Fallout (episode)

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War. War never changes.
"Fallout"
Season	2
No. in season	1
Production company	Mainframe Entertainment
Airdate	February 9, 2000 (Canada) August 5, 2000 (USA)
Written by	Robert N. Skir Marty Isenberg
Directed by	Raul Sanchez Inglis
Animation studio	Mainframe Entertainment
Continuity	Beast Wars continuity

After releasing a doomsday weapon, Optimus Primal must face the consequences of his actions.

Synopsis

The storm continues to rage, as Optimus Primal (controlling the lethal Plasma Energy Chamber) and Megatron (wielding the deadly Key to Vector Sigma) fight, pushing their energies back and forth.

Open the pod bay doors, Teletraan.

Optimus dissolves and finds himself in the Matrix again, seeing a vision of Cybertron destroyed. He lashes out and blames Megatron, who takes no credit. Cybertron is doomed not because of Megatron's actions, but because of Primal. Suddenly, Optimus finds himself back on prehistoric Earth, where he's attacked by a green-eyed copy of himself. The doppelgänger scolds Primal for his fanatical behavior and pushes him off a cliff, sending him plummeting back into space.

Faces come and go, and he finds himself being blamed by his Maximals, who tell him that he's failed them. Primal realizes that he must make his own decisions, not merely follow the commands of the Oracle. The Oracle acknowledges this fact, but tells him that his fate still lies with him.

The arrival of another old friend, Rhinox, comforts him. Rhinox acknowledges his misdeeds as Tankor, and tells his old friend that he chooses to stay in the Matrix. Primal shoots through another tunnel where the faces of Transformers he has yet to encounter flash before him and finds himself back in the heated battle. Taking control of both energies, he redirects them back into the Matrix itself. The remaining Maximals reawaken, back in their techno-organic bodies and free of the Key's energies.

Gold Plastic Syndrome claims another victim.

With Megatron gone and the Vehicons rendered inert, the Maximals are the only active Cybertronians on the planet. Finding one another, the surviving Maximals head to the throne room in the Citadel, only to find the bodies of their former friends—and foes. Megatron's body crumbles to dust, leaving only his control-shell. When Rattrap touches the inert body of Tankor, it falls to pieces. Cheetor looks at Optimus Primal's flattened body, lamenting the fallen "Big Bot". Unsympathetic, Nightscream says that Cheetor only ever wanted him out of the way. Cheetor tells Nightscream off, but reluctantly takes control anyway.

Outside, Rattrap plugs into Cybertron's system, only to find that the planet is, in fact, brain-dead. But things change when Jetstorm and Thrust show up, and the Maximals and Vehicons prepare for another fight. Cheetor comes between them, telling them that the war is over, while Blackarachnia invites Jetstorm onto their side. It's not a suggestion that the two generals take kindly to, and another brief fight breaks out before Blackarachnia puts a stop to it. The two Vehicon Generals leave.

Finally justification for a supreme-class Primal.

Hoping to consult the Oracle like Optimus once had, the Maximals make the trip underground to the Oracle's chamber. However, the foursome find Optimus Primal inside the Oracle. Communicating with them via the supercomputer, he asks that the Maximals forgive his zealotry and near-genocidal actions. Rattrap protests, as "there is nothing to forgive". Back in the void, Optimus sees the collective sparks of Cybertron past, present, and future, inviting him into the Transformer afterlife: the Matrix. As he floats, Optimus has an epiphany: the Oracle never intended to have organic life replace Cybertron's technology, but to create a technorganic balance of organic and machine, just as the Oracle did when it reformatted the Maximals. Optimus happily acknowledges that he is ready to join the Matrix... but not today.

"It looks like the cameraman needs a hug."

Optimus Primal steps out into real-space again, and the Oracle tells him that it has taught him everything, and that he must make his own way in his mission. A new orchard of technorganic plants grows around them as Optimus explains their new quest to the Maximals.

The Maximals head above ground, hoping to find and liberate Megatron's stockpile of sparks... only to find themselves face-to-giant-face with an enormous vessel bearing the likeness of Megatron!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"My spark has rejoined the Matrix. I paid the price for my misguided deeds, but it is not too late for you. Embrace the true nature of your spark."

—Rhinox dispenses advice.

"If I had to guess, I'd say we won't be getting any holiday cards from him for a while."

—Rattrap's own special way of saying "He's dead, Jim."

"Ah, y'know, this place just ain't gonna be the same without Megatron's toys to play with. Wha?"
"Be careful what you wish for, cheddar-breath!"

—Rattrap and Jetstorm

"Why is she so hung up on getting her old boyfriend's spark outta that guy?"
"Eh, you're young. You'll learn."

—Nightscream and Rattrap

"Forget it, spider-lady! I just lost my boss, everything is falling apart. I'm not losing my only friend as well!"
"We're friends?"
"Why not?"

—Thrust and Jetstorm, you can feel the bromance between the two

Optimus: "All I ask is you forgive me my transgressions so I can move on from this plane."
Rattrap: "There's... nothing to forgive, Optimus."
Nightscream: "You gave me a family when I lost everyone."
Blackarachnia: "You lead us to victory at the cost of your own life."
Cheetor: "I can forgive you for your mistakes, but not for giving up. Without your leadership, we'd have all gone offline when we first hit this planet. Without your guidance, we'd would've never mastered transforming in these technorganic bodies. And without your vision, Cybertron will never truly be restored."

—The Maximals try to convince Optimus to return from the Matrix.

