info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Cartoon Viewing Club: Zob's Thoughts on "Grimlock's New Brain"
41 views
Skip to first unread message
New and Improved Zobovor
Sep 15, 2017, 6:11:39 PM9/15/17
to
"Grimlock's New Brain" is episode #90 of the original Transformers cartoon, originally airing on November 14, 1986. It showcases the Technobots, 1987 toys who weren't quite in stores when this episode first aired.
Much like the Combaticons, the Technobots had appeared in the series by the time we got to see their origin story ("Money is Everything" comes after this episode chronologically, but was aired first). The episode was written by series production coordinator Paul Davids, who also scripted episodes like "Cosmic Rust, "Chaos," and "Thief in the Night." Paul Davids once said in an interview that he was directed to come up with an origin for the Technobots, but was given no such directive about the Terrorcons, creating a continuity gaffe as we'll discuss below.
Where "Money is Everything" was a beautifully Japanese-animated episode, "Grimlock's New Brain" is a Korean-based AKOM episode, and it shows.
So, our story begins with the Autobots setting up some new generator for Cybertron. It's not really made clear just where the Autobots have been getting their energy from up to this point. When they were on Earth, they seemingly had the entire planet's power supply on tap, if "Enter the Nightbird" is any indication. It's not really made evident in The Transformers: the Movie, but early scripts for the movie suggest that Autobot City itself is a huge energy collector. As for Cybertron, who knows? The Decepticons stole huge amounts of fuel to try to revitalize the planet, but even that could only last for so long. We've already seen one Autobot attempt to install a new power core on Cybertron (in "The Dweller in the Depths") but they had to jettison it by episode's end. So, maybe there's a real energy crisis on Cybertron and we only catch bits and pieces of it.
Sludge is one of the Autobots watching the demonstration and he's colored like Grimlock. He looks like a Grimlock whose forearms are missing. For an AKOM-animated episode, the coloring mistakes are comparatively few and far between in this episode, but this is a pretty noticeable one.
Something kind of interesting is that Broadside, who is also visible in the crowd of Autobots, has received a complete makeover. When we first saw him in robot mode in "Carnage in C-Minor" (also an AKOM episode), he was red with some light grey and dark grey, not really resembling the Hasbro toy (that animation model was actually based on an early toy prototype), but not any more different from his toy than, say, Galvatron or Ratchet or Wheelie. In this episode, though, you wouldn't even recognize him. He's completely different from head to toe, almost entirely dark grey with a totally different robot head (he now wears a mask). This look is actually much closer to the toy sold in 1986, but the fact that he got a totally new animation model is really kind of extraordinary. Apparently there's some untold story about how Broadside got completely rebuilt. It may have something to do with the fact that there's both a Decepticon and an Autobot version of Broadside (an illusion of Broadside appeared to Cyclonus in "The Killing Jar" and Cyclonus boarded him willingly, completely accepting him as a Decepticon transport).
So, for some reason, Rodimus Prime has put Grimlock in charge of throwing the switch to activate the new generator during this illustrious ceremony. Maybe he figured Grimlock would just go on a rampage somewhere and smash stuff with his tail if Roddy didn't give him something to do. In any event, Grimlock spends what feels like several minutes bumbling through the control room, flipping random switches and setting off alarms. "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo," he says, finally smashing in somebody's head with a barbed-wire baseball bat. Wait, wrong show. "This switch real rad! Gonna pull!" he then states. The episode was written in 1986 when such slang was prevalent, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a thing in 2006, when this episode takes place. Anyway, this continues for a bit until Rodimus finally intervenes and just pushes the damn button for him.
The generator is activated and all the Autobots cheer. Broadside is preposterously huge. Like, the size of Devastator. "Why you think Grimlock stupid? Me not stupid! Grimlock smartest Dinobot of all!" he balks, clearly offended. Perceptor reluctantly agrees, but laments that he wishes that all of the Dinobots had more sophisticated brains. "Brains?! Grimlock know how to BASH brains! Maybe bash yours!" he says. He's threatening to kill Perceptor and nobody is doing anything about it. For thematic reasons, Grimlock is extra dumb in this episode. It's episodes like this that made somebody at Hasbro rethink the Intelligence rating on his tech specs, bringing him from a seven rating down to four when they released the Kmart-exclusive Legends toy in 1989.
We cut to a couple of low-life aliens conducting a low-life theft, and it's quite the interesting pairing. We've got the Skuxxoid, who's been in episodes like "Five Faces of Darkness" and "Chaos," and we've also got Slizardo, the little green lizard fellow previously seen in "The Gambler" from season two. Interestingly, Slizardo originally had a change of heart by episode's end, switching sides and betraying the sinister Lord Gyconi so that he could gallivant across the cosmos with the Autobot mercenary Devcon. In this episode, both aliens are working as freelancers for Galvatron. So, either Devcon got sick of Slizardo and dumped him off on an asteroid somewhere, or Slizardo doublecrossed Devcon and killed him. Either is possible.
The Skuxxoid doesn't sound quite right in this episode. I'm pretty sure it's still Hal Rayle performing his voice, but the vocal track is usually heavily flanged. Anyway, he and Slizardo are carrying an unidentified pink substance in a glass jar, and they take a trip into Cybertron's depths to sabotage the new power generator. Ostensibly, Galvatron has hired them to do this because, as organic creatures, they didn't set off Cybertron's security system when they touched down.
Near Cybertron, Sky Lynx and Cosmos are returning from a Decepticon-hunting trip, lamenting that they've missed the ceremony. Suddenly, Cosmos' flight path is disrupted and he begins to lose altitude. (Cosmos' voice isn't flanged and doesn't echo like it usually does. It's still Michael McConnohie providing the voice, but much like the Skuxxoid, it sounds really weird without the electronic amplification.) Anyway, Sky Lynx attempts a rescue but he, too, quickly begins to suffer from the same unknown malady. Suddenly, it's "Desertion of the Dinobots" all over again.
The Autobots down below detect the trouble and rush to the crash site. Springer attempts to tow Sky Lynx to the repair bay, but he suddenly reverts to robot mode and falls. Blaster tries to summon reinforcements but he can't even stay transformed long enough to send out a signal. "This ain't ever happened before, Auto-buddies!" he laments. This isn't quite right, of course, since the Autobots were suffering similar malfunctions in 1985 due to cybertonium deterioration, and Blaster was even there for that. But, still. It's a problem, regardless.
The Autobots consult with Teletraan II, who identifies the new power core as the culprit and warns Rodimus that unless they find the problem and fix it, the Autobots will be forced to abandon Cybertron. Perceptor gives Rodimus a doohickey that makes Star Trek communicator noises and tells him it will lead him to the generator so they don't get lost in the ancient underground tunnels. In the meantime, Perceptor promises to construct a crane to tow Sky Lynx to the repair bay. I guess that means Grapple just didn't survive the Battle of Autobot City. Sad face. I mean, we haven't seen him since the movie, but still. He didn't even get an on-screen death.
The exploration team consists of Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Kup, and Grimlock. Why, after his incredibly poor performance during the ceremony, would they allow this idiot to tag along? It's one thing when they're just cutting the ribbon at a power core unveiling. The worst he could do is accidentally set off a klaxon. Now, when they're in a potentially dangerous situation, with a real threat to their continued existence, why in the hell would they bring him?
