Triage (episode)

During the third relic hunt, Ratchet and Wheeljack get a one-of-a-kind opportunity when Soundwave's Deployer is disabled.

Synopsis

Ratchet rendezvouses with Wheeljack in a wooded area to search for the third of four relics. Though Wheeljack rubs Ratchet up the wrong way, they take off in the Jackhammer to find the relic and soon pick up Soundwave as company. After Wheeljack dogfights with Soundwave for a few minutes, Soundwave releases Laserbeak to take over the attack on the ship. Wheeljack is more than happy to chase Laserbeak instead, though as they chase the drone, it almost causes them to hit the side of a mountain, much to Ratchet's panic. He finally scores a hit on Laserbeak, but as it goes down, a random shot hits the Jackhammer, bringing the ship down as well.

Ratchet is keen to resume the search for the relic, but Wheeljack spots the downed Laserbeak. They examine it, and Wheeljack hits on the idea of planting a grenade in it to provide the Decepticons with a surprise. It gives Ratchet a better idea—implanting a virus to get them access to the Nemesis computer and hack the Iacon database. He contacts base and asks Raf to prepare a virus. At Raf's suggestion, they implant a grenade into Laserbeak as well to provide a decoy that the Decepticons will find and throw them off the scent of the virus. Wheeljack leaves Ratchet to find Soundwave so he can buy Ratchet time.

Meanwhile, Soundwave has located the relic, the Resonance Blaster, and dug it up. Wheeljack quickly locates him and attacks. They trade blows until Soundwave relieves Wheeljack of a sword and uses his tentacles to throw the Autobot around. Wheeljack manages to use Soundwave's tentacles against each other and cracks the Decepticon's visor with his head. They go flying off the cliff, but Wheeljack finally has Soundwave at his mercy, at least until Soundwave grabs the Resonance Blaster with a tentacle and uses it on Wheeljack.

Ratchet and Raf begin uploading the virus into Laserbeak, but as they need it online to do so, the drone activates and tries to fly off, forcing Ratchet to hold it down. Soundwave is about to finish off Wheeljack when he detects activity from Laserbeak and heads off to investigate. Wheeljack has time to warn Ratchet before falling unconscious, and the virus download finishes in time for Ratchet to hide before Soundwave arrives. After some tense moments, the Decepticon picks up Laserbeak, but appears to be alerted to Ratchet. Soundwave's tentacles venture into Ratchet's hiding place, but as it turns out they're merely after a lost piece of Laserbeak. Having retrieved it, Soundwave heads off back to the Nemesis. Ratchet, unable to raise Wheeljack, goes to help his comrade.

Megatron is happy with Soundwave's find, though disappointed at Dreadwing's and Knock Out's performances. Megatron has Knock Out examine Laserbeak and they find the grenade which Knock Out disposes of (after some initial panic). Soundwave returns to working on the Iacon database, where Megatron and Knock Out have a conversation in the back about Soundwave, that he WILL provide the coordinates of the remaining relics. After that, Megatron orders Knock Out to repair Soundwave's visor. Knock Out frowns at Soundwave secretly.

Returning to the Jackhammer, Ratchet calls for a GroundBridge, having forged a mutual respect with Wheeljack. He bridges back to base, where the computers are busily downloading the Iacon database. A short time later, Raf reports that Bulkhead is returning to base, but as they open the GroundBridge, Bulkhead comes flying through, his back smoking.

To be continued...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

“I'll be sure to be on my best behavior, Doc."
"Please don't call me 'Doc'."
"Whatever you say, Sunshine."

—Wheeljack pulls out a rather unfitting nickname for Ratchet.

"Wait a minute, a grenade inside of Laserbeak, inside of Soundwave? Like a turducken!"
"I'm sorry?"
"It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a... never mind."

—Raf fails to enlighten Ratchet.

"Any last words?"
"..."
"Right. Silent type."

—Wheeljack remembers only too late that Soundwave isn't going to say anything.

