Chase (episode)

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"Topham, help me! I'll turn myself in I swear!" "End of the line, slaghead."
"Chase" Ảo ảnh(かげ) (Kage) "Illusion: Shadow"
Production code	TF: A-24
Production company	TV Tokyo,NAS
Airdate	January 27,2003(UK, English premiere) January 29,2003 (USA) 20 June2003(Japanese)
Writer	Ryō Motohira
Director	Mihiro Yamaguchi
Animation studio	Actas Inc.,Studio Guts,Big Bang
Continuity	Unicron Trilogy

The kids and their transforming partners are sucked into a digital world of Sideways's creation, where they meet a truly frightening harbinger of Chaos.

Synopsis

Carloscomplains about being bored with hanging out in theAutobotbase all the time.Alexistells him that being in the Autobot base is serious business.Raddoes his best to calm Alexis, and Carlos references the Autobots' sound defense system, but Alexis refuses to chill and assertively walks off with Sureshock.

Elsewhere, the Autobots fight theDecepticons.

Alexis panics because she can't locate anything on the Autobots' radar, as the Autobots' monitors are all solid black. When Alexis's laptop freezes, Rad speculates that the technical problems could be an internet virus or a hacker. Alexis confirms Rad's suspicions and takes countermeasures, but it's too late. The kids watch as the virus devours their system.

Desperate, Alexis tries to hard reboot, then disconnects by removing her computer's network wire. TheMini-Constry to deactivate the rest of the Autobot computers; however, physics take a back seat as the digital disruption spreads off the monitors and forms a spatial anomaly inside the room, solidifying into the shape ofSideways.

Rad and Carlos catch a bad case of Photoshop.

With Alexis's best efforts at a technical solution rendered useless, Rad tries to disengage Sideways by literally smashing the Autobots' computer consoles. Alexis and Carlos join in the destruction, causing Sideways to disintegrate and get sucked into a vortex from one of the Autobot monitors. In Sideways's place, a colorful show of light shines on the kids and their Mini-Cons, sucking the "spirits" out of their bodies and sending the kids into the same vortex that swallowed Sideways.

At the battle,Optimus PrimenoticesLaserbeakfall (andMegatronsteps on it).Hot Shotknows this means something has happened to the kids.BillyandFredarrive in the Autobots' control room and find the bodies of their friends unresponsive to any stimuli and glowing in eerie inverted colors. The Mini-Cons are also affected, and Fred concludes that someone turned their friends intozombies.

The three kids and theStreet Action Team(who are not zombies) find themselves in an area with no ground, only a few abstract shapes floating in the air. Soon as Rad and Carlos begin to have fun swimming around this reality, Sideways drives up and introduces the kids toCyberspace.He claims there's no way out of Cyberspace and tries to take one of their Mini-Cons. The kids speed away from the Decepticon.

The recolors now show up before the actual character.

Eventually, the kids fall into an area that looks like outer space, with the six of them floating towards what appears to beCybertron.Passed by two light flashes, the kids see a strange glowing purple shape, followed by a dark blue form with yellow bursts behind it.

Passing right through Cybertron (instead of crashing), Sideways reappears (holdingSureshock) and reveals that everything the kids see in Cyberspace is an illusion. Alexis considers this and openly speculates that if Sideways was in control of the illusion, he could seize all the Mini-Cons and wouldn't need to make demands. Sideways gets angry, confirming her theory.

In reality, the Autobots have returned from battle and are confused by the comatose kids and smashed machinery. Fred suggests using Alexis's laptop as a starting point for figuring out what's going on.

Look familiar?

In Cyberspace, Sideways grows frustrated with the kids, who have figured out that he can't harm them. Sureshock escapes Sideways's non-existent clutches and floats back to his friends. Seriously angered, Sideways opens fire on the kids, but the kids are entirely uninjured.

When a roaring is heard, Sideways suddenly apologizes to the kids and asks them to keep the entire encounter a secret. Alexis gets a strong feeling of some overwhelming evil, and Rad thinks that's a sign the kids should go now. Possibly thanks to Red Alert's programming, a white square becomes visible in Cyberspace. The kids head for the light and barely escape consumption by a massive circular singularity.

