Community TF Cartoon Rewatch Thread - Phase 9: Robots in Disguise (2001)/Car Robots

Discussion in 'Transformers Earthspark and Cartoon Discussion' started by Liege Nemesis, Aug 15, 2021.

?

How should Liege Nemesis watch the next series after this?

Poll closed Oct 24, 2021.
  1. In English, as Transformers: Armada

    13 vote(s)
    43.3%
  2. In Japanese, as Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Micron Legend

    8 vote(s)
    26.7%
  3. Either one, it doesn't matter.

    9 vote(s)
    30.0%
  1. RKStrikerJK5

    RKStrikerJK5 number one Bangles fan on the boards

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2019
    Posts:
    3,888
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Likes:
    +10,626
    Nice to see the continuity and them using that. :) 

    As @TheUltimateBum said, they weren't given any explanation before. Prime just had some amazement at seeing them and fade to black.

    I'm fairly sure finding him has been a distant second for a long time now. :p 

    They know they're the secondary comedy antagonists by now. At least unlike other secondary comedy antagonists they're aware of it.

    The sad thing is I'm near 100% sure you're right. :p 

    Who did Kelly piss off in a previous life?!

    This show might as well have been named "Transformers: Horrifically Bad Timing for a lot of their set-pieces'. I'm not even trying to be facetious here. Just a string of bad luck here!

    Kelly:EXE has stopped responding, Quit or retry?

    Be careful you don't sprain a wrist patting yourself on the back, guys!

    Thank goodness. No creepy Landfill head in Wedge's chest!

    Well, he might've thought they were being put in peril to lure the Autobots here.

    Slapper and Gas Skunk speak for all of us!

    Oh, Sky-Byte. Your screw-ups are our entertainment.

    At least here Optimus being noble and honorable makes sense. There are legit lives on the line... at least as far as he's aware.

    To be fair, the writers/animators probably didn't anticipate this being a problem.

    I'm fairly sure not even fucking Dinoking got jobbed out this hard!

    Yeah. Bust his chops when he screws up, but gotta give him his due when he comes up with something clever.

    Well, it's from the 90's. More gun is best gun!

    This is something they shouldn't have to do themselves. Come on and lend a servo, Prime!

    Sadly for this show, the opposite wouldn't have been out of place.

    Glory hog! :p 

    She won't invite you to the Sky-Byte Fan Club, now!

    Cue sad trombone?

    The COmbaticons have cooler alt modes and actual personalities! Conbaticons rule, Protectobots drool!
     
    • Like Like x 4
  2. TheUltimateBum

    TheUltimateBum Nautica Lover

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2016
    Posts:
    2,670
    Trophy Points:
    217
    Likes:
    +4,963
    Yeah, as much as I love this show because it was the one I grew up with, it always bothered me how the O-Parts plot was introduced.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. Liege Nemesis

    Liege Nemesis Snarks about old cartoons

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2019
    Posts:
    3,880
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Langley, B.C., Canada
    Likes:
    +9,308
    [​IMG]
    EPISODE 23: A TEST OF METAL (TARGETED BUILDMASTERS)
    STOP ENABLING WEDGE, YOU IDIOTS!

    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
    The things I've been worried about regarding the Build Team have come to pass. The first is that Wedge see-saws between being an impulsive but intelligent young bot who just needs to learn some restraint and being a raving, arrogant twit who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way and screeches about how nobody believes in him. It's one thing to have him start awful and grow into a better character, but we've seen him be awful, be better, be awful again, be better again, and now be awful in this episode. "Learning" may not always be a smooth trip from beginning to end, but this just resets between one state and the other with little explanation or justification.

    This is worsened by the fact that the Build Team and Optimus himself enable Wedge's idiocy by not trying to stop him from acting out or reprimanding him after the fact. It's the same "well, you did something bad, but it turned out alright so apparently I have no grounds to criticize you on!" mentality that plagues a lot of shows that deal with arrogant young punk types (like the previous series TF characters who I'm getting tired of naming in relation to Wedge :lol ). I just want there to be some semblance of constancy and consistency in the journey of the Build Team. Some identifiable signposts along Wedge's journey where he smartens up because the others have had enough of his antics and he has to take steps to learning that his behavior is unacceptable and that just because you pull out a victory in the end doesn't mean that how you got there is validated in its entirety.

    This was also an episode with an absurd amount of stock footage, a sure sign that they had trouble filling out the script with enough content to meet the necessary run time. There's seriously almost two whole minutes of transformation sequences, including repeats of the same sequences later in the episode. It's distracting right from the off and never gets any better.

    But with that said, the animation is pretty solid on the whole, the action is pretty good, and especially the Rail Racer/Ruination fight are highlights enough to have kept me entertained. But other than that this episode has completely burned out my tolerance for accepting the ongoing and repetitive flaws of the Build Team/Wedge. The safety net is gone and if we go through another rehash like this one in the future the review will likely be far less forgiving than this was. And yes, I'm aware that this one isn't nearly as forgiving as some of the earlier episodes were.



    [​IMG]
    -Our opening scene is of the Decepticons stealing "energy" from a power station. Said energy comes in convenient crates.

    -Optimus has T-AI dispatch the Bullet Train team to deal with it instead of the nearby Build Team because, in his words, they have too much to deal with (they're working on a section of the Space Bridge network) and because of their last encounter with the 'cons.

    -So of course we cut back to the Decepticons and Wedge is there to challenge them. And when the Bullet Train guys show up Wedge tells them to back off because the Build Team has this. Great. So now we're back to "screw you, we're going to prove ourselves even if we have to defy orders and act rashly to do so!" Chromedome/Lio Junior nonsense. That's exactly what I wanted out of this. Particularly because we've kind of already done this bit before too.

    -But enough of that. It's time for some Bullet Train stock transforms! It's 5 seconds apiece for the 3 members, so 15 seconds of show runtime has been padded out!

    -Railspike asks for "the energy" I like that we're not going to discuss what it is. It's simply energy in blue crates.

    -At least when the Decepticons transform it's as a group instead of bot-by-bot via stock footage.

