The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

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I'm back, kiddies!
"The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2"
Production code	700-116
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	February 25, 1987
Written by	Michael Charles Hill
Story by	Marv Wolfman Cherie Wilkerson
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity

Optimus and a handful of Autobots make a desperate bid to recover the Matrix, in the hopes that a cure for the Hate Plague can be found.

Japanese title: コンボイの復活 パート2 (Convoy no Fukkatsu Part 2, "The Resurrection of Convoy Part 2")

German title: Die Rückkehr von Optimus Prime, Teil 2 ("The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2")

[edit] Synopsis

Chip Chase, is that you?

Optimus Prime, now fully restored to life by Sky Lynx and a Quintesson survivor of the rampant Hate Plague that's infecting the universe, demands to know what has happened during his time on the other side. Sky Lynx recaps the events that had conspired to bring him back, including Jessica Morgan's valiant play to save him from total destruction, the discovery of the Hate Plague spores, and the trap laid out by Jessica's father and her partner Gregory Swofford to infect the Autobots with the spores in revenge, which ultimately spiraled out of control. It was thought by Rodimus, before his infection, that Prime would know what it would take to stop the plague. Prime asks who is available, and learns of the injured Autobots. The Quintesson manages to reactivate them, completely rebuilding Bumblebee into Goldbug.

When Kup asks what the plan is, Prime admits that he doesn't have a plan. Without the accumulated wisdom within the Matrix of Leadership (which now resides in Rodimus), he doesn't have a clue as to where to start. That is, until Jessica comes forward with the experimental alloy that she, her father, and Gregory had worked on, which proved strong enough to block the spores. Theoretically, coating Optimus with this alloy would protect himself from the spore's infection and allow him to get close enough to Rodimus to extract the Matrix from him. However, all remaining alloy samples were stolen by the Decepticons. The Autobots decide to retrieve the metal.

Cyclonus and Scourge each spent 2,000 XP to create the Level 7 Flame Barrier spell. Unfortunately Galvatron has Protection from Fire with Permanency effect.

Meanwhile, on Chaar, Galvatron is pinned down by his own mutinously diseased soldiers, unable to fight back against their maddening ferocity...until Optimus and his team arrive to save the day, convincing Galvatron that it would be in his best interest to join in an alliance with them. As is his way, however, the Decepticon leader is suspicious of Optimus's motives, especially when he learns they need the alloy he stole, but cannot get a reason for it out of them. He agrees to join in and leads Optimus and his gang down a series of boobytrapped tunnels, their numbers dwindling from the tunnel's natural hazards and the infected Decepticon mob behind them, until only Optimus, Galvatron, Sky Lynx, and Jessica arrive at the alloy's hiding place. Unfortunately, Jessie accidentally lets slip their plan to coat Optimus with the metal after confirming there would be enough of it to do the job, prompting Galvatron to turn on Optimus in hopes of using the process on himself, but he is soon subdued by Sky Lynx. Under coercion, Galvatron loads the alloy onto Prime's trailer, but doesn't notice that an infected Cyclonus has managed to sneak in, infecting Jessica in the process. Jessica, in turn, infects Galvatron, forcing Sky Lynx and Optimus to flee back to Earth.

So I guess Rodimus is a bottom... to Ultra Magnus?

Once on Earth, Optimus is coated with the alloy, and sets out to find Rodimus. He finds him, taking down infected Transformers with reckless glee, and attempts to reason with him, which fails. Unwilling to hurt his successor, Prime lures Rodimus to a nearby auto shop, attempting to peacefully subdue and talk Rodimus into helping him, but the Hate Plague is overriding any effort to do so, forcing Optimus to knock Rodimus out and take the Matrix back by force. Back at Autobot City, Optimus dives into the Matrix to question the elders of the past in reverse chronological order (of their history) to try and find out any information on the spores. The spirit of Alpha Trion warns him that if he travels too far, he risks becoming lost within the Matrix itself.

