The Secret of the Ruins

This looks familiar...

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Predacons attack.
Invasion of the city.
Sky-Byte finds ruins.

Detailed synopsis

In daylight, in the middle of Metro City, Megatron and his Predacons attack, hoping to draw out the Autobots. The plan works, and the Autobots quickly respond to the attack by sending Team Bullet Train. The three trainbots transform and walk through the city towards the Predacons. Railspike ignites Gas Skunk's breath, and the incompetent skunk runs around, frying his two teammates. From the base, Optimus Prime notes that the Predacons apparently aren't trying to heist some energy supply, and he is suspicious that the attack might be more than meets the eyes.

Sky-Byte, who wasn't at Megatron's attack on the city, explores a mountain range, looking for mysterious ruins, which the Predacons learned about by using the "Psycho Probe" to take the information from the mind of Dr. Onishi. Sky-Byte spies Sideburn, who is in the area with Koji to search for the same ruins, which Koji explains were left by the "Piyuma" Native Americans.

Koji and Sideburn find the ruins and enter inside on foot. Sky-Byte, who has followed the pair, fires missiles inside after them, trying to trap them inside. Sideburn detects the missiles in advance, and he tries to races through the cave (passing by Kelly, who also happened to be exploring the ruins). After he eventually dodges the missiles, Sideburn radios a mayday message to base for help.

The Predacon Trio continue to get beaten by Team Bullet Train. Megatron, tired of waiting for Prime, engages the Autobots. Instead of helping out in the city, Prime goes to aid Sideburn.

Sky-Byte, unaware that he's failed to kill Sideburn and his human friend, and also unaware that more Autobots are on the way, voyages into the ruins to find whatever made them so important to Dr. Onishi, assuming that it must be a source of power. Prime arrives and uses his flying fist to knock Sky-Byte down some stairs. Rather than fight Prime, Sky-Byte grabs the chest that holds the ruin's prize and races outside.

Megatron, hearing that Sky-Byte has completed his mission, calls off the urban attack. Instead of letting him escape unharmed, Team Bullet Train combine into Rail Racer and deliver a solid punch. The wounded Megatron retreats in his jet mode.

Exiting the ruins, Sky-Byte runs into the Autobot brothers. The three blast Sky-Byte, who drops the chest in defeat. Prime catches the chest. With both Predacon attacks over, the Autobots open the chest and discover the prize: a photo of Koji and Dr. Onishi that the doctor stashed in the caves last time he and his son visited them. But more importantly, in the frame of the picture, the Autobots find a microchip that could advance the plot.

Stats

Original airdate:

Written by: Tom Wyner

Featured characters

Megatron, Darkscream, Slapper, Gas Skunk, Dorie Dutton, Prime, T-AI. Prowl, X-Brawn, Railspike, Rapid Run, Midnight Express, Sideburn, Kelly

Notable quotes

"It's the talking car. And guided missiles—but they didn't talk."

—Kelly

Other notes

• This is one of the most disjointed episodes of the series, with lots of re-edited and repeated footage to cover the cut-down city fight between Megatron and Team Bullet Train.

• Images in Dr. Onishi's mind include the Arc De Triomphe and London Bridge.

Continuity errors

• Optimus Prime describes Sky-Byte as "Very clever."

Miscellaneous trivia

• Due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the completed English dub of this episode was held back and re-edited for content. The original opening scene of the episode, featuring scenes of city destruction, was removed and replaced with animation of Megatron's attack on New York from the first episode, and Tifanie Christun's lines for Dorie Dutton were re-recorded by Sandy Fox, sans a reference to "robo-terrorism of the mid-1980s." The episode did not air until the following month, well into the multiple-episodes-per-week run of the series. It has never been broadcast in its original dubbed form, and the redubbed episode is the only version included on the R2 DVD set.
• This episode shows one of the only times a Transformer has switched to robot mode while carrying a human passenger. Rather than being squished to death, Koji is ejected.

External links

• The Secret of the Ruins on RiDForever.info