Prometheus Unbound
From Transformers Wiki
| ||||||
 "Oh no. Promotheus." "Prometheus! " | ||||||
| "Prometheus Unbound" | ||||||
| Season | 2 | |||||
| No. in season | 3 | |||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Airdate | February 23,2000 (Canada) August 26,2000 (USA) | |||||
| Written by | Marv Wolfman | |||||
| Directed by | Sebastian Brodin | |||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | |||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | |||||
The Maximals infiltrate Megatron's fortress, but are betrayed by their new friend.
Contents |
Synopsis
A giant Cybertronian moon passes (rumbles, actually) overhead.Noblehowls at it, much to the consternation of the distantMaximals—their new friend has run off yet again.Nightscreamblames the team's treatment of the newcomer.Cheetorgently defends their actions as being for Noble's own good. "And ours,"Rattrapadds.
Blackarachniais vaguely unsettled by Noble; Rattrap is freaked out. Nightscream doesn't take this well, and he storms off withOptimusin pursuit. Rattrap and Blackarachnia note unhappily that Noble is probably heading for "the same place as the last five nights".
Noble is furiously banging on the doors toMegatron'scitadelwhen Nightscream and Optimus arrive. He transforms to Savage form when they confront him, then continues trying to claw his way in. A bunch of snaking cables worm out to attack Nightscream when he tries again to stop Savage—and Savage knocks him out of their way. The cables envelop and constrain him, and the Maximals peel him free to find him back in Noble form.
Noble seems confused about how he got there and says the Maximals should lock him away. But Optimus defends him, saying he saved Nightscream even in his Savage guise. Rattrap isn't buying it. Nightscream nastily puts Rattrap back in his place, saying he knows what it's like to be alone.
As usual, Optimus calms things down, focusing the team on finding the missing Sparks. The group prepares to infiltrate the citadel to look for clues. Noble wants to help, saying he's been drawn here for a reason, but Optimus refuses—they're going to have enough to worry about. Nightscream supports Noble, but Optimus doesn't budge, and Nightscream storms off.
Rattrap plugs in and the doors slide open. He's then restrained from rushing in by Blackarachnia, as Optimus reveals a destructive force field across the entryway. A quick shot to the control panel takes it out. Too easy—this was the trap they weremeantto find. The group enters...and Noble, some distance away, turns and sprints through the doorway. A pursuing Nightscream follows just as it closes.
Optimus is ticked off, but Noble says he couldn't help himself and seems to be having trouble controlling himself.
As Rattrap begins a search for the security shut-off, Noble takes off running for the throne room...and promptly steps on a floor sensor, activating a field of floating mines. The Maximals freeze, but just then Noble's eyes glow red and he morphs back into Savage, setting off a string of the mines. KaBOOM!
The group groaningly gets to its feet, and Rattrap chews out Nightscream for dragging Noble along. They hear distant roaring, and split up—Nightscream and Optimus hunt for Savage, while Rattrap heads for the throne room with Cheetor and Blackarachnia as backup. As the two groups proceed, both Savage and Noble watch from the shadows.
Nightscream hears Savage's roaring and takes off after him. Meanwhile, Savage changes back to Noble and opens the doors to Megatron's throne room. "Success!" he says blissfully, as he sees Megatron's empty command harness. Noble begins leaping across the floating jigsaw puzzle bridge, but loses his grip on one section and falls. Nightscream and Optimus arrive and go after him.
Rattrap and company arrive a moment later and stare at the drifting pieces of floating bridge. Cheetor and Blackarachnia go first and offer the less-mobile Rattrap assistance in getting to the harness. He plugs in, and the bridge assembles itself under their feet. Screens of data assemble before Rattrap. He begins searching, but everything's encrypted. Optimus encourages haste as he arrives with Nightscream and Noble—and the latter's gentle meekness abruptly disappears.
Noble exults in being in the throne room, then spots Rattrap in the harness and immediately morphs to Savage. The Maximals realize he can control his changes. Savage blasts Rattrap out of the harness. Immediately, the bridge deconstructs and alarms go off. TentacledSpark extractorsslither out of the walls. The group (including Savage) makes quick work of them, and Rattrap gets back into the harness as Savage morphs back to Noble, standing next to the harness. Rattrap starts to show gratitude for Noble being back in control—but Noble yanks him out by the tail and, in a dramatically backlit scene, tosses him away. He enters the harness himself, but nothing happens.
Noble realizes he can't interface while in an organic body. He leaps clear, grabs two Spark extractors, and applies them to...himself. A furiously burning orange Spark emerges, and the body collapses. The Spark enters the command harness and shoots up the wires as Megatron's voice cackles: "Free...at last. Free at last!"
