Kingdom episode 5

« Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Kingdom »
I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.
Episode 5
Production company	Allspark Animation, Rooster Teeth, Entertainment One
Airdate	July 29, 2021 (Netflix)
Written by	Mae Catt
Director	Takashi Kamei
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on Netflix

Starscream listens to the Golden Disk and learns more than he bargained for. The Nemesis attacks the Ark, leading to an unexpected counterattack.

Synopsis

Inside the Ark, Wheeljack thinks the ship is ready for take-off, but Ratchet strongly disagrees. Rhinox takes Ratchet's side and advises caution. As they debate, Bumblebee arrives on the bridge with excellent news: Optimus Prime has the Allspark, and so they have no time to waste getting back to Cybertron. Wheeljack takes this as a sign to punch the ignition! Suddenly the Ark quakes inside the unstable volcano, jostling around the skeleton crew. Rhinox tries to restore stability, but Teletraan fails to respond. Slamming the control console with his fist, the Ark powers down, and disaster is averted for the time being. Rhinox hears an unintelligible mumbling from Teletraan again, which perplexes him.

Back in the wilderness, Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal return victorious, with Prime holding the Allspark. The Autobots and Maximals rush to their leaders in excitement. Unfortunately, Prime has bad news: the Allspark is dying, having spent too much time apart from Cybertron. Prime barely has time to urge everyone to return to the Ark before being ambushed by Megatron and "Beast" Megatron. Prime refuses to relinquish the Allspark to Megatron, and opposing factions have a stand-off.

Close by, Starscream watches the tense situation. Blackarachnia uses her synthetic webbing to construct a facsimile of a device that can read the Golden Disk. With a sample of Megatron's energon, she is able to generate his unique energy signature, allowing them both to listen to the Disk's secrets. Starscream realizes that Blackarachnia urged him earlier to "take the crown" from Megatron for the primary purpose of stealing Megatron's energon. Angered, he attacks Blackarachnia and flies away with the Golden Disk and its listening device. Now a safe distance away, he listens to the Disk and hears Megatron's moment of triumph against Optimus Prime, though he himself is mortally wounded. But Megatron is suddenly summoned to Unicron and forced into obeisance. Unicron saves Megatron by giving him a new body-that of Galvatron! Starscream has no pity on the enslaved Galvatron, and begins to gloat when a voice in the Disk speaks to him-Unicron's voice! He is told to listen closely...

Blackarachnia catches up to Starscream and gives him an earful, calling him a backstabbing coward, but the easily-provoked Seeker is silent, and the lack of banter worries her. Starscream only has urgency in his voice, claiming that they have to go immediately.

The Autobots and Maximals finally return to the Ark. Prime learns the ship is not cleared for launch yet, but he tells the crew that they have run out of time. He orders Wheeljack to get the ship airborne by any means necessary. While Optimus issues these orders, Bumblebee receives a communication...from Starscream! He exits the Ark to give Starscream and Blackarachnia a chance to explain themselves. Frenetic and trembling, Starscream wonders if all the wars and suffering have been by design, caused by a malevolent architect. Possessed with rare insight, he admits his lack of strength, and in order to preserve Cybertron, entrusts the Golden Disk to Bumblebee.

And Bumblebee shatters the Disk.

Bumblebee advises his erstwhile enemy to confront the uncertainty of the future with courage, but the words are lost in the sudden rumbling of the volcano. The disturbance was caused by the Nemesis moving into attack position above the Ark. Blackarachnia, Starscream, and Bumblebee rush inside the Ark for cover. The Ark raises its shields to withstand the Decepticon attack, but the situation remains dire. Prime attempts to reason with Megatron, but Megatron has no intention of destroying the Allspark, just the Autobots, and Maximals. Primal wants to take the battle to the Nemesis; Prime rejects such self-sacrifice. Blackarachnia offers another solution: get her aboard the Nemesis so that she can disable all their weapons.

The Maximals lead a strike force to the Decepticon flagship and crash through the top of the bridge, and engaging the Decepticons and Predacons in battle. Primal taunts "Beast" Megatron for inadvertently serving Galvatron, but the beast tells Primal that he has saved Megatron. "Beast" Megatron accuses Primal of siding with Nemesis Prime, at least the bot who will become Nemesis. But Primal believes in Prime and slams his opponent into a wall. Megatron himself is more than a match for the Maximals and even manages to lift and toss a charging Rhinox aside. Shortly, the Maximals are defeated.

