Decepticon Air

'''The Decepticons break free from their prison and Swindle comes back to life. Meanwhile, the Earth Autobots were making a new Space Bridge.'''

Synopsis


Dr.Sumdac and Bulkhead are arguing over the newly-built space bridge, when Sari, displaying a mysterious new talent, manages to correctly correlate it.

Perceptor, Cliffjumper and Alpha Trion contact Sentinel Prime, who is returning to Cybertron with his prisoners; Alpha Trion is critical of Sentinel´s insistence that he will be the new Magnus. Aggravated, Sentinel orders Jazz to take a shortcut home through what is apparently a cosmic storm. Although they make it through OK, lightning from the storm passes through the entire ship, reviving Swindle. He releases the Decepticons - Blitzwing, the Starscream clones The Liar and Sunstorm and Lugnut.



The Decepticons attack and subdue the Autobots, but Sentinel manages to get a brief coded message to Optimus.

Swindle manages to convince Lugnut to imprison the Autobots rather than destroy them - mainly because he sees the Elite Guard robots as an invaluable source of rare spare parts. He also gives the Seekers new helmets (making them look like their Gl selves) so he can tell them apart more easily.

Sari gets the space bridge running and Optimus warps to the ship, using Swindle´s transwarp-based dimensional storage space (the seemingly bottomless "drawer" in his chest) as an exit point!

After a scuffle which takes them even outside the ship, losing Lugnut to the gravity of a nearby moon, Optimus manages to overcome the Decepticons with a ruse involving cybertronian optic code to confuse the deceptions and a freezing gas. After being frozen, they are imprisoned again.



After offering him a job on the Elite Guard, which he politely declines, Sentinel drops off Optimus and heads back to Cybertron to show that he as captured the Decepticons. He is received with a victory parade, and announces his intention to fill in as Magnus so long as Ultra Magnus is out of action.



Meanwhile, Lugnut lands on Omega Supreme - which warped in moments before, either by supreme luck, or because Megatron has gained control of the ship - to rejoin his revered leader and his fellow second in command, who comments about piking up hitchhikers, only to be slapped by Megatron.

Quotes
Isaac Sumdac: Fine, I'll just recalibrate the field-sequencers myself! Bulkhead: Not before I do the calculations myself! Isaac Sumdac: You think I can not isolate a transwarp frequency barrier?! Bulkhead: I'm just saying you don't have the same experience as me. Isaac Sumdac: I have done it before! Bulkhead: Yeah, for Megatron! Isaac Sumdac: That was uncalled for!
 * What happened to the good ol' days where Bulkhead would just break stuff?

Sentinel Prime: All due respect, Alpha Trion, the Council should concern itself with more important matters, like beefing up security for the Decepticon prisoners that... ahem... I captured. Cliffjumper: I thought that was Prowl.
 * Sentinel, a jerk to transcend the ages. By the way, folks...they're both wrong.

Sentinel Prime: Those bureaucratobots couldn't find their own diodes with a bitmap and a homing beacon.
 * Looks like Prime isn't the only one who talks behind bots' backs.

Swindle: My my, what a golden opportunity. Lugnut:The Autobot fools will pay for their insolence. Remove these stasis cuffs at once! Swindle: All in good time. First we need to discuss compensation. You get freedom but what do I get? You see where I'm going here?
 * You too can have freedom, at an all new low cost of only three easy payments of $19.99!

Lugnut: The honor of serving of Megatron should be reward enough! Swindle: Megatron! Why didn't you say so!? The ol' warmonger's my #1 customer!
 * Wonder who his #2 customer is?

Swindle: Now let's see about getting you rearmed. It's been stellar cycles but I never forget a weapon.
 * Where have we heard that before?

Swindle: Naturally, everything comes with a million solar cycle warranty, excluding battle damage of course.
 * Swindle does aim to please.

Sunstorm: May I just say what an admirer I am of the noble arms dealing profession? Hothead Blitzwing: Enough talk! Let's kick some Autobot skidplate! YEAH! Liar Starscream: Oh, I would never do that!
 * Yep. Everything's back to normal.

