Hi all, new here so pls bear with me.  

RID Ep 14:"Out of focus" aired in my country the other day and since no one else has created a thread I thought I'd make one.

Note: I myself did not watch the episode, my younger brother did. I'm going off his description so I apologise if some details are vague.

Everything from this point on are spoilers so read at your own risk

The Ep mostly revolves around Bee and his team fighting off a gang of 4 Decepticon "Skunkticons" that can incapacitate the Autobots. All the Bots' are somewhat humorously defeated with the exception of Bumblebee.

Long story short, the Bots' win and recapture them. Who could have seen that coming?

Oh and remember the dam that Steeljaw used as a temporary base in Ep 8? Well the Skunkticons are using it now and Bee even references that episode. Chalk one up for continuity I guess.

The more interesting aspect of the episode comes from the abt third of it that we spend with Optimus(!)'s training with one of the Primes in a magic space realm somewhere, in preparation for a "new mission on Earth" The other Prime puts Optimus through a type of battle stimulation, and we get some cool visual effects paralleling Optimus' actions to that of Bumblebee.

So, a rather interesting Ep we have here. Mind you I haven't seen the episode yet and my brother liked it so take that as what you will. That's all there is too say abt the Ep really. Feel free to discuss before it airs!

One more thing: the local TV channel really screwed up the airing orders. They showed Ep 12 on Tues and Ep 14 on Wed, completely missing out Ep 13. Not the first time it happened though as they also skipped Ep 11.



Edit 19 / 4 : "The centre of the storm is always still, and It's easiest to find the solution from there."-Optimus

Uh, I mean, I finally managed to see Ep 14 for myself! I'll try to fill you guys in as best as I can. (Thanks to abates for the link)

Earnest warning: HEAVY spoilers below. You may as well just skip to the end for my thoughts.

We begin with our now - obligatory dysfunctional team squabbling. Bee's team meeting is interrupted when they detect Decepticon signals, as is his rallying cry by Sideswipe.

"Hey! I do the rallying cries! " - Bee

They find the 4 stasis pods, then track the Skunkticons to Steeljaw's former dam hideout where he has vacated the premises and the Skunkticons are doing...something. It's evil. I wasn't really paying attention there.

Meanwhile we cut to Optimus training in the realm of the Primes to prepare for a new mission to earth. Congrats to Sumner Sturgeon and Wheeljack Prime : the Prime is Micronus,you were right on the money! Micronus is blue, perpetually floating cross - legged and lives up to his name: He's tiny!

Anyways Micronus tells Op to...climb a hill. Shocked by the ease of the task, Op questions Micronus, at which point he presents Op with a battle stimulation: Attempt to make use of a new sword weapon (The Prime Decepticon Hunter) to defend a few humans from a big scary bot with 4 minicons.
Optimus is appalled that Micronus is willing to put humans at risk,but Micronus makes Optimus give it a shot anyway.OP clearly struggles at the task.

"Sure is a lot to deal with, isn't it Optimus?"- Micronus Prime

BB is also struggling at his task: 'Swipe and Strongarm won't stop arguing and Grim' is being ignorant. The Skunkticons attack and quickly take out the Bots. Grimlock in particular takes a large dose, and becomes disorientated. The Skunkticons decide to take Grim hostage to intimidate the pt hers, and depart. The Bots recover, and after a lecture from Bee, attempt to pursue the skunks, with the powah of teamwork.

Speaking of, I mentioned in response to QLRFORMER earlier that I did not know if the Skunkticons had names or if they spoke. Well only their leader speaks, with an accent I can't quite identify. He's named, uh, " Maldore"? " Melador"? I can't really hear. Anyways Maeldoore and his gang don't transform, but they sport vehicle kibble, so clearly they turn into some kind of vehicle.

"We may not be built for speed, primitive one, but we are built for dismantling Autobots." - Maledoor

Back in the Realm of Primes, Optimus tries to seek Micronus' advice on how to utilise the sword, but he remains coy. One by one the humans are destroyed by the con' and his drones despite Optimus' best efforts. Micronus reminds Op that the difficulty of his task will be akin to that which he will face upon his return to Earth.

The Bee team isn't doing much better. They found Grim and the Meadowman's gang, but the skunks threaten to permanently infect Grim. Grimlock's confused state doesn't help matters, and accidentally threatens to cause the dam to burst while Sideswipe and Strongarm get hit by the toxin.

