Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2

With the Dinobots having deserted the dying Autobots, Spike and Carly must find them and save the Autobots.

Synopsis
Arriving through the Space Bridge, Spike and Carly come under fire from Shockwave, but he only succeeds in disintegrating Carly's car. The two humans manage to take refuge inside a small hole in a computer. Carly attempts to work the machine, but is hit by a surge of electricity and falls into a nearby pit, damaging the computer, but also twisting her ankle in the process. Megatron contacts Shockwave and orders him to send Cybertonium before the Decepticons die, but Carly's tinkering has left the Space Bridge is non-functional.

After escaping the computer, Spike and Carly are guided to Wheeljack's old lab by Sparkplug, using Teletraan I. They meet up with Swoop, who explains that the Dinobots were captured by the Decepticons and taken to the Cybertonium Pit. The three are guided by Sparkplug to a mass transit system. Unfortunately, the tube carrying their car is damaged, and they can no longer communicate with Sparkplug. Deep underground, the three are nearly killed when they activate old defense systems. Swoop saves the day, but his wings are damaged. Reaching the surface, they discover a datatrack which explains the history of the terrible war between the Autobots and Decepticons, but are soon captured by a Sentinel.

Taken to the Cybertonium Pit, they discover that Shockwave altered the Dinobots' memory circuits, making them think they're loyal to the Decepticons. Carly is able to repair their memory circuits, and Spike comes up with an escape plan. He and Grimlock start arguing, so the Sentinel decides to remove the humans. When the force field surrounding them comes down, the Dinobots destroy the drones. Heading to the repaired Space Bridge, the Dinobots and humans manage to escape back to Earth with a shipment of Cybertonium.

At the Autobot base, Optimus Prime awards Spike and Carly with medals, making them "honorary Autobots". Grimlock decides to follow Optimus Prime's orders, and the Dinobots rejoin the Autobots.

Notable Quotes
"That was my car, not an Autobot. Deceticreep! "I don't think he cares, Carly."
 * —Carly and Spike after Shockwave destroys Carly's car

"Don't worry. He won't shoot one of his own troops."
 * —Spike Witwicky, having learned nothing of the Decepticons in the past two years

"The more I see of this place, the more I like." "The more I see, the more tired I get."
 * —Carly as she marvels at Cybertron while Spike despairs over the huge stairs

Spike/Carly: "WHOA!" Swoop: "Why you make that noise?" Spike: "Because we just left our stomachs back up there. Hoh-oh!" Swoop: "Me glad me not have stomach to leave."
 * —Spike and Carly get a tiny bit of motion sickness sympathy from Swoop.

"Almost forgot—me Swoop can transform!"
 * —In standard Dinobot fashion, Swoop hits on a solution for getting around with a damaged Pterodactyl wing.

"Millions of years ago, Cybertron was a planet at peace...until the Decepticons, lusting for power, began a terrible war. Not designed for combat, the Autobots were overwhelmed and subjugated by their evil opponents. While many Autobots fled Cybertron, a few valiant survivors devised new tactics and launched a counter-offensive on their arch-foes. And thus began a terrible series of wars. Many times, both sides have claimed victory, but this has been short-lived, for the Autobots have overthrown Decepticon tyrants, and, likewise, Decepticon treachery has toppled a many a peaceful Autobot ruler. And to this day, the war rages on."
 * —Computer activated and telling the history of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict to Carly, Spike and Swoop.

Swoop: "Me want to thank Carly for fixing Dinobots." Sludge: "Me Sludge thank you too." Snarl: "Me thank you too." Sludge: "Too too."
 * —Dino-kudos to Carly for her repair work on their memory circuits.

Grimlock: "No! Me hate you!" Spike: "Well, I'm not nuts about you either!" Grimlock: "Me not do as you say!" Spike: "You lunky bag of bolts, you can't do anything!"
 * —Grimlock and Spike fake a fight within the Cybertonium Pit.

"Intruders!"
 * —Shockwave displays a talent for understatement as he is ambushed by the Dinobots.

Animation errors

 * References

Continuity errors

 * At the end of Part 1, Shockwave fires (with two guns!) into the opening Space Bridge elevator door, triggering a huge explosion. At the opening of this episode, however, he's just standing there when the elevator doors open.  He fires a ray that vaporizes Carly's car out from under its two human passengers, but doesn't cause any human-eviscerating explosions.


 * Incidentally, the ability to vaporize an entire automobile's worth of mass would seem to be a pretty useful power for an evil robot, but it's never seen outside of this episode's opening sequence.


 * Spike has got to be some kind of superhuman: He lifts a metal gun that's bigger than he is!


 * Sparkplug says he's altered the space bridge destination by tapping into the Decepticons' computers. He never mentions how he managed to build an entire space bridge receiver ring right outside Autobot Headquarters.

Transformers references

 * The ships used by fleeing Autobots in the datatracks are the same type as the Ark.
 * The episode suggests that the Autobots created the art of transforming, something that the Five Faces of Darkness also corroborated.

Real world references

 * References