Heavy Metal War

The Transformers episode 16
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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

Megatron challenges Optimus Prime to a one on one battle -and the loser must leave the Earth forever!
Original USA broadcast date: December 15th, 1984

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

The Constructicons, a group of six Transformers the Decepticons built, steal an energy disc and power converter. They go back to where the rest of the Decepticons are and create a machine for use in Megatron's latest scheme. Megatron then flies to the Autobot HQ and challenges Optimus Prime to a duel -and the loser must exile himself and his army to deep space for eternity. Optimus accepts his challenge, so Megatron returns to the Decepticons. Scrapper's new invention is ready, so the Decepticons place their power chip rectifiers inside it. The machine is turned on, which transfers the strength of all the Decepticons directly into Megatron. Starscream thinks this is cheating, but Megatron says he doesn't care about technicalities -only victory interests him!

The two sides meet, and the leaders begin their fight. Despite his best efforts, Optimus is no match for Megatron, who can use the various powers from the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Constructicons have been sent to the Autobot HQ to destroy Teletraan I, as the computer would be able to pick up on Megatron's cheating. They're about to fire on it, but then get attacked by the Dinobots. The battle moves outside, but the Constructicons reveal that they can unite into a single, giant robot: Devastator! The Dinobots try to fight Devastator, to no success.

The Autobots return to their base, but Chip uses Teletraan I to quickly figure out what Megatron did. Realizing his opponent cheated, Optimus and the Autobots head back outside to help the Dinobots. Hound uses a hologram to distract Devastator, and Optimus then shoots him, causing him to fall apart back to the six Constructicons. The Autobots then fire on the Decepticons, causing them all to fall into some lava. Spike asks if they've really seen the end of this war. Optimus says who can say -in this vast universe, is anything truly forever?

Notes

-SCRIPT DIFFERNECES: Click here for details.

-This episode aired late on in 1984, but the Constructicon toys wouldn't be available on shelves until 1985.

-Megatron states that the Constructicons were built on Earth. This will get retconned in season 2... and then the retcon will also get retconned in season 3.

-When Chip runs the Teletraan I scan, when it shows Rumble, there is text on the bottom right stating "RED ROBOT". This proves something many fans wondered was the case: Rumble and Frenzy had their colors switched for the cartoon by mistake. For their toys and comic book appearances, Rumble is red, Frenzy is blue. It was supposed to be this way for the cartoon, but something went wrong and their colors got switched (the Japanese dub did fix this error though and switched the names back). And yeah, cartoon Rumble is purple rather than blue, but shhhhh.

-The reason for the way this episode ends how it does - with the uncertain fate of the Decepticons and the Autobots wondering if the war is over, is probably because it wasn't known at the time if The Transformers would be renewed for a second season. It was, of course, and the second season would start airing in the third quarter of 1985.

Errors

-When the Constructicons are heading towards Teletraan I, at one point Scrapper refers to Scavenger as "Scrounge". This was Scavenger's early name, which was mostly fixed in the revised script, but this one instance slipped through.
-When Scrapper gives the order to transform into Devastator, he has two separate eyes instead of a visor.
-Devastator's hand is colored green instead of purple during this shot.
-Devastator has two different head designs, both of which are used in this episode. Sometimes he has two separate eyes, sometimes he has a visor.
-When Ironhide says Megatron cheated, there are a few frames where his mouth is drawn with teeth and a tongue.
-When Optimus says the time has come to fight back, Bumblebee and Jazz's Autobot symbols disappear.
-When Teletraan I displays Thundercracker, the picture shows Megatron.
-When Teletraan I displays Rumble, his name is spelt "RUNBLE".