    -The Bullet Train guys have gone to the Optimus Prime school of not screwing around and are going right to Rail Racer mode.

    Also more stock footage! 14 whole seconds! We're 2 minutes into the episode and almost 30 seconds of that has been taken up by stock footage.

    -EVEN MORE STOCK FOOTAGE! Now it's time for the Decepticons to form Ruination, so that comes with 13 more seconds of filler!

    -I normally wouldn't even count the time on the stock footage except that, like I said, we're not even at the 2 and a half minute mark and we're up to nearly 45 seconds of canned animation.

    -While two giant bots slug it out, the Build Team swoop in and steal back the energy. And then Wedge shoulder tackles Ruination in the back of the leg to "save" Rail Racer. Cause he just had to get himself involved in the fight

    -oooh, the Decepticons are piiiiiissed. Also Scourge isn't here for some reason.

    -Back at Pred base, Megatron is furious with the Decepticons while they blame the Build Team and the Space Bridge.

    -So their first order of business is to randomly attack construction vehicles!

    -The shots of the vehicles blowing up is pretty well animated. Also I'm pretty sure they're killing a bunch of people.
    [​IMG]
    Oh no! They're destroying abandoned and automated construction vehicles!

    -So T-AI dispatches the Autobot brothers to deal with it. Well, Prowl and X-Brawn. Not Sideburn.

    -Never mind. There's Sideburn. He's at the beach, literally side-humping Kelly's car while she tries to get in some surfing.

    [​IMG]
    Sideburn's actually getting creepier as the show progresses

    [​IMG]
    You'd think she would be used to this by now. Or at least consider getting cars in a different color

    -T-AI's voice seems slightly off. Just a tiny bit lower than normal. TFWiki notes this as well, but has no information on who might be filling in for Sandy Fox (except to joke that they were probably on Digimon :lol )

    -But she is drawn with some oddly thick lines as she tears into Sideburn for being a cad.

    [​IMG]
    What's this? An anime series using a decidedly western animation technique? How delightfully backwards!

    -X-Brawn shows up to one of the construction sites and when he refuses to bring the Build Team in, they just shoot him and leave. Similar reports come from Prowl and Sideburn.

    -X-Brawn suggests Optimus should inform the Build Team of what's going on, but he doesn't want the Build Team distracted by it. And he's not wrong given that they would likely leave their actual job of setting up the Space Bridge to go and fight.

    -But the Brothers wonder why Optimus wouldn't tell them what's going on. Come on guys, you've met the Build Team. You know exactly what would happen if Wedge found out.

    -and right on cue the Build Team intercepts one of the Autobots' transmissions, find out what's going on and Wedge abandons his job to check out the battle. How unexpected!

    -And so Wedge starts chewing out Optimus before he ignores Optimus' orders and cuts off the transmission. What a dick.

    -Except the next shot is of him working on the Space Bridge again like he said he wasn't going to do. At least until he decides he can't take it anymore and transforms (with stock footage! Add 5 seconds to the count)

    -So now he contacts Optimus and screams at him some more, once again saying he's going to go fight and refusing to let Optimus tell him otherwise.

    -And so Widge then starts whinging to the rest of the Build Team. His argument is basically to stomp his feet, throw a tantrum, and say "they're not allowing me to do what I want!" He says "should do" instead of "want", but it's basically the same thing.

    -Suddenly Hightower pipes up and has a plan. It's apparently to sabotage the Space Bridge and screw up its tracking ability. This will reroute anyone using the bridge and send them somewhere other than the targeted location.

    In other words, this is exactly what the Decepticons did to the space bridge a few episodes ago. Except now it's the good guys doing it for selfish ego-stroking reasons. What heroes!

    -At least Heavy Load seems quite reluctant to go along with this.

    -And Wedge celebrates that this is the best possible plan. You would think that, idiot.

    -Grimlock also goes along, saying "we shouldn't need permission to do what's right."

    YES YOU SHOULD! YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER IS TELLING YOU THIS ISN'T A GOOD IDEA. AND HE'S CORRECT TO DO SO! The Build Team are still chiefly a non-combat unit with little to no actual combat experience. And regardless, none of the Autobot sub-groups have autonomy from Optimus' command. So shut your damn traps and listen to the guy who gives orders because he knows a lot more about any of this than you do. Especially you, Wedge.

    -Awww, and now Heavy Load is on board. Booo! He's supposed to be the sensible one!

    -The Build Team show up and everyone but Wedge gets stock transformation sequences. They, again, average about 5 seconds each, so that's 15 more seconds on the clock. Thus we hit the 1 minute mark for accumulated stock footage.

    -And guess what? The Build Team get absolutely trashed! Including Mega-Octane holding onto Wedge so he can watch everyone else get shot.

    -Wedge's ultimate plan in all of this is to suggest they can't run away "like cowards". So instead they'll die like idiots. Bravo.

    -MORE stock footage courtesy of Landfill's combination sequence. It lasts for 20 whole seconds.

    -And then Ruination combines with full stock footage again. 13 more seconds. Running stock footage stall timer? 1:33

    -Back at base T-AI (Who's actress is really bad at her lines) tells Optimus what the Build Team has done. He's not happy about it.

    -And guess what? Landfill is getting his ass handed to him by Ruination. Who could've predicted this turn of events!

    -And they're not going to get any help as the Build Team's modifications have borked the Space Bridge controls. Good job guys! Now you'll die alone!

    -Landfill escapes into an underground cavern while at the same time Optimus somehow shows up at the battle even though the space bridge isn't working.

    -For whatever reason, there's extra detailing on Ruination's chest, plus his upside-down Autobot logo looks really crisp this time.

    [​IMG]
    don't get too excited. Higher visual quality doesn't equate to better treatment from the writers

    -Oh, and Optimus transforms to Battle Mode right away too. That's another 10 seconds of stock footage. That puts us at 1:43 for the episode.

    -Down in the cave Landfill continues to get wrecked. before he's backed into a pool of oil. Suddenly it starts filling up for some reason and Landfill gets a genius idea: Shoot and ignore all the oil in the cave, potentially killing the build team along with the Decepticons.

