An embittered scientist uses the body of Optimus Prime to unleash a dangerous plague on the Autobots that soon spreads across the galaxy. With countless lives in peril, the newly-resurrected Optimus and a handful of Autobots make a desperate bid to recover the Matrix, in the hopes that a cure for the Hate Plague can be found.
Tropes
- Animation Bump: Part Two features a significant upgrade quality in its animation, with detailed shadows and characters remaining on-model for the most part.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: When Optimus uses the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague, what else should be playing in the background but "The Touch" by Stan Bush?
- Back from the Dead: After the fake-out in "Dark Awakening", Optimus comes back for real after a Quintesson, Klementia, repairs him to help stop the Hate Plague.
- Badass Boast: Optimus's first words upon his return are to reassure Sky Lynx that he's going to save the universe:Sky Lynx: It's true. Our leader is back!
Optimus: Yes, Sky Lynx. And this time, no force in the universe can stop me. - Bittersweet Ending: Heavily on the sweet side, but still. Optimus Prime is back, the plague is cured, and even the war has been put on hold. However, Hot Rod bemoans that the Matrix is empty, its wisdom lost. Optimus consoles him, saying that they're all a little wiser now, and that they must all refill the Matrix with the wisdom they accumulate from that moment on, ending the episode saying his most iconic line.Optimus: Autobots, transform and roll out!
- Came Back Strong: Bumblebee was almost mortally damaged fighting Superion. When he's repaired, he finds he's been rebuilt into a new Throttlebot form, which is christened "Goldbug." Going by the tech specs, Bumblebee went from a 2
in strength to a 9, making either the third of fourth strongest on the team next to Kup, Optimus, and Sky Lynx. - Chekhov's Gun: The heat-resistant metal the Decepticons steal at the beginning of the first episode comes into play in Part Two, as its unique properties makes Optimus immune to the effects of the Hate Plague.
- Continuity Nod: When Wreck-Gar says that he can't revive Optimus, Jessica asks who built him originally. Rodimus says it was the Quintessons, and that they revived him before.
- Continuity Snarl: The most infamous one is Optimus Prime's body inexplicably being fixed at the start of the episode but another one is most of the Hate Plague victims acting as normal except glowing red.
- De-power: First, Rodimus gets the Matrix taken back by Optimus, reverting him back to Hot Rod, then Optimus releases all its energies to stop the Hate Plague, leaving him without the Matrix's powers either.
- Dwindling Party: More and more get infected by the Hate Plague, until by the end of the episode, Optimus and Klementia are the only ones who have been uninfected.
- Enemy Mine: As the Hate Plague spreads across the universe, the Autobots are forced to make alliances with some of their greatest foes. Rodimus orders Sky Lynx to rescue a Quintesson in order to bring Optimus back to life. Later on, the Autobots ally themselves with Galvatron in order to retrieve the heat-resistant metal he stole.
- Everyone Has Standards: Galvatron, who once drove an entire planet insane by his sheer madness, is terrified by the irrational behavior of those infected by the Hate Plague.
- Failed a Spot Check: At one point in their fight, Optimus sneaks up on Rodimus by hiding plain sight- in vehicle mode while on a conveyor belt, with his trailer behind him like always. Rodimus does not pick up on this, thanks to the plague warping his mind.
- Fantastic Racism: Gregory Swofford and Dr. Morgan hate all Transformers and infect them with the Hate Plague in the hopes of wiping them all out. Gregory's hatred stems from being scarred when Optimus and Megatron fought in his lab many years ago, while Dr. Morgan blames the Autobots for paralyzing his daughter during their fight against the Decepticons.
- Giant Spider: The Autobots are attacked by a giant alien spider while Galvatron's leading them to the heat-resistant metal. Oddly enough, it's web appears to be made out of rock.
- Godzilla Threshold: Justified because of how fast the Hate Plague spreads. To wit:
- Rodimus wants to Optimus rest in peace, but with the plague unleashed, he needs all the help he can get.
- The Junkions can't do it, so Rodimus orders Sky Lynx to find a Quintesson, one of their enemies, to do the job. Optimus himself is surprised when he hears about it, but Klementia says he had no choice as the entire galaxy is threatened.
- Rodimus has no choice but to shut Metroplex down to keep him safe.
- With the plague having spread across the galaxy, the only option left to Optimus is to unleash the power and accumulated wisdom of the Matrix.
- Grand Finale: Clearly written with the intention to be one for the animated G1 series, at least until the 3-parter Rebirth was introduced hence making this 2-parter a Series Fauxnale for Season 3. The Godzilla Threshold was repeatedly crossed, culminating in Optimus Prime's revival, along with the remaining Autobots, Deceptions, and Quintessons doing an Enemy Mine to find a way to stop the Hate Plague. The season ended with the Matrix of Leadership rendered powerless, having expended everything to save the day, while the grateful Decepticons declared a truce with the Autobots.
- Hate Plague: The Trope Namer. The plague itself comes from alien spores that infect their victims whether they're mechanical or organic. The victim is turned bright red and put into a violent rage that drives them to attack any living being that's close by, whether they're already infected or not.
- Hypocritical Humor: There's a fair amount of humor derived from Galvatron calling the Hate Plague victims crazy:Galvatron: They've all gone mad. This is no place for me!
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Optimus tries to reason with Rodimus and have him surrender the Matrix willingly. Unfortunately, he's lost to the Hate Plague and Optimus has to take the Matrix from him by force, dropping his successor in one punch.
