Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1.

Plot Summary: We pick up about a year after the events of the movie. The Autobots are firmly in control of Cybertron and the Decepticons have been exiled to the apocalyptic wastelands of the planet Chaar. We see several Decepticons on Chaar squabbling over the few remaining Energon cubes. It's pretty clear that they are in a bad spot. Cyclonus realizes this too, and concludes that the Decepticons need a strong leader if they have any chance of recapturing their former glory.

Meanwhile, the Autobots are opening the first Galactic Olympics, but Blurr and Wheelie are absent, as Perceptor has tasked them with delivering Metroplex's transformation cog to earth. Rodimus Prime meanwhile opens the Olympics, only for a Skuxxoid to go ahead and sabotage it by shooting the torch with some sort of weird ray that turns it into some kinda shrapnel launcher. Amidst the chaos numerous strange robotic warriors attack, but due to the smoke, the Autobots never manage to identify them. The Autobots manage to fend off the attackers, only to realize that Ultra Magnus and Spike have been kidnapped. Rodimus orders the planet locked down until they find the kidnappers, but the Skuxxoid still manages to escape in his ship, as Springer and Arcee give chase.

Meanwhile, Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps infiltrate Unicron's head and access his memory banks to try and find the last known image of Galvatron. They manage to trace his trajectory after his duel with Rodimus, and discover that he has landed on the planet Thrull, and is currently taking a dip in a lava pit. Ouch.

Back on Earth, Blaster and Outback land in *sigh* Carbombya, where Decepticons have allegedly been sighted. Despite Abdul Fakkadi's proclamations of no Decepticon activity, they manage to find and subdue Thrust and Dirge, and get the coordinates to Chaar from them. They radio the coordinates back to Rodimus, who decides to investigate.

Back IN SPACE, Arcee and Springer have followed the Skuxxoid to an asteroid, only for a massive mechanical claw to extend from the asteroid and yank them to its surface. Investigating further, they discover that the asteroid is actually a cleverly disguised spacecraft, and boot the Skuxxoid off. The Skuxxoid radios back to his ominous benefactors and confirms the Autobots believe the Decepticons were behind the attack on the Galactic Olympics. His mysterious boss tunes out only to see his prisoners, Ultra Magnus and Spike, being lead in by a Sharkticon.

Meanwhile Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps return to Chaar and inform the other Decepticons that Galvatron is still alive, and the Decepticons rejoice. Cyclonus urges them to hand over their last scraps of energon for the rescue attempt, and the Decepticons eagerly pitch in. Rodimus and Grimlock though happen to be listening, and Rodimus concludes that the Decepticons couldn't have been behind the attack, and admits to almost feeling sorry for them. Grimlock says he isn't sorry in the slightest, and chuckles to himself. Too bad Cyclonus has gigantic ears, as he hears Grimlock and orders the Decepticons to attack!

To be continued...

Comments:

-Why are all the planets we've seen so far so dang weird looking?

-YAGH! Those Arca-droids are ugly as sin!

-Wait, why is Jazz in the games? Didn't he and Cliffjumper get om nom nommed by Unicron?

-Why is Blaster, a tape player, taller than Outback, a Jeep?

-Rodiumus Prime's voice isn't nearly cool enough. But then again, does anyone have a voice as cool as Optimus Prime?

Score: Well it's way too early in the episode to make any conclusions, but I'm curious to see where this space opera angle ends up.

 

Yeah Jazz and Cliffjumper got devoured by Unicron but Daniel shut down that conveyor belt/digestive tract before they were killed, so they live! Yay! Not that they will be seen anymore but that is besides the point.

 

Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2

Plot Summary: We pick up right where the last episode left off, with the Decepticons advancing on Rodimus and Grimlock. The Decepticons find that due to their lack of Energon, their weapons do hardly anything, and just decide to bum rush the two Autobots and beat the everloving crap out of them. At that moment, Springer and Arcee swoop down in the Skuxxoid ship and rescue Rodimus and Grimlock. Grimlock is fine but Rodimus is not looking too good.

On Quintessa meanwhile, the Quintesson judges are interrogating Kup, who is refusing to give any sort of information. Despite this, the Quintessons seem to already know all the answers. The Quintessons conclude that Kup is useless and try to interrogate Spike.

