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"A ticker-tape parade using streams of volcanic ash. How ironic!"
"The Ultimate Doom, Part 1"
Production code	#700-08
Season	1
No. in season	11
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	November 3, 1984
Story by	Dick Robbins, Bryce Malek, Douglas Booth and Larry Strauss
Teleplay by	Larry Strauss
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

Megatron brings Cybertron into Earth's orbit to harvest the energy from the destruction caused by Cybertron's gravity.

Synopsis

"Kidnapping humans will be simplicity itself, thanks to my new, Transformers-sized crane game."

Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp attack a solar power station off India's Malabar Coast. Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, Jazz and Sunstreaker arrive in time to intercept them. Watching this battle remotely are Megatron and the evil human scientist Doctor Arkeville. Megatron orders Soundwave to begin phase two of Operation Guinea Pig, which involves setting Rumble and Ravage loose inside Autobot headquarters. With the Autobots distracted by Rumble's rumbling, Laserbeak flies in, nabs Sparkplug and flies out.

Back in India, the Seekers suddenly take flight and retreat. Prime smells a rat, then Sunstreaker tells him of the attack on their headquarters.

"I love the Power Glove. It's so bad."

After bringing Sparkplug to Decepticon headquarters, Doctor Arkeville fits him with a mind-control device called a hypno-chip which brings him into the Decepticons' control. As a means of demonstrating the new technology, Sparkplug is made to attack a full-sized replica of Optimus Prime. Megatron intends to use this technology to create an army of human slaves. With the successful completion of the first part of his plan, Megatron communicates with Shockwave to confirm that the new space bridge is ready.

The Autobots attack the Decepticon undersea base to rescue Sparkplug. Optimus Prime leads a direct attack from above while Cliffjumper, Brawn and Windcharger tunnel under the ocean floor. The mission is successful, and the Autobots return him to their base. After undergoing repairs, the Autobots and Spike notice that Sparkplug is acting oddly, but before they can learn why, the Decepticons launch a surprise attack. Spike realizes that Sparkplug has sabotaged the Autobots' weapons and Teletraan I, which let the Decepticons in undetected.

When Spike confronts his father, Sparkplug appeals to Spike to join the Decepticons. Spike refuses, and Sparkplug tells his son that when they next meet, they will be enemies. In a desperate effort to salvage the situation, Spike sets off the fire-retardant foam. This clogs the Decepticons' weapons, and Megatron orders a retreat. Sparkplug willingly goes with them.

Snow Miser tunes in to his favorite show, The Witwickys.

At the space bridge site, Megatron reveals that he intends to bring Cybertron into Earth orbit using the bridge. The gravity of Cybertron will cause natural disasters, and the Decepticons plan to harvest the vaguely-defined "energy" this will somehow create, and transport it to Cybertron. Arkeville isn't too keen on this idea, but Megatron says it's a new problem for the evil scientist to solve using his genius intellect.

Using the Sky Spy, the Autobots see the giant space bridge and roll out to investigate. When they attack the bridge site, Megatron releases a group of human slaves to act as shields. The ploy works, and things get even more complicated when the humans attack the Autobots with sticks and stones.

Spike stops Sparkplug from attacking Bumblebee, and for a moment it appears that Sparkplug is back to normal. But Arkeville recomputes his signal, and Sparkplug is again under Decepticon control. He rushes to the first space bridge pylon and activates it. Thundercracker activates the second.

Optimus Prime chases Megatron up to the third pylon and wrestles him away from the button. Megatron orders Prime to turn on the pylon himself, or else he will be responsible for catapulting Cybertron into oblivion. Unwilling to sacrifice his home planet, Optimus Prime activates the space bridge, bringing Cybertron into Earth's orbit, but wonders if he is dooming Earth in the process.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Skywarp: I say Megatron's plan was brilliant.
Starscream: And I say the diversionary attack on the solar plant was a waste of energy.
Skywarp: You waste more energy with your mouth!

—More heart-warming Decepticon camaraderie.

"I've got the plan, if all of you've got the cast-iron manifolds for it!"
"We have!"

—Prowl and Optimus Prime

"Into the ocean, let's be daring. The last one in is a rusty herring."

—Jazz, turning into a poet.

Megatron: Fire-retardant foam! Our circuitry's been shorted out.
Thundercracker: My weapon!
Skywarp: Can't we just bash 'em to pieces?
Megatron: If we stay, this foam will permanently damage our circuitry. The Autobots are through anyway. RETREAT!

