Kingdom episode 1
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| Episode 1 | ||||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation,Rooster Teeth,Entertainment One | |||||
| Airdate | July 29,2021(Netflix) | |||||
| Written by | Mae Catt | |||||
| Director | Takashi Kamei | |||||
| Animation studio | Polygon Pictures | |||||
 Watch this episode on Netflix
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The Autobots and Decepticons crash land on Earth, meeting their descendants—the Maximals and Predacons.
Contents |
Synopsis
TheNemesisburns up in its descent to theEarth's surface, while theDecepticonsonboard are violently thrown about their bridge.StarscreamandMegatronare both thrown into disarray over their predicament, and theNemesissoon crashes in a lush jungle on the surface. Megatron receives a vision ofGalvatron,who has been forcibly summoned byUnicron.Clutching aGolden Disk,Galvatron swears to find a way back to free himself. Awakening from his vision, Megatron still holds theMatrix of Leadershipin hand.
TheAutobotsslowly awaken, battered by their crash-landing in theArk.Optimus Primerequests a status report fromWheeljack,who discovers that they landed into an active volcano and sustained serious ship system failures. Optimus realizes he is injured, but asksRatchetto tend to the others first. Wheeljack and Arcee discoverTeletraan Iisn't 100% out of commission—it ismumblingsomething. Optimus orders Wheeljack to repair the ship and reiterates the importance of locating theAllspark.
Noticing a cheetah on the ship's monitor, Bumblebee becomes nervous about its whereabouts. Wheeljack then finds a large rat chewing wires in the Ark's underbelly, and the ship's crew is suddenly attacked by a rhinoceros and a white tiger! The cheetah attacks as well, seeing throughMirage's holographic field, but is repelled by Bumblebee. Optimus shoots the organic creatures with hisIon blasterto halt their attack only to be assaulted and floored by a huge ape.
As Optimus throws his assailant off, the gorilla transforms intoOptimus Primal.As the other organics reveal their Cybertronian modes, Prime vehemently denies any affiliation with "Nemesis", though Primal is quick to overtake the injured Autobot. Primal refuses to believe that his opponent is the original Optimus Prime and demands that he sees the Matrix of Leadership for validation of Prime's title. Prime begins to suffer from his wound, forcing Ratchet to intervene between their fight to tend to the Autobot leader.
A falcon spotsLaserbeakexiting theNemesis.Megatron, with the Matrix now strapped to his chest, orders his troops to work on the ship so they can leave Earth, asserting his desire to locate the Allspark and repeating his claims about "saving Cybertron". Megatron turns down Starscream's request to scout the area, whileSoundwavereports that Laserbeak has spotted intruders...
The Decepticons wander into the jungle and find a purpleTyrannosaurus Rexand aVelociraptor,the former of which recognizes Megatron as his ancestor and showers him with praise.Predacon Megatronand his partnerDinobotreveal their robot modes and bow to the Decepticons, revealing the Golden Disk.
Back at theArk,Prime barely recovers from his wound and asksProwlfor information on their visitors. Primal wishes to salvage materials from theArkto fixtheir shipand leave the Autobots behind. Rightfully enraged, Bumblebee demands that the bots explain themselves, but Primal churlishly says they owe the Autobotsnothing.However, Prime offers an alliance with their former attackers and recounts their dreadful journey through space, and offers to donate parts to the Maximal cause. Primal insults Prime for losing the Allspark, which caused the downfall of Cybertron and the inhabitants suffering for it. Prime explains he is on a quest to find the Allspark, which is on Earth, much to the bots' surprise. The tiger bot,Tigatron,receives a transmission from his comradeAirazor,the falcon, revealing the threat of both Megatrons. Optimus Primal finally explains that he is the leader of theMaximals,who are bots from the future.
Predacon Megatron explains to the original Megatron that the Maximals andPredaconswere from the future, where the strongest Cybertronians survived in a dead Cybertron due to the loss of the Allspark. When the original Megatron questions why they went to Earth at this time of all places, Predacon Megatron asserts that he specifically wanted to deliver the Golden Disk to his ancestor—the disk contains all of Megatron's past, present, and future memoirs, unique to hisEnergonsignature.When the original Megatron suspects treachery on Predacon Megatron's behalf, he explains that his existence from the future of Cybertron is essentially proof that Prime never succeeded in retrieving the Allspark. As Starscream expresses disgust at the sycophantic Predacons and his lack of recognition from his peers, the arachnid PredaconBlackarachniasneaks up on Starscream to polish his wounded ego. The two 'cons then form an alliance in secret.