Meanwhile Arcee and Springer put the ship down on a nearby asteroid, where Rodimus begins mumbling what sounds like his dying words. Arcee does his best to save him, but his life force still slips away. Grimlock though points out that the Matrix still did not emerge, meaning he is still alive. Turns out his life force has actually been sucked into the Matrix, where he is watching a psychedelic display that would look really awesome if I was stoned. He comes to, and realizes that the Quintessons were responsible for the kidnapping, not the Decepticons.

Back on Quintessa, Kup, Ultra Magnus and Spike manage to overpower their captors and take one judge hostage. The other judges just sentence him to death too, and drop them all into the Sharkticon pit.

Meanwhile, Cyclonus and his fellow Unicron Spawn (Unicronians?) have finally arrived on Thrull, and manage to pull Galvatron out of the plasma pit. Turns out though that being subjected to constant, agonizing pain for months on end while being unable to die has caused him to go absolutely freakin' BONKERS. He starts randomly blasting his own troops until Cyclonus manages to talk him down, at which point Galvatron declares the Decepticon empire reborn and blows up THE ENTIRE PLANET OF THRULL.

Back on Quintessa, the Sharkticons are still just sort of staring at the Autobots (presumably a little hesistant after what happened the last time a couple of Autobots were fed to them). Spike asks why they are being executed, and the lead judge says the Autobots are guilty of theft. Spike says they must be thinking of the Decepticons, but the Judge simply responds by saying the Autobots still inhabit Cybertron. The Skuxxoid ship arrives at just this moment for its second big damn heroes moment of the episode only to be blown out of the sky by an anti-air gun. Turns out the Autobots weren't aboard though, as Arcee, Grimlock and Rodimus all swoop down to the rescue aboard Springer's copter mode. The Quintesson judges flee while the Aerialbots arrive to pull the other Autobots to safety. The Judges are still obsessed with the destruction of the Matrix though, and decide to blow up their ENTIRE HOMEWORLD TO ENSURE ITS DESTRUCTION (spoiler alert: it isn't destroyed).

To be continued...

Comments:

-Now I actually kind of want to see a toy of "Teaspoon, Cybertron's head diswasher"

-You know, I actually kind of wish Springer did get the Matrix. Springer is pretty badass. Although I still wonder why he's named "Springer"?

-WHOA! The inside of the Matrix looks like something out of the Beatles Yellow Submarine!

-Yow. Galvatron can blow up entire PLANETS with one shot from his alt mode!

-Really Quintessons? Blowing up your ENTIRE HOME PLANET is worth destroying the Matrix of Leadership? Boy, they must have felt like tremendous dumbasses when that failed to do the trick.

Score: This episode served as sort of an introduction to the new villains, Galvatron and the Quintessons. My opinion? The Quintessons are badass, if incredibly silly looking, and Galvatron is a complete whackjob, which means I like him. Still no score, but I'm interested to see what happens with these new baddies.

 

Because his toy bio says he has springy legs.

 

Now you know why I chose the name I did for the boards.   Season 3 Galvatron is far more interesting of a character than movie Galvatron.

 

Oh. Doh.

 

The series just get's better and better from here on out.

 

i'm glad you like the quints, i too am a big fan. I think the fandom is pretty split however.

 

Honestly Galvatron at times reminds me of Azula off A:TLA and Ren off Ren and Stimpy whenever he goes berserk

 

Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3

Plot Summary: We begin right where we left off, with the planet Quintessa asploding in an earth shattering kaboom! The Autobot's ship is smashed to pieces in the blast, but the Autobots themselves are fine. As they hurtle through space, Ultra Magnus calculates that they will land on an object 100,000 kilometers away.

Meanwhile, Cyclonus is filling Galvatron in on the events that have transpired since his little plasma dip, and informs him of a space platform the humans have built in Earth's orbit. Galvatron thinks this is hilarious for some reason (oh wait, I know the reason, he's nuts), and decides to fly through a conveniently placed warp gate and check it out.

Blurr and Wheelie arrive in Earth's orbit at about the same time as Galvatron, and try to warn the outpost only for Galvatron to blow it to smithereens. The two obnoxious Autobots make a run for Jupiter, but are forced to abandon ship and end up plummeting into the Jovian atmosphere (by the way, anyone here read Jupiter by Ben Bova? Giant bioluminescent Jupiter whales FTW). Galvatron pursues, and somehow manages to blow up a storm, causing some sort of reverse electrical atmospheric hoodakinspooter, which disrupts Blurr and Wheelie's transformation cogs and blows them out of the planet. Galvatron and his posse head back to Chaar, while Blaster warns Mars of the attack, causing Marissa Fairborne to head out to the rescue.

