« The Transformers ep 74 » « Transformers 2010 ep 9 »
The biggest Interocitor in history.
"Forever Is a Long Time Coming"
Production code	700-94
Season	3
No. in season	9
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	October 8, 1986
Written by	Gerry Conway Carla Conway
Animation studio	AKOM, Sam Young Studio
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

In an attempt to alter history, the Quintessons open a Time Window to Cybertron's ancient past, but their meddling ultimately causes time itself to begin unraveling.

Synopsis

Belch Blasters

Perceptor, Wreck-Gar, Blurr, and Blaster investigate chronal pulses coming from an asteroid belt near Cybertron. They are fired upon by Sharkticons, which launch from an installation on a bowl-shaped asteroid, the source of the pulses. The Autobots make quick work of the Sharkticons as Perceptor tells Blaster to radio Rodimus Prime for reinforcements. The Autobots land on the asteroid just in time to see a Quintesson scientist open a time portal to eleven million years in the past to retrieve a "target subject", much to Perceptor's horror. The Autobots are fired on by Quintesson ships, which blast Perceptor and herd the other Autobots toward the time portal—much to the chagrin of the scientist. The Time Window fades out as the Autobots, sans Perceptor, end up eleven million years in the past!

The Quintesson ships continue firing, striking the time portal before being ambushed by Superion and Rodimus Prime. The Quintessons escape as a damaged Perceptor tells Rodimus Prime to find the Autobots and Silverbolt instructs the other Aerialbots not to follow... as a mysterious figure suddenly materializes, confused from the time travel.

"What did you DO, Ray?"

Eleven million years ago, automatic defenses fire upon the Autobots, who quickly retreat. Ramhorn charges and runs right into a Dark Guardian in hot pursuit. The Dark Guardian attempts to step on the Autobots, but is stopped by a shot from an unknown female Transformer called Beta, who tells the others to follow her to the Warrens before the Quintessons send more. She states even though she's taking a risk bringing in Blaster and his cadre, they need all the help they can get for an attack on Hive City. Beta is disgusted by the "mark of shame" on the Autobots' chests. She explains the Autobot symbol has been a symbol of slavery for over a million years, but that A-3 says it must become a symbol of freedom. She states A-3 has a Coder Remote device to freeze the Dark Guardians, allowing the slaves to rise against the Quintessons. Rewind finally realizes they are in Cybertron's past, when the Transformers were still slaves for the Quintessons, and if the Quintessons stop this rebellion, they would rule Cybertron in the present. Beta notes that A-3 is missing, but that they must attack at dawn with or without him. The Autobots agree to help the slaves in their attack.

"Frankly, my dear Superion, I don't give a damn."

Back in 2006, the Time Window is leaking energy into space—ripples in the timestream. Rodimus refuses to shut the window down while five Autobots are stuck in the past. The Quintessons fear that if the window isn't closed in the next hour, the ripples will travel through the universe, jeopardizing reality itself—some events will repeat in an endless loop (such as Wheelie winning a race over and over) while some will reverse (such as water running backward in a lake) and worse, the past and future will collide—evidenced by Marissa Faireborn reverting to a baby—until the universe ceases to exist. The only solution, according to the Quintessons, is to destroy the Time Window. The scientist orders a full scale assault on the asteroid.

A-3 has finally revived, but refuses to give information to "Quintesson slaves" like the Autobots. A-3 and Rodimus take cover from Quintesson starbombs and an incoming Sharkticon offensive as the other Autobots begin defending the time portal. A-3 is blasted away from the asteroid and tumbles through space before being saved by Superion, who is cornered by Quintesson ships. Under heavy fire and proclaiming his failure, Superion has a vision, seeing A-3 turn into his future self—Alpha Trion! Suddenly, the ripples in the time stream cause Superion to briefly warp into two places at once, as space and time begin to warp and mutilate itself. The Quintessons retreat, fearing the results of the distortions. Rodimus orders Pipes to repair Perceptor, as he's the only one that can figure out what's going on. Silverbolt attempts to talk to A-3, who isn't even sure who he is anymore.