Airazor dispatches Blackarachnia to carry out her sabotage mission and defends her while she hacks the ship's weapon systems. The pressure rises as Airazor is attacked by a small army of Predacon Scorponoks.

Meanwhile, in the Ark, Wheeljack and Ratchet desperately try to kickstart the ship's engines, but they fail. In their moment of despair, the Allspark glows and bathes the bridge in light. Concurrently on the Nemesis, as both Megatrons aim their weapons at the fallen Primal, Soundwave detects a large energy increase in the Ark. Megatron orders Soundwave to destroy the Ark quickly with one final shot, but Soundwave cannot: the weapons no longer function due to Blackarachnia and Airazor, who battle their way out of the Nemesis. Megatron is unfazed; if his ship lacks a weapon, he will become the weapon, transforming into tank mode and resuming the assault on the Ark.

Prime realizes that all is lost, and orders the crew to abandon ship. But Bumblebee cannot leave; the Ark begins shifting, its panels reconfiguring...

Megatron's attack is interrupted by Starscream, who attacks him and begs him to stop. Starscream reminds Megatron of his future self's words, about how he regretted not joining forces with the Autobots before becoming enslaved by Unicron. He finally reveals to Megatron that Galvatron is his future self and that he is destined to be enslaved, a fact that fills Megatron with shock and revulsion. Still, Megatron is not swayed, and Starscream transforms into jet form, knocking Megatron off of the ship's ramp.

Onboard the Nemesis, all is still for a moment. But through the mist and ash over the volcano, a titanic form appears: the Ark has transformed into robot mode! It grabs the Nemesis and delivers a mighty uppercut to it, crippling the spacecraft. Blackarachnia is thrown off of the ship by the large punch, but Airazor quickly dives after her and saves her from certain doom. A shocked expression covers Airazor's face when Blackarachnia says "My hero!" and smooches her on the cheek.

As the Autobots watch the Nemesis sink halfway into lava, Teletraan-the Ark-speaks to the stunned Wheeljack. It tells him that it learned the schematics for its transformation during their time in the Dead Universe, and modified itself accordingly; the Allspark gave it the final jolt it needed to complete its work. Optimus Prime declares the battle over as Teletraan holds the defeated and amazed Megatron in its palm.

Very soon, Teletraan returns to its Ark form. The Decepticons and Predacons (save Blackarachnia) are imprisoned within the Ark. Prime and Primal thank each other for their mutual support. Primal and the Maximals prepare for the journey back to Cybertron with the Autobots, even though they could vanish at any moment due to the fact that they are changing their own history. The two leaders pledge to rebuild Cybertron as the Ark takes off, departing for a spacebridge near Earth.

There is dread along with the anticipation of returning home: Primal wants to tell Prime about Nemesis, and Starscream is horrified by the idea of reaching Cybertron, muttering that's what he wants! The Ark passes through the spacebridge...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Lower the boarding ramp."
"But our weapons..."
"I am a weapon."

—Megatron tells Soundwave he has not yet begun to fight.

"If I think for even one cycle you’re betraying us... I’ll rip all eight of your legs off!"
"Careful. I like it rough."

—Airazor lays down the law. Blackarachnia inspires slashfics.

"He thinks I'll just let this all happen! He thinks I'm weak, but I'm not...I'm not just another victim! I can do what has to be done! I-"
"You can't do anything right, Starscream!"
"...I can fly."

—Starscream finally gets one over on Megatron.

"What is it?!"
"...a miracle."

—Predacon Megatron and Optimus Primal witness the Ark's transformation.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Wheeljack noticed that the Ark was producing a quiet mumble back in Kingdom episode 1.
• Soundwave is revealed to have survived his seemingly fatal injury from Dinobot back in episode 3.
• Starscream and Blackarachnia's alliance with the Maximals and Autobots were foreshadowed in the Kingdom webpage, as the former will have "[his] old alliances [being] tested and new [ones being] forged" whereas the latter will "forge new alliances that will lead her down her true path".

Continuity errors

Transformers references

• The Nemesis firing down upon the crashed Ark as its occupants attempt to free it from the volcano is more than a bit evocative of the Beast Wars series finale, "Nemesis Part 2".
• "Beast" Megatron rhetorically questions if Primal thought he could withstand the fury of both Megatrons. It's more literal here than in Beast Wars.

Trivia

• Though only referred to as "Autobot Ark" in the toyline and Kingdom Golden Disk card, the credits opt for "Teletraan I/Arkbot".

Foreign localization