And now for an episode that is somewhat... inevitable, almost.
Desertion of the Dinobots part oneThe Dinobots, rebelling? Nawh!
We open with a two-cockpit fighter flying through the air. I... never got this variation of the design. Back-to-back, yes. But like this?
![Image](http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/f/f7/DesertionoftheDinobots1_Ultra_Plane.jpg)
It does some rather impressive maneuvers as Autobots and its builder, a Professor Green, look on. "The Autobots have saved this planet from the Decepticons plenty of times. Now we might be able to return the favor."
Ladies and gentlemen, someone with more brains than the collective population of Central City!
We cut to Ironhide and... Soundwave
inside him in tape deck mode.
![Image](http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/7/76/Dotd1_sneakiest_soundwave.jpg)
Spike Witwicky has just been absolved of his actions in episode two. He ejects Ravage, but Blaster-right next to him-partially transforms and grabs his tail. He fully transforms and pulls Ravage inside Ironhide, knocking Soundwave out who transforms.
Okay, I'll make the joke. "Rage inside the Machine!" Happy, now?
Soundwave flies off as we pan over to Starscream and Megatron. He lands and reports the completion of the plane. Starscream boasts he'll blast it, but Megatron stops him and hands him a bomb to use. "Since when has discretion mattered to us? Perhaps you're getting weak, Megatron." but he transforms and flies off.
Blaster and Ravage are shaken out as Ironhide transforms and
finally cottons to what's going on. We cut to the Ultra Plane-as it's called-as Starscream flies over about two meters from it and drops the bomb onto it. And
no one on ground noticed that? Ironhide ran up to them as the plane exploded, reporting the 'Con activity. Prime decides to inspect the wreckage. They roll for it!
Megatron stands on a hill overlooking them and shouts, "Now, while they're distracted!"... and we cut to a rather impressive building at EJK. Inside, the Decepticons storm it for the plane's blueprints. "Surrender the fighter blueprints and we will not hurt you." Starscream takes the direct approach. "No reason to be soft with the flesh creatures!" He runs over and grabs a scientist. "Give us the plans or be vaporized!" Methinks Starscream's squeezing a bit too hard, too, as he's grimacing in pain.
He gives up the plans and points to a vault. Soundwave extends a probe and scans. "Six feet of tungsten steel." Megatron readies his cannon, but the Autobots show up! Jazz transforms and activates his light show, Blaster approving. Mirage cloaks and, while the Decepticons are distracted, grabs Megatron's fusion cannon! Megatron grabs it back and there's a brief tussle.
Outside... Megatron is signaling for a retreat. Soundwave and Starscream follow as we learn it's a
very clever holographic ruse by Hound. Okay, that was
good. In the background, Mirage and Megatron continue to fight, Mirage putting up a bit of a fight before Prime leaps into the fray and literally punting Megatron through a wall. He flees while Jazz snarks. "Now that is a sight I never get tired of."
We cut to the Fun A Rama Amusement park where Bumblebee is with Carly and Spike. They're in a teacup ride and Bumblebee is a bit... perplexed. "This is supposed to be fun?" Carly opens his chest panel up and switches off his equilibrium circuits.
![Image](http://i863.photobucket.com/albums/ab196/RK_Striker_JK_5/DesertionCarly.jpg)
Something about her...
Later on, they're driving to an airport to pick up Sparkplug. This is... I like this, for some reason. Good to see the humans not
entirely engaged in Great War activity. Having a life outside the Ark, so to speak. Inside we see Sparkplug in a suit.
![Image](http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/7/76/DesertionDinos1_SparkpluginaSuit.jpg)
Always did wonder what the trip was for. Korean War Reunion?
Outside, two rather familiar-looking jets are taxiing on the runway. Spike spots them and he and Bumblebee go to check it out. We see inside a hangar it's Thundercracker and Thrust. Bumblebee, having a moment of intelligence, contacts Prime for backup. They're too far away, so Prime contacts the Ark.
