Secret Legacy, Part 2

« Transformers: EarthSpark ep 2 »
"DIE AUTO-er, sorry. Force of habit."
"Secret Legacy, Part 2"
Season	1
No. in season	2
Production company	Entertainment One Nickelodeon
Airdate	November 11, 2022
Writers	Nicole Dubuc & Dale Malinowski
Directors	Alex Kwan
Animation studio	Icon Creative Studio
Watch this episode on Paramount+

As Twitch and Thrash learn how to use their abilities, they find themselves targeted by a new threat to all Transformer-kind.

Synopsis

Megatron reaches down and picks up Dot Malto, staring at her imposingly...then laughs, happy to see his Platoon Cyber Strike teammate again. Dot is equally happy to be reunited with her old friend. As the two catch up, Optimus Prime releases a set of drones to investigate the surrounding area for clues as to what attacked the G.H.O.S.T. prison transport.

In the forest, Twitch and Robby decide to play a game of target practice. Robby tosses a small stone at a larger rock, hitting it dead-on, but Twitch is unable to get her laser blaster to appear. As she fiddles with her arm, Robby decides to try throwing a rock at Twitch instead. His gambit works and Twitch's blaster activates, allowing her to blast the oncoming projectile into the target rock. Not far away, Thrash practices his juggling skills using Mo and two large rocks. Thrash is pleased that Mo no longer seems to be upset, noting that their cyber-sleeve connection had been causing him to feel her lingering sadness. Mo explains that she's been worried for her family after their big move, and that she just wants them to be happy. As Robby sets up another target, Twitch spots one of Optimus's drones and follows it, climbing up a tree to get a better look. Thinking it to be some kind of mechanical bird, she squints to observe it, inadvertently triggering her scanner. Caught off guard, she slips and falls, but before she can hit the ground, she transforms into a drone herself and takes off into the sky. Robby celebrates Twitch's success, but backs away as Optimus's drone approaches him until Twitch shoots it down. Seeing Twitch transform, Thrash begins looking for something that he can use as an alternate mode. Mo suggests the two go into town to expand his options, while Twitch and Robby stay behind to see if they can convert the damaged drone into a sky racer.

The remaining drones return to Optimus, with Elita-1 chalking the missing one up to another malfunction by Wheeljack. Dot still remains skeptical of helping Optimus and G.H.O.S.T., but Megatron encourages her, noting that despite their differences, he knows Optimus always does what he genuinely believes is right for everyone. With the drones having turned up nothing, Optimus declares they will take up the search instead, and the group head for Witwicky. Elsewhere, Hardtop remains in the captivity of Dr. Meridian and his Arachnamech drones, with one now fastening Hardtop's arm to Meridian. As he ponders using Hardtop's brother for parts as well, one of the Arachnamechs reveals its destroyed counterpart was last heard from in Witwicky. Seeing a more tantalizing prize, Meridian orders the Arachnamechs to pursue the Cybertronian that appeared in the destroyed unit's footage.

In downtown Witwicky, Thrash and Mo stand on a rooftop looking for potential alternate modes, careful to avoid being seen, but none are to Thrash's liking. Mo sympathizes, recalling how much her bike Rocinante meant to her, and declares Thrash will know the right mode when he finds it. Before they can depart, the two are attacked by an Arachnamech, which knocks Thrash into a nearby alley. The two do their best to fight back, but the Arachnamech comes at them relentlessly. Fortunately, Robby and Twitch arrive and blast the attacker with the repaired drone, having sensed Mo and Thrash's fear and come looking for them. Their relief is short-lived, however, when they find themselves surrounded by even more Arachnamechs. Help arrives in the form of Elita and Optimus, who catch the Arachnamechs by surprise and swiftly take them out. The kids are awestruck, but that awe turns to worry when they see their mother with the bots, looking none too happy. Though Dot is relieved her kids are safe, Optimus suggests the two new Transformers be taken to G.H.O.S.T. for their safety, despite their protests. As a G.H.O.S.T. transport pulls up, Robby and Mo attempt to appeal to their mother, but Dot sides with Optimus, promising that the kids can visit their new friends once things have been sorted out. The children say their goodbyes as the transport drives off, unaware that the driver is actually a disguised Dr. Meridian.

As the kids finish explaining everything, Dot, now joined by Alex, reprimands them for not coming to them sooner, but Robby and Mo believe they wouldn't have listened and point out that Dot too has been keeping secrets with regard to working with the Transformers again. Their conversation is interrupted by Optimus, who has confirmed there is no record of the G.H.O.S.T. transport or its driver. Realizing the bots have been abducted, the Maltos insist on joining in search and rescue efforts, and use the kids' emotional link with the bots to track them. In his laboratory, Meridian plays friendly host to Twitch and Thrash, claiming their previous Arachnamech encounters were the result of a misunderstanding. As he scans their bodies, he finds them to be hybrids of the organic and technological, unlike normal Cybertronians, and dubs their species "Cybertronus terrans", leading them to in turn rechristen him "Mandroid", much to his displeasure. As they sense Robby and Mo approaching, the Terrans attempt to leave, but are restrained by Mandroid, who intends to scrap them for parts. Fortunately, Optimus, Megatron and Dot burst through the wall and demand the Terrans' release. Mandroid sends his Arachnamechs to attack them, but Elita crashes through the roof to fill out their numbers. Mandroid remains unfazed, however, and activates his own secret weapons as he makes his getaway: Shrapnel, Bombshell, and Hardtop, all under his control. With Megatron's help, Dot makes it past the attackers and frees Twitch and Thrash, while Elita overpowers Hardtop and knocks him out of the building. As Robby, Mo and Alex watch this unfold from the minivan, they find themselves in the sights of the last of Mandroid's Decepticons: the enormous Skullcruncher, who begins attacking the van before being fended off by Twitch and Thrash. As he attempts to defend the van, Thrash is blasted into one of Mandroid's warehouses. Inspired by Mo's story of Rocinante, he scans a motorcycle inside and rushes out at high speed, knocking Skullcruncher to the ground. The kids leave the car and join the Terrans in their fight, while Alex finds himself face to face with Bombshell. Before the Decepticon can smash the van, help arrives in the form of an unexpected newcomer: Bumblebee, who takes down Bombshell with ease.