Sure enough, Grimlock sees Rodimus with a shiny new toy and wants to play with it. He grabs the electro-map and spins the needle until it snaps right off. Then, like a pissed-off Quintesson, he just chucks the thing. "Stupid machine!" he grouses, which would be sort of a comical meta-commentary if Grimlock wasn't busy ruining everything. When the other Autobots call him out on his idiocy, though, he just storms off in a huff. So, now the Autobots have two problems: they have to repair the generator, but they also have to babysit a sulking Dinobot.
In an extreme close-up of the back of Kup's head, Kup points out that Grimlock could easily trip some of the ancient security defenses (a callback to "Desertion of the Dinobots" part 2) so Rodimus assigns Kup to follow Grimlock and keep him from sticking his fingers into any electrical outlets. As Rodimus and Magnus approach the power core, however, Rodimus starts transforming randomly and seems to be psychologically afflicted as well.
Shockingly, Grimlock manages to stumble directly onto the generator. Kup is completely lost. "What's... going on? You found... what?" asks a feeble-minded Kup. Holy crap, the Autobots are all going to die at this rate. Even Grimlock can tell something is wrong, and he blames the generator as the cause of the problems. Well, Grimlock being Grimlock, he feels like the best thing to do is kick it, whack it with his tail, and proceed to bite the wiring. He's enveloped in ribbons of energy and promptly dies. End of episode.
Wait, sorry. Just a commercial break. My bad. The generator has been stopped, and Kup seems to be recovering quickly. Grimlock, however, has taken a turn for the strange. He clears his throat and starts speaking in a decidedly more refined tone (as voice actor Gregg Berger switches to a characterization closer to Spirit from G.I. Joe). Quite inexplicably, he's suddenly become a genius.
There's kind of an unintentionally funny moment when Grimlock is elaborating about how he used his teeth to cut through the wiring. He gestures as he explains, but some sound effect editor thought his dinosaur arm was making contact with Kup's head, so we hear a "clank" sound. So, basically, Grimlock is slapping Kup upside the noggin while he's trying to explain things. It's sort of like the stormtrooper hitting his head on the door in Star Wars.
So, I'm kind of detecting a pattern. When the power core affected Cosmos and Sky Lynx, they could no longer fly. Springer couldn't lift anything. Blaster couldn't send out signals. Kup couldn't remember what the hell was was going on. Basically, the power core sabotage turned the Autobots into the exact opposites of themselves. It's not a perfect theory, but it does explain why exposure to it might change Grimlock from a total stump into a Dinobot genius. I really do think that's where the writer was going with this idea, anyway.
In-universe, it's a lot harder to explain. We know that Grimlock never really got a true cybernetic personality from Vector Sigma, so what if, when he was biting the cables, they were actually a direct link to Vector Sigma and he was finally granted life for the first time? This theory has its problems, too, but all that intelligence can't have just appeared out of nowhere... it had to have come from somewhere. One more alternative theory is that when Wheeljack and Ratchet first built the Dinobots, they were using existing Autobot personality components, but due to the lack of technology and primitive Earth tools, the connections weren't quite up to par, and the Dinobots tend to act stupid because they're not wired properly. It's possible that Grimlock's latent intelligence, which had been masked up to this point, has finally come to the forefront.
Of course, what we're really seeing here is the Transformers version of "Flowers for Algernon," the short-story-turned-novel about a low-IQ janitor who temporarily becomes brilliant. (Now I'm waiting for the scene where Grimlock tries to put the moves on Arcee.)
So, Rodimus and Magnus accidentally trip one of the automated traps, but Grimlock figures out how to disable it and comes to the rescue. "Grimlock?! What'd you do, bite the controls?!" Rodimus quips. Grimlock responds with an eloquent explanation of how he rescued them. Clearly, there is something not quite right with Grimlock. The moment is interrupted when Ratbat, who has been watching and listening, takes the opportunity to slip away. Rodimus fires, but Ratbat gets away.
Elsewhere, the other Dinobots are frolicking in a lake on Cybertron (?) hunting for fish (?!) when they notice Grimlock and the others passing by. They invite him to go fishing, but Grimlock has got serious things to do. He can finally serve an important function! He can finally help the Autobots in a genuinely useful capacity! He's taken it upon himself to figure out what's wrong with the power core and why it's been malfunctioning, and leaves the Dinobots to their fish. "Him have to do what?" a confused Sludge asks as Grimlock walks away, abandoning his friends and comrades.
The Skuxxoid and Slizardo arrive on Chaar and demand payment from Galvatron. Problem is, Ratbat relays what's been happening with the Autobots; having shut down the power core, the anti-electrons that the Skuxxoid used in his sabotage will dry up without a power supply. Slizardo suggests an alternative source of anti-electrons, as there may be some remaining within the brain of Unicron. (This episode just became about sixteen percent more awesome. It's funny how many episodes Unicron manages to appear in, considering a) he never got a Hasbro toy and b) he's just a psychic severed head.)
So, Grimlock is now effectively leading the investigation into the power core malfunction, with the other Autobots just sort of standing around and watching him be brilliant. He feeds the available data into an analyzer computer and the results suggest anti-electrons are the cause. This seems fairly evident to Perceptor in hindsight. "Now, why didn't I think of that?" Perceptor muses. "Perhaps because your mental abilities are so limited," Grimlock suggests smugly. Hoo boy. He sure isn't making too many new friends. (As an aside, electrons are negatively-charged subatomic particles, so an "anti-" electron would basically be a positron.)
Meanwhile, the Decepticons have loaded up into the mothership and are taking a trip to Unicron. Remember the big, purple mothership that Unicron gave to Galvatron in The Transformers: the Movie? We don't see it all that often (and it's only identified as the mothership once, in "The Rebirth" part 1) but it makes a rare return appearance in this episode. On board are Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Terrorcons. This is the second time we've seen them (they appeared in "Money is Everything") but this makes their first chronological appearance. They're Decepticons by allegiance in this episode, which is a little strange considering that in "Money is Everything," which must come after this story, they're suddenly acting as agents of the Quintessons. It just doesn't make much sense.
Galvatron warns the others that Unicron may still be a dangerous threat, even as a disembodied head. They're going to drain the anti-electrons from his brain, but if he awakens and objects, the Decepticons will require all their strength to beat him. When we previously saw Unicron, he made a deal with Starscream and brought him back to life in "Ghost in the Machine," so we know he's still functional and retains at least some of his awesome power. Galvatron has good reason to be worried. The Terrorcons obediently cut into Unicron's cerebral chamber so that they can begin.
Elsewhere, the Dinobots stumble into a hangar where Grimlock is, rather preposterously, in dinosaur mode while trying to build a new Autobot shuttle. The real reason he's not in robot mode, of course, is because a superintelligent T. rex is a funnier juxtaposition. Anyway, he explains that with Sky Lynx and Cosmos still damaged and Omega Supreme off somewhere on a mission, he took it upon himself to build a new ship. (No mention of Skyfire. I guess we can presume that he's dead, too.) Grimlock asks the others to help (he wants Sludge to hold parts in place while Grimlock welds them together), but the Dinobots are pretty disgusted with Grimlock's new demeanor, and tell him so in no uncertain terms.
