The Ultimate Doom, Part 1



Writer: Larry Strauss

Megatron brings Cybertron into Earth orbit to harvest the energy from the destruction caused by Cybertron's gravity.

Major Characters (in order of appearance): Optimus Prime, Megatron, Doctor Arkeville, Sparkplug Witwicky, Spike Witwicky

Minor Characters (in order of appearance): Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave, Rumble, Ravage, Laserbeak

Original Air Date: 3rd November 1984

Summary
The Decepticons kidnap Sparkplug to be used as a guinea pig for the experiments of the evil human scientist Doctor Arkeville. The Doctor has developed a mind control device called a Hypnochip. After attaching the Hypnochip to Sparkplug he becomes the Decepticons' slave.

The Autobots attack the Decepticons undersea base and rescue Sparkplug and return him to the Ark. They notice that Sparkplug is acting oddly but before they can learn why the Decepticons launch a surprise attack on the Ark. Spike realises that Sparkplug has sabotaged Teletraan I to let the Decepticons in undetected. He confronts his father who appeals to Spike to join the Decepticons. When Spike refuses he tells his son that when they next meet they will be enemies. After Spike sets off the fire retardant foam the Decepticons retreat and Sparkplug willingly goes with them.

The Autobots then learn that the Decepticons have built a giant space bridge and enslaved many more humans. They roll out to investigate and discover that Megatron plans to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit. The gravity of Cybertron will cause natural disasters and the Decepticons plan to harvest the energy and transport it to Cybertron.

Optimus Prime tries to stop the space bridge from being activated but Megatron tells him that if he does, Cybertron will be catapulted into oblivion. Unwilling to sacrifice Cybertron, Optimus Prime activates the space bridge, bringing Cybertron into Earth's orbit, but wonders if he is dooming Earth in the process.

Technical/Animation glitches

 * Sparkplug's wrench looks different between shots.


 * When Shockwave changes positions while talking to Megatron, there is an outline of his previous position on the screen.


 * When the fake Optimus Prime appears at the Decepticon base, Skywarp speaks with Starscream's voice.


 * When the Autobots are rescuing Sparkplug, Cliffjumper is colored as Bumblebee.


 * When the Decepticons are showered with foam at the Ark, the shot cuts from Thundercracker to Skywarp by simply changing the colors on the character.


 * When Starscream flys to the spacebridge, his altmode is mistakenly colored as Skywarp.


 * When the Autobots first see the slaves, there is one brief moment where Optimus Prime is drawn without his faceplate

Continuity errors
The Decepticons can be apparently easily damaged by fire retardant foam, yet the Autobots are fine.

Transformers References

 * References

Real-world references

 * Reference