Convinced there are no Decepticons left on Earth, the Elite Guard prepares to take Optimus Prime and his crew back to Cybertron, unaware of the increasing Decepticon activity taking place under their very noses.
Tropes
- Amusing Injuries: The Starscream Death Montage.
- An Aesop: As Ultra Magnus puts it, "sometimes, it's better to follow your gut than to go by the book".
- Blatant Lies: Starscream telling Megatron that he mixed him up with some other harrier jet.
- Bring It: Optimus, realizing that Sentinel won't listen and let him foil Starscream's ambush (along with just getting fed up Sentinel in general) decides to goad him into a fight when Sentinel threatens to put him in stasis cuffs.Optimus: I'd like to see you try, you worthless crankshaft!
Sentinel: THAT'S IT! - Butt-Monkey:
- Long story short, the Elite Guard does not come off very well in this episode: Ultra Magnus and Jazz fail to notice a large hole the size of a B2-bomber when leaving their ship, a tachyon transmitter gets ripped off their ship without them even noticing, Optimus easily overpowers Sentinel and leaves him in stasis cuffs, Sentinel Prime freaks out at the mere sight of a Decepticon, and Ultra Magnus gets defeated by Starscream after only one shot. At point-blank range.
- Speaking of Starscream, he gets easily flatlined in several attempts to fight and/or assassinate Megatron before concluding that it isn't working. Then after his next plan to kill him failed, Megatron chases him down and sends him crashing to where the Autobots are. Then the Autobots put him in stasis cuffs and muffle him to boot.
- Cassandra Truth: Optimus spends the majority of the episode trying to convince the rest of the Elite Guard that there are still Decepticons on Earth. It's not until the end of the episode that he is proven right.
- Chewing the Scenery: Megatron does this for the first and only time in the show.Megatron: STARSCREAM!!!
- Child Hater: Captain Fanzone.Fanzone: (grumbling) This is why I hate kids.
- Continuity Nod: Sentinel offers to help get Optimus's military career back on track, as thanks for the recent Headmaster incident.
- Do Wrong, Right: Megatron is outraged Decepticons are committing wanton acts of destruction (such as destroying the space bridge Ironhide was stationed at) because it's a waste of time and resources.Megatron: We need a coordinated effort to defeat the Autobots, not random acts of sabotage.
- Foreshadowing: In the final seconds of the episode, Megatron mentions having a double agent on Cybertron. A few episodes later, it's revealed who said double agent is.
- Genre Savvy: After seeing and foiling Starscream's countless attempts to eliminate and overthrow him, Megatron immediatly sees through Starscream's trap.
- Miles Gloriosus: For all his talk about being better than Optimus, Sentinel has no idea about what to do when Starscream unexpectedly shows up and downs Ultra Magnus.
- Mythology Gag:
- Megatron telling Starscream that he couldn't lead a parade hearkens back to his G1 counterpart, who also said that G1 Starscream "couldn't lead ant-droids to a picnic".
- All five of the Autobots from Transformers (2007) (Optimus, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet) make an appearance here as well.
- Starscream comparing himself to a ghost is a nod to his G1 counterpart appearing as a ghost in a couple of Season 3 episodes.
- New Era Speech: After the equipment is set up for a galactic broadcast, Megatron implores Decepticons that the results will be worth uniting under him again.Megatron: Fellow Decepticons, take heed! Your leader Megatron still lives! Though we remain dispersed throughout the far reaches of the galaxy, exiled from our true home, we are all still Decepticons united by a common purpose. The time has come for us to put aside our differences and act as one under my undisputed leadership. Only then can we cast off the shackles of Autobot oppression. Working together, we can raise up our glorious empire once more and crush all who stand in our way!
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Megatron shooting Starscream down in front of the Autobots inadvertently exposes the Decepticon presence on Earth and proves Optimus right.
- No-Sell:
- Megatron easily foils every one of Starscream's assassination attempts. In fact he even seems to ignore Starscream shooting at him in the Death Montage, simply getting up from his chair and cutting him down.
- Starscream ignores nearly everyone of the Autobots' attacks. Bulkhead at least knocks him down, but it had no lasting damage. Bumblebee and Ratchet's Combination Attack only gets him to fire at them. Jazz throws his nunchaku at Starscream, which just bounces off his chest and exasperates him.Starscream: Don't waste my time.
- Not Worth Killing: After blasting Ultra Magnus and stealing an Allspark fragment from him, Starscream just walks away from the rest of the Autobots, even initially ignoring Bulkhead knocking him down. He's forced to give them his attention from their persistence.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Starscream’s reaction when Megatron appears before him after the scheme with the train fails.
- Sentinel's reaction to seeing an actual Decepticon up close.
- Only Sane Man: Jazz tells both Optimus and Sentinel to cool it and focus on taking down Starscream.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: The reason the Autobots go to Fanzone to take custody of Sari is that he's at the top of the list of the humans they know personally.Bulkhead: Although it is kind of a short list.
Prowl: And it does include Prometheus Black and Nanosec.
Bumblebee: But still, you're number one! (gives Fanzone a thumbs up) - Resentful Guardian: With the Earth-based Autobots planning to leave, Captain Fanzone is not pleased that they appointed him to look after Sari. Fortunately for him, it's quickly rendered moot at the end.
- Resurrective Immortality: Starscream, courtesy of the All-Spark fragment in his head.
- Schmuck Bait: Optimus realizes that Ultra Magnus and Jazz may have walked into Starscream's trap when he notes that they picked an Allspark energy signature up very easily. (To be fair, the trap was intended for Megatron, but still.)
- Series Continuity Error:
- How did Sentinel get the stasis cuffs off?
- Also, what exactly happened to the hole that the Decepticons made?
- Shout-Out: The title is one toward the George W. Bush speech of the same name, and given the episode's context, not a very flattering one.
- Tempting Fate: After his trap is disabled, Starscream grumbles that "[t]his day couldn't possibly get any worse!" Cue a very-pissed off Megatron appearing to hand him his skidplate.Starscream: I stand corrected.
- Trick-and-Follow Ploy: A variation; Lugnut and Blitzwing unintentionally show Starscream where they are based when he follows them.
- Wham Line: Megatron reveals in the final scene that the Decepticons have a double agent working for them on Cybertron.
- The Worf Effect: Ultra Magnus is downed by Starscream almost immediately after the latter comes back online.
- Your Size May Vary: The All-Spark shard Starscream recovers changes size constantly, from barely fitting into Starscream's hand, to small enough to fit into Optimus's palm with his hand closed.