At the Autobot base, Rad wakes up and finds the other two kids, and the Mini-Cons made it out of Cyberspace alive; even Laserbeak survived getting stepped on. Everybody has a big laugh, and Rad closes by wondering what that sinister evil force was.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Holy guacamole! It's Sideways!"

—Carlos,not being a horrible ethnic stereotype at all

"I guess this means I'm gonna miss lunch. My blood sugar is getting dangerously low, Billy!"

—Fred,with his mind on the essential things

"Oh, yay. I'm surrounded by morons."

—Alexis,in exasperated female anime cliché mode

""Internet "? Speak English, wouldja?"

—Sidewaysdoesn't know what the Internet is, and that's probably for the best.

Notes

Differences withLegends of the Microns

• Armadaextends Carlos's line about the importance of looking after the base.Legends of the Micronshas Carlos say he's tired of hearing that protecting the base is an important job. ThenArmadaadds Alexis demanding Carlos not to mock her. Rad says nothing ever happens whenever the kids guard the base, but he tells Alexis to stop being paranoid like the Decepticons will attack in five minutes inArmada.
• InArmada,Alexis goes off at the boys for telling her to relax and implores them on how they must always be ready before calling them hopeless. InLegends of the Microns,the boys calling the new defense systemperfectand believing the Decepticons canneverwarp into the base again makes Alexis snap at them since she says they aren't sure. Before calling Rad and Carlos "hopeless children," Alexis says the Decepticons are determined, and they have no way of knowing what they're planning or how they'll attack. The scene is silent when Alexis walks off.
• Rad's opening narration inArmadais how he and Carlos knew Alexis was right about Megatron attacking the base at any time but hated her for rubbing it in their faces and sometimes treating them like they're still little kids.Legends of the Micronsgives the narration a serious tone and foreshadows the episode's upcoming event as Rad reflects on how they shouldn't be quick to say "never," and how the kids would quickly learn the truth behind the adage, "Never say never."
• During the shot of laser fire in the dust cloud,Armadagives Hot Shot an extra line to remove the silence.
• Depending on the dub, the children's dialogue hits different points:
  • Armadahas Alexis say that she can't locate the Autobots, while she asks where the Mini-Con is and says it's somewhere nearby inLegends of the Microns.Following this, Carlos says Sideways vanished from the grid inArmadabut says he can't see Sideways on the battlefield inLegends of the Microns.
  • Then, inLegends of the Microns,Rad and Alexis don't mention the Decepticons, and Alexis doesn't know why her computer is acting up and why she can't communicate with Laserbeak.
  • Rad says the base's AI is connected to Alexis's laptop, and a hacker or virus could be responsible if Alexis's computer also has an Internet connection.
  • Alexis doesn't say her computer is rebooting and instead notices unknown content in the AI, confirming a hacker's presence. Then she tracks it instead of loading an anti-virus program. The shot of Alexis putting her screen on the base's monitor is silent.
  • Armadaadds Rad and Carlos's lines to fill in the silence before Alexis talks. InLegends of the Microns,Alexis asks who could be responsible. Carlos says the Decepticons, and Rad thinks the Decepticons are trying to steal intel while the Autobots are away. Then Alexis says the virus is growing, that it's coming from her computer and it'll quickly breach the system, but she can't stop it. To cover the silence,Armadaadds Carlos's line of how he should've stayed in bed.
  • After Alexis says she can't disconnect, it's silent until after she takes out the wires. Then Alexis translates Sureshock as wanting to shut off the central computer to stop the virus inArmada,but inLegends of the Microns,Sureshock says to cut the whole base's power. InArmada,Carlos's line about the monitor coming to life and his two lines afterward are filler. Rad asks Alexis if she's alright twice to cover the silence of the shot of Sideways materializing.
  • After Carlos recognizes Sideways, Alexis asks why he's in the base, and Rad says it's not the time to wonder why since they need to stop Sideways. Rad curses before grabbing the metal rod, and while Carlos and Rad smash the console, they call Sideways a scumbag and traitor and demand him to leave, respectively. UnlikeArmada,Sideways's voice now sounds garbled and digitized. Later, the wide shot of the kids and Mini-Cons after Sideways disintegrates the ball of light takes up the screen is silent, and the kids' screams now s5ound otherworldly.
