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The Morphobots raise the roof.
"Quest for Survival"
Production code	700-44
Season	2
No. in season	29
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	November 5, 1985
Written by	Reed Robbins and Peter Salas
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

The Autobots find themselves outnumbered when facing an Insecticon Clone Army and look to find a robotic insecticide to destroy them. However, their problems are just going to get bigger when spores from alien plants on Cosmos begin to grow rapidly...

Synopsis

Here we come to eat the haaaay
The Insecticons are on their way

The Decepticons have turned the Insecticons' cloning ability to new heights, to be an unstoppable force that will devour Earth's food resources and convert it into energon. Like a horde of mechanical locusts, they swarm Earth's crops, from Asia to the United States to the tropics - with the potential to cause the human race to starve to death. The Autobots make an attempt to stop the Insecticons, but they are too many in number, and the Autobots are forced to retreat. At Autobot Headquarters, the Autobots explain what happened to Optimus Prime, when Bumblebee, Spike Witwicky, and Cosmos contact Prime, saying that they found some robotic insecticide on Floron III. As they leave, however, something grabs hold of Cosmos, and he is barely able to escape.

Returning to the Decepticon base, the Insecticons convert the food they've eaten into energon, but only get one energon cube each. Megatron claims that this is because of the costly energy conversion process, but in another room, the Decepticons are busily converting massive amounts of energy into energon. Megatron muses that the Insecticons would be deadly if they weren't so stupid.

I told you not to pick up those hitchhikers.

On his approach to Earth, Cosmos discovers that spores from whatever attacked him are growing across his hull, and he is losing control of his systems. Bumblebee and Spike manage to abandon ship before Cosmos crashes and go to get help. Arriving back at the base, Bumblebee discovers that spores are attached to his body, but Ratchet manages to get them off. Prime attempts to contact Cosmos, only to discover that the valley he crashed in has been overtaken by the plant-like machines. As the Autobot leader leads a rescue mission, Laserbeak learns of the insecticide, and reports it to Soundwave. Megatron takes a team to retrieve it before the Autobots can...and in case he might need the insecticide himself.

Blaster Amogus, since he's half-transformed.

At the base, Perceptor and Prowl discover that the spores are Morphobots, a plant-like species that the Transformers believed was extinct. They contact Prime, warning him that the Morphobots are particularly fond of robotic lifeforms. Elsewhere, Thrust is overseeing the Insecticons, when Megatron orders him to warn the Insecticons to stay away from the valley. The Insecticons suspect that Megatron is hiding something, and attack Thrust, after which they take the entire clone army to the valley.

LA LA LA LA, NOT LISTENING!

At the valley, the Decepticons arrive first, only to discover the Morphobots. Starscream fires first, only to have the blast from his null-ray deflected right back at him. Before Megatron can properly admonish Starscream, Soundwave detects the Autobots. Megatron decides to let Prime do the work of getting the insecticide for him. Warpath fires a blast, but gets nowhere; Ironhide's liquid nitrogen only freezes them momentarily. Blaster begins broadcasting, which causes the Morphobots to recoil. Bumblebee, Ironhide, Hoist, and Blaster take Cosmos out of the field.

The venus fly trap from outer space.

Once they're out, Megatron and the Decepticons attack, destroying the insecticide. However, the Morphobots also attack the Decepticons. As things get bad, the Insecticons arrive. Megatron believes the noble creatures are coming to save them. Obviously his logic circuits fail to tell him just how many things are wrong with his idea. Believing them to be food, the Insecticon clones fly straight into the field, and the Morphobots consume all the clones. The original Insecticons manage to escape, and the Decepticons follow.

At their base, the Autobots have loaded the Morphobots into a shuttle, intended to take them to a world with a large robotic insect population. However, Perceptor requests that a second shuttle be prepared as soon as possible, as the Morphobots he has been studying have become a little too friendly for his tastes.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Robotic Insecticide?"

—Skids makes his debut by asking what everyone else is thinking.

"Muahah. If the Insecticons had brains, they'd be dangerous!"

—Megatron reflects on the Insecticons' gullibility.

"Hmm. Very interesting."
"What is it?"
"Hmm? What is what?"

—Perceptor and Prowl, a typical conversation with a scientist.

"Where is your courage, Megatron?"

—Starscream should practice what he preaches.

