The Elite Guard

The Cybertron Elite Guard arrives on Earth to retrieve the All Spark and relieve Prime and his crew of their post, but they prove less than adept at blending in with the human world.

Summary
On the extensive highway system of Detroit, the Autobots are aiding in the repair efforts after their titanic battle with the Decepticons. Unfortunately the residents of the city don't seem to understand that the road system was blown to rubble by the battle, and are upset that the Autobots are holding up traffic. Optimus Prime heads over to address their concerns, and they flee in fear. Bulkhead comments that he liked it better when they were heroes, to which Ratchet retorts that they still are. All of them wonder what the heck has happened that Bumblebee isn't there helping them. There's no reason for them to be jealous though, as the little yellow bot has been pressed into service as Sari's secretary at Sumdac Tower. The little girl realizes that there's a lot of pressure in running a business, and feels sorry for her father's having had to deal with this. Porter C. Powell is less patient, and expresses a fairly cold attitude towards her "wasting" company funds on locating the genius who designs all the company's myriad robotic technologies. Sari is unable to address his concerns though, as an unidentified flying object is spotted in Detroit's skies. Spotting it, the Autobots speed to the scene, only to be met with some justified resentment by Captain Fanzone. However they are allowed to pass once the ship is revealed to be crewed by Autobots. Sentinel Prime, Jazz, and Ultra Magnus steps out of the ship, while Optimus Pirme and company walk up the gangplank, giving Magnus a salute. The Supreme Commander orders a force field thrown up to quarantine the entire area from organics. Jazz is interested in interacting with the locals, but quickly loses his interest when Sentinel Prime warns that they'll spit slime that will melt him down.

Sentinel is assigned to decontaminating the long lost Autobot crew, a task he takes to with relish until he is interrupted by Jazz for overdoing it. Released, the Autobots are informed that the Elite Guard have come to retrieve the AllSpark. Optimus explains that it was dispersed in the battle with the Decepticons, a fact that Sentinel accuses him of lying about, saying there is no evidence of the Decepticons being on the planet. Ratchet says that Optimus is a hero for keeping the AllSpark out of Megatron's hands, while Bulkhead nearly comes to blows with Sentinel after the out of line guardsman says that Optimus is anything but a hero. Ultra Magnus orders the Autobots to calm down, and tells Optimus to take him and and Sentinel to where the AllSpark was dispersed, and that Optimus Prime's crew would remain with Jazz until they return. The two Elite Guardsmen have some very unsubtle alternate modes (Magnus is a military transport and Sentinel is a monster truck with a snow plow) and damage some cars near the ship as they roll out. Optimus tries to instruct them on the finer points of traffic laws, but Sentinel rams him aside without any regards for driver safety. He pays for this by driving off a damaged bridge and crashing into the ground below. Elsewhere, the Decepticons have holed themselves up in an underground mine with carbon deposits to hide them from the Autobots' sensors. Lugnut wants to go topside and fight, but Megatron has other priorities: the conquest of Cybertron. Megatron says that the reason they lost the Great Wars were due to the AllSpark and the Autobots' space bridge, but Megatron was able to download a partial schematic from the Ark before his defeat. A completed space bridge would allow the Decepticons to teleport into Cybertron and conquer the planet from the inside. The rest of the space bridge's schematics, however, would have to be reverse-engineered by Isaac Sumdac, still the Decepticons' prisoner. Sumdac says that he doesn't know anything about teleportation, but a malfunctioning service drone gets him to shut up. Megatron blasts the drone, and discovers that a piece of the AllSpark is embedded into its circuitry. This gives Megatron hope that the AllSpark was not entirely destroyed, and could still be salvaged... At a Sumdac Systems manufacturing plant, an assembly line building police drones has been embedded with a piece of the AllSpark,and the drones begin to go haywire. Powell tells Sari what is happening, but refuses to do anything about it. Sari decides to free the Autobots, using her key to move through the shield and get onto the ship. Tripping an alarm, Jazz confronts Sari, trying not to provoke her, but lead her out of the ship. Realizing Jazz is afraid of her, Sari scares the slag out of poor Jazz. As the Autobots arrive, they explain that Sari is harmless. Sari tells them what's going on at the plant, but Jazz says they need to stay with him. Bumblebee says that Magnus didn't specify where, and Jazz, wanting to try out his stylish alternate mode, goes with them to the plant.

