Desperate Actions

« Transformers: Titans Return ep 6 »
So long-eh, Bowser!
"Desperate Actions"
Production company	Hasbro Studios, Machinima
Airdate	December 12, 2017
Written by	Eric S. Calderon F.J. DeSanto Adam Beechen
Director	Yuzo Sato
Animation studio	Tatsunoko Production

Optimus takes back what was his, while Megatron finds a fight instead of answers.

Synopsis

As Trypticon continues his march through the city, Optimus Prime barrels into the Primal Basilica, where Perceptor has finished rebooting the defense systems. At Fortress Maximus, Victorion decides the Combiners should return to Metroplex City, but Megatron appears and tells her not to bother, as the city is a lost cause. Instead, he has sought Victorion to seek answers of a religious nature, as she is the next best resource after the now-deceased Mistress of Flame. Upon learning of the Mistress's death, Victorion accuses Megatron of her murder and the Combiners attack him, though he evades all their blows and asserts his innocence.

Perceptor runs to the Prayer Chamber to find the Mistress of Flame, only to discover her corpse with no evidence of her killer's identity. Optimus arrives and attempts to calm the panicked scientist, reminding him of the more urgent matters at hand. Optimus activates the Basilica's defenses and fires a massive electrical blast that stops Trypticon in place, believing it will delay the Titan at least for a while. As Optimus leads Perceptor to the chamber of the Chorus of the Primes, he explains that he was summoned to the Basilica by the Matrix of Leadership, now understanding why after Perceptor reveals Rodimus had reverted to Hot Rod. Finding the Matrix inside the chamber, Prime calls on the Chorus and asks to bear it once more; they agree and restore it to him.

Still fighting, Megatron grows increasingly angry that no one will listen to his claims, but the Combiners point out the Decepticon isn't exactly known for his honesty. Despite the odds, he finally manages to fight them all off, even picking up Devastator single-handedly and throwing him aside, leaving them all on the ground and demanding they listen. An indignant Victorion throws her sword at him when his back is turned, but it's knocked away at the last second by Windblade, who arrives on the scene with Emissary and demands to know what is going on. Megatron once again asserts that he did not kill the Mistress, this time displaying a holographic video of her last words that proves Overlord's guilt. Victorion insists the Combiners return to Metroplex City to punish the murderer, but Megatron first asks her if the Enigma of Combination's discovery and the Titans' return are meant to signal the beginning of the end. While Victorion is unsure, she too believes unseen forces are behind the events at play, and suggests Megatron seek answers directly from the one he worships. Emissary claims the Combiners alone won't be enough to stop Trypticon, but Victorion states that she and the other Combiners should be able to form themselves into a super-Combiner, though his has never before been willingly attempted. The others can only stand and watch as Victorion draws energy from the Enigma stored within her. The four Combiners are pulled into the air and, in a bright flash, transform into Ultimate Victorion, a Titan-sized spectral being that radiates energy as it teleports away. Resuming their initial mission as Megatron departs, Emissary states that his attempts to wake Fortress Maximus are failing due to the Titan's mind being inaccessible. Instead, he attempts to a procedure to link Windblade to Fortress Maximus and reach his consciousness via her Cityspeaker abilities. Windblade reluctantly agrees, but as Emissary begins directly connecting her, she is overwhelmed by the process and begins screaming in pain. Emissary finishes the operation and yells at Windblade to disconnect, but she can only continue to scream as everything is engulfed in a bright light.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Combiners, to arms! Do not give this vile, traitorous fuse box a chance to sway us with his honeyed words!"

—Victorion isn't interested in talking.

"Statement: past falsehoods indicate probable current dishonesty."

—Computron lays the facts bare.

"I seek to reclaim that which is all of ours...and what was once mine."

—Optimus Prime bears the Matrix once more.

Megatron: "Will you listen?! I didn't kill the Mistress of Flame!"
Computron: "Observation: Megatron has not proven trustworthy for the last 14,281 cycles."
Victorion: "When have you ever told the truth, fiend?!"
Megatron: "Well...now, for once, I-"

—Even Megatron knows he doesn't have the best track record.

"I will cut you from hood ornament to rear spoiler!"
"Good luck with that."

—Victorion threatens to slice Megatron in parts he...doesn't actually have.

"Why didn't you show us this before?"
"I didn't exactly have a free second before a sword was thrown at my head!"

—Emissary and Megatron.

"Perhaps, Megatron, you are finally seeing the light beyond control through tyranny."

—Victorion finally calms down.

Emissary: "With any procedure, there's always a slight possibility of something going wrong."
Windblade: "How 'slight' a possibility?"
Emissary: "Maybe...2 in 3?"
Windblade: "2 in 3?!"
Emissary: "You got a better option?"
Megatron: "...well, don't look at me."

—Never tell Windblade the odds.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Megatron's holovideo plays a clip from the previous episode. Why he was recording it, or how he managed to continuously capture the scene from multiple angles, is anyone's guess.
• Victorion mentions Starscream's previous unsuccessful attempt to become a super-Combiner.
• Victorion draws on the powers of the Enigma of Combination, which she absorbed into herself back in "Destruction's Dawn".

Transformers references

• Victorion's quote about Megatron seeing the light seems to be a response to his longtime motto, "Peace through tyranny".
• Victorion claims she follows the will of Nexus Prime, the original Combiner.

Animation and technical errors

• The pool of internal fluid that the Mistress of Flame had been lying dead in seems to have disappeared.
• Perceptor bemoans the Mistress of Flame's death on the grounds that Trypticon will destroy the city "if we don't fight with every Autobot we have". The Mistress of Flame wasn't an Autobot, and for that matter, weren't most of the city's defenders Decepticons, such as the Elite Air Resistance Squadron, who were killed in "Our Heroes Respond"?
• How, exactly, did Megatron reach Fortress Maximus before Windblade? She can fly!
• Megatron's claim that "the Titans are returning; nothing can stop them all" is rather odd, seeing as how the only Titan that actually needs to be stopped is Trypticon.
• Emissary demands to know why they weren't shown Megatron's footage sooner, but he literally had only arrived with Windblade about 30 seconds prior; not exactly like he'd been waiting long or like he knew why they were fighting in the first place.