Project Predacon

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Okay, who cooked the turkey too long?
"Project Predacon"
Season	3
No. in season	5
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	May 17,2013
Written by	Duane Capizzi
Directed by	Shaunt Nigoghossian
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on YouTube

The Decepticons launch a new scheme to clone an army of beasts.

Synopsis

Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak, and seats thirty five? Canyonero! Canyonero!

Fowlerarrives at theAutobots'new basedriving a massive military truck, described as an "experimental, all-terrain, expeditionary fighting vehicle".Optimusgives his approval and begins to scan it.

The next day,Ultra MagnusandWheeljackreturn from the rubble of the former Autobot base with what little they could find. Wheeljack is happy enough to find theirlobbingball, which he immediately throws toBulkheadto initiate a game. Unprepared, Bulkhead is unable to catch the ball and it bounces off him, very nearly crushingMiko,who is pulled to safety byJack.Ultra Magnus admonishes Wheeljack's reckless behavior, once again citing his distaste forWreckerbehavior. He tells Wheeljack that if he'd rather not follow orders, he's free to walk away, as he did back onCybertron.Wheeljack remarks that ifhis shipwasn't destroyed, he'd do just that.

Meanwhile, Optimus flies with his newjet packto investigate recentDecepticonactivity. He comes upon a cave entrance in the side of a mountain and transforms into his new vehicle mode to enter.

Miko wishes all of the Autobots had jet packs, butRatchetreminds everyone that theForge of Solus Primehad been depleted of its power.Smokescreenreturns from scanning new "war paint", but this fails to impress Ultra Magnus, who immediately assigns him a menial duty. Smokescreen grumbles about how he nearly became aPrime,yet is still treated like a rookie, but pretends to have said something else when Ratchet overhears.

In the cave, Optimus comes across a group ofInsecticonsexcavating some very large skeletal remains, and makes short work of most of them, but he is unable to preventBombshockfrom escaping with a piece of the fossil.

Optimus returns the rest of the fossil to the base, and reveals that it's the remains of aPredacon.Smokescreen notes that Predacons are supposed to have been extinct since before most life began on Cybertron. The Autobots deduce that the recently returnedShockwaveis behindthe one they already fought,and most likely plans to clone more of them.

Once upon a time, robot animals ruled the earth.

Aboard theNemesis,Starscreamreacts to the presence of Predacon remains on Earth with cynicism.Megatronexplains that the remains actually belong to an army of clones that he had commissioned during the war. They were sent to Earth to kill Autobots and gatherenergon,and they remained there until succumbing to the ravages of time. Shockwave confirms that he can create new clones from the endomatter of the deceased batch.

Ratchet shows the children images of Predacons from Cybertronian historical texts. Jack recognizes them as robotic versions of creatures from Earth's own various mythologies. Optimus notes that the Predacons were very likely the inspiration for such tales.

Ratchet revisits hissynthetic energonformula, in hopes of replenishing the energon stores lost when their base was destroyed. Fowler suddenly reports that satellites have picked up Decepticon activity in bothTexasandScotland.Optimus assigns Ultra Magnus, now wielding the depowered Forge, to lead the Wreckers to Scotland. Meanwhile, he,Bumblebee,and SmokescreenGroundBridgeto a field ofoilderricks in Texas and split up.

Alone together, Smokescreen asks Bumblebee if he'd ever wanted to be a Prime. Bumblebee says his only aspiration is to be a warrior. When Smokescreen asks why Optimus hasn't promoted him from scout yet, Bumblebee reveals that it's his choice. When Smokescreen asks him why he wants to wait, Bumblebee responds that he would rather be promoted on Cybertron. Smokescreen notes that this would be more meaningful, and that Bumblebee was one patient guy, musing that he ought to take a cue from him. They then interrupt a squad ofVehicons,only to be interrupted by Shockwave toting the remains of a Predacon. Shockwave flees from the Autobots but runs into Optimus, who blasts him out of vehicle mode. Just then, a GroundBridge opens andSoundwaveemerges in alt-form for some altitude-combat with a flying Optimus. Shockwave makes a run for the GroundBridge, but is attacked by Bumblebee and Smokescreen.