During Prime's journey, the Quintesson that revived him notices a troop of infected Transformers attempting to get in, and manages to temporarily shut them out, giving Optimus the time he needs to finally find his answer. He learns that, in a period of pre-Cybertronian history, the Plague has visited the planet before, but was contained and sealed inside the star Jessica and Gregory found it in using sheer wisdom, though even back then, no one had the wisdom to destroy the spores, and now that it has spread so much throughout the galaxy, it's doubtful that anyone has the wisdom to even contain them again. Optimus then realizes that a source of raw wisdom may be available to destroy the infection once and for all: the accumulated wisdom within the Matrix of Leadership.

Hmm, this looks familiar...

The infected Transformers finally break into the base, and corner the Quintesson, who begs them to stop. Galvatron grabs a metal pole, intending to impale Prime. However, Prime's chest opens to reveal a glowing Matrix, surprising the Transformers. Asking it to "light our darkest hour", Optimus Prime releases the energy of the Matrix of Leadership, which spreads across the universe and totally eradicates the Plague. It even seems to, at least temporarily, cure Gregory and Jessica's father of their hatred for Autobots, and Galvatron of his own madness, and they call a truce with Optimus. Galvatron in partiuclar warmly shakes his old enemy's hand, gratefully proclaiming that he has earned his respect.

It is then that Rodimus (now Hot Rod, without the Matrix within him) notes that the Matrix is now empty, its wisdom supposedly lost in order to stop the plague. Optimus, however, disagrees; they have all become a little wiser, now, and although the Matrix is indeed empty of wisdom, it is up to them from then on to fill it again with their knowledge and experience. Optimus, once again the Autobot leader, orders his troops to "Transform and roll out".

[edit] Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

[edit] Quotes

"We need a plan! Okay, Optimus, what's the plan?"
"I... have no plan."

—Goldbug and Optimus Prime, the latter of whom is not exactly inspiring confidence

"Autobots, transform and roll out!"

—Optimus Prime, getting back into the swing of things.

"Fools, I am your leader! ... It's no use. You're all crazed!"

—Galvatron fighting his infected and insane troops. The irony fairy just had a coronary.

"Have I no friends left?!"
"Well, well, what have we here?"
"Looks like something the cat dragged in."

—Galvatron tries to reason with the infected Cyclonus and Scourge...for once

"Come on, Optimus, why can't we be friends?"
"When we first met, you shot me and my girlfriend. You make a bad first impression."

"Come on, Optimus, tell me! Why do you want this metal? How will it be used? Why is it so precious?"
"I've explained it to you."
"You told me it was important, but you didn't tell me why!"
"That's because I know you too well, Galvatron."

—Galvatron and Optimus Prime resuming their same old song and dance

"I don't need you anymore, Optimus. So much for your resurrection!"

—Galvatron, same song, different tune

"I don't want to hurt you, Rodimus!"
"Don't worry, Optimus, you won't! HAHAHAHAH!"

—Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime throw down.

"No more games, Rodimus! Innocent lives are at stake!"
"No one is innocent!"

—Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime throw down some more... right before Optimus clocks him.

"Now, light our darkest hour!"

—Optimus Prime, proving that destiny and Chosen Ones mean nothing when pitted against letters from angry kids and parents.

"There will be no war today, Optimus Prime. You have earned Galvatron's respect."

—Galvatron, totally sane for the first time since... ever

"The wisdom of the ages! It's lost!"
"No, not lost. We're all a little wiser now."
"But the Matrix is empty!"
"It's up to all of us to fill it again—with the wisdom we accumulate from this moment on. Autobots, transform and roll out!"

