Thief in the
Night

The Transformers episode 76
Previous episode	Next episode

For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

Octane and Trypticon have to earn their keep to stay in a Abdul Fakkadi's country.
Original USA broadcast date: October 6th, 1986

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

The Autobots watch footage of Metroplex's previous battle with Trypticon. Grimlock wants to watch the part where Trypticon gets finished off, but Teletraan II says that part doesn't exist. Teletraan II reveals that Trypticon wasn't finished off forever, so the Autobots start to investigate Trypticon's whereabouts. Octane has taken Trypticon to Carbombya, where the two use Abdul Fakkadi's oil supply to create a super energon. Fakkadi, the leader of Carbombya, is displeased with the situation, as whilst Trypticon is able to keep tourists away, he consumes so much of his oil to make energon cubes. Fakkadi tells Octane he wants him and Trypticon out of here, but Octane comes up with a plan to let them stay.

Octane has Trypticon steal Fort Knox, ripping the building and all the gold inside it out of the ground. The building is brought back to Carbombya, and Fakkadi is pleased with all the gold. He allows the two Decepticons to stay until the next crescent moon, but wants Trypticon to be put on a strict ration of oil barrels. Meanwhile, the Autobots head to where Fort Knox used to be, and Grimlock says that some energon cubes left there have dinosaur transform static on them. This makes the Autobots believe a Dinobot may have stolen Fort Knox. Meanwhile, Trypticon steals the Taj Mahal, bringing it back to Carbombya. Fakkadi thinks if Trypticon keeps brining back monuments, Carbombya will have a thriving tourist trade. Galvatron and a group of Decepticons then arrive in Carbombya. Galvatron is ready to destroy Octane, angry that Octane took Trypticon away from Dinobot Island. But his mood improves when Octane shows him the super energon.

The Autobots are about to question the Dinobots, but Perceptor then runs over. He's done some research on one of the energon cubes and found out that it was made from an oil which is produced in Carbombya. The Autobots find out that Trypticon is going to be sent to Russia next, to steal the Kremlin. They arrive and stop him from doing so, but when Metroplex saves the building, the Autobots get blamed for trying to steal it. This leads to them also getting blamed for stealing other monuments. Fakkadi then tries to contact them, wanting help in getting rid of the Decepticons. Fakkadi's camera then gets blown up by Galvatron.

The Autobots head to Carbombya, where Metroplex and Trypticon fight once more. Metroplex manages to damage Trypticon, then throw him into the sea, where he short circuits and sinks. Unable to deal with Metroplex's firepower, the rest of the Decepticons are forced to retreat. Rodimus frees Fakkadi and his followers. Fakkadi asks if the gold has to be returned, and Rodimus says it does, along with the monuments. He also wants Fakkadi's word that he'll never cooperate with the Decepticons again. Fakkadi says Rodimus has his word of honor. As Fakkadi goes on to say he swears on grave of his mother's camel and more, Metroplex returns all of the monuments to their rightful places.

Notes

-The Secret Files segment for this episode is about the Decepticons.

-This episode is the prequel to Starscream's Ghost, but was originally broadcast after it. Galvatron isn't angry with Octane by the end of this episode, but at the start of Starscream's Ghost, he suddenly wants him destroyed.

-Voice actor Casey Kasem -who was originally supposed to voice Teletraan II -left the series over this episode, not happy with the way the only Arab character in it was a bad guy, with no good Arab character to balance it out. You can read his thoughts on the matter here. Frank Welker replaced Kasem as the voice of Teletraan II.

-Trypticon and Galvatron mention Dinobot Island, which was last seen in the second season.

-Six-Gun makes his only appearance in the series in this episode. Six-Gun's toy is created from all of the guns of Metroplex, and can't transform. Six-Gun's voice actor, Maurice LaMarche, really didn't get along with the show's voice director, Wally Burr, during the recording session, as this interview mentions (scroll down about two thirds of the way).

-It also marks the first time Scamper speaks in an episode. Scamper has appeared before, but didn't move, he was just shown to be parked in Metroplex. This time he does speak and move, but doesn't transform. Scamper's toy came with Metroplex's.

-Finally, Slammer also appears. Slammer is a non-transforming tank, who never speaks -although it appears he was meant to be able to as Chris Latta was cast to voice him. Again, Slammer's toy was only available with Metroplex.

-This episode also shows Metroplex and Autobot City as being two separate things:

Which is my preferred way of viewing things on this matter. Some previous episodes seem to show that Metroplex and Autobot City are the same thing, but this one makes it clear that they aren't.

Errors

-During this shot, Grimlock is colored like Bluestreak.
-When Galvatron's group are first seen, one of them appears to be Beachcomber.
-As Galvatron's group approach Octane, there are two Thrusts.
-During this shot, There are two Rodimus Primes, plus another guy at the back colored like Rodimus but missing his yellow spoiler. There are two two Blurrs and another Autobot colored like Perceptor, but missing his shoulder cannon.