"Many millions of years a go, on the planet Cybertron, life existed. But not life as we know it today. Intelligent robots that could think and feel inhabited the cities. They were called Autobots and Decepticons, but the brutal Decepticons were driven by a single goal: total domination.
They set out to destroy the peace-loving Autobots, and a war between the forces of good and evil raged across Cybertron. Devastating all in its path, draining the planet's once rich sources of energy. The Autobots, on the verge of extinction, battle valiantly to survive..."
Autobots Wheeljack and Bumblebee have found some energy, but Wheeljack complains that what's in these conductors won't last long. Bumblebee says they can't worry about it now, and says they need to get back to Iacon. Wheeljack transforms, as Bumblebee loads the energy conductors, and them himself, into him. The two head back to Iacon.
However before they can get there, they come across a Decepticon welcoming committee. Wheeljack activates his armor as the Decepticons fire, forcing Wheeljack to stop.
Bumblebee jumps out and starts firing back, saying that Prime told him there'd be days like this. The Decepticons continue firing, and one of them uses a flamethrower to send a fire ring around the two Autobots. Wheeljack is determined to get these energy conductors back to Iacon, as Bumblebee transforms and says he's right behind him.
Wheeljack charges forward and crashes straight into the Decepticons, knocking them out of the way. Two of them transform and chase after the pair, firing on them from the air. They manage to hit Bumblebee, but he is able to get himself back into Wheeljack.
Wheeljack manages to lose the Decepticons, and makes it back to Iacon. After heading inside, a Decepticon called Soundwave transforms and sends out one of his cassettes: Laserbeak. Laserbeak is sent on an operation to gather intel.
Inside Iacon, Laserbeak watches as some Autobots talk with what is happening on their planet. The Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, tells Jazz, Prowl and Trailbreaker that unless a new supply of energy is found, nobody is going to win this war. Prowl asks when will they start the search mission, to which Prime says that as soon as he's ready to launch. Laserbeak returns to Soundwave, who heads back to the Decepticon base.
At the base, Megatron tells Starscream that if any new energy source is to be found, the Decepticons must find it first. Soundwave arrives and tells them that the Autobots are ready to launch. Megatron says they're also ready. He tells Shockwave to stay behind -he's going to entrust Cybertron to him. Shockwave tells him not to fear, Cybertron shall remain as he's left it. Megatron is pleased, and says now it's only a matter of time until Optimus Prime admits defeat.
Starscream buts in saying that if he'd been calling the shots, the Autobots would have lost eons a go. Megatron tells him only a select few ever lead. but Starscream is convinced his time will come. Megatron says that'll never happen, but then tells everyone to prepare to blast off. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime and a group of Autobots prepare to launch their ship.
The Autobots take off without any issues, but are unaware that the Decepticons are following them in their own ship. Not long into the flight, the Autobots see two massive asteroids on a collision course with each other... right next to their ship!
The asteroids collide and send debris everywhere, but the Autobots use their ship's laser cannon to carve out a path. The Decepticons quickly get their ship positioned right behind them. Starscream thinks they should just blow them away, but Megatron says no -he wants to know what the Autobots are after. He tells Starscream to prepare the tractor beam.
The Decepticons pull alongside the Autobots, and use the tractor beam to lock their ship down. Optimus tells Ironhide to use the laser again, but it's out of power. The Decepticons then send out a boarding chute and prepare to attack, so Optimus tells the Autobots to prepare for battle.
The Decepticons board the ship and a big brawl breaks out, but only a few seconds in, everything starts shaking. Everyone is confused to what's going on, but they find out it's the g-forces dragging them down. Suddenly the ships are out of control and break away from each other, heading down towards the planet below: Earth.
The Autobot ship crashes deeply into a volcano. Four million years pass, and the volcano erupts...
...breaking part of it away, revealing the Autobot ship still inside it. Inside the ship, the Autobots and Decepticons have been deactivated for millions of years, but the eruption causes the ship's computer, Teletraan I, to turn back on. Teletraan I sends out a Sky Spy to take a look around Earth.
