Family
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Transformers: Cybertron episode. For Transformer families, see Relatives. |
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 I got all my brothers with me. | |||||||||
| "Family" (Soshite, Tabidachi no Toki) "And So, It Is Time to Go on a Journey" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | September 17, 2005 (Japanese) September 8, 2006 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Kazuhisa Sakaguchi | ||||||||
| Director | Naotaka Hayashi | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity | ||||||||
As the Autobots make preparations to travel to Gigantion, Coby and Lori confront their parents with the truth.
Contents |
Synopsis
While Wing Saber scours the depths of space for the missing starship Atlantis and its passengers—Bud, Jolt and Reverb—Coby, Lori, Vector Prime and Red Alert discuss the situation. The concern is that the Atlantis will head for Gigantion, but it will not be able to cross the dimensions safely to get there. Vector Prime and Red Alert assure the humans that Bud will be fine: Humans and Mini-Cons share flexible, slightly erratic mental processes that allow them to travel through dimensions with no ill effects. It is the rigid, logical minds of the Transformers that are the problem, and Red Alert is hard at work developing a "vaccine" program derived from the stabilizing elements of Vector Prime's sword and Optimus Prime's Matrix that will allow them to cross over as well, once they track the Atlantis down.
A little later, Coby and Lori return to Earth, where the image of the black hole still fills the sky, visible through the space bridge previously opened by the Omega Lock. Coby telephones his brother Tim for some advice, telling him that Bud is missing, and Tim agrees to tell their parents that Bud is staying with him, though he encourages Coby to tell them the truth.
Meanwhile, the other Autobots have split their forces in two: The majority of the faction are working on Cybertron to clear out the remaining Scrapmetals infesting the planet, while Landmine and the ancient Autobots from Earth return to that world. Landmine is on the way to check up on Coby and Lori when he is summoned by Crosswise, who has discovered Mudflap pounding his head (well, cab) against a tree in a forest. Still tortured over his recent selfish actions, Mudflap has no idea what to make of himself or his place in the world, and attacks Landmine when he approaches him. Landmine refuses to fight back, and when he tells Mudflap he just wants his friend back, the troubled Transformer collapses to his knees in tears, apologizing for everything he has done. Landmine tells Mudflap that the most important thing is to forgive himself, and he and a group of civilian Autobots welcome Mudflap back into their ranks.
At the Hansens' house, Lori comes up with numerous ideas for lies they can tell their parents to cover where they're going, from winning a round-the-world trip to studying abroad to running away to get married! That last idea elicits an odd look from Six-Speed and a quick back-pedal from Lori, but Coby is not really listening; he has decided that the best course of action is to tell their parents the truth. Lori agrees, but realizes that it is unlikely that their parents will believe them, so he gives Lucy Suzuki a call to help back them up. Lucy, in turn, calls Colonel Franklin, who receives her message just after conferring with the President, who has learned the truth about Transformers and agrees to help keep their existence secret.
As night falls, Lori and Coby present their assembled parents with the whole story. Unsurprisingly, the four adults are utterly incredulous, despite their children's insistence. Landmine watches from nearby as the two kids plead with Six-Speed to transform to robot mode as proof, but Optimus Prime's long-standing order for them to keep their presence on Earth a secret forbids either of the two Autobots from doing so. The parents are reaching the end of their patience, forcing Coby to tell them that Bud has been kidnapped and that Tim has lied to help him, at which point Colonel Franklin and Lucy Suzuki arrive. Lori is happy to see what she thinks is some support arriving, but in actuality, they have come to stop the kids from blowing the secret. Everything soon becomes a moot point, however, as the house begins to shake...and Optimus Prime and Vector Prime come soaring down out of the sky in vehicle mode!
The two Autobots transform to robot mode, with Landmine and Six-Speed following their lead, leaving the stunned parents struggling to comprehend what they are seeing. The Autobots ask the shocked adults' permission to let the children go with them to Gigantion, telling them of all the help the kids have given them in the past. Robert and Ernesto request that they be allowed to go too, to keep their children safe, but Vector Prime informs them of the requirement of a flexible mind—a mind able to accept new realities at face value. Ernesto claims that the parents have open minds, but Robert silences him with the grave realization that in truth, they do not; their children came to them and told them the absolute truth, and they could not accept it. With the two Primes' promise on Primus and their own sparks that they will keep the children safe, the parents regretfully allow Coby and Lori to go with them.
The next morning, the kids and Autobots assemble to depart for Cybertron. Coby gives Colonel Franklin his communicator so they can stay in touch with Earth, and Lori's mother adds her own contribution to the trip: a bag of food for the kids. The kids' parents wish them well, telling them that they are proud of them, and the children then depart via the space bridge. Colonel Franklin delivers a stirring speech as the parents realize that their children have grown up.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Ordinarily, I'd invite you in, but...I don't think you'd fit."