On Dinobot Island, Optimus warns Sentinel and Magnus about the Dinobots, who take that moment to jump out, but Sentinel is unworried. Grimlock's transformation and energo-sword are a little more impressive, especially as they manage to force back Sentinel Prime, even through his shield. Ultra Magnus uses his hammer to call down lightning and scare away the Dinobots, while Sentinel appears to have learned nothing. Arriving at the plant, the police drones attack the Autobots. Jazz shows off his metallikato skills, and Bulkhead smashes and smashes, but there is just no end to the drones. Magnus and the Primes arrive to provide backup, but Sentinel thinks that they should abort rather than risk organic contamination. Optimus, Prowl, and Jazz force their way into the plant, and get Sari to a control console which she places her key into, shutting down the assembly line, and Magnus uses his hammer to destroy the rest of the drones. Unfortunately, the key is stuck. Sentinel Prime says that he'll see Optimus tried for insubordination and high treason for destroying the AllSpark, but Optimus finally tells Sentinel to shove it in his hard drive, saying they are of equal rank. Using his axe, Prime destroys the console, and discovers that the key was attached to a piece of the AllSpark. Examining it, Ultra Magnus accepts Optimus Prime's story. Sentinel still tries to bad mouth Optimus, saying he's a liar, but Ultra Magnus finally puts Sentinel in his place, saying Optimus has strategic thinking, determination, and loyalty towards his comradesall qualities that Sentinel Prime could use.

Heading home, Sari and Bumblebee find that she has been locked out of her office. Powell says that he's been elected CEO and Chairman of the Board, and is now head of Sumdac Systems. Sari still insists that it's her family's company, but Powell reveals that there is no will or adoption papers from Isaac Sumdac, nor does Sari have birth certificate or social security number. As Sari realizes that she has no way to prove that she is Sumdac's daughter, Powell puts it even blunterthere's no evidence to prove that she legally exists...

Stats

 * Written by: Rich Fogel
 * Directed by: Matt Youngberg, Irineo Maramba, & Yutaka Kagawa
 * Original airdate: April 12, 2008
 * Animation company: Mook

Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes
Optimus: This is completely unnecessary, Sentinel! Sentinel: Can't risk an infestation, "old buddy". Take it like a real bot. [Jazz shuts down the decontamination system] Jazz: Cool it, Sentinel. Whatever went down between you and Optimus, you don't need to hassle his crew.
 * Optimus Prime and Jazz are reminded that Sentinel Prime is a jerk.

"Man, that was some funky blinkin' colored light show! What'd you call those things again?" "Traffic lights?" "Traffic lights. Solid."
 * Jazz discovers the wonderful world of commuting with the help of Bulkhead.

Bulkhead: It's no good! These things are rolling off the assembly line faster than I can smash 'em! Jazz: Is it always like this on this crazy planet? Prowl: Pretty much.
 * Jazz learns that Prime's crew has anything but a quiet life.



"Hey, why is my office locked?" "Miss Sumdac, I regret to inform you that your services will no longer be required. The board has unanimously elected me to take over as CEO of Sumdac Systems." "You can't do that! It's still my family's company!" "Is it? I took the liberty of doing some research into your claim. It might interest you to know that there is no will, no birth certificate, no adoption papers, social security number, or any kind of record whatsoever for a 'Sari Sumdac'." "Are you saying I can't prove I'm Isaac Sumdac's daughter?" "I'm saying you can't even prove you exist."
 * Sari and Porter C. Powell create a drastic change in plot.

"But sir, you can't honestly believe that. He's a lying, insubordinate malfunction." "He may be a little rough around the edges, but in the heat of battle, Optimus Prime exhibited the qualities of a true leader: strategic thinking, determination, and above all, loyalty. Something you could stand to learn a thing or two about, Sentinel Prime."
 * Ultra Magnus praises Optimus Prime while letting Sentinel Prime know how much of an Auto-Ass he is.

Transformers references

 * This episode reveals that both Jazz and Prowl are practitioners of the Cybertronian martial art of Metallikato, originally used by the Generation 1 character Bludgeon.


 * The Elite Guard ship somewhat resembles a blue Titanium series Autobot Shuttle Ark die cast ark toy

Real-world references

 * Ultra Magnus' Hammer appears to have been modeled after Thor's hammer Mjolnir.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * Megatron is evidently fully repaired now, while his subordinates are having trouble keeping their arms from falling off. Guy's got priorities, certainly.


 * We don't know what's happened to Starscream's body ("alive" or dead). Presumably he's either crawled off somewhere or been retrieved by Megatron, since it doesn't seem to have occurred to Optimus to use him as evidence of Decepticon activity.


 * When they're being "decontaminated", Bulkhead remarks that the Jackass... er, Sentinel doesn't remember them, to which Bumblebee replies that he wants it that way. Could they have met him before and don't want him to remember? Or is it a reference to their little video chat when they found the AllSpark?


 * In the Animated universe, "Prime" seems to be a military rank, as Optimus recalls it to Sentinel.


 * So, what is the deal with Sari, anyway?