"Who says plants aren't intelligent? The Morphobots are repelled by your music."

—Optimus Prime, being a little ungrateful to Blaster, who is repelling the Morphobots

"Just don't stand there with your cockpits open, you fools!"

—Megatron, being dragged along the ground by a Morphobot.

"The Insecticons! Those noble creatures have come to save us, despite the danger to their own lives."

—Megatron, seriously overestimating his allies.

"Our friend Megatron is in trouble."
"If I wasn't so hungry, I'd stop to help him out. HAHAHAHAHAH!"

—Kickback and Bombshell both showing how an 'ally' should act.

"You didn't tell us they'd bite back!"

—Kickback, realizing that plants do bite back.

Notes

Production information

First draft script submitted: 17th April 1985

Continuity notes

• First appearance of Skids (out of only two in the whole cartoon!).
• Optimus Prime says Blaster's music is "frying his brain transmitters".
• The possibility that the Morphobots will drive the Earth to starvation just breaks Megatron's "energon convertor". Not!
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Tracks actually uses his missile launchers!
  • Cosmos has something called an "Auxiliary laser jet". Because jets and lasers are totally the same thing! (Maybe it's just a backup printer?)
  • Ironhide shoots some kind of gray graphite lookin' stuff from his retracted fingertips, which forms a hard shell around its target.
  • Later he shoots nitrogen in the same fashion, freezing the Morphobots in place.
  • Blaster transforms into a halfway form between his cassette player form and his robot mode. Later, he transforms into his boom box mode without shrinking at all.
• Blaster repulses the Morphobots with an instrumental version of the song "Cold Slither" played in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero episode of the same name.
• Tracks actually uses his Black beam gun to blind Megatron, Dirge and Blitzwing.
• This episode marks one of only two instances in which Soundwave laughs (the other being "Auto-Bop"). He chuckles along with Megatron when Starscream is knocked on his can, and again after Megatron destroys the insecticide.

Real-world references

• The opening scene is set in an unspecified Asian country; the dialogue script notes the farm worker has a Chinese accent, but whether the attack actually takes place in China or not is hard to say.
• The farmer's accents in the next scene suggest it's set somewhere in the American south.
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • TIE Fighter roar as Thrust swoops over the grassy plain.
  • Death Star super laser as he lands in the field.
  • Millennium Falcon engine burst as he retreats from the Insecticons, and again as the Insecticons take off after him.

Animation and technical errors

I'm burning! burning!

