The Core

Megatron tries to drill his way to the center to the Earth, while the Autobots harass Devastator with mind-controlling Dominator Discs.


 * Japanese title: "Defeat Devastator!"

Summary
At an underground cavern near a waterfall, the Constructicons are digging with a massive drill. However, the rock they're drilling through breaks, and only some quick work on Mixmaster's part plugs it up. Megatron orders Mixmaster to look over Scavenger's sensory equipment, while Starscream does his daily whine-about-Megatron's-nefarious-plan bit. Megatron counters that if they manage to tap into the Earth's motlen core, it will give the Decepticons geothermal energy, a limitless power source. Starscream counters that if they breach the core, the Earth runs the risk of exploding. However, Megatron doesn't care: he's placed a space bridge near the drilling site, which will take the Decepticons to Cybertron if the Earth's stability should be threatened.

Meanwhile, Jazz, Prowl, Gears, Mirage, and Sunstreaker are driving around in that general area, when Sunstreaker realizes that there should be a river where they're driving through. The Autobots head to investigate, and see Mixmaster and Scavenger. The Autobots transform to attack, only to see that the Constructicons have disappeared, and to fail to notice Laserbeak above them. Informing Soundwave, Megatron orders the Constructicons to destroy the Autobots and form Devastator. The Decepticon combiner knocks the Autobots off the cliff, but Mirage goes invisible on them. He remains undetected as Devastator attacks the others, and finds the drill. As Mirage rejoins the group, Jazz does a sound and light show which distracts Devastator, allowing Mirage Sunstreaker to lasso his legs with a rope, allowing the Autobots to escape.

At the Autobot base, the Autobots use Teletraan I to calculate what will happen if the drill hits the Earth's core. The result will be total annihilation, but the Autobots have little hope of defeating the Decepticons with Devastator. Wheeljack and Chip Chase present Optimus Prime with their new dominator disks, which will be placed on the individual Constructicons and take control of them when they form Devastator. Convinced, Optimus Prime orders a commando team to plant the disks on. Heading for the drilling site, Ironhide freezes the falls, causing the drill to heat up. Scrapper orders the Constructicons to the surface, during which the Autobots plant each Constructicon with a disk. As the commandoes are pulled out, Starscream has them dead to rights, but Megatron orders him to let them pass, saying that he knows of their plan to control Devastator. As Megatron positions the Decepticons, he orders the Decepticons to attack. The Decepticons fire on the still moving Autobots, who break formation, as the Seekers transform to bring the rain on the Autobots. Megatron orders the Constructicons form Devastator, who grabs Prime. Wheeljack activates the disks, and Optimus orders Devastator to release him. Devastator follows the Autobot leader's orders, and attack the Decepticons. Megatron orders the Decepticons to retreat to the cave, and Devastator seals them in. Optimus orders the Autobots to break off, as they can finish the Decepticons at their leisure.

Within the caverns, Starscream whines about being trapped, not having enough water to keep drilling, and so on. However, Megatron reveals that this was all part of his plan: he has a device that will override the dominator disks and stored enough water to continue drilling for some time. He just didn't tell Starscream because he's a terrible actor. At the Autobot base, the Constructicons are helping with repairs, when an earthquake hits. Realizing that the Decepticons are still drilling, the Autobots head to put them out of commission. However, Megatron is aware of their coming, watching them through the Constructicons eyes. The Autobots and Devastator head for the cave, and Devastator is set to destroy it, at which point Megatron uses his control switch to deactivate the disks. Devastator begins attacking the Autobots, so Wheeljack tries to boost power to the disks. Unfortunately, this fries Devastator's logic circuits and sends into a killing frenzy, attacking both Autobot and Decepticon alike.

Finally, the drill hits the core, and the cave&mdash;and the earth itself&mdash;begin to come apart. Unfortunately, Devastator's rampage has damaged the drill's controls. Megatron orders the Decepticons to the space bridge, but Devastator damages it. Optimus convinces Megatron to give his control switch to Wheeljack, who uses it to deactivate the disks and bring Devastator back to normal. Devastator then heads to destroy the drill, while the Decepticons flee for their lives. Devastator succeeds, but is suprised by Megatron's absence. Chip tells Devastator that he ran, while Devastator believes that "Noble Megatron" merely left to plan their next attack and leaves (he really is as dumb as a post). Chip is somewhat saddened, as he was hoping that Devastator would join the Autobots. Optimus tells him not to let go of his dreams.

Stats
Original airdate: October 29, 1985

Production number: 700-27

Written by: Dennis Marks

Featured Characters
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notable quotes
"Autobots, move out!"
 * -- Sunstreaker, thinking he outranks Jazz and Prowl.

"Traitor!"
 * -- Starscream to Megatron. No, you read that right.

"I do this only for the benefit of my Decepticons. It grieves me that you may also profit."
 * -- Megatron, agreeing to ally with the Autobots and lying through his teeth (he's doing it to save his own chassis).

"What's the matter, Chip?" "I guess I thought that Devastator would join the Autobots for good, but that's just a dumb old dream." "Hang on your dreams, Chip. The future is built on dreams. Hang on."
 * -- Optimus Prime gives Chip Chase valuable words to live by.

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * At the scene where Mirage investigates the cave with the drill, three of the constructicons can be seen there, while at the same time Devastator is outside fighting the rest of the Autobots.

Continuity errors

 * Many of the characters seem to act OUT of character in this episode. Megatron's never seemed like the caring kind before when it comes to his Decepticons, Scavenger acts true to his tech spec, and Optimus Prime seems to be going against his "Freedom is the Right of All Sentient Beings" schtick with the enslavement of Devastator.

Keywords
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