Hero (episode)
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the Cybertron cartoon episode. For the Generation 2 subgroup, see Hero (G2). |
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 I would diiiiie Without regret I’d offer up my