Where Is Thy Sting?



'''A crazed Wasp finds his way to Earth to exact his revenge on Bumblebee... but he doesn't count on the Elite Guard following him.'''

Synopsis


The Elite Guard, without Ultra Magnus, travel through space to Earth, searching for the escaped Wasp, who is holding a grudge against Bumblebee. Longarm (Shockwave), fearing that his cover will be blown, requests that that they return to Cybertron.

Meanwhile, at the factory, Bumblebee is playing a video game of Ninja Gladiator, much to Prime's chagrin. He tells Bumblebee that he was supposed to be on monitor duty. But Bumblebee was bored from lack of Decepticon activity. Optimus reminds him that the Autobots are still waiting to contact Cybertron and warn the locals about Longarm's secret. Prime detects a visitor and orders Bumblebee to stay on the monitor while the others investigate. Bumblebee goes back to his game. Meanwhile, Sentinel Prime and Jazz land on Earth and discover rain. Sentinel orders Jazz to contact reinforcements and search for Wasp. Sentinel finds out that he can't travel in the rain on vehicle mode and decides to travel on foot...er, servo. While Bumblebee is still playing his game, thunder crashes, and the power goes out. A red light turns on, and a voice calls out to Bumblebee. Soon, Bumblebee was standing face-to-face with Wasp! Bumblebee tries to reason with Wasp, but to no avail. Bumblebee tries to call the others, but was quickly stopped by Wasp. Wasp uses a weapon to switch bodies with Bumblebee.

Later, Bumblebee regains consciousness in front of the other Autobots. Bumblebee tries to convince the others that he and Wasp switched places, but they don't believe him. Bumblebee shoots out the lights and makes a break for it. The Autobots begin to pursue him, only to run into Sentinel an Jazz. Optimus and Sentinel have their usual banter, up to the point when Optimus tells him about the identity of the real spy. Pigheaded as usual, Sentinel refused to believe him. Soon, everyone, except for Wasp, sets out to find Bumblebee.

Back on Cybertron, Shockwave tries to contact Megatron, but no response came, so he leaves a message. Back on Earth, as Optimus and Rachet search for Bumblebee, two jets soar overhead. They suspect the jets as Decepticons. Later, Bumblebee tries to wash off his green color. The two jets land and transform into two robots: Jetfire and Jetstorm. The two robots attack Bumblebee, only to be stopped by Rachet. Later, Optimus joins the fight. Jetfire and Jetstorm attack them. Then they merge into Safeguard. Sentinel arrives to break up the fight and informs Optimus and Rachet that the two Autobots are working with him. Soon, they resume the search for Bumblebee.

Wasp is back at the base playing Bumblebee's game, but keeps losing. Wasp decides to look up Bumblebee's files. Later, Bumblebee is still on the lam until he happens upon a hot dog cart. He tries to use mustard to make himself yellow again, until Prowl and Bulkhead interfere. As Bulkhead is about to throw his wrecking ball at him, Bumblebee reminds him about the times he and Bulkhead had at Autoboot camp. Bulkhead was instantly convinced. Jetfire and Jetstorm arrive, Bumblebee is afraid from his previous encounter with them. Prowl assures him that the brothers are on their side. The brothers think Prowl and Bulkhead are traitors.

The other Autobots race to the scene, with Sentinel still not used to driving in the rain. When they all meet at the rendevous point, they found that Wasp is back at the hideout. They head there and question Wasp, who uses Bumblebee's files to convince them. Bulkhead comes up with a plan to tell Wasp from Bumblebee by having a challenge on his video game. But Wasp exposes his true nature to everyone, since Bumblebee is the better player. Wasp threatens to kill Bumblebee if the others get to close. Wasp tells the others about his grudge on Bumblebee, but Bulkhead tells Wasp that he was was mean to them. Wasp shoots the lights and everything goes black. The lights go back on. The Autobots find Wasp outside laying on the ground. Bulkhead pummels Wasp, only to find that Bumblebee is back in his body and Wasp escapes once again.

Back on Cybertron, the cat's out of the bag as Ironhide searches for Longarm, only to find Ultra Magnus torn nearly to pieces. Shockwave has struck, literally. The plot thickens. The End (for now).

Quotes
Sentinel Prime: "I hate this planet."
 * And, we hate ya back.

Wasp: "Bumblebot and Wasp a lot alike, except one innocent and one guilty. Can Bumblebot guess which?" Bumblebot: "uhh, neither?"
 * And the award for creepiest Transformers Animated moment goes to.....

Shockwave: Megatron, this is Shockwave. Do you read me? Come in, Megatron! [static] Shockwave: "If Optimus and his crew make contact with Ultra Magnus, my cover will be blown in any cycle now.  If you recieve this message, know that I am taking matters into my own servos.  Shockwave, out."
 * Shockwave feels the pressure bearing down on him.

Optimus Prime: "How do you put up with him?" Jazz: "I just tune out half of everything he spits out." Optimus Prime: "Only half?"
 * Jazz gives Optimus a tip on jerk management.

