Head Formation of Friendship



The Headmasters come to Highbrow's rescue when the Decepticons invade the beautiful world of Paradise.


 * English/Malay dub name: "The Friendship of the Four Headmasters"

Detailed synopsis
The Autobots aboard Battleship Maximus are still lagging behind in their pursuit of the Decepticons on their planet-hopping energy raids, and a restless Chromedome and Hardhead occupy their time by venturing out on the ship's hull to repair a fault in its alarm system. They find that they are unable to fix it themselves, but can't call on Highbrow for his usual technical help, since he is still busy trying to decode Tekna's microfilm. An irritated Chromedome takes out his frustration by punching a pipe, but this jars loose a few components, which drift off into space.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons have landed on the harmonious planet of Paradise, and have begun draining the world's abundant natural energy sources. The Autobots subsequently pinpoint their location, but with Battleship Maximus unable to proceed until Chromedome's repairs are done, Fortress gives Highbrow a reprieve from his codebreaking and sends him on an advance scouting mission with Twincast aboard the Trainbots. As they fly over the planet's jungles, they are approached by Papika, a native girl riding a giant bird, who immediately assumes they are Decepticons. Highbrow convinces her that they are the Decepticons' enemies, and learns from her where the villains are currently based. Investigating solo while Twincast and his cassettes patrol and Papika returns to her village, Highbrow is caught in the hypnotic spell of Mindwipe and captured by the Decepticons.

Back at Papika's village, Battleship Maximus has touched down, and the Autobots have met the natives, led by Papika's father, Polonus. Daniel and Wheelie quickly befriend Papika, who teaches them to fish with their bare hands and trumps Wheelie's power to transform with her ability to communicate with animals. Then, just as Twincast reports Highbrow's capture, Sixshot attacks the village, setting the surrounding jungle on fire. Battleship Maximus blocks the flames, safeguarding the natives, but is unable to move, leaving the three Headmasters to set out alone to try and rescue Highbrow.

Highbrow, meanwhile, has been bound in chains beneath a waterfall by the Decepticons, and a recording from Galvatron is delivered to the Headmasters en route by Ratbat, warning them to keep away. Being themselves, of course, the Headmasters plough on through anyway, and fortunately arrive just as Autobot reinforcements in the form of the Monsterbots, Technobots and Trainbots show up. Even under cover of the ensuing battle, however, they are unable to break the chains that hold Highbrow, and the quartet use the Head Formation to boost their energy, giving Highbrow the strength to break his bonds. Flame blasts from the Monsterbots then ignite the Decepticons' energon cube stockpiles, and the defeated villains flee aboard Scorponok. The Autobots say their goodbyes, and head off in pursuit of their enemies once again.

Stats
Original airdate: 18th December 1987

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * When the Autobots meet the natives at Papika's village, Computron and Raiden are drawn the same size as Fortress and the Monsterbots.

Transformers references

 * The Monsterbots were last seen in "Rebellion on Planet Beest", where they were left to guard the titular world. They have obviously since been called away from the duty - notably, the Transformers revisisted Beest in the manga Great Decisive Battle of the Beast Lifeforms, which was not definitively chronologically placed, and could easily have occurred during the current planet-hopping arc. Hence, perhaps the Monsterbots joined up with the Battleship Maximus crew after that story.
 * The Headmasters' power up ability, the Head Formation. was introduced fully in the previous episode.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * This episode originally aired in Japan as part of a quadruple bill alongside "Battle for Defense of the False Planet", "Find MegaZarak's Weak Spot!!" and "Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship" on December 18th.