Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall

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"Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall"
Season	2
No. in season	12
Production company	Mainframe Entertainment
Airdate	April 26, 2000 (Canada) November 11, 2000 (USA)
Written by	Steven Melching
Directed by	George Samilski
Animation studio	Mainframe Entertainment

The Maximals make their last stand against Megatron and his Vehicon army.

Synopsis

Looks like somebody found Beachcomber's stash.

Drones and Generals surround the Big Floating Head. The Generals question whether anyone survived, but Megatron can sense Primal's Spark. His orders are simple: capture the Sparks, destroy the Maximals. Megatron confers with a Diagnostic Drone on the status of his new body.

The Vehicons initiate field repairs on all drones, which buys the Maximals time. Rattrap despairs; they're utterly without power. But Botanica unmelts out of the floor; she's found a power conduit they can tap into. Rattrap is overjoyed to see... the power supply. Yeah! Silverbolt notes that they get only one shot; they'll be cut off as soon as the power flow is detected. As the Vehicons move in, the Maximals prepare their final defenses. Blackarachnia and Silverbolt share a quiet moment before the battle begins, as do Rattrap and Botanica.

Primal pays a visit to the Spark chamber, calling upon the Oracle one final time. A Spark-filled vision overtakes him, and the Oracle speaks: "You already have the wisdom, along with the strength of your convictions." And the Sparks speak as one, offering their strength. When he returns to where Cheetor is working, he has a Spark-colored glow about him; the other Maximals receive a similar Spark boost.

The group steps outside, where Optimus gives one final pep talk. A holographic Megatron-head presents itself to them just then, offering to relieve them of their Sparks painlessly. The Maximals are having none of it, so the Vehicons move in.

IT'S OVER 9000!

The Maximals wait a moment, then activate the shield, causing the first wave of drones to crash and explode. When the Generals try their harmonics trick again, they discover that the harmonics are changing randomly. The Vehicons resort to a kamikaze strategy, drones ramming the shield to deplete it. It doesn't take long for the shield to go down, and the battle is joined.

No words, no sounds, just ominous music as the Maximals deploy everything they've got, before falling back to the ship's entry point.

Far below the surface, a group of Mole Drones suddenly burst into the orchard chamber, and proceeds to destroy it. It doesn't take Botanica long to notice this: she reels in pain. She hauls Nightscream and Rattrap underground to go fight the drones.

Three Tank Drones, carried in by Copter Drones, manage to get through the Maximals; Primal goes after them. Botanica's group finishes a harrowing decent and immediately finds themselves under Mole Drone attack. They dispose of them, Rattrap commandeering one and using it to total another. Nightscream goes after another Mole that's heading for the fossil chamber and destroys it, only to have another pop up in its place. Above, another Mole unleashes a napalm-style attack on the orchard, intending to burn the DNA out of existence.

Elsewhere, Megatron's new body is complete...

Primal chases the tank drones through the Grand Mal. He blows up one... and when he rounds a corner to find the others waiting for him, the Sparks within him begin to glow... and surround him... and then vaporize the tanks. The other Maximals find the same happening to them, and drones are vaped left and right, both above and below the surface.

But part of the Oracle is Megatron's, and he cuts the connection. The Maximals' Spark boost is cut short.

Thrust, meanwhile, singles out Silverbolt for attack, prepared to deal with the "traitor". Thrust drops him and blasts a radio tower down on him. Blackarachnia is prepared to take vengeance, till Obsidian drops her from behind.

Now look what you've gotten us into.

As Primal finds himself Sparkless and prepares to deal with the tank drones the "old fashioned way", a battle-worn Cheetor confronts all three Generals solo. They fire; when the smoke clears, only a hole in the ground is left. The Generals move in, blasting into the Grand Mal. They enter into darkness within. Suddenly, massive machinery activates, as Cheetor brings the anti-gravity generators on-line. Cheetor rises from the shadows, as a roof hatch opens above the Generals. Thrust has presence of mind to scoot, but Obsidian and Strika are blasted up and away, all the way to orbital space.

Megatron tries out his new body in a shadow-filled, nasty room. He is alive again!

Cheetor confronts Thrust. Thrust pulls out a Spark extractor... and derisively tosses it aside. As they battle, Cheetor gets tossed aside, then grapple-hooked. But as he's dragged along, he grabs Thrust's discarded Spark extractor, and turns it on Thrust. Thrust's body falls and his lights switch out. Victorious, Cheetor looks up and sees a shadow: "Big Bot?" he asks, confused. But it's Megatron, who zaps him.

Megatron tries his hand at Transformers cosplay.

Optimus soon finds himself confronting the new Megatron, who blasts him with a glowing light from one extended hand. Now wearing the Optimal Optimus body form, with a slightly-altered face, Megatron then steps out of the shadows to stand over his enemy. He tells Primal that the day of the Maximals is at an end.

Elsewhere, drones begin hauling out Spark extractors, and de-sparking the various downed Maximals. Megatron tells Optimus that now... it's his turn.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Botanica! Am I glad to see... you've brought us this new power supply."

