The Revenge of Bruticus
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I asked you a question, buddy—what's the square root of 5,248? | |||||||||||||
"The Revenge of Bruticus" | |||||||||||||
Production code | 700-62 | ||||||||||||
Season | 2 | ||||||||||||
No. in season | 47 | ||||||||||||
Production company | Sunbow Productions | ||||||||||||
Airdate | January 8, 1986 | ||||||||||||
Written by | Larry Strauss | ||||||||||||
Animation studio | Toei | ||||||||||||
Continuity | Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
Watch this episode on YouTube |
Even though Starscream and the Combaticons are banished to space, they are still a threat—a threat returning to destroy both the Decepticons and the Autobots...
Contents |
Synopsis
Stuck in a cosmic "time out" with the Combaticons, Starscream decides to book it, declaring the Combaticons incompetent. Unfazed, Onslaught has developed a plan of revenge; Blast Off is towing their asteroid to Cybertron. The Combaticons' arrival on Cybertron interrupts a little target practice Shockwave is holding for the Sentinel drones. The Combaticons merge into Bruticus, decimate the Sentinels, and launch gun-mode Shockwave into deep space. Onslaught declares that Operation: Revenge has begun.
On Earth, Megatron is overseeing the Insecticon army, as they devour a city one building at a time. Optimus Prime and the Autobots arrive, but the Insecticons are moving into a nearby neighborhood that is still inhabited. Prime is unwilling to risk civilian casualties, so the Autobot leader sends in the Protectobots to evacuate the civilians.
At the Autobot base, Perceptor is giving Spike Witwicky a little astronomy lesson about shooting stars, noting that the odds of an actual star colliding with the Earth are slim...
Meanwhile, out in space, Starscream literally runs into Shockwave. Apparently unaware that Starscream has been exiled, Shockwave enlists his help to rescue Cybertron.
At Shockwave's base, Brawl is itching for a fight, Blast Off advises calm, as Onslaught is sure to have a plan. That plan involves the Space bridge. Though it is far ahead of any Decepticon technology Onslaught has previously seen, he manages to rig the space bridge to move Earth into its sun, which will destroy the Decepticons and the Autobots at the same time!
On Earth, the humans have been successfully evacuated from the city, and the Autobots begin blasting the Insecticons to bits. However, Spike and Perceptor arrive, Powerglide dropping them off, having learned of Earth's altered orbit, and inform Prime of the peril. The Autobots head for the space bridge, and Megatron orders Shrapnel to remove the space bridge's control console and evacuate.
On Cybertron, Starscream and Shockwave use a holographic projector to make the Combaticons believe that they are under attack. Shockwave discovers Onslaught's space bridge modifications, but Starscream shoots him, then sends Megatron an ultimatum: Surrender leadership of the Decepticons, or everything on Earth, including Megatron and the Decepticons, will fry. However, the Combaticons eventually figure out the ruse, and they imprison Starscream and Shockwave.
Megatron sends Thrust and Ramjet to locate the Insecticons, but they discover that the bug-bots have chewed up the console. The Autobots, who have also tracked down the Decepticons, offered to assist Megatron and the Decepticons. Perceptor repairs the console with parts from Prime and Megatron. Prime insists that the Autobots be included in the trip to Cybertron, which Megatron relents to, and the united teams head to Cybertron, leaving the Protectobots to struggle with rising temperatures and find a way to keep the human race from being wiped out.
The two teams free Starscream and Shockwave, the former loudly protesting that he was forced to threaten Megatron by the Combaticons, and the latter immediately denouncing the story as lies. Before anyone can do anything else, the Combaticons attack, merging into Bruticus when the fight turns against them. Starscream reveals that Bruticus has one weak point on his back that, if blasted, will shut him down. Prime manages to shoot the weak point, and Sideswipe reverses the space bridge, returning Earth to its proper orbit.