• Shrapnel is not on-screen when he says "I'm starved"; instead, Kickback is prominently in the foreground.
• In the overhead shot of the two farm vehicles, one is cutting a path through the corn, while the other is not. When the drivers abandon the vehicles a moment later, both have paths behind them.
• The two vehicle-driving farmers switch places at the start. The fellow in blue overalls is driving the tractor, but is shown running from the combine harvester, trading vehicles with his pal.
• Tracks has Bombshell's vocal processing effect when he gives the order to transform, and again when he is set on fire.
• Coloring errors:
  • In the line-up of newly transformed Autobots, Smokescreen's headcrest is blue instead of yellow, and his feet are dark gray when they should be blue.
  • Insect mode Kickback has a white mouthplate as he flees from Tracks' missile.
  • As Smokescreen explains the retreat to Optimus, his forehead crest is blue again, and his chest is squared off instead of rounded.
  • In the first shot of him struggling against the plants, Cosmos' Autobot symbol is a featureless black shape - like a rubsign!
  • Bumblebee's nose is yellow as Cosmos struggles against the Morphobots.
  • And again as Cosmos orders Spike and Bumblebee to eject.
  • "Where's Cosmos?" - Prime's running lights are blue instead of red.
  • After the Insecticons leave their transfer chambers, Bombshell's chest compartment is gray instead of yellow.
  • Laserbeak's wings are all red (missing their black and light gray bits) as he observes the traveling Autobots.
  • As Kickback kicks Thrust, Bombshell's shoulders are maroon, and his eyes aren't colored in.
  • As the Decepticons arrive at the valley, Starscream's left wing is missing its red stripe. In the same shot, Blitzwing is flying with his landing gear down.
  • The Decepticon jets fire on the Autobots with the Autobot laser sound.
  • Soundwave's forehead flashes between white and blue as he laughs at Starscream's pratfall.
  • In the shot of the newly arrived Autobots, Ironhide's helmet is gray instead of red.
  • The edge of Ironhide's helmet is the same color as his face in a couple of shots, notably when he reacts to the Morphobots shrugging off his nitrogen.
  • Tracks has white tires as he walks behind Bumblebee through the Morphobot field.
  • Blitzwing's helmet is purple instead of yellow as he lands to attack.
  • And again as he runs to assist Megatron.
  • Gun mode Megatron is all dark gray when Soundwave releases him.
  • Dirge's face is white instead of dark gray after he's been thrown by the Morphobots.
  • Ironhide's shoulders are gray instead of red as he agrees with Optimus about disposing of the Morphobots.
• Just before the Autobots retreat, Tracks fires a couple of missiles... but his launchers aren't empty after he does so.
• The area around Autobot Headquarters looks different in this episode. It's sitting flush with a plateau off to the side, not the usual rocky cliffside.
• At Decepticon Headquarters, Kickback - or a clone - transforms without any transformation sound.
• As Megatron greets the Insecticons, Dirge is missing his wings.
• As they speak to Cosmos post-crash, Spike gestures as if he's trying to project his voice across the cliff, but Bumblebee is the one yelling.
• Spike is in the driver seat whenever Bumblebee is rolling, but he exits - and re-enters - from the passenger side.
• When Bumblebee transforms to go for help, his windows change from glass-blue to completely transparent. Then his seats, rear windows and interior appear out of nowhere when he starts to drive off.
• Improbable viewpoints:
  • How the heck did Teletraan One get a camera inside the energon production room of Decepticon Headquarters? Even the Insecticons couldn't get in there!
  • Megatron brings up a view of Thrust flying along.
• Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
  • Beachcomber and Ratchet are in the group of Autobots who set out for the crash site, but when the group gets there, Ironhide and Hoist are there instead. Nonetheless, Beachcomber gets a line of dialogue (in response to Blaster's music).
  • Windcharger is also there for one shot, but disappears from the rest of the show.
  • Blaster doesn't appear at all until after Ironhide and Warpath have tried to destroy the Morphobots. Maybe he was hiding in someone's back seat?
• Perceptor and Prowl should really have some radio muffling as they contact Prime, but it's just their normal voices.
• The problem of Kickback's insect head shows up as the Insecticons react to Thrust's arrival. Up to now, he's been shown with the correct plain black insect head, but throughout this whole scene, he's got his full robot face on display, even getting a closeup of it as he speaks a line.
• When Warpath replies to Optimus Prime's request for a path to be blasted through the Morphobots, he's lacking the glowing blue effects on his mouthplate-slits that Toei gave him when he talked in every other episode of theirs. This is his only on-screen robot-mode line in the episode.
• When Megatron transforms to shoot the insecticide, he doesn't make the transformation noise (nor does he when he transforms back, for that matter). His shot doesn't make the usual fusion cannon sound, either.
• The second time Soundwave laughs, his voice is missing its usual synthesizer effect, and not for the first time.
• As Megatron is thrown by the Morphobots, his voice sounds different and is missing its metallic effect.
• Several times towards the end of the episode, the triangles on Megatron's forehead are drawn wrong (sometimes one or the other is a square or cut-off polygon).
• When Perceptor is struggling with the Morphobots, his mouth isn't quaking with the rest of his body.
• The color on a handful of scenes is visibly grayed and desaturated, such as when Perceptor calls Prime for help.

Continuity errors

This thing fits inside Cosmos. Spike and Bumblebee fit inside this thing. But when Cosmos transforms, he's like one head taller than Bumblebee.