Blue 42... Blue 42... Hike!

Back in the past, the Autobots take part in the raid on Hive City, finding themselves and the slaves against several Dark Guardians, as in the present, the Quintesson scientist proposes an alliance—and for the Time Window be closed. The raid is apparently successful with the help of the Autobots, but a five-faced Quintesson demands surrender, as the Dark Guardians surround the rebellion.

It's a couple of light years away from the Optimus Prime hologram.

Rodimus is finally convinced by the Quintesson to close the Time Window, but A-3 volunteers to go through the time portal to retrieve the time-displaced Autobots, much to the Quintesson scientist's chagrin. A-3 lands at the raid point to Beta's elation, as the Quintesson orders the Guardians to attack. A-3 removes the golden Autobot symbol on his chest, which is the Coder Remote in disguise. A-3 triggers the Remote, which disables the Dark Guardians, then orders the Autobots to return to the present, thanking them for their help. The Autobots return to 2006 just in time for Rodimus to close the Time Window, which self-destructs.

As the day is saved, the Autobots finally realize that A-3 was Alpha Trion, as a constellation forms with his likeness.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"So why'd ya-w-why'd ya want us along? This ain't-this ain't our gig-k-kinda gig!"

—Ramhorn has a problem with scientific expeditions... and speaking coherently.

"How come they made you Aerialbot leader, Silverbolt? You've got no sense of adventure!"
"Exactly."

—Air Raid gets put in his place by Silverbolt.

"What in the name of Alpha Trion?!"

—Rodimus Prime, as A-3 comes through the time portal. See what they did there?

"Ohhhh! I don't know where we are but wherever it is it's somewhere but somewhere else would definitely be a better place to be!"

—Blurr isn't too fond of ancient Cybertron.

Superion: I... have... failed you Rodimus... it is... finished.
A-3: No... Superion! ('transforming' into Alpha Trion) You must live... so that I may be born!
Superion: Alpha... Trion?
A-3: A... 3...

—Superion is given a vision of who A-3 really is.

Wreck-Gar: Shhh! Four-out-of-five robots agree, exceptional headache number one is a mad Dark Guardian.
Blaster: Right on, but we still gotta lure 'em away from the walls so Beta and the rebels can attack.
Blurr: Yep, that's what we said we'd do, and I always do what I say I'll do, because I have to, so we'd better do it, because if we say we do and then we don't—
[Ramhorn roars and charges the Dark Guardians]
Rewind: I think the die has been cast.

—The Autobots discuss strategy as Ramhorn gets bored.

"You will now put down your arms and return to work, or the Dark Guardians will incinerate you where you stand. Please decide quickly."

—An ever-polite Quintesson gives the Autobots a simple choice.

"Your friends want you home. Go, now."
"Yeah, but—"
"No time for talk. We thank you for your help, but you must go at once."
"Okay. I guess we can trust you to win this one. After all, you already did."

—A-3 and Blaster

Notes

Continuity notes

• Gadgets and powers:
  • The Sharkticons are able to fly in shark mode. It looks as goofy and awkward as you might expect. This ability will be seen again in "The Big Broadcast of 2006".
  • The nubs on Blurr's upper arms are lasers.
• The Dark Guardians are introduced here, and are obviously the predecessors of the Guardian Robots introduced in "War Dawn". The Guardian Robots were protectors of the general populace; in this earlier era, the Dark Guardians are the oppressive servants of the Quintessons.
• Likewise, this episode takes us deep into Cybertron's past, to the slave rebellion outlined in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4". It also gives us our earliest look at the 'bot later known as Alpha Trion.
• Blaster's tapes are awake and active when riding around in his chest.
• So the Aerialbots save A-3. To whom they would eventually bring Orion Pax, causing him to be rebuilt in "War Dawn" into Optimus Prime. Who would eventually call for the Aerialbots to be built, prompting Alpha Trion to sacrifice his life to give life to the Aerialbots in "The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2". Who had saved his life 11 million years earlier. Or twenty years later. Circle of life, man.

