Four Warriors Come out of the Sky

Four Warriors Come out of the Sky is the first episode of Transformers: The Headmasters. It first aired in Japan on July 03, 1987 on Nippon TV.

Summary
In the year 2011, the Decepticons are back, and they've got added power in the form of the newest addition to the Transformers' war - Headmasters!

Plot
On Cybertron in the year 2011, the space bridge suddenly reactivates, and Galvatron leads a force of Decepticons - including mysterious new recruits Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Mindwipe - in an attack against the unsuspecting Autobots. Caught unawares, the Autobots contact Optimus Prime and the Autobots in their secondary headquarters on the planet Athenia, and Prime leads troops to aid in the battle on Cybertron. Hound theorises that the loss of the Matrix's energy has destabilised Vector Sigma and Spike deduces that the Decepticons have targeted the computer, intending to take control it, and through it, the planet.

Meanwhile, on Earth, the Autobots under Ultra Magnus's command have received orders to join the conflict on Cybertron, but their way to the space bridge is barred by a Decepticon contingent led by Sixshot, and he and Magnus square off. At the same time, Wheelie and Daniel are pursued by Trypticon and manage to escape by tricking him into falling down a ravine. The arrival of the Trainbots tips things in the Autobots' favor, and they break off the fight to head for Autobot City; the pursuing Decepticons are dispatched by Metroplex, and the troops are carried through the space bridge aboard the Trainbots, while Wheelie and Daniel stowed away.

As the battle escalates and conditions worsen on Cybertron, Kup is reminded of the early days of the war when many Autobots fled the planet to escape the conflict. As if on cue, a mysterious light appears in the sky, approaching Cybertron - a light that Blurr soon realises is not a star, but a starship! As the Decepticons approach their goal, demolishing the Autobots that stand in their way thanks to Mindwipe's sleep-inducing hypnosis power, this ship appears in the skies over Cybertron, and four new warriors soar out to bar their advance - Chromedome, Hardhead, Brainstorm and Highbrow!

Characters
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * When the Decepticons emerge from the space bridge at the start of the episode, Hun-Gurrr is missing from the Terrorcons, Swindle is missing from the Combaticons and both Divebomb and Headstrong are missing from the Predacons. The two Predacons reappear later on, but the others don't, and Rippersnapper actually gives out orders to the team.
 * Similarly, when the Technobots appear, Strafe is missing, but when the angle switches, Scattershot has disappeared, and Strafe is in his place (just as Lightspeed issues orders to the team!).
 * Perhaps in an attempt to outdo his brother, Sideswipe is seen on both Athenia and Earth.

Continuity errors

 * Although he does not speak, Prowl appears quite prominently in a few scenes, despite his death in The Transformers: The Movie. The fact that the movie had not yet been released in Japan at this point is often cited as a reason for this, but Prowl's name was included on the list of dead Autobots in the Japanese dub of Dark Awakening, so they did know. The Binaltech storyline seemed like it was going to explain this, but got shunted off into its own alternate reality when it ended.
 * Blitzwing is shown with the Decepticons, but he was banished from their ranks in Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5. This previously occurred in The Ultimate Weapon, and it will not be the last time that this occurs in The Headmasters.

Transformers references

 * This episode occurs a year after the The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2 (which takes place in 2010 in Japanese continuity, compared to America's 2006), taking the place of The Rebirth, Part 1 for this continuity.
 * Athenia previously appeared in Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1, but it has been seriously re-worked since then.
 * The energy of the Matrix was released in The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2.
 * The concept of Autobots fleeing Cybertron to escape the war was established in Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2, and revisited in Fight or Flee.
 * Up to this point, the space bridge has been the province of the Decepticons alone, but this episode establishes that the Autobots have now created their own network, linking Autobot City on Earth to Cybertron and Athenia.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * This episode has been released on DVD quite a few times in the United Kingdom. The "Star TV dub" version was included on Maverick's release of The Transformers: The Movie to promote the company's upcoming release of it, and five further episodes of the series on a single disc (all in StarTV dub format). This version of the episode was also included on Metrodome's Season 2, Part 2 DVD box set. Metrodome then included an original Japanese language version with subtitles on The Transformers: The Movie - Reconstructed, as promotion for their dual-language boxset release of the entire series. This version of the episode is missing the opening montage.