Ironhide Team

There's no Ironhide in "team".

The Decepticons struggle with a sabotaged energon grid and a group of mutated Terrorcons, Ironhide learns the trials of leadership, and Optimus Prime tries to walk to a door.

Japanese title: "Awesome! Team Roadbuster"

Summary

Alpha Q recaps last episode's ending events: Kicker found his family, and Snowcat and Demolishor have uncovered something ominous below in the Super Energon chamber.

Dr. Jones makes his way up a ladder to freedom, hoping the Decepticons won't catch up with him. A second later, however, Snowcat and Demolishor come storming past as fast as they can go. Hot on their heels: a horde of beetle Terrorcons.

Galvatron has Six Shot at swordpoint, demanding to know why he should spare him. Six Shot explains that only he can unlock the energon grid. Just then a rumbling interrupts them. Demolishor reports in from amid the horde of supersized Terrorcon beetles. Galvatorn realizes they need Scorponok to stop the monsters, but he's currently engaged in battle with Optimus Prime. Six Shot says he knows a way to get rid of the Autobots; all it'll take is a little energon gas!

Prime, Omega and Superion Maximus are approaching the spaceport. Scorponok briefly engages him, but is recalled by Starscream, leaving Bruticus and Constructicon to deal with the Autobots alone.

In the control center, in exchange for releasing the energon grid, Six Shot wants.... an apology from Galvatron. And maybe for him to bow! Starscream voluntarily does this instead, and Six Shot is placated.

Soon the gas floods the battlefield, and the Autobots hasten to get indoors.

Leaving Hot Shot behind, Arcee and Kicker make the leap down to the chamber of Primus, where Rad and Mirage are. Mirage isn't happy to see them; but before he can act, Arcee fires an energon star into Primus, who drives Mirage out. Kicker asks about his dad; Rad says he went to get help, or something.

Somewhere below ground, Dr. Jones rewires a circuit panel to shut down the gas flow from the Super Energon Temple.

Optimus and the others struggle to make it through the gas, but it begins to clear. In the command center, Six Shot is baffled by the shut down. It doesn't take Galvatron long to start bashing him around for this failure, and demand an apology of his own. Galvatron takes his troops and heads to the surface.

Scorponok finds that the mutated Terrorcons aren't listening to him. As he struggles to control them, Team Ironhide arrives.

With the energon gas clearing, Rodimus and Cliffjumper head to the surface. Elsewhere, the other Autobots have their hands full with the combiners. The battle escalates as the two Autobots and Galvatron's troops arrive.

Ironhide find Dr. Jones, but soon Scorponok arrives with his Terrorcons. Ironhide wants to fall back, but Dr. Jones says that Primus needs any energon they have with them, so they prepare to head that way instead. Ironhide's three troops, however, want to stay and hold off Scorponok. They attack, only to get knocked away with a single tail swipe. Kicker and Arcee arrive, and take Dr. Jones away to safety.

Ironhide bashes away the first two Terrocons with ease, then observes his team lying damaged. Furious, he challenges Scorponok. After a moment of trash talk, Ironhide strikes a furious blow, penetrating Scorponok's armor and sending raw power into him. He realizes the power is coming from his fallen comrades. He transforms and drives away.

Prime and Omega encounter Galvatron in a corridor. At a disadvantage in the tight quarters, they head topside. Rodimus tells them that they'll soon arrive at the space bridge. Galvatron emerges and swears to destroy Optimus.

Ironhide, Kicker and the Omnicons arrive at Primus's chambers, and Kicker's family is reunited at last. Ironhide offers Primus the energon that his team -- his friends -- fought hard to bring. At first, there is no response, but then Primus begins to glow more brightly.

On the surface, Galvatron gloats that with all the main Autobots present, he can make a clean sweep. The two sides trade trash talk. Suddenly Prime's chest glows red with the power of a re-awakened Primus; he and Omega can combine again, and do. Optimus Supreme makes like the Tasmanian Devil, sending the Decepticons flying.

With everyone busy, Six Shot uncovers what was done to the energon grid, and decides he can use it to his advantage.

Damaged, Scorponok lies surrounded by the giant Terrorcons. They ignore his order to return to the Energon Temple, and instead fire energon bursts at him, healing his wound. Scorponok is shocked.

In the chamber of Primus, Ironhide weeps for his teammates. Kicker tells him that he's shown that he's got what it takes to be a leader.

