Space Bots
From Transformers Wiki
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 Don't let go. | ||||||
| "Space Bots" | ||||||
| Season | 2 | |||||
| No. in season | 12 | |||||
| Production company | Hasbro Studios | |||||
| Airdate | May 10,2014 | |||||
| Writer | Greg Johnson | |||||
| Director | Nathan Chew | |||||
| Animation studio | Vision Animation | |||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube
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When Doc Greene and Graham are stranded in orbit, the Rescue Bots take to the stars to rescue them.
Contents |
Synopsis
Huxley Prescottintroduces a new space elevator, theAsgard,which will launch into space on alaser.In mission control,Professor Baranovais wondering where the ship's crew is — as it turns out,Doc Greene's plain forgotten about the launch, whileGraham Burnsis having launch day jitters. TheRescue Botstry to help by reminding Graham that they have experience with space travel, but Graham's not convinced. Soon everything is ready though, and the countdown underway. Prescott, excited to bring his viewers a front row seat, sends hishover camerain, but the device accidentally gets too close and interrupts one of the laser beams for the elevator. With the laser nearing overload, there's a danger theAsgardwill be destroyed. Graham and Doc Greene attempt to escape but find they're sealed in, and are forced to return to their launch chairs. The Rescue Bots swing into action, lifting the craft so thatHeatwavecan get to the camera and remove it from the laser, and the launch goes off successfully.
Frankie,Codyand theChiefcheck with Baranova, who says everything went fine post-launch, so they return to the fire house to use the telescope on the roof. As theAsgardheads upwards, Doc Greene suspects he's forgotten something, while Graham panics every time something minor happens. The elevator finally reaches the top, at which point Graham is violently sick into Doc Greene's lunch bag—the Doc forgot the motion sickness bags. Down on Earth, Frankie peers at theAsgardthrough the telescope, while the Rescue Bots wonder if one of them should have gone too, though they admit to never having done a space rescue before. They spot a meteor through the telescope, though Frankie says it's not going to go near theAsgard.Unfortunately the meteor happens to plough through a cluster of asteroids, sending a number of them spinning. Graham and the Doc are about to go get lunch when the impact alarm sounds, and an errant asteroid strikes the ship, sheering off one of the pods.
Baranova reports that the ship's comms are down, but they're retracting the elevator to bring theAsgardback to Earth. Of more concern, debris from theAsgardis about to rain down on the island, so the team swings into action.ChaseandBoulderuse foam to contain two of the pieces, while Heatwave punches one into the ocean, andBladesuses a deft maneuver involving his scoop claw to take out the last two. With the island safe, the team returns to the launch pad, however when the laser finally deactivates, theAsgardis nowhere to be seen. They realize that theAsgardhas been knocked from the laser beam. Baranova ringsNASA,but they don't have any way to launch a rescue mission on short notice. Luckily the Chief has a contingency plan.
On theAsgard,Graham and Doc Greene discover that their air supply has been leaking away, and they have a half-hour of air left. Help isn't far away, as the rescue team enters the hidden hanger containing the Rescue Bots' ship, theSigma.Meanwhile Graham and Doc realize that they have an oxygen supply in the form of the greenhouse pod. They seal themselves in there, unaware that one of the exterior windows is cracked. TheSigmalifts off from its hanger under thebasketballcourt, and the Rescue Bots discover Cody is aboard, having accidentally stowed away while bringing a first aid kit. Heatwave has Cody get into his passenger compartment for safety. Doc Greene notices the swiftly-spreading crack in the window, however theSigmaarrives soon enough, and Heatwave space-walks over to theAsgard.Entering the other ship, he finds Doc and Graham and has them climb inside him, just before the window breaks. Heatwave clings on, but is ultimately sucked out into space. All seems lost until Cody has the idea of using Heatwave's water reserves as propulsion, and they're able to jet back to theSigma.
Some time later, theSigmacarries theAsgardback to Earth on a cable, and lands. The space travelers are reunited with their family on the ground. They quickly come up with a splashdown explanation to give Baranova. The Rescue Bots muse it was nice to take theSigmafor a spin again.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Humans |
|---|---|
|
Quotes
"The good news is, once you're at zero gravity you can't plummet back down to Earth."
- —Bladestrying to help calm Graham's nerves.
"I get sick riding teeter totters."
- —Graham
"Difficult to believe that we're still connected to Griffin Rock, a hundred and forty miles below us. That's over seven hundred and thirty nine thousand sandwiches stacked end to end."
- —Doc Greeneputs distance into perspective.
"Now what?! We did not train for this! At least I didn't. I may have missed that day."
- —Blades
Notes
Continuity notes
- TheAsgarduses a similar design aesthetic to theMidgard,Baranova's previous design from "The Griffin Rock Triangle",which was also her introductory episode.
- Chase and Boulder use Energize tool versions of theCollision Foam Cannonfrom "Blame the Gremlins".
Transformers references
- (tbd)
Real-world references
- Baranova contactsNASA.
- The idea of aspace elevatorhas roots as far back as 1895, with multiple concepts having been explored during the mid 20th century using tools such as carbon nanotubes.
- Like theMidgard,theAsgardtakes its name from Norse mythology—Asgardbeing the realm inhabited by the gods.
- TheSigmaemerges from a slide-open basketball court, homaging the launch of the X-Jet in the first live-action X-Men movie, complete with a basketball falling into the opening doors.
Animation and technical errors
- Before the title sequence, the countdown is down to 7 seconds. It takes somewhat longer than that for the Rescue Bots to remove the camera.
- At several points, theAsgardexperiences periods of weightlessness. It's later revealed to have a waterfall and stream in one of the pods, which ought to have caused problems.
- In the shot of Griffin Rock as the laser first activates, parts of the scene seem to be colored as though it's night. Noticeably the normally light brown sand is rendered dark brown, and all of the buildings have lights on.
- Chase's arm clips through the hinge on theSigma's ramp as he exits the ship.
- When Heatwave inserts Cody in his chest, his windshield lowers like a typical car's side window. In all other instances of his chest opening, it bends at the base.
Trivia
- This episode was later adapted into storybook form asBlast Off!.
- The point of having a countdown for launches is that you can halt it if something's wrong. Clearly Griffin Rock mission control missed the memo!
- Apparently a meteoroid, which is asmall piece of rock in space,can give great velocity to a gigantic objectthat is classified as a small planet!
- When Heatwave sprays water to propel himself, the water trail accumulates into large droplets. This is how water behaves in space, and it’s a really nice touch on the part of the animators!
Foreign localization
French
- Title:"La conquête de l'espace"(" The Space Conquest ")
- Original airdate:?
Hungarian
- Title:"Űrbotok"(" Space Bots ")
- Original airdate:20 November2014
Italian
Portuguese
Home video releases
2015 —Rescue Bots— "Space Bots" (Beyond Home Entertainment)