With the battle over, the Decepticons are rounded up, no longer under Mandroid's control, and Dot embraces her children. Though disappointed that Mandroid escaped, Optimus reveals the true reason he asked Bumblebee to come out of hiding: to become a teacher and mentor for the Terrans. However, Dot refuses to allow them to stay at G.H.O.S.T., stating she will not let anyone take away part of her family, which now includes Twitch and Thrash...which is exactly what Optimus was hoping she'd say, as he believes the Terrans should learn about both of their worlds, and he trusts the Maltos to keep them safe. The Maltos return to the farmhouse as everyone settles into their new circumstances, including a somewhat reluctant Bumblebee. Atop the barn, Robby and Mo reflect that they're going to like it in Witwicky, as they stare up at the stars with their new Terran siblings.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Bet I can name more birds than you!"
"That's...more mom's thing."
"Ready, GO! 'Leslie', 'Mike', 'Kerri' with an I, 'Kerry' with a Y, 'Spizwig'..."
"Pretty sure Spizwig isn't a name."
"Ssh! You'll hurt his feelings!"

—Twitch soundly beats Robby at bird-naming.

"Autobots, roll out!"
"I can never tell if he means me."

—Optimus Prime and Megatron take to the streets.

Optimus Prime: [😊😊👍🌹🤖]
Dot: Someone's got to stop his emoji abuse.
Megatron: (calls in) The robot gets me every time, ha ha.

"By all means, resist! It's my favorite part."

—Megatron is ready to throw down.

"Your heart's not in this, is it? ...brain either."

—Elita-1 knows mind-control when she sees it.

"Oh, babies grow up so fast. Seems like just yesterday, I was teaching them how to say...Decepticon?"

—Alex's proud parent moment is interrupted by Bombshell.

Optimus Prime: These young bots...
Twitch: Terrans. That's the name Mandroid gave us.
Thrash: The only thing we like about him, by the way.

Notes

Continuity notes

Transformers references

• Megatron's status as a reformed villain calls back to his counterpart from the 2005 IDW continuity. Here, however, he retains his Decepticon insignia rather than fully switching his allegiance to the Autobots.
• The G.H.O.S.T. trailer containing the drones splits in half down the middle and contains blue robotic armatures, reminiscent of Optimus' original toy.
• Alex identifies one of Elita's moves as "Ariel's Gambit", a nod to the original name of her G1 counterpart.

Real-world references

• Mo's bike, Rocinante, is named for the horse of Don Quixote. The reference is invoked again when a horse insignia is briefly seen on the motorbike Thrash scans for his alt mode.

Animation and technical errors

• The longitude on Dot's coordinates is missing a decimal point; it should read "-75.620294".
• The coordinates Dot gives put the family somewhere near Scranton. However, the interstate signs indicate they are near a point where I-276 and I-95 intersect, which would be about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia near the Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge, about 140 miles to the southeast of the given coordinates.
• When Optimus is explaining Bumblebee's mission of training the Terrans, Hardtop's visor is colored white, as if still under Mandroid's control. He was correctly shown with an orange visor while speaking to Megatron a few shots ago.

Trivia

• Most online distribution platforms do not list this episode separately from Part 1, instead choosing to combine both parts into a single 44-minute video.
• This episode, combined with its first part, was adapted into a "sleep story" for the Calm meditation app in April 2023, with Robby narrating it for a recording Mo insists he make as a "historical record".

Foreign localization

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Legado Secreto Parte 2" ("Secret Legacy Part 2")
• Original airdate: November 12, 2022

French

• Title: "L'héritage secret : Partie 2" ("Secret Legacy : Part 2")
• Original airdate: November 29, 2022

German

• Title: "Das geheime Vermächtnis, Teil 2"
• Original airdate: November 29, 2022

Hungarian

• Title: "Titkos örökség, 2. rész" ("Secret Legacy, Part 2")
• Original airdate: November 29, 2022
  • In an odd bit of dubbing inconsistency, whereas most of the translated Transformer names were lifted from the Hungarian release of the G1 Marvel Comics series, Wheeljack is referred to by his Armada cartoon dub name ("Volán Jack") rather than either of the names used interchangeably in the comics ("Kerék" and "Kormányos Jack"). Likely because of lip sync necessities.
  • Elita's fight maneuver "Ariel's Gambit" is mistranslated as "aerial slam".

Italian

• Title: "Eredità segreta parte 2" ("Secret heritage part 2")
• Original airdate: November 11, 2022

Home video releases

DVD

2023 — Transformers: EarthSpark - Season 1: Episodes 1-10 (Paramount)