- Karma Houdini: Gregory and Dr. Morgan receive no punishment for spreading a plague that no doubt led to thousands of people getting injured or worse. They do admit they were wrong and try to apologize, although no one is actually shown accepting their apology. Then again, we don't really see the aftermath; they would likely be brought up on some kind of charges given what they unleashed.
- Kick the Dog: After he's infected, Ultra Magnus targets Rodimus specifically, calling him kid and pulling a gun on the latter when he has him cornered. He relents once he infects Wreck-Gar, who then infects Rodimus.
- Large Ham: After being infected by the Hate Plague, Ultra Magnus' serious demeanor goes out the window. It's like Jack Angel had been waiting all year to cut loose.
- Meaningful Rename: Bumblebee was injured during a fight with Superion and placed into a new body by Klementia. He remarks that he now looks like a "gold bug" and Optimus decides that Goldbug should be his name from now on.
- Misplaced Retribution: In part 1, a flashback reveals that Dr. Gregory was injured during a fight between Optimus and Megatron, the latter causing an explosion that engulfed and scarred the human scientist. In response, Dr. Gregory opts to leave Optimus to his death. Jessica promptly calls him out.
- No Endor Holocaust: The Hate Plague spreads across numerous planets and turns thousands, if not millions, of people into a homicidal rage in the middle of heavily-populated areas. Considering how many were infected, the casualties should be astronomical, but there's no mention of any lives being lost in the aftermath.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Galvatron, normally a trigger-happy lunatic, withdraws his troops and calls for a ceasefire after the Matrix cures everyone of the Hate Plague. It seems that the wisdom of the Matrix had also restored Galvatron's sanity, if only very briefly.
- Plot Hole: At one point a Hate Plague-infected Jessica is clearly seen grabbing Sky Linx by the tail, but he is not infected by her. It's not even a case of Jessica being unable to infect Transformers either, as just prior to that moment she ends up being the one to infect Galvatron. Size difference seems to be a factor: Jessica held contact with Galvatron for a few seconds for the infection to take hold, whereas Rodimus later infected Sky Lynx instantly upon contact. Most likely she simply wasn't able to get a firm enough grip for the infection to take hold.
- Red Is Violent: The Hate Plague manifests physically by turning the infected glowing red.
- Revenge Before Reason: Gregory and Dr. Morgan decide to infect the Autobots with the plague, despite previously seeing how easily it can be spread through the slightest touch during their experiments. There's no way it could easily lead to an outbreak that infects human and robot alike now, could it?
- Jessica Swofford specifically tries to warn them about this; they don't listen.
Jessica: Dad, get rid of those spores! Shoot them back into space. If they contaminate people, it could make World War Two look like a schoolyard brawl! - Sealed Evil in a Can: The Hate Plague was sealed within a star after it ravaged the cosmos several eons ago. Once the star went supernova, it released the plague and infected Jessica and Gregory's spaceship with its spores.
- Series Continuity Error: The beginning does not gel at all with the ending to "Dark Awakening". In that episode, Optimus was severely damaged and still alive when his ship collided with the asteroid that triggered the supernova. Here, Optimus's body is completely intact and while alive enough to be detected by Jessica and Dr. Gregory, he died at some point after he's recovered by the pair.
- Series Fauxnale: As explained in the Grand Finale trope, with the Matrix of Leadership depowered in order to save everyone, a grateful Galvatron's declared truce (however temporary it seemed) with the Autobots, and finally having Optimus Prime ending the episode with his iconic line, writers clearly ended Season 3 with a big bang.
- Shoot the Dog:
- Rodimus is forced to shut Metroplex down, as he can't afford someone as powerful as him becoming infected with the Hate Plague. It's not entirely clear whether this shutdown is permanent or not, as Metroplex is not seen again for the rest of the series.
- Optimus has to not only fight an infected Rodimus for the Matrix, but he unleashes its power and wisdom to cure the plague. Unlike Metroplex, this dog stays down: in either the American or Japanese continuation, the Matrix plays very little role in future events.
- Shout-Out: Wreck-Gar's once again good for his pop-culture references. In particular, he quotes at least three Star Trek quotes in a row while Rodimus asks him to repair Optimus.I'm a doctor, not a forklift!
He's dead, Jim. - Trap Is the Only Option: Despite Jessica Morgan warning him of the trap Gregory Swofford and her father have likely set, Rodimus decides to retrieve Optimus no matter the risk.
- Ungrateful Bastard: The Autobots give Jessica a cybernetic exoskeleton to help her walk after she was paralyzed when the Decepticons attacked her father's lab. Far from being grateful that his daughter can walk again, Dr. Morgan is horrified that they've turned her into a "machine" like them and continues with his plan to infect them all with the Hate Plague.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Klementia disappears once Prime uses the Matrix to cure the Hate Plague. Ask Vector Prime would later establish that he would spearhead many reforms among the Quintessons and become their Ambassador to Cybertron.
- World-Healing Wave: Realizing that the Hate Plague can only be cured by the collective wisdom of the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus unleashes all of its energy and cures the entire universe in one fell swoop.
- Worthy Opponent: In a rare moment of lucidity, Galvatron shows his respect for Optimus after he helps save the universe.Galvatron: There will be no war today, Optimus Prime. You have earned Galvatron's respect.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After leading Optimus to the heat-resistant metal, Galvatron learns that he intends to coat himself in it so he can resist the effects of the Hate Plague. Galvatron decides there's no reason to keep Optimus alive anymore, and tries to kill him so he can take the metal for himself.
