Master Blaster
From Transformers Wiki
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 Tarantulas suddenly realizes how all those bugs eaten by geckos feel. | |||||||||
| "Master Blaster" | |||||||||
| Season | 3 | ||||||||
| No. in season | 10 | ||||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | March 1, 1999 | ||||||||
| Written by | Eric Torin | ||||||||
| Directed by | Steve Sacks | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | ||||||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube
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The Predacons gain control over the body of Optimus Primal, and capture the Ark.
Contents |
Synopsis
Silverbolt dutifully patrols the Maximals' fortified entrance to Mount St. Hilary, unaware that the Predacons are building something sinister in places unknown. Megatron, trying another attack on the Maximals' base, sends newly promoted sub-commander Waspinator with a large explosive (from…somewhere) to destroy the patrolling Fuzor. Waspinator delivers the missile and destroys Silverbolt's gunning turret, and when Optimus Primal, Cheetor, and Rattrap rush outside to defend their home, Waspinator commands a full attack. Alas, the plan was only a feint to draw out Primal, and without support from additional troops, Waspinator is quickly crushed by the Maximal leader.
Hiding out of Optimus Primal's sight, Tarantulas blows a dart that burrows itself into Primal's foot, crawls through the Maximal leader's interior machinery, and accesses Primal's own spark. Primal disregards the infection, tells Cheetor to "take a rest" with a suspiciously Western drawl, and punches out the young Maximal.
Blackarachnia returns to the Maximal base, surprised by the open doors. She finds the entire interior dark. Primal sneaks up on the arachnid, and when she reveals that Depth Charge isn't with her, he grabs her as if she were a toy. With the widow restrained, Megatron and his cronies step out of the darkness. Quickstrike is revealed to be controlling Optimus Primal by piloting a large, mechanical suit of similar form to Primal's body. The other Maximals are being kept deactivated in a hanging cage. Megatron instructs Dinobot to find-and destroy-Depth Charge, assigns Inferno to watch over the imprisoned Maximals, and allows Rampage to "take care" of Blackarachnia. With that done, Megatron orders Quickstrike and the puppeteered Optimus Primal to follow him; the Ark awaits!
In front of the Autobot starship, Megatron orders Quickstrike to download the access codes to him-the process fails, however, as the codes now require a Maximal spark signature to be used. This barely fazes Megatron, as he simply has Quickstrike use Optimus Primal to open the door instead. Megatron walks through the halls of the ship to find what he's looking for: his namesake, the original Megatron. The Predacon leader opens his own chest, and a tentacle reaches out of it to access the spark of his predecessor. After a bit of struggle, Megatron takes the spark into his body, and immediately collapses. While his "boss" convulses from the pain of containing two sparks, Quickstrike dumps his leader into one of the lava pits outside, giving the Ark to his real superior: Tarantulas!
In the depths of the Maximal base, Rampage gleefully torments Blackarachnia, but the she-spider overpowers the massive Transmetal crab by using telekinesis to knock him down with a steel girder. Thus freed, Blackarachnia sneaks through the base, then leads Inferno away from the Maximals he's supposed to be protecting and locks him outside so she can free her team (and blast Inferno with the autoguns).
Quickstrike gives Tarantulas access to Teletraan I. Tarantulas then sends Quickstrike away to destroy the Maximals while he rigs the Ark to explode, which will kill all Autobots and Decepticons within it. As Tarantulas leaves the Ark, Megatron emerges from the lava, now reconfigured into a dragon form by his plunge into the molten rock and the additional spark within him. Megatron burns the spider who betrayed him and tosses Tarantulas into a distant lava pool as punishment for failing.
Quickstrike, still piloting his armor, finds Blackarachnia and double-teams her using Optimus Primal's body, which is still under his control. But with a well-placed blast, she causes the two giants to fall over each other. The fall frees Optimus, who remembers what he did under Quickstrike's control, and he and Blackarachnia head back into the Ark to prevent the devastation.
Megatron finds Optimus Primal, and the two enhanced Transformers battle. While Blackarachnia tries to save the Ark, Megatron shows off his new abilities against his most hated enemy. Blackarachnia saves the Ark with just a single second to spare. Optimus is then saved from Megatron by the combined firepower of the other Maximals, who force Megatron to retreat. But with the spark of the original Megatron still in his possession, Megatron has gained a new advantage in the Beast Wars.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Decepticons |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Ah, sometimes deception is the better part of valor."
- —Megatron, observing Waspinator's unwitting decoy attack on the Maximal base
"You'll live to regret this, crab legs."
"I regret everything, my sweet. Struggle as much as you like, I enjoy it."
- —Blackarachnia as she struggles against Rampage
"Time to open me up a can of kick-keister!"
- —Quickstrike, after being told to finish the other Maximals
"By the Pit, you live!"
"I am not so easily destroyed. And thanks to your treachery, my power is greater than ever! Let me... thank you."
- —Tarantulas and Megatron
"I can suffer your treachery, lieutenant, but not your incompetence!"
[throws Tarantulas into the lava]
"Treachery requires no mistakes."
- —Megatron reborn deals with Tarantulas
"Megatron does not yield... he conquers!"
- —Megatron's response to Optimus Primal's demand for his surrender
"Eight clicks to core implosion.... five.. four... three... two... one... core implosion aborted... all systems normal... have a nice day."
- —
SpaceballTeletraan I
"Did you think you could stand against the fury of both Megatrons?"
