Critical

Just as things look their darkest, Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot get a new lease on life!

Synopsis

Horrified at the sight of Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot being cut down by Megatron's new Cyber Key power, Optimus Prime charges at his old enemy, but finds his way barred by Scourge. Prime and Leobreaker quickly merge into Savage Claw Mode and dispose of Scourge, but Megatron then uses his new machine gun to collapse a cliff in Prime's path, buying more time to finish off the three wounded Autobots. Override and Evac come to their rescue, occupying Megatron long enough for Vector Prime to carry the three injured warriors away to safety through a dimension gate. Coby, Bud, Lori, Lucy Suzuki and Colonel Franklin meet Vector Prime as he emerges, and Coby immediately tries to repair the Autobots himself, until Franklin stops him and suggests taking them to an air force base for expert mechanical care.

On the volcanic island serving as Starscream's headquarters, the 'bot himself is in the process of absorbing the power of Primus through the Omega Lock. As all the Ancient Decepticons watch and cheer, Thunderblast grows bored and goes outside to look for some fun. She spots a navy ship and taunts it wickedly, ducking in and out of the Camouflage Shield surrounding the island to make it appear that she is appearing and disappearing, until it turns tail.

Back at the battle, Evac and Override continue to get Megatron a run for his money, so he attempts to cut and run through a dimension gate. Optimus Prime refuses to let him escape, and douses the flaming portal with his water cannons, causing it to fade out. As the fight between the two continues, Vector Prime returns, and reports that things do not look good for Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot. Optimus Prime, however, does not believe that three of his best soldiers would give up so easily!

Transported to an air force base by a larger cargo plane, Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot undergo extensive "surgery" at the hands of the base mechanics, under the direction of Coby. As they work, however, Red Alert regains consciousness, and tells them that it is pointless: as a doctor, he knows they are too badly damaged to repair. Scattorshot is equally pessimistic, bringing Bud to tears, but when Hot Shot wakes up, he is much more optimistic than his two comrades, even when he realizes that he has been blinded and his engine won't run. Spurred on by Hot Shot's never-say-die attitude, Coby dives back into his work, even as Red Alert insists that it is pointless. Lori refuses to take any more of the medi-bot's guff, accusing him of giving up in the face of a challenge. As Scattorshot and Hot Shot proudly announce their desire to survive and fight another day, Red Alert realises that he too has much left to fight for.

Their hearts burning as one, all three Autobots begin to glow red as the sound of the Omega Frequency rips through the air, and energy snakes from their bodies to a satellite dish on a nearby building. The dish fires a bolt of energy through the space bridge in the sky above, straight to Cybertron itself. The planet in turn shoots a beam back to Earth, right at the Omega Lock, which surges with power, much to the shock of Starscream. Finally, the Lock launches one final beam into the sky, which loops the planet and strikes the damaged forms of Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot, filling them with life and energy once more. Restored and empowered by the energy of Primus himself, the trio scan three new alternate modes from nearby military vehicles as the overjoyed kids watch.

Simultaneously, Megatron is able to break through Evac and Override's defense and strike down Optimus Prime with a blast of energy. As Megatron and Scourge bear down on the Autobots, however, a warp gate appears overhead courtesy of Jolt, through which the all-new, all-different Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot appear. Shocking their teammates with their new forms and new Cyber Key powers, the new-born "Cybertron Defense Team" keep the Decepticons at bay while Optimus receives a communique from Jolt: the Air Force base has been able to track the location of the energy surge that revived the three Autobots, pinpointing the location of Starscream and the Omega Lock! Vector Prime opens a dimension gate to Starscream's island base, and Optimus, Evac and Override leap through as Red Alert covers their escape.

On Starscream's island, nonchalant Ancient Decepticon hipster Lugnutz is driving around feeling bored when he observes the opening of a dimension gate overheard. As Optimus, Evac and Override emerge and descend towards the island, Thunderblast arrives at Lugnutz's side, sure that the Autobots' arrival will herald a lot more fun...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Starscream: It's incredible! I've never felt so much power! And I'm only getting a portion of the power of Primus! Once I have all four Cyber Planet Keys, I'll be unstoppable! Soon, I will rule the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! With this power, and my army, NO-ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STOP ME!
Sideways: Uhhh...
Thunderblast: Hmph.
[Thunderblast turns to leave.]
Sideways: Where are you going?
Thunderblast: It's getting stuffy in here 'cause of all the hot air... and I'm not talking about the volcano!

