Master Blaster



The Predacons gain control over the body of Optimus Primal, and capture the Ark.

Summary


Silverbolt dutifully patrols the Maximals' fortified entrance to Mount St. Hilary. Megatron, trying another attack on the Maximals' base, sends sub-commander Waspinator with a large explosive (from...somewhere) to destroy the patrolling Fuzor. Waspinator delivers the missile and destroys Silverbolt's gunning turret, and when Primal, Cheetor, and Rattrap rush outside to defend their home, Waspinator commands a full attack. But without support from additional troops, Waspinator is quickly crushed by Primal.

Hiding out of Primal's sight, Tarantulas blows a dart that burrows itself into Primal's foot, crawls through the Maximal leader's interior machinery, and accesses Primal's own spark. Primal disregards the infection, tells Cheetor to "take a rest" with a suspiciously Western drawl, and punches out the young Maximal.



Blackarachnia returns to the Maximal base, surprised by the open doors. She finds the entire interior dark. Primal sneaks up on the arachnid, and when she reveals that Depth Charge isn't with her, he grabs her as if she were a toy. With the widow restrained, Megatron and his crones step out of the darkness. Quickstrike is revealed to be controlling Optimus by piloting a large, mechanical suit of similar form to Primal's body. The other Maximals are being kept deactivated in a hanging cage.



Meanwhile, Quickstrike uses Primal's body to give Megatron access to the Ark ' s interior. Megatron walks through the halls of the ship to find what he's looking for: his namesake Megatron. The Predacon leader opens his own chest, and a tentacle reaches out of it to access the spark of his predecessor. After a bit of struggle, Megatron takes both sparks into his body. While Megatron convulses from the pain of containing two sparks, Quickstrike, who is secretly working for Tarantulas, dumps his leader into one of the lava pits outside.



Blackarachnia is left in the care of Rampage, who delights in causing her pain, but she overpowers the massive Transmetal crab by using her telekinesis to knock him down with a steel girder. She sneaks through the base, then leads Inferno away from the Maximals he's supposed to be protecting and locks him outside so she can free her team.

Quickstrike gives Tarantulas access to Teletraan I. Tarantulas then sends Quickstrike away to destroy the Maximals while he rigs the Ark to explode, which will kill all Autobots and Decepticons within it. As Tarantulas leaves the Ark, Megatron emerges from the lava, now reconfigured into a dragon form by his plunge into the molten rock and the additional spark within him. Megatron burns the spider who betrayed him and tosses Tarantulas into a distant lava pool as punishment for failing.

Quickstrike, still piloting his armor, finds Blackarachnia and double-teams her using Optimus's body, which is still under his control. But with a well-placed blast, she causes the two giants to fall over each other. The fall frees Optimus, who remembers what he did under Quickstrike's control, and he and Blackarachnia head back into the Ark to prevent the devastation.



Megatron finds Optimus, and the two enhanced transformers battle. While Blackarachnia tries to save the Ark, Megatron shows off his new abilities against his most hated enemy. Blackarachnia saves the Ark with just a single second to spare. Optimus is then saved from Megatron by the combined firepower of the other Maximals, who force Megatron to retreat. But with the spark of the original Megatron still in his possession, Megatron has gained a new advantage in the Beast Wars.

Quotes
"Ah, sometimes deception is the better part of valor."
 * —Megatron, observing Waspinator's unwitting decoy attack on the Maximal base

"You'll live to regret this, crab legs." "I regret everything, my sweet. Struggle as much as you like, I enjoy it."
 * —Blackarachnia as she struggles against Rampage

"Time to open me up a can of kick-keister!"
 * —Quickstrike, after being told to finish the other Maximals

"I can suffer your treachery, lieutenant, but not your incompetence!" (throws Tarantulas into the lava) "Treachery requires no mistakes."
 * —Megatron reborn deals with Tarantulas

"Megatron does not yield... he conquers!"
 * —Megatron ' s response to Optimus Primal's demand for his surrender

"Did you think you could stand against the fury of both Megatrons?"
 * —Megatron gloating to Optimus Primal

"Eight clicks to core implosion.... five.. four... three... two... one... core implosion aborted... all systems normal... have a nice day."
 * —Teletraan I

Stats
Original airdate: March 1, 1999

Written by: Eric Torin

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

Other Notes

 * Although the toy is a Transmetal 2 and has detailing consistent with the other Transmetal 2 figures, within the context of the story, Megatron's upgrade has not related to the Transmetal driver and never called a Transmetal 2 in the series. The stylistic difference from "Optimal Optimus" can be attributed to the lava, which Megatron likely wouldn't have survived had he not been in the process of being upgraded, as falling into lava killed Terrorsaur and Scorponok.

Animation Errors

 * When Megatron says "Six little Maximals...", his face is black instead of purple.

Continuity errors

 * It is unclear why Tarantulas and Quickstrike expected (Beast Wars) Megatron to expire in the lava, given Tarantulas suffers the same fate, but immediately climbs out of the lava moments later. Although it's possible that throwing Megatron into lava was just Quickstrike's idea.
 * Megatron is not shown putting Generation 1 Megatron's spark back in its body. Even at the end of the series, the spark was never shown again, nor was it even mentioned that it had been replaced. There is only Primal's statement that "all is as it should be" (made in "Nemesis Part 2") to go on.  However, the spark's replacement was written into the "Nemesis" script and even animatedit was simply cut for time from the final episode.  A clip of this animation can be seen on BWTF.com's page for this episode and was included as an extra in Kid Rhino's DVD release of Beast Wars season 3.
 * What is kind of odd is that Teletraan I counts down in clicks, which during the Beast Wars is a distant of measurement with cycles being the unit of time. It is unlikely that the measurements for time and distance would change within the 300 years after the Great War. But the writers might have gotten the units confused and didn't pay attention to it.
 * The computer that Blackarachnia uses seems to have been designed for human-size figures, rather then the larger Autobot occupants.

Transformers references

 * Well, there is the original Megatron, but he's only in stasis lock.
 * The bomb that Waspinator is holding at the start of the episode looks like Galvatron's fusion cannon.

Real-world references

 * Megatron counts "Six little Maximals, I've almost collected the whole set!" several Transformer fans collect the toys - and many fans make a point to collect specifically the toys of characters appearing on the show.


 * While revealing himself in his new form, Megatron cries out "Enter the dragon!", which is also the title of a Bruce Lee movie.


 * The title of the episode, "Master Blaster", is also the title of an old computer game, and a song by Stevie Wonder. However, it's clear from context that it primarily refers to the dwarf/giant duo from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Trivia

 * The power-suit frame used by Quickstrike in this episode is later used by the Vok to create Primal Prime in the BotCon Wreckers storyline.


 * This episode establishes that there are equally powerful sparks, not just Prime's. (see properties of spark).


 * In an early version of episode's plot, Megatron decided to steal and absorb the original Megatron's spark only after failing at another attempt to kill Optimus Prime.