Lugnut: You Autobots will pay! Pay with your Sparks! Swindle: I also accept all major credit-downloads.
 * Swindle also accepts Visa, Mastercard, and Galactic Express.

Jazz: The alarms didn't make a peep! Sentinel: How is that even possible? Swindle The Sonic Jammer 3000! Don't leave Cybertron without it! But wait, there's more, it also has a stasis suspension ray, handy for those tight spots.
 * Buy now and get this lovely assortment of Supreme Class Cheetors for free! Call now before this offer ends!

Sunstorm: Brilliant idea! Just brilliant! Liar Starscream: Oh, of course it's brilliant! It was my idea to begin with. Swindle: Never could get the hang of cloning. (Pulls out Conehead and Seeker helmets) Why don't you try these on for size, just so I can tell you bots apart?
 * And so Hasbro can make plans for future sales.

Lugnut: So, Swindle cannot be bothered to guard the prisoners!
 * Lugnut now knows the frustration of being leader.

Icy Blitwing: We have lost contact with Lugnut. But, as you can see, your friend has failed in his attempt to freeze us. Perhaps you should not shout your plans where every audio receptor can hear. Hothead Blitzwing: Now you puny Autobots will be frozen in your own trap! Random Blitzwing: And then we can grind them up into snow cones! Oh yahahaha!
 * Blitzwing's last hurrah.

Starscream: So... now we're picking up hitchhikers? Megatron:(smacks Starscream at the back of head.)
 * Hey, at least he's not a couch.

Animation and/or technical glitches



 * In one scene with the Autobots making the space bridge, Sari's hair looks like her younger self as in previous seasons, and the Autobot insignia is missing from Optimus Prime's shoulder.

Continuity errors

 * This episode establishes that Lugnut, Blitzwing, and the Starscream clones, even though their flight modes are based on Earth aircraft, can fly as easily in space as anywhere else. So why can't Megatron simply leave Omega Supreme's body behind and fly back to Earth, Cybertron, or anywhere else he'd like to go? A rather egregious plot oversight, considering the "randomly transwarping around the galaxy" storyline has been used to keep Megatron busy for quite some time now.


 * Swindle gives the new helmets to the Starcreams so he can "tell them apart". So even with all those upgrades, Swindle is color-blind? Of course, it doesn't seem like anybody else has noticed that the clones are different colors...


 * How did Swindle get the Decepticons' weapons (or identical weapons with their color schemes) anyway? Seems his storage-dimension is clearly very well-stocked indeed. Either that or he was the one who sold them their weapons in the first place, and simply had spares. Would make sense, if his claim that "Megatron is my number one customer" is true.


 * Warpath is visible in the crowd scene, despite being seen as a corpse in the episode "TransWarped". He is also the size of the other Autobots, despite having been at least Bulkhead's size in the episode "Five Servos of Doom".


 * Isaac Sumdac seems to refer to Sari's key as if it were destroyed. That's sort of inaccurate: it certainly still exists, though its depowerment during Sari's upgrade makes it just as ineffective.


 * Isaac Sumdac apparently has better eyesight than Sari and Bulkhead, because they don't notice the big Elite Guard ship until some time after he first attempts to point it out.

Transformer references



 * The Elite Guard Ship's elevator duct looks very similar to the passageways of the Axalon from Beast Wars.


 * Swindle has affectionately referred to Megatron as an old warmonger before, in his first appearance.


 * When Sari types on the computer, her hands somewhat resemble those of Frenzy from the 2007 live-action film.


 * Swindle gives new helmets to Liar Starscream and Sycophant Starscream, making them look much more like the Generation 1 Seekers their color schemes are derived from. However, they still have yet to be called by individual names, or credited as anything but "Starscream". And of course, he may have given them helmets based on personality.


 * Swindle also mentions the planets Quintessa, Nebulos, and Pz-Zazz, all of which came from the Generation 1 cartoon and Marvel Comics. Quite fondly.


