Starscream (episode)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Starscream" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Starscream (disambiguation). |
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 Starscream's coronation: no longer bad comedy. | |||||||||
| "Starscream" (Yabō no Ō Jashin Zenkai) "The King of Ambition—Evil Completely Unleashed" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | July 30, 2005 (Japanese) March 25, 2006 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Hiro Masaki | ||||||||
| Director | Naotaka Hayashi | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity | ||||||||
The reign of Starscream has begun!
Contents |
Synopsis
While the kids and Mini-Cons at the Autobot base help the Cybertron Defense Team navigate the treacherous temporal warps created by the black hole as they travel along the space bridge to Cybertron, the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons is still raging on Starscream's island base in the South Pacific. As Megatron and newcomer Autobot Wing Saber continue to dogfight, Mudflap and Evac try to help their respective comrades, and wind up battling each other; Jetfire and Thunderblast engage in a little sea-to-air warfare, both turning their missiles on Thundercracker when he gets in their way; and Crosswise and Landmine corner Ransack, only for the diminutive Decepticon to leap out of the way at the last second, causing them to collide. Feeling very pleased with himself, Ransack happens upon Lugnutz, who has decided to take a break from the battle, dubbing it "too heavy". Ransack takes a leaf out of his book and sits down next to him.
Inside the island's volcano, Optimus Prime and Vector Prime continue their descent, with Scourge and Leobreaker close behind. Sideways attempts to trigger another of his traps, firing blasts of electricity at the approaching Autobots, but Vector Prime is ready for him this time, and uses a dimension gate to redirect the current, striking Scourge with it instead. The group reaches the bottom of the caldera where Sideways is waiting for them, and a battle quickly breaks out, but the Autobots are unable to score a hit on Sideways thanks to his frantic warping around. To overcome this, Vector Prime surreptitiously plants Safeguard on Sideways's back, and tracks his signal, allowing him to predict where Sideways will next appear. Optimus and Leobreaker fuse into Savage Claw Mode and strike Sideways down as soon as he rematerializes, at which point Scourge savagely enters the fray! He challenges Optimus Prime, but proves no match for the power of the Savage Claw.
Simultaneously, the Cybertron Defense Team's journey gets doubly perilous as they hit a particularly rough stretch of space bridge, and come under bombardment from asteroids. With the enhanced firepower of their new modes, the team can easily blow the space-rocks to dust, but Hot Shot gets a nasty surprise when one destroyed asteroid spews out a glob of goo that splatters over his windscreen and blinds him. To navigate the bridge safely, Hot Shot gives manual control of his systems over to Coby, who controls him remotely from Earth using a synchro-control. With Red Alert and Scattorshot keeping the asteroids clear, Coby steers Hot Shot safely until the goo clears up and the Autobot can resume control.
Back on the island, Evac, Wing Saber and Crosswise continue to battle Megatron, while Landmine confronts Mudflap, trying to talk his old friend out of his current course of action. When Megatron tries to break off the fight and make it to the volcano, Mudflap disappoints Landmine by coming to the Decepticon leader's aid, knocking the pursuing Evac out of the sky.
Within the volcano, Sideways returns to the side of Starscream, who continues to absorb the power of Primus's spark through the Omega Lock, and warns him of Megatron's approach. Starscream is undeterred, and Sideways decides to cut his losses and escape, but just as he departs, the Omega Lock erupts with power. All the Transformers within the volcano are forced to quickly exit as the mountain begins to erupt... but no-one expects to see, rising out of the flame, lava and ash... a gargantuan Starscream, transformed into a skyscraper-sized giant by the power of Primus! From the flames, Starscream produces a huge crown, which he places upon his head, declaring that his reign as ruler of the universe has now begun. Megatron, however, is unimpressed, and the two stare each other down, surging with so much energon power that their battle threatens to tear the Earth in half. Realizing this, Scourge leads the Decepticons in an attack on Starscream that proves ineffectual, convincing Megatron that he must take matters into his own hands. The land-based Autobots all join forces to stop Megatron from advancing, while the flying Autobots push Starscream back, in an effort to keep the two Decepticons' terrifying energon auras from colliding.
Watching everything from the Autobot base, the kids suddenly realize that Vector Prime is nowhere to be seen, having warped inside the volcano to recover the Omega Lock. They contact the elderly Autobot and discover that he has been pinned by falling rubble, unable to warp his way out, and so they communicate with the other Autobots to get someone to rescue him. Wing Saber steps up to the task and frees Vector Prime, but no sooner has Vector Prime stood upright than the pair come under attack by Thunderblast. Wing Saber's Cyber Key power is enough to do away with the flighty female, and the two Autobots escape the volcano with the Omega Lock in hand.
Back with the Cybertron Defense Team, the situation is getting worse as the space bridge deteriorates around them. Just then, finally, Cybertron itself comes into view... but the team are horrified to see the planet is infested by metal-eating Scrapmetal! The Autobot trio bounds into action, opening fire on the huge swarm of insectoid Transformers, but the odds are several million to three, and not looking good! The kids let Optimus Prime know of the Cybertron Defense Team's plight, but even as the Autobot leader hears the news, Starscream's massive fist comes soaring through the air, and smashes him into the ground...!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Which side are you on today, Sideways?"