    I would not be opposed to this outcome.

    -But alas it doesn't kill anyone. Instead it somehow just separates them into their smaller bots and spits them out while they're all on fire. And it's convenient that Optimus is there to hose them down.

    [​IMG]
    It would've been better if the focus was on Wedge being on fire. And that it hurt.

    -Wedge makes a pithy joke when Optimus asks if they're OK and then he says "well I'm certain the Decepticons won't take you so lightly next time."

    WHY AREN'T YOU MAD AT THEM? THEY'RE IDIOTS!!!!

    -The build team cheer each other on and the scene cuts to the rest of the Autobots bathing in the oil while the bullet train guys massage them. And Optimus sorta kinda really spinelessly doesn't reprimand Wedge for his disobedience because the younger bot sorta kinda apologizes. Lame.

    -Almost as lame as this rear shot of Wedge sitting on a rock that appears to take his toy joint structure far too literally.

    [​IMG]
    Don't skip leg day, kids.

    -And that's when Wedge leaps into the oil pool as we freeze and fade out.




    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Pros
    +Some of the animation looks crisp

    +The Ruination/Rail Racer fight is decent



    Cons
    -We've done this plot before

    -The Build Team should've learned this lesson already

    -But they can't because Wedge is still a selfish prick

    -Optimus doesn't do anything to prevent them from trying another similar stunt in the future

    -Or reprimand them for purposely screwing up the space bridge and endangering everyone for selfish reasons.

    -So much stock footage. literally almost 10% of the episode is just stock transformations.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  4. Liege Nemesis

    Liege Nemesis Snarks about old cartoons

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2019
    Posts:
    3,880
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Langley, B.C., Canada
    Likes:
    +9,308
    I have the next episode done, but because it's a two-parter with the final entry of the week I wanted to put them up together. so that'll happen tomorrow.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  5. Leolim

    Leolim Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2020
    Posts:
    2,580
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +1,990

    What would happen if the Combatron faced against the Constructicons during their Construction vehicle scrapping.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. TheUltimateBum

    TheUltimateBum Nautica Lover

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2016
    Posts:
    2,670
    Trophy Points:
    217
    Likes:
    +4,963
    It's Lio Junior all over again. Only at least the better ratio is... well... better, because with Lio Junior, I only remember him being tolerable in one or two episodes, whereas in the rest, he was either insufferable or extremely bland.

    Same thing that happens in TFP.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  7. Longitudinalwave

    Longitudinalwave A Big Fan of (Sound/Shock)wave

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2020
    Posts:
    2,569
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +5,269
    I just watched episode 23.
    ARRGH! Wedge is such an idiot. You know it's bad when I was actively rooting for the Combaticons Decepticons to beat him up. And I haven't even watched the other two episodes with him in them!
    And you're right, Liege. His team is a bunch of terrible enablers. Whom he then almost got killed. Twice. And all because he can't accept that his primary function isn't combat!
    It's also annoying that Optimus seems to be taking a page out of Lio Convoy's spineless leadership book when it comes to dealing with Wedge.
    Oh, well. At least the fight scenes are cool. And so are the Combaticons Decepticons.

    On a more series-wide note, Sideburn's creepy stalker tendencies make me feel like I need to take several showers. Ewwww.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  8. Rojixus

    Rojixus Celebrating 40 Years of Transformers!

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Posts:
    5,679
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Likes:
    +17,481
    Car Robots #23
    • Combatrons getting shit done!
    • No Build Boy, no!
    • AGGRESSIVE HAND-HOLDING!
    • Oh, the Combatrons are angry now!
    • GO AWAY SPEEDBREAKER, NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!
    • They're inanimate vehicles Build Boy, how are they your comrades?
    • Shoulder attack denied!
    • OOF! Maybe going up against the Combatrons was a bad idea for the Buildmasters after all.
    • Suddenly, oil!
    • Combatrons are defeated, let's all wrap this up with a nice relaxing oil bath.
    • But this episode was just the calm before the storm, the storm called GOD MAGNUS(!)!
     
    • Like Like x 2
  9. WreckAndRoam

    WreckAndRoam Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2021
    Posts:
    341
    Trophy Points:
    142
    Likes:
    +1,057
    Instagram:
    I… didn’t even notice Side Burn this episode. I must have been distracted by phone or my wife at the time. Because everything else I remember just fine.

    As annoying as Side Burn is, his brothers are alright, specifically X-Brawn. Though having the Prowl toy, I will be biased towards him. (As a side note I showed the Mach Alert toy to my four year old nephew who adored him, immediately demanded the name. I told him “Mach Alert” and got the best look of confusion as a response. So we went with Prowl. So good work, western dub. Apparently that rename was sharp. Even if it says “mach alert” on the car doors.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  10. Longitudinalwave

    Longitudinalwave A Big Fan of (Sound/Shock)wave

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2020
    Posts:
    2,569
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +5,269
    Good question. I was wondering that, too. Although I suppose it is kind of fitting that the two most annoying characters in the show share the same inability to realize that Earth vehicles aren't sentient.
    Agreed. I like both Prowl and X-Brawn. It's too bad that they're so often saddled with Side Burn.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  11. TheUltimateBum

    TheUltimateBum Nautica Lover

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2016
    Posts:
    2,670
    Trophy Points:
    217
    Likes:
    +4,963
    Side Burn's fine to me. At least he isn't as inconsistent as Wedge (there are episodes where he seems fine, but others, like this last one... ugh).
     
    • Like Like x 2
  12. RKStrikerJK5

    RKStrikerJK5 number one Bangles fan on the boards

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2019
    Posts:
    3,888
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    Likes:
    +10,626
    *Sees the end of the episode* Too late... :( 

    And he's annoying and rags the whole episode down with him, like an anchor.

    At first I thought they might've been generators, but then the energy's siphoned off. So no... ? o_O 

    Two very good reasons for them to stay away and good allocation of resources!