Back at theArk,the Autobots and Maximals struggle to trust each other, with the rat MaximalRattrapsuggesting the discovery of the Allspark will halt their alternate timeline and erase the Maximals' existence, but the idealistic cheetah MaximalCheetorargues that stopping Megatron is more important than safeguarding their own existence.
Meanwhile, Airazor is spotted by Laserbeak and gunned down, enabling Soundwave to drag her back to theNemesisat the mercy of both Megatrons...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots/Maximals | Decepticons/Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"It is you, isn't it?Yesss!Lord Megatron, at last! "
(Predacon Megatron transforms and bows his head to his ancestor)
"Megatron... greatest leader of the Decepticons, my namesake, whose destiny lies in anendlesswar. That is, until now... thanks tothis."
- —Predacon Megatron,with the Golden Disk, meets the ancestor he holds to the highest esteem
"You stole the Allspark and left Cybertron torot!And while you were apparentlygallivantingthrough the stars, we were left to deal with the consequences of yourtreachery!"
- —Meanwhile,Optimus Primalispissedat his ancestor
"We...haveto help them. Fate has warped time and space to give us an opportunity to aid our ancestors in theirdarkest hour.You're going to let thatslip by?"
- —Tigatronputs a paw forward to help, and drops a quick reference
Notes
Continuity notes
- This is the first time Optimus Prime is confused for a "Nemesis",a trend that continues for the episodes to follow until culminating in thefinale.
- A random monitor in theArkdisplays the same images Teletraan I processed inEarthriseepisode 6,now in an unobstructed view, which are all references to the originalThe Transformerscartoon. A full list can be foundhere.
- Optimus Prime lists the major events theArk-bound Autobots went through inEarthriseto Optimus Primal.
- Several plot points were foreshadowed in theKingdomwebpage in the form of messages from the future:
- Predacon Megatron's message is brought in during his conversation with Decepticon Megatron, as the Golden Disk is stated to be "the key to saving the one [the former] holds in [the] highest esteem".
- Rattrap's message is alluded to when he suggests the likelihood of the AllSpark's discovery changing history, as it is stated that "a new alliance may threaten [the Maximals'] existence".
- Cheetor's message is referenced via his idealism, which is stated to "pave the way for a valuable alliance".
Continuity errors
- Megatron lacks the bandage and its respective wound fromEarthriseepisode 4,when he first appeared with the Matrix strapped to his chest and for the rest of the show. Maybe the wound healed?
- Predacon Megatron claims he decrypted a fewminutesof the Golden Disk, despite onlyCybertronian units of timebeing used in the show previously and after barring oneother instance.
Animation and technical errors
- During Galvatron's departure from theDead Universe,he had hisparticle cannonand tossed the Golden Disk to Megatron, though when he returns to Unicron's domain, his particle cannon is gone and the Disk is in his hand. The Disk disappears when Galvatron pushes himself away.
- The pupils in Predacon Megatron'sTyrannosaurus rexdisappear when he transforms for the first time.
Transformers references
- Optimus Prime is gashed in his side/lower torso, much likeThe Transformers: The Movie,albeit on the opposite side.
- Optimus Prime swears byPrimus.
- Rhinox name drops theAxalonfrom the'90s cartoon.
- As seenabove,Predacon Megatron's reaction to meeting the original Megatron is from "Master Blaster".
- Predacon Megatron pets hisTyrannosaurus rex-head hand, much like he did inBeast Wars.
- Starscream calls himselfAir Commander,his function on hisoriginal toy.Coincidentally or not, Starscream also repeatedly referenced this rank during hisappearancein the originalBeast Warscartoon.
- Arcee mentions that she wouldn't be surprised if the Maximals wereSharkticons.
- Tigatron says the Autobots are in theirdarkest hour.
Real-world references
- A spacecraft can be briefly seen in the background when Galvatron returns to his time. This is presumably the NASAVoyagerspace probewhere the real-life Golden Disk resides.
- The scene of the puddle shaking as a consequence of the stomping feet of Predacon Megatron (while approaching the Decepticons) is clearly an homage toRexy's first appearance inJurassic Park.
Trivia
- The episode has reused footage of Galvatron's departure fromEarthriseepisode 5.
- Predacon Megatron says to Megatron that he is his descendant, and while the Decepticons are collectively depicted as the "ancestors" of the Predacons, this statement (like a similar one made by theoriginalOptimus Primal in the episode "Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search"ofBeast Machines) seems to imply a deeper relationship between the two Megatrons.
Foreign localization
External links
- Writer Mae Catt'sTwitter threadfor script commentary and unused dialogue