- —Leobreaker telling it like it is
"Hahahaha...."
"What are you laughing at?!"
"I'm laughing at a coward, a gutless wonder, a wimp—who I trained to be a warrior. But you could never cut it, Starscream. No matter how big you become, you're still the same pathetic wannabe! Oh yes...you're the king alright. The king of fools!"
"Ever notice how much noise an insect makes, buzzing and clacking, until you crush it underfoot? That's what you are Megatron—a bug with a big mouth!"
"We'll see—when I knock that crown off your head!"
- —Megatron and Starscream upon Starscream's "coronation".
"A girl has to choose the right accessories...like this rocket launcher that doubles as an even bigger rocket launcher! Don't you just love it?"
- —Thunderblast detects the logical fallacy of her toy's gimmick and rolls with it.
"Hey... You're pretty spry for an old guy."
"I might say the same for you!"
"Okay... THAT'S IT! YOU GUYS ARE TOAST!"
"HEY! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"
- —Thunderblast's shots are deflected by Vector Prime with his sharp sword and equally sharp wit. And Wing Saber has to pay for it
"You know, I think we should get points for blasting these things."
"If we're keeping track, I have the high score."
- —Hot Shot and Scattorshot play Asteroids
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
- In Galaxy Force, the journey to Cybertron is a treacherous one because the planet is inside the black hole. Cybertron changed this plot point at the very beginning of the series, establishing that the black hole is merely near Cybertron, so this episode inserts mention of temporal warps and such surrounding the planet as an explanation for why the journey is so dangerous.
- Just before Starscream emerges from the volcano, Galaxy Force has Wing Saber react with shock to the sight of Optimus Prime merged with Leobreaker, and then express an interest in the idea of a combination when Evac explains the story behind it. Cybertron changes this to Wing Saber and Evac deciding to get down to ground-level and back Optimus up, removing the reference for a very pertinent reason that will become apparent in the next episode: namely, in Cybertron, Wing Saber and Optimus have already combined (sort of) in the past.
- When Jolt starts freaking out after Starscream emerges, in Galaxy Force, he's distressed by Starscream's power, while in Cybertron, he fears for their ability to get the Omega Lock back from him and Cybertron's fate if they don't.
- During their battles, there is a great deal of chauvinistic banter between the female Decepticon Thunderblast and her male Autobot opponents in Cybertron that is blissfully absent in Galaxy Force.
- In fact, as is fairly typical, nearly all the action sequences of the fight scenes in Galaxy Force are completely devoid of dialogue, with any taunts or commentary saved for moments between actual bouts. This is different from Cybertron which includes (added) dialogue throughout.
- As Megatron and Starscream face off, they suddenly start glowing to represent them summoning up their strength, an action that has been briefly glimpsed in the past but will recur with increasing frequency from here on in. In Galaxy Force, this is an emotion-fuelled powerup common to such shows and is not treated as anything special; Cybertron attempts to explain it by having an amazed Optimus note that they are surging with energon, which threatens to ignite. In this case, it almost makes sense-given Megatron's Unicron armor and Starscream's recent Primus-based power-up, it's practically a battle between the primordial Transformers all over again!
- Just before the Cybertron Defense Team arrive at Cybertron, Galaxy Force just has them bemoaning their situation. In Cybertron, they are quipping about who has blasted the most asteroids.
Animation and/or technical glitches
- Thunderblast's voice is crazy over-amplified in this episode.
- When Scourge emerges from the volcano and says "What's this?" he is speaking with the deeper, growling voice of his dragon mode, when he's actually in robot mode.
- Thundercracker is positively gargantuan when carrying the Decepticons on his back. That, or they're tiny.
Continuity notes
- Leobreaker asks Sideways whose side he's on today. This is clearly a jab at Sideways' usual tendency to play both sides against the middle, but may be a specific reference to the time he tricked the Autobots into a battle with Scourge. At the end of that skirmish, Leobreaker tried to interrogate Sideways, only for the latter to escape.
Transformers references
- Starscream's crown is, of course, identical to the one briefly worn by the original cartoon's Starscream in The Transformers: The Movie. This Starscream manages to wear it for a lot longer!
Real world references
- Ransack cackles "two wheels are better than four!", a paraphrase of the common saying "two heads are better than one".
- Thunderblast says "You're pretty spry for an old guy." This is a reference to the saying, "Pretty fly for a white guy".
Trivia
- Starscream debuts a new Cyber Key gimmick born from the power of the Omega Lock to replace the blade Leobreaker tore off: a giant gun very reminiscent of his Null Laser Cannon power from Armada, apparently fusing his handheld blaster to his arm. His permanent boost in size, combined with the change of weaponry and crown, makes him toy-accurate with his Supreme-class figure.
- Combined, the number of stereotypical sexist remarks made against Thunderblast, in both this and the previous episode, is remarkable. They are very noticeable, with her opponents calling her things like "baby", "dollface", and "girly", and Wing Saber outright asking her why she isn't shopping at a mall. She takes it in stride and easily holds her own as the tough fembot she is, but still, it would have been nice to see her retort by asking the "males" why they aren't drinking beer and barbecuing!
Home video releases
- DVD
2006 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 08 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
