Recap / Transformers: Animated, S1E14: Megatron Rising — Part II

The Autobots are beaten down by the Decepticon invasion, but still must rally to prevent the AllSpark from falling into their clutches.

Tropes:

• Achilles' Heel: Sumdac, because he's studied Megatron for years, knows that EMPs are a Cybertronian weakness, and is able to use a small one to distract Megatron. He even invokes this trope.
• An Aesop: Even when things seem dark and you're all scared, the key is working together with your friends to find a solution. Even when Optimus defeats Megatron, he couldn't have done it without Sari's help.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  Optimus: Do your worst, Megatron. I'll never give up the location of the Allspark.
  Megatron: Oh, I don't need you for that, Autobot. The child's key will lead me straight to it.
• Bait-and-Switch: Just when it looks like Megatron is about to attack Optimus, he does a last-second fakeout and kills Starscream for his betrayal instead.
• Batman Gambit:
  • At Prowl's suggestion, Bumblebee repeatedly insults Blitzwing in order to get him to switch to Hothead, thus transforming into a tank in mid-air and crashing.
  • Sari "helping" Blackarachnia find the Allspark by leading her in circles, while also knowing that her organic half wouldn't survive going underwater to reach it, counts as this, too.
• Battle Cry: This episode coins one for the Decepticons.
  Megatron: Decepticons! Transform and rise up!
• Be Careful What You Wish For: "You want power? Have your fill!"
• Big "NO!": Optimus when Megatron reveals he has the Key and thus the means to find the Allspark.
• Bittersweet Ending: The Autobots have succeeded in defeating Megatron and the Decepticons, but they've only gone MIA and it came at the cost of the Allspark and Professor Sumdac getting captured. But for now, Detroit is safe.
• Book Ends: Just like in the first episode, Optimus defeats Megatron by throwing him out the airlock of Teletraan I. But back then, he did it to defend the Allspark, while here, he does it while destroying the Allspark.
• Cliffhanger: As the Autobots celebrate their victory, Sari notices her father is missing. We then cut to an injured Megatron far away and holding the Professor.
  Megatron: I trust you're comfortable in your chair. It appears, Professor, that our fates are destined to be intertwined once more.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Team Prime is on the receiving end of this by Megatron himself.
• Death by Pragmatism: When Starscream sees that Megatron has been resurrected, he puts off killing Bumblebee to get back in his position of being a scheming second-in-command. This would have been fine if Megatron had not found the footage of Starscream boasting to the Autobots that he planted a bomb on Megatron, which lead to his defeat and dismemberment upon falling to Earth. As a result, Megatron promptly kills him when Starscream tries to go back to his old facade.
• Easily Forgiven: Subverted, Megatron wastes no time at all in slagging Starscream for his betrayal.
• Establishing Character Moment: The above example shows that, unlike previous incarnations, this Megatron is not so forgiving of treachery.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Ratchet and Bumblebee combine powers to create an EMP blast:
  Blitzwing: [as Icy] Curious. My electrical systems have gone off-line, which means... [as Random] I'M FALLING! [laughs]
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: As Optimus throws Megatron out the airlock, we get a shot of Sari moving out of the way, but not one for Professor Sumdac.
• Foreshadowing: During the battle with the Decepticons, Professor Sumdac mentions to Sari that they may not make it out alive and he has something important he wants to tell her in case that happens, but Sari runs out of the room without giving him the chance to tell her. When Sari demands to know why the AllSpark chose her, it shows a hologram of a human DNA Double-stranded helix crossed with a Spark. Both of these hint to a certain revelation about Sari in Season 3.
• Give Me a Reason: Blackarachnia says "Give me one excuse" after discovering that Sari's directions to the AllSpark were lies intended to stall for time, clearly intent on trying to get Sari to provoke her into harming Sari.
• He's Back!: Megatron makes his grand return here.
• Humble Pie:
  • Bumblebee, while everyone is recovering from Megatron's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, serves Optimus a decent slice of this for his attitude in the previous episode:
    Bumblebee: Well what'd you expect from a bunch of undisciplined, insubordinate malfunctions anyway?!
    Optimus: I was out of line when I said that... OK? And, maybe you repair bots can teach this Academy bot how to repair a few... friendships.
  • Optimus eats some more at the end when he describes the Key, as he's giving it back to Sari, as "too valuable to be kept in the hands of mere Autobots."
    Optimus: If the Allspark chose you... it must've had a good reason!
• Internal Reveal: Professor Sumdac reveals to the Autobots that he's been keeping Megatron's head within his tower ever since he found it 50 years ago, reverse-engineered his Cybertronian technology to become the businessman he is today, and that Megatron tricked him into helping him. The Autobots aren't happy about this, but are willing to put it aside because stopping the Decepticons is their biggest priority.
• It Has Been an Honor:
  Optimus: If we go down, we go down fighting. Together. And I can't think of a better band of Autobots I'd be prouder to fight alongside.
  Bumblebee: Not even the Cybertron Elite Guard? Because I sure wouldn't mind having them here now.
• Logical Weakness: Since Blitzwing's alt-modes are determinate on his current mood, Team Prime takes advantage of this by angering him to transform him into Hothead's tank while he's in midair as Icy/Random's jet.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Professor Sumdac, having realized that all the good he's done only helped to bring back the Autobots' worst enemy and may have doomed them all. When Megatron takes him prisoner at the end, he cries.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Megatron's war-torn appearance at the end mimics how he looked in the G1 movie after his fight with Optimus.
  • After flying out of Lake Erie and being shot down a second time, the Autobots' ship winds up in the same state as the Ark back in G1: half-buried in the side of a mountain.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: Blitzwing after transforming into a tank in mid-air. He can't even finish the sentence before slamming into the frozen lake.
• Person as Verb: To save some civilians from falling rubble, Optimus uses his wheels and ax to slide and snatch them, citing it as "a move from the Bumblebee play book".
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner:
  Optimus: Bring it on, Decepticon.
• Series Continuity Error: Megatron claims that Prowl sliced off his right arm, but he actually lost it to the bomb that Starscream planted on his back. However, Prowl did slice off a part that remained.
• So Proud of You:
  Optimus: You all fought like Autobots! I can't tell you how proud I am of each and every one of you.
  Bumblebee: Go on, tell us. We can take it!
• Talking Is a Free Action: Averted. Bulkhead is able to defeat Lugnut because the latter kept talking rather than fighting.
  Bulkhead: You talk too much.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Megatron delivers a brief one to Optimus:
  Megatron: You appoint yourself protector of the Allspark, yet you have no concept of its true power.
• Wham Episode: Megatron is now fully operational and more powerful than ever, proceeding to regain control of the Decepticons, killing Starscream for the attempted assassination that reduced him into an immobile head (or so the writers would want you to believe), and when he is seemingly defeated by Optimus, he survives and takes Professor Sumdac hostage. Not only that, but the Allspark has been destroyed (or so the writers would want you to believe).

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