Prime and Megatron agree to destroy Bruticus, and Megatron allows the Autobots to leave unharmed. However, the Decepticons have faked Bruticus' destruction, and reprogrammed the real Bruticus to serve Megatron. Megatron pardons Starscream and restores him to the Decepticon ranks as thanks for providing him with a new Combiner.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
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Quotes
"I can't stand it! I can't stand it! This is a cosmic prison!"
"Shaddup!" [blasts him]
- —Starscream's mewling is too much for Brawl to take.
"Look, Perceptor, a shooting star!"
"Of course that's not really a shooting star. It's really a meteorite entering Earth's atmosphere."
"I know. I'd hate to imagine a real star shooting into the Earth."
"Well, the chances of this planet colliding with a real star are remote."
"I'd hope so. It would mean the end of everything!"
- —Spike being taught about shooting stars by Perceptor, only for...
"I can direct the movement of planet Earth and send it on a direct course into the Sun."
- —... Onslaught to take the idea.
Brawl: "Hey! We annihilated 'em."
Swindle: "Looks more to me like they vanished! ...Wait. Look! More invaders!"
Vortex: "Where did they come from?!"
Brawl: "Who cares! Let's annihilate 'em!"
- — Life is simple when you're a bot named Brawl.
Optimus: "I will donate some of the needed parts from my own components, Perceptor, if Megatron agrees to do the same."
Megatron: "Never! I am autonomic perfection!"
Spike: "You'll be evaporated perfection if we don't get to Cybertron and stop Starscream!"
- —Megatron gets schooled by a human.
"Ramjet, if this Autobot quack does anything suspicious, shatter his lenses... from the inside."
- —Megatron delivers an indirect warning to Perceptor as the latter takes components from him and Optimus Prime to repair the Space Bridge.
"Not until you relinquish control over the Decepticons."
"Don't be a fool."
"Then let the Earth burn!"
- — Starscream tries to blackmail Megatron.
Notes
Production information
- First draft script: 16 September 1985
- Final script: 26 September 1985
- Dialogue recording: 9th October 1985
Continuity notes
- This is the Protectobots' first appearance in the series, yet there is absolutely no mention of where they came from. While this does put them in the company of most of the rest of the new season-two cast, it's the first time a combiner team wasn't given a special origin episode. The reason for this, as noted in the show's production bible, was that the information on the team was not delivered to the cartoon's production staff before the episode plots for the rest of the series had been finalized. Consequently, there were no open slots left to give the Protectobots an episode dedicated to their origin, but they were inserted into some of the predetermined stories (namely, this episode and "B.O.T.") to appease Hasbro.
- That said, it's not the greatest advertisement. Only First Aid is identified by name; and Blades, First Aid and Hot Spot aren't even shown in robot mode.
- Gadgets and powers:
- Prowl, Tracks and Optimus all display hood-mounted laser cannons. Tracks also launches a couple of missiles from his hood. No more repeats of "The Autobot Run" for these guys!
- Megatron has a fold-out chest-mounted communicator that rather resembles the wrist communicators some characters use.
- Starscream and Ramjet deploy grappling hooks and cables to scoop up Bruticus. Starscream had a similar device in "Enter the Nightbird".
- < < What makes Starscream the leader? Nothing, but that doesn't stop him from trying to extort Megatron into giving up his leadership position in return for saving the Earth. > >
- This episode marks the second and last appearance of the Sentinel robots, and the last appearance of Autobot Security Director Red Alert. (It was a conspiracy. A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU! HE KNEW TOO MUCH!)
Real-world references
- Star Wars sound effects:
- Millennium Falcon engine roar as Starscream takes off from the asteroid
- X-wing Fighter whine and TIE Fighter roar as Starscream and Shockwave head for Cybertron.
- Falcon engine burst as Blast Off lands at the end of the hologram battle.
Animation and technical errors
- There's several points where the art in this episode renders the characters unusually puffy. This affects Bruticus the most, making him look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in armor.
- The sound effect for Brawl's pot shot at Starscream lags behind the shot itself.
- As he says, "I can't stand it!," Starscream is missing the Decepticon insignia on his wings.