    I did chuckle when the bit of them transforming was the one I've seen in the intro. :lol 

    Very smart of them! A shame smarts aren't gonna be on display for most of the rest of the episode. :( 

    Okay, smart of them to do that... and I don't mind it too much here. Rail Racer needed help against Ruination, and it wasn't like he was attacking the combiner head-on.

    par for the course for this show. God damn!

    And scratching the car's paint, and probably causing internal damage... fuck you, Sideburn.

    I noticed it, and I'm not a fan of the replacement.

    As we see later on, that would be the least of their actions.

    if this was any sort of organized military, Wedge would-and should!-probably be brought up on charges and stripped of command!

    Let him go! At least the Decepticons would expend energy killing him!

    And it's so fucking stupid I have no words. "Sure, we're not good at combat or experienced. So let's make sure we go against the dedicated combat unit of the bad guys and make sure we can't get backup!"

    But he's gonna and he'll get away with it because ARGH!

    Excuse me. I must find a tiny violin.

    I'm really glad I'm not the only one to note that.

    This is my shocked face!



    I am!

    Sideburn isn't there. :p 

    That is a horrible drawing of him. Holy crap, guys. Toy accuracy isn't needed this much!
     
    • Like Like x 3
  13. Liege Nemesis

    Liege Nemesis Snarks about old cartoons

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2019
    Posts:
    3,880
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Langley, B.C., Canada
    Likes:
    +9,308
    Because it's later than I anticipated and I want to finish the reviews of the last two episodes of the week with a mind that's not half-asleep, I'm going to try and put both episodes up tomorrow morning instead. Which might be tomorrow afternoon for some of you.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  14. Chromeshot

    Chromeshot Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2020
    Posts:
    13
    Trophy Points:
    37
    Likes:
    +21
    That's Rebecca Forstadt. You can hear the stand-in T-Ai's inflections in her clips here, but it's probably the most obvious in these clips:

    Ayeka Masaki

    Kaoru Kamiya
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. Liege Nemesis

    Liege Nemesis Snarks about old cartoons

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2019
    Posts:
    3,880
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Langley, B.C., Canada
    Likes:
    +9,308
    [​IMG]
    EPISODE 24: ULTRA MAGNUS (ENTER GOD MAGNUS)
    He doesn't die!

    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
    New character time! And what a new/old character it is! This series' iteration of Ultra Magnus shows up and is very much unlike the only other version of the character that we've known until this point (that being the G1 "good soldier" version). Showing that you can break with some characters' established personalities if you still allow them to be similar enough to their earlier versions to see the parallels.

    so here we get a version of Magnus that retains his very military/combat vet leanings but instead of making him humble to a fault and disinterested in being at the forefront of anything, that aspect is flipped on its head. We go from no-ego Ultra Magnus to all-ego Ultra Magnus: A bitter, frustrated, arrogant war dog who believes that his superior combat record should be all that matters when anointing who is the superior Autobot and most worthy of the position of supreme command among the faction's ranks. It's a starkly different take on the character, for sure. And it's entirely possible that there are going to be steadfast Ultra Magnus fans out there who vehemently reject this idea of re-imagining a character with an ordinarily noble background into being a colossally selfish jackass. But from my perspective this is the sort of thing that you can get away with in a series like RID that's clearly not G1. When there's an excuse to stretch things a little bit more, a bit of extra forgiveness is granted.

    And I grant it because it creates for a fun new dynamic for the Autobots. It injects a bit of chaos in a different manner than Towline and Skid-Z did and creates some interesting backstory for Optimus at the same time, all welcome additions to a series that had mostly survived without delving into any of the history or reasoning behind why things were they way they are.

    Of course, my tolerance for the differences in character have their limits, and they are tested at times because this Magnus is such a complete and utter tool that it makes it less interesting by virtue of him being rendered less sympathetic. If he was treated as bitter but maybe having a point, that'd be one thing. Demonstrating that he's stronger than Optimus and a more renowned war hero would've given weight to his being passed over for the Matrix in favor of the physically weaker but more emotionally balanced Optimus. It could've given him a path to a Big Convoy style reckoning with his own arrogance and ability to grow from that. But nope, we're not going there. Instead it's clear from the off that he's such a towering, sneering, unlikable asshat that there's no way he could be trusted to be in charge of the Autobot forces. So the fact that the Matrix passed him over comes as no surprise and his whinging instead is rendered as just more short-sighted selfishness on his part.

    The other issue that comes from this is that some of his bluster ends up being validated in a terrible way. We've spent the entire length of the Decepticons' run in the series so far playing up that they're the dangerous part of the antagonizing force. The jobbing out of Ruination aside, Scourge and his troops are the biggest regular threat the Autobots face short of Megatron leaving the Pred ship and taking to the battlefield himself. But along comes Ultra Magnus and he makes agonizingly easy work of them, while then also lecturing the Autobot Brothers about how weak and lazy they are. We're supposed to think he's being unnecessarily harsh, but the fact that he made mincemeat out of a group of opponents the Autobots usually struggle a bit more with creates the impression that perhaps Magnus' issues have some merit. Couldn't they have just had him trash the Predacons instead?

    Regardless of those problems, this is still a very promising start to a story arc that looks like it really could deliver some interesting new ground for the series to explore. It'll just remain to be seen how well it is able to follow through on that promise.


    [​IMG]
    -We begin with a mysterious Autobot we've never seen before looking down on Metrocity and claiming that he will find Optimus Prime and take what is rightfully his.

    Judging by the episode title, I'm going to guess that our new bot is Springer. Seems like a safe bet.

    [​IMG]
    Definitely Springer.

    [​IMG]
    For real, Ultra Magnus is voiced by Kim Strauss, a fairly industrious voice actor with a lot of roles but not necessarily a single super-iconic one. He was the voice of Ninjor in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and had a recurring role as an ambassador on Babylon 5, but there's not a voice-over role that makes you go "oh yeah, him!"

    In Japan, "God Magnus" as he is known is voiced by Takashi Matsuyama who we last saw in Beast Wars Neo as Rockbuster and prior to that in Beast Wars II as Megastorm/Gigastorm and Powerhug.