Ultimate Tug of War: Who Will Take Home the Wishbone???

While Optimus fends off Soundwave,Laserbeakis deployed and gets in close, delivering an electrical shock that sends Optimus crashing to the ground. On the highway overpass above him, Bumblebee and Smokescreen are able to wrest the Predacon fossil away from Shockwave, but not without breaking it, sending a small piece falling over the edge. Optimus rushes back into the air to catch it, but Soundwave activates a second GroundBridge that catches the falling fossil in mid-air and deposits it into Megatron's waiting hand aboard theNemesis.Their mission complete, the Decepticons retreat through the GroundBridge from which Soundwave emerged.

On theNemesis,Megatron decides that Shockwave is much too valuable to Project Predacon to risk using in the field. Shockwave agrees to confine himself to his lab and leave the task of collecting bones to Starscream. Megatron notes how anxious he is to set his army of beasts on humankind.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"What were you thinking, soldier?"
"I was thinking Bulk could catch that lob."

—Ultra MagnusandWheeljackair their grievances like mature adults who hate each other.

"I was nearly a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie."

—Smokescreen

Raf:They're like Earth's dinosaurs.
Jack:Which means for you guys, running into one would be like us meeting a T-Rex.
Miko:So, then what were Dinobots?
Bulkhead:Totally different.

"Autobots, we must become Beast Hunters."

—Optimus Primesees the writing on the package--Er, wall

"Pfft. Another scavenger hunt?"

—Starscream

"How logical would it really be to locate all the dusty remains of your former pets?"
"You are not suggesting that I would send my creations to a distant planet without first having them microchipped?"
"Well, I-- Well, I was. But... seriously? You did?"

—Starscreamis shut down byShockwave

"Um... what's a kilt?"
"Agent Fowler can at times be oblique. I find it best to simply nod and mobilize."

—Ultra MagnusandOptimus Prime

Notes

Continuity notes

• Wheeljack finds his and Bulkhead's Lobbing ball from "Con Job"in the rubble of the former Autobot base and brings it back to the new base to continue the fun.
• Ultra Magnus confirms he led the Wreckers back on Cybertron, as inAlex Irvine'sExodusandExilesnovels. However, he also notes that the assignment was given to him by Optimus Prime, and refers to them as "your Wreckers" to Wheeljack, indicating that he had no part in founding the team.
• TheDinobots,a subgroup of Autobots mutated by Shockwave into dinosaur forms and who serve as the main characters in the tie-inRage of the DinobotsandBeast Hunterscomics,have at least been mentioned in passing to Miko in the past.
• Megatron reveals that he had an army of Predacon clones commissioned during thewar for Cybertron.Included in the artistic flashback appear to beHun-Gurr(orTwinstrike),Lazerback,Grimwing,Rippersnapper,Ripclaw,Skystalkerand a previous incarnation ofPredaking.Also, the Predacon picture Ratchet shows the kids looks somewhat similar to Ripclaw, minus the Siphon Claw on her tail.
• Ratchet returns to work on the synthetic energon formula he last tried replicating in "Stronger, Faster".
• Laserbeak is apparently up and running now. Soundwave must have repaired him since "Darkmount, NV".
• Megatron mentions Shockwave's apparent demise in the space bridge accident in "Out of the Past".
• This episode appears to occur concurrently with thefollowingepisode.

Transformers references

• Wheeljack's near-lethal game of catch is quite similar to the one in "Rise of the Constructicons"fromTransformers Animated.It even has Bulkhead involved, albeit as the failed catcher instead of the tosser.
• Smokescreen uses the "robots in disguise" tagline as justification for his new paint job.
• Bulkhead refers to the potential threat of a cloned Predacon army as a "Beast Wars".Megatron continues the trend by saying he sent his army of Predacon clones to Earth to" unleash the beast "on Autobots stationed there.
• Ultra Magnus arms himself witha very large hammer.