Remembering what Optimus thought him, Bee gets his priorities straight and manages to save the others and stop the dam. The Bots prepare to ambush the Skunkticons, while they retreat, and with focus and unity, ( despite Grim being humourously infected again), do so quite handily...

Similarly, Op is also having a lesson in priorities and focus. Remembering that his original assignment was to ascend the hill, Op does so and unlocks the sword,manages to defeat the enemy and saving 1 of the humans. The humans are then revealed to have been fake...

...thus, both Optimus and Bumblebee's team learn the importance of focus. Optimus prepares to resume his training while Bee gives a speech( or will give one once Grim recovers). Also both Op and Bee, at some point, mention the quote I put at the beginning of this update.

Cmon did you really think this Ep was called" Out of focus " for no reason? I thought it was fishy when Ep 13 had nothing to do with focus...

So overall, a very interesting Ep. The two running subplots with a consistent moral was well - executed and the cuts from Op to Bee and vice versa really parallel and showed how similar the situations they were in were. Mandude and his gang went too interesting as villains but they served their purpose. Having not read the Covenant of Primus I found Micronus Prime to be an interesting character. He comes off as a bit of a jerk at first, but he ultimately has good intentions. He interestingly seems to hold a higher position than Optimus.

Also, no Denny and Russel in this Ep. A first, I think.

I hope this answers what questions you guys might have. (I still have my broom handy thou) If I can, I'll post screenshots in the thread.

This is an Ep definitely worth watching. Do so once it airs!

(But seriously, Whatshisname?)

 

thank you and welcome to the boards

if you can get "feed" we would love to see the episode

thanks

 

Sry, no feed

 

Out of interest, for those keeping track, where roughly in the world are you? I'm sure the Wiki guys might be interested to know the first air dates, and what country got it when.

 

Oh, I'm from Singapore. It aired last Wed here.

 

I hope someone uploads this online soon.

 

  It did what?!          

 :     OMG THAT IS AWESOME!!!      :

Hopefully it airs in english soon!  


jD001

 

Hey guys i'm new here but i thought i would put my opinion on the show. I like the Autobots, we have the leader, the rookie, the hotshot, the dumb Dinobot, and Fixit, who i personally think is annoying as hell. Jazz was AWESOME! Love the new take on him and his voice actor.

The Decepticons are a hit or miss so far to me. Only a few stick out to me while the others are either beaten to easily or just are eh in general. I do like how they have the original RID kind of thing going on, with the Decepticons that look like the Predacons  

Again it's just my 2 cents

 

Did your brother mention which Primes specifically showed up? I think the old description for the episode mentioned Micronus, but I'm not sure.

 

According to him, the Prime was shown up was named, but he was unable to hear it. Still, he could be wrong.

Whatever his name was, he was a blue fella who spent the entire duration of the Ep floating around cross legged in the magic space realm.

 

Blue guy who floats around cross-legged? Definitely Micronus, heh. In both the Prime flashbacks and his Covenant of Primus art, he's always floating in a seated position, surrounded by blue light.

 

That's Micronus Prime.

 

Now that you said that i really want to see the episode now!

 

Well I've never read the Covenant of Primus so I know nothing about the other Primes. Intriguing how something from COP, a book I doubt kids read, made it into this show for kids. Looks like Hasbro's attempt to tie the Aligned Continuity together is stronger than I thought!

 

I've been waiting for this episode for ages!

What are the Skunkticons like?

What is their weaponry? How lethal are they?

 

Was expecting this episode to air in the UK today, but cartoon network have gone back to the start with episode one. Oh well.

 

Let's see here...
The Skunkticons are thieves that can spray incapacitating toxins from their tails, that impair an opponent's seeing and hearing abilities. There's also the threat of the effect being permanent if too much toxin. Apart from that they don't have much in the way of fighting abilities, and spend most of the episode running. The toxin can also easily be removed by rubbing your optics. Focus and unity is key in fighting off the Skunkticons, hence the Ep name " Out of focus "

The Skunkticons resemble robotic earth skunks, the same way say,Bisk resembles a lobster. I'm not sure if the individual bots had speaking roles or if they even had individual names.

So there's that. Hope that's helpful.

For everyone who's requesting for feed or screen grabs, I can't provide any of those. Again I didn't actually see the episode. (Sigh...stupid life) Sorry peoples.

 

Okay, that's very helpful indeed. Thank you.

And since their robot mode is a skunk, what is their vehicle mode please?

 

They didn't transform, so I would assume their skunk mode is their primary mode.

Glad I could be of help