Grimlock determines that the anti-electrons used to sabotage the power core came from Unicron's body, and that the Decepticons are likely harvesting more of them from Unicron's head. The Autobots agree (this is the only episode where you'll hear Rodimus Prime say, "Good thinking, Grimlock!") and head for the head. Galvatron unleashes a volley of anti-electrons on their new ship, forcing it to crash on the surface of Unicron's head. Galvatron sends the Terrorcons into the fray, while the Autobots are suffering from anti-electron exposure again. Kup has no recollection of where they are or even who he is. Rodimus, rather interestingly, transforms into Hot Rod's vehicle mode. I don't think this is an animation mistake, either. He actually changes color from dark maroon to light magenta as he transforms, and Dick Gautier's voice inflection goes up an entire octave.
As the Terrorcons engage, the Autobots are woefully ill-prepared to respond. Cutthroat swoops down and knocks Kup to the ground. Hun-Grrr grabs Hot Rod with each of his mouths and threatens to rip him in half. Sinnertwin is busy arguing with himself. "That one mine! Let me!" demands the head with the higher-pitched voice, while the other, deeper-pitched voice counters, "Me want that Autobot!" (The Marvel Productions casting list describes two voice actors providing characterizations for Hun-Grrr as well, but in the finished episodes, only Sinnertwin gets two separate voice actors.) Grimlock, perhaps sensing that the Autobots cannot emerge victorious in this encounter alone, wanders off to parts unknown. To the other Autobots, it just looks like he's abandoning the battle! Cut to commercial.
As we come back, Grimlock starts rummaging around with the available components. Before too long, he's constructed himself a new Transformer. Now, we know from episodes like "The Key to Vector Sigma" that the only way to bring Transformers to life is to give them cybernetic personalities with the Vector Sigma computer. Grimlock hasn't done this. Therefore, we must conclude that the Technobots are incredibly sophisticated artificial intelligence, but are not truly "alive" in the way other Transformers are. Grimlock wasn't given life with Vector Sigma either, though, so I suppose it takes one to know one. Or something. In any event, Nosecone, as he christens his new creation, has been built out of pieces of the chaos-bringer Unicron. The ramifications of this are disturbing, but it's never explored on the show.
"Are... are you my father?" are Nosecone's first words. Grimlock admits that this is true after a fashion, though he'd rather be considered a fellow Autobot soldier. He tells Nosecone to transform to drill tank mode and burrow into Unicron's cranial chamber. Evidently, the only reason he brought Nosecone to life was so Grimlock could get from point a to point b.
Elsewhere, Cyclonus and Scourge have been charged with the task of draining the anti-electrons. Cyclonus removes a cork with a comical "pop" sound effect as the pink, glowing fluid drains into a vial. Unicron becomes aware of this. "Who dares to enter my mind?!" he bellows. Scourge and Cyclonus share a funny moment where Scourge berates, "Now you've done it! You've gone and awakened him!" to which Cyclonus protests, "This was all Galvatron's idea, not mine!" Way to pass the buck, Cyclonus.
As with "Ghost in the Machine," Unicron is voiced in this episode by Roger C. Carmel (the voice actor for Cyclonus), though in this particular episode, his voice hasn't been deepened at all so he doesn't really sound like Unicron very much. Compounding the problem is that Unicron starts cackling like an insane person while he threatens to kill the Decepticons. "Trespassers, prepare to die! Mwu hah hah ha haaaa!" Unicron does not laugh like a psycho.
Grimlock has found enough time to construct and program four more Technobots. I'm thinking he may have found some prefabricated parts somewhere (if you watch the Nosecone scene carefully, there are already drill tank pieces that Grimlock just starts moving around). Maybe the Technobot personalities were prefabricated, too. Anyway, it's Strafe's turn to launch into action, disabling Unicron's defenses on Grimlock's command. After a brief interlude showcasing the Autobots still failing miserably against the Terrorcons, we're back to the Technobots. Apparently, now it's finally time for them to introduce themselves properly, and we get a fairly awkward roll call. When Grimlock proclaims Scattershot to be the Technobot leader, there is some confusion. "I thought YOU were our leader!" protests Scattershot. "I won't be of use to you much longer," Grimlock declares ominously.
Cyclonus delivers the anti-electrons to Galvatron, but a laser blast destroys the glass jar containing them. It's Scattershot, who switches from jet mode and adopts an alternate third mode, a stationary gun emplacement. All the Scramble City leader toys sold by Hasbro up to this point have had an alternate transformation (some, like Hot Spot, actually had several), but none of them had ever appeared in animation until this episode. Weirdly, Scattershot completely changes color when he turns into cannon mode, switching from white and pink to almost entirely dark red. The other Technobots engage, but the moment is spoiled a little by the animation being so terrible. Each of them just sort of melts into his vehicle mode without any real rhyme or reason. It's not really good advertising for the toys.
The episode is starting to fall apart a little bit. The Terrorcons combine, but Hun-Grrr's body actually splits in half, forming the legs to Abominus, while the rest of the combined form appears from somewhere off-screen. I guess the monster heads that form the knees for Abominus confused somebody. Also, some Terrorcon (it doesn't match any previously-established voice characterization; maybe it's Sinnertwin?) commands, "Terrorcons, merge and become Abominus!" after the combination has already been completed. (Also, this is just a stylistic decision, but it bugs me that there was never really any catch phrase established for the later combiner teams. The Aerialbots would consistently use the command "unite" which is clever because it's a subtle allusion to United Airlines. Likewise, the Stunticons would usually "merge," as in two traffic lanes that are merging. None of the other teams really followed up with this, and it would have been so clever if they had.)
Anyway, once the Terrorcons are connected together, the Technobots are forced into a retreat. (The monster claws that end up on Abominus' shoulders apparently function as lasers, because he fires after the Technobots using them as they flee.) The Technobots report to Grimlock that the Terrorcons have "turned into a giant," but Grimlock has already prepared for this contingency. (Interestingly, Grimlock already knows who Abominus is, so even chronologically speaking, this cannot be the Autobots' first encounter with the Terrorcons.) When they combine, Afterburner forms half of Computron's upper body while Strafe forms the other half. AKOM just has no idea how these combiners are supposed to work, it seems.
Computron has a vast computational capability, but he lacks the raw data and intelligence so he's got nothing to process. Grimlock dons a helmet and reveals that he's going to transfer his intellect to Computron, which will cause him to revert to his former state of existence. (This is, incidentally, the same helmet that the Grimlock PVC figure came with when it was sold around 2001 as well as some editions of Masterpiece Grimlock in 2009.) Computron balks at the idea, but Grimlock seems pretty insistent that super intelligence is the only way to beat Abominus (who is dumb as a sack of hammers from all indications). Also, we all know how Flowers for Algernon ended, so there's really no other direction that this episode could go at this point.
With many episodes, the medium is the message, and we all have an implicit understanding that things generally have to go back to the status quo by episode's end (making exceptions for new character introductions, of course). Despite this, it's a little sad when the grumbly-voiced Grimlock proclaims, "Me, Grimlock, say you smart now! Me no can help you any more!" We all saw this coming, but it's still a tiny tragedy.