—The Decepticons become ever more farcical and ridiculous.

"As the Earthlings say: Fat chance, fat-head!"

—Optimus Prime has been spending too much time with Spike.

"Have I saved Cybertron... only to destroy the Earth?"

—Optimus Prime angsts over his decision to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit.

Notes

Production information

• First draft script: 11th July 1984
• Script revised by Ron Friedman: 18th July 1984
• Final script: 27th July 1984
• Dialogue recording: (Dan Gilvezan not present for main session, Wally Burr voiced Bumblebee for guide track)
• Returned to the US for telecine: 8th November 1984

Continuity notes

• This episode is one of several that gets a narrative opening from Victor Caroli.

With that drill... take us to the heavens!

And now, on with the countdown.

• Gadgets and powers:
  • The Autobots make their first use of hydrofoils in this episode, newly installed by Wheeljack. More than most, these gadgets would show up in many future episodes.
  • Ironhide retracts his hand and out comes... a toilet plunger lookin' thing. He uses it to locate the center of Rumble's seismic disturbance, with the results displaying on his chest windows (not unlike his sonadar sensors).
  • Sideswipe was getting ready to fire a flare from his hand weapon. He was interrupted by Ravage. Flares are mentioned in Sideswipe's bio.
  • Optimus Prime's chest windows light up, indicating an attack on Autobot Headquarters.
  • Brawn has a vehicle mode tunneling drill. It'll show up again in "The Immobilizer".
  • Cliffjumper has a depth gauge that emerges from his vehicle-mode hood.
  • Sunstreaker fires a missile from his wrist at Megatron.
  • Thundercracker fires a rocket from his forearm in the same way he did in "Divide and Conquer".
  • Cliffjumper fires his glass gas like a regular laser beam from his hand gun.
  • Ratchet uses the same retractable wrist-welder he had in "Transport to Oblivion".
  • This time, it's the blue button on Megatron's stomach that acts as his radio transmitter.
• Once again, evidence that Cybertron is actually outside the Milky Way galaxy: Optimus describes the apex of the space bridge as being "beyond this galaxy".
• For those who wonder how humans can breathe on Cybertron, this episode offers some relief: the final scenes clearly show Cybertron sucking up a chunk of Earth's atmosphere. Of course, this doesn't cover Chip Chase's earlier visit to the planet in "Divide and Conquer".
• Also, it may just be perspective, but when we see Earth and Cybertron in the same shot, Cybertron looks almost comedically tiny - arguably a justification for it having buildings which are visible from orbit. That just raises questions about how it manages to siphon a visible chunk of the atmosphere, though.

Real-world references

• The Seekers attack a solar power plant off Malabar Coast, which is located in southern India.
• As always, when there's a countdown of any kind, it's given to Cliffjumper, thanks to being voiced by Casey Kasem.
• Is Windcharger's line "This must be the place!" a reference to the Talking Heads song that came out just two years prior? Or would you have to be naive to think that?
• Brawn plays a reverse lifeguard: "Everybody into the pool!"
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • The sound of an igniting lightsaber is repurposed for Cliffjumper's glass gas beam.
  • As Spike flees the battle in Autobot Headquarters, the background laser effects include the sound of the Death Star's turbolasers firing at the Rebel fighters.
  • The fritzed-out Autobots get the sound of Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi's lightsabers locking and sparking in their fight aboard the Death Star. The sound is recycled when Spike shorts out Teletraan I a second later.

Technical or animation glitches

• The Maharaja says that his solar panels are collecting three hundred energy units per second. Typical government inflation! The screen says it's thirty units per second.

