It's Halloween and Sari introduces the Autobots to Earth's costume-and-candy traditions. However, the entire affair brings up bad memories for Optimus, who is haunted by the ghosts of his past, specifically when he and his fellow cadets, Sentinel Prime and Elita-1, were looking for a crashed Decepticon ship loaded with energon cubes.
Tropes:
- Abandonment-Induced Animosity: Blackarachnia hates Sentinel and Optimus for what happened; Sentinel because going there was his idea, and Optimus because he was the one who left her behind (while he did try to go back for her, by then she'd mutated into a techno-organic and his scanners couldn't find her). He doesn't deny that her feelings are valid, and tries to apologize/make things right. She's having none of it, either because she's still too angry or because she feels that too much has happened for her to ever join the Autobots again.
- Actor Allusion: Sentinel says he is all for getting some of that energon-y goodness, which makes him sound like another blue, big chinned character voiced by Townsend Coleman.
- Alien Arts Are Appreciated: While Prime seems a little confused about the holiday of Halloween, Bulkhead and Bumblebee quickly get into the spirit, even dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating with Sari.
- All There in the Manual: Issues #1 & 4 of The Arrival comic mini-series detail how Blackarachnia got to Earth note .
- And Call Him "George": When Bulkhead picks up Sari's perfect Halloween pumpkin, he accidentally squeezes too hard.
- Bedsheet Ghost: This is Bulkhead's costume. He's so big, however, that the "sheet" is actually a fumigation tent.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the past, Optimus was traumatized by the loss of one of his best friends and strained his friendship with Sentinel, all for a treasure they found but couldn't recover. In the present, Optimus saves his team and Sari from Blackarachnia, but he now knows that Blackarachnia is his fallen friend who refuses to return to the Autobots after everything that's happen.
- Body Horror: We see Elita transform into Blackarachnia and hoooooooooo-boy it is not pretty.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: While dressed as Prime for Halloween, Sari starts her night of trick-or-treating with Optimus' "Transform and roll out!"
- Buffy Speak: Prime refers to candy as "sugar-infused nuggets".
- Darker and Edgier: Similar in tone to "The Thrill of the Hunt", this episode stands out as one of the darkest stories in the relatively lighthearted Season 1.
- Do I Really Sound Like That?: Sari's impersonation of Optimus' "transform and roll out!" Catchphrase gets this response from him.
- Evil Former Friend: Blackarachnia to Optimus.
- Face–Heel Turn: Elita, after becoming Blackarachnia, eventually joined the Decepticons, having lost her trust in Autobots.
- Faux Affably Evil: Blackarachnia is nice to Sari at first (claiming that she only attacked Bumblebee and Bulkhead because she thought they were after her), but she drops this attitude once Optimus shows up.
- Femme Fatale: Blackarachnia's overall design and mannerisms scream this trope.
- Fighting Fingerprint: Inverted; Blackarachnia reveals who she is by stating that she knows all of Optimus Prime's fighting moves from the Autobot Academy (thus allowing her to block or dodge all of his attacks).
- Five-Second Foreshadowing:
- As Optimus walks among the energon cubes, he passes a rather familiar looking helmet.
- Blackarachnia recognizing Optimus and demonstrating a Power Copying ability.
- Gone Horribly Right: Whether she's herself or Elita 1, Blackarachnia often falls for this trope.
- As Elita 1, she tries using her Power Copying ability on the alien spiders in a desperate attempt to escape the creature somehow. It does not end well for her, instead turning her into a "freak". So while the spiders did leave her alone, it came at a cost.
- As Blackarachnia, she uses Sari's key to remove her organic half, even at the expense that everything organic within a hundred mile radius withers. ...but then, it turns out the process also weakens her as well. If it weren't for Optimus removing the key, even if she had been successful removing her organic half, she would've died in the process.
- Halloween Episode: Despite being released in February. Valentine's Day, in fact.
- Hope Spot: Optimus and Elita almost escape the spiders together, but then her download of his grappling hook gives out in mid-air. Optimus shoots another line after her, but it fails to wrap around her wrist.
- Hour of Power: Elita's power duplication can only work for a few minutes. This costs her her life (or her life as she knew it, anyway) when she copies Optimus's grappling hook to escape the crumbling cave and her line cuts off right before they can escape.
- Howl of Sorrow: In the final flashback, Elita after becoming Blackarachnia.