- —A stunned Robert Hansen states the obvious.
"It's funny. I look at them and I start to wonder... was I ever that young? Was I ever that eager? Was I ever that full of hope? Was I that fearless?"
"I know what you mean. I think, if there's anything at all in life that I can truly be proud of...it would be my three sons."
- —Colonel Franklin and Robert Hansen
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
- Galaxy Force includes a "previously on" segment summarizing the events of "Escape".
- In some early episodes of Galaxy Force, it was indicated that Coby did not have a great relationship with the other members of his family. Cybertron chose to excise that aspect, and probably with good cause, since it has been completely ignored at this point for something to the tune of thirty full episodes. It is very briefly touched upon again for the last time in this Galaxy Force episode, when Coby is surprised to find that Tim is willing to cover for him by saying Bud is staying with him, leading Coby to make his impassioned speech about family to his parents. But, as Cybertron proves, the speech works perfectly well without it, so.... yeah.
- Cybertron has Coby and Lori argue their points a little further with their parents than in Galaxy Force, explaining about the two factions of Transformers and referring back to Starscream's invasion of Earth, two things which are not discussed in Galaxy Force. They also mention the Omega Frequency.
- Landmine doesn't even seem remotely regretful about his inability to transform in front of the parents in Galaxy Force! But then, in Galaxy Force, he is conversing in real time with Galaxy Convoy (Optimus Prime) at the time, repeating the orders that Prime gave all Autobots forbidding transforming in front of Earthlings. In Cybertron this bit is omitted, and Landmine is instead just talking to himself about his sympathy for the youngsters.
- In Galaxy Force, Guardshell (Landmine) is specifically sent by Optimus to check in on Coby and Lori. While watching from the woods, he sends to Optimus a live video feed of the kids' impassioned pleas to the parents to be allowed to go back into space to rescue Bud. THIS is how Optimus knows what's going on with the kids and why he comes to respect their wishes, ultimately leading to his decision to break protocol and reveal himself (along with Vector Prime, Landmine, and Six-Speed) to the parents.
- Cybertron has Coby's mother questioning whether the Transformers were thirsty, then Coby replies by stating that "they don't eat human food" and "these guys were on a strict Energon diet." In Galaxy Force, there is no mention of the word "Energon", and Coby says that "this was not a dream or illusion" and "they were seeing genuine Transformers."
- Cybertron doesn't mention that the bag Lori's mother gives the kids contains a change of clothes in addition to food. Not a particularly notable change under normal circumstance, except it explains where the new oufits that the kids will start wearing from the next episode through to the end of the series come from.
- In Galaxy Force, Colonel Franklin's closing speech is about humanity moving further into the stars, comparing the kids' journey to Man's first steps on the Moon, and Robert Hansen remarks that they will witness the galaxy being saved. In Cybertron, the speech (quoted above) is reworked to be about the strength and passion of the children themselves.
Continuity errors
- When Coby brings up the Ancient Decepticons that blanketed the skies, his dad dismisses them as "airplanes". Except, erm, most of them were in robot mode. And they were openly called a possible alien invasion (with the US government publicly considering them hostile) and noted to be "robotic creatures" in the episode they did this.
- He also seems a bit unconcerned that last he saw, Coby had escaped from military custody in a helicopter while yelling "I gotta save the world!".
Continuity notes
- The similarity between the minds of human children and Mini-Cons was first hinted at back in "Balance".
- The President previously appeared briefly in "Collapse".
- Coby and Lori refer back to the events of "Invasion", "Retreat" and "Critical" when trying to explain things to their parents.
- Primes Optimus and Vector refer to the events of "Fallen", "Haven", "Champion" and "Primal" when telling the parents of their children's exploits.
Transformers references
- Hot Shot refers to Optimus Prime as "Big Bot", the nickname Cheetor used to refer to Optimus Primal in Beast Wars.
Real-world references
- Coby's father mistakenly refers to Lucy Suzuki as "Miss Honda", confusing her name for that of another automobile company.
Trivia
- Mentioned in passing on a news report is scientist Mohammed Wong. The joke here is that "Mohammed" is the world's most common first name, and "Wong" is the most common last name, and yet there are virtually no people named "Mohammed Wong".
- A new face (as it were) is seen among the civilian Autobots this episode: an excavator based on the Cybertron Longrack toy. It's not clear if this is the Longrack, however, as an identical crane will be seen on Gigantion later in the series, but seeing as the Longrack toy came with a Cybertron-styled Cyber Key, odds are good that this is him.
- With the exception of Mudflap, who switches sides within a few minutes, no Decepticons appear in this episode!
Home video releases
- DVD
2006 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 10 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