- Brawl, Onslaught and Swindle's relative positions change multiple times between shots as they argue with Starscream.
- Coloring errors:
- As Starscream flees the asteroid, we get a very long time to look at the underside of his jet mode, wherein his folded-up feet, which are blue in robot mode, are colored gray. His underside wing insignia are also missing.
- Before Bruticus uses Vortex's blades to slice some Sentinels, the blades are gray instead of black.
- Brawl is mostly gray instead of mostly olive green as the Combaticons carry off the defeated Sentinels.
- When Dirge and Thundercracker take energon cubes to the space bridge, Thundercracker is colored with Starscream's colors. Megatron's gun barrel is missing in the same shot.
- Prime has gray tires as he rolls toward the Insecticon horde.
- As he says, "I'm that close to Cybertron?," one of Starscream's Decepticon insignia is white instead of purple.
- In the first closeup of Blast Off and Brawl sitting atop Decepticon Headquarters, Blast Off's optic is brown instead of gray.
- As Onslaught reports to the other Combaticons, Blast Off's head is all gray instead of brown, and Brawl's optic visor is gray instead of yellow. However, we must give due credit: the animators not only remembered that Onslaught doesn't have his backpack, they actually included the three magic spots on Onslaught's exposed back!
- In a closeup shot of Onslaught, only the center of his mouthplate is gray; the sides are blue.
- Ratchet's helmet is colored black shortly after Prowl finds the space bridge control panel. The groans that are supposed to be Powerglide, Ratchet and Prime don't actually sound like them.
- Ramjet's cockpit isn't colored as he reacts to Starscream's cry for help.
- As Megatron agrees to destroy Bruticus, Starscream's cockpit is colored all yellow when it should have white stripes.
- Bruticus's visor is white instead of red as the jets scoop him up. Starscream's air intakes and wing stripes are also white instead of red in the same shot.
- Ventriloquist bots:
- Throughout his encounter with the Combaticons, Shockwave's voice lacks its robotic flanging.
- Bruticus's mouthplate doesn't move as he introduces himself.
- Some strange audio editing as Inferno, Red Alert and Blades fight the fires. A radio voice says "A fire's broken out at the" then cuts off. Another voice says "We got a blaze that's -" and then continues, but submerged under Inferno's line. The effect was probably supposed to be a sort of montage of numerous reports, but it... doesn't really work, especially since the reports all sound like variants of Inferno's own voice.
- Red Alert is then drawn mouthing the second part of Inferno's line.
- Starscream's missing his air intakes as Megatron tells him he is redeemed.
- As is common for group ad libs, the heat groans from the assembled Autobots and Decepticons don't resemble their actual voices.
- Vortex is animated giving Onslaught's command for the Combaticons to merge into Bruticus.
- When the Autobots are preparing to leave Cybertron at the end, Sideswipe is drawn speaking Sunstreaker's line.
- Megatron is still shown laughing and shaking after his short chuckle has ended.
- When this episode originally aired, the animation simply stopped after Megatron's laugh ended, resulting in an odd freeze-frame/fade-to-black effect before the commercial bumper began.
- The shot of Blast Off transforming to robot mode is cut off before he finishes, jumping to a shot of the other four Combaticons walking toward Shockwave.
- As he and the others begin to merge, Swindle somersaults backwards into the air (and Vortex reacts - making it look like Swindle is about to turn into a gun for Vortex to use!) The shot then cuts to Swindle in jeep mode, flying forwards as he turns into Bruticus's leg.
- When Bruticus is holding Shockwave, and Shockwave transforms to gun mode, his arms transform directly into the barrel, rather than the arms folding up and the barrel attaching out of nowhere. His barrel is colored the same purple as the rest of him, rather than its correct gray.
- Onslaught's missing his backpack cannons after Bruticus separates. Not yet, guys!
- Megatron's barrel is missing again as he takes his first shot at Optimus.
- Several Insecticons aren't fully colored as Prime observes them spreading to a new neighborhood.
- When Groove drives out of the Protectobots' headquarters, he has the word "POLISE" written on his side.