• For an Indian, that Maharaja sure does look like a Caucasian.
• Coloring errors:
  • Skywarp has Thundercracker's colors as he blasts his way into the palace.
  • As the Autobots enter the water, Sunstreaker is colored red instead of yellow.
  • As Rumble transforms, Soundwave's open chest cavity is colored light blue, as if it were closed. His open chest panel is colored dark blue, as if it weren't there!
  • Starscream's face is light gray instead of medium gray as he and the other Seekers ride the elevator into Decepticon HQ.
  • Starscream's air intake is light gray instead of red as he and the other jets wait for Megatron.
  • As he dives back out of Decepticon HQ, Cliffjumper is colored as Bumblebee.
  • When Dr. Arkeville insists that Sparkplug has "no choice" during the attack on the Autobot base, the background is Autobot orange instead of Decepticon purple. The same coloring error occurs during the scene at the energy pylons, when Arkeville mentions having to "recompute the control codes."
  • While transforming after arriving at the Space Bridge, Optimus Prime has the gray stripe in his truck mode, and the stripe changes to red as he finishes the transformation. Usually that is done the other way; with no gray stripe in truck mode, but a gray stripe in his robot mode.
• Prime has a sloped windscreen as he and the other Autobots drive through the jungle (repeating an error from "Divide and Conquer".)
• Megatron's fusion cannon is drawn pretty badly repeatedly throughout this episode. The front barrel is often drawn at less than half the size it should be. (See the picture further up this page for an example). Apparently size isn't important after all.
• Improbable viewpoints:
  • Megatron gets a stationary view of the Autobots charging into the Maharaja's palace. Did Starscream and company spend their time there setting up a camera for him?
  • He also gets a view of Soundwave hanging around outside Autobot Headquarters. (Clearly, the Autobots have no security at this point.)
  • As Sparkplug works to sabotage the Autobots, Dr. Arkeville gets footage from inside Autobot Headquarters! We can maybe let this one slide and say that Sparkplug set up a video feed or something.
  • Then Arkeville gets a view that's clearly coming from Teletraan I itself! (Actually, that would explain both viewpoints.)
  • The Sky Spy gets what is essentially a ground-level view of the Decepticon energy pylons.
  • Megatron doesn't seem to be leaning over a console or anything as the Autobots arrive at the space bridge, but Arkeville still gets a full view of him from Decepticon Headquarters.
  • Arkeville then gets a view from right next to Sparkplug as he talks with Spike during the battle.
• As Soundwave salutes, most of his body shifts around a bit, but his chestplate remains completely still.
• Soundwave has a purple Autobot symbol as he ejects Laserbeak. Once his cassette door is open, its inside face is colored solid dark blue, instead of the light blue that it should be.
• Most of Laserbeak's caws and cries are not electronically modulated, though his usual electronic trill does show up a few times.
• Sideswipe's leg clips through Spike as he joins them in watching Rumble.
• Sideswipe's gun vanishes as he bashes Ravage aside.
• Laserbeak grabs Sparkplug from a metal-paneled interior space, yet immediately flies right out of the volcano's cone. As Spike looks up after Laserbeak, he's suddenly standing against a rock background.
• After the Autobots in India realize they have been duped, Sunstreaker says "We were set up!", but in Prowl's voice. A similar goof happened in "Roll for It".
• Either a line was cut, or Frank Welker misparsed one of Megatron's lines; he says "It had better function" in regards to the hypno-chip... when nobody had previously been discussing the chips at all.
• The outer edges of Bumblebee's face are supposed to be white, but they're colored yellow as he consoles Spike.
• The animation of Shockwave talking to Megatron is recycled from "Transport to Oblivion", complete with its strange brightly-lit background and awkward shadow, and Shockwave's incomplete arms. The establishing shot of this conversation has Megatron appearing to "hover" in front of the screen and gently descend as Shockwave speaks. This is weird.
• Prowl drives into the air at the cliff edge before transforming.
• Brawn's front grill just phases right through his giant vehicle mode drill as it folds back up.
• Appearing/disappearing Autobots:
  • Prime's strike team includes Prowl, Hound, Jazz, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee. During the underwater battle, Gears appears for a single shot.
  • As Bumblebee says his "biggest space bridge ever" line, the shot changes, and he's been replaced by a misshapen Hound.
• As Optimus Prime flies to the Decepticon Space bridge, just after Megatron points his arm cannon at him, Optimus ducks to the side, and his face guard vanishes for a split second.
• Whatever damage Cliffjumper did to the inside of Decepticon Headquarters has disappeared by the time Autobots take their exit.
• After Starscream, soaking wet with seawater, emerges from the hole made by Cliffjumper's glass gas, there is a moment where his animation freezes... including the dripping water, which is suspended in mid-air.
• In a pan across the interior of Autobot Headquarters, there are two Prowls.
• One of them is drawn working on Jazz. Since when is Prowl a mechanic?
• In the same shot, Ratchet's mouth is missing as he works on Sunstreaker.
• A layering goof (or cheap shortcut) has Sparkplug's arms not actually reaching into the open panel on Wheeljack's back where he's supposed to be working.
• As Ratchet protests Sparkplug's attempt to work on Optimus, it's suddenly Prowl who he is repairing, rather than Sunstreaker (and despite Prowl being up and about a few shots ago).
• After Prime falls, suddenly it's Jazz laying on the table by Ratchet, with Bluestreak standing over him.
• Sparkplug's wrench looks different between shots, losing its round bolt wrench end in some shots.
• When the Decepticons are showered with foam at the Ark, the shot cuts from Thundercracker to Skywarp by simply changing the colors on the character.
• When Starscream flies to the space bridge, his alt mode is noticeably misshapen. His transformation is amazingly off, as well.
• As Optimus takes aim at Megatron for the second time ("It's not over yet, Megatron!"), his faceplate disappears for a second or two.
• After Sparkplug has his moment of hesitation, Spike's mouth moves, but no words come out.
• When Sparkplug climbs up onto the first energy pylon, the sound of his footsteps is that of a clanking, giant robot, not a human wearing boots.
• The third pylon's energy beam isn't quite aligned with the pylon itself.