—Rattrap isn't fooling anyone.

"I already lost you once. I won't lose you again."
"No matter what happens, we will be together...forever."

—Blackarachnia and Silverbolt prepare for the final battle.

"Very swank, but what can they do?"
"Provide us with the key to victory."

—Blackarachnia admires the new hole in her chest and Optimus is typically cryptic.

"Greetings, Maximals. You cannot win, but there is no need for you to suffer. Surrender your sparks and the nightmare will end."
"You want our sparks, Megatron, come and get 'em!"
"...So be it."

—Megatron and Optimus, just before all hell breaks loose.

"Ooh, sleek exterior...nice handling!"

—Rattrap takes a Mole Drone for a test drive...straight through another one.

"Let me show you how we deal with traitors, Jetstorm."
"My. Name. Is. SILVERBOLT!"

—Thrust and Silverbolt

"As long as my spark burns, I'll fight for the freedom of every Transformer, even you!"

—Cheetor to Thrust

"I'm alive! Aliiive! Mwaaahaaahaa! Yeessss."

—Megatron. Finally.

Notes

Animation or technical errors

• The Tank Drones aren't actually connected to the Copter Drones in any way, floating several feet below them.
• As Thrust drags Cheetor towards him, Cheetor's spots are weirdly stretched and deformed.

Continuity errors

• Previously Megatron was strongly against transferring his spark to avoid vulnerability, but in this episode he is okay with it, without explanation.
• For some reason, Megatron still has a scar over his eye, even though he's in a new body. Maybe he really liked how it looks?
• Rattrap controls the Mole Drone just by jumping on its back and pushing a lever, rather than having to physically hack into its hardware as in "Home Soil".

Continuity notes

• Optimus mentions Cheetor and Rattrap as individuals who have served with him since the beginning of the Beast Wars.
• Notably, Tank Drones make a return in this episode, as do Aero Drones. Presumably, they're being controlled by Strika and Obsidian respectively, who also supervise their replacements.
• This episode contains the first instance of a Diagnostic Drone speaking since the one from the first season was destroyed. It has the same voice as that one, but without the emotive qualities.
• Megatron's new body is based on Optimus Primal's "Optimal" body from Beast Wars. His head appears to be a re-skin of his Transmetal II face.
  • Megatron's spark is visible in the cockpit of the "Optimal" body, as opposed to existing within. Previously, in "Optimal Situation", Optimus housed the spark of Optimus Prime inside his cockpit to safeguard it, meaning Megatron's visible spark is plausibly a result of repurposing the model made specifically for that episode.
• Megatron is back to saying "Yesss." Yay.
• It's rather fitting that Cheetor's last battle is against Thrust, book-ending his very first altercation in "Beast Wars (Part 1)". There, his impulsiveness dragged him into a fight with Waspinator, requiring the help of his teammates. In his final fight, he fights confidently, plans a clever trap, and emerges victorious all on his own. Additionally, his final opponent is Thrust, who is, of course, Waspinator's Vehicon alter-ego.
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Rattrap has a blowtorch in his robot mode tail.
  • The Maximals use some of their plant bombs from "End of the Line".
  • Botanica is capable of massively extending her beast mode roots and sliding along them like an elevator.
  • Copter Drones are capable of airlifting other Vehicon units into battle.
  • Mole Drones have built-in flamethrowers. Hardcore.

Real-world references

• Thrust mockingly calls Cheetor "puddytat".

Trivia

• Rattrap alludes to having a stomach, whatever that implies.
• When Strika and Obsidian are sent out into orbital space, among the pieces of debris floating with them are (recycled CGI models of) the triangular manhole covers for Cybertron's sewers seen in this show, and enlarged versions of Rattrap's scrambled field generators.
• Bob Skir had intended Primal's delivery of the line You want our sparks, Megatron, come and get 'em!" to be delivered in a more cooler, funnier and more undersold tone compared to the more dramatic delivery Garry Chalk would end up delivering the line as.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Bataille Finale (Partie 2)" ("Final Battle (Part 2)")

German

• Title: "Hoffnung" ("Hope")
• Original airdate: December 26, 2000

Italian

• Title: "Fine del gioco (seconda parte)" ("End of the game (second part)")

Japanese

• Title: "Kibō no Shūshifu" (希望の終止符, "The End of Hope")
• Original airdate: January 29, 2005

Mandarin

• Title: "Chuánshuō Pòmiè " (传说破灭, "The Legend Falls")

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Fim de Jogo Parte 2: Quando as Lendas Caem" ("Endgame Part 2: When Legends Fall")

Spanish

• Title: "Juego Final Parte 2: Cuando las Leyendas Caen" ("Final Game Part 2: When Legends Fall")

Home video releases

DVD

2005 — Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 7 (Geneon Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Beast Machines: Transformers — The Complete Series (Rhinomation)
2014 — Transformers: Beast Machines — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2007 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Season Two: Volume One (Sony)
2007 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Complete Season Two (Sony)
2009 — Transformers: Beast Machines — Intégrale Saison 2 (Sony) — French audio only.