Scorponok is the third episode of Energon. It first aired in the United States on February 14, 2004 on Cartoon Network.
Content[]
Summary[]
At Desert City, the Autobots fend off the first Terrorcon attack against Earth.
Plot[]
Somewhere in space, a giant ship thing of some sort emerges from some kind of glowing spatial space thing. In space. Within, as Scorponok prepares to depart, Alpha Q gives him a "little gift": a holographic image showing a fried husk. Tidal Wave wonders where he's being taken. Alpha Q tells him that they merely require his services... and he doesn't get a say in the matter. On his Mars orbital station, Carlos searches video records for evidence of where Tidal Wave and Cyclonus went. Suddenly, he observes a comet-like object, which abruptly vanishes. In Ocean City, Optimus Prime briefs his troops on the mining operations underway there and in Plains City and Desert City. He sends Hot Shot and Jetfire to defend the other two stations. Inferno passes along Carlos's comet sighting. Ironhide continues to grumble about his assignment, and Prime gives him a short dressing-down. Elsewhere, "Meeka" refuses to leave her city, to Kicker's frustration. Aboard his comet-ship, Scorponok explains that they need Tidal Wave's help in reviving someone. Tidal Wave asks who, and Scorponok shows him the hologram—the corpse of Megatron. Scorponok explains to Tidal Wave that his superior needs his help to revive Megs, via large quantities of energon. Tidal Wave is ready and willing. Hot Shot arrives at Desert City, reassures Meeka, and briefs some generic troops on the Terrorcon threat. Jetfire does likewise at Plains City. An enemy force is detected just then; the Autobots wonder where they're headed, but Kicker is certain they're bound for Desert City. Optimus believes his intuition, and they prepare to move out. The Omnicons power them up and provide them with extra energon weapons. Hot Shot's troops defend Desert City as Tidal Wave leads a fleet of Terrorcons. Hot Shot is miffed to see that their former ally is attacking. That anger turns to shock when he hears Tidal Wave say "must revive Megatron." Scorponok soon arrives as well. As Tidal Wave advances, the Autobots fall back to defend the mine entrance. Meeka frets as the battle closes in on the research center. The Omnicons hurry as well, but decide not to abandon their posts. Gotta respect bots who will keep working in the face of certain death. The Terrorcons break through, head into the mine, and begin munching away at all the tasty, yummy, energony goodness. Prime and company drive down out of the sky and head for the mine entrance. Tidal Wave attacks them, but Prime holds him off while the others head for the mine. Prime demands an explanation from Tidal Wave, getting a "Must revive Megatron" in response. Scorponok introduces himself for no reason, then immediately orders Tidal Wave to destroy Prime. Kicker and Ironhide find Hot Shot. Informed that Meeka is still in the R&D center, Kicker heads that way with Ironhide following. The Omnicons create a special energon star to revive Hot Shot. The group loads him up and heads out the back exit from the mines just ahead of the swarming Terrorcons, only to find themselves face-to-claw with the mighty Scorponok. Ironhide attempts to hold him off but is no match for the titan. The Omnicons give him the energon star meant for Hot Shot, but Scorponok leads the Terrorcons away before Ironhide can attack them. Tidal Wave tries to grab a raw energon star and gets a shock for his troubles. Ironhide is awarded a Combination Spark for his bravery, making him a full-fledged member of Prime's team. At Ocean City, Demolishor wonders if Tidal Wave is right—can Megatron be re-awakened?
Trivia[]
In the episode[]
Background[]
English dub changes[]
Characters[]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
Regulars
Guests |
Quotes[]
"Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave!(...)"
- —Tidal Wave works really hard to not forget his name.
"Tidal Wave! Tidal Wave! Where are you taking me?!"
- —Tidal Wave demands answers in his own unique style.
"Hey, let me put it this way. 'Worried' is putting it mildly."
- —Hot Shot, master orator
"Man! Why doesn't that girl ever listen to me?!"
"Hm. That kid might want to eat more fiber."
- —Kicker, observed by Demolishor
"Wouldn't a cannon have been simpler?"
- —Ironhide comments on the Omnicons' energon weapons.
"You can never have too many weapons."
- — Optimus Prime, champion of the Autobot ideals of peace and justice.
"You mind explaining yourself?"
"Must revive Megatron!"
"WHAT?! MEGATRON?!"
- —Optimus Prime is shocked by Tidal Wave.
"Man that kid really gets under my armor!"
- — Ironhide's reaction is not exactly unique among the Autobots.
"This just doesn't make any sense. How is it possible Tidal Wave said 'reanimated'?"
- —Demolishor questions Tidal Wave's potential to have a vocabulary.
Notes[]
Lost in Translation[]
Amazingly, almost nothing:
- Jetfire mentions the enemy's penchant for rushing blindly toward energon, not mentioned in the dub but pretty clear from the animation.
- "Meeka" and her fellow scientist are worried about getting attacked because of the energon star the Omnicons are working to create, a point lost in the dub.
- At the end of the battle, Ironhide originally comments on Tidal Wave's intelligence, prompting Kicker to make a similar crack about Ironhide. This is why Ironhide is visibly frustrated at the end of the scene.
Pain Count[]
- "Uh?": 7
- Stock footage: 3
- "It's time to:" 2
- Gimme a break: 1
- We're a team: 3
Animation and/or technical glitches[]
- What is that chick's name? Mika? Meeka? Misha? Whatever.
- The Terrorcons' energon stars are animated differently in Superlink. In Energon, the entire Terrorcon glows purple as the star is generated; in Superlink, just the star itself lights up.
- When Ironhide runs toward the mine entrance, the background is animated so slowly it appears to be staying still. A more visible scroll was used in the Superlink version.
- Nobody can spell "Scorponok", apparently.
- The whereabouts of the missing "o" in "Scorpinok" (and the source of the "i") would eventually be revealed in "Improsoned Inferno".
Continuity errors[]
- The disappearing comet is Scorponok and Alpha Q's ship, but its disappearing act is never explained.
- So, did Tidal Wave retreat, or what? He's last shown getting zapped by the energon star he attempts to grab.
Transformers references[]
Real-world references[]
Miscellaneous notes[]
- The Street Action Mini-Cons make an appearance in their combined form as Perceptor, and Sureshock as Kicker's ATV, but they're never mentioned by name or given anything to do beyond acting as Kicker's vehicle(s).
- There's a lot of sweet looking generic bots shown in Desert City and Plains City.
- The identities of Skyblast and Strongarm are very confused after this episode. They're clearly shown in Ocean City, but identical 'bots with identical voices are also shown in Desert City at the same time. Apparently there's just a lot of the same dude running around.
- Seriously. The energon powerups are totally useless. Ironhide hits one Terrorcon with his energon weapon, and it promptly fades away.
- "Out of energon" doesn't have the same meaning in this series as any other.
- Nobody seems to give a crap about all the generics who get shot up in this episode, seemingly exploding and dying after a single hit. Only Hot Shot matters!