• The Morphobots repeatedly show the ability to grow out of, well, nothing. The specimens on Cosmos, and the ones that Perceptor studies, both blossom into huge vines without actually consuming any matter.
• Who's in charge of the first Autobot excursion? Tracks gives the order to transform, but Smokescreen gives the order to retreat.
• Why does Cosmos need Spike to fire his emergency jet? Can't he do it himself?
• Cosmos' interior is huge in this episode, big enough to carry Bumblebee, Spike and their cargo in relative comfort, not to mention an ejection chamber which is also capable of carrying the same occupants. It was similarly large in "Sea Change", but considerably smaller in "Blaster Blues" and "Cosmic Rust".
• When the Morphobots penetrate into Cosmos' cabin, there is no indication of decompression from his pressurized and vacuum-sealed hull being breached.
• How does Laserbeak figure out what the Autobots are up to in order to report back to Soundwave? Prime and the others leave and nobody says anything about where they are going, Laserbeak doesn't see them until after they have already left headquarters, yet he flies back to Soundwave and has complete details about where they are going and knows about the instecticide.
• In "A Plague of Insecticons", the Insecticons are shown to be able to convert organic food directly into energy by themselves. What, from the Insecticons' point of view, is the logic behind extracting energon from them and converting it to energon cubes, from which it would have to be consumed again?
• Similarly, in their debut episode, the Insecticon clones were shown to be eliminated with Trailbreaker's force field, cutting off the control beam and causing them to disintegrate. Why is Robotic Insecticide now required?
• Megatron's orders to Thrust appear to have been moved - he brings up Thrust's image on a viewscreen but does not say anything to him; several scenes later, completely off-screen, he orders Thrust to contact the Insecticons - after Thrust has already located them and is flying over them!
• After Megatron and the other Decepticons have been freed from the Morphobots' tentacles and are laying on the ground, Tracks walks right up to them and uses his Black beam gun to blind them. Yet in the very next shot, he's standing behind the other Autobots, and the Decepticons are not only standing, but aren't blinded at all.
• If the Morphobots can't be harmed by explosives and laser fire, and they can hogtie Megatron in a matter of seconds and sling him around like a bag of bolts, how did the Autobots manage to round them up and put them inside the rocket ship? (Blaster's music could have played a part.)

Trivia

Comes in Small, Medium, Large and Combiner sizes.

• To get rid of the Morphobots, the Autobots send them to a planet inhabited by their prey, robotic insects. While that's nice for the plants, isn't kinda mean to the robotic insects? Won't it screw up the ecology of the planet? Isn't it kinda... morally borderline at best? We only have to hope the Autobots are exporting them to another civilization with a robotic pest outbreak, and not just dropping them off in any random mechanical wilderness.
• Okay, seriously... robotic insecticide?

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "La lutte pour la survie" ("The Struggle for Survival")
• Original airdate: ?

• A lot of lines are missing in the first scene. The Insecticons don't say anything as they launch the attack on the field. The line "They're tryin' to wreck our picnic!" is also absent, resulting in a shot in which Autobots and Insecticons stare at each other in silence.
• Cosmos' line "The plants from Floron III seem to have hitched a ride" is absent.
• Francis Lax says "What's that on your back, Bumblebee?"... with his Bumblebee voice.
• The dialogue between Optimus Prime, Perceptor and Prowl about the origins of the Morphobots is very partial. Actually, only Prowl says his line "Also Prime, we have reason to believe that they are capable of devouring any robotic form", the rest is missing.

Italian

• Title (dub 1): "L'insetticida robotico" ("The Robotic Insecticide")
• Original airdate: ?

• This is the first episode in which Optimus Prime is voiced by Angelo Nicotra (not considering The Golden Lagoon, since it's unknown who voiced him in that episode, if the episode was ever dubbed at the time). Still, Piero Tiberi would later voice him again in a few other episodes.
• At the beginning of the episode, a guy calls the Insecticons "Mini-Insecto", despite their Italian name being "Mini-Insector". Based on the voice, it look like the actor who voiced the line is the same who voiced Spike in The Autobot Run (and in this episode too), where he said "Memo" instead of "Memor". It looks like that actor dislikes R-ending words...
• Broadcasting-wise, starting with this episode Perceptor is called "Supervisor" instead of "Supervista" as before. He will regain his old name in The Movie and in season 3.
• At the end of the episode, Megatron pluralizes the word "Distructor" (Italian name of the Decepticons) as "Distructors", although normally the word "Distructor" is used for both singular and plural in this series.

• Title (dub 2): "Lotta per la sopravvivenza" ("Fight for Survival")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: "Survival Sakusen" (サバイバル作戦, "Operation: Survival")
• Original airdate: February 28, 1986

Mandarin

• Title: "Shírén Zhū " (食人株, "Cannibal Plant")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Busca da Sobrevivência" ("Search for Survival")
• Original airdate: ?

Home video releases

LaserDisc

1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 5 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 3: Series 2.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 10 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Volume 05: Stagione Due Parte Terza (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume One: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Full episode script
• Episode model sheets
• Episode dialogue script