    -Meanwhile on the waterfront the Decepticons emerge from the sea (in vehicle modes that are not in the slightest meant for underwater use) so they can steal energy from the oil refinery. But first, stock transformations all around!

    -They want to get the energy before the Autobots show up. So of course the Autobots show up immediately.

    -It's the Autobot Brothers who tell the Decepticons to back off, but Scourge correctly points out that a gunfight there risks igniting the oil.

    -Of course Sideburn is the one who chooses to ignore this because "we have to take that chance"

    Piss off, Sideburn.

    -Only before he can pull the trigger, something hits the Decepticons. That something apparently comes from this mysterious blue and white truck that's approaching with a giant Autobot symbol on its front end.

    [​IMG]
    They really could've been clearer about his alignment. It's quite fuzzy.

    -And Sideburn even points this out. That actually took me by surprise because it often felt like we were conditioned to ignore insignia that appeared on bots in their alt-modes, pretending they were there for our benefit but that they didn't actually "exist" in the reality of the show unless the bot was in robot mode.

    -Prowl heads off to stop the new guy from getting them all killed (and presumably killing a bunch of humans in the process) but he simply gets shot for his trouble.

    -Moments later he transforms and we get our first look at Ultra Magnus in robot mode.

    -He's got kind of squat proportions.

    [​IMG]
    It looks like he's wearing goalie pads on his legs.

    -As Magnus blames the Autobot Brothers for failing their mission, the Decepticons escape and then Magnus blames them for that too before he shoots at them and bails. What a tool.

    -Also Kim Strauss' delivery was kinda boring.

    -The Brothers radio back to base to explain things to Optimus, who is puzzled by the turn of events.

    -And back near the refinery Sky-Byte watches as he curses the Decepticons' success and the mysterious new Autobot. but his unsubtle brooding is interrupted by Koji and a bunch of onlooking kids who all tout him as a hero for his actions a couple of episodes ago. Yay for continuity and continuing a silly but fun plot thread.

    -Sky-Byte eventually gets embarrassed and bails as the group asks for his autograph. :lol 

    [​IMG]
    All those autographs are going right onto eBay

    -Back at Predacon base, Scourge has to tell Megatron that they failed. But Megs takes it in stride and doesn't chew him out for it. Sky-Byte expects that this will lead to him getting the brunt of Megs' wrath for his failure (especially because he was "defeated" by a bunch of humans) but Megatron is... understanding?

    The hell? Is this an impostor plot? Because that's not the real Megatron if he's cool with this failure.

    -Instead Megatron sends Sky-Byte on a mission of "vital importance."

    -In the middle of this there's a close-up of Megatron's face as Sky-Byte explains why he has no energy to give. Megs' optics shine and the sound effect used for this, rather than the anime standard sort of "pwang!" noise is a very obvious take of a lightsaber igniting.

    Oh Transformers, how I missed you and your unabashed stealing of Star Wars sound effects. It takes me right back to G1.

    -now at Autobot base T-AI intercepts a transmission between Sky-Byte and the rest of the Predacons in which he says they're tasked with finding the O-Parts. So now I'm going to guess this is a setup and Megatron wanted them to get found out and be a decoy operation. What's odd is that T-AI apparently has analysis software that can detect whether or not Sky-Byte is lying (and he apparently isn't), making this a pretty convenient way to apparently bypass any concerns that this is all a trap.

    -Optimus is still (rightly) suspicious and sends the Autobot Brothers to monitor Sky-Byte. They're not to engage but knowing Sideburn he's going to ignore that and do something stupid, isn't he?

    -At that point Sky-Byte is searching in a forest, digging a hole with a big shovel.

    [​IMG]
    They don't trust Sky-Byte with power tools or heavy machinery

    -Too bad all he finds is a rubber duck. A huge one, at that.

    -It also turns out that this is a trap, but not in the way we expect. Or maybe in the way we should: Sky-Byte is a patsy and the Decepticons are watching him while they reveal that they rerouted the transmission to the Autobots and that Sky-Byte's search for O-Parts is a futile search that is actually just mean to bait the Autobots out so they can be destroyed.

    It's actually a fairly clever plan and a nice subversion of just having Sky-Byte be a screw-up or having him intentionally fool the Autobots and somehow slip the lie detector software as well.

    -The Autobot Brothers speed to Sky-Byte's location while talking about the mystery bot that harassed them earlier. Right on cue he shows up and cuts them off, leading to another showdown where Magnus explains how all of this is a trap. Sideburn suggests they shouldn't listen to him since he hasn't earned any trust and... damn, he's actually right. But it doesn't matter because Magnus tazes the lot of them.

    Also how did he know this was a trap? We never saw him monitoring the Decepticons.

    -And then he laughs at the fact that he knocked out all the Autobot Brothers easily because they're weak idiots. This gives him time to dump them in a junkyard and head off to find Optimus.

    -The Decepticons are set up for an ambush on the unsuspecting Autobots, only Ultra Magnus has figured out their plan and attacks them unaware. I also think his transformation here might be the first time in the episode that his name is spoken aloud?

    -Also gotta say that at this point in the show I'm not loving Magnus' voice. For a character of his type it should probably be deeper and gruffer. He should sound like a hard-bitten old soldier who doesn't have time for any youthful chicanery from the others or Optimus Prime's soft-hearted, bleeding-energon-pump nonsense. Instead he just sounds like a grumpy middle management pencil-pusher trying to sound intense.

    -Optimus aborts the Autobot Brothers' mission given that they're damaged and instead says he'll take on the hunt for Sky-Byte and the rogue Autobot (who he correctly theorizes is Ultra Magnus) himself.

    -he also travels through a space bridge tunnel that's got the tron line grid and no CGI animation. The last time this was used it was for the malfunctioning space bridge when the Decepticons tampered with it. Weird.