 * Swindle's explanation of his version of hammerspace "Hey, that's my personal Transwarp to my private storage dimension!" - may serve as an explanation for mass-shifting and objects that appear only when needed, such as various Primes' trailers. At the very least, transwarp storage explains Wreck-Gar.


 * When driving through the ship, Optimus Prime stops, and most of his fire truck mode leaves him, turning and disappearing offscreen, mimicking the long-standing Optimus tradition of ditching one's trailer just offscreen before returning to humanoid mode, and leaving fans across the generations wondering just where the heck it goes.


 * Many cameos of templates near the end include the Transformers Animated versions of Warpath, Mainframe, Huffer, Autrooper, Flip Sides, Tracks, Cosmos, and Beachcomber. In addition, the platforms carrying Sentinel and Decepticon prisoners are Grandus and his incarnation for the Brave series, Dag Base.


 * Speaking of Beachcomber, the creators were originally making him a major appearance in the show but apparently they decided to make him have a non speaking minor role instead and this episode is the result.

Real-world references

 * Sentinel tells Jazz, "Full energon ahead". This is a Cybertronian twist on "Full steam ahead".


 * When the mouth clamps are activated by remote control, a sound similar to the activation (or deactivation) of a car alarm is heard.


 * The episode's title is a reference to the movie "Con Air".
 * There are multiple movie homages in this episode, including Superman II, Die Hard, Con Air, Broken Arrow, and Mission Impossible. Sari's extending/separating her fingers while typing may be a reference to Ghost in the Shell.


 * The device Swindle has on his hand resembles a Poké Ball from Pokémon, and is even seen being used in a similar fashion to "capture" Jetstorm and Jetfire.


 * The manner wherein Swindle introduces the Sonic Jammer 3000 is similar to Home Shopping Network.


 * When Lugnut crashes on Omega Supreme's cockpit window, Starscream says "Sooo, are picking up hitchhikers now?" This is a reference to "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Making Megatron Zaphod, Starscream Marvin, and Lugnut Arthur. Who is Trillian?

Trivia

 * Sentinel Prime is still a jerk.


 * "Transform and rise up!" finally makes a return. If Megatron can't be around to say it, it's fitting that his most loyal follower - and the voice actor who has played him more than any other - do so.


 * It would seem that Sentinel is to become the next Magnus. Well, "We're still all gonna die!"


 * Also thrust into an awkward leadership role, Lugnut seems to call the shots in this episode but finds his new command rather brief.


 * All the Decepticons are still missing their weaponry in the beginning due to past events.


 * Oddly, Swindle gives all the Decepticons new weapons when their old ones were in a compartment right next to them!!


 * Sentinel wrongly takes credit for the capture of the Decepticons. Jerk. At least Cliffjumper seems to remember correctly. (Or at least, he remembers what Optimus told him. The truth will probably never be told.)


 * Swindle's Transwarp compartment makes generic video game power up sound with each component acquired.




 * Swindle recreates the famous cartoon scene wherein a character ran over by a vehicle comes out flattened.


 * Since their new headgear is not a natural part of their designs, it seems sort of odd that the Starscream clones are both able to transform without them getting in the way. The problems presented by extra headgear were an important factor not so long ago.
 * It has been stated that the Magnus Hammer is the Animated equivalent to the Matrix, being the Autobot symbol of leadership. Shockwave having it is a bad thing indeed.


 * Alpha Trion speaks for the first time in Animated.


 * As with several previous Elite Guard episodes, most of the main Autobots aren't seen, though Prowl is mentioned.


 * The Transformers once again speak to each other in the vacuum of space, presumably through comlinks.


 * Just how is Jetstorm able to create a tornado in the vacuum of space?


 * The Liar and Sunstorm get their new helmets, then don't say anything for the rest of the episode. Weird.


 * Swindle, least trustworthy of all Decepticons, certainly seems an... odd choice of guard. If the events of the comic series are canon, then Lugnut, of all 'cons, should really know better.


 * When Swindle sees the Decepticons battling outside the ship and decides to keep looting, he has an odd expression on his face. Is that... guilt?


 * Swindle doesn't look scared when Primes hand shoots out of his chest.