Meanwhile the entire galaxy begins converging on Junkion, and a MASSIVE clusterfuck of a battle begins. Turns out Galvatron fell for the messaging too, and hustles off the Junkion to...uh...do stuff. The Quintessons try and make a grab for the journal, but a blast from Galvatron damages their Screwship and catapults their journal into space. Blaster finally figures out the Quintesson transmissions are responsible for the bedlam, and nullifies the transmissions with an...anti transmission...or something. The Junkions come to their senses and drive off the Decepticons. Back in space meanwhile, the Quintessons continue their pursuit of the journal...which was resolved two episodes ago...

Comments:

-I can imagine that a modern day re imagining of the Junkions would have them base their entire culture upon internet memes.

-I really doubt the entire rest of the galaxy is that impressionable. I mean if I was a kitty cat man living on a planet full of other kitty cat men and a weird egg with five faces came on TV and told me all other races were my enemies, I would think someone at the TV station was trying to screw with me. And then I would hack up a hairball.

-Wait, an entire planet of catmen and dogmen? Now that's some impressive convergent evolution.

-"Increasing Geometrically the odds that someone else will find the journal?" Uh, how does something increase GEOMETRICALLY?

-I love this line from Galvatron: "To the signal, to be a winner! Because I believe in me! NOT IN THE YOU WHO BELIEVES IN ME! NOT IN THE ME WHO BELIEVES IN YOU! BUT IN THE ME WHO BELIEVES IN ME!!!"

And then he sprouted a giant drill out of the end of his fusion cannon and killed Cyclonus with it. Or at least, that's how it happens in my fanfic.

Score: This episode would normally be "so okay it's average", but the idea that the ENTIRE GALAXY could be drawn into civil war by a subliminal message in Television is a bit much to swallow. It never really pans out into anything either, as other than a big battle over Junkion we never see any consequences. 5/10.

 

Now do you see why we wanted you to watch that one before "The Quintesson Journal"?

 

I understand, my mouth (or in this case fingers) usually runs before my brain has time to kick in and that gets me into trouble a lot as well. So I know how it feels, though weirdly enough Carmel died on Remembrance Day.

Big Broadcast of 2006 felt rather 'meh' to me as well, The Ultimate Weapon was a solid episode with a good storyline and animation.