The Quintessons meanwhile are chortling over their good luck, only to discover that the Autobots are still alive, meaning they blew up their home planet for nothing. Whoops. They are forced to make an alliance with the Decepticons, and set course for Chaar. The Autobots meanwhile crash land on the spooge planet of Goo, which is covered in a bizarre sticky substance that can be moved through, but not out of. Turns out the planet is still somewhat inhabited though, as a massive waste disposal machine begins trundling towards them, sucking up the goo as it goes. Springer is caught by it and chopped into teeny weeny bits (he gets better), and the machine turns its attention towards Rodimus. Rodimus stands his ground, and manages to clog the machine just as it is about to suck him in, halting it.

Back on Chaar, the Quintessons arrive with an offer of Energon, which the Decepticons greedily help themselves to. The Quintessons make them an offer, unlimited Energon if they destroy the Autobots. The Decepticons are wary though, as Cybertron is too well defended to take, only for the Quintessons to tell them that Cybertron is not the target, Rodimus's group on Goo is. The Decepticons all decide to take them up on the offer, except for Blitzwing, who is suspicious of the Quintessons, and remains on Chaar as the others blast off for Goo.

Blurr and Wheelie meanwhile crash land on Jupiter's moon Io, where they discover that the moon is also home to weird...uh...lizard things. Galvatron meanwhile arrives on Chaar, expecting to find his army. When he only finds Blitzwing he gets a little peeved, and vows to regain his position as leader. On Goo, the Quintessons finally arrive, and the Decepticons open fire on the Autobots...

To be continued...

Comments:

-What a conveniently placed Warp Gate!

-Blurr is much like Robin Williams, in that they are both annoying, but still entertaining.

-So how did a planet like Goo form anyway? I mean I can't think of many naturally occuring really sticky compounds. Unless it's just leftovers from some colossal construction project.

-So Rodimus stops a machine designed to suck up sticky gunk by throwing sticky gunk into it...huh...

-I remember quite a few people saying that RoTF Wheelie was more annoying than G1 Wheelie. Um, no.

Score: Um...what do you want me to say? You know by know I rate multi-parters as one so...uh...this part was cool too?

 

4 and 5 in one go, you can do it!

 

LOL! Never thought I'd hear Robin Williams in the same sentence as ANYTHING related to Transformers! LOL!  
Perhaps the planet Goo is what happens to all the spit-out pieces of gum?  

 

Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4

Plot Summary: We begin on Goo, where the Decepticons open fire on the Autobots. The Autobots are saved though by the arrival of Galvatron, who is so infuriated at being betrayed that he would rather attack his own troops rather than the Autobots. The Decepticons get the message, and swear loyalty to Galvatron, allowing the Autobots to escape. Galvatron then turns his attention to the Quintessons, vowing to punish them for stealing his troops. The Autobots meanwhile manage to find a radio terminal which connects them to Wreck-Gar, and they request his help.

Back on Io Wheelie and Blurr are still under attack by the native lifeforms. Wheelie is overwhelmed, and tells Blurr to take the cog and make a run for it, but Blurr (sadly) charges back in to save Wheelie. Marissa Fairborne arrives and manages to drive off the monsters, but not before some of them transform into missiles (um...okay...) and destroy her ship. They begin to look through the wreckage for the radio.

Galvatron meanwhile, introduces himself to the Quintessons. And by "introduce himself" I mean "blow a hole in their ship and beat the everloving crap out of them". The Quintessons offer him an alliance, but Galvatron still isn't budging. The Quints realize the only way to save their sorry tentacles is to lie, and tell Galvatron that if they spare him and destroy the Autobots they will tell him of the Decepticon Matrix of Leadership. Galvatron is wary, but decides to go along with the Quintessons.

Galvatron attacks the Autobots, but the Autobots are saved through the timely intervention of Wreck-Gar, who sucks them up and ferries them back to Junk. Furious, Galvatron blows up Goo and heads back to the ship to talk to the Quintessons. He demands to know why the Quintessons haven't just destroyed the Autobots themselves, only for the Quintessons to respond that their interaction with the humans has made them unpredictable. Galvatron laughs at their fear of the Humans, and agrees to an alliance, as both Decepticons and Quintessons swear loyalty to him.

