Ginrai Dies!!



Wounded beyond repair, God Ginrai lies at death's door, only to discover that hope exists in the form of a reconstruction process developed by Star Saber.


 * English/Malay dub name:  "Farewell, Optimus Prime" 
 * Also known as: "The Death of Ginrai," "Farewell, God Ginrai"

Detailed synopsis
With Star Saber and Blacker injured and God Ginrai fatally wounded, the Decepticons exploit the Autobots loss of manpower by successfully ransacking a solar power station, and attacking the New Cheyenne Airport fuel depot in North America. While the Multiforce and Rescue Team head to the airport, the injured Star Saber is forced to enter the battle at the solar base with Laster and Braver, despite being barely able to stand. After Star Saber departs, the recuperating Blacker decides to go into action alongside the Multiforce and Rescues.

Meanwhile, in the Shuttle Base's intensive care room, expert Autobot scientists and medics Perceptor, Wheeljack and Minerva have been called in to tend to God Ginrai, who has been paralyzed from the neck down. Hallucinating, he recalls the time that Star Saber told him he had been offered the role of Supreme Commander, and his vow to help his friend out, even at the cost of his life.

At the New Cheyenne Airport, Galaxy Shuttle arrives and air-drops the Autobots over the heads of the Dinoforce below. Blacker attempts to transform in mid-air, but his injuries prevent him and he crash-lands roughly. Pipo attempts to administer first aid, but Blacker refuses, and the battle begins to rage.

At the solar power station, Deathsaurus and Leozack watch as copious amounts of energy are loaded into the Thunder Arrow. Star Saber, Laster and Braver soon come soaring into view, but as soon as they hit the ground, Star Saber buckles and collapses, and the two Brainmasters have to shield him from Breastforce fire. Determined to stop Deathsaurus, Star Saber struggles on.

Back in the Shuttle Base, a regretful Perceptor informs God Ginrai that there is nothing they can do for him. However, the scientist explains that despite the irreparable damage to his body, his internal systems are functional and could be transplanted into a new body, but that he would no longer truly be "God Ginrai" if this process were to be performed. God Ginrai is at first complacent in his situation, and willing to die without regret, but when he asks for a further explanation, Perceptor suddenly back-pedals and tells him to forget it. Before Perceptor can stop him, Wheeljack blurts out that there is a pre-existing design that they can use to reconstruct his body. Perceptor silences him before he can say any more, but Ginrai now demands to know the full story.

As the battle continues to rage at the solar power station, Deathsaurus again unleashes his Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon against the weakened Star Saber. In the midst of the fight, Jean contacts Star Saber to let him know that Ginrai wishes to speak with him right away. Although he fearing the worst, Star Saber is unwilling to leave the battlefield until Braver tells him to go, realizing that Ginrai would not make such a request of the Supreme Commander unless he had to. Star Saber speeds back to the Shuttle Base, where he is enraged to discover that Perceptor and Wheeljack have told Ginrai about a design he created for a personal power-enhancement system. Ginrai requests that Star Saber permit his body to be reconstructed according to this design, but Star Saber is appalled, wholly unwilling to use his friend's body in such a manner. Both Star Saber and Jean try to change Ginrai's mind, knowing that the process first requires the cessation of his life functions, and that his subsequent rebirth will mean that disappearance of the being they know, but the Godmaster is resolute.

Back on the two battlefields, things are not going well for the Autobots. At the airport, the Dinoforce escape with energy in tow, leaving Blacker and the Multiforce badly injured. At the solar base, Laster and Braver have likewise been bested, and Deathsaurus cackles over his victory as the Thunder Arrow departs with a full load of energy. The wounded Autobots limp back to the Shuttle Base, arriving just in time to witness the beginning of God Ginrai's reconstruction. As the Godmaster's body is lowered into a recessed chamber and a transparent shield lowers into place above him, Jean bangs his fists on the shield and cries out to Ginrai. Minerva is forced to lift him to safety, and the fatal switch is thrown, as the process begins, and God Ginrai… dies...

Stats
Written by:  Hiroyuki Hoshiyama

Original airdate: 26th September 1989

Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * Wheeljack's shoulder cannon is consistently colored red for no apparent reason.

Continuity errors

 * Wheeljack, of course, died in The Transformers: The Movie, but here he is, fit and healthy. This is another one of those oddities that results from the movie not reaching Japan until after Victory aired, and the writers and animators being unaware that the character was supposed to be dead.

Transformers references

 * Blacker was wounded back in "Crisis! Ambush in the Desert".
 * Star Saber and Ginrai suffered their injuries in "A Deadly Battle".
 * Remember that this Minerva is the wholly robotic Transtector which came to life in "A Battle... and Then...".

Miscellaneous trivia

 * Rather than begin with a preview of the episode itself, this instalment of Victory begins with a recap of the previous episode.
 * For some reason, this episode refrains from actually naming its three medical guest-stars (with Perceptor simply called "the doctor"), although Perceptor and Wheeljack are both listed by name in the credits. Both are voiced by different actors to those that played them in Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers; Minerva does not speak.