Ratchet: "What's the matter with you Cybertronians?  Don't you know how to drive in the rain?!"
 * Tourists.

Jazz:"So, hit me with that one more time: a robot in disguise swaps metal with a double-agent who's really on the level?" Bulkhead:"Makes even less sense when you say it."
 * Bulkhead attempts to make sense out of nonsense.

Jetfire: "Video?" Jetstorm: "Games?" Jazz: "Wild, isn't it? Humans sure know how to make a scene." Jetstorm and Jetfire: "I CALL WINNER!"
 * Bah, teenagers...

Bulkhead:"No Wasp. You were always mean to me and Bumblebee. You may not have been a traitor, but you were never a good bot."
 * Bulkhead lets Wasp know what he thinks of him.

Ironhide "Where's your hammer?"
 * Ultra Magnus is in pieces and Ironhide asks about his hammer? He needs to get his priorities straight

Other notes

 * This episode had an early airing, 3/24/09.

Animation and technical glitches

 * Right after Jetstorm puts the Stasis cuffs on  "Wasp", when  Jetfire is punched toward the two it is  Jazz and not Jetstorm standing next to the detained  Bumblebee.  In the next shot, Jazz is driving with  Sentinel,  Optimus and  Ratchet towards them.

Continuity errors

 * Bumblebee (as Wasp) was still standing, despite being stasis cuffed.


 * When Ratchet is about to put the stasis cuffs on Bumblebee (as Wasp) his hand seems to be way to small in porportion to his body, maybe his old age is causing him to shrink?


 * When Jetstorm has captured the green Bumblebee, Bulkhead knocks Jetfire backwards. At this point, Jazz is shown next to Bumblebee instead of Jetstorm.

Transformers references

 * In the video game, "Ninja Gladiator" in the background, TORQ III can be seen.


 * The insect creature Bumblebee was fighting against and Wasp was playing as is Antron from the Micronauts toyline and it also resembles Wasp in his Waspinator mode, this is probably why Wasp chose him in Ninja Gladiator.


 * Wasp has a rub off symbol instead of a faction symbol in this episode- a possible nod to Mini Vehicles from Generation One.


 * This is the second time Ultra Magnus was in pieces. The first was Transformers: The Movie.


 * With his helmet off, Bumblebee looks kind of like his movie counterpart.


 * How did Bulkhead become squeaky despite being made of hard metal? Maybe he swallowed something.

Real-world references

 * The completely black image of a ninja in "Ninja Gladiator" is most likely a reference to Noob Saibot, of Mortal Kombat fame.

Miscellaneous trivia



 * We see what Bumblebee looks like underneath his Cranial Superstruc... Helmet, his helmet.


 * Why didn't the Autobots call in Sari? She would most likely to know who was real.


 * The Autobots didn't notice 'Bumblebee's' eyes were purple and have no white pupils.


 * They also did not realize that back in Wasp's Autobot days, Wasp might have blue eyes but with no white pupils. Bumblebee in Wasp mode still had white pupils and blue eyes.


 * Why didn't Bumblebee just use his boosters?


 * Jetfire, Jetstorm, Optimus and Ratchet really should've mentioned what faction they were before they started to slag each other.


 * When Ironhide finds Ultra Magnus in pieces, the first thing he asks is "Where's your hammer?" Well. Glad to see he has his priorities straight. [/sarcasm]


 * Sentinel's line, "Arrest them all and let Ultra Magnus sort them out!" is similar to the phrase, "Kill em all; let God sort them out."


 * As of this episode, Shockwave has been responsible for most, if not all, onscreen deaths in the series.


 * So... why do Jetstorm and Jetfire have Russian accents?


 * Apparently, Sentinel Prime has a really bad or selective memory.


 * Bumblebee claims Wasp swapped their voice synthesisers yet Wasp still talks in his normal voice as Bumblebee. Why didn't Bumblebee just do the same thing?


 * After seeing Jetfire and Jetstorm, Ratchet says "No Autobot flies!" Seems like he's already forgotten about his ol' pal Omega Supreme.


 * The face in Bumblebee's videogame resembles TORQ from the G1 cartoon Day of the Machines.


 * Did we mention that Jetfire and Jetstorm make their debut in this episode?


 * When Bumblebee is Wasp he is voiced by Tom Kenny, making Animated another reality where him and Bill Fagerbakke are friends. (Except he isn't yellow).


 * Bulkhead has a go at Wasp for being a jerk to him and Bumblebee, as if not being a nice 'bot makes it everything that has happened to him so far okay. Also, if Bumblebee surrendered to Prowl and Bulkhead, then what reason did they have for attacking him? Seems Sentinel's not the only Autobot acting like a jerk today.


 * At some point, Wasp gained an altmode identical to Bumblebee's except in color. Hasbro, we're still waiting for the toy retool. (The omission especially stands out when one notes that there is a Cliffjumper retool of Activators Bumblebee, and has been since Cliffy's only appearance was a voiceless cameo in Autoboot Camp. Even now, Cliffjumper is a far less prominent character than Wasp, and has never taken on an altmode similar to Bumblebee's Earth altmode.)