- Hypocritical Humor: Bumblebee suggests the spider he saw is an alien.Bulkhead: Huge alien life forms? Coming to Earth? You gotta be kidding! Oh, right. Us.
- Innocently Insensitive: Optimus has never brought up the event that not only threw his military career off-course but cost him his two best friends. Thus, Sari has no idea that large spiders (like the one she spooked him with) are triggering for him, and even briefly makes fun of him for his apparent arachnophobia.
- Irony:
- Blackarachnia is certain the Autobots would dissect her, despite having been one of them. The Decepticons might scoff at her organic half, but they at least treat her as one of them.
- Optimus and Elita end up being wrong; her power does work on organic beings.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: This is Sentinel's power, and also Elita-1's when she copies it.
- My Greatest Failure: Optimus sees the events on Archa-Seven as this, even more so when he learns the true fate of Elita.Bulkhead: So, who was that bug-bot lady?
Optimus: Someone I never should have left behind. - Never My Fault:
- Sentinel blames Optimus for Elita's presumed death, despite their trip to the planet being his idea in the first place and that he disregarded the fact that the planet was blacklisted for travel for being dangerous.
- Blackarachnia also blames Optimus for her current state, despite agreeing with Sentinel to search Archa-Seven despite its dangers.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Subverted. Before the energon explodes, Optimus chooses to rescue Sentinel instead of trying to go back for Elita. This decision haunts him all the way to the present day, and it gets even worse after he learns what really happened to Elita.
- Not Quite Dead: Elita was thought dead by all concerned, but her mutation masked her energy signature.
- Only Sane Man: Optimus was the only one among his fellow cadets who pointed out that going to a forbidden planet purely to observe a Decepticon ship/loot Energon is not a good idea.
- Painful Transformation: Elita screams, as she mutates into a techno-organic creature.
- Power Copying: Elita's downloading power. As Blackarachnia, using it on someone causes them to faint. The entire trope is deconstructed, as it shows what would happen if the user attempts to copy something that isn't like them, like say, a giant robot copying a giant spider...
- Redemption Rejection: At the end, Optimus offers Blackarachnia to stay and that they could find a way to help her. She rejects it, saying that it'll be long time for her to ever trust an Autobot again, especially Optimus.
- Start of Darkness: Elita has one after turning into a techno-organic.
- That Man Is Dead: Blackarachnia rejects her former identity as Elita-1.Blackarachnia: It's Blackarachnia now!
- The Reveal: Blackarachnia is Elita-One, having mutated into a techno-organic after attempting to use her powers on the giant spiders.
- They Would Cut You Up: Blackarachnia believes that this would've been her fate had Optimus rescued her and brought her back to Cybertron. Later episodes demonstrate a definite xenophobic streak among other Autobots.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Optimus when the oval-shaped objects turn out to be eggs in the process of hatching.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: At the start of the flashbacks, Sentinel is a generally nice fellow that at his worst lightly teases his buddy Optimus and is a little smug. When things start going wrong, he puts himself at risk so that his friends can make a break for it. Elita's presumed death and Optimus keeping him from trying to rescue her turn him into the Jerkass he is in the present.
- Trauma Button: Optimus has one when he sees a giant spider as a Halloween decoration, reminding him of the events on Archa-Seven. Sari, unaware of his trauma, assumes he's just a big scaredy cat.
- Truer to the Text: After multiple shows that depicted it either as blue crystals or red/green stars, this is the first Transformers incarnation since the original to depict Energon as a purple liquid kept in a transparent cube.
- We Used to Be Friends: Optimus, Sentinel, and Elita-1/Blackarachnia. The latter is now a Cybertronian/alien spider hybrid allied with the Decepticons, while Sentinel (by the time we see him in Season 2) has long terminated his friendship with Optimus and become a complete Jerkass.
- Wham Line:Optimus: Do I know you?
Blackarachnia: I know how easily you forget your friends, although you managed to remember Sentinel that day! - What You Are in the Dark: After her Redemption Rejection, Blackarachnia sobs alone on a rooftop. In the Japanese version, she also whispers "I’m sorry.", suggesting that she's crying because she wishes she could take Optimus's offer, but can't.
- Would Hurt a Child: Blackarachnia threatens to hurt Sari, doesn’t care that using the Key on herself is hurting her and other organics, and throws her off a building in an attempt to distract Optimus.
- Your Worst Memory: Optimus feels this way about leaving Elita-1 behind, and it's implied that this is why he's so protective of his team.