Unfortunately, the Ark's understaffed too. So Prime tells him to send the Dinobots. Wheeljack opens up the closet they're in... which in my fanon has been
seriously pimped out and they play DnD games inside. I don't know why, either. The Dinobots are their usual selves.
"Me Grimlock no like orders!"
"Me Slag no like anything!"
"We really need your help! Why won't you give us a hand?"
"Don't know why not, so we help. This time." It's like James Dean, except with giant dinosaur robots... Wheeljack laments. "I've got to work on their personality circuits!"
At the airport-which is never given a name-the Dinobots, bless their Sparks, try to hide behind a jumbo jet. Bumblebee points out where they are and Sludge says, "We fix!" Grimlock runs forward and signals them to transform and attack. Inside, Megatron and Starscream are bickering when Snarl pushes through the hangar doors like wet tissue paper. "So much for your secret hideout, Megatron! Even the moronic Dinobots found it!" Starscream fires, for all the good it does. Slag vaporizes his arm cannon with a single blast of his fire-breath.
Outside, Blitzwing find Bumblebee. He transforms into tank mode and prepares to blow Bumblebee's head off, but Sludge knocks him offtarget and kicks him into the side of the hangar. Inside, the Decepticons are rather quickly routed with but a few swipes of Snarl's tail. Thundercracker and Thrust run out and strafe Grimlock, but Swoop flies over and nails both with bombs. They crash into the hangar, which explodes.
This... must be one of the more humiliating days for Megatron at this point.
He emerges from the rubble and i think something inside his neural net has snapped as he shouts, "Decepticons... CHARGE!" It's... god it's pathetic as the Dinobots whallop them. And mostly just stand still while doing it.
![Image](http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/d/dd/G1_Grimlock_Megs_bite.JPG)
Again, I shall leave it up to everyone else to fill in the caption. Suffice it to say, he tosses Megatron into the airport terminal.
The humans cheer as the Dinobots transform back to robot mode. "Me, Grimlock, greatest warrior!" Megatron shouts out to Skywarp-who was absent during the battle-to fire, as they're vulnerable in robot mode. They fire and nail an oil tanker, which explodes and sets off a chain reaction that destroys several jumbo jets and knocks the Dinobots out.
Oh, and Spike, Carly, Bumblebee and Sparkplug are all right.
The Dinobots land in a battered heap as Megatron gloats, leading the Decepticons away. Red Alert, Inferno and Grapple pull up a few seconds later, Red Alert sadly paranoid. Inferno douses the flames while Grapple begins getting the Dinobots together and placing them on a plane. He tows it back to the Ark.
We cut to the Ark at night, and according to Jazz, six hours later with no results. Inside, Ratchet, Wheeljack and Hoist are working, Ratchet getting a feedback shock. "We'd have a better chance if we didn't have to work with these primitive tools!" Hoist pounds out some dents. "The tools on Cybertron were vastly superior."
Mirage calls up a picture of their home. "Everything was better on Cybertron. I still feel a power surge when I think about home."
It's kinda melancholy, and reminds us humans that, for all their trying to fit in-sometimes forcefully-they're still refugees far from home. Very sad, actually.
Back at the airport and the next day, Ironhide, Powerglide and Grapple begin work on repairing the damage from yesterday's battle. Grapple loads up Powerglide with bricks, who basically strafes them into position while Ironhide lays down cement. Clever! Graplle puts the roof on while Prime directs. Grapple scoffs. lowers the roof and... the building collapses. He transforms and is aghast. Foreshadowing?
We cut to the Decepticons flying. Ravage suddenly ejects and lands on the ground. Soundwave has no explanation, either. They all suddenly just fall out of the sky. Even Blitzwing. Rumble suddenly just starts bashing Megatron for no reason.
At the Ark, the Dinobots are put through tests. Swoop transforms correctly and they're all set. Prime contacts them and tells the Dinobots to move out as the Decepticons are on the rampage somewhere. Grimlock finally says no. "No! Dinobots no go. Me, Grimlock, no take orders. Never!"