Computron tangles with Abominus, calculating that intense vibrations will cause his components to separate back into the Terrorcons. The other Decepticons cannot withstand Computron and quickly disengage. We don't actually see the Terrorcons fleeing the head of Unicron, so maybe Galvatron just stranded them there until a Quintesson cruiser happened to come by.
Rodimus gives a smug little speech, now that the power core is actually working the way it's supposed to, the Technobots have bolstered the Autobot forces, and Grimlock is back to being a total idiot. "Me, Grimlock, say it no fun to be genius all of time! Much more better to be good, old, Dinobot Grimlock!" Everybody cheers. End of episode.
This episode only runs about 20 minutes long, so the historical trailer detailing Ultra Magnus is attached to it, with plenty of footage from "Surprise Party" just in case you forgot how horrible that episode was.
In some ways, this is a favorite episode of mine. Turning Grimlock into a super genius results in some fun moments, even if they're a little predictable. Comparisions with "Money is Everything" are inevitable, though, and that episode was a much more natural way of introducing the Technobots. You got to know them and got a real feel for their personalities in a way that you just don't get with this episode.
Zob (used to listen to this episode on audio cassette tape... this is what we did before VCR's)
Much like the Combaticons, the Technobots had appeared in the series by the time we got to see their origin story ("Money is Everything" comes after this episode chronologically, but was aired first). The episode was written by series production coordinator Paul Davids, who also scripted episodes like "Cosmic Rust, "Chaos," and "Thief in the Night." Paul Davids once said in an interview that he was directed to come up with an origin for the Technobots, but was given no such directive about the Terrorcons, creating a continuity gaffe as we'll discuss below.
Where "Money is Everything" was a beautifully Japanese-animated episode, "Grimlock's New Brain" is a Korean-based AKOM episode, and it shows.
So, our story begins with the Autobots setting up some new generator for Cybertron. It's not really made clear just where the Autobots have been getting their energy from up to this point. When they were on Earth, they seemingly had the entire planet's power supply on tap, if "Enter the Nightbird" is any indication. It's not really made evident in The Transformers: the Movie, but early scripts for the movie suggest that Autobot City itself is a huge energy collector. As for Cybertron, who knows? The Decepticons stole huge amounts of fuel to try to revitalize the planet, but even that could only last for so long. We've already seen one Autobot attempt to install a new power core on Cybertron (in "The Dweller in the Depths") but they had to jettison it by episode's end. So, maybe there's a real energy crisis on Cybertron and we only catch bits and pieces of it.
Sludge is one of the Autobots watching the demonstration and he's colored like Grimlock. He looks like a Grimlock whose forearms are missing. For an AKOM-animated episode, the coloring mistakes are comparatively few and far between in this episode, but this is a pretty noticeable one.
Something kind of interesting is that Broadside, who is also visible in the crowd of Autobots, has received a complete makeover. When we first saw him in robot mode in "Carnage in C-Minor" (also an AKOM episode), he was red with some light grey and dark grey, not really resembling the Hasbro toy (that animation model was actually based on an early toy prototype), but not any more different from his toy than, say, Galvatron or Ratchet or Wheelie. In this episode, though, you wouldn't even recognize him. He's completely different from head to toe, almost entirely dark grey with a totally different robot head (he now wears a mask). This look is actually much closer to the toy sold in 1986, but the fact that he got a totally new animation model is really kind of extraordinary. Apparently there's some untold story about how Broadside got completely rebuilt. It may have something to do with the fact that there's both a Decepticon and an Autobot version of Broadside (an illusion of Broadside appeared to Cyclonus in "The Killing Jar" and Cyclonus boarded him willingly, completely accepting him as a Decepticon transport).
So, for some reason, Rodimus Prime has put Grimlock in charge of throwing the switch to activate the new generator during this illustrious ceremony. Maybe he figured Grimlock would just go on a rampage somewhere and smash stuff with his tail if Roddy didn't give him something to do. In any event, Grimlock spends what feels like several minutes bumbling through the control room, flipping random switches and setting off alarms. "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo," he says, finally smashing in somebody's head with a barbed-wire baseball bat. Wait, wrong show. "This switch real rad! Gonna pull!" he then states. The episode was written in 1986 when such slang was prevalent, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a thing in 2006, when this episode takes place. Anyway, this continues for a bit until Rodimus finally intervenes and just pushes the damn button for him.
The generator is activated and all the Autobots cheer. Broadside is preposterously huge. Like, the size of Devastator. "Why you think Grimlock stupid? Me not stupid! Grimlock smartest Dinobot of all!" he balks, clearly offended. Perceptor reluctantly agrees, but laments that he wishes that all of the Dinobots had more sophisticated brains. "Brains?! Grimlock know how to BASH brains! Maybe bash yours!" he says. He's threatening to kill Perceptor and nobody is doing anything about it. For thematic reasons, Grimlock is extra dumb in this episode. It's episodes like this that made somebody at Hasbro rethink the Intelligence rating on his tech specs, bringing him from a seven rating down to four when they released the Kmart-exclusive Legends toy in 1989.
We cut to a couple of low-life aliens conducting a low-life theft, and it's quite the interesting pairing. We've got the Skuxxoid, who's been in episodes like "Five Faces of Darkness" and "Chaos," and we've also got Slizardo, the little green lizard fellow previously seen in "The Gambler" from season two. Interestingly, Slizardo originally had a change of heart by episode's end, switching sides and betraying the sinister Lord Gyconi so that he could gallivant across the cosmos with the Autobot mercenary Devcon. In this episode, both aliens are working as freelancers for Galvatron. So, either Devcon got sick of Slizardo and dumped him off on an asteroid somewhere, or Slizardo doublecrossed Devcon and killed him. Either is possible.
The Skuxxoid doesn't sound quite right in this episode. I'm pretty sure it's still Hal Rayle performing his voice, but the vocal track is usually heavily flanged. Anyway, he and Slizardo are carrying an unidentified pink substance in a glass jar, and they take a trip into Cybertron's depths to sabotage the new power generator. Ostensibly, Galvatron has hired them to do this because, as organic creatures, they didn't set off Cybertron's security system when they touched down.
Near Cybertron, Sky Lynx and Cosmos are returning from a Decepticon-hunting trip, lamenting that they've missed the ceremony. Suddenly, Cosmos' flight path is disrupted and he begins to lose altitude. (Cosmos' voice isn't flanged and doesn't echo like it usually does. It's still Michael McConnohie providing the voice, but much like the Skuxxoid, it sounds really weird without the electronic amplification.) Anyway, Sky Lynx attempts a rescue but he, too, quickly begins to suffer from the same unknown malady. Suddenly, it's "Desertion of the Dinobots" all over again.
The Autobots down below detect the trouble and rush to the crash site. Springer attempts to tow Sky Lynx to the repair bay, but he suddenly reverts to robot mode and falls. Blaster tries to summon reinforcements but he can't even stay transformed long enough to send out a signal. "This ain't ever happened before, Auto-buddies!" he laments. This isn't quite right, of course, since the Autobots were suffering similar malfunctions in 1985 due to cybertonium deterioration, and Blaster was even there for that. But, still. It's a problem, regardless.