- —Megatron gloating to Optimus Primal
Notes
Script timeline
- First draft: 9th June 1998
- Second draft: 18th June 1998
- Finalised: 12th August 1998
- As Air: 10th February 1999
Animation and technical errors
- When Megatron says he has "almost collected the whole set", his head has the wrong colors. Instead of his Transmetal head, the colors match that of his dragon form. Earlier shots in this scene have the correct color scheme.
Continuity errors
- It is unclear why Tarantulas and Quickstrike expected Megatron to expire in the lava, since Tarantulas suffers the same fate, only to pull himself free in a few moments. Though, it could've just been Quickstrike's spur of the moment idea. Then again, Scorponok and Terrorsaur expired after falling in lava all the way back at the start of season 2, which may mean this was all simply an oversight.
- Tarantulas blowing up the Ark is a new development... one unfortunately at odds with Tarantulas's own words in "Tangled Web", where he refers to Megatron's future plans (i.e. altering time) as "madness". Ah well, what dork would remember or care about a minor muttered line a year before, eh?
- It's not terribly clear why taking Generation 1 Megatron's spark into his body would lead to Beast Wars's Megatron's body receiving an upgrade. The implication back in "Optimal Situation" was that Optimus Primal's upgrade occurred as a result of Prime's spark having been in contact with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which has a proven history of leading to powerful vehicle-based upgrades, whereas the original Megatron was little more than a normal if mighty Cybertronian. Since "Optimal Situation" was written with an admitted lack of understanding in how the Matrix works however, this could be yet another writing mishap.
- The return of Generation 1 Megatron's spark to his body would never be explicitly resolved within this series. Beast Wars Megatron was said to still hold it as of "Other Victories", and we never see or are told that he gave it back. There is only Primal's statement that "all is as it should be" (made after Megatron's capture in "Nemesis Part 2") to go on. The spark's replacement was written into the "Nemesis" script and even animated—it was simply cut for time from the final episode. A clip of this animation can be seen here and was included as an extra in Kid Rhino's DVD release of Beast Wars season 3.
- The computer that Blackarachnia and Tarantulas use seems to have been designed for human-size figures, rather than the larger Autobot occupants. But then...
- Why does Megatron's alternate mode change to a dragon after he is transformed? Other Transformers that went through upgrades in the series didn't get alternate beast modes.
Continuity notes
- Following on from "Crossing the Rubicon", Optimus also possesses the Ark access codes, which Megatron takes advantage of.
- Blackarachnia (after saying "I can play your game too") saves the day by uploading "datatrax Viron" into Teletraan I, which is the same datatrax Tarantulas used against the Metal Hunter.
- Although the toy is a Transmetal 2 and has detailing consistent with the other Transmetal 2 figures, within the context of the story, Megatron's upgrade is closer to Optimus Primal's Optimal upgrade and, like such, is never called a Transmetal 2 in the series.
- Gadgets and powers:
- A techno-blowgun? Well, whatever works, works, we suppose.
- Like Cheetor before her, Blackarachnia's Transmetal 2 body comes with telekinetic powers.
- Cheetor's rocket launcher/jet engine appears to function just like his old quasar cannon in robot mode.
- This episode contains the last instance of the running gag in which Inferno gets slagged while outside the doors to the Maximal Base.
Transformers references
- Well, there is the original Megatron, but he's only in stasis lock.
Real-world references
- While revealing himself in his new form, Megatron cries out "Enter the dragon!", which is also the title of a Bruce Lee movie.
- The title of the episode, "Master Blaster", is also the title of an old computer game, and a song by Stevie Wonder. However, it's clear from context that it primarily refers to the dwarf/giant duo from the film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
- At the last second, Teletraan I aborts its self-destruct sequence with the line, "Core implosion aborted, all systems normal. Have a nice day." This is similar to a self-destruct sequence in the 1987 sci-fi parody Spaceballs.
Trivia
- When Primal finally gains control of himself and tells Blackarachnia that Megatron gained control of Teletraan I, he actually says "Teletraan" instead of "Teletron". Every other time it's said in this episode, it's pronounced "Teletron".
- In an early version of the episode's plot, Megatron decided to steal and absorb the original Megatron's spark only after failing at another attempt to kill Optimus Prime.[1]
- The power-suit frame used by Quickstrike in this episode will later be used by the Vok to create Primal Prime in "Primeval Dawn Part 1".
- Megatron's tampering with Generation 1 Megatron's spark will have bizarre results several million years later in Japanese continuity when the original Megatron battles Optimus Prime in "Destron Leader Megatron Black Ver."
- With his new form, Megatron once again has an animal head for an arm, this time with his beast mode's Dragon head replacing his left arm, whereas his original form featured a T-rex head for a right arm.
- In the scene where Rattrap and Cheetor are lugging around crates, there is a stuffed panda bear in the background.[2]
- Waspinator has the honor of being the last Predacon to use the "Terrorize!" transformation code in the show. All that bad luck must've paid off.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Maître du Feu" (Canada, "Master of Fire")
Italian
- Title: "Uniti per sempre" ("United Forever")
- When trying to download the access codes, Quickstrike's line: «All right! Got 'em!» becomes: «That's clever! I've found it!»... "clever"?
Japanese
Portuguese
- Title: "Mestre Destruidor" ("Master Destroyer")
Spanish
- Title: "La Furia del Dragón" (America, "The Fury of the Dragon")
Mandarin
- Title: "Héxīn Bàoliè " (核心爆裂, "Core Blast")
Home video releases
- VHS
2000 — Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers: Metals — Sssshiny! (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2000 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Volume 3 (Universal)
- DVD
2000 — Beast Wars: Transformers: Metals — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2004 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete Third Season (Rhinomation)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Seasons 2 & 3 (Shout! Factory)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2006 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 3 (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Beast Wars — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
