Darkmount, NV

Darkmount, NV is the first episode of the third season of Transformers: Prime. It is the fifty-third episode overall.

Synopsis
Optimus Prime struggles to survive, while Team Prime are divided from each other.

Plot
The Decepticons search through the ruins of Outpost Omega One. Starscream has investigated the wreckage of the Jackhammer, and returns with Wheeljack as a captive. Megatron orders him to be taken back to Darkmount for questioning. While the troops continue to search through the ruins, not far from their location lays the body of Optimus. The Decepticons eventually dig up Airachnid, still trapped in her stasis chamber, and the Forge of Solus Prime, but are unable to find any Autobot bodies. This happened because Smokescreen has spirited Optimus away using the phase shifter. The young Autobot shelters his badly-damaged leader in an underground cavern. Meanwhile, as Megatron orders Soundwave to monitor frequencies Earth-wide for Autobot communications, Starscream spots an incoming human military force and offers to dispatch the armada to deal with them. Megatron instead turns Darkmount's fusion cannons on them, devastating the human forces as well as Jasper.

Megatron contacts Agent Fowler, warning him that the Decepticons should not be interfered with, but with the news that Megatron bears the humans no threat and simply wants to settle on Earth in peace. Starscream is impressed with Megatron's talent for deception. Fowler, meanwhile, reports to General Bryce that Jasper's evacuation was completed in time and a cover story in place, but the military wants to nuke the Decepticons. June Darby, working as a medic on the military base, asks if there's been any word from the others, but there's no way to contact anyone without giving away their position.

A patrolling Vehicon scans cars moving along a road, but fails to recognize Bumblebee, who has a new paint job. Bumblebee and Raf stop and discuss how they're going to find the rest of the team, concluding the best bet is to continue heading towards Jasper. In the Rockies, Bulkhead and Miko head towards a Wrecker meeting spot Bulkhead and Wheeljack had decided on.

Back in Darkmount, Starscream's interrogation of Wheeljack is not bearing fruit as Wheeljack doesn't know anything. Megatron orders Knock Out to take a team back to Cybertron to search for Iacon relics at their previous battle site.

Optimus stirs, and Smokescreen relates how he snuck back to the base during the evacuation, and used the phase shifter to get Optimus out. While Smokescreen is keen to go find Ratchet, Optimus stops him.

Jack and Arcee pause in their travels and spot a helicopter. Arcee leaves Jack to go investigate, whereupon Jack decides that sending a text message to his mother might be safe. Unfortunately his message is detected by Soundwave, and the Decepticons swiftly dispatch a force. Jack only has time to put away his phone before a Vehicon starts strafing him. Arcee, who's spotted the helicopter, is revealed to be civilian, sees the explosions and heads back. Jack unsuccessfully shelters under a truck, but Arcee gets back in time to save him. The pair set up a trap at a nearby gas station, destroying it to take out the two Vehicons and Laserbeak, before fleeing.

The search for relics on Cybertron turns up the Apex Armor, and... something else. Back on Earth, Soundwave is examining Laserbeak and failing to retrieve any of the surveillance data when Knock Out's call comes though. Knock Out returns triumphantly through the Space Bridge with a surprise guest: Shockwave!

Cast

 * Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
 * Frank Welker as Megatron
 * Steve Blum as Starscream
 * Daran Norris as Knock Out
 * Nolan North as Smokescreen
 * Sumalee Montano as Arcee
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Bulkhead
 * Josh Keaton as Jack
 * Andy Pessoa as Raf
 * Tania Gunadi as Miko
 * Ernie Hudson as Agent Fowler
 * Markie Post as June Darby
 * James Horan as Wheeljack

Quotes
"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race... peacefully. Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality."
 * —Megatron on the phone.

"Earth is our planet now, Starscream, and we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them."
 * —Megatron off the phone.

"He's feeding me a load of horse puckey, trying to crush our spirit."
 * —Agent Fowler is not buying what Megatron is selling.

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?!"

"Well, in my experience-"

"NOT a riddle, Starscream."
 * —Megatron and Starscream

Errors

 * The shape of the Decepticon citadel appears to have changed since the previous episode to accommodate the four huge fusion cannons.
 * As previously seen in "The Human Factor", the map of the continental United States shows Louisiana rendered within Texas, with a noticeable gap along the coastline where Louisiana should be.
 * In "Darkest Hour", Optimus Prime had his mouthplate retracted when he was preparing to destroy the Ground Bridge controls. When he is seen lying in the rubble, he is wearing it, only for it to disappear once Smokescreen pulls him into the cavern.
 * The Decepticon citadel was previously named as "New Kaon" in "Darkest Hour", only to be called Darkmount in this one. While a change of heart regarding the name isn't out of the question, there can't be more than a few hours' difference between this episode and the previous one.
 * Smokescreen's return to the base is inconsistent with the previous episode, or even the flashbacks to it in this episode. He is shown to have returned within moments of the base's destruction, but was the second-to-last to use the Ground Bridge, Ratchet being the last. Since Ratchet changed the coordinates, he should have returned well before the blast, and should have been spotted by Optimus when he did.
 * Since releasing gasoline from the hoses requires money, or at least using an activation code inside the station, there is no way Jack would have been able to activate the gas line from inside the station or use a credit card to activate it within the few seconds of the Vehicons' arrival.

Continuity notes

 * Fowler contacts his superior, General Bryce, previously seen in "Grill".
 * This episode covers the fates of the various Iacon relics and other things left unattended in the previous episode. With the exception of the phase shifter, the relics taken by Prime's team were left on Cybertron. The Forge of Solus Prime and Airachnid both survived the destruction of the Autobot base. Prime's Star Saber and Megatron's Dark Star Saber turn up again later, intact (while the dead Prime's arm was never seen again).
 * Megatron has his original arm back, last seen being removed by Knock Out in "Alpha/Omega". Evidently he kept it in storage.
 * Starscream expresses surprise at Megatron's diplomatic skills, echoing an exchange in Transformers: Exodus.
 * The Milky Way is shown outside Cybertron, consistent with the stellar cartography in Exodus.

Transformers references

 * The name "Darkmount" comes from the fortress of the same name first introduced in the original Marvel comic; the name was later used for a toy representing Straxus, the commander of Darkmount.
 * Fowler references containment procedure "G-1000" when describing the evacuation of Jasper.
 * Bumblebee's new black-and-yellow paint job resembles an unused redesign for him in Revenge of the Fallen.
 * Darkmount's cannons seem to share a few similarities with the Dimensional Decimator, a weapon featured in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Both of them suck in nearby objects and clump them together, only to explode and send whatever was grabbed (or what's left) flying.

Trivia

 * This episode was initially revealed in The Hub's March highlights document under the name "Darkmouth, NV".
 * The worldwide premiere screening of the first three episodes was held at the Globe Theater in Universal Studios Hollywood on March 14, 2013.
 * The worldwide television premiere of "Darkmount, NV" was a day later on okto, a Singaporean channel, where it aired back-to-back with "Scattered" and "Prey".
 * This episode was rebroadcast on April 19 with "Autobits" (popups with trivia or jokes) added in.
 * Why would the Vehicons scan for Autobot vehicle modes, if the Autobots are fully capable of changing their alternate modes? (The real world answer is that they are using the same production models)
 * The photo of Arcee on Jack's phone is from the episode "Scrapheap", but in that episode he didn't have his phone out. However, it is possible that Arcee did the same pose for the photo off-screen and we just haven't seen up to now.

Gallery
Main Article: Darkmount, NV Gallery