The Autobots consult with Teletraan II, who identifies the new power core as the culprit and warns Rodimus that unless they find the problem and fix it, the Autobots will be forced to abandon Cybertron. Perceptor gives Rodimus a doohickey that makes Star Trek communicator noises and tells him it will lead him to the generator so they don't get lost in the ancient underground tunnels. In the meantime, Perceptor promises to construct a crane to tow Sky Lynx to the repair bay. I guess that means Grapple just didn't survive the Battle of Autobot City. Sad face. I mean, we haven't seen him since the movie, but still. He didn't even get an on-screen death.
The exploration team consists of Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Kup, and Grimlock. Why, after his incredibly poor performance during the ceremony, would they allow this idiot to tag along? It's one thing when they're just cutting the ribbon at a power core unveiling. The worst he could do is accidentally set off a klaxon. Now, when they're in a potentially dangerous situation, with a real threat to their continued existence, why in the hell would they bring him?
Sure enough, Grimlock sees Rodimus with a shiny new toy and wants to play with it. He grabs the electro-map and spins the needle until it snaps right off. Then, like a pissed-off Quintesson, he just chucks the thing. "Stupid machine!" he grouses, which would be sort of a comical meta-commentary if Grimlock wasn't busy ruining everything. When the other Autobots call him out on his idiocy, though, he just storms off in a huff. So, now the Autobots have two problems: they have to repair the generator, but they also have to babysit a sulking Dinobot.
In an extreme close-up of the back of Kup's head, Kup points out that Grimlock could easily trip some of the ancient security defenses (a callback to "Desertion of the Dinobots" part 2) so Rodimus assigns Kup to follow Grimlock and keep him from sticking his fingers into any electrical outlets. As Rodimus and Magnus approach the power core, however, Rodimus starts transforming randomly and seems to be psychologically afflicted as well.
Shockingly, Grimlock manages to stumble directly onto the generator. Kup is completely lost. "What's... going on? You found... what?" asks a feeble-minded Kup. Holy crap, the Autobots are all going to die at this rate. Even Grimlock can tell something is wrong, and he blames the generator as the cause of the problems. Well, Grimlock being Grimlock, he feels like the best thing to do is kick it, whack it with his tail, and proceed to bite the wiring. He's enveloped in ribbons of energy and promptly dies. End of episode.
Wait, sorry. Just a commercial break. My bad. The generator has been stopped, and Kup seems to be recovering quickly. Grimlock, however, has taken a turn for the strange. He clears his throat and starts speaking in a decidedly more refined tone (as voice actor Gregg Berger switches to a characterization closer to Spirit from G.I. Joe). Quite inexplicably, he's suddenly become a genius.
There's kind of an unintentionally funny moment when Grimlock is elaborating about how he used his teeth to cut through the wiring. He gestures as he explains, but some sound effect editor thought his dinosaur arm was making contact with Kup's head, so we hear a "clank" sound. So, basically, Grimlock is slapping Kup upside the noggin while he's trying to explain things. It's sort of like the stormtrooper hitting his head on the door in Star Wars.
So, I'm kind of detecting a pattern. When the power core affected Cosmos and Sky Lynx, they could no longer fly. Springer couldn't lift anything. Blaster couldn't send out signals. Kup couldn't remember what the hell was was going on. Basically, the power core sabotage turned the Autobots into the exact opposites of themselves. It's not a perfect theory, but it does explain why exposure to it might change Grimlock from a total stump into a Dinobot genius. I really do think that's where the writer was going with this idea, anyway.
In-universe, it's a lot harder to explain. We know that Grimlock never really got a true cybernetic personality from Vector Sigma, so what if, when he was biting the cables, they were actually a direct link to Vector Sigma and he was finally granted life for the first time? This theory has its problems, too, but all that intelligence can't have just appeared out of nowhere... it had to have come from somewhere. One more alternative theory is that when Wheeljack and Ratchet first built the Dinobots, they were using existing Autobot personality components, but due to the lack of technology and primitive Earth tools, the connections weren't quite up to par, and the Dinobots tend to act stupid because they're not wired properly. It's possible that Grimlock's latent intelligence, which had been masked up to this point, has finally come to the forefront.
Of course, what we're really seeing here is the Transformers version of "Flowers for Algernon," the short-story-turned-novel about a low-IQ janitor who temporarily becomes brilliant. (Now I'm waiting for the scene where Grimlock tries to put the moves on Arcee.)
So, Rodimus and Magnus accidentally trip one of the automated traps, but Grimlock figures out how to disable it and comes to the rescue. "Grimlock?! What'd you do, bite the controls?!" Rodimus quips. Grimlock responds with an eloquent explanation of how he rescued them. Clearly, there is something not quite right with Grimlock. The moment is interrupted when Ratbat, who has been watching and listening, takes the opportunity to slip away. Rodimus fires, but Ratbat gets away.
Elsewhere, the other Dinobots are frolicking in a lake on Cybertron (?) hunting for fish (?!) when they notice Grimlock and the others passing by. They invite him to go fishing, but Grimlock has got serious things to do. He can finally serve an important function! He can finally help the Autobots in a genuinely useful capacity! He's taken it upon himself to figure out what's wrong with the power core and why it's been malfunctioning, and leaves the Dinobots to their fish. "Him have to do what?" a confused Sludge asks as Grimlock walks away, abandoning his friends and comrades.
The Skuxxoid and Slizardo arrive on Chaar and demand payment from Galvatron. Problem is, Ratbat relays what's been happening with the Autobots; having shut down the power core, the anti-electrons that the Skuxxoid used in his sabotage will dry up without a power supply. Slizardo suggests an alternative source of anti-electrons, as there may be some remaining within the brain of Unicron. (This episode just became about sixteen percent more awesome. It's funny how many episodes Unicron manages to appear in, considering a) he never got a Hasbro toy and b) he's just a psychic severed head.)
So, Grimlock is now effectively leading the investigation into the power core malfunction, with the other Autobots just sort of standing around and watching him be brilliant. He feeds the available data into an analyzer computer and the results suggest anti-electrons are the cause. This seems fairly evident to Perceptor in hindsight. "Now, why didn't I think of that?" Perceptor muses. "Perhaps because your mental abilities are so limited," Grimlock suggests smugly. Hoo boy. He sure isn't making too many new friends. (As an aside, electrons are negatively-charged subatomic particles, so an "anti-" electron would basically be a positron.)
Meanwhile, the Decepticons have loaded up into the mothership and are taking a trip to Unicron. Remember the big, purple mothership that Unicron gave to Galvatron in The Transformers: the Movie? We don't see it all that often (and it's only identified as the mothership once, in "The Rebirth" part 1) but it makes a rare return appearance in this episode. On board are Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Terrorcons. This is the second time we've seen them (they appeared in "Money is Everything") but this makes their first chronological appearance. They're Decepticons by allegiance in this episode, which is a little strange considering that in "Money is Everything," which must come after this story, they're suddenly acting as agents of the Quintessons. It just doesn't make much sense.
Galvatron warns the others that Unicron may still be a dangerous threat, even as a disembodied head. They're going to drain the anti-electrons from his brain, but if he awakens and objects, the Decepticons will require all their strength to beat him. When we previously saw Unicron, he made a deal with Starscream and brought him back to life in "Ghost in the Machine," so we know he's still functional and retains at least some of his awesome power. Galvatron has good reason to be worried. The Terrorcons obediently cut into Unicron's cerebral chamber so that they can begin.
