Pretzel Logic

Pretzel Logic is the third episode of Season 3 and the fortieth-second overall   Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

History
Grimlock encounters a surprising new ally as the Autobots continue their relic hunt.

Synopsis
Bumblebee's team is having a video conference, their current locations being at different sites around the world where there has been Cybertronian activity. To make sure the Scavengers don't steal any tech that have been left lying there, they are placing beacons that will alert them if there is any Decepticon activity in the area. Bumblebee asks Fixit if there's any news on Optimus's arrival, but Fixit has not heard any news yet. However, Grimlock is annoyed that he's been sent to a mountain monastery with only one beacon to set up. Bumblebee explains that because Grimlock has been a bit accident-prone lately, he's been restricted to only one mission where he might cause a minimum amount of damage. When the conference ends, an irritated Grimlock complains about his not being allowed to make any mistakes before punching the monastery wall in frustration. The sound of his roaring and the impact of his fist causes a small avalanche that unearths a cave. As Grimlock tries to remove his fist from the wall, a friendly monk compliments him on his punch before inviting him inside for some pretzels. As Grimlock follows the monk inside, the unearthed cave starts emitting a purple glow.

Inside the monastery, Grimlock tries to convince the monk that he's just a hallucination, but the monk only asks about his name. Grimlock is a little confused that the monk isn't scared or confused by him, but the monk explains that he overheard part of Grimlock's earlier conversation and he knew the Dinobot meant no harm. Grimlock apologizes for punching the monk's home and when the monk asks what frustrates him, Grimlock tells him that his boss overreacted when he rushed in a little too early when helping out his friends and messed things up 'a smudge'. The monk suggests that the problem might be that Grimlock needs to learn patience, to which Grimlock agrees he tends to rush in without thinking lots of times. Grimlock asks if the monk can teach him patience; the monk says he can, but he asks that Grimlock first help him make some pretzels.

Meanwhile, a GroundBridge portal opens up and dumps out a Scavenger and a Mini-Con. Clawtrap's voice comes from the portal and tells Thermidor to stop complaining and do his job before the portal closes. Thermidor grouses angrily about Clawtrap stealing his ship before scanning for Cybertronian tech and spotting the cave.

Bumblebee calls Fixit and asks about progress. He tells Bumblebee that Denny and Russell are nearly done cleaning Grimlock's mess, only for an explosion to make him retract that. When Bumblebee checks in with Grimlock, he's a little confused by him saying he's busy making pretzels with Brother Gunter.

Grimlock is disappointed by his failed attempts to make pretzels. Brother Gunther tells him that he didn't get it right the first time either, but he stayed at his task until he got it right. Grimlock realizes that Brother Gunter had been teaching him patience all along. Just then, the room begins to rumble, which alerts Grimlock that something isn't right. Brother Gunter said it felt like the tremor came from the catacombs and lead Grimlock down there - only to find Thermidor and his Mini-Con partner. Brother Gunter tries to warn Grimlock that the room is unstable, but Grimlock tells him to stay back before charging at the Decepticon. However, his attacking Thermidor soon causes the stalactites to start falling from the ceiling and buries him. Thermidor is about to claim his treasure when Brother Gunter shoves a shelf case on top of him. Though impressed by the 'squishy's' bravery, Thermidor orders Tricerashot to blast the monk. The Mini-Con reluctantly transforms into blaster mode which Thermidor aims at Brother Gunter. Grimlock quickly bursts free and throws off Thermidor's aim before tossing Brother Gunter to safety on a high shelf.

Grimlock is about to attack Thermidor again before he remembers his lessons in patience, pausing long enough to call Bumblebee for back-up. Tricerashot takes the opportunity to charge Grimlock, though he tells him he doesn't want to fight. A second charge knocks both dinosaurs into a stalagmite that was holding a Cybertronian artifact. Thermidor picks it up, revealing it to be an energy gauntlet that gives him enough power to knock back Grimlock. Thermidor gleefully boasts about using the gauntlet to take his ship back after he's done practicing with it. That's when the rest of the team arrives by GroundBridge and attacks. Tricerashot evades Jetstorm and Slipstream and jumps into Sideswipe's hands, taking him over and knocking Drift away. Then Tricerashot jumps into Grimlock's hands, however the Dinobot only freaks out about the Mini-Con being in his head. Tricerashot asks how Grimlock could resist him only for Thermidor to knock away the other 'Bots away before transforming and driving off with Tricerashot on his roof.

Before the Autobots can pursue the Scavengers, Brother Gunter asks if everyone is alright. Bumblebee is disappointed in Grimlock for revealing himself, but Brother Gunter assures Bumblebee that he will tell no one. The Autobots drive off and Grimlock apologizes for not listening to Brother Gunter. The monk calmly tells Grimlock to never think about the pretzels he has already baked, only think of the next one. Grimlock transforms and heads out after the others. The other Autobots spot Thermidor driving down a path below and head after him immediately instead of waiting for Grimlock. Thermidor radios Clawtrap for a GroundBridge, but Clawtrap tells him his rusty ship's GroundBridge is down before communications apparently shut down too. Grimlock emerges on the mountainside and tries to tell Bumblebee to wait for him before he starts climbing down the mountain.