- Spike's "shooting star" looks more like a comet. And it has a rocket engine, according to the sound effect.
- During the fight with the Insecticons, Powerglide arrives and lands with no sound effect.
- Perceptor disembarks from Powerglide off-camera. Was he in microscope mode, or did Powerglide suddenly grow a much bigger interior?
- Then as Prime drives toward three retreating Insecticons, a quick transformation sound is heard, but nobody on-screen is transforming.
- In the pan across the space bridge site, the crackling energy over the energon transfer tubes isn't animated or lit to glow.
- Shockwave changes the projector to show gargoyles, but as he and Starscream walk away, the Combaticons are still fighting the giant squid things.
- As Starscream first contacts Megatron, Megatron's chest symbol and gun barrel are missing.
- Improbable viewpoints:
- Kicking back in Decepticon HQ, Starscream gets a full torso view of Megatron, who is hanging out in the desert. Where's the camera?
- Dirge and Ramjet get the same view of Megatron in Decepticon HQ on Earth.
- It took a while, but the animators finally forgot that Onslaught's not supposed to have his backpack. It shows up in a brief shot right before he says "We can't stop them!", and again as Blast Off lands.
- Blast Off is a couple of heads taller than everyone else as the Combaticons react to Swindle's revelation.
- Swindle is shown with the team as Blast Off lands, but in the next shot he's shown to have been elsewhere, checking out the holo projector.
- As the Combaticons walk in on Shockwave and Starscream, Blast Off is again much taller than the others. And Onslaught's got his backpack cannons yet again.
- Huge Blast Off again as he and Brawl shove the prisoners into their cell.
- *Ramjet is missing the transformation sound effect as he finds the Insecticons in the parking garage.
- "You'll be evaporated perfection" - Perceptor is much shorter than Megatron. He should be a couple of heads shorter.
- The building the meat freezer is located in is labelled "Metro Meat Pacing"
- When the space bridge ring closes to send the allied Autobots and Decepticons to Cybertron, there's no one inside.
- Skywarp and Ramjet enter the space bridge, but Thundercracker appears on Cybertron as well. All three basically disappear after the rescue of Starscream and Shockwave.
- When Starscream and Shockwave are rescued from prison, a second Megatron steps out from inside the first one.
- Brawl comes through a hole in the wall and blasts Starscream and Megatron, but the next shot shows Swindle in his place.
- When Blast Off is on his bombing run at the beginning of the final battle, the bombs are shown falling in front of him, instead of directly below.
- Prowl and Sideswipe get part of the Decepticon laser effect as they fire on Blast Off.
- Onslaught, Brawl & Swindle get no transformation sound effect as they drive up to Megatron. When Megatron blasts them, the sound of the blast hits is coming from the right channel instead of the left. It's also modulated with the same effect that would later be used for Galvatron's cannon.
- A two-fold error: Vortex orders the Combaticons to combine instead of Onslaught, and yet Vortex speaks with Onslaught's voice!
- Bruticus rips away the doors of the teleportation chamber to throw at the sentinel guards, but the doors are still there. The big gaping hole does show up in the next shot, allowing Prime to see that the space bridge has been altered.
- The push-Earth-into-the-sun beams should be visible behind Bruticus, but they're not.
- The animation of Bruticus flexing and then bending down is used a second time, however there's nothing where his hands are reaching.
- As Optimus discovers the altered space bridge on Cybertron, the crest on his helmet is drawn much larger than usual.
- A shot later, we see Prime standing rather prominently alone, with Sideswipe, Prowl and Sunstreaker running toward him. The next shot shows only Sideswipe standing next to Prime, but Megatron and Starscream have appeared behind him.
- The animation would have us believe that 1) Earth was about two seconds from falling into the sun, and that 2) the sun is only 4-5 times bigger than the Earth. 1) would mean everything on Earth was already long dead; 2) is just flat out wrong.
- Furthermore, in no shot of the moving Earth do we see the move-the-Earth beams.