Continuity errors

• Megatron's "diversion" only draws four Autobots away from their headquarters, with at least that many still present, yet he seems to regard it as a smashing success.
• Rumble, Ravage and Laserbeak are just able to saunter into Autobot Headquarters with no alarms or security systems going off; that's the by-product of a deleted scene from the episode's script, in which it is explained that Teletraan I is offline while Ratchet performs some standard repair work on it.
• In order to test the effectiveness of the hypno-chip, Megatron produces a model of Optimus Prime. Because Starscream is bone-headed enough to think Megatron just randomly let Prime into the base, Megatron directly says it's a model... right in front of Sparkplug. No one considers that Sparkplug might have more common sense than Starscream, or even that he could fake being mind-controlled because of what he's just been allowed to overhear.
• That must be one light Optimus Prime model; Sparkplug is able to grab it by the ankle and toss it across the room.
• The entire process of rescuing Sparkplug is fraught with improbabilities:
  • Brawn's team should have been swept away by cascading torrents of water as soon as a big enough hole was opened in their tunnel.
  • Decepticon Headquarters should also have been inundated as soon as the floor dropped out beneath Starscream. To hold the water at bay, the atmospheric pressure in the base would have to be equal to the water pressure at the bottom of the ocean — a pressure that Sparkplug and Arkeville most assuredly could not survive.
  • Whatever force keeps water from gushing up through the big hole in the floor doesn't stop water from gushing in when Brawn punches a big hole in the wall.
  • "Hold your breath, Sparkplug!" says Windcharger, as they prepare to swim out of Decepticon HQ. Yes, that will save you from the freezing temperatures and crushing pressures at the bottom of the ocean!
  • The water gushing into the base is nowhere to be seen as Starscream re-enters the base.

"Mr. Bubbles' Happy Time Fun Bath Soap?! RETREAT!!!"

• The Decepticons enter Autobot Headquarters through a huge hole in the wall, yet there has been no explosion or anything.
• The Decepticons can be apparently easily damaged by fire-retardant foam (Cybertronian fire-retardant foam at that!), yet the Autobots are fine.
• Spike trips over nothing as he flees the battle. The next shot make it seem like he was supposed to have tripped over his dad's wrench... but in order to have tripped Spike, the wrench must be either monumentally heavy or bolted to the floor; nonetheless, in the next frame Spike picks the wrench up with no sign of strain—just as you would expect anyone could.
• Every action has an equal and opposite reaction; the surface of Cybertron should have been just as devastated by Earth's gravity as the Earth's surface was by Cybertron's gravity.
• Why did Megatron slowly climb the rocks to reach the third pylon? Did he forget he could fly?