In order to repair the Transformers inside the ship, the Sky Spy scans various Earth objects and transfers the data back to Teletraan I. With this data, Teletraan I starts repairing the first Transformer it finds: Skywarp, a Decepticon! Skywarp is reactivated, and the first thing he does is get Megatron repaired.
Megatron is revived, and he tells Skywarp that they must quickly revive the other Decepticons. Soon all of the Decepticons are active again, and they head outside. Megatron tells them all that much time has passed, and they are on a planet far from Cybertron. But their mission has not changed. Skywarp questions whether Cybertron still exists, but Megatron is convinced it must. And if this land is filled with resources, they can return home with the power to build the ultimate weapon, and conquer the universe. As the Decepticons head off, Starscream fires a few blasts at the Autobot ship. Megatron tells him not to waste his energy, as the Autobots have taken their last flight.
However these laser blasts rock the ship, causing Optimus Prime's body to fall over, straight into Teletraan I's repair beam. The Sky Spy is sent back out, scanning a truck, and a little time later, Optimus is revived.
Megatron leads the Decepticons to an area where he decides they'll make a base of operations. He tells Soundwave to create plans for a new space cruiser, whilst Starscream is to convert the area for construction. Starscream asks where he's meant to get the material from, but Megatron tells him to use his imagination. Soundwave points out a nearby power station, but Starscream says he'll need help. Soundwave sends out another of his cassettes: Rumble.
Back at the Autobot's ship, Optimus has revived everyone, and discusses their next move. This new planet is rich with sources of energy, but the Decepticons must also know this. They've got to find them and stop them, so he sends Hound out to scan the area. Cliffjumper volunteers to also go with him, as he wants to boot some Decepticon right in his turbo charger. Optimus tells him to take it easy, for now they just need to find the Decepticons, they can deal with them later. Hound and Cliffjumper transform and head out. Meanwhile, Starscream's group arrive at the power plant.
Starscream tells Rumble that one day he'll be giving the orders, and he'll do what he says. Rumble thinks that Megatron can't be beaten, so Starscream will never be their leader. Starscream says he'll find a way, as everyone has a weakness. Rumble doesn't think Megatron has one, but Starscream says they'll see. He then tells Rumble to shake things up a little -so Rumble transforms his arms into piledrivers, and starts pounding the ground. Soon the power station breaks apart, much to Starscream's delight.
Hound and Cliffjumper soon come across the Decepticons, who have begun construction of their new base. Hound is able to listen into what the Decepticons are talking about, and overhear Megatron stating they'll plunder the Earth and steal its precious resources. At the base, Soundwave says they can concentrate the energy into energon cubes, and then store them in the new space cruiser.
Having heard enough, Cliffjumper pulls out a large cannon. Hound asks what he is doing, as Cliffjumper tells him he's got Megatron in his view-finder. Cliffjumper fires but misses, alerting all of the Decepticons. They wonder who is firing at them and Starscream says it's the Autobots, but Megatron thinks this is impossible. He tells Soundwave to send out Laserbeak to investigate.
Hound and Cliffjumper head back to base, but Laserbeak chases after them. They split up, but Laserbeak detaches one of his cannons and has it go after Cliffjumper, whilst he goes after Hound. Cliffjumper takes care of the cannon by shooting it with his gas gun, causing it to explode. However Laserbeak shoots down Hound, causing him to fall off the side of the mountain.
Laserbeak retreats, so Cliffjumper calls upon Autobots Ratchet and Hauler to lend a hand. Ratchet asks Hound if he can transform, and finds out he can't. Cliffjumper attaches Hauler's hook to Hound and apologizes, realizing he shouldn't have fired -although Hound thinks he shouldn't have missed! With the hook attached, Cliffjumper tells Hauler to pull him up.
