Ratings are less a factor for CN than toy sales. Hasbro essentially pays CN to air the show in exchange for a guaranteeing to purchase a certain amount of advertising minutes during the week. If toy sales aren't there this Christmas, then you can start writing the show off. Right now it's too early to judge.

 

I've got a lot to talk about regarding this episode.

1. There's a bit more Pre-war Megatron here. Not a lot but we do see him discussing a rally with Optimus Prime. I assume they're talking about the rally from Megatron is my Hero... also from their discussion it appears that Optimus wrote the speech Megatron gave during that episode.

2. Deadlock is seen in this episode and he was designed by a fan and isn't a samurai like he was in the Bay films or RID2015. I actually like this version. Deadlock is of course a Decepticon here but they mention him as leaving the Decepticons so this is of course Drift.

3. Shockwave is seen high fiving another Autobot pre-war... is that going to happen every time we see Shockwave in a pre-war flash back?

4. I'm not entirely sure because she was seen from the side for most of her appearance here but I think Shadow Striker was entirely symmetrical here including having matching eyes with no monocle.

5. We haven't seen Grimlock transform yet but given they don't know what a Dinosaur is I think it's safe to assume that he probably isn't a Dinobot on Cybertron. They're told to find the king of the Dinosaurs and Bumblebee gets a call from Grimlock immediately after that. We also know that Grimlock in other continuities has viewed himself as a king so even if he wasn't a Dinobot back on Cybertron it's likely he is on Earth in the present. There's a lot of Grimlock foreshadowing here.

6. Soundwave dancing made me laugh. It seems a little weird like Shockwave high fiving everyone and yet at the same time it's totally in character.

7. Maccadam... I thought this while watching the episode and TFWiki seems to agree... given his design, the reference to lenses, and the rumor that Maccadam was one of the original 13... plus the fact that the dude is shown being able to see events that haven't happened yet... While they haven't directly referred to Alchemist Prime it seems pretty obvious that this is Alchemist Prime. I'm guessing to conceal his identity he changed his name to Maccadam.

I know MacCadam's Old Oil House has appeared in the comics before but this is the first time it's been seen or mentioned in a cartoon series. I have Fan Wank Bumblebee which also has a reference to MacCadam's on his rear bumper which I guess now is also retroactively a reference to Alchemist Prime.

 

The episode is on YouTube now

 

I only have one issue with shockwave high fiving people....he shoud be doing it with his left hand....a no blaster left hand. One that he replaces with the blaster and never high fives again.

It would make things feel heavier knowing whats coming if it was that hand

 

It was good.

The space-chase part reminded me of StarFox. What was with the giant ring anywho?

Bee was so excited to introduce his new friend.

Ratchet's voice is just awful. In fact, I could be wrong, but it sounds suspiciously like whoever voices that little shit, Mega Mini. 

Damn I did not know Soundwave could bust a move!

I always thought Macadam's was pronounced macc-adame. Like madame? Guess not. Twas a nice lil tie-in to the 13. The bartender is a friendly sort. His bug eyes were kinda creepy though. Still deserves a toy.

It was interesting seeing how this lively place went straight down the shitter as the war got going.

I'm starting to wonder if humanity was wiped out at this point?

Why in the hell is there a Bumblebee mountain?

Its a damn good thing they're airing this on their own channel. Cartoon Network can suck it!

 

Good stuff.

This ep crammed in a lot of IDW G1 history stuff in there - defecting Deadlock, Megatron (preparing for a) speech, Camien Chromia wanting Windblade to go back with her, and much much more!

 

It actually appeared in Transformers: Animated, more specifically the episode "This Is Why I Hate Machines."

Anyways, I thought this episode was very well done and a large improvement over what I've seen before. Hopefully the show continues to improve like this.

 

Totally forgot it was mentioned there... though I just rewatched that scene and they never went inside as the place was sealed up and Ratchet finds out Sentinel Prime closed all such hang outs on Cybertron just in case Decepticons might try to attack there.

So Cyberverse is still the only time we've actually SEEN MacCadam's Oil House as a real hang out... and the first time we've actually seen it's owner. Animated also never mentioned the rumor about MacCadam being one of the original 13 Primes though to be fair I doubt they even have a concept of the original 13 Primes in Animated. If there is anything similar to it I think they'd probably be known as the original 13... What the plural of Magnus? His hammer certainly seems similar to the Forge of Solus Prime though it's just called the Magnus Hammer. Still it seems to have similar properties to the Matrix in other continuities making whoever wields it the new leader of the Autobots. Prime's just aren't that important in this universe with Magnus taking the role normally reserved for Primes so that's why I don't think they have a 13 Primes in the Animated universe.

 

Megatron's voice actor seems to be improving as the series progresses. Started out as "angry vaguely Australian guy", went to "Budget Clancy Brown", to something more Welker-Megatron-like.

 

Is it just me or did they use Bulkheads design for Maccadam.

 

well it's big and has gears in it...

 

Shockwave's toy has such a lazy alt mode I don't want to spend mone-

I'll take 20

 

I similtanoiusly love and hate Soundwave dancing. It is extremely out of character...I still love it. I don't know what to think about that.

 

To be fair, we haven't seen much of this Soundwave to say if it's really out of character for him.

 

True. I meant Soundwave as a character concept. He's typically the stoic.

 

Soundwave has been decisively laying down the groove since 1985.

 

Man. I'm loving the character bits, the world building, and the subtle emotional touches. Really get to see and feel, over the course of just 10 minutes, the effect of a war on a small establishment. These episodes, especially given the short length, are more like vignettes, short poems/stories, and give emotional impressions, rather than aim to tell a complete story. I find it so well done and appropriate, given the vehicle (hehe) used here are flashbacks of Bee's memories. I almost lament the time when we'll eventually settle into the status quo.

 

Maccadam looks a lot like Rung!! Who is Primus. So I reckon Maccadam might just be that guy. Especially with the foretelling.

 

Just catching up on this series over the holidays. Can't even get my kid to watch it. Not good.

But "Lobotomy-bee" is strangely amusing in a "I probably shouldn't be laughing at this" politically incorrect kind of way.

But in this episode we get MaCadam, Deadlock, Chromia, I mean daaaayum son!

I'll try to binge the rest of the series next weekend.

See? And now I was thinking Insecticon Bob.