Mirage's Betrayal
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 Aww, come on, again?! | ||||||
| "Mirage's Betrayal" (Counter Arrow no Uragiri!?) "Counter Arrow's Betrayal!?" | ||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Studio Gallop | |||||
| Airdate | May 31, 2000 (Japanese) September 18, 2001 (English) | |||||
| Written by | Tadashi Hayakawa (Japanese) Richard Epcar (English) | |||||
| Director | Akira Katō | |||||
| Animation studio | Studio Gallop | |||||
Predacons escape!
And Mirage blames his teammates.
A schism 'twixt friends!
Contents |
Synopsis
The Spychangers battle against the Predacon goons, who have stolen some precious plutonium. But during the battle, a second Dark Scream appears, so Mirage, revealing the entire battle has been a training simulation, decides to end the exercise. As Mirage leaves, R.E.V. gives Mirage a brief quiz on hand signals.
Meanwhile, the real Predacons have created an electronic bug to track and listen to any Autobot they place it on.
Dorie Dutton broadcasts from the International Exhibition Center where she gives exposition about the world's largest ruby, which could be used in a giant "laser". Koji catches the news, and being a bright lad, figures the Predacons would likely want to steal the ruby (as it happens, he's entirely correct). Prime agrees with Koji's suspicions and sends the Spychangers to keep an eye on the precious gem.
During the night, things play out as predicted and the Predacon trio try to steal the Ruby. The Spychangers show up to stop them, and during the fight, none of the Spychangers notice Dark Scream place a tiny tracking bug on Mirage, who is positioned on top of a building as a sniper. Gas Skunk exhales blinding gas so he and his cronies can vamoose, and Mirage is unable to open fire on the three because he's afraid of hitting a chemical plant and causing collateral damage. So the Predacons get away with the ruby.
From the safety of their own base, the Predacons listen in on the Spychangers. Rather than explain that he didn't want to hit the power plant, Mirage just quits the team. Later, at the Autobot base, T-AI brings up Mirage on a video screen, but he hangs up on his former teammates.
Ironhide and Mirage meet in person at the Exhibition Center, and Ironhide gives his friend another chance to explain why he let the Predacons get away. Mirage refuses to explain, but Ironhide figures it out on his own. Mirage still continues to badmouth his former teammates, but after being punched by Ironhide, he notices the listening device placed upon him by Dark Scream. Mirage continues to express that he doesn't care about the rest of the Autobots, but at the same time, he waves his arms in an odd and dramatic fashion. Knowing the Predacons are listening, Mirage mentions that he's considering joining up with the other team, much to Ironhide's horror. (Hearing the friendship ruined, Sky-Byte is brought to tears.) When the Predacons report to Megatron, Megatron agrees that Mirage should be recruited.
Mirage fills up on gas, passing by the usual civilian company. Away from the station, he passes by the Predacon trio, who invite him onto their side. He agrees to join the Predacons to get back at the Spychangers. Later, Sky-Byte shows Mirage the "Mega-Laser Cannon", which is highly sophisticated and powerful. Mirage is impressed when a demonstration of the laser destroys a mountain.
Not revealing his betrayal, Mirage invites the other Spychangers and invites the Autobots to come help him stop the Predacons from using the Mega-Laser he's discovered. The Spychangers join Mirage at the location of the laser while the Predacons hide and wait for the proper moment to take action. Mirage greets his former friends with dramatic, foreshadowed arm movements. Ironhide realizes that Mirage is silently using arm signals to communicate with the other Spychangers in a manner the Predacons don't understand.
At the end of a finger countdown, the Spychangers all turn together and blast the Predacons out of their hiding space, and Mirage fires the laser control out of Sky-Byte's hand. Mirage shows Ironhide and the Spychangers the bug he discovered the Predacons had placed on him. Before the team can hug and make up, the laser fires again—clearly there was more than one detonator. To destroy the laser, the Global Space Bridge is wrapped around it and the Spychangers circle around the laser and direct its blast back at Megatron's hovering base.
With the Predacons' scheme finished, the Spychangers apologize to Mirage. Ironhide asks Mirage to hit him back to make the two even for Ironhide's attack earlier, but Mirage shows that it's an unnecessary gesture. Mirage is welcomed back onto the team. Then Ironhide and Mirage share a tender race.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Predacons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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|
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Quotes
R.E.V.: Tell me what this hand signal means here!
Mirage: Oh, that's a real tough one! That means caution, enemies nearby! Happy now?
Ironhide: You know, he is right!
Mirage: It also means you look ridiculous!
- —Mirage isn't a big fan of the Spychangers' unsubtle hand signals
"Apparently, that guy's got some loose bolts!"
- —W.A.R.S. isn't a big fan of Mirage
"What's happened to you, Mirage? I thought I knew you! I thought you were dedicated! I thought you cared!"
"Yeah, well, you thought wrong. I don't care about them, and I don't care about you."
"I can't believe you're saying this! You and me are history!"
- —Ironhide and Mirage break up.
Dark Scream: Are you crying?
[Sky-Byte nods]
Gas Skunk: He's very sensitive.
Slapper: Yeah, but isn't he kind of getting carried away?
Dark Scream: If he keeps this up, he's going to short out his motherboard and warp his mainframe!
- —Sky-Byte is heartbroken over Ironhide and Mirage.
Mirage: Well, I'll see you guys around. Don't let Sky-Byte get to you.
Gas Skunk: Do you hear that? He really cares about us!
- —Gas Skunk is a little too hungry for approval.
