Deep

In the dark ocean depths, the search for the Omega Lock enters its final phase.

Synopsis

The discovery of an Atlantis Pattern at the bottom of the ocean, in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, prompts the kids to tell the Autobots the legend of Atlantis. Intrigued by this fantastical tale, the Autobots decide to check out this new pattern thoroughly, but unfortunately, their departure for Bermuda is observed by Starscream, who transmits a message to Megatron on the Jungle Planet to inform him of this. Megatron receives his message just after finishing a sparring match with Scourge, which ends when both opponents pull their punches at the last second.

Also on Jungle Planet is the unconscious Autobot Overhaul, who awakens to find that the pacifist guru of Jungle Planet, Backstop, is responsible for saving him from the earthquake that had previously threatened his life. The gruff Overhaul is not immediately forthcoming with his saviour, but, injured and unable to go anywhere, he eventually softens and tells Backstop of his mission to locate the Cyber Planet Keys. They are soon joined by Backstop's pupil Snarl, who has been working under Scourge in order to keep an eye on him. Backstop tells Overhaul how power has corrupted Scourge into a tyrannical ruler, and he fears that the power of the Cyber Planet Keys could have a similar effect.

Back on Earth, the Autobots arrive at the shoreline, and despite some words of concern from Scattorshot, they just drive straight into the water. Predictably, they start to sink, so Bud has to dive in and show them how to swim. With this task accomplished, the kids board the Mini-Cons, and they all start swimming down into the dark depths of the Bermuda Triangle, marvelling at the sea creatures and wrecked vehicles they find as they go. They soon locate the Atlantis Pattern and begin excavating the undersea mountain in which it is embedded, eventually uncovering some kind of entranceway. Just as Vector Prime, the kids and the Mini-Cons are about to enter, however, Megatron, Starscream and Thundercracker appear and attack! The other Autobots hold them off while Vector Prime's group enters the doorway, but they fight with some difficulty, since their lasers won't work underwater.

Vector Prime's team discovers that the entrance is an airlock, which leads them to a huge mechanical control room. Safeguard disconnects from Vector Prime and brings the room online, at which point Vector Prime realizes the truth of the situation: They are standing within the lost Cybertronian starship, the Atlantis, which came to Earth in ancient times, inspiring the legend of the sunken city when it malfunctioned and crashed into the ocean! Desperate to get the precious craft out of Megatron's reach, Vector Prime activates the ship's propulsion system and wrests it free of its mountain prison. To prevent humans from spotting the Atlantis when it surfaces, Optimus Prime quickly carries Scattorshot to the surface ahead of the ship so that he can hide its presence with jamming signals. The Decepticons continue to press their attack, however, so Vector Prime activates the ship's warp system and teleports it away to parts unknown. With their quarry having vanished, the Decepticons pull out, and both factions must now work to discover where the Atlantis has disappeared.

And standing on a nearby rocky outcrop, watching the whole scene unfold, is a mysterious black and orange robot, who resolves to have the Autobots and Decepticons soon dancing to his tune like puppets...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"You know, Vector Prime, for someone who's in a hurry, you sure are taking your time."

—Jetfire rips stock footage a new one.

"Thanks Bud ... Without you, we would've been, heh, sunk."
"Ooo, that one hurt."

—Optimus Prime and Scattorshot

"Wait! That is the Atlantis pattern, is it not?"
"No it's not not. I mean it's not. I mean it is."

—Vector Prime and a confused Scattorshot

"Ha. You fool! Your laser is useless underwater!"

—Starscream points out the obvious.

Notes

Differences with Galaxy Force

• In Cybertron, Backstop finds Overhaul's vehicular form a familiar one; in Galaxy Force, he's never seen anything like it before.
• In Cybertron, Scourge claims Megatron would have won their match if he had struck, while in Galaxy Force, both opponents inquire as to why the other held back their attack at the last second. This appears to be a slight mistake on the part of the Cybertron dub, which seems to have overlooked the fact that, in addition to Megatron stopping his punch, Scourge is also poised to strike Megatron with his tail, and likewise holds back. It is, admittedly, rather hard to see his grey-black tail against Megatron's grey-black arm.

Animation and/or technical glitches

• Animation of Scattorshot running at Megatron and being smacked away is recycled from "Fallen".

Continuity errors

• The cliff top is much closer to the water when Bud dives in than when the Autobots do.
• When the Autobots swim down to the ocean floor, the kids hitch a ride in the Mini-Cons. Normally this would be all well and good. Except here, the Mini-Cons are in robot mode the whole time! The Mini-Cons aren't nearly big enough in robot mode for the kids to fit in the cabs like they could with the other Autobots.

Continuity notes

• Coby's fear of monsters and suchlike was previously mentioned in "Speed".
• Optimus proposes hiding the Atlantis with a stealth beam coating, as the Autobots did to their base in "Haven".

Transformers references

• A whole lot of talk about Primus here!
• Twelve eps in, it's finally stated (by Scourge) that Megatron is wearing the Armor of Unicron.

Trivia

• Undermine's beast mode head joins in the applause by snapping its mouth!
• This isn't the first time Atlantis has been referenced in the Unicron Trilogy cartoon timeline. The underwater city in the Armada episode "Ruin" was likened to Atlantis by Rad. He didn't actually say it was Atlantis, though, leaving juuuuust enough wiggle-room for the events of this episode not to contradict it.
• While "laser" weapons in the Transformers brand and in science fiction in general are blatantly unlike real lasers, the lasers in this continuity are closer than most examples because refraction makes them useless underwater.
• Even with Optimus's "explanation" to Scattershot that their tires will provide them with neutral buoyancy in water, in truth, multi-ton giant metal robots would sink to the bottom of the ocean in a nano-cycle, tires or no tires, the same way Earth cars and trucks do when accidentally driven into bodies of water. But "A" for effort here. In Galaxy Force, no attempt was ever made to explain the bots ability to remain neutraly buoyant underwater other than Prime stating something to Scattershot (Backpack) about "using your body to displace the water" immediately after they all plunged in.

Home video releases

DVD

👁 Japan
2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 03 (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)