Elsewhere, the Dinobots stumble into a hangar where Grimlock is, rather preposterously, in dinosaur mode while trying to build a new Autobot shuttle. The real reason he's not in robot mode, of course, is because a superintelligent T. rex is a funnier juxtaposition. Anyway, he explains that with Sky Lynx and Cosmos still damaged and Omega Supreme off somewhere on a mission, he took it upon himself to build a new ship. (No mention of Skyfire. I guess we can presume that he's dead, too.) Grimlock asks the others to help (he wants Sludge to hold parts in place while Grimlock welds them together), but the Dinobots are pretty disgusted with Grimlock's new demeanor, and tell him so in no uncertain terms.
Grimlock determines that the anti-electrons used to sabotage the power core came from Unicron's body, and that the Decepticons are likely harvesting more of them from Unicron's head. The Autobots agree (this is the only episode where you'll hear Rodimus Prime say, "Good thinking, Grimlock!") and head for the head. Galvatron unleashes a volley of anti-electrons on their new ship, forcing it to crash on the surface of Unicron's head. Galvatron sends the Terrorcons into the fray, while the Autobots are suffering from anti-electron exposure again. Kup has no recollection of where they are or even who he is. Rodimus, rather interestingly, transforms into Hot Rod's vehicle mode. I don't think this is an animation mistake, either. He actually changes color from dark maroon to light magenta as he transforms, and Dick Gautier's voice inflection goes up an entire octave.
As the Terrorcons engage, the Autobots are woefully ill-prepared to respond. Cutthroat swoops down and knocks Kup to the ground. Hun-Grrr grabs Hot Rod with each of his mouths and threatens to rip him in half. Sinnertwin is busy arguing with himself. "That one mine! Let me!" demands the head with the higher-pitched voice, while the other, deeper-pitched voice counters, "Me want that Autobot!" (The Marvel Productions casting list describes two voice actors providing characterizations for Hun-Grrr as well, but in the finished episodes, only Sinnertwin gets two separate voice actors.) Grimlock, perhaps sensing that the Autobots cannot emerge victorious in this encounter alone, wanders off to parts unknown. To the other Autobots, it just looks like he's abandoning the battle! Cut to commercial.
As we come back, Grimlock starts rummaging around with the available components. Before too long, he's constructed himself a new Transformer. Now, we know from episodes like "The Key to Vector Sigma" that the only way to bring Transformers to life is to give them cybernetic personalities with the Vector Sigma computer. Grimlock hasn't done this. Therefore, we must conclude that the Technobots are incredibly sophisticated artificial intelligence, but are not truly "alive" in the way other Transformers are. Grimlock wasn't given life with Vector Sigma either, though, so I suppose it takes one to know one. Or something. In any event, Nosecone, as he christens his new creation, has been built out of pieces of the chaos-bringer Unicron. The ramifications of this are disturbing, but it's never explored on the show.
"Are... are you my father?" are Nosecone's first words. Grimlock admits that this is true after a fashion, though he'd rather be considered a fellow Autobot soldier. He tells Nosecone to transform to drill tank mode and burrow into Unicron's cranial chamber. Evidently, the only reason he brought Nosecone to life was so Grimlock could get from point a to point b.
Elsewhere, Cyclonus and Scourge have been charged with the task of draining the anti-electrons. Cyclonus removes a cork with a comical "pop" sound effect as the pink, glowing fluid drains into a vial. Unicron becomes aware of this. "Who dares to enter my mind?!" he bellows. Scourge and Cyclonus share a funny moment where Scourge berates, "Now you've done it! You've gone and awakened him!" to which Cyclonus protests, "This was all Galvatron's idea, not mine!" Way to pass the buck, Cyclonus.
As with "Ghost in the Machine," Unicron is voiced in this episode by Roger C. Carmel (the voice actor for Cyclonus), though in this particular episode, his voice hasn't been deepened at all so he doesn't really sound like Unicron very much. Compounding the problem is that Unicron starts cackling like an insane person while he threatens to kill the Decepticons. "Trespassers, prepare to die! Mwu hah hah ha haaaa!" Unicron does not laugh like a psycho.
Grimlock has found enough time to construct and program four more Technobots. I'm thinking he may have found some prefabricated parts somewhere (if you watch the Nosecone scene carefully, there are already drill tank pieces that Grimlock just starts moving around). Maybe the Technobot personalities were prefabricated, too. Anyway, it's Strafe's turn to launch into action, disabling Unicron's defenses on Grimlock's command. After a brief interlude showcasing the Autobots still failing miserably against the Terrorcons, we're back to the Technobots. Apparently, now it's finally time for them to introduce themselves properly, and we get a fairly awkward roll call. When Grimlock proclaims Scattershot to be the Technobot leader, there is some confusion. "I thought YOU were our leader!" protests Scattershot. "I won't be of use to you much longer," Grimlock declares ominously.
Cyclonus delivers the anti-electrons to Galvatron, but a laser blast destroys the glass jar containing them. It's Scattershot, who switches from jet mode and adopts an alternate third mode, a stationary gun emplacement. All the Scramble City leader toys sold by Hasbro up to this point have had an alternate transformation (some, like Hot Spot, actually had several), but none of them had ever appeared in animation until this episode. Weirdly, Scattershot completely changes color when he turns into cannon mode, switching from white and pink to almost entirely dark red. The other Technobots engage, but the moment is spoiled a little by the animation being so terrible. Each of them just sort of melts into his vehicle mode without any real rhyme or reason. It's not really good advertising for the toys.
The episode is starting to fall apart a little bit. The Terrorcons combine, but Hun-Grrr's body actually splits in half, forming the legs to Abominus, while the rest of the combined form appears from somewhere off-screen. I guess the monster heads that form the knees for Abominus confused somebody. Also, some Terrorcon (it doesn't match any previously-established voice characterization; maybe it's Sinnertwin?) commands, "Terrorcons, merge and become Abominus!" after the combination has already been completed. (Also, this is just a stylistic decision, but it bugs me that there was never really any catch phrase established for the later combiner teams. The Aerialbots would consistently use the command "unite" which is clever because it's a subtle allusion to United Airlines. Likewise, the Stunticons would usually "merge," as in two traffic lanes that are merging. None of the other teams really followed up with this, and it would have been so clever if they had.)
Anyway, once the Terrorcons are connected together, the Technobots are forced into a retreat. (The monster claws that end up on Abominus' shoulders apparently function as lasers, because he fires after the Technobots using them as they flee.) The Technobots report to Grimlock that the Terrorcons have "turned into a giant," but Grimlock has already prepared for this contingency. (Interestingly, Grimlock already knows who Abominus is, so even chronologically speaking, this cannot be the Autobots' first encounter with the Terrorcons.) When they combine, Afterburner forms half of Computron's upper body while Strafe forms the other half. AKOM just has no idea how these combiners are supposed to work, it seems.
Computron has a vast computational capability, but he lacks the raw data and intelligence so he's got nothing to process. Grimlock dons a helmet and reveals that he's going to transfer his intellect to Computron, which will cause him to revert to his former state of existence. (This is, incidentally, the same helmet that the Grimlock PVC figure came with when it was sold around 2001 as well as some editions of Masterpiece Grimlock in 2009.) Computron balks at the idea, but Grimlock seems pretty insistent that super intelligence is the only way to beat Abominus (who is dumb as a sack of hammers from all indications). Also, we all know how Flowers for Algernon ended, so there's really no other direction that this episode could go at this point.