—Hot Rod and Optimus Prime

[edit] Notes

[edit] Animation and technical errors

• The chair Optimus was sitting on is missing at the beginning of the episode.
• Optimus's fog lights are entirely red, even at the bulbs, which should be yellow or white.
• When the small group of Autobots is restored, Steeljaw's paws are over the side of the table in one shot and beside him in the next shot.
• In his first full body shot, Goldbug's head is drawn off-model, with pointier horns, smaller eyes and a much simpler mouthplate that looks more like Optimus Prime's than Goldbug's zigzag-shaped plate.
• As he speaks with the group, the closeups of Optimus's face from the side have the panel on the left side of his head in gray instead of blue. The long shots don't show his mouth plate moving as he speaks.
• When Optimus Prime kneels down to talk to Jessica Morgan, Goldbug's feet (in the background) are colored gray instead of gold, even though his shins are still gold.
• After Kup suggests the Autobots steal the metal back, Steeljaw (who's very close to the camera) is Rampage colored like Steeljaw.
• As the group "rolls out," Kup is shown driving backwards (unless he turns around after the scene transition...).
• The red squares are missing from the tops of Galvatron's shoulders in several shots. His chin is gray in some and dark gray in others as well.
• Optimus's rifle has the basic Autobot gun sound effect rather than its usual sound effect.
• When the Decepticons retreat on Chaar, Cyclonus speaks with Ultra Magnus's voice.
• As Optimus drives through the cave, his trailer is missing its Autobot symbol.
• Just before he transforms in the cave, Optimus' bumper and grille are red instead of gray.
• Just before the team crosses the spider web, Cyclonus is shown in place of Blurr.
• Some shots show the crest on Optimus's helmet framed in gray, while others (such as during his "know you too well" line) have it framed in blue.
• As the energy leeches drop on Optimus, his fog lights are long cylinders rather than short triangles.
• Just before getting infected, Blaster has no lines on his switch plate.
• "We have to get out of here!" - Optimus's faceplate is misaligned with his helmet.
• When Galvatron shoots the top of the cave the second time, some of the rocks stay in mid-air.
• When they enter the Decepticon lab, Galvatron is taller than Optimus. In most other shots, he's shorter than Optimus.
• As Jessica discovers the alloy in the lab, Optimus is missing the Autobot symbol on his shoulder.
• After she makes the discovery, a shot shows the sides of Optimus' midsection in white instead of red.
• When Galvatron is threatening Optimus after they find the heat-resistant metal, Galvatron's cannon has a trigger on it.
• When escaping after Galvatron is infected, Optimus and his cab are coated in the resistant metal before it was even melted down.
• When he first meets Optimus, Rodimus is missing his Autobot symbol.
• The subsequent shots show Rodimus as semi-transparent.
• As Rodimus drives out of the junkyard a few moments later, he floats above the ground.
• Rodimus's gun fires yellow shots at times and purple shots in others. And what happened to his rifle?
• As Optimus grapples with Rodimus, Rodimus's Autobot logo disappears in a few frames.
• The inside of Rodimus' mouth is gray as he delivers the "no one is innocent!" line.
• The ceiling of the junkyard plant has beams framing the glass, yet the beams disappear when Sky Lynx crashes through them.
• Sky Lynx also disappears after crashing through the glass.
• As Optimus struggles with Rodimus the second time, Optimus's Autobot logo is framed in white in some shots, black in others.
• When Optimus takes the Matrix from Rodimus, the "glow" from the Matrix lags behind the Matrix itself when he raises it up.
• In the next shot, Rodimus is laying there with his chest suddenly closed again.
• When Optimus is talking to Alpha Trion, Alpha Trion is miscolored. He's entirely orange in a few shots.
• When Optimus activates the Matrix, its handles disappear. They're back again in the next shot.
• As Optimus is explaining that the Matrix must be refilled with the future wisdom, he is colored as if he still has the heat resistant metal on him.
• In the same shot, Hot Rod looks bigger than Optimus even though he should be much smaller (especially now that he's not Rodimus anymore).
• In the last shot of the episode, Optimus is missing his smoke stacks, the front of his cab has the gray stripes but the sides do not, and his trailer is again missing its Autobot logo.
• Also in the last shot of the episode, look at Blurr carefully. He clips into Kup and his front end disappears from the frame!