• Megatron doesn't say anything before punching Optimus as the latter reacts to Laserbeak falling instead.
• After finding Rad, Carlos, Alexis, and the Mini-Cons, Fred asks Billy what happened before Billy says he doesn't know but believes Megatron is responsible. Fred laments about the Autobots not being there. Instead of crying about his blood sugar (as quoted above), Fred asks Billy what they should do. Then, after seeing the others on the monitor, Billy reacts with shock inArmadabut says Rad's name inLegends of the Microns.
• Rad thinks they are now in the fourth dimension inArmadabut a dream world inLegends of the Microns.Armadaextends Carlos's line to begin as soon as the scene cuts away from Rad.
• Rad and Carlos aren't as noisy while they mess around, and instead of calling the boys morons (as quoted above), Alexis remarks they really are children.
• InArmada,Sideways says he hacked the system to access the Autobots' database. InLegends of the Microns,he says he had to connect to the Internet to invade the base's network. Then he says the kids and their Mini-Cons' futile resistance brought them into his Cyberspace, rather than Sideways sayinghebrought them there to get rid of them as he does inArmada.
• The kids proceed to threaten Sideways inArmada,butLegends of the Micronsconnects the kids' dialogue to their subplot. They tell him off for calling their resistance pitiful, saying they stayed at the base since they are fighting alongside the Autobots, not because they're useless. Then, inArmada,Sideways mocks the kids and says the Autobots only pretended to let them help before demanding the Mini-Cons and threatening the kids. InLegends of the Microns,he ridicules their belief in fighting beside the Autobots since the kids' opposition led to their current dilemma. Then he says the kids will be responsible if he takes the Mini-Cons, saying, "That's what fighting is like."
• After eluding Sideways, Rad states the obvious about the Mini-Cons inArmadabut cheers about losing Sideways inLegends of the Microns.Then Alexis and Rad admire the beauty of the sight before Rad questions whether or not they're all in a dream. Alexis's line about the constellations isArmada-exclusive. Carlos agrees the place is beautiful but also thinks it's scary. Instead of Rad telling Carlos to stop whining, he says protecting the Mini-Cons and finding a way out will be their answer to Sideways. Then Alexis says they can't give up, but Carlos remains hesitant.
• When they see Cybertron, Rad says it appears they are going there, and Alexis asks why inArmada.InLegends of the Microns,Rad says they should check it out, and Alexis asks how they are supposed to get there. The kids are silent in the next shot. Carlos remarks about the passing light beams, and Alexis doesn't speak until she fears everyone crashing into Cybertron.
• After passing through Cybertron, Rad says it was just a hologram inArmadabut realizes "the space" is an illusion inLegends of the Microns.Then, after confirming Rad's suspicion, Sideways brags about how realistic it is inArmadabut says that he created it inLegends of the Microns.
• InLegends of the Microns,Optimus asks what happened before Red Alert says his line. Fred asks if the Autobots can use Alexis's laptop to reverse Sideways's intrusion, Red Alert says he could trace Sideways's path, and Optimus doesn't compliment Fred.
• After the kids figure out Sideways's inability to control the Cyberspace illusion, he starts panicking and apologizing to them inArmada,but addresses an unseen entity inLegends of the Microns.Then as the dark cloud approaches, Rad says they should run since it doesn't look like an illusion.
• After rescuing the others, Billy says he's unsure if stopping the virus did much to help the planet. Alexis sarcastically praising Billy and Fred isArmada-exclusive. She is more gracious with her praise in the Japanese dub. Then, rather than say they should celebrate, Fred wants to imagine the look on Sideways's face.
• InArmada,Alexis tells Carlos they did see Cybertron unless they dreamt the whole thing. InLegends of the Microns,she wonders what the other things they saw were.
• InLegends of the Microns,Red Alert tells the kids that the original Laserbeak could not be retrieved, but he built a newer, upgraded model. InArmada,Red Alert tells the kids Laserbeak was destroyed in combat until everyone is caught off-guard by Laserbeak's return.
• In Rad's closing narration inArmada,he sometimes can't believe what happened wasn't a dream and says only time will tell if the kids really saw Cybertron and an evil force more powerful than Megatron. InLegends of the Microns,Rad recalls how amazing the whole experience was, including seeing Cybertron, but wonders why the kids couldn't remember it.