With many episodes, the medium is the message, and we all have an implicit understanding that things generally have to go back to the status quo by episode's end (making exceptions for new character introductions, of course). Despite this, it's a little sad when the grumbly-voiced Grimlock proclaims, "Me, Grimlock, say you smart now! Me no can help you any more!" We all saw this coming, but it's still a tiny tragedy.
Computron tangles with Abominus, calculating that intense vibrations will cause his components to separate back into the Terrorcons. The other Decepticons cannot withstand Computron and quickly disengage. We don't actually see the Terrorcons fleeing the head of Unicron, so maybe Galvatron just stranded them there until a Quintesson cruiser happened to come by.
Rodimus gives a smug little speech, now that the power core is actually working the way it's supposed to, the Technobots have bolstered the Autobot forces, and Grimlock is back to being a total idiot. "Me, Grimlock, say it no fun to be genius all of time! Much more better to be good, old, Dinobot Grimlock!" Everybody cheers. End of episode.
This episode only runs about 20 minutes long, so the historical trailer detailing Ultra Magnus is attached to it, with plenty of footage from "Surprise Party" just in case you forgot how horrible that episode was.
In some ways, this is a favorite episode of mine. Turning Grimlock into a super genius results in some fun moments, even if they're a little predictable. Comparisions with "Money is Everything" are inevitable, though, and that episode was a much more natural way of introducing the Technobots. You got to know them and got a real feel for their personalities in a way that you just don't get with this episode.
Zob (used to listen to this episode on audio cassette tape... this is what we did before VCR's)
Gustavo Wombat
Sep 22, 2017, 3:19:21 AM9/22/17
to
New and Improved Zobovor <zobo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "Grimlock's New Brain" is episode #90 of the original Transformers
> cartoon, originally airing on November 14, 1986. It showcases the
> Technobots, 1987 toys who weren't quite in stores when this episode first aired.
>
> Much like the Combaticons, the Technobots had appeared in the series by
> the time we got to see their origin story ("Money is Everything" comes
> after this episode chronologically, but was aired first).
Are you sure about this? TFWiki has this on the 14th, and Money Is
> "Grimlock's New Brain" is episode #90 of the original Transformers
> cartoon, originally airing on November 14, 1986. It showcases the
> Technobots, 1987 toys who weren't quite in stores when this episode first aired.
>
> Much like the Combaticons, the Technobots had appeared in the series by
> the time we got to see their origin story ("Money is Everything" comes
> after this episode chronologically, but was aired first).
Everything on the 17th of November, 1986. I trust you more than TFWiki most
of the time, but are you sure?
When I saw these dates, I was slightly horrified -- it was like something
was wrong in the world.
> Where "Money is Everything" was a beautifully Japanese-animated episode,
> "Grimlock's New Brain" is a Korean-based AKOM episode, and it shows.
in quality is pretty much moot.
> So, our story begins with the Autobots setting up some new generator for
> we only catch bits and pieces of it.
There have been enough signs of an energy crisis from MTMTE onwards through
The Rebirth that I don't doubt it. There is so little energy the metal of
the planet has lost its golden shine!
> Sludge is one of the Autobots watching the demonstration and he's colored
> like Grimlock. He looks like a Grimlock whose forearms are missing. For
> an AKOM-animated episode, the coloring mistakes are comparatively few and
> far between in this episode, but this is a pretty noticeable one.
better AKOM episodes, isn't it?
> So, for some reason, Rodimus Prime has put Grimlock in charge of throwing
> the switch to activate the new generator during this illustrious ceremony.
spinning wheel. This episode has a lot of this, and there's no reason for
Grimlock to throw the switch other than to kill a few minutes of screen
time. We know he's dumb, and he could have just made a dumb statement.
> The generator is activated and all the Autobots cheer. Broadside is
> preposterously huge. Like, the size of Devastator. "Why you think
> Grimlock stupid? Me not stupid! Grimlock smartest Dinobot of all!" he
> balks, clearly offended.
> Ostensibly, Galvatron has hired them to do this because, as organic
> creatures, they didn't set off Cybertron's security system when they touched down.
>
> The Autobots consult with Teletraan II, who identifies the new power core
> as the culprit and warns Rodimus that unless they find the problem and
> fix it, the Autobots will be forced to abandon Cybertron. Perceptor
> gives Rodimus a doohickey that makes Star Trek communicator noises and
> tells him it will lead him to the generator so they don't get lost in the
> ancient underground tunnels. In the meantime, Perceptor promises to
> construct a crane to tow Sky Lynx to the repair bay. I guess that means
> Grapple just didn't survive the Battle of Autobot City. Sad face. I
> mean, we haven't seen him since the movie, but still. He didn't even get
> an on-screen death.
> The exploration team consists of Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Kup, and
> Grimlock. Why, after his incredibly poor performance during the
> ceremony, would they allow this idiot to tag along? It's one thing when
> they're just cutting the ribbon at a power core unveiling. The worst he
> could do is accidentally set off a klaxon. Now, when they're in a
> potentially dangerous situation, with a real threat to their continued
> existence, why in the hell would they bring him?
Rodimus quickly gave him more responsibility to get his self-esteem back.
And Grimlock blows it.
> Shockingly, Grimlock manages to stumble directly onto the generator. Kup
> is completely lost. "What's... going on? You found... what?" asks a feeble-minded Kup.
> So, I'm kind of detecting a pattern. When the power core affected Cosmos
> and Sky Lynx, they could no longer fly. Springer couldn't lift anything.
> Blaster couldn't send out signals. Kup couldn't remember what the hell
> was was going on. Basically, the power core sabotage turned the Autobots
> into the exact opposites of themselves. It's not a perfect theory, but
> it does explain why exposure to it might change Grimlock from a total
> stump into a Dinobot genius. I really do think that's where the writer
> was going with this idea, anyway.
useful Autobots...
Wait, are you claiming that Kup can usually remember what the hell is going
on?
> In-universe, it's a lot harder to explain. We know that Grimlock never
> really got a true cybernetic personality from Vector Sigma, so what if,
> when he was biting the cables, they were actually a direct link to Vector
> Sigma and he was finally granted life for the first time? This theory
> has its problems, too, but all that intelligence can't have just appeared
> out of nowhere... it had to have come from somewhere.
from.
> Elsewhere, the other Dinobots are frolicking in a lake on Cybertron (?)
> hunting for fish (?!) when they notice Grimlock and the others passing
> by. They invite him to go fishing, but Grimlock has got serious things
> to do. He can finally serve an important function! He can finally help
> the Autobots in a genuinely useful capacity! He's taken it upon himself
> to figure out what's wrong with the power core and why it's been
> malfunctioning, and leaves the Dinobots to their fish. "Him have to do
> what?" a confused Sludge asks as Grimlock walks away, abandoning his friends and comrades.
opportunity too
> Terrorcons. This is the second time we've seen them (they appeared in
> "Money is Everything") but this makes their first chronological
> appearance. They're Decepticons by allegiance in this episode, which is
> a little strange considering that in "Money is Everything," which must
> come after this story, they're suddenly acting as agents of the
> Quintessons. It just doesn't make much sense.
install something that prevents them from staying in combined mode.
