Eruption
From Transformers Wiki
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 "The world will always need a Prime...but only if that Prime is you." | ||||||
| "Eruption" | ||||||
| Season | 1 | |||||
| No. in season | 18 | |||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation | |||||
| Airdate | December 15, 2018 (Singapore) December 28, 2018 (CN app/website) December 29, 2018 (USA) | |||||
| Writer | Gavin Hignight | |||||
| Director | Jean Texier | |||||
| Animation studio | Boulder Media Studio | |||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube
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The Autobot team must fight its way through Shockwave and his Decepticons to defend the Ark and awaken Optimus Prime and the other Autobots.
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Synopsis
At long last, the Autobots have discovered the object of their quest, buried beneath Mount St. Hilary: the Ark! It's a joyous moment as the four heroes move in for a group hug, but the moment is not to last... as Shockwave and his Decepticons arrive in the cave, intent on destroying the ship and its occupants once and for all. Though Bumblebee and his allies are outnumbered, they're unwilling to surrender, and charge into battle!
Bumblebee finds himself up against the vengeful Shadow Striker, who's all-too-eager to face off against Bumblebee, while Windblade duels with Slipstream, Grimlock deploys his Tyrannosaurus rex mode against the rest of the Seekers, and even Teletraan-X finds himself up against one of Shockwave's drones as he tries to unlock the ship doors. In doing so, however, Teletraan-X helps Bumblebee temporarily take out Shadow Striker by dropping his foe on her face, giving Bumblebee the opening he needs to paralyze her with his stinger, and Bumblebee, in turn, helps Windblade out of a tight spot by dropping Slipstream while the Seeker's attention is elsewhere.
Ordering Bumblebee to get to the ship, Windblade takes on Shockwave herself, using her turbine powers to knock Shockwave flat. As the tide of battle turns against the Decepticons, Shockwave uses his alternate mode to scuttle away, much to the dismay of Shadow Striker...
In the meantime, Bumblebee has managed to get into the Ark, and he and Teletraan-X make for the ship's hibernation bay. As Bumblebee examines the massive chamber, Teletraan-X makes a sad discovery: Teletraan-1 is no more, having suffered irreparable damage during the ship's crash on Earth. It's not all bad, however; Teletraan-X's sole purpose is to serve as a backup unit for Teletraan-1, and this means that he can use his own processor power to reboot the master computer. As he activates a computer jack and begins the transference process, however, he's interrupted by Shadow Striker, who shoots his lifeless body and sends it flying across the room!
Shadow Striker remains as eager for revenge as ever, and though Bumblebee is able to temporarily incapacitate her by hitting her with his vehicle mode, he's injured in the fight and pinned down by the patchwork Decepticon... until Grimlock intervenes, using his dino mode to throw her against the wall.
Outside the mountain, Shockwave enacts his final contingency plan: by using his ship-mounted magnetic disruptor, he'll trigger a volcanic eruption, destroying the Ark and killing everything inside the volcano when it erupts. But the magnetic beam firing into the volcano has some unexpected effects: the burst of lava allows an outnumbered Windblade to get the upper hand against the bewildered Seekers, while Grimlock does battle against Shadow Striker. Grimlock warns 'Bee that whatever he's doing in the ship, he needs to finish it, and fast, but Bumblebee is too busy mourning over the fallen body of Teletraan-X to hear... until the ship's internal workings abruptly flare back to life!
Teletraan-X, now inhabiting the Ark's mainframe, informs Bumblebee that the transfer was a success, and that he now has direct access to the ship's subsystems... but that control is more than he bargained for, and the newly-uploaded AI has trouble shutting down the ship's stasis pods. On the plus side, Teletraan-X is able to take direct control of the Ark's weapon systems, helping Windblade and Grimlock out of another tight spot with a series of powerful blasts, sending the Decepticons running, while Grimlock and Windblade make for the safety of the Ark as the lava begins to rain from the ceiling.
As Shockwave's ship flies away, the volcano erupts in earnest as its new computer struggles with the ship's functions; what Shockwave doesn't know, however, is that Teletraan has managed to activate the vessel's shields in the nick of time, saving the Ark and all inside. What's more, Teletraan has finally completed the wake-up sequence, deactivating the stasis pods. As the figures of Optimus Prime and the other Autobots rise from their stasis pods, Bumblebee rushes over to greet his leader with a hug as Grimlock greets his long-lost friends.
The reunion is short-lived, however; no sooner have the Autobots awakened before Teletraan-X cuts in with a new warning: the Decepticon fleet has arrived over Earth! As the Autobots race out of the Ark—now partially exposed, poking out of the volcano's surface—they are greeted by the sight of Shockwave and his reinforcements, as the Nemesis roars overhead, and so Optimus and the Autobots prepare for battle, the Autobot leader ordering his troops to roll out.
The battle has begun!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Get us out of here! Now!"
"I'm doing the best I can. I'll try everything!"
-upbeat polka music fills the ship as doors and lights switch on and off-
"Turn that music OFF!"
- —Bumblebee, Teletraan-X, and Grimlock
"Autobots- roll out!"
- —Optimus Prime says it's on
Notes
Continuity notes
- Shockwave previously attempted to use the magnetic disruptor to kill everything on Earth back in "The Extinction Event."
- Starscream's Decepticon armada was first alluded to in "Siloed" and reappeared in the previous episode, "Awaken Sleeping Giants."
- Rack'n'Ruin makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in the final scene of the Autobots standing together; the pair previously appeared in "Sabotage" as members of the Ark's crew, but as that memory had been modified by Shockwave it was impossible to tell if the two Autobots actually served aboard the Ark; this episode confirms that they did; presumably, then, so did Drift.
Transformers references
- Following the eruption of Mount St. Hilary, the Ark winds up having its engines exposed, sticking out of the side of the mountain, as they did in the 1984 cartoon (and as those of the Orion did in season 2 of Transformers Animated.)
- At the end of the episode, Grimlock is depicted as having a battle mask—a retractable visor and mouthplate—designed to make him look like his Generation 1 counterpart.
Real-world references
Trivia
- Just before Shockwave gets blasted by Windblade's turbines, his eyelid goes all the way up, making him look like his classic counterpart.
- Upon awakening, Optimus happily greets Bumblebee, Grimlock and Windblade, yet doesn't seem confused as to why Windblade is even there considering she was not part of the Ark's crew to begin with.
Animation and technical errors
- Nova Storm still lacks the trim on her cockpit.
- Acid Storm is rendered with the male Seeker face, just like the last episode; the nature of this as an error is debatable, as writer Mae Catt has stated changing their face is "just something Acid Storm likes to do".
- In some shots Shockwave appears to be distinctly blue (the same shade as Thundercracker), not purple.
- Grimlock has his battle mask and visor on, but the next shot immediately after, they are missing, with no indication they retracted.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Eruption"
- Original airdate: December 16, 2018
German
- Title: "Im Vulkan" ("Inside the Volcano")
- Original airdate: January 26, 2019
Hungarian
- Title: "Kitörés" ("Eruption")
- Original airdate: March 2, 2019
Japanese
Portuguese
- Title: "Erupção" ("Eruption")
- Original airdate: February 2, 2019
Home video releases
- DVD
2019 — Transformers Cyberverse — Intégrale Saison 1 (ESC Éditions) — French audio only
2019 — Transformers Cyberverse — King of the Dinosaurs (Beyond Home Entertainment)
