Megatron Raid is the seventh episode of Energon. It first aired in the United States on March 13, 2004 on Cartoon Network.
Content[]
Summary[]
Revived, Megatron leads an assault on Ocean City, and Demolishor's loyalties are put to the test.
Plot[]
Inferno provides a recap of the recent disastrous events. The Autobots are shocked at Hot Shot's injuries, while Ironhide, seeing his worst nightmare, urges him to respond. Unfortunately, Optimus Prime is dealing with his worst nightmare a few feet away: Megatron is alive. Prime realizes that he's come for the energon to go after Unicron. Kicker and Ironhide want to kick some skidplate, but Prime calls for a retreat so Hot Shot can be treated. He warns Megatron that if he wants more energon, he'll have to go through Prime. Megatron is thoroughly unimpressed, saying that his sword gives him an incredible advantage. Megatron lets them go but demands that they surrender all their energon next time they meet. Unicron is weakening, and so Alpha Q plans to steal back their energon via a new agent: the revived Starscream! Hot Shot is lowered into an energon pool to heal his injuries. Signal Flare is nearly done duplicating Megatron's sword. Jetfire brings up the topic of Demolishor again, but Prime still takes no action. Demolishor is bored on guard duty. Megatron has his Terrorcons release their energon onto Unicron. They give him an energon star power-up, and he sends them away for more. And once they've revived Unicron, Megatron will use him as a weapon of conquest. Scorponok is being rather painfully repaired. Tidal Wave tells him he's lucky he got repaired at all, since he'd used the Decepticons. Scorponok wonders why Megatron didn't destroy Prime on Earth, and in a rare moment of deep thinking, Tidal Wave tells him to figure it out for himself. If he does, Tidal Wave might start to trust him. Scorponok mutters that Megatron was just afraid. Probably not what Tidal Wave was thinking. Jetfire tells Kicker about the Omnicons' craft. Jetfire muses that they seem to know just where they belong. A space bridge has materialized out over the ocean; Prime suspects a trap and sends Jetfire to investigate. Prime forbids Kicker to go with him, adding that Kicker is not going on missions anymore, fearing that Megatron will want him for his special abilities. Ironhide and Prime follow Jetfire. Jetfire arrives at the space bridge to find empty air...then something materializes and knocks him away. Another space bridge opens up near Ocean City, and Starscream attacks Prime as hordes of Terrorcons pour out of the sky. Demolishor helps defend the city—until Megatron appears in their midst. Starscream is handily defeating Prime with his teleporting ability. Megatron lands before Demolishor, who's suitably confused. Ironhide wants to attack Megatron in revenge, but Demolishor restrains Ironhide...then knocks him aside. Demolishor pledges himself to Megatron, who immediately demands a test of loyalty by having him open the city's gates. With Kicker's help, Prime drives off Starscream. When Demolishor hesitates to open the gates, Megatron orders Demolishor to fire on him. Demolishor can't do it; instead he turns and blasts the city gates open, and the Terrorcons pour in. Prime arrives to battle Megatron. Hot Shot revives in time to help Inferno drive off the Terrorcons in the city, while Kicker holds them off with a copy of Megatron's sword, which he then hands off to Prime, putting the foes on equal footing. More Autobots arrive carrying copies of the sword, and the Decepticons are surrounded. Megatron uses specially treated energon to transport his troops away. Despite Ironhide's pleas, Demolishor goes with him, and Prime laments that they couldn't change his mind. Starscream briefly re-materializes and chuckles.
Trivia[]
In the episode[]
Background[]
English dub changes[]
Characters[]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Regulars
Guests |
|
Quotes[]
"Megatron..."
"Well, it's just like old times, isn't it?
- —Optimus Prime and Megatron, together again.
"I know what you're after, Megatron. You want our energon!
- —Optimus Prime reads his enemies like a book. A very short, simple book.
Ohh, they expect me to stare at the clouds all day. Is that what it means to be part of the Autobot team?
- —Demolishor
"Couldn't you be a little more gentle?"
"You used us, Scorponok. You should be grateful that I chose to repair you at all."
"But I helped revive Megatron!"
"All you wanted was Megatron's power, but you were too weak."
"Wait! I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Megatron could have destroyed Optimus Prime. Why would he pass up a perfect chance like the one he had back on the planet?"
"If you can figure that out, then maybe I will begin to trust you more."
"Hnn. I think he was just afraid!"
- —Scorponok and Tidal Wave
"Uhhhh...moh—uhhhhh..."
- —Demolishor is speechless at Megatron's revival
"Don't do it! You're no match for him!"
"Let go! Don't you understand I have to do this? That rat Megatron almost destroyed my friend Hot Shot!"
"Sorry, I didn't even know that."