> Rodimus, rather interestingly, transforms into Hot Rod's vehicle mode. I
> don't think this is an animation mistake, either. He actually changes
> color from dark maroon to light magenta as he transforms, and Dick
> Gautier's voice inflection goes up an entire octave.
anti-electrons are part of Unicron, and Unicron and the Matrix are
basically opposites, so the enti-electrons can disrupt the effects of the
matrix.
But then, Unicron should have used that to defend himself from the matrix.
Never mind, it doesn't make sense after all.
Hmm. If Unicron is filled with anti-electrons, and anti-electrons can
reverse a Transformer's attributes, does that mean that he might have once
been good, and infected with anti-electrons?
> As we come back, Grimlock starts rummaging around with the available
> components. Before too long, he's constructed himself a new Transformer.
> Now, we know from episodes like "The Key to Vector Sigma" that the only
> way to bring Transformers to life is to give them cybernetic
> personalities with the Vector Sigma computer. Grimlock hasn't done this.
acceptance of these different types of transformers, that I think the
Vector Sigma method is just a way the Autobots knew. Dinobots were just
built. Skorponok is a guy in a suit. Technobots will be built and infected
with Unicron intelligence. Everyone loves Nightbird. Megatron was willing
to draft Jetfire into the Decepticons before he even knew he was
Cybertronian.
If Wheeljack was on the trip to Cybertron in "The Key To Vector Sigma", the
Aerialbots might be only slightly more intelligent than Dinobots,
>Therefore, we must conclude that the Technobots are incredibly
> sophisticated artificial intelligence, but are not truly "alive" in the
> way other Transformers are. Grimlock wasn't given life with Vector Sigma
> either, though, so I suppose it takes one to know one. Or something. In
> any event, Nosecone, as he christens his new creation, has been built out
> of pieces of the chaos-bringer Unicron. The ramifications of this are
> disturbing, but it's never explored on the show.
> "Are... are you my father?" are Nosecone's first words. Grimlock admits
> that this is true after a fashion, though he'd rather be considered a
> fellow Autobot soldier. He tells Nosecone to transform to drill tank
> mode and burrow into Unicron's cranial chamber. Evidently, the only
> reason he brought Nosecone to life was so Grimlock could get from point a to point b.
>
> Grimlock has found enough time to construct and program four more
> Technobots. I'm thinking he may have found some prefabricated parts
> somewhere (if you watch the Nosecone scene carefully, there are already
> drill tank pieces that Grimlock just starts moving around).
was devouring and destroying Transformers. When Unicron was destroyed,
there was no mass exodus beforehand, so the “prefabricated”parts might be
the remains of Unicron’s other captives.
The Technobots might not just be powered by Unicron’s brain, they might be
the reanimated corpses of dead transformers.
> Anyway, once the Terrorcons are connected together, the Technobots are
> forced into a retreat. (The monster claws that end up on Abominus'
> shoulders apparently function as lasers, because he fires after the
> Technobots using them as they flee.) The Technobots report to Grimlock
> that the Terrorcons have "turned into a giant," but Grimlock has already
> prepared for this contingency. (Interestingly, Grimlock already knows
> who Abominus is, so even chronologically speaking, this cannot be the
> Autobots' first encounter with the Terrorcons.)
were obviously a combined team. Just like the ones he built.
> Computron has a vast computational capability, but he lacks the raw data
> and intelligence so he's got nothing to process. Grimlock dons a helmet
> and reveals that he's going to transfer his intellect to Computron, which
> will cause him to revert to his former state of existence. (This is,
> incidentally, the same helmet that the Grimlock PVC figure came with when
> it was sold around 2001 as well as some editions of Masterpiece Grimlock
> in 2009.) Computron balks at the idea, but Grimlock seems pretty
> insistent that super intelligence is the only way to beat Abominus (who
> is dumb as a sack of hammers from all indications). Also, we all know
> how Flowers for Algernon ended, so there's really no other direction that
> this episode could go at this point.
It might have been fun in Grimlock remained smart — maybe replace
Perceptor, although neither of them had a toy out then, did they?
> In some ways, this is a favorite episode of mine. Turning Grimlock into
> a super genius results in some fun moments, even if they're a little
> predictable. Comparisions with "Money is Everything" are inevitable,
> though, and that episode was a much more natural way of introducing the
> Technobots. You got to know them and got a real feel for their
> personalities in a way that you just don't get with this episode.
introduction to the characters. An origin episode doesn’t have time to
really introduce the characters, though, since the creation is always going
to be at the climax of the episode.
--
I wish I was a mole in the ground.
New and Improved Zobovor
Sep 22, 2017, 6:50:33 PM9/22/17
to
On Friday, September 22, 2017 at 1:19:21 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> Are you sure about this? TFWiki has this on the 14th, and Money Is
> Everything on the 17th of November, 1986. I trust you more than TFWiki most
> of the time, but are you sure?
I've got fuzzy Transformers memories and I've got really clear ones. This is definitely one of the clear ones. However, I suspect that different television stations aired syndicated episodes on different days, depending on what order they showed the episodes in.
> Are you sure about this? TFWiki has this on the 14th, and Money Is
> Everything on the 17th of November, 1986. I trust you more than TFWiki most
> of the time, but are you sure?
The order that the Sci-Fi Channel played the episodes in during the 1990's matched my memory of the order in which I saw the episodes when they were first broadcast, so I suspect they were going off the "correct" order. There are so many ways to structure the episodes (chronologically, production order, broadcast order, random DVD order) that I think it's always going to be a source of confusion.
I will say that by season three, I was watching the show religiously and I never missed an episode, even when the show was in repeats. "Money is Everything" is definitely the first time I ever saw the Technobots on TV. I actually remember writing down as many of the character names on a Post-It Note and wanting to share them with my best friend Nicky Kohout during recess that day. (I remember hearing the Terrorcon combiner name as "Abubbinus.") Instead of running around and getting exercise, we would sit on the playground equipment and talk about Transformers just about every day.
> This might be why I don't notice a huge drop in quality -- it's one of the
> better AKOM episodes, isn't it?
> What sparked Grimlock's outburst? I didn't see anything.
>> they didn't set off Cybertron's security system when they touched down.
>
> Was this mentioned? It makes sense, but I don't recall anything.
> Grimlock was feeling bad and useless because he screws everything up, so
> Rodimus quickly gave him more responsibility to get his self-esteem back.
> And Grimlock blows it.
> Wait, are you claiming that Kup can usually remember what the hell is going
> on?
> Back in Transformers: The Movie, Unicron had smelting pits inside him and
> was devouring and destroying Transformers. When Unicron was destroyed,
> there was no mass exodus beforehand, so the “prefabricated” parts might be
> the remains of Unicron’s other captives.
> The Technobots might not just be powered by Unicron’s brain, they might be
> the reanimated corpses of dead transformers.
> It might have been fun in Grimlock remained smart — maybe replace
> Perceptor, although neither of them had a toy out then, did they?
Zob (seriously, it's one of the best episodes ever)
0 new messages