"But the Matrix never intended for the organic to replace the technological. It didn't want us to fight a war, but to create a balance. the technorganic balance between the machine and the organic. Yes, I am ready to join the Matrix, but not today."

—Optimus realises he does actually have something to live for.

"Congratulations, Optimus Primal. You have passed your greatest test by asserting your own free will, the very thing that makes you more than a mere machine. Clearly there is nothing left to teach you. The time has come for you to seize your own destiny."

—The Oracle gives Optimus a passing grade.

Notes

Animation or technical errors

• Optimus's dead body is... strange-looking. Presumably, it's supposed to look as if his body has crumbled to ash, but the model quality means that it looks like it's been cartoonishly flattened.
• During the skirmish between the Vehicon Generals and the Maximals, Rattrap laughs nervously without moving his face.

Continuity errors

• The recap at the start of this episode concludes with Optimus Primal's hand disintegrating and him insisting that "if this is the will of the Matrix, then so be it". However, the cliffhanger simply ended with Optimus Primal looking on as his hand disintegrated.
• Just as in "Apocalypse", Optimus claims that the Beast Wars on Earth were the Matrix's way of obtaining organic material. Since it was Megatron who decided to go there, then either Optimus is reading too much into it or the Matrix has been giving Megatron some nudges...

Continuity notes

• Among Optimus's visions are the heads of the Maximals in Beast Mode, who cycle through all of their previous bodies that appeared in Beast Wars (albeit, using the miscolored versions of Cheetor's, Rattrap's, and Blackarachnia's pre-Transmetal forms that were used in "The Reformatting"). Nightscream also briefly flashes into his brown, pre-Technorganic Beast Mode.
• The underground amphitheater that served as the Maximals' first major base in the series (and was subsequently occupied by Tankor after they relocated to the fossil chamber in "The Key") is briefly glimpsed for the final time in this episode (pictured right). It is never seen or heard from again afterward.
• There's a lot of blink-and-you'll miss it foreshadowing in Optimus Primal's vision! As he returns to Megatron's chamber, he experiences visions of characters who will appear in season two.
• When Optimus redirects the dueling energies into the Oracle, you can briefly see Nightscream's old hiding place. The fruit tree has apparently regrown.
• As the four surviving Maximals climb down to the Oracle, the sequence is deliberately set up to evoke their original trip to the Oracle, as seen in "The Reformatting".
• Similarly, Optimus's re-emergence from the Oracle is framed to resemble his original emergence from the Matrix in the same episode, complete with a disbelieving "Big Bot?" from Cheetor.
• Optimus experiences a vision of a flower during his trip, the same kind that appeared in "The Reformatting".
• There are a lot of clips from previous episodes interspersed throughout the episode. As the Maximals recount how Optimus has helped them over the course of the Spark War, there are clips from "The Reformatting", "Forbidden Fruit", and "The Weak Component". Later, as Optimus remembers the Beast Wars, his memories are represented by clips from the Beast Wars episodes "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)", "Cutting Edge", "Feral Scream Part 1", "Feral Scream Part 2", and "Nemesis Part 2".

Transformers references

Real-world references

• Jetstorm mentions that they just got rid of the "old boss" and aren't keen on working for "the new boss", riffing on lyrics from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Trivia

• Season 2 sees the Maximals drop the "I am transformed" mantra that usually accompanied their transformations.
• Rhinox must remain in the Matrix forever. Until he doesn't. Except when he gets killed even deader. (Multiple continuities are fun, kids!) Either way, in-show, this is the last appearance of Rhinox/Tankor.
• Blackarachnia tells Jetstorm right in his face, "You don't want to be Silverbolt again? Fine. I won't force you." Oh, really?

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Retombées" ("Fallout")

German

• Title: "Off-Line"
• Original airdate: December 15, 2000

Italian

• Title: "La fine di un nuovo inizio" ("The end of a new beginning")

Japanese

• Title: "Shōri no Daishō" (勝利の代償, "The Cost of Victory")
• Original airdate: December 19, 2004
  • During the opening chat of the episode, each Maximal pronounces their names in reverse, resulting in Yvonco (イボンコ) for Convoy (コンボイ). Cheetor finds that hilarious as it sounds like 疣の子 (ibo no ko, literally meaning "wart child"), and all the Maximals burst into laughter while Optimus shouts loudly for his narration at the beginning of the episode.
  • Instead of "You failed us", the Maximals blame Optimus by yelling "eyyyyy, Yvonco!" in the most dramatic scene.
  • When the Maximals find that Optimus became flat, Rattrap rhymes "Yvonco pettanko!" ("Yvonco is flat!"), followed by "Yay!"
    • The chant of "Yvonco pettanko, yay!" continues until the first commercial bumper ends, while Optimus says that he's going to knock all of them down if they don't stop.
  • After the second commercial bumper, Cheetor yells "Yvonco!" while dashing to him. Optimus responds with "That won't work! Get serious!"
  • According to Yoshikazu Iwanami in a commentary track for a Japanese DVD release, the dubbing cast got called and scolded by their sponsor after this.
  • In the opening chat of another episode, they rap "Yvonco pettanko, yay!" to Phat Planet during the whole opening.
  • The 2018 Encore Returns Convoy toy features a newly-recorded soundclip of Optimus repeating the "Yvonco pettanko, yay!" chant.

Mandarin

• Title: "Jié Hòu Yú Shēng " (劫后余生, "After the Doom")

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Precipitação Radioativa" ("Radioactive Fallout")

Spanish

• Title: "Lluvia Radiactiva" ("Radioactive Fallout")

Home video releases

DVD

2005 — Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns — Volume 4 (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.