(Ironhide breaks free of Demolishor's grip, so Demolishor grabs him and punches him in the stomach)
"...Hey, why did you hit me?"
(Ironhide collapses)
"I'm tired of hiding who I am! Sorry, Ironhide!"
- —Demolishor and Ironhide conflict on more than one level
"Listen...closely. Turn and face me, Demolishor. Now. Raise your weapons and fire at me. ...DO IT! I'm your enemy now. Go ahead and fire on me!"
- —Megatron knows exactly how to push Demolishor's buttons
Notes[]
Lost in translation[]
This episode is rife with the American dub's penchant for inserting extra dialog. The Superlink version features terse dialog, fitting with the tense dynamics as Megatron returns and Demolishor faces a hard choice. Energon pads this out with lengthy rambling monologues. Examples include Inferno's opening monologue, Prime and Megatron's initial confrontation, and Prime's speech at the episode's end.
- Prime's order to distribute one Megatron Sword to each city is a bizarre mutation of his line in Superlink, where he orders Signal Flare to recall each of the cities' Skyblasts to help produce the swords.
- Demolishor's thoughts while on guard: dub addition.
- All of the Terrorcons' dialog: dub addition.
- Scorponok and Tidal Wave's conversation is translated almost precisely, apart from the final line: Scorponok doesn't think Megatron is afraid, but rather blames it on his "chivalry".
- A small bit of unfinished animation sees Starscream materializing against blue skies in one of two shots. In Superlink, the still-open warp gate is behind him in both shots.
- Galvatron's "if you want to live to see the future" rebuke to Demolishor is a dub addition; in Superlink he simply tells him "good job". (The dub in general frequently adds such threats and insults to Megatron's dialog, as if he wasn't nasty enough already.)
- In Superlink, some internal monologue by Kicker continues the episode's theme of searching for one's place (mentioned earlier as he observes the Omnicons.) It's absent in Energon, leaving this theme rather obscured.
- There is some minor variation in battle scene editing just before Jetfire and Ironhide powerlink. Neither version is particularly clear or preferable.
- The dub replaces some yammering from Prime about how "energon is for life" with some more mundane yammering about how, with the Megatron Sword, "our strength is about equal."
Pain count[]
- "Uh?": 17, not including Demolishor's very justified confusion upon seeing Megatron.
- Stock footage: 1
- We need/they want energon: 7
- Energon is great: 1
- We've gotta: 2
Superlink:
- I'm your opponent: 1, not including Megatron's very awesome "I am your enemy now" to Demolishor.
Animation and/or technical glitches[]
- Inferno is shown saying "There's no way! Never!" in Ironhide's voice.
- The Divebomb that flies up to Megatron in deep space is animated against a blue sky with clouds.
- When Signal Flare is reporting progress on duplication of Megatron's sword to Optimus Prime, Signal Flare's face is entirely red.
- During Scorponok and Tidal Wave's chat, Scorponok's left eye is oddly visible through his visor.
- When Kicker runs into Ocean City's human control room, he says aloud "Hey, you guys, they're overrunning the city!" despite nobody else being in the room.
- Near the end of the episode, Kicker and the Omnicons arrive to back up Optimus Prime. However, none of the other Transformers are actually there as they approach.
- When Megatron activates his emergency space bridge, Kicker covers his face from the glare, but the animation suddenly cuts to him with his arms at his side again.
- The energy sphere from the space bridge extends over Ironhide/Jetfire, making it appear as though the Powerlinxed Autobot would be beamed out as well.
- Tidal Wave is supposed to be stupid, yet has the knowledge to repair Scorponok.
Continuity errors[]
- Why is Earth suddenly referred to as "the planet"?
- Considering the fact every Autobot and Omnicon in Ocean City was armed with a Megatron sword by the end of the episode, Optimus Prime was being rather stingy when he said they would deliver one sword to each city to help in their defence.
- How did Optimus Prime know about Megatron's plan to revive Unicron?
Transformers references[]
Real-world references[]
- While the liquefied energon tank is similar to the CR Chambers and CR tanks from Beast Wars, in visual appearance, it owes more to the Bacta tanks seen in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Miscellaneous notes[]
- The end battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron is quite well animated by the standards of Energon.
- Optimus Prime using his drill leg to kick at Starscream is pretty awesome.
- The scene where Optimus and Megatron clash swords (which eventually causes an explosion) was used in the intro sequence of Superlink.
- Starscream was killed near the end of Armada, after a long and conflicted history with the Decepticons, the Autobots, and the humans. Now he's back, his mind a blank slate. You might think this is leading up to something, but nope, his entire character arc consists of him briefly working for Alpha Q, then being tormented by Megatron, whom he then unquestioningly serves for the rest of the series.
Gallery[]
Episode[]