Stats

Original airdate: 19 November 2004 (Japan); 18 February 2005 (North America)

Written by: ???

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
		Regulars Guests

Quotes

"Look, that light! Primus is expanding the energy of the Energon!"

— Dr. Jones scoffs at the second law of thermodynamics.

Notes

Lost in Translation

• The dub inserts a statement from Dr. Jones that the Terrorcons "seem to have transformed". It's supposed to mean that they've been enlarged by the Super Energon. In Super Link, the plot point isn't explained till Demolishor's report a moment later.
• In the dub, Galvatron readily accepts Six Shot's explanation that only he can unlock the energon grid. In Super Link, Galvatron rages at him instead, saying he won't accept a Decepticon that doesn't follow his orders.
• When Kicker asks Rad where his father is, Rad tells him that "I think he went to get some help." No Rad, last time you saw Dr. Jones he was being led off by two Decepticons and he was hoping you would be able to escape! In Super Link, he just says something along the lines of "Uh, about that..."
• As Dr. Jones works on his circuit panel, the dub omits a bit where he imitates Kicker telling him "What can you do?" The dub doesn't omit Dr. Jones' own answer, however, leaving him randomly saying "I can do lots of things, Kicker!"
• The dub also makes it sound like the purpose of his tampering is to signal Optimus Prime. It isn't.
• In the dub, Galvatron simply orders Six Shot to "apologize". Originally, he orders him to apologize to his loyal servant Starscream.
• As usual, the dub team is loathe to admit that anyone actually dies, so Scorponok simply says that Ironhide's teammates are "down" (making it very odd when Ironhide just drives off without them.) In Super Link, he repeatedly gloats to Ironhide about their deaths, saying things like "Did you think nobody would die in a war?"
• Also as usual, the dub gets very confused about space bridges and the like. Rodimus tells Optimus that "the space bridge should be appearing any minute now", when what he's supposed to be saying is that Cybertron will soon exit the space bridge and arrive in Alpha Q's universe.
• The dub omits a running theme of Dr. Jones being out of shape and exhausted from his journey up the ladder (which is why he falls down when the group arrives in Primus's chamber.
• In an odd reversal, the dub adds dialog for Primus where previously there was none.
• The dub animation is missing the tears falling from Ironhide's optics.
• The dub omits Dr. Jones' explanation that Ironhide was unable to protect his comrades because he was protecting him. This is why Dr. Jones dejectedly looks at the floor. Instead, the dub inserts a strange, peppy line from Dr. Jones about how "Ironhide learned a big lesson today!"
• The dub has Kicker telling Ironhide that he showed that he's got what it takes to be a leader. In Super Link, he tells Ironhide to save his tears until they have achieved the hopes of their future.

Pain Count

• "Uh?": 9
• Stock footage: 2
• It's time to: 1
• We've gotta: 2

Animation and/or technical glitches

• When Six Shot is trying to figure out why the Energon grid isn't working, he suddenly stops and look at the screen, identical to the one he's been looking at. The shot is missing a blinking green overlay showing the affected areas in both English and Japanese versions, though the pulsing sound effect that accompanies it is still there. The shot will be fixed when it reappears in the next episode.

Continuity errors

• "Ironhide Team" is about Team Ironhide. *sigh*

• Snowcat and Demolishor's dialog before being attacked by the giant Insecticon is different from last episode.

• Bulkhead, Downshift and Prowl disappear for the first half of the episode, and then reappear later when Rodimus shows up and needs someone to Powerlink with; apparently they were with Optimus, Omega Supreme and Superion Maximus all along.

• When Ironhide tells Kicker to "Take the Energon and go to Primus," he's clearly shown with an Energon star on his arm. What Kicker actually took was the Omnicons—which are barely visible in two long shots in this scene due to poor shot composition—without whom the actions and reactions of the characters make no sense at all.

Real-world references

• Demolishor and Snowcat hold TV reporter-style microphones when reporting in to Galvatron.
• Starscream's symbolic apology in Galvatron's place—and Six Shot's acceptance of it—is a reference (or sorts) to the relationships between feudal lords and their retainers specific to Japan. The scene would make perfect sense to a Japanese viewer, recognizing the symbolic gestures and social norms that demanded Six Shot accept a completely insincere apology. The dub (naturally) laid no groundwork to support this outside of that context, so the scene come off as absolutely looney if you don't know what's going on—especially Six Shot's immediate acceptance.

Notes

• Demolishor is not voiced by his usual actor in this episode.

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