The Maximals charge outside to see thegiant Megatron headnow fully animated. Megatron delightedly explains that "Noble" was just a ruse, his gigantic eyes glowing in synch with his words. Nightscream is crushed as a gloating Megatron details how easily the young Maximal had been duped into helping his worst enemy.
The big floating head fires a beam into the planet, and all systems come back on-line—including the drone army, which storms to the attack. As the others fight them off, Rattrap opens up a panel, and Optimus orders a retreat. Nobody objects as the badly outnumbered group scurries underground.
The Maximals lament their faux victory. Nightscream is still shattered, and Rattrap offers his sincere sympathy.
Back in the empty citadel, Noble's eye opens, and he stirs with a growl...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Vehicons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Rattrap:Oh, again we gotta play dogcatcher?
Nightscream:Maybe if we try treating him less like an animal and more like a person, he wouldn't want to escape.
Cheetor:Maybe so, Nightscream. But until Noble learns to control his Savage side, we have to restrain him for his own good.
Rattrap:(to Blackarachnia)Not to mention ours.
- —The Maximals discussingNoble'snightly escapes.
"I can't say why, but something about him gives me the creeps."
"Well, let me see. Is it his eyes? The hair? Or maybe it's his little tendency to keep turning into a giant, wigged-out, flesh-eatinggila monster!"
- —BlackarachniaandRattrapon Noble.
Rattrap:Eh, where do you think Fido's going this time?
Blackarachnia:Gee, let me think...the same place as the last five nights?
- —Rattrap's not the only one who's talented at sarcasm.
"Are we unclear on the concept of 'no'?"
- —Optimus Primal
"Told you draggin' along the dragon was a mistake, but did you listen?Noooo!"
"Just shut your trap, rat, and get out of my face!"
- —RattrapandNightscreamchide each other with wordplay.
(After Savage has escaped into Megatron's citadel).
Cheetor:We better find him before he destroys the whole place, along with any hope of finding those sparks.
Optimus Primal:We'll split up. Nightscream, you and I will hunt for Savage. Rattrap, head for the throne room and tap into the mainframe. Cheetor and Blackarachnia, watch his tail.
Blackarachnia:Oh, the glamorous assignment.
- —Blackarachniacontinues to display her razor-sharp wit.
Cheetor:"Something's following us."
Rattrap:"Aw, man, I sure hope it ain't Savage."
Blackarachnia:"You better hope it is. Anything else is bound to be worse."
Rattrap:"Oh, brighten my day."
- —The good news just keeps coming for Rattrap
"Must be the maid's day off."
- —Rattrapregarding the state of the citadel
"Hey guys, how do you like the new housecoat?"
"Frumpy, but functional."
- —Rattraptries on Megatron's command harness andBlackarachniagives her opinion.
Rattrap:(using Megatron's command harness)Nyeah, okay, let's see, uh hehe, got it, got it, get it, got it...
Cheetor:You searching for those missing sparks?
Rattrap:No, I'm reading the Sunday funnies...What do you think I'm doing?!
- —RattraphackingMegatron'sdatabase.
"Ok, who ordered the charbroiled rat?"
- —Rattrapafter being blasted out of Megatron's command harness by Savage.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"Past experience?"
- —BlackarachniaandCheetor
"Where's Noble? What have you done with his spark?!"
"There never was any 'Noble spark'."
"...no! He was my friend!"
"For an eternity, I slaved to free myself from the organic material contaminating my otherwise perfect technological body. I finally succeeded in separating the two, but my Spark remained with the wrong half—the organic half. I knew that the answer to curing myself lay inside my citadel—but as an organic beast, I could never hope to enter it and survive. Which is why I needed you…Nightscream. Naive. Headstrong. And utterly malleable. You proved the perfect pawn."
"NOOO!"
"And now in gratitude, I will free you fromyour organic bodies!"
- —Nightscreamgets his heart broken, whileMegatronprepares to break more than that.
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- A handful of noticeable clipping errors:
- Blackarachnia's finger into her left boob as she says "something about him gives me the creeps".
- Rattrap's hand through his ear as he makes a hair-stroking motion.
- Rattrap's helmet into his tail after Savage knocks him over to Primal's feet.
- Noble's claws through his left thigh upon entering the citadel.
- And after donning it, the back of Megatron's helmet and its cables through Noble's entire backside.
- Blackarachnia is shown zapping two of the spark extractors… although they don’t appear to be touching the platform that she’s electrifying.