    -Optimus ruminates on Magnus coming to Earth and what issue Magnus might have with him. He believes that it's due to the fact that Optimus was chosen as Autobot leader and given The Matrix (our first really strong reference to it in the show so far aside from a somewhat veiled reference when Optimus went anger-fueled burning justice mode on Scourge a few episodes ago) but mostly what I can't stop thinking about is how we're seeing Optimus have this personal monologue to no one in particular while projecting his head on one of the internal viewscreens in his passenger compartment. Like who does he think he needs to show that to?

    -Ultra Magnus is a brash, arrogant dick. He mocks Scourge and the Decepticons for being "weaklings" but ends up being easily ambushed. And even when he's pinned down by multiple Decepticons he continues mocking.

    -It turns out he can fly and has some cool shoulder missiles. Which are able to take out Ruination with ease. Not that Ruination is any great challenge given what we've seen out of him in the last few episodes.

    -Optimus arrives and starts taking on the Decepticons himself and Magnus sees this and can only think about how he's going to take away Optimus' powers soon. But it comes with a very artsy shot of Optimus' Autobot insignia reflected in his optics. While laughing like a villain.

    [​IMG]
    He sees your shoddy quality control on that insignia design

    -Mega-Octane decides that this fight is too risky and Scourge agrees, leaving the whole team to retreat. It's refreshing to have Decepticons that can talk things through and agree rather than just bickering with each other like children.

    -Optimus tries to be genial to Ultra Magnus, but Magnus isn't having any of that and he opens fire on Optimus.

    -Op tries to be welcoming and forgiving of their previous tiff, but Ultra Magnus can only think about how it's all a mistake that Optimus was given the Matrix and the power that comes with it.

    -but hey, we get our first look at RID era Cybertron. It's... pretty good! And glows green for some reason!

    [​IMG]
    I've seen that particular shade of green before...

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    "Ooooh! Oooooh! I know! The question is whether they were harvested from the arctic or stolen from a South American temple!"

    -Magnus claims that him not getting the Matrix is wrong because he's the strongest Autobot. And to prove he's the superior Autobot he's going to kill one of his own! What an Autobot!

    -Meanwhile Sky-Byte is still digging for O-Parts, and is now in a hole that's dozens of feet deep. Somehow deep in this crater he ends up finding an unexploded bomb and setting it off. And that's where we get a first for this series: a "to be continued" marker.




    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Pros
    +The idea of Ultra Magnus is interesting

    +The Decepticons working smarter and communicating makes them more interesting than most villains

    +Sky-Byte's single-minded determination is kind of endearing.



    Cons
    -Ultra Magnus is such a jackass that it makes him a less interesting character

    -And he handles the Decepticons so easily that it doesn't really help the rest of the Autobots' case that they're better than Magnus claims they are.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  16. Liege Nemesis

    Liege Nemesis Snarks about old cartoons

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2019
    Posts:
    3,880
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Location:
    Langley, B.C., Canada
    Likes:
    +9,308
    [​IMG]
    EPISODE 25: ULTRA MAGNUS: FORCED FUSION! (FORCED FUSION! GOD FIRE CONVOY)
    Just in case last episode didn't make it clear how much of a jackass he is

    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
    The continuation of the previous episode (fittingly) mostly continues with the same array of positives and negatives that were present in the previous part.

    We still get the very engaging spat between Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime, fleshing out their history even more and really making things feel personal. It also solidifies just how much of a tool Magnus is in the end when he dupes Optimus into fusing with him by specifically playing on Optimus' most noble character traits as if they were actually crippling weaknesses. I know I said in the last review that making Magnus too much of a jerk undercut the ability to connect to him, but I do think that specifically targeting his jerkishness on Optimus because of their shared personal history is a sensible direction because that conflict actually is intensely personal for Magnus.

    It's just a shame that this episode seems like it was running over the allotted time and had to be wrapped up quickly to come in under 22 minutes. Because when we get to the big, climactic reveal of Omega Prime, he trounces the Decepticons (and Megatron) like it's nothing and then the de-fusion, departure of Ultra Magnus, and final line going to Optimus all happen in a matter of seconds before the credits roll. The moment could've used some time to breathe or a little bit more substance to it. Instead we rocket through the ending like nothing and it's made to feel less important as a result.

    [​IMG]
    -As befitting the second part of a two-parter, we start with a recap of what happened last time. Except it's not quite the same. The animation is the same, but the lines are slightly different. It's a little weird to have it be the same but different.

    -It also makes Magnus sound even more dickish than before. If that's even possible.

    -But he does get a cool look as his gatling gun fires off a shower of spent cartridges while he opens fire on Optimus.

    [​IMG]
    He'd probably make Sideburn clean up the mess.

    -Back at base Koji and the Autobot Brothers are upset that Optimus isn't fighting back and they resolve to rescue their leader. And T-AI repeatedly reminds them that they're there to rescue, not get into a fight.

    They're totally getting into a fight.

    -As they head onto the space bridge we get some interesting early CGI of a raised freeway that leads up to the space bridge tunnel. I think this is new? If not it hasn't been seen since the earliest episodes.
    [​IMG]
    Seamless integration!

    -As the brothers race to the rescue, they're convinced that Optimus can handle Ultra Magnus. So if they're so convinced, why are they so worried about rescuing him?

    -Optimus tumbles down a ravine and seems pretty damaged and up in space Movor is reporting on events to the Decepticons. How'd he get up into space again? Last time he had to pose as a human shuttle to get the booster rockets to achieve orbit. Don't tell me NASA was stupid enough to fall for it again?

    [​IMG]
    I think it's gonna be a long, long time til touchdown brings me back around to find I'm not the bot they think I am at home...

    -The Predacon base is now stationed on Easter Island. Interesting and probably irrelevant to anything!

    -Megatron wonders how Ultra Magnus could beat Optimus so easily while his troops constantly fail. That's Scourge's cue to pretty much throw the rest of the Decepticons under the bus. Quite unusual considering how tight knit the Decepticons have been as a group.

    -Regardless, Megatron is content to let the Autobots' fight continue and not get his troops involved. That's actually pretty smart (except for the part where Ultra Magnus can probably obliterate most of the Predcepticons without trying.

