Escape!! The Underwater Volcano Erupts



When Lightfoot investigates the eruption of an underwater volcano, he discovers the site of a new Decepticon base.


 * English/Malay dub name:  "Underwater Volcanic Explosion"
 * Also known as: "Undersea Volcanic Eruption," "Escape from the Erupting Underwater Volcano!!"

Detailed synopsis
When the Decepticons begin construction of an advance base on the ocean floor off the coast of Australia, their repeated blasting causes a dormant underwater volcano to become active, in turn triggering a major earthquake that devastates Sydney. Lightfoot investigates and pinpoints the earthquake's epicenter, diving beneath the waves to examine the volcano. He reports back to Autobot headquarters his suspicions that a full-scale eruption may occur in the next 24 hours, but as he continues to gather data, he is attacked by a battalion of Seacons, exposing the presence of the Decepticons' base there. He alerts Ginrai and the Headmaster Juniors to the situation, but is then surrounded by the Seacons, who tear a fissure into the seabed with their blasts and send Lightfoot tumbling into it. With his communicator damaged in the fall, Lightfoot cannot be contacted by Ginrai and the Juniors, and they and Godbomber immediately head out to help him. Deducing that they will soon arrive, Mega instructs Turtler to ambush Ginrai when he arrives and destroy him and Lightfoot together.

Ginrai and the Juniors soon arrive on the Australian coastline, and Ginrai directs the Juniors to perform rescue operations in Sydney while he investigates underwater. Ginrai heads into the ocean, and after a while, he arrives on the scene, silently observed by the hidden Turtler and Gilmer. As Ginrai dives the crevasse to rescue Lightfoot, Turtler combines with the Seacons into King Poseidon and begins heaving rocks in after them, hoping to bury them alive and leave them to the tender mercies of the volcano. It looks like he has succeeded, too, but after a few minutes, a laser blast scatters the rocks, and Ginrai and Lightfoot emerge little the worse for wear. Suddenly, however, the volcanic activity escalates, and the trench begins caving in on the two Autobots again.

In Sydney, the Juniors do the best they can to help, with Shūta saving a young boy from some collapsing rubble. With their work done, they head back to the shoreline to see if Ginrai has returned. Informed by Godbomber that he has not, they transform to robot mode and prepare to follow him beneath the waves, but Godbomber restrains them and goes in their place. Very soon, he arrives at the collapsed trench and engages King Poseidon in battle, but as they fight, the volcano finally erupts! King Poseidon is laid low by the flying rocks and magma, and the Deceticons' advance base is likewise destroyed in the conflagration.

Beneath the seabed, Ginrai and Lightfoot are trying to blast their way free, to no avail, when the eruption occurs. Desperate to save his commander before they are consumed by the lava, Lightfoot decides to self-destruct, destroying the rock wall that blocks their escape. Ginrai refuses to allow it, but Lightfoot insists that it is his duty, forcing Ginrai to strike him in order to stop him from killing himself. Thankfully for both of them, Godbomber smashes his way through the wall, rescuing them both. King Poseidon, however, proves that he is not out yet when he emerges for one last attack, forcing Ginrai and Godbomber to combine into God Ginrai to battle him. The two grapple on the very rim of the volcano, but Ginrai is saved when Lightfoot blasts his way through the Seacon drones and performs a "Chokon Spin Drill," creating a powerful water spout that nearly pulls King Poseidon in. With his opponent thusly distracted, Ginrai is able to turn the tables and flip King Poseidon over his shoulder, blasting him into the caldera with his God Cannon. Then, finally, the eruption reaches its crescendo, and a small island begins to rise up from beneath the sea as lava cools. As the Headmaster Juniors watch this incredible sight, God Ginrai and Lightfoot crest the waves, and swim to shore.

With the Autobots victorious and on their way back to base, Giga rages at the Decepticons' loss, and realizes that they underestimated the power of Godbomber. He, then, must become their next target...

Stats
Written by:  Toyohiro Ando

Original airdate: 15th November 1988

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * Quite a few shots of animation are recycled in this episode, from Lightfoot battling the swarms of Seacons to lava bursting from the volcano.

Continuity errors

 * Before the first commercial break, Gilmer is with King Poseidon, off the coast of Australia. Immediately after the break, as the second act begins, he's sudden back in the Decepticon base!

Miscellaneous trivia

 * At the conclusion of the episode, Giga is suddenly holding a wine glass for absolutely no reason other than to crush it in anger. Because he's evil, see.