Fire in the Sky

The Transformers episode 7
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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

The Decepticons revive Skyfire.
Original USA broadcast date: December 8th, 1984

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

Despite it being July, Autobot HQ is covered in snow. The Autobots find out that the entire Earth's temperature is rapidly dropping, and energy from the Earth's core is being drained away. It's the work of the Decepticons, are are draining energy from large crystals and using it to fill up many energon cubes. Rumble and Skywarp come across something buried in the ice, so Starscream thaws it out.

It's a Transformer called Skyfire, who Starscream recognizes -millions of years ago, he and Skyfire were explorers who came to Earth, but due to a storm, they got separated and lost. Starscream was able to return to Cybertron, but Skyfire had been on Earth all this time. Skyfire is revived and informed about the Decepticon's war with the Autobots. Skyfire, a scientist who has little interest in war, joins the Decepticons and is put on guard duty. The Autobots arrive at the Arctic and see Skyfire, and during the battle, Skyfire is able to take Spike and Sparkplug. He is confused as to why they're so scared of him, and decides to take them to Megatron. When Megatron and Starscream reveal they plan to kill the two humans, Skyfire tries to intervene, but Starscream shoots his hand. Meanwhile, the Autobots start searching for Spike and Sparkplug, and are able to rescue them.

Another group of Autobots come across the place were the energon cubes are being made, but are then caught by the Decepticons. They are taken to the surface, where Starscream tells Skyfire to destroy them. Skyfire refuses, so Starscream blasts him and then seemingly blows all of the Autobots to pieces. Starscream tells Skyfire he's fortunate he hasn't ended up like his Autobot friends. He then heads back down into the icy caves.

Skyfire sees that the Autobots have not been destroyed -Hound had used his holograms to trick Starscream. Ratchet repairs Skyfire, but this is seen by Laserbeak. Megatron orders the Decepticons to attack, and soon a major battle takes place back on the surface. Megatron orders Skyfire to destroy Optimus Prime and the other Autobots, but Skyfire reveals he's now an Autobot, and he throws Megatron aside.

He and Starscream then engage in a duel in the air, with the two colliding. Starscream crashes whilst Skyfire goes into a dive. He blasts part of the surface, causing snow and debris to fall over the large crystal the Decepticons had been using to gain energy. He then crashes and gets completely buried under tons of snow and ice. The Autobots move in but Skyfire is once again entombed, and Optimus tells Spike that Skyfire risked everything to save them and the Earth. The energy drain has been stopped now, so the Earth will heat up again. And the Decepticons have been defeated. Spike says that Skyfire is still gone, but Optimus says that he won't be forgotten, and will live forever. So long as freedom exists, they shall remember him.

Notes

-SCRIPT DIFFERENCES: Click here for details.

-Skyfire's toy wasn't available until 1985, whilst this episode aired in December 1984, giving kids an early preview of what was in the pipeline.

-However, Skyfire would turn into a nightmare for Hasbro, and the character would be phased out of the cartoon early on in the second season (more on that later). The Skyfire toy was actually called Jetfire, the name was changed for unknown reasons (in the comics he was still called Jetfire). During the original recording session for this episode, the character was called Jetfire, as this video proves, but the dialogue was later re-recorded to accommodate the name change.

-The problem revolved around Skyfire/Jetfire's toy not being a Takara product -visit the TF wiki for more info about this. The general theory is that, to appease Takara, Skyfire's character model for the cartoon was made to look little like the toy.

-In previous episodes, Prime tells the Autobots to just "roll", but this one is the first to have him speak what's perhaps his most famous line: "transform and roll out!"

-Prime's combat deck makes another appearance, it was last seen in this episode, where it was destroyed by Megatron. It seems to have been rebuilt and now differs from Prime's toy, as it's on a separate trailer which can roll our of the main trailer. On the toy, the combat deck can't be removed from the main trailer.

Errors

-When Rumble responds to Skywarp, his mouth opens and closes, but no words are heard.
-As Skyfire gets up, Thundercracker's head is colored white instead of black.
-When Optimus enters the cave, he doesn't take his trailer with him, but it appears and disappears a few times later.
-When Hound turns off his holograms, he gains a second missile launcher as he gets up.
-When Megatron says "Skyfire, destroy Optimus Prime!", Prime's mouth is moving.
-During this shot, Optimus is colored blue instead of red.