Continuity errors
- The asteroid Starscream was banished to is a lot larger in this episode than shown at the end of "Starscream's Brigade".
- Likewise, Blast Off is supposed to be towing the asteroid toward Cybertron the whole time, but he's not shown in the establishing shot of the asteroid.
- The towed asteroid just sets down light as a feather on Cybertron's surface. Shouldn't it have come plummeting in at terminal velocity, since the Combaticons have no way to slow it down?
- Why even tow the asteroid and not just board Blast Off and leave?
- Starscream's tolerance runs out mere moments before they arrive at Cybertron. The planet is already in range as the Combaticons add him to their list.
- Bruticus's description of the guard robots as "giant Sentinels" is a bit odd, considering they're not even as tall as the individual Combaticons.
- Using a microscope to enlarge an image on a computer screen does not work that way. Spike would be looking at individual pixels.
- How improbable is it that in the infinite vastness of space, underlined by Perceptor just seconds before, with Starscream only heading in the general direction of Cybertron and Shockwave being randomly tossed off its surface and out of its orbit, that the two randomly crash into each other?
- This made stranger when one remembers that Starscream was heading away from Cybertron when he left the Combaticons, and Shockwave - launched by Bruticus - caught up to him. This means Bruticus fired Shockwave in exactly the same trajectory as Starscream, and that a tumbling Shockwave is faster than a flying Starscream.
- While waiting for Onslaught to implement his plan, Brawl mentions to Blast Off how he'd like to "attack the Earth now and crush Megatron like an Insecticon". The Insecticons were actually the only Decepticons that the Combaticons never encountered on Earth.
- Shockwave appears completely unaware that Starscream was an exile. Has Megatron never heard of memos?
- If the sun is so close that it makes crops spontaneously combust, how has humanity not burned alive?
- Blades flies over at least 20 people stranded in the burning village, yet leaves after 7 people get in his rescue "basket". Even if the basket was packed (which it clearly wasn't), couldn't he have rescued more by letting them ride in his cabin? Even more disturbing, we see several children in the fly-over, but the adults just abandon them in their rush to save themselves!
- Why don't the Autobots just fly Omega Supreme over to Cybertron?
- The Combaticons lock up Starscream and Shockwave by closing a door and activating a force field. When Megatron frees them, there's only a force field (the door is nowhere to be seen).
- Optimus suddenly has a second gun (for about two seconds) in the battle against the Combaticons.
- The Decepticons and Autobots travel to Cybertron by way of the Space Bridge, arriving in the normal teleportation chamber. However, nobody notices the alterations to the Space Bridge until Bruticus rips a hole in the wall while they're all outside fighting.
- Boy, it sure was convenient of Onslaught to remove his backpack, exposing those three spots just when they needed to be visible, huh?
- Megatron comes up with the idea of reprogramming Bruticus for loyalty. Why didn't he just do this last time, when Bruticus was defeated by Menasor? Or even back on Cybertron, instead of reducing the team to their personality components?
- And seriously, why not do this to Starscream?
Trivia
- Unlike Megatron, who is frequently used in gun form by other Transformers by shrinking down to the size of a Cybertronian-sized weapon, Shockwave has never demonstrated this ability, leaving his alternate mode too large to be used by most Cybertronians. Bruticus, being larger than the typical Cybertronian, has no issue using Shockwave as a firearm.
- Years later, this would be homaged in toy form by Combiner Wars Shockwave, who was advertised as being held by the same line's Bruticus.
- This episode was the only circumstance of Shockwave being wielded by another character for 39 years.
- In a cut line, Starscream would've called Shockwave "a lousy space-leech" when they collided into each other in space.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "La vengeance de Bruticus" ("The Revenge of Bruticus")
- Original airdate: ?
- The voice actors were pretty distracted that day, as we can hear some of them whispering during several battle scenes.
- For some reason, Onslaught's line "I beg your pardon? My strategy is brilliant!" is replaced by "He has his crisis, but it will pass quickly".