Slag agrees. "Yes, yes no! Me Slag agree!" "Me Swoop no listen to Optimus Prime. Grimlock our leader!" They transform and just storm out. We cut to a power plant as Megatron has decided that 'bad energon' disrupted their systems. The Autobots roll up and transform for action! Well, except Jazz, who's stuck. Ironhide kicks him and he transforms. "Ow! Thanks, I think."
Megatron points at them, but his vocal circuits crap out. Starscream... three guesses as to what he does. He transforms, takes off-and crashes into a stack of energon cubes. Ironhide tries for liquid nitrogen, but his hand doesntr retract and he freezes over. Mirage
thinks he can still become invisible, which leads to a rather hilarious scene of him running at Thundercracker and getting blasted. "Now how did he know I was there?"
Soundwave ejects Ravage, who ejects and tackles Prime into a group of oil barrels. But Ravage suddenly transforms back to tape mode. Prime picks him up and drops him into a barrel. "Thanks for transforming!" Jazz tries his light show but it shorts. Blitzwing shoots at him and collapses the ground around him, but can't stop and the ground collapses around him, but Blitzwing can't stop and rolls into the hole along with Jazz.
The fighting grounds to a halt as Megatron fires, collapsing an electrical tower around Prime. He transforms into gun mode and Starscream takes him, walking up to Prime. "I never miss at this range!" But it's all for naught as Megatron suddenly seizes up and Starscream tumbles to the ground. Megatron transforms and calls for a retreat. The Decepticons... try to fly, but are reduced to running away.
At the Ark, the Autobots are in a sorry state. Sparkplug tries his best, but he can do little. Prime rolls in and asks Perceptor what the cause is. An element known as
cybertonium has depleted in their bodies. Prime says they'll simply replace it, but it's only on Cybertron. And only way to get there is the space bridge.
Spike and Carly run in with some rather convenient news. Shockwave's sending some cybertonium over the space bridge. Powerglide-holding his severed head-laments he can't get there. After some thinking, Carly realizes the Dinobots were built on Earth and don't have cybertonium in their bodies. So they're still at full strength. Teletraan-One locates them at 40 miles away. Carly tosses Sparkplug her car keys. "I've been riding with the Autobots for so long now I hope I still know how to drive."
We cut to them tooling down the desert and almost running into Grimlock's foot. Sparkplug lays it on thick. "Grimlock, we need your brilliant help!" Swoop flies down and saves them from being stepped on. Sparkplug continues, but Grimlock doesn't care. Spike tells them about the cybertronium, which Grimlock parses to be from Cybertron and he just decides to do it.
Considering the Dinobots... that made perfect sense to me.
Slag doesn't want to, but Grimlock says to do it.
We cut to a space bridge and... the COnstructicons loading the cybertronium that's arrived. Oh, there's that sinking feeling... The Dinobots charge, batting the Constructicons away. They transform into Devastator, but Scavenger is knocked aside before he can form the right arm and the Dinobots rush the space bridge. It closes and teleports them to Cybertron.
On Cybertron, the space bridge opens up and the Dinobots kicks Shockwave's skidplate.
At the Ark, Sparkplug contacts the Dinobots on Cybertron. he tells them to come back, but Grimlock says no and cuts the link. Carly decides the humans have to go there and get more cybertonium. Spike points out Prime won't let them. Carly points out he can't
stop them, either. They run over to him as he's leaning against a console. "It's too... risky." And he falls over, nearly flattening them.
We cut to Spike and Carly in Carly's car. Sparkplug gives him a two-way communication device that fits over his thumb. "I feel kinda stupid talking into my thumb." Sparkplug hugs his son and I get warm inside.
Devastator is now fully assembled and standing guard at the space bridge. Carly guns it and deflects off Devastator's left foot-right into the space bridge. It closes and sends them to Cybertron. There, Shockwave is ready. As the door opens he fires...
ThoughtsA very good episode, here. Action-packed, melancholy too in places. And who didn't see the Dinobots leaving a mile away?
Also solves one problem-where did the season-two Autobots come from? They
were in the Ark, as crew! As for the Constructicons... yeah.
Not caring about scale since 1984. Just like Hasbro.