“….his mental power is great”
Laserbeak and Buzzsaw discover an underwater city while searching for energy. This piques Megatron’s interest, so he sets off with his Decepticons to see what he can obtain from it. Upon finding the underwater city, they are greeted by King Nergill of Sub-Atlantica, who communicates telepathically.
Nergill wisely evaluates the Decepticons, but after a show of power, Megatron convinces Nergill to form an alliance with him. Meanwhile, Soundwave tries to decipher a scrambled telepathic message Nergill sent to his guards.
Inside Sub-Atlantica, Nergill shows Megatron how much energy his kingdom contains, just what Megatron was looking for, but to use it, they must stay underwater. Megatron shows Nergill how they can store the energy in energon cubes, which will allow the Sub-Atlanticans to leave their underwater domain in conquest of the land.
“Are you sure humans do this for fun?”
Wheeljack interrupts an inter-Autobot/Dinobot American Football game to advise that Optimus Prime wants to speak to them. He shows an energy spike that has been picked up at sea, and asks for volunteers to investigate. Wheeljack, Brawn, Bumblebee and Hound set off to investigate. Spike is also with them, but fortunately he’s a skilled scuba diver.
The Autobots are quickly discovered by the Sub-Atlanticans and Decepticons, who set upon them, blasting away! In a brave maneuver, Wheeljack blasts an underwater cave, sealing the others inside and protecting them from the battle. Left isolated, Nergill takes him prisoner. Soundwave has now learned to decrypt the Sub-Atlantican’s scrambled messages, and learns that Nergill intends to use Wheeljack to develop weapons against both the Autobots and Decepticons.
No longer confined to the depths, Sub-Atlantica rises out of the ocean and sets upon firing on Brawn, Bumblebee and Hound, who are fleeing with Spike. They manage to escape, and ascertain that Sub-Atlantica and the Decepticons are heading to Washington DC! They warn Optimus Prime and the Autobots put the pedal to the metal to do what they can to protect Washington.
The Decepticons and their allies set upon causing carnage in Washington, which includes creating an energy barrier around the city. Prime and his team manage to get inside just in time and set about defending the city, while Spike and Bumblebee set off to rescue Wheeljack.
“Traitorous electro-toad! You shall pay…argh…”
Aware of Nergill’s intentions, Starscream confronts him as he’s testing one of his weapons on Wheeljack. Wheeljack has been imobilised, and Starscream soon is too, as he’s unable to convince Nergill to hand over the weapon! Nergill’s weapon is not as effective on Decepticons as it is on Autobots, so as Nergill leaves, Starscream tries to further disable Wheeljack. Spike and Bumblebee arrive just in time to stop him and re-activate their comrade.
As the battle rages in Washington, Nergill arrives and uses his weapon on the Autobots, incapacitating them all! As Wheeljack sees that the situation is grim, he radios the Dinobots for help. While the Decepticons and Sub-Atlanticans wonder why they should still tolerate each other, the Dinobots arrive and break through the barrier into Washington.
“I’d concentrate on saving yourself Grimlock”
The Dinobots, and Grimlock in particular, show their immense power immediately. Grimlock bravely grapples with Megatron, and while Nergill is about to incapacitate them, Starscream disarms him. Wheeljack and Bumblebee get Nergill’s weapon from Starscream, which enables Grimlock to destroy it, freeing the Autobots who had been incapacitated by it.
Realising they have been defeated, the Sub-Atlanticans retreat to their homeland and the Decepticons fly off to join them. On Sub-Atlantica, Megatron confronts Nergill about his treachery, but before they can resolve the issue, the Autobots arrive to try to send Sub-Atlantica back where it belongs. The Dinobots immediately show their power once again, acting upon instructions from Optimus Prime to act “prehistoric”.
Nergill plans to destroy Sub-Atlantica, so that he can blow up the intruders with it. Wheeljack, Spike and Bumblebee set off to stop him, but Soundwave sends Rumble and Ravage after them. Rumble soon realises that Nergill is no ally and helps the Autobots by knocking him off balance. Despite their attempts to stop him, Nergill manages to blow up his energy stockpiles. Autobots and Decepticons alike flee, but Nergill escapes as his devastated city falls back under the sea.
Key Scenes, Plot Points and Characters:
The Dinobots steal the show in this espisode. While their defining trait can often be their low intelligence, their power and strength really shines though as they battle to save their comrades. You can almost feel their energy and dominance through the screen! Nergill is a great character, a strong leader, with a strong voice (despite communicating telepathically) and feels like a real threat to Autobot and Decepticon alike. Despite Starscream often having traitorous tendencies himself, his loyalty to the Decepticon cause does come through as he doesn’t want Nergill’s deceptions to be unnoticed.
The Verdict:
I felt like I’d watched a whole movie when I’d finished this episode. Very exciting, it really got the heart going and the adrenaline flowing! Loved seeing the Dinobots show their stuff! I score this episode 9 energon cubes out of 10.
Afterthoughts:
This isn’t an episode that gets talked about a lot, but it really should. The scene where both the Sub-Atlanticans and Decepticons are debating how much longer they have to suffer each other is a short one, but very cleverly done and is a great example of what a mature episode this is.
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