- Onslaught's line "Blast Off, increase speed and prepare for planetary liberation!" is simply dubbed by "Yes, we'll arrive soon".
- Strangely, Starscream talks about "Hydrographic projections" instead of "Holographic projections".
- When the Autobots are amazed by Prowl's discovery and say "Oooh", the French dub only got one voice actor doing it alone, making it sound like Prowl just makes a strange scream.
- Name-dodging:
- Megatron calling "Thundercracker! Dirge!" is replaced by "You two, up there! Quick!".
- Optimus Prime's call "Attention Protectobots!" is dubbed by "We have to evacuate all these people".
- Megatron's line "Ramjet! Dirge! Find the Insecticons" is translated by "Go find the Insecticons, I'll need them".
- When Megatron calls "Ramjet!" to tell him to keep an eye on Spike, dubbed Megatron starts by "Listen to me carefully!".
- Megatron's line "Ramjet! Quickly transport us!" is mistakenly dubbed by "Hurry up and pick up the Space Bridge control panel!", despite the panel problem already being solved.
- Optimus Prime's line "Prowl! Sideswipe! Cover me!" is replaced by "We have to hurry! Full power!".
- Missing lines:
- Brawl's line "You can't make it back to Earth, you don't have enough power!" is absent. However, he says "Don't forget we have a mission".
- Swindle does not answer Brawl telling him about Starscream's crisis.
- Bruticus' line "I am also known as Bruticus" is missing.
- Track does not say anything when discovering and exploring the tunnel.
- Spike only says "Look! A shooting star!" when looking into the telescope.
- Powerglide does not say anything when arriving in the battle with Perceptor and Spike.
- Swindle's lines are missing as he transforms and shoots the holograms.
- Megatron's off-screen laugh is missing before Starscream calls him.
- Blades stays silent while saving the people.
- Perceptor's line "I'm not even sure it will work!" is missing.
- Most of the Combaticons' lines are not dubbed during their final battle.
German
- Title (Generation 2 dub): "Bruticus Rache" ("Bruticus's Revenge")
- Original airdate: September 10, 1994
Italian
- Title (dub 1): "Rotta di collisione" ("Collision course")
- Since Vortex is mistakingly seen pronouncing Onslaught's line: «Combaticons! Transform to Bruticus!» in this dub he is voiced by Vortex's actor, solving the problem. Still, the name "Combacticon" (Italian name of the Combaticons) is pluralized as "Combacticons", despite the fact that, in this series, the names of Transformers groups generally doesn't change from singular to plural in this dub.
- Sideswipe's last line is not voiced by the same actor that voiced him in the rest of the episode.
- Original airdate: ?
- Title (dub 2): "La vendetta di Bruticus" ("The Revenge of Bruticus")
- Original airdate: ?
Japanese
Mandarinn
- Title: "Húntiānbào de Fùchóu " (混天豹的复仇, "The Revenge of Bruticus")
- Original airdate: ?
Brazilian Portuguese
- Title: "A Vingança de Bruticus" ("The Revenge of Bruticus")
- Original airdate: ?
Russian
- Title: "Mestj Grubikusa" (Месть Грубикуса, "The Revenge of Bruticus")
- Original airdate: ?
Home video releases
- VHS
1986 — The Transformers — Dinobot Island, also includes The Revenge of Bruticus (St. Michael Video Library)
1987 — Transformers — 1: The Revenge of Bruticus / 2: Dinobot Island (Parts 1 and 2) (Starvision)
1988 — The Transformers — The Revenge of Bruticus and Dinobot Island Parts 1 & 2 (V.I.P. Video Gems)
1991 — Transformers — 1: The Revenge of Bruticus / 2: Dinobot Island (Parts 1 and 2) (The Fun House)
1995 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Megatron Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers — Decepticon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
- DVD
2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 2 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — The Original Transformers — Season 2 Part 2: Vol. 8 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 2 Part 2 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Collection 3: Series 2.2 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 16 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers — Volume 06: Stagione Due Parte Quarta (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season Two: Part Two (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Season Two, Volume Two: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)