"Soundwave, if we are to maintain any advantage over the Autobots... *pauses briefly as an explosion rocks the ship and barely lifts an eyebrow* ...decoding the remainder of the Iacon Database must remain your highest priority."

—Megatron gives Soundwave a mission as Knock Out deals with a surprise.

Notes

Continuity notes

• This episode happens concurrently with the previous two and the following one. Knock Out returns from his mission in "Tunnel Vision", which was a failure, and Dreadwing has already returned after losing the Apex Armor to Starscream in "Triangulation". On the Autobot side of things, Bulkhead returns from his mission, which takes place in the following episode, diving through the GroundBridge with severe damage to his back.
• Overall, it appears that the relic hunt in either this episode or "Triangulation" was the first to be completed. Ratchet returns to base before any of the other Autobots, but it is implied that Dreadwing returned to the Nemesis before Soundwave did.
• Ratchet informs Wheeljack that he "proved his mettle during the war for Cybertron".

Transformers references

• "Here I go again, Shattering Expectations."

Real-world references

• For those who are wondering, turducken is real.
• Rafael was using a command-line interpreter with a black screen that printed white text, a nod to Command Prompt.

Errors

• The sound normally used for an arm weapon transforming is used as Soundwave straightens his fingers before fighting Wheeljack.
• As Soundwave stands over Wheeljack at the edge of the cliff, Laserbeak can be seen on his chest.
• The ends of Soundwave's tentacles can be seen on his chest as he stands over Wheeljack with the Resonance Blaster on his arm, as if they weren't fully retracted.
• Even though Knock Out lost a wheel in "Tunnel Vision", he appears to have all four of them when he returns from his failed mission. Perhaps he had a spare?
• It's implied at the end of "Loose Cannons" that Wheeljack leaves the Jackhammer back at the Autobot base to explore Earth in his new vehicle mode, but in this episode he has it with him already when Ratchet GroundBridges to him. Perhaps he left it somewhere the other Autobots knew was safe and decided to meet with Ratchet there?

Trivia

• Laserbeak is named for the first time in-series.
• In the real world, attaching live grenades to wounded enemies is a war crime. It's rather inappropriate as a "good guy" tactic in a cartoon aimed at children.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Virus" ("Virus")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Der Resonanz-Blaster" ("The Resonance-Blaster")
• Original airdate: 12 January 2013

Japanese

• Title: "Onpa Henkei! Ratchet no Hisaku" (音波変形!ラチェットの秘策, "Sonic Transformation! Ratchet's Recipe")
• Original airdate: 5 January 2013
• Since turduckens aren't as well known in Japan, Raf instead compares Ratchet's plan to the layers of a boiled egg.

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "A Triagem" ("The Triage")
• Original airdate: 20 June 2013

Italian

• Title: "Triage"
• Original airdate: 4 February 2013

Home video releases

DVD

👁 United States of America
2012 — Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
👁 Japan
2013 — Transformers Prime — Vol. 20 (Avex Trax) — Japanese audio only.
👁 Germany
2013 — Transformers Prime — Folge 10: Bulkheads Mission (EDEL:kids) — English and German audio.
👁 Australia
2013 — Transformers Prime — Volume 3: Weapons of Choice (Madman Entertainment)
👁 Australia
2014 — Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)
👁 United Kingdom
2014 — Transformers Prime — Season 2 Vol. 3: Toxicity (Primal Screen)
👁 France
2014 — Transformers Prime — Saison 2 Vol. 3: La course aux reliques (Primal Screen)
👁 Italy
2015 — Transformers Prime — Stagione 2 Vol. 3: Il Tox-En (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.
👁 France
2015 — Transformers Prime — Intégrale Saison 2 (Primal Screen)
👁 United Kingdom
2015 — Transformers Prime — The Complete Season 2 (Primal Screen)
👁 Italy
2015 — Transformers Prime — La Seconda Stagione Completa (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.

Blu-ray

👁 United States of America
2012 — Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
👁 Australia
2015 — Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)