Real-world references

• Blurr rattles off the four basic forces of the universe (the strong force, the weak force, electromagnetic, and gravity).
• Blaster orders Ramhorn to ram the "Rama Lama Ding Dong" out of the Sharkticons, citing the title of a 1957 doo-wop pop song by The Edsels.
• Wreck-Gar gets a few digs in:
  • "Golly, Mr. Wizard," is a reference to the famous children-oriented television science show, Watch Mr. Wizard (later Mr. Wizard's World).
  • "We've come a long way, baby!" is a take on a Virginia Slims cigarette ad campaign of the 1970s.
  • "Exceptional headache number one" is a take on the "Excedrin headache number" ad campaign.
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • From The Empire Strikes Back: soaring and descending snowspeeders as the Wreck-Gar and Blurr fly around blasting Sharkticons.
  • The sound at the start of Rewind's first shot is also a snowspeeder sound effect, from the battle on Hoth.
  • Death Star defense lasers during the second Quintesson assault on the asteroid.

Animation and technical errors

• An AKOM episode, featuring AKOM's usual oddities:
  • Movie characters often get a colored mouth. Blurr's mouth is blue, for example.
  • Rodimus is consistently colored using an outdated color models; his shoulder indentations are red instead of white, his pelvis-windshield details are white instead of light burgundy, and his gun is red instead of black. Additionally, in this episode, Rodimus's back spoiler is all yellow, when it should be orange in the middle.
  • A view from behind of Wreck-Gar during the Dark Guardian attack reveals that the animators did not have a rear view model. They appear to have used his toy as a reference.
• Speaking of time loops:
  • A shot shows the Autobots flying away from Cybertron... then is repeated a few shots later, showing them leaving again.
  • A recycled shot has Perceptor dodging the Quintesson blasts in the same way twice in a row.
• The number of switches on Blaster's chest changes throughout the episode. For instance, in the opening shots, he has anywhere from ten to just one. When he ejects Ramhorn, it changes from 9 to 5.
• Coloring errors:
  • Perceptor's cannon is black instead of red as he answers Blaster's question about the asteroids.
  • During the attack, Blaster ejects Rewind and his chest is plain blue instead of grey or yellow.
  • Blurr's chest alternates from plain white to white with blue on the bottom throughout the episode (and his Autobot logo appears, moves around from the center to his abs, and disappears in different shots).
  • When Beta rescues the Autobots from the Dark Guardian robot, Blaster's Autobot logo isn't colored in.
  • Just before the future Autobots attack the Dark Guardians, a group shot from behind has Wheelie colored like Rewind.
  • As the Autobots dive into the time gateway, Wheelie is colored like Kup.
• When the asteroid begins firing on the Autobots, Perceptor's Autobot logo is framed in black instead of white.
• The asteroid's shots don't seem to come from any kind of gun emplacement.
• Rewind's transformation sound effect doesn't play until after the shot of him transforming is already over.
• The Quintesson declares "contact with target" before the "energy hook" (which isn't made of energy at all) has even entered the time window.
• Perceptor cries out in pain before he's actually shot. Also the shot misses him completely.
• Although the Autobots are seen flying toward the time window, which begins to fade in and out, they're never actually shown flying INTO the window. Some sound effects play to presumably indicate their passage through.
• As Rodimus arrives to help the Autobots, Perceptor is flying with him instead of Superion. He's supposed to be unconscious on the asteroid at this point.
• When Superion disengages back into the Aerialbots, Silverbolt is formed from his right leg, while his torso turns into Air Raid.
• Ventriloquist bots:
  • As the Autobots come under attack from the guardian robot, Rewind points and his faceplate moves as if he's speaking, but he doesn't say anything.
  • Superion's faceplate doesn't move for his first line ("I have failed you...").
  • As Superion appears in two places at once, the Quintesson commander is shown mouthing the Quintesson scientist's lines.
  • Blaster's helmet is red as he and the others observe the massed Dark Guardians.
  • Blurr's chest is all white as Rewind explains A-3 to him; Rewind's mouthplate doesn't move as he speaks.

