Expose the Decepticons' Dark Deception!



The Decepticons prove that you shouldn't believe everything you see on TV.


 * English/Malay dub name:  "The Revealing of the Evil Scheme"
 * Also known as: "Expose the Decepticons' Dark Trap"

Detailed synopsis
At the International School, Shūta and Cab hear about a mysterious fortune teller from America who appeared on television the previous night and predicted that a series of disasters would soon occur all across the Earth. As Minerva passes by, they ask if she has heard the story, but she dismisses it as made-up nonsense. Everyone is shocked, however, when a rain of huge meteors crash into cities all over the planet that night, exactly where the fortune teller predicted. Minerva is willing dismiss it as coincidence, and the Autobots cannot detect a Decepticon hand in the proceedings, but nonetheless, they remain on edge.

The Headmaster Juniors are quick to tune into the next TV appearance by the fortune teller, but as they watch, the masked woman claims that the disasters are the work of a race of evil alien beings that are at war with each other, with humans caught in the middle. She announces that these beings must be driven from the Earth, lest the disasters continue, and at the encouragement of the show's host, reveals the image of one of the creatures in her crystal ball – the image of Super Ginrai! Before even this shock can sink into the Juniors' minds, the fortune teller suddenly predicts that another disaster is about to strike in Japan – at which point, a jumbo jet explodes in mid-air, killing 450 people! Even as news of the jet explosion is broadcast, the Juniors rush to tell Ginrai and the Pretenders what they have learned, but they have already seen the broadcast, and received a transmission from Fortress to let them know that the space-based Decepticons have been moving strangely of late. This has led them to the conclusion that the Decepticons were responsible for the falling meteors, but Metalhawk and Ginrai decide to keep this a secret from the Juniors, and Ginrai suggests that they accompany him to America so that they can track down this so-called fortune teller while the Pretenders focus on the Bomber Project.

In America, the fortune teller has been picked up from the TV studio by a black car, the driver of which compliments her on her acting skills. As the fortune teller removes her veil, the face of Lady Mega is exposed, and the other occupants of the car are revealed as Hydra and Buster. They happily witness the effect that Mega's little speech has produced, as a mob wielding signs depicting Ginrai crosses the street in front of them, calling for the Autobot's destruction. They drive on to the next TV station, where Mega makes another phoney prediction of a disaster that will occur "where water reigns." Ginrai and the Juniors watch the broadcast on a TV in a bar, but far more importantly, Gilmer, Blood and Dauros are also tuned in on a portable viewer, and take this as their cue to blow up Watson Dam. Their dam proves too tough for their weapons to take out quickly, however, at which point Lord Giga steps up, clad in a suit of Godmaster armor. He aims his Transtector, the Gigatank, at the dam, and blows it to smithereens with one shot. Already on their way to the TV station, Ginrai and the Juniors hear of the dam's destruction, and the Juniors break off to help with the relief effort while Ginrai pursues the fortune teller on his own. Hydra and Buster spot him in their rear-view mirror, and Mega quickly concocts a plan, sending Hydra on ahead to inform the other Decepticons.

The Juniors find themselves swept up in the raging flood waters, but transform to robot mode and leap to safety. They set about rescuing the people endangered by the flood, who are grateful for their help and ask if they are fighting against the "evil beings" the fortune-teller spoke of. The Juniors try to explain that it is the Decepticons, rather than Super Ginrai, who are the evil ones, but are distracted when they spot one of the crashed meteors being transported by helicopters to the nearby state park for televised examination. This, as circumstance would have it, is precisely where Mega is leading Ginrai, and where he is ambushed by the Decepticon Pretenders, forcing him to transform to robot mode to fight them. Mega dons her fortune teller garb and appears before the TV crew broadcasting the study of the meteor, drawing everyone's attention to the battle and decrying Ginrai as evil once more. Just then, the Juniors arrive to help Ginrai, and the Decepticons are defeated, forcing Mega to take matters into her own hands. She uses her Godmaster powers to levitate the meteor in an attempt to crash it into a nearby viewing platform (complete with a conveniently-placed school field trip), but Ginrai gets between the two and blocks the metor. A girl falls from the tower as Ginrai is pushed back by the meteor and bumps into it, but Ginrai carefully catches her, and everyone is now convinced that he is the good guy in this fight. The schoolchildren begin lobbing rocks at Mega, distracting her and making her lose her concentration, allowing Ginrai to hurl the meteor at the other Decepticons. Mega sheds her disguise, manifests her own suit of Godmaster armor, and escapes aboard her own Transtector, the Megajet, followed by the other Decepticons. With the villains' deception revealed, Ginrai and the Autobots are celebrated as heroes, but the Juniors still wonder how the meteor fell to Earth in the first place. Ginrai reveals to them the activities of the space-based Decepticons, but it is clear that this is not the last of their evil schemes.

Stats
Written by:  Hiroyuki Hoshiyama

Original airdate: 4th October 1988

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Continuity errors

 * Why... oh why... oh WHY... does not a single human know what Transformers are? These things made Earth their battleground for thirty years! And why does nobody recognize Ginrai, even though he appeared on television in "Eliminate the Godmaster Ginrai"? And when people could be heard to refer to the Autobots by name in "Birth! Headmaster Jrs"? This is one of the more blatant disconnects between Super-God Masterforce and… well, everything else, frankly.

Transformers references

 * The collaboration between the Earth- and space-based Decepticons, as well as the commencement of the Autobots' Bomber Project, began in the previous episode.
 * As in "Birth! Headmaster Jrs", clips from the opening of The Headmasters are used to illustrate the war going on in space.
 * Mega and Giga were revealed to be Godmasters themselves in "A Strange Friendship: Cancer and Minerva", but this is the first time their actual Transtectors have been revealed.

Miscellaneous trivia

 * The title of this episode is a bit easier on the tongue if one uses the original Japanese name for the Decepticons, the Destrons.
 * Mega makes the most pained, constipated roar as she levitates the meteor. Seriously, it's hilarious.