The Autobots defend Japan from a series of Decepticon attacks. Rodimus Prime and some other Autobots defeat the Combaticons near a dojo, where they meet the dojo's sensei. Rodimus then gets gets summoned to the Imperial palace to be yelled at by several Japanese businessmen, who believe the Transformers are bad for business. Marissa the arrives and tells Rodimus the Earth Defense Command needs him, but Rodimus has had enough. He transforms and drives off, as Kup tells Marissa that Rodimus is struggling with his "giri" -the burden hardest to bear. The pressure of leadership has been getting to Rodimus, something he must resolve himself. Marissa goes after Rodimus, but Rodimus encounters Dead End and Wildrider, who cause him to crash. The Matrix falls out of him, so the two Stunticons take it and return to Chaar.

Galvatron places the Matrix inside his cannon, but when he fires, the spirits of the ancient Autobots appear, demanding him to return the Matrix. Galvatron claims he will, so the spirits disappear. However Galvatron orders Scourge to destroy the Matrix instead. Scourge decides to use the Matrix himself, and places it within his chest. Doing this causes him to mutate into a much stronger being. Meanwhile, Rodimus has become Hot Rod, and the Autobots repair him. But he has no interest in getting the Matrix back, stating he's tired of the war and suggesting that if they want to find the Matrix, that's swell -but someone else can carry it.

Scourge defeats Galvatron and Cyclonus, and then leads the Decepticons to Earth. Hot Rod goes back to the dojo, and watches a sparring match. He wonders why the sensei told a student to expect neither victory or defeat. The sensei tells him one can't think of victory without also thinking of its opposite: defeat. Thinking of defeat distracts the mind from what must be done in order to win. Hot Rod says he's got it, and asks what must be done. The sensei tells him whatever destiny obliges one to do... one's giri. For he who deserts his obligation, is already defeated. Hot Rod thanks him and says he's given him a lot to think about. Meanwhile, the Decepticons begin their attack on Earth, as the Autobots struggle to deal with the powered-up Scourge.

Hot Rod confronts Scourge and defeats him. He says he sees now that the Matrix is his obligation, and he belongs to it, as much as it belongs to him. He takes the Matrix back and places it within himself, turning him back into Rodimus Prime. Galvatron and Cyclonus find Scourge, who has now turned back to normal. Scourge says it was the fault of the Matrix, so Galvatron blasts him and says that was also the fault of the Matrix. The Decepticons leave, as Rodimus rolls up to the Autobots and says it looks like they did OK without him. Kup tells him he found that missing part, but Rodimus says it wasn't just the Matrix, but also a missing part of himself. Kup tells him that's the point: no matter who carries the Matrix, that part's what you'll never lose.

Notes

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

-Allegedly, Runabout and Runamuck were originally going to be in this episode, but were replaced with Dead End and Wildrider. This note on the TF wiki's talk page for this episode has someone mention an early script that had them present in it, and it would also explain why in the Japanese dub of the episode, the narrator refers to Dead End and Wildrider as Runabout and Runamuck -the Japanese scripts were apparently often based on early American script drafts.

-It's never explained why the Matrix effects Scourge so much. Galvatron placed the Matrix inside his cannon and it did nothing bad to him. Scourge did seem to respect the Matrix though, so maybe it returned the favor.

Errors

-Devastator and Predaking are seen firing pink lasers, but when the shot changes, Broadside is hit by yellow lasers.
-The red parts of Fireflight and colored black during this shot.
-Rodimus is missing his chest insignia during this shot.
-Rodimus is too small during this shot. The smoke trail he makes also overlaps Kup.
-Chaar looks a lot like Cybertron during this establishing shot. It also has two Moons next to it which also look like smaller Cybertrons.
-Galvatron says the Matrix has eluded them "for years", but he had it less than a year ago during the events of the movie.
-During this shot, there are some characters colored like Constructicons, but they appear to be made-up designs that don't match any previously seen Decepticon.
-When Galvatron throws the Matrix to Scourge, Bruticus and Devastator are present, but they're tiny.
-Cyclonus fires a blue laser at Scourge instead of pink. However the laser is then colored yellow when it hits Scourge. It then changes back to blue again when the shot changes back to Cyclonus.
-When the air lock door opens, the sign on it states "AIR LOOK".
-The Sweeps seen in this shot have red lower legs.