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Dark Voyage

"Dude... I've got some serious CAT-aracts..."

After an energon explosion, Rhinox must lead the blinded Maximals back to base.

Dark Voyage (Japanese title: ジャングルぐるぐる) (Jungle Guruguru "Around and Around the Jungle") is the twentieth episode of first season of Beast Wars: Transformers, is the twentieth episode of the Beast Wars: Transformers series and is overall the twentieth episode of the Beast Era of the Transformers series. It is overall the one hundredth-eighteenth episode of the G1 Era of Transformers.

Summary[]

Rattrap burrows through some rocks to uncover a piece of valuable Energon. Cheetor congratulates Rattrap's discovery, while Dinobot, disgruntled with the labour, discovers a deposit of surface Energon several times the size of Rattrap's harvest.

Suddenly, a dart from Scorponok lands on one of the larger pieces of Energon. Rhinox recognizes the dart as an explosive, and rushes to toss it away from the unstable Energon. However, with the Energon already fractured, there's no stopping the gigantic explosion. Once the fireball expands and rises into the sky, Scorponok and Waspinator are confident they've destroyed their enemies and return to base to report their conquest.

In the aftermath of the explosion, the four Maximals have all survived, but because of energon poisoning, all of them have lost their sense of vision. Cheetor, Rattrap, and even Dinobot panic and fret—until Rhinox puts his foot down and gets his team moving, in hopes they can overcome their disability and reach home—or at least avoid being easy targets, especially since they must reach an R-chamber before the energon poisoning extinguishes their sparks...in 60 cycles (approximately one hour).

Rhinox, at the front of the train of blind Maximals, comes to a sudden stop, causing the Maximals behind him to bump into his large posterior. Dinobot hops back onto his feet (and onto one of Rattrap's as well). Rhinox silences the group so he can use his ears to detect if something is near the group—his suspicion is confirmed as a large snake grabs Cheetor. Ignoring Rhinox's command not to panic, Dinobot comically runs into a tree. Rattrap fails to fight the snake off, but Cheetor is saved when the reptile decides that Rattrap would be a better meal. Luckily, Rhinox is able to save Rattrap by slaming his hoofs on the snake's body and then tossing the snake over the horizon.

Tigatron and Optimus Primal (finally!) decide to search for their comrades who never reported home. Scorponok and Waspinator, searching for evidence of the expiry of the Maximals, decide to follow the trail of energon radiation their enemies left as the four walked away from the area. Waspinator finds the four as they cross a log over a waterfall, and the Predacon easily unhinges the log, causing the quartet to plunge into the water far beneath. As Waspinator congratulates himself, Terrorsaur arrives, demanding proof of the wasp's endeavor.

The four Maximals all manage to wash up on a shore together. Dinobot feels doomed by the situation but Rhinox remains hopeful. The Predacon fliers pass overhead at high speed, finding their targets. In response, Rhinox commands his group to transform to their robot modes. Next, Rhinox instructs the group to imagine the targeting grid from their training. Using all his senses to extend his sensory awareness, Rhinox gives directions for Cheetor, Rattrap, and Dinobot to aim their weapons. Terrorsaur is hit, and the sound of fire alerts Tigatron to the missing group's location.

Another quick shot from Rattrap brings Waspinator down in flames as well, leaving the Maximals victorious despite their handicap. Before they can celebrate, the three gunners fall into stasis; being in robot mode for just a few extra minutes accelerated the energon contamination to near-lethal levels. Having transformed in reaction to the sound of something approaching, Rhinox loses consciousness as well-luckily, the sound was Optimus Primal, who retrieves the group before their sparks are extinguished.

Some time later, in the Maximal base, Rhinox exits the CR chamber and sees his comrades; literally, as they have all been cleansed of the energon poisoning. Rattrap and Cheetor thank him for getting them as far as he did, and even Dinobot commends Rhinox's leadership. For his part, Rhinox suggests that the whole ordeal was educational-the Maximals now have a greater appreciation for their senses and beast modes. With that in mind, the rhino-bot leaves to smell some flowers.

Quotes[]

"So, *snarls* now I'm nothing more than an energon miner? what a waste of my talents," (Machine starts beeping) "I FOUND SOME!"

-- Dinobot is his usual dark self and then a happy miner. what next?

"Nice find, Dino-miner. You're even better at this than Rattrap!"
"Mmm. I'm better at everything than Rattrap!"

-- Cheetor and Dinobot

"Listen to me!! You've all got to calm down."
"Calm... down...? WE CAN'T SEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

-- Rhinox's order and Dinobot's reaction

"What irony, for a warrior like me to go out blind, wet, and helpless."

-- Dinobot complaining about washing up after the waterfall.

Stats[]

Writers: Samuel Warren Joseph
Original Air Date: January 27, 1997

Featured characters[]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals Predacons Others
  • A large snake (8)

Notes[]

  • When Rhinox flings the giant snake away in the jungle, if one listens carefully, one can hear a hard thud followed by an elephant bellowing.
  • It seems likely this episode was originally intended for production and airing earlier in the season. Not only does the plot seem to retread (on a simpler level) the concepts of the just-aired "Call of the Wild" previosuly, but characters such as Blackarachnia, Airazor, and Inferno are notably absent from the screen. Indeed, there are actually two instances of using "Inferno" as a curse, a habit that quickly stopped on once the Predacon fire-ant appeared.
    • However, Airazor was mentioned by Optimus in this episode - he said she was sent to look for the others in Grid Delta. Therefore, the events of this episode could fall anywhere between "The Spark" and "Spider's Game".
  • Why were Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap, and Dinobot transforming near an Energon deposit that was going to explode?
Waspinator's "death"
  • Waspinator gets blasted from the sky and sent falling into water.

Animation Errors[]

  • When Optimus Primal tells Tigatron "I'm going to put Sentinel on automatic and search from the air." his left pectoral muscle is much smaller than his right, almost as if it's squeezing itself in. (Optimus' left, not the viewer's.)
  • Earlier on in the episode, when Rattrap is in his robot mode, the underside of his chin was white like his eyes. However, when Rattrap later submits to stasis lock, the underside of his chin is red.
  • When Waspinator goes robot mode when he notices blinded Maximals, his torso piece between halves of wasp's head goes through them.
  • When Rattrap thanks Rhinox for helping them through the events of the episode (at the moment where Rhinox awakens in the CR Chamber), his face plate is charred and burnt, and his eyes are a flat shade of red (instead of glowing red). When Dinobot speaks and Rattrap turns to face him, his face plate is as good as new.
  • This episode seems to be the only CGI animation cartoon series so far with realistic explosions, and fire at certain points. The first one was a mushroom cloud when the Energon was going to explode, the other was with Waspinator crash landing after being shot down and bouncing on the water, once he stops a puff of steam/smoke can be seen. And if you check earlier when Waspinator is hit he goes through a realistic explosion, catching on fire and yet it was realistic as well. What the heck?

Real-world references[]

  • The way that Dinobot runs right into a tree and falls out flat is likely a reference to the Wile E. Coyote cartoon series from the Loony Tunes series of the early 1950s, from how the Wile E. Coyote makes a panted tunnel to lure the Road Runner into a trap, only for him to go though it with ease, then Wile E. Coyote attempts to chase after him only to run smack into a wall.
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