Ouch. That's gotta hurt.

• When Blaster ejects Rewind on ancient Cybertron, his tape door opens sideways.
• When Rewind asks Beta where A-3 is, his eye disappears.
• Silverbolt's shoulder-wings are mounted incorrectly as he worries about the time window.
• An abnormally huge Wheelie is shown racing Jazz (who's missing the numbers on his doors). (Also watch for a brief cameo glimpse of Bumblebee, Swerve and Springer in the establishing shot!)

AKOM's skillful shot blocking successfully conveys the exact opposite of the script's intent.

• A-3 is established be a pretty small dude - only waist-high to the smaller Aerialbots - but he's Rodimus's height when Rodimus tries to strike up a conversation with him, and later is shown as taller than Silverbolt.
• When the Quintesson bailiff instructs the Sharkticons to attack the Autobots, they are shown with deep space behind them; the next shot shows the Sharkticons exiting the Quintesson ship.
• When Superion is hit by the time ripples, he vanishes, leaving A-3 and the outline of his hand behind. He's supposed to be duplicated, though, so he really should have stayed put.
• Also, the picture is overlapping the top of the left display monitor on the Quintesson ship.
• Beta's rebels hide in a dirt ditch on Cybertron...a planet made of metal.
• The Autobots in the past stand on top of a building in front of the Quintessons' base, but when they jump down, they're in an alcove somewhere in the middle of the building.
• The Dark Guardians fire lasers out of their faces that don't seem to come from any particular laser-firing apparatus.
• As the constellation of the Quintesson talks to the Autobots, Rodimus's chest piece is too big, and there are two generic robots behind him. (They should be the Aerialbots, but if so, they're badly misdrawn.)

Maybe it's a very small Dark Guardian?

• As the slave rebellion starts, Ramhorn rams a Dark Guardian and is almost as big as it is!
• As Beta fires her arrow at the Dark Guardians during the big battle, her "slave brand" (Autobot logo) is missing.
• The five-faced Quintesson in the past hovers on board a chair, but when a closeup is shown, the chair is not seen. When the view is restored, the chair is visible again.
  • Speaking of the chair, it starts off with a blue flame beneath it, but the flame is red a few shots later.
• The Guardians surrounding the Autobots don't appear until the Quintesson threatens them with incineration.
• "Maybe we should send someone through to find them" - Rodimus's spoiler is missing.
• When A-3 returns to the past, the Autobots are standing in a completely different setting than when we last saw them. They're also no longer surrounded by Dark Guardians.
• The Autobot symbol on A-3's chest is suddenly a solid plate (including surrounding metal) when it is revealed as the Coder Remote, but looks no different from the regular Autobot symbol in previous shots (other than being golden).
• Beta came with four rebels, but two, five and six are shown in various shots.
• A-3 came through the gateway to the past and it was shown as just the frame of the portal, but when the Autobots go through it, it includes the control panel underneath (on both sides).
• As A-3 tells them to go, Wreck-Gar is next to Blaster on the right, but a shot later, he's behind him on the left.
• Also, as the Autobots dive into the gateway, Ramhorn disappears from the shot.
• When the Autobots land and run away from the gateway, Wheelie is running with them. (He's supposed to be on another planet!) Also, Rewind is missing from the shot.
• Rodimus is nowhere near the gateway after he presses the button. The shot should show him running too.
• As he tells Rodimus they must close the time portal, Perceptor is drawn huge. (If he stood up, he'd be much taller than Rodimus, who is closer to the camera but drawn smaller.)
• Air Raid clips through Rewind as he walks up to deliver the last lines of the episode.