Elsewhere, Thundercracker and Reflector are on guard duty, and discuss how angry Megatron was when they found out the Autobots had been revived. Thundercracker then sees an object in the distance moving towards them, and wonders what it is. Reflector tells him they can find out, and transforms into his camera mode. Thundercracker takes a picture and finds out it's a vehicle -and reports to Soundwave that an alien vehicle is approaching -a possible Autobot. Megatron decides to have Soundwave send Ravage out.
The vehicle is just a regular van with two guys inside it, who have come to investigate the smashed up power plant. They see it but can't understand what's happened, it looks like a tornado had hit it. Before they can investigate any further, they're both attacked by Ravage. They are able to get back into their van and drive away.
Back at the Autobot's ship, Hound is being repaired. He tells Optimus what he heard Megatron talking about. With no times to lose, Optimus tells Jazz to organize a battle unit, as they're going after the Decepticons. Meanwhile, Laserbeak returns, and Soundwave tells Megatron that he's found a source of energy.
The source is an off-shore oil rig, and the Decepticons land on it. The human workers there are taken aback by the Decepticons, and decide to attack by uselessly throwing things at them. Megatron knocks a few of them into the water by throwing a beam at them. Rumble grabs a hold of one of them, who's name is Sparkplug. Sparkplug's son, Spike, attempts to help, but Rumble swats him away.
Sparkplug manages to get Rumble off him and goes off to find Spike. Meanwhile, Soundwave starts creating empty energon cubes, with the other Decepticons then start to fill up with the rig's energy sources.
Starscream sees that the energy is now theirs, and they can go back to Cybertron. Megatron calls him a fool, as this is but a small fraction of the energy they need, they need to suck the entire planet dry. They then notice that the Autobots have found them, and a battle breaks out between the two sides. Megatron and Optimus Prime clash, as Megatron tells him not to interfere -the universe is his!
The Decepticons start grabbing the energon cubes, but it's quite explosive stuff, as some cubes are destroyed when hit by the Autobot's laser fire. The Decepticons take to the air and Megatron tells Prime so long -have a nice swim! He then blasts the rig a few times, causing it to crumble and fall apart. The Autobots fall into the ocean as the Decepticons all fly away.
The Autobots then hear Sparkplug and Spike calling for help, so Optimus goes to save them. He tries to lift up some debris but can't do it, so tells them to grab onto him and keep their heads above water -as the fire gets closer and closer...
NOTES
-SCRIPT DIFFERENCES: Click here for details.
-What the heck did Soundwave originally transform into? He's briefly seen transforming into his original alt form right before Jazz goes past him:
Most fans think it's some sort of lamp post. There's another one on the opposite side which doesn't move, is that a Decepticon as well?
-Unlike most of the other characters in this episode, Shockwave's toy wasn't available at retail when this episode was broadcast (September 1984). His toy would be on sale the following year.
-Reflector is the other character who had no toy on shelves at the time. It seems that Hasbro intended for the toy to be available, as Reflector makes several prominent appearances in the first season, but something changed which resulted in the toy being delayed. More on that later.
-Rumble is purple in the cartoon, whilst Frenzy (who'll be introduced later) is red. However for the toys, the colors were the other way around. More on that later too.
-This episode also introduces an Autobot called Hauler, who only appears in this episode, and has no dialogue.
You only get to get a good look at his vehicle mode, although before this there is a panning shot showing all of the deactivated Transformers. There is a robot lying down with an orange & white color scheme, who is perhaps meant to be Hauler, but it's not clear. It seems Hasbro has intended for this character to be part of the first wave of the Transformers toyline, but then scrapped this plan very late on. A little too late it would seem, as clearly this episode had been animated and couldn't be changed. Whilst Hauler is never seen a gain, it's theorized that the character would be re-purposed into Grapple, a character who is introduced in the second season.
-The Autobots are able to fly in this episode, but later on in the series it's changed to something only Decepticons can do... in theory. Basically sometimes the Autobots can fly, sometimes they can't, it just depends on the writer.
-Frank Welker -who voices Megatron, Rumble, Skywarp and Soundwave -isn't listed in the voice acting credits for this episode, nor is he for the next two. This mistake was rectified from this episode and onwards.