Rhino DVD release

• The energy readout screen is missing its glowing effects in the DVD version. In addition, it is misspelled as “ENERCY”.
• Arkeville’s chip disappears in the Rhino DVD version as soon as he puts it in Sparkplug’s ear.
• Megatron’s mouth freezes in several scenes in the DVD version.
• Wheeljack’s glowing effects are missing when he says, “Maybe, but we’ll need a plan.”
• When Shockwave says, “Everything is in readiness, Megatron.”, Megatron slowly floats down to the floor in the DVD version. In the original broadcast, he remains still. The background effects behind Shockwave are also different between the two versions.
• When Starscream says "Optimus Prime? Prepare to attack!", he and Skywarp have traded colors on the Rhino DVD Release, while in the broadcast, Starscream and Skywarp didn't.
• Starscream falling into the water is missing the splash effect on the DVD. When he crawls out, the DVD version is also missing the water all over him.
• When Dr. Arkeville yells at his slave to only fix the damaged Autobots, his mouth isn’t moving in the DVD version.
• Spike’s hair is darker in the DVD version when he drops a wrench into Teletraan 1’s circuitry. The same shot also has a puff of smoke in the DVD version that is missing in the final broadcast version.

Trivia

• This episode is subtitled "Brainwash" in scripts and other official materials.
• Like "More than Meets the Eye", the mid-80s Family Home Entertainment VHS release of "The Ultimate Doom" was granted the Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence, proudly displayed on the video box cover. However, this particular "award" does not reflect the quality of any work submitted, but rather that the work is "family-friendly". Cheeky, once again!
• This was one of the six episodes featured on the Revenge of the Fallen console game.
• The idea of bringing Cybertron to Earth via space bridge and enslaving humans was used as part of the plot for Transformers: Dark of the Moon (which was, despite being a Michael Bay movie, oddly devoid of any sort of environmental damage that would be caused by such an event).

Foreign localization

French

• Title (European French): "Le dernier jugement, partie 1" ("The last judgement, part 1")
• Title (Canadian French): "L'ultime destin - Partie 1" ("The ultimate doom - Part 1")
• Original airdate: ?

• About the European French dub:

• Like in More than Meets the Eye, Part 1, Soundwave does not want to pronounce Laserbeak's name. When ejecting the three cassettes, he says "Rumble, mutation !" then "Ravage, mutation !" and finally "Réveille-toi ! À nous de jouer !" ("Wake up! It's our turn!").
• Brawn calls Cliffjumper "Cliff".

Italian

• Title (dub 1): Lo scienziato pazzo ("The Mad Scientist")
• Original airdate: ?

• Optimus's line: «Autobots! Transform and move in!» (right before Megatron shows him the human slaves) was not dubbed.

• Title (dub 2): Destino finale - Prima parte ("Final Destiny - First Part")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: "Hametsu no Hi PART I" (破滅の日 PART I, "Day of Destruction PART I")
• Original airdate: November 7, 1986

• Due to Skyfire's status as a Bandai toy in Japan, the Japanese broadcast of "The Ultimate Doom" three-parter was delayed until the end of the series when the legal issues were cleared up (as were most episodes featuring Skyfire). All three "Ultimate Doom" episodes were aired on the same day in Japan as a special extra length series finale.
• This episode, along with the second and third parts, marked the end of Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers in Japan. Starting with the Japanese broadcast of Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1, It would be rebranded as Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers 2010.

Mandarin

• Title: "Miè Dǐng zhī Zāi (Shàng)" (灭顶之灾(上), "Catastrophe of Extinction, Part I")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "A Destruição Final, Parte 1: Lavagem Cerebral" ("The Final Destruction, Part 1: Brainwash")
• Original airdate: ?

Serbian

• Title: "Sudnji dan, prvi deo - Ispiranje mozga" (Судњи дан, први део - Испирање мозга, "Judgment Day, Part One - Brainwash")
• Original airdate: ?

Latin Spanish

• Title: "La Destrucción Máxima, Parte I" ("The Maximum Destruction, Part I")
• Original airdate: ?

Home video releases

"I'm such a villain, I even stole this DVD cover."

VHS

1985 — The Transformers — Volume 2: "The Ultimate Doom" (Family Home Entertainment)
1996 — The Transformers — The Ultimate Doom (Malofilm)
1996 — Transformers — L'Ultime Piège (Malofilm) — French audio only.
2001 — The Original Transformers — Villains: The Ultimate Doom (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1995 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Megatron Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers — Decepticon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2001 — The Original Transformers — Villains: The Ultimate Doom (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume One (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder)
2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume Three (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — Transformers — Collection 1: Series 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 1 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 2 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — Classic Transformers — Series One: Part Two (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 02: Stagione Uno Parte Seconda (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season One (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Full episode script, finalised on 27th July 1984
• Model sheets and background layouts