Gorilla Warfare

Writers: Greg Johnson

Summary: A virus, courtesy of Scorponok turns Optimus into an overly aggressive fighting machine.

Major Characters (in order of appearance): Optimus, Dinobot, Scorponok

Minor Characters (in order of appearance): Cheetor

Original Air Date: October 14, 1996

Summary
While out on a specimen gathering mission, Optimus Primal and Dinobot are ambushed by Scorponok, who manages to implant a Cyber Bee onto Optimus' chest before being driven away. Back at base, it's learned that the Bee contains a viral mine designed by Scorponok to infect Optimus' core systems and humble his personality, making him too cowardly to adequately lead. Because the mine has infected all of Primal's core systems, removing the Bee is impossible without killing the Maximal commander, and doing so would trigger a self-destruct in the Bee that would destroy everything within a given radius, regardless.

However, when the mine is fully activated, it ends up having the opposite effect on Primal, turning him into a crazed berserker. Obviously, Scorponok's 'notorious incompetence' has caused the Predacons' plan to backfire. Still, in his current state, Primal is now a danger to himself and his teammates, and is still at risk of perishing under the system drain of the mine, forcing the Maximals to confine him while they debate over what to do next, knowing that Scorponok would have the antivirus for the mine but unsure of how to acquire it. With what little bit of clarity he has left, Optimus convinces Cheetor that they could use the mine against the Preds, taking advantage of their lack of knowledge of the mine's malfunction to launch a surprise assault to force the Preds into relinquishing the antivirus, but when brought to the rest of the crew, his plan is shot down as being far too risky and dangerous to attempt, prompting Optimus to strike out on his own.

Their options running short, Dinobot ironically suggests they 'think like the old Optimus' and suggests negotiating with the Predacons for the cure, but their attempt only serves to give the Predacons advanced warning of Optimus' new state and his oncoming assault. Now with the Preds on full alert and with no other course of action to take, the Maximals begrudgingly follow Optimus to the Darksyde to give him covering fire in his one-ape assault. Meanwhile, Optimus manages to thrash through all of the Darksyde crew before confronting Megatron, who teasingly dangles the cure in front of his nose while giving an ultimatum: submit to him and live, or stay defiant and die from the mine. Optimus, inspired by a plant specimen from the mission at the beginning of the episode, chooses a third option, and rips the Bee from his chest, activating its self-destruct while tossing it onto Megatron, who is forced to drop the antivirus and flee to Scorponok for help. Fortunately for Primal, the cavalry manages to arrive just in time for Cheetor to grab the cure and administrate it to the Maximal leader before his spark gives out, and the Cyber Bee blows. With the crisis averted, the Maximals return to the Axalon to nurse their commander back to health.

Technical/Animation Glitches

 * Glitch

Continuity Errors

 * Error

Transformers References

 * This episode has the first reference to a Spark in any Transformer animated continuity.

Real-World References

 * Reference