Continuity errors

• Flying Autobots:
  • Perceptor, Blurr & company fly off of Cybertron and have a whole battle out in space under their own power. No jetpacks are shown or mentioned.
• Why would the Autobots fly right into the Quintessons' device?
• Supposedly, the Quintessons were after Alpha Trion, but the claw at the beginning was grabbing for something sphere-shaped.
• Nobody suspects that A-3 might be Alpha Trion until his "future ghost" talks to Superion.
  • And, even more oddly, the Aerialbots are surprised at the end to discover this fact, even though A-3 himself said as much to their combined form!
• Past-Cybertron appears with a partial Earth-like rocky landscape - such as the trench in which Beta and the rebels are hiding - in addition to the conventional metal-plated ground. Are we to assume the Quintessons were still cyberforming the planet as the rebellion started? And did the Quintessons finish during the rebellion, or did the Transformers complete the job afterwards?

Other trivia

• The Quintesson scientist is named Inquirata in the script, but is unnamed in the episode proper.
• This is the second episode in a row to conclude with a constellation image of a character, as "Dark Awakening" ends with a star image Optimus Prime right after his apparent destruction.
• This is one of the few episodes not to feature the Decepticons.
• What is it with Aerialbots and time travel episodes?

Foreign localization

French

• Title (European French broadcast): "L'éternité est plus longue qu'on ne croit" ("Eternity is longer than you think")
• Title (Canadian French broadcast): "La fenêtre du temps" ("The Time Window")
• Original airdate: ?

• This episode is one of those that has never been released on DVD in French.
• To date, and although there is probably one in existence, the European French dub of this episode is lost.
• Concerning the Canadian French dub:

• Beta and Rewind both use "Cybertron" in a plural form, like if it was a race of its own.
• The noises of the race spectators are missing.
• Despite being called "Aérobots" in the dub, Rodimus Prime calls them "Aerialbots" in this episode. Still concerning names, the Primes are called "Rodimus Primo" and "Optimus Primo", when the Canadian dub usually calls them "Rodimus Primus" and "Optimus Primus".

German

• Title: "Die Ewigkeit dauert lange" ("The Eternity takes a long Time")
• Original airdate: ?

• This was one of twelve episodes of the original cartoon released as audio adventures by the German company Karussell Musik und Video.

Italian

• Title (first dub): "La finestra del tempo" ("The Time Window")
• Original airdate: ?

• Starting from this episode, the Aerialbots members (Superion included) are called by their Italian names rather than the English ones like in season 2. On the other hand, the name "Aerialbot" is left in English (although as an invariable noun) despite being previously changed to "Aerobot".

• Title (second dub):"L'eternità giungerà tra molto tempo" ("Eternity will arrive after a long time")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: 時の罠 (Toki no Wana, "Time Trap")
• Original airdate: January 16, 1987

Mandarin

• Title: Suìyuè zhī Chuāng (岁月之窗, "Time Window")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Para Sempre é Exagero" ("Forever is an Overstatement")
• Original airdate: ?

• Due to a glitch in the only known surviving audio track of this dub, the only part of the title that is actually audible is "Sempre é Exagero", but it's more plausible that the narrator says "para sempre" as it's a more direct translation from "forever" and makes more sense in context than just "sempre" (which means "ever" or "always").

Home video releases

VHS

1993 — The Biggest Ever Saturday Morning Picture Show (Tempo Video)
2000 — The Original Transformers — Volume 5: Return to Cybertron (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1999 — The Transformers: 2010 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers: 2010 — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 1 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 1: Vol. 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 3 and Season 4 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 4: Series 3.1 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Season's Three & Four [sic] (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2010 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• IMDb's page for this episode
• Episode dialogue script