    -Meanwhile, he wonders where Sky-Byte is and doesn't believe he could be out there looking for the O-Parts. Which is exactly what he's doing. Because if nothing else Sky-Byte is astoundingly loyal to Megatron.

    [​IMG]
    In his defence, nobody told him to stop

    -Having dug up mounds of refuse and buried junk, he finally gives up and flies away, singing about the O-Parts to the tune of "toreador" from Carmen. Classy!

    [​IMG]
    He signs and composes poetry? Is there anything he can't do? Besides beat the Autobots?

    -Magnus confirms to us that Vector Sigma gave Optimus the Matrix. This is not long after he claims the Matrix chose Optimus, as if it was independent. It's not impossible for these things to be linked, but it also kind of feels like the writers couldn't make up their mind.

    -Magnus gives Optimus 1 cycle to decide to hand over the Matrix to him or be destroyed and just then the Brothers show up to pull Prime out of the fight and through a space bridge. And Sideburn almost picks a fight with Magnus before Prowl tells him to back off. What a knob. But at least he's a predictable knob.

    -In this moment though Sky-Byte does something that none of the Predacons had managed to do before now: he gets a tracking bug on Optimus' back, seemingly allowing them to figure out the location of the Autobot base.

    -And in his haste to follow Optimus and the others, Ultra Magnus flies straight into a cliff wall and gets buried in a landslide. Serves him right.

    -Sky-Byte begins imagining Megatron's joy at his success in locating the Autobot base and it turns super weird really quickly, including a shot of Megatron happily petting a shark-mode Sky-Byte who suddenly has eyes with massive lashes while Scourge looks on furiously.

    [​IMG]
    Whatever floats your boat, Sky-Byte. I won't judge.

    -But then the signal on his tracker dies for some reason and Sky-Byte panics.

    -Magnus sees Sky-Byte and decides he must know something about the Autobots' location. so he gives chase in vehicle mode.

    -Interestingly, I noticed last episode that Magnus' truck mode looks a lot like the truck mode of WFC Siege Ultra Magnus. Turns out according to TFWiki that this was intentional and the WFC team designed Siege Magnus' vehicle mode to somewhat borrow design concepts from this iteration of the character.

    -However, it turns out that Sky-Byte's tracking is for nothing: Optimus isn't at the base. For whatever reason the Brothers took him to a deserted island to rest up and recuperate.

    -Somehow this island also has a 'natural' looking oil bath. Ok?

    -Sideburn questions why Optimus wouldn't fight back against Ultra Magnus, but then theorizes that if he were to end up fighting against Prowl he wouldn't want to hurt his own brother. Optimus remarks that this is surprisingly perceptive (especially for Sideburn) because it turns out Ultra Magnus actually is Optimus' brother. DUN DUN DUN! FAMILY DRAMA!

    -This causes Magnus to do a comedy pratfall into the oil bath.

    [​IMG]
    I hope he drowns

    -Optimus says that he and Magnus were created at exactly the same time, by an Autobot elder named Alpha Trion. EEEEeeeeeeeEEEE!!! Fanservice!

    -He then explains that Vector Sigma was to choose the next leader of Cybertron and the choosing of Optimus made Magnus bitter and resentful. But what's really interesting is that Optimus calls Vector Sigma "The Allspark" as a title. Seemingly meant to mean that Vector Sigma is, in essence, the spark of all Cybertron/Transformers. Which would kind of make sense if we use its G1 purpose of providing consciousness (and thus, in essence, the soul/spark) to freshly made Transformers. What makes this more interesting is that this is, I believe, the second canonical reference to the Allspark as a thing in the franchise after it was made mention of in Beast Machines (mostly as the pseudo-afterlife "Well of All Sparks" but there was one instance where I believe the Oracle (which was, of course, also linked to Vector Sigma" made reference to "the Allspark" as a proper noun relating to the metaphysical source/destination of sparks in the cycle of Transformers life that links all of Cybertronian creation together.

    So while this isn't the first use of the term, it's interesting that it is an early one that is somewhat consistent with the version that was used before it and would in large part inform the usage of the term for the next 6 or 7 years until the Bayverse writers chose to to re-imagine it as a distinct physical object that was a cross between Vector Sigma and the Marvel-style Creation Matrix that sorta kinda aligns with this stuff if you squint, but was apparently just done because the Wachowski movie trilogy had pretty much seized onto all proper noun usage of the term "Matrix" in the entertainment industry.

    Shame about that other movie franchise taking the name though. They stole it from the Transformers, made one full movie, released like half of another movie for some reason where it just abruptly stops midway through, and then were never heard from again.

    WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN

    -Optimus continues to recount his sibling rivalry with Magnus. you know, normal sibling stuff like competing over a mythical destiny macguffin and then trying to kill each other due to petty jealousy. Pretty standard fare. And all this while Sideburn assumes the standard "gossipy teen" pose of slouching into his crossed arms. All he's missing is to be laying on his stomach so he can kick his feet in the air while talking with a valley girl accent.

    [​IMG]
    "Like, shut up. That's, like, totally not true!

    -Optimus is suddenly deep in thought and Sideburn asks if he can help. But Optimus says the thing that RKStrikerJK5 always has them saying and shoos Sideburn away. He probably really could've used the help, but getting rid of Sideburn is addition by subtraction.

    -Out of nowhere appears Sky-Byte, who shoves a ton of boulders in front of where the Space Bridge closed, seemingly sealing it off and leaving Optimus trapped on the island with no backup. But how did Optimus not see any of this? Sideburn was right next to where Optimus was when he left and called up the space bridge. So Sky-Byte should've been easily visible coming in off hte beach.

    -And alas for Sky-Byte, his grab for glory is short-circuited when Megatron shows up with the Decepticons, flying them all around in his hand mode. Because it really is the one mode he uses for everything.

    [​IMG]
    The other modes are all clear downgrades.

    -Megatron confronts Optimus, who is too weak to fight and is at the mercy of his enemies. It's a nicely tense moment because there's no obvious way for Optimus to get out of this situation in his current state.

