A puckish rogue runs afoul of the Quintessons, and the Technobots and Earth Defense Command come to his aid. But not everything is as it appears to be.
Tropes
- Continuity Snarl: The Technobots and the Terrorcons both previously appeared in "Grimlock's New Brain", and since that episode was also the origin story for the Technobots, it clearly took place before the events of this episode. Yet in this episode, the Terrorcons are working for the Quintessons with no explanation. While the Quintessons and the Decepticons have had temporary alliances in the past, it would be seriously out of character for Galvatron to rent out the Terrorcons to the Quintessons, let alone allow them to install any sort of failsafe into his troops.
- Expy: Dirk Manus is one for Han Solo, as a smuggler pilot who is initially Only in It for the Money, but ultimately does the right thing when push comes to shove.Dirk: If you weren't who you are, and if I weren't who I am, maybe we could have had something special.
- Hour of Power: This is the first and only time Abominus' timer, which forcibly separates him into the Terrorcons when the time's up, comes into play. Computron manages to prematurely trigger it to defeat his rival at the end of the episode.
- In the Style of: The Marvel comic would occasionally do a standalone story that focused on a human character with only one or two actual Transformers showing up. This is the closest the Sunbow cartoon ever got to telling that type of story.
- Minimalist Cast: The Technobots and the Terrorcons are the only Transformers to actually appear in the episode, with Marissa and Dirk as the main characters.