Back on Junk, Wreck-Gar manages to rebuild Springer. Rodimus doesn't seem very happy to see him again, and admits that he has been doing a lot of thinking about the Quintessons, and is convinced the answers he seeks lie within the Matrix. Springer jokingly suggests he just almost die again, and begins to head back to the ship. Rodimus though wanders off and short circuits himself, launching his life force back into the Matrix.

Rodimus is shown a new vision, guided by the spirits of past Autobot leaders, that details the history of the Transformer race. Long ago the Quintessons built the precursors to the Autobots and Decepticons as slaves, but drove them to rebellion through millennia of abuse. The Transformers kicked the Quintessons off Cybertron, and claimed it for their own. However, dissent soon began to bloom between the two factions and they fell into civil war.

Rodimus awakens to find Springer and Arcee kneeling over him. He blows off their concerns about his safety and demands to return to Cybertron as soon as possible. The Decepticons and Quintessons meanwhile plot their strategy. They will strike on two fronts, Earth, via the newly constructed titanic city-bot Trypticon, and Cybertron, via a pinpoint strike on the main power facility. With Earth under seige by massive robot dinosaurs and Cybertron powerless, the Autobots seem to be in a bad spot...

To be continued...

Comments:

-Okay seriously, there are like 20 Decepticons and like five Autobots, all of whom are stuck in sticky gunk that prevents them from moving faster than a walk, with NO COVER AROUND, and the Decepticons still can't hit them. These guys make Stormtroopers look good.

-Wait, bat monsters? What happened to the lizards from last episode?

-I've noticed that when Frank Welker started voicing Galvatron he tried to sound a lot like Leonard Nimoy. He seems to be backsliding a bit into his old voice. Not that that's a bad thing.

-I haven't been mentioning the HUNDREDS of animation errors in this episode thus far, but just look for yourself at the kind of crap that's going on here:



Seriously?

-I wonder if Rodimus goes on Matrix trips just for fun. I can picture him lying in his room, walls plastered with Greatful Dead posters, wires ripped haphazardly out of his chest, while "Smells Like Teen Spirit" plays in the background.

-I like how even the ancient Transformers are referred to as "Product Lines". They were really transparent about the whole "to sell toys" angle back then eh?

-They just had to stick in that random shot of the Cybertronian Ballet didn't they?

Score: I was kind of hoping the origin story of the Transformers would be a bit more...interesting. As such it's just sort of the standard "robot uprising plot". Still really doesn't detract from the episode.

 

-I wonder if Rodimus goes on Matrix trips just for fun. I can picture him lying in his room, walls plastered with Greatful Dead posters, wires ripped haphazardly out of his chest, while "Smells Like Teen Spirit" plays in the background.


haha sounds like a good time to me.

 

That's quite a feat then, considering that several episodes of this season were completed before the movie finished casting.

One of Leonard Nimoys concerns when he was auditioning for Galvatron was sounding like Welkers S3 Galvatron which was already in the can, but was repeatedly told to do his own thing with the voice and not feel forced to sound like Welkers Galvatron and instead make the role his own.

 

Yeah, missile-creatures on Io.
Those blue and purple dudes with antennae on Saturns moon Titan in the episode The god gambit.
The Solar system does have plenty of life outside of Earth it seems!

Interesting theory! Or maybe it's just one piece of gum, that Unicron spit out!

 

I dunno, I think he'd be the type to swallow his gum.

 

I just watched that episode again last night and thought it was amusing that Spike mentioned he used to stick this kind of stuff on the bottom of desks at school! LOL!

 

Come to think of it, when was Spike ever in school? He spent most of his time with the Autobots...

Heck, the one epsiode that actually had something to do with a school didn't have Spike in it... Then again, that was B.O.T., so the less characters that were in that one, the better...

And for that matter, Carly was an M.I.T. student, right? Why'd she date Spike?

Or how can G1 feature both real cities (NYC, San Fran) and fictional ones (Central City)?

Or... [KA-BOOM!]

MY HEAD ASPLODE...

 

spike was a hard worker, and carly had a thing for blue collar construction workers / oil rig workers / mechanics.

but that was in 1984. by 2006 spike might as well have graduated from mit with a degree in astrophysics and asplodology.