Continuity errors
- Blackarachnia says that Noble has been going to the Citadel for "the last five nights". In the next scene, Cheetor states that Noble's latest attempt to break into the Citadel, at the beginning of the episode, is "the fifth time" he's tried to do so. If we're to accept Blackarachnia's statement as true, then what Cheetor states is the fifth time should instead be the sixth time.
- The Maximals don't revert to their beast forms as usual after being knocked out by the mines.
- The Maximals are shocked that Savage/Noble possesses a spark because he's completely organic, but they believed him to be an ordinary Maximal who somehow wound up with an unusual organic body. The mystery here is why he turns from one organic form to another, but, being a Transformer, there was no reason to believe he didn't have a spark—without one, he couldn't have memories of his prior life.
- Megatron's spark is depicted as bright orange, compared to the usual electric blue of (non-technorganic) sparks.
- Quite a few things are amiss with Megatron's efforts to purge his organic side:
- When exactly did he have time to do this? All his attempts to remove his beast mode in season 1 met with complete failure, and he certainly didn't have an opportunity from "End of the Line"onward, during which he still clearly possessed a beast mode.
- We saw Megatron's body completely disintegrate in "Fallout".Yet now the organic side of that body has become Savage/Noble?
- Wheredidthe wolf form come from?
Continuity notes
- Optimus mentions that it's been at least five days since the events of the previous episode.
- Cheetor's roaring vocal effect as the spark extractor cables catch him is re-used from thesaber-toothed catin theBeast Warsepisode "Bad Spark".
Transformers references
- Rattrap describes Megatron'sbig floating headas a tribute toUnicron.
Real-world references
- Prometheus Unboundis the title ofan incomplete playby Aeschylus, which inspired a playof the same nameby Percy Shelley. Both concern Prometheus, a character in Greek mythology who stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to humans; as punishment, he was cast into Hades and tied to a rock, where an eagle ate his liver every day. Megatron inBeast Machinesseems to see himself as a figure akin to Prometheus, bringing the 'gifts' of freedom from organic matter, individuality, and consciousness; as well as technological perfection, to all of Cybertron. Up until now, he has been going to increasing lengths to purge himself of his own organic components, which he sees as a contamination of his mechanical purity; being trapped in a purely organic body as a result thus mirrors Prometheus's torment in Hades. The act of freeing his spark from Noble's body and bringing it to a purely technological existence is compared to Prometheus breaking free from his bond in order to confront Zeus. In Aeschylus's play, Prometheus and Zeus eventually reconcile; in Shelley's, Zeus is cast down, freeing humans and gods from his tyranny. Both of the endings foreshadowthe final episode.Pretty deep for a cartoon about toy robots, huh?
- Noble kicks off the episode by howling at the moon, befitting his werewolf-ish appearance.
- Rattrap accompanies his access into Megatron's citadel with a jovial "Open, says me," a play on "Open Sesame".
- Rattrap refers to the "Sunday funnies".
- Cheetor makes a few jokes about sushi as he chops up the spark extractor.
Foreign localization
French
- Title:"Prométhée"(" Prometheus ")
German
- Title:"Die Täuschung"(" The Deception ")
- Original airdate:December 17,2000
Italian
- Title:"Dentro la cittadella"(" Inside the citadel ")
- When Blackarachnia pulls Rattrap's tail, the line: «Hey! What gives?» becomes: «My tail! Be careful!», making it look like Blackarachnia didn't do it on purpose. Also, the word "careful" is used in male form (attento) instead of female form (attenta) despite Blackarachnia being a female.
- Intead of "chop-boiled rat", Rattrap says "well cookedmouse".
Japanese
- Title:"Kaibutsu no o Mezame"( quái vật のお mục 覚め," The Awakening of the Monster ")
- Original airdate:December 26,2004
Mandarin
- Title:"Zhēnxiàng Dà Bái"( chân tương đại bạch," The Truth Comes Out ")
Brazilian Portuguese
- Title:"Prometeu Desacorrentado"(" Prometheus Unchained ")
Spanish
- Title:"Prometeo Liberado"(" Prometheus Unbound ")
Home video releases
- DVD
2005 —Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Returns— Volume 4 (Geneon Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 —Beast Machines: Transformers— The Complete Series (Rhinomation)
2014 —Transformers: Beast Machines— The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2007 —Transformers: Beast Machines— Season Two: Volume One (Sony)
2007 —Transformers: Beast Machines— Complete Season Two (Sony)
2009 —Transformers: Beast Machines— Intégrale Saison 2 (Sony) — French audio only.