Animation and technical errors

"Yeah, baby. Sing...for the King."

• The Transformers' models later look low-quality in the second glimpse of the battle compared to their earlier models.
• The brightness level of the Cyberspace backgrounds sometimes increases between shots.
• The background shifts slightly as Sideways circles the kids and Mini-Cons.
• The silhouettes of bothJetfire's andTidal Wave's Cybertronian modes differ from their respective close-up shots. Tidal Wave looks more round and compressed, and Jetfire has a silhouette of the Earth-based shuttle mode he acquires in thenext episode.
• Cybertron looks identical after the kids and Mini-Cons pass through it when it should be flipped horizontally like a mirror image.
• Sideways has blocky fingers when he first grabs Sureshock, but they later become rounded.
• In the Autobot group scene where Red Alert reports that his scans indicate Sideways's work, Optimus's crotch is huge.
• The kids call Sureshock "Grindor" when telling the Mini-Con to escape from Sideways. They call Sureshock by her proper name inLegends of the Microns.
• Fred and Billy's mouths don't move as they tell Rad to wake up.

Conitinuity notes

• In the opening, Rad, Alexis, and Carlos reference the time the Decepticons invaded the Autobot base back in "Swoop."
• This episode gives a new meaning to the "virus" insults that Sideways received in "Credulous."
• According to Alexis's laptop, the date isFebruary 4,2002,becoming somewhat redundant when the show was later established to take place in2010.
  • The time Alexis runs the scan on her laptop is 19:7:10 (7:07 pm). What are 11-13-year-olds still doing out at this time? Man, they have some cool parents.
• One of the brightly-colored objects that the kids pass before they go through Cybertron is Jetfire in his Cybertronian vehicle mode, drawn as Generation 1Jetfire's VF-1S fighter mode.
• The other brightly colored object, outlined in purple, is Tidal Wave's Cybertronian form. It partially resembles Generation 1Shockwavein his laser cannon mode. Perhaps not coincidentally, Tidal Wave was known as Shockwave in Japan.
• Indicating that he wasn't playing dumb as Alexis believed, Sideways (and probably, by proxy, the rest of theTransformersin general) doesn't know what theInternetis.
• The past few episodes have heavily implied that Sideways is serving an unseen entity; this is one of the few instances in the early part ofArmadaportraying Sideways as an individual, rather than the extension of Unicron that he is later shown to be.
  • TheCybertroncartoon and by extension, theCybertroncomic would later establish that Sideways andSoundwavecut a deal with Unicron. Given that Sideways and thePlanet Xnativesall share a bodyverydifferent to Sideways'sArmadabody, it would suggest that his consciousness was shifted into a puppet-like shell Unicron could use to control him.
• Gadgets and powers:
  • Optimus uses his Big Punch attack against Megatron.