Hot Shot: Well, I've been better but I'll make it.
Lori: All right, Hot Shot! That's what we like to hear!
Coby: That's Hot Shot for ya! He never gives up, no matter what!
Hot Shot: Got that right. But I do have a question: where are we, anyway? And why is it so dark in here?
Coby: ...I-it's your eyes, Hot Shot.
Lori: They suffered some damage.
Hot Shot: Oh, that's no big deal. I'll just fire up my engine and run a repair program to fix the problem. [revs, fails] That's funny, I can't seem to get it going.

—You cried. Admit it.

Lori: You can't just give up!
Red Alert: I'm not. I'm just giving an objective analysis of the facts.
Lori: You're not being objective, you're being negative!

"We owe you some payback, Megatron. No, I take that back: we owe you a lot of payback! You're gonna get what's coming to you, and then some!"

—You're going home in a Red Alert!

"Aw, man, this place is totally dullsville."

—Lugnutz has been watching too much Unicron Trilogy.

Notes

Differences with Galaxy Force

• Galaxy Force features a "previously on" segment that sums up the final minutes of "Revelation".
• Cybertron has Thunderblast talking smack about Starscream as she exits the volcanic chamber by stating she's tired of all the "hot air" in there (ooo, burn!), while in Galaxy Force she more soberly claims to be going outside to do reconnaissance since everyone else is inside watching the glowing-Starscream show at the moment.
• In Galaxy Force, Thunderblast sings as she taunts the navy ship, causing one of the sailors to think that she is Lorelei, a siren from German myth. Thunderblast giggles that she has been called that name before, indicating that her mischief in ancient times was responsible for originating the myth of Lorelei in the first place. In Cybertron, this is replaced with the navy personnel marvelling at the technology on display, and Thunderblast commenting how much fun she is having.
• Hot Shot, Red Alert and Scattorshot's situation is, generally speaking, treated as being a lot more hopeless in Galaxy Force, with talk of how they will only regain 50% of their functionality at best. Although both shows do make it clear that the trio are in dire straits, Cybertron gently touches up the kids' dialogue so they switch from being downcast to enthusiastic to try anything that will help. Most notably, as Coby surges back to work, Cybertron replaces the wistful, teary background music that has been playing throughout the scene with some "determined" music to bring the mood up.
• As ever, Cybertron adds the Omega Frequency as the Omega Lock powers up the Cybertron Defense Team.
• As usual, Cybertron adds dialogue to stock footage. This especially works in its favour with the Cybertron Defense Team's debut: where Galaxy Force had them announce "[name] TRANSFORM!", Cybertron has them making promises of retribution over the guy that almost killed them.

Animation or technical errors

• While scale problems are hardly remarkable in Transformers fiction by this point, Cybertron frequently shows a penchant for oversized robot modes, with your average human frequently shown to be barely the size of your average robot mode car-bot's wheel. It's best seen in this episode, with the humans helping to repair the future Cybertron Defense Team shown as practically insect-sized compared to the Autobots.
• When Optimus is about to hit Scourge when he is in the sky, Leobreaker clips with Optimus's backpack strap.

Continuity notes

• Bud recalls when he and Scattorshot travelled into space, in the appropriately-named episode, "Space".

Transformers references

• When Scourge activates his Cyber-Key, you can hear the classic Transformation Sound. This is also a reference to Scourge's Toy, which makes the same sound when you plug in his Cyber Key, and is referenced in other episodes.

Real-world references

• As he unveils his new cannon, Red Alert invites the Decepticons to "Say hello to my little friend!", a famous quote from the movie Scarface.

Trivia

• Galaxy Force introduces its fourth opening sequence with this episode, accompanied by the debut of its second opening song, "Ignition!".
• Also introduced is Galaxy Force's second ending sequence, along with the new ending song "Growing Up!!". The sequence depicts various Transformers grouped together within their factions, some groupings representing the relationship between each other (such as Megatron and Starscream). Several characters are blacked out, due to them not having appeared yet.
• This was the first new Cybertron episode of 2006, after a five-month gap between the airing of the preceding episode in October 2005. It also marked the return of new Cybertron episodes to Cartoon Network, where the remainder of the series would consistently premiere.
• This episode is a sparing instance of Cybertron failing to logically justify the burning spirit of Galaxy Force. Sure, the power that reformats the team comes from Primus and the Omega Lock, but what's the deal with them glowing red, bleeding energy into a satellite dish and beaming it into space? Burning spirit at its finest, folks.
• As Optimus calls out the names of his fallen men at the start of this episode, he says Hot Shot's name again when the camera switches to Red Alert. Guess no-one cares about Red Alert.

Home video releases

DVD

👁 Japan
2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 07 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
👁 United States of America
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
👁 United States of America
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)