[edit] Continuity errors

• Optimus's last line in Part 1 was "This time, no force in the universe can stop me." His first line here is "Now, no force in the universe will stop me."
• Sky Lynx is in two parts at the beginning. He was the full walking bird at the end of the last episode.
• After Sky Lynx's recap, Optimus is seen getting up from a table and walking over to where he was a minute earlier. There was no table behind him in previous shots, and no reason for him to lay down for a moment.
• So....how exactly does Sky Lynx know every single detail of what happened in the previous episode? He wasn't even there when half of those recapped events took place! Unless he turned Metroplex back on...
• If Sky Lynx said that the uninfected Autobots were "Kup,Wheelie, Steeljaw, Bumblebee, and Blurr," then why does it show Blaster, not Wheelie, among the uninfected autobots?
• When the small group of Autobots is restored, Optimus suddenly has his rifle back, though he wasn't holding it in the previous shots.
• Given that the Autobots are in a rush to save the galaxy, why did the Quintessons take the time to retool Bumblebee into Goldbug?
• How did Kup know that Rodimus had been contaminated since he was deactivated by Superion before Rodimus was?
• A close-up of Jessica during the spider-web ambush shows her without her exo-suit, which she is shown wearing immediately before and after.
• The alloy is heat-resistant to the point of surviving a supernova in the previous episode. Yet it now can be melted down to coat Optimus Prime with it.
• A machine is used to coat Optimus Prime with this superheated alloy. What was it made out of, and why wasn't that material used?
• And did anyone manage to explain how heat resistance works against spores? What exactly do the writers think spores are?
• The Transformers wounded by Superion included Steeljaw and Wheelie, who are briefly seen at the start. They are then replaced by Blaster. Steeljaw returns a bit later, however, but Wheelie stays gone. Not that this is a bad thing. Wheelie must have stayed with a Quintesson on Cybertron.
• The infected Decepticons work together to fight Galvatron and the others, instead of attacking each other.
• Worse, when outnumbered by the Autobots, Cyclonus orders the other Decepticons to retreat, and they follow his command.
• Sky Lynx doesn't help during the spider attack, even though he can fly.
• When Galvatron and Prime are working together, Prime says, "That's because I know you too well, Galvatron." Yet this is the first time a cognizant Optimus has ever met Galvatron (him being only half-alive back when they met in "Dark Awakening"). Perhaps he just has really good intuition, or knows who Galvatron USED to be...
• Optimus is coated in the alloy in robot mode. How does his trailer get coated?
• Goldbug, Kup and Blaster get infected without being touched. Sky Lynx was right next to them but doesn't get infected. Huh?
• After Jessica Morgan and Galvatron got infected, Optimus and Sky Lynx speed off. Jessica makes a jump for Sky Lynx and briefly clings onto his tail before losing her grip, yet Sky Lynx still doesn't get infected.
• How do the support beams in the junkyard plant hold Optimus and Rodimus' weight?
• Rodimus's Matrix chamber opens via a pair of rectangular swing-out doors much like Optimus' chamber. In "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4," the door opened in the middle of the flame on his chest. In "Dark Awakening", it hinged across the left side of the flame, and the whole design opened to reveal the chamber.
• When Optimus puts the Matrix into his chest, he puts it in kind of... sideways. Surely his months of deactivation haven't made him forget how the thing sat in his chest for millions of years?
• Upon entering the Matrix of Leadership, the first ancient Autobot that Optimus Prime converses with is Alpha Trion. The latter's appearance there is somewhat puzzling, as it was previously established (and later reiterated) that he had merged with Vector Sigma. Alpha Trion's presence makes even less sense considering that it was clearly stated in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" that he had never taken the Matrix for himself, thus eliminating the possibility that a "backup copy" of himself had somehow been "uploaded" into it. Years later, of course, the big ol' retcon of the Allspark indirectly rectified this: Alpha Trion's in the afterlife, which one can communicate with through both the Matrix and Vector Sigma.
• The infected transformers work together to find Optimus Prime, instead of attacking each other.
• How exactly does wisdom kill spores?
  • Because you can't say "love" in 1980's American Children's Television. Makes more sense as love and kindness kills hate, not wisdom.
• In the movie, the Matrix took up the top half of Optimus' chest compartment and was behind a flip-up panel. Here, it fills in the whole (now hollow) cavity with no panel or other electronics to be seen.
• How exactly did Jessica get off Chaar?
• And what are she and Gregory Swofford doing in Moscow by the time they're cured of the Hate Plague? It's not just a case of an accidentally recycled background from the previous shot (which did depict actual Russians being cured of the Hate Plague)—even though both shots feature onion domes reminiscent of Saint Basil's Cathedral, they're definitely different background paintings. So... what gives?
• How did they get the alloy off Optimus Prime?
• And why would they want to, if it's so resilient? (Unless... they just painted over the alloy?)
• Does anyone else think that Dr. Swofford and Morgan get off waaaaay too easy at the end of the episode? They willingly unleash the hate plague that causes widespread devastation (and probably death) across not just the world but the entire galaxy, just to spite the Autobots, and they get off by just saying "sorry"?
• Then again, we don't actually see Optimus shaking their hands. Burn!