Continuity errors

• Carlos says Red Alert is out on patrol, although he is seen fighting the Decepticons with the other Autobots.Legends of the Micronsfixes this with Carlos saying instead that Red Alert left with the others.
• It's as if Rad completely forgot about the Decepticons attacking the base in "Swoop"; Carlos even mentions the protective shield from that episode.Legends of the Micronsfixes this issue with Alexis outright asking Rad if he's forgotten about that. Then Carlos and Rad say Red Alert renovated the base's defense system afterward, and the Decepticons won't be able to warp into the base anymore.
• When the base gets hacked, the kids talk about the virus destroying a program but never specify what it is or what it does.Legends of the Micronsremoves all mentions of a program.
• Rad gives an overcomplicated explanation of Alexis's computer program transmitting her commands through "microwaves" from the base, saying that Alexis might've picked up a virus because of how the laptop connects to the "microwave tower" through the Internet. Without in-depth research on how the Internet works, Rad couldn't possibly deliver such an interpretation. The Japanese dub simplifies Rad's reasoning, making it easier for viewers to understand.
• Rad suspects Megatron of already stealing the Autobots' intel, but how would he know that?Legends of the Micronsremoves this.
• Rad makes the crazy claim that they've been disconnected from the net, but how would he know after just looking at the monitor?Legends of the Micronschanges this to Rad urging Alexis to disconnect.
• As Sideways materializes, Rad suddenly says they can't turn the power off though it has nothing to do with what he's seeing. Rad says nothing can come out of the monitor since the powerisoff inLegends of the Microns.
• Alexis accuses Sideways of hacking "our" computer even though it was just her laptop.Legends of the Micronscorrects this error.
• Where were Billy and Fred, and what were they doing before Rad, Alexis, Carlos, and their Mini-Cons got sucked into Cyberspace? It's like they conveniently dodged a bullet so they could be heroes in this episode.
• After Sideways confirms the Cyberspace is an illusion, why does Alexis continue saying it only exists in the children's minds? She doesn't say this in the Japanese dub.
• Carlos, Alexis, and Rad forget to mention the other things they saw besides Cybertron, i.e., Tidal Wave and Jetfire's obscure forms. Alexis brings them up in the Japanese dub.
• Red Alert is surprised by Laserbeak's appearance in the end, like Laserbeak managed to survive somehow miraculously.Legends of the Micronsshows that's not the case as, despite being unable to retrieve Laserbeak, Red Alert reveals that he upgraded Laserbeak again.
• The episode forgets about the minor subplot established in the opening of the children being fed up with the Autobots leaving them in the base.Legends of the Micronsdoesn't and addresses it in the middle of the episode as the kids confront Sideways.

Transformers references

• The version of Unicron shown in this episode is based on theG1 versionrather than theArmadaversion.

Real-world references

• Alexis's laptop usesMicrosoft WindowsandInternet Explorer.
• "gundamfinal"[sic]is mentioned in among the coding jargon that Red Alert types into the computer to release the kids from Cyberspace. A reference to the variousGundamtoy and model lines byBandai.Gundamalso happens to be an inspiration for some of theArmadadesigns byAaron Archer,most notably, Optimus Prime'sSuper Mode.

Trivia

• The kanji ảo ảnh would be pronounced as "gen'ei,"while"kage"uses ảnh in this episode's context.
• Also present among the lists of coding jargon that Red Alert types into the computer are more random words and phrases; some of the most visible examples include: "BigBang," "NOmoreWar," "ThisisapenWhoareyouHowolderyou," "YoungBloods," "TransformersGX." There also appear to be possible uses of romanized Japanese in the mix. What any of this stuff means is beyond us. Many of it seems to be inside jokes or a test to seewhois paying attention to these small details.
• This episode is one of few in the series with no music differences between the dubs besides the episode title card and mid-episodecommercial bumpers.
• According to theLegends of the Microns Year Book 2003:
  • After telling Sideways that they're fighting with the Autobots and not just staying at the base,Hidehito Uedadidn't know how to see the kids staying behind at Autobot HQ in future episodes, regarding the reason as an excuse in hindsight.
  • The team wanted to tease Unicron's appearance casually before revealing him fully near the show's end. Unicron's teased appearance in this episode made American fansites go into a frenzy.
• This is one of the few episodes with a lot of focus on the kids.

Foreign localization

French

• Title:"Un virus envahissant"(" An Invasive Virus ")

Hungarian

• Title:"Hipertér"(" Hyperspace ")

Italian

• Title:"Illusione"(" Illusion ")

• When Alexis mentions the Internet, in Italian she simply says "the Net"... but then Sideways actually calls it "Internet"!How he managed to get the name without having heard about it before is a mystery we'll never solve...

Korean

• Title:"이상한 경험"(" Strange Experience ")

Polish

• Title:"Porwanie"(" Abduction ")

Portuguese

• Title:"Caçada"(" Hunt ")

Home video releases

DVD

2003 —Transformers: Legends of the Microns— Volume 6 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only
2004 —Transformers: Armada— Battle for the Mini-Cons (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 —Transformers: Armada— Season One: Part One (Rhino Entertainment)
2008 —Transformers: Armada— Volume One (New KSM) — English and German audio
2014 —Transformers: Armada— The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)