Episode 30 -
After hearing reports from a local sea captain about something (he claimed it was a sea monster) circling the captain's vessel three times, the team is out at sea investigating, only to happen upon an iceberg. In a non-winter season.
It's HIM! He's aboard the iceberg! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Chief tossed him com link onto the iceberg so that Dani and Blades can track it. Smart.
Cody's found a control panel. Could the whole iceberg be completely artificial?
And after pushing a button, a large hatch has opened underneath Blades' feet, swallowing him.
Yyyyyyep! The iceberg is really a large ship covered in ice. Methinks a sinister plot is afoot.
Blades wants to get the whole team, the Navy, and Optimus all together before exploring the ship.
According the ship's log, it is called the S.S. Isolde.
And according to chief, it's a freighter that was lost in 1966. It was used to transport experimental tech to Griffin Rock, but the captain and crew had to abandon ship after certain cargo became unstable.
The log continues to say that the captain was Zachary Burns, who was Burns siblings' great-grandfather. He never spoke of what happened because it really spooked him.
A nearby generator is still turned on. Seems dangerous enough since it instantly froze Blades completely.
Why doesn't Cody just ask Dani to help him bring back the portrait?
According to Doc Greene, records from 1966 show that the Isolde's cargo was mostly top secret, except for one thing: the Subzero Expander (the device that froze Blades). It was supposed to restore melting polar caps by generating fresh ice.
LOL! Blades is in a defrosting tub and wrapped in the blanket.
Kade and Heatwave both agree in blowing up the freighter, while the others wanna preserve its historicity. Despite validity of the latter party's interests, Chief has to put the safety of others above all and sides with "the bomb squad".
Cody is ordered to stay behind, but knowing human sidekicks in Transformers, but while also knowing how smart this show is... erm, I'll just wait and see if he stays behind or not.
Cody's reading more of the captain's log for info. Cue flashback!
The rest of the team is using the Darby Ava again.
"Power Up and Energize!" - Heatwave's water gun is instead used as a flamethrower this time.
Dynamite bombs have been placed, with timers set for a ten minute evacuation.
Uh oh! Something's moving in the water. Sea monster? Or something worse?
Just in case it's something alive, Blades and Heatwave have tossed away the bombs.
It's a submersible! You know what that means!
DOCTOR MOROCCO!!!
Though, his voice is a bit different. That's not Tim Curry (he must have still been ill at the time of this recording).
Morocco claims to have patched things up with the mayor upon returning the mayor's schooner (which he mispronounces as "skooner"), nullifying his arrest warrant.
He also claims that the Burnses are trespassing, saying that the Isolde is "finders keepers". While Kade doubts that'll hold up in court, his dad unfortunately confirms that Morocco is in the right. According to naval salvage law, whoever finds an abandoned vessel gets claim to the ship and all its cargo. Morocco even has an official document signed by the mayor earlier that morning.
Though Morocco is warned about the ship's unstable cargo, he isn't worried as he is conducting a salvage operation, and demands that the Burnses cease their interference.
Cody just called the mayor and got a confirmation that the Isolde now belongs to Morocco. The Burnses have no jurisdiction to continue their investigation and pull out. Morocco has won.
According to the last entry of the captain's log, the crew was ordered to abandon ship by the Griffin Rock lab because any attempts to move the damaged Subzero Expander would likely cause it to explode and flash freeze everything within five miles. That's it was never retrieved.
The team's gotta go back.
No! The ferry is nearby! Captain Shaw's gotta get it away from there!
There's no time to explain to Morocco the danger he's in, so Kade orders his "Fire-Bot" to "assist" the good doctor to his submarine.
WHOA!
They... they didn't make it in time. The ferry, the Bots, the Darby Ava, the Isolde, it's all frozen. The humans took cover, but the whole area has been deep freezed.
And the Burnses are all trapped inside their frozen Bots.
Boulder tried moving, but it just knocked him and Graham over a cliff. They were VERY fortunate to survive that fall.
Dani's de-icing spray isn't enough this time, either.
Yikes! The freeze went all the way to shore.
Oh, smart thinking, Cody! Really smart thinking! No, I'm not being sarcastic, here! He's gotten the Turbo Cycle and is riding it out to sea in its jet ski mode to help out. This is one of the rare cases where his help is definitely needed. Gotta love it when we get some decent written and competent human sidekicks for once.
NO!! The ferry's passengers are making a break for it, driving their cars out onto the frozen sea! The fools! They could drown themselves if the ice breaks!
Cody's come equipped with a whole tank of de-icing spray. Better than Dani's smaller spray bottle (but to be fair, no one could have known that'd end up being this bad).
Morocco escaped! His sub is gone!
Go get those drivers from before, guys! Roll to the rescue!
The ice! It's breaking!
Wait, why didn't the Burnses get inside the Bots before they drove off?
All the jumping around the Bots do to catch each car could have easily further broken or sank the ice beneath their feet. Sure is a
miracle that it didn't.
The Darby Ava's been hit by ice! It's going down!
WHAT THE--!!! Morocco SAVED the Burnses?!!
And now he's fled the scene again. Did he save them to throw off suspicion or something? Or to make them think that that makes up for his past misdeeds?
The Isolde's gone too. Chances are Morocco might have taken it as well.
Doorbell. Package delivery.
It's the portrait of Zachary Burns that Cody was trying to get earlier. Cody wonders if there's hope for Dr. Morocco yet.
Meanwhile, on the Isolde, Morocco opens up a crate to find something glowing. "Oh my! Just what the doctor ordered!"
*GASP* The episode closes on Morocco's M logo in its own version of the scene transition!!!
Aw, this upload left out the end credits, so I can't tell who voiced Morocco in this one.
This episode turned out to be a lot better than I anticipated. The iceberg was much much more than a big piece of ice, the dangers just kept on piling and piling on top of each other, and we even got more of Griffin Rock's history explored. And what's more, we got the return of Doctor Morocco and he's just as classy and elegantly calculating as ever! He was quite literally untouchable in this episode (save for Heatwave lovingly tossing him into his sub) and pretty much won in the end. Even without Tim Curry's awesome voice, this show proves that good writing can make a villain be deliciously evil and enjoyable, especially when he manages to turn the law around on our heroes. And regarding the dangers, I loved how this episode shows just how dangerous things can get here with there actually being consequences and repercussions that happen when the team fails to stop the Subzero Expander from going off. And that combined with Morocco's victory shows that the good guys pretty much lost in this episode, a rarity in a Transformers cartoon and especially in one aimed at younger audiences. So, even though they managed to safe everyone and all survive, they still lost. Morocco got away and kept all the goods he was after. Score one for the
bad guy, this time.
EDIT: Found the
Hub Network version. Greg Ellis voiced Morocco in Tim Curry's stead.