Real-world references

• Micro-chipping pets is a human method of identifying lost dogs, cats and other pets through use of a sub-dermal chip implant. Mind you, in the real world, it works by scanning the animal directly to see if it even has a chip that stores the owner's information, rather than the show's GPS-like take.
• In possibly the most self-indulgent meta-reference inTransformersever, the Autobots' new base is set up inside "Unit:E".This was the title of Hasbro's more-or-less stillborncrossover franchise,mi xing numerous properties Hasbro owned yet didn't have much going on with at the moment, includingMicronauts,Jem,M.A.S.K.,Stretch Armstrong,Candyland(no, really), and more.TransformersandG.I. Joealso had cameos as part of a colossal multiverse. Fowler's office door even uses theUnit:Elogo. While "Grill"made a background reference to it, this episode is pretty blatant in its reference to it.
• As part of the gleeful shamelessness, Fowler says that the truck Optimus scans comes from the "M.A.S.K." division.M.A.S.K.was all about humans piloting (mostly) ordinary-looking vehicles that transformed into battle-modes.

Errors

• When Optimus scans his new vehicle mode, the beams from his eyes are blue instead of green like previously shown scans. However,theotherscannerswere all Decepticons and/or non-Primes, so that may be a factor.
• Optimus conveniently has kibble matching his new vehicle mode before he scans the truck, but that's nothing new.
• Before Shockwave says "...but there appears to be an enormous mass upon the upper hull", Starscream's left leg is slightly transparent.
• Bumblebee states to Smokescreen that it was his own choice to not yet graduate from scout to warrior, which contradicts with Prime's belief in "Masters & Students"that Bumblebee wasn't experienced enough in the field. It's possible that Prime has since changed his mind on the subject.
• When Soundwave transforms to robot mode and lands on the clifftop, he's wearing Laserbeak, even though at that point his deployer's separated from him.
• There's no logical reason for the tug of war for the Predacon jawbone. Since Smokescreen is wearing the phase shifter, he could have simply pulled it right through Shockwave's hand, as demonstrated in "New Recruit"and"Inside Job".Shockwave, meanwhile, is using his only hand to pull back, instead of shooting or punching Smokescreen and Bumblebee with his free cannon arm.

Trivia

• This episode premieres a newtitle sequencewith significantly morePredakingand Shockwave in it, and also features Prime's new body and Bumblebee's new paint job.
• This episode establishes that when a Transformer upgrades their body, the alternate mode for that body is reset and they must choose another appropriate one.

Foreign localization

French

• Title:"Les Clones de Shockwave"(" Shockwave's Clones ")
• Original airdate:?

German

• Title:"Projekt Predacon"(" Project Predacon ")
• Original airdate:4 October2013

Hungarian

• Title:"A Predacon művelet"(" The Predacon Procedure ")
• Original airdate:6 September2013

• Strangely, Optimus Prime is dubbed by a different actor in the opening scene, with heavy voice modulation. The rest of the episodes features his regular voice actor.

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title:"Projeto Predacon"(" Project Predacon ")
• Original airdate:1 November2013

Italian

• Title:"Progetto Predacon"(" Project Predacon ")
• Original airdate:6 September2013

Spanish (Spain)

• Title:"Proyecto Predacon"(" Project Predacon ")
• Original airdate:14 October2013

Home video releases

DVD

2013 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2014 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season 3 Volume 2: Race for Salvation (Madman Entertainment)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Saison 3 Volume 1: Le règne de Mégatron (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season 3 Volume 1: Battle for Darkmount (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Staffel 3 Teil 1: Schlacht um Darkmount (Primal Screen) — English, German, Dutch and French audio.
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season Three Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Intégrale Saison 3 (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— The Complete Season 3 (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Die komplette Staffel 3 (Primal Screen) — English, German, Dutch and French audio.
2015 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— The Complete Season 3 (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.

Blu-ray

2013 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2016 —Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters— Season Three Collection (Madman Entertainment)