    -So how's he getting out of this? Ultra Magnus shows up and decides that the Decepticons aren't going to finish off Optimus, he is. What a hero.

    -The combined force of Ruination and Megatron set the island ablaze and it looks really cool as fire surrounds Optimus.

    [​IMG]
    Literal burning justice.

    -Sideburn, Prowl and X-Brawn are currently trying to get back to the beach to help Optimus, but it turns out somehow that the rocks Sky-byte put up actually appear at the end of the space bridge tunnel to prevent it from opening. That's a little bit weird.
    [​IMG]
    I feel bad for Prowl and X-Brawn, but I also hope they're stuck in there for a while.

    -As Optimus stands in the fire, seemingly burning to death (somehow) Ultra Magnus suddenly does a complete 180 in terms of personality. He calmly talks to Optimus, saying that because there's not much time he has to apologize for being a jackass. What? Where is this suddenly coming from? He also says he can't be jealous after seeing the good Prime has done. So he offers a handshake (and not, I dunno, a rescue?) and...

    -*GASP* It was a trick all along! Magnus laughs at how gullible Optimus is as the two crackle with energy and Ultra Magnus begins absorbing Optimus' energy and attempting to fuse with his "brother". What a total knob.

    -Now we get some new stock footage primed up for the combination of Magnus and Optimus into "Omega Prime" the "Ultimate Energy Combiner."

    [​IMG]
    Buy his toys! Because you have to buy two of them!

    [​IMG]
    While "God Fire Convoy" is simply voiced by Fire Convoy's regular voice actor, Satoshi Hashimoto, in English he's voiced by neither Neil Kaplan (Optimus) nor Kim Strauss (Ultra Magnus). Instead his voice is provided by Daniel Riordan, who's in this show as Megatron

    I believe this makes him the second actor to voice a Prime and a Megatron (or equivalent) in the same series after Garry Chalk handled the cameo appearance of G1 Megatron during "The Agenda" Beast Wars trilogy of episodes. Though this would mark the first (and only?) time that an actor plays a Prime and a Megatron from the same series. And the first to cover both roles in more than just a one-off capacity for either of them. It's an exclusive club no matter how you slice it when you consider that I think the only other addition to it is David Kaye once we get to Animated.

    -Just as Omega Prime is formed the Autobot Brothers burst through the rocks and are able to arrive on the island.

    -:lol  Poor Ultra Magnus. It turns out that the power of the Matrix and Optimus' unique energy is not simply taken over by Magnus when the two merge into Omega Prime. The body being of any use requires them to work together, which is pretty much Magnus' worst nightmare.

    -Can I just say that I really like the name "Omega Prime"? It's different and cool and is better than just kludging the two characters names together into something like Ultra Prime or Optimus Magnus. Sure "Omega" is kind of overdone in terms of the use of Greek letters in English, but it sounds super imposing which is exactly what this character should be.

    -Megatron shows some nice awareness of anime tropes as he takes advantage of Omega Prime standing there and having an internal conversation to launch a quick attack. But too bad for him Omega tanks the whole volley of fire and is able to chase the Predcepticons off with little effort.

    -After a commercial break the two are separated and Ultra Magnus flies off without a word while Optimus bids him a quiet and kind of sad goodbye. It would seem like a more heartfelt scene if only it wasn't like 20 seconds long right out of the break, giving it no build-up or sense of weight.




    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Pros
    +The continued Optimus/Magnus dispute is interesting

    +The Decepticons are dangerous, but not too dangerous.

    +Sky-Byte's silliness is a nice counterbalance to the seriousness going on.

    +Omega Prime is cool



    Cons
    -The end battle is too easy

    -The resolution is way too quick as the story rushes to wrap itself up

    -Ugh, so much sideburn
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. Longitudinalwave

    Longitudinalwave A Big Fan of (Sound/Shock)wave

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2020
    Posts:
    2,569
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +5,269
    My favorite part about this is that, while he's throwing them under the bus, he says "we've come close, but then Movor goes and shoots the wrong target, or Armorhide can't fly that day." The complaint about Movor at least kind of makes sense, but Armorhide is a tank. Tanks can't fly, and as far as I can tell magic robot mode flight isn't a thing here like it was in G1.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  18. Leolim

    Leolim Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2020
    Posts:
    2,580
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +1,990
    God Magnus going rogue against Fire Convoy miight have something to do with the Biasness of the Convoy class.
    Karyuudo Fansubs 狩人ファンサブ: [Translation] Blue Big Convoy - Transformers Legends Manga - The EX Story
    Even TFWiki made a note of it.
    Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. EX (Blue Big Convoy) - Transformers Wiki
    The notion of Vector Sigma as the specific creator of the Convoy Transformers originates from a statement given in Episode 25 of Car Robots, wherein Fire Convoy revealed that both he and God Magnus were created by Vector Sigma.[note 1] Plus, in both that episode and the previous one, God Magnus revealed that Vector Sigma is the one who gives the Energon Matrix to its bearer, and later stated in Episode 35 that an Energon Matrix is only supposed to be used by Transformers of the "Convoy Class". The latter notion calls back to an earlier statement first given in Episode 26 of Beast Wars II, wherein Moon revealed that only "Commander Class" Transformers have an Energon Matrix. This story brings everything full circle with Vector Sigma creating the Convoy Transformers and granting each of them their own Energon Matrix.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  19. Leolim

    Leolim Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2020
    Posts:
    2,580
    Trophy Points:
    232
    Likes:
    +1,990
    [​IMG]
    Definitely Belongs to Beast Era Megatron (cause it’s canon lol).
     
  20. Rojixus

    Rojixus Celebrating 40 Years of Transformers!

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2020
    Posts:
    5,679
    Trophy Points:
    247
    Likes:
    +17,481
    GOD MAGNUS(!) is just not a very well written character. At best, he's just a spoiled brat who hates following orders. At worst, he's a deluded idiot who wants the energon matrix to prove he has the biggest cyber-dick. In the end, he's a very uppity pair of boots and a raincoat is what I'm saying.
     
    • Like Like x 1