Masquerade



After defeating the Stunticons, five of the Autobots pose as the crazed combiners to learn of Megatron's newest plan.

Detailed synopsis
Megatron sends the Stunticons on a mission to find components for an unrevealed purpose, including the world’s largest, most perfect ruby. While searching for their components, the actions of the Stunticons catch the attention of the Autobots, who track their movements and their crimes. Breakdown and Wildrider get the first component: laser lenses from a scientist. Dead End and Drag Strip get the second component: an experimental generator from the Army. Motormaster gets the last one: a perfect ruby from a museum.

The Autobots split into teams and manage to be extremely effective at capturing the Stunticons in the middle of their capers. Grapple, Hoist, and Inferno take on Breakdown and Wildrider. Warpath and Tracks take on Dead End and Drag Strip. Finally, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Blaster, and Spike Witwicky go for Motormaster, who challenges the Autobot leader to a game of “chicken” and ends up in a head-on collision. Spike, Bumblebee, and Blaster peer through the dust to see who survived, and it turns out that Optimus is the clear victor with merely a minor headache, while Motormaster lies in a wreck.

Although all five Stunticons have been captured, the Autobots still don’t know what their plans were for the components they stole for Megatron. Wheeljack guesses that the parts are going to be made into a weapon. (Nooo, really?) Optimus hatches a scheme to disguise Autobots using camouflage paint and penetrate the Decepticon camp disguised as Stunticons: Optimus Prime as Motormaster, Jazz as Dead End, Sideswipe as Breakdown, Mirage as Drag Strip, and Windcharger as Wildrider.

The disguised Autobots infiltrate the Decepticons, although their arrival causes some raised eyebrows because they are driving too "safely". They deliver the stolen components to Megatron without being detected.

Back at the Autobot base, the Stunticons manage to shimmy and shake their way out of their cells, merge into Menasor and overcome their Autobot captors. They then head back to the Decepticon base.

The Constructicons complete Megatron’s new weapon, and he reveals its power, but just then Menasor arrives and declares the Autobots as infiltrators. Using Windcharger’s electric field ability and Mirage’s illusion power, the Autobots merge into their own Menasor. The two giants battle it out, and the Autobots are overcome. Megatron trains the new weapon on the Autobots, but the device blows up in his face after a few scattered shots.

Autobot reinforcements arrive, and the Decepticons flee without their usual promises for revenge. It is revealed that Ironhide had made adjustments to the ruby back at Autobot HQ, which caused the device to explode. The Autobots head for home, victorious.

Stats
Original airdate: November 28, 1985 Written by: Donald F. Glut

Featured Characters
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notable quotes
"A near miss deserves a couple of near-missiles!"
 * —Inferno

"I'm probably going to hate myself in the morning, but..."
 * —Inferno before he douses the flames on the Stunticon Breakdown

"Blam! Boom! Pow! I'm going to make that hot rod even hotter. HA HA HA!"
 * —Warpath firing on the Stunticons Dead End and Dragstrip and proving somewhat prophetic

"Well, look who's here! The old King of the Road! When I'm finished with ya, you'll be King of the Junkyard!"
 * —Motormaster taunting Optimus Prime into a game of chicken

"You did it! You did it, Optimus! You stuffed that loudmouth once and for all." "I...hope so, Spike, because I'd hate to go through that again."
 * —Spike congratulates a shaken Optimus as he recovers from a head-on collision with Motormaster.

[The Autobots are towing the defeated Stunticons to the Ark] Wheeljack: "Here they come." Ratchet: "I won't bother asking who won." Breakdown (taking note of the Autobots looking at them): "They're gawking at us! How mortifrying!" Dead End: "The word, Breakdown, is mortiFYing, my sentiment exactly." Motormaster: "I'm in no mood for your big words, Dead End." Ironhide: "For you, Motormouth, this IS a dead end."
 * —Motormaster complains about Dead End's SAT-level vocabulary

"Man, Optimus. You're a dead ringer for Motormaster." "Did you have to say dead ringer, Spike?"
 * —Spike Witwicky ' s vocabulary causes Optimus Prime to wince.

"All right, then...ah...Stunticons, let's roll for it. "
 * —Optimus Prime disguises as Motormaster.

"Everybody out on bad behavior!"
 * -Breakdown after freeing himself and taking out Inferno, Grapple, and Hoist.

"Imagine my turning that ray on the Autobots' headquarters. Perhaps when it's gone, someone will put up a memorial parking lot. Mwahaha!"
 * —Megatron

"Machine appears unstable. Suggest abandoning it." "Suggestion noted—and ignored!"
 * —Soundwave warns Megatron, for all the good it does.

Animation and/or technical glitches

 * As a result of animation cels being stacked incorrectly, Ratchet appears teeny-tiny in the front of a crowd shot, making Ironhide look colossal by comparison. The tiny Ratchet should, of course, be (barely visible) at the back of the crowd.
 * When the real Menasor takes off to warn Megatron, he has an Autobot insignia.
 * When the Autobots begin firing on Menasor, his face is entirely black.
 * Just before Megatron fires the laser, Windcharger is miscoloured in green and grey.
 * In the mid-1990s, many G1 episodes were aired on the SciFi Network. To allow expanded advertising time, they were edited down, cutting "unnecessary" dialog and scenes out.  Some of the "unnecessary" dialog cut from this episode included parts of Grapple and Inferno's lines, resulting in them collectively uttering "Time to add firobably hate myself in the morning, but..."

Continuity errors

 * reference

Transformers references

 * Megatron's line "Suggestion noted...AND IGNORED!" when Soundwave warns him would be revisited during the Beast Wars when his namesake utters those exact sentiments to Dinobot II on board the Nemesis.

Real-world references

 * References

Miscellaneous trivia



 * Ratchet's voice actor in this episode is Wally Burr, not the usual Don Messick, and it shows.


 * Although Mirage had illusion-creating powers described in his bio, the show limited it to him simply being able to turn invisible in all but this one instance, leaving it a bit anomalous within the cartoon series itself. This limitation occurred, of course, because Mirage being able to create illusions was rather redundant in the face of Hound being able to do exactly the same thing. Per their bios, though, illusions were actually supposed to be Mirage's "thing", while Hound used his holograms to create maps and could only make simple images on rare occasions.


 * Did anyone know that Soundwave can fly in his tape deck mode? Because at the end of this episode he transforms and then flies off behind Starscream.


 * Probably coincident or not, Classics Menasor is a redeco from Legends of Cybertron Optimus Prime, while Universe Drag Strip is made from Classics Mirage redeco. Maybe someday there will come a Universe Sideswipe redeco to represent Universe Breakdown from. Who knows?

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