More Than Meets The Eye (RBA)
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| The name or term "More than Meets the Eye" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see More than Meets the Eye (disambiguation). |
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 "Look, I don't care how nicely you ask, I'm not attaching myself to your chest." | ||||||
| "More Than Meets The Eye" | ||||||
| Production code | 235 | |||||
| Season | 2 | |||||
| No. in season | 35 | |||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation | |||||
| Airdate | June 3, 2020 (UK) April 3, 2021 (US) | |||||
| Writers | Kevin Burke & Chris "Doc" Wyatt | |||||
| Director | Ray Quigley | |||||
| Animation studio | Boulder Media Studio | |||||
When the Recruits rescue a Decepticon from a damaged ship, they disagree on how to treat the 'evil' bot, forcing Wedge to reveal his biggest secret.
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Synopsis
The Sigma swoops in towards a stricken Cybertronian spaceship which Hoist reports seems to be abandoned, however the sensors pick up one life sign still on board. Perceptor authorizes the recruits to carry out a rescue operation and, venturing on board, they locate a pile of rubble in which a tiny rectangular object is giving off life signs. They manage to escape with it moments before the ship explodes.
Back at the academy, Perceptor confirms that the object can indeed be a Cybertronian. Hoist recognizes it as a cassette and loads it into a cassette player to play it. After a few moments of playing music, the cassette transforms into a robotic bird and starts shooting lasers at the recruits, who quickly realize the injured Transformer they've rescued is a Decepticon. Hot Shot makes a big deal about telling the others that the Decepticons are evil and this one is likely to be up to no good as they hunt through the academy for the intruder, but Medix is determined to treat them no matter what. Hoist finds the Decepticon in the briefing room and snares it with a hook, only to be dragged outside until his line breaks and the Decepticon flies off
With the escaped Decepticon's injuries likely to cause them to go into stasis lock soon, the recruits debate whether to find and help them, at which point Wedge drops a bombshell: he was created as a Decepticon who Optimus Prime helped switch sides. Wedge heads off and locates the Decepticon stuck in a burning tree. The other recruits arrive as well and help Wedge rescue the 'Con. Medix is able to fix the Decepticon, whom Perceptor reveals is Laserbeak and has no current criminal record. The recruits tell the recovering Laserbeak that he can stay in the Academy so long as he's on his best behavior.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"This is called a 'bam box' I... think. It plays those audio records."
"It looks so exotic!"
"And I just replaced the twenty D batteries it takes to operate this thing."
- —Hoist and Hot Shot prepare to play Laserbeak.
"Come on, we have to stop it! Who knows what a Decepticon might do; they're horrible!"
- —Hot Shot
"Thanks for breaking my fall, guys."
"Sure, thanks for breaking us."
- —Shortly after Hoist lands on Hot Shot and the others.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Laserbeak is the first unambiguous, current Decepticon to appear in the Rescue Bots timeline; the prior show had the Cyclone Mini-Con Bounce, who was never stated explicitly to be a Decepticon, but as he was an escapee from the prison ship Alchemor, it's really, really, really likely he was. Of course, Grimlock and Wedge (as we learn in this episode) are both former 'Cons.
- Though the design is closer to his G1 counterpart, likely as part of Hasbro's push for consistent designs across the franchise, this could reasonably be believed to be the same Laserbeak from Prime and Robots in Disguise. Perceptor notes that Laserbeak "currently has no criminal record" and is "a free bot", with the phrasing suggesting that he has paid his debt to society and had his criminal record expunged. What this implies about his previous master Soundwave's current status or whereabouts remain unknown.
- Whirl's lack of knowledge of the Decepticons, combined with Medix's referring to Cybertron's two factions in the past tense, suggests that Cybertron has long-since reunified by the time Rescue Bots Academy starts. The Decepticon Cyberwarp previously expressed hope that the two sides would someday come together in harmony back in the Robots in Disguise episode "Freedom Fighters", and it looks like they largely succeeded in the intervening years, despite the prejudices of bots like Hot Shot.
- As the recruits search for Laserbeak, Medix is seen checking the quarantine room first (and last) seen in "Little Plot of Horrors".
Transformers references
- We really don't need to explain where the episode title comes from.
- Perceptor gives the name "molecular compression" to the process used by Transformers to change their size.
Real-world references
- Carrying a boombox on your shoulder is a classic 80's trope.
Animation and technical errors
- Jeremy Levy is credited as Bumblebee as well as Perceptor, despite the former character not appearing.
Trivia
- Cybertronian text on Whirl's heads up display as she scans for life signs reads "Mission" and "Detecting activity".
Foreign localization
- TBA