Notes
Differences with Car Robots
- As the Spychangers surround the Predacons, in Car Robots, REV is cautionary, warning Crosswise not to let his guard down; in Robots in Disguise, he congratulates the team on how easy the job was.
- A CGI POV overlay is added as Mirage targets Sky-Byte.
- After the simulation ends, Mirage is pretty brusque with his teammates in both versions, but Robots in Disguise takes it a little further, with him being a bit more self-assured, aggressive in tone, and dismissive of his comrades and their concerns right through the episode.
- Gas Skunk intended his transmitter merely to spy on Autobot broadcasts in Car Robots, and hopes they will take it back to their base to facilitate that, while in Robots in Disguise, he has designs on using it to actually track down the location of the base.
- While Robots in Disguise has Megatron pontificate about the Mega-Laser Cannon, in Car Robots, it is Sky-Byte who does so, reciting the plan at Megatron's request to prove he knows what his assigned task is. While Robots in Disguise follows this up with Sky-Byte assuring Megatron that everything will go fine, in Car Robots, the exchange instead involves Megatron wondering why they're calling the weapon the "Mega-Laser", and being unimpressed with Sky-Byte's suggestion that they name it the "Giga-Laser" (after his Japanese name, Gigatron).
- Car Robots has Gas Skunk refer to Mirage and Ironhide's argument as being just like a "Seishun drama", a kind of Japanese "coming of age" radio drama (as punctuated by Sky-Byte's melodramatic tears). In Robots in Disguise, he just remarks that things "just keep gettin' better!"
- In Car Robots, Darkscream expresses incredulity that a killer shark such as Sky-Byte would cry over the Spychangers' argument, but Robots in Disguise replaced with this some cartoon technobabble about his tears shorting out his motherboard.
- Robots in Disguise shuffles the dialogue around a little as the Predacons tell Megatron about their plan; the same thing is said, but different characters make different points in a different order in each version. Car Robots has Megatron a little more doubtful about how trustworthy Mirage can be, and sees Sky-Byte draw particular attention to the inside info they can gain from him.
- When the can that Mirage sends flying clonks Slapper, he yowls in pain and calls after Mirage in both versions, but Robots in Disguise has him do so angrily. In the discussion that follows, Car Robots has Mirage flatter the Predacon trio first and foremost, while Robots in Disguise has him badmouth the Spychangers as a backhanded way of building up the Predacons.
- Mirage proposes testing the Mega-Laser Cannon on the Spychangers in Robots in Disguise, while Car Robots just has him ask the Predacons what they're planning to do.
- The Spychanger's big save-the-day move is baaaasically nonsense in both versions, the main difference being that Car Robots plays it as one of their ninja powers, while Robots in Disguise creates another toon-technobabble "hypothermic nuclear energy" explanation.
- Robots in Disguise has Slapper react with concern to whatever the Spychangers are doing with the laser, while Car Robots has him chastize Gas Skunk for being impressed by the manoeuvre.
- As they apologise to one another, Car Robots has Mirage draw attention to Ironhide's punch, while Robots in Disguise instead has him explain about the act he was putting on for the Predacons. However, the animation shows him miming the punch, and Robots in Disguise doesn't remove it, so it's a bit incongruous with his dialogue at that moment. The rest of the apology scene is shortened a little bit for Robots in Disguise; no content is lost, they just express the same sentiment in a short space of time.
- After the apologies are done, Ironhide simply proclaims Mirage's virtue in Robots in Disguise, telling him he'd fight by his side any time, while Car Robots has him belatedly realize that Mirage never returned to base because of the transmitter on him. Car Robots sees Mirage follow this with the crack that he didn't come back because of the injury that resulted from Ironhide's punch; he just thanks Ironhide in Robots in Disguise, which shortens the scene again a tiny bit.
- Briefly extended scenes created for Robots in Disguise by looping and repeating footage include:
- Hot Shot ordering the Spychangers into battle during their simulation
- Mirage realizing the simulation is flawed and calling for it to end
- Hot Shot reminding REV that Mirage can take down the Predacons from the roof
- The Predacons listening in on the Spychangers right after Mirage departs
- Optimus ordering T-Ai to call up Mirage on-screen
- Mirage asking about the Mega-Laser Cannon
- The Predacons realizing Mirage has tricked them
- Megatron revealing the second detonator
- Megatron deciding to retreat
Animation or technical errors
- As Ironhide transforms while jumping, his black underside switches to his yellow robot mode body with no transition.
Real-world references
- In reality, the International Exhibition Center is the "Tokyo Big Sight" convention center.
Trivia
- This episode makes reference to Mirage and Ironhide being old friends. Mirage and Ironhide both share their names with Generation 1 characters, but despite their fairly large roles in the original show, their Generation 1 counterparts never directly addressed each other.
- This is one of the few episodes to not feature Side Burn, Prowl, and X-Brawn.
- This is not the only time that a Mirage has been suspected of treachery.
- The original The Transformers cartoon Mirage in the episode "Traitor".
- 2005 IDW continuity Mirage in Spotlight: Blaster, All Hail Megatron, and maybe in Spotlight: Mirage.
- Why is Optimus standing around the base in Battle Mode anyway?
Foreign localization
Italian
- Title: "Il tradimento di Mirage" ("Mirage's betrayal")
Portuguese
- Title: "A Simulação" ("The Simulation")
Home video releases
- DVD
2000 — Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 3 (Pony Canyon) — Japanese audio only.
2004 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 1 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Battling the Predacons (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season One (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)