Thermidor knocks down a tree to stop Drift and makes Sideswipe and Strongarm knock each other off the road with their own pincer maneuver. Thermidor then leads Bumblebee offroad; although Bumblebee is able to keep up with him, Thermidor makes him stop by threatening to snap one of the poles for the sky tram overhead. Eventually, Bumblebee charges him only for Thermidor to knock him down. When the Scavenger is about to snap the pole, Tricerashot protests that he doesn't need to do it when he's already won. Thermidor points out that Bumblebee's partners will be after him soon enough unless they're busy with a different problem. Tricerashot is about to charge his partner when Grimlock does it for him and starts smacking him with his tail.

From the shadows, another Decepticon watches the fight and reports on his radio that he's found "one of them". A familiar voice tells him to keep watching, hopefully leading him to "the others".

The battle is going in Grimlock's favor, with him dodging Thermidor's blows and hitting him when he's open. A frustrated Thermidor uses a ground pound with his energy gauntlet to knock Grimlock back. While the Scavenger threatens to twist an unhelpful Tricerashot into a knot, Grimlock remembers his patience lessons with Brother Gunter. Tricerashot 'accidentally' trips up Thermidor as he moves in to finish Grimlock off; Grimlock waits for the last possible moment before dodging Thermidor's blow, grabbing him, and slamming him hard enough to both knock him out and knock the gauntlet out of his claw. When Grimlock goes to check on his recovering leader, a GroundBridge opens and Clawtrap's claws pull Thermidor and Tricerashot through, though the gauntlet is left behind. While Bumblebee is disappointed the Scavengers got away, at least they got the artifact. Grimlock points out that the Mini-Con didn't seem like he wanted to be their enemy. While Bumblebee hopes he's right, he points out that the Mini-Con was very powerful and they couldn't afford to let their guard down.

The others arrive and compliment Bumblebee on his work, but he gives the credit to Grimlock. Impressed with the patience that Grimlock finally learned, Bumblebee asks if there was some kind of patience academy here. Grimlock takes him back to the monastery where Bumblebee has just as much trouble as Grimlock first did with making pretzels. However, Grimlock is able to demonstrate his patience by making a perfect pretzel.

Autobots

 * Bumblebee
 * Strongarm
 * Sideswipe
 * Grimlock
 * Drift
 * Jetstorm
 * Slipstream
 * Fixit

Decepticons

 * Thermidor
 * Clawtrap
 * Shadelock
 * Starscream (voice only)

Humans

 * Brother Gunter

Others

 * Tricerashot

Quotes
"Ugh, I'm gonna be rusty and obsolete by the time we finish this!"
 * —Sideswipe is not looking forward to setting up beacons.

Bumblebee: "How's everything going there, Fixit?"

Fixit: "Not too badly, lieutenant. Denny and Russel are just about finished weaning...preening...cleaning up Grimlock's little mess. The scrapyard should be one hundred percent in no time."

(A tremendous crash is heard in the background)

Fixit: "Strike that."

"Grimlock, what's your-"

"Can't talk. Making pretzels with Brother Gunter."

"He's making what with who?"
 * —Bumblebee finds Grimlock more confusing than usual.

"Robots in disguise, Grimlock. Robots in disguise!"
 * —Bumblebee takes the opportunity to remind Grimlock about operational security and to title-drop all in one go.

Brother Gunter: "Do not be frustrated with Grimlock. I will tell no one I have seen you."

Grimlock: "Brother Gunter's cool, Bee. We can trust him."

Bumblebee: "How can you be so sure?"

(Heavenly light shines on Brother Gunter with angelic choir)

Bumblebee: "Yeah...okay...uh, hey, back to business."
 * —Brother Gunter's totally trustworthy.

"Can we skip our usual 'I have this, no, I have this' argument and just work together for once?"

"Sounds like a plan. Does this mean we're growing up? Meet you in the middle."

(Thermidor pulls back and makes them hit each other and fall off the road.)

"Let's go back to arguing."

"Yeah, why mess with a proven formula?"
 * —Strongarm and Sideswipe try to break routine and failed hilariously.

Continuity notes

 * Starscream was last seen about to have Predaking, Skylynx, and Darksteel beat him up in "Predacons Rising", and his "weapon" (i.e. his severed arm) was in the possession of Predaking in issue #6 of RiD's tie-in comic.

Real-world references

 * Thermidor swears by the Sargassoid Sea, which is most likely a reference to the Sargasso Sea.
 * Thermidor compares Bumblebee to a bad-luck Albatronus, a reference to how albatrosses were thought to bring bad luck to sailors (mainly sailors that harmed them).

Trivia

 * "Pretzel logic" typically refers to convoluted, fallacious reasoning that fails to meet reality. So the title of this episode is something of a twist (no pun intended).
 * Grimlock complains that one of his failed pretzels looks like "a Snaketicon swallowed a bag of ball bearings". While not named as such before, it's possible that Vertebreak is a Snaketicon.