[edit] Transformers references

• When Optimus uses the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, it bears more than a passing resemblance to when Rodimus Prime used the Matrix to destroy Unicron in The Movie. They've even got "The Touch" playing in the background.

• In Japanese continuity, the events of issue 3 of The Great Transformer War take place shortly after this episode, helping to bridge the gap between it and "Four Warriors Come out of the Sky", the first episode of The Headmasters.

[edit] Trivia

So this is odd.

• The Japanese version of this episode has a slightly alternate ending. After Optimus Prime and the Autobots ride off into the sunset and "the Touch" ends, the music changes to "TRANSFORMER 2010" by Shō Hirose and the scene shifts to a montage of all the major characters from the series.
• The portion of "The Touch" that plays includes the line about "Hell breaking loose," an unusually strong word for an American '80s TV cartoon. Guess the censors were looking elsewhere that day.
• The Sunbow Productions cast list entry for this episode lists Orion Pax as appearing. A flashback to Optimus Prime's early days that was removed for time constraints, you might think? No. According to the dialogue script for the episode, Orion Pax was originally going to be the one to ask Prime why he had returned to the Matrix! Presumably someone on staff caught the error early enough, as Pax's line in the final cut went to Alpha Trion. (The dialogue script also misspells "Trion" as "Tion", for that matter.)
• After abusing his own troops throughout Season 3, there's something deeply satisfying in seeing Galvatron being attacked by his soldiers willingly.
• Jack Angel takes over as the voice for Cyclonus following the death of Roger C. Carmel.

[edit] Home video releases

VHS

1987 — The Transformers — The Return of Optimus Prime (Family Home Entertainment)
1987 — Transformers — Die Rückkehr von Optimus Prime (Zweiter Teil) (Polyband) — German audio only.
1988 — Transformers — The Return of Optimus Prime: Optimus Prime the Ultimate Robot (Tempo Video)
1989 — Transformers — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime (Tempo Video)
1991 — Transformers — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime / Cosmic Rust (Tempo Video)
2000 — The Original Transformers — Volume 7: The Return of Optimus Prime (Rhino Entertainment)

Laserdisc

1999 — The Transformers: 2010 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers: 2010 — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2004 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 3 and Season 4 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 5: Series 3.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Season's Three & Four [sic] (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2010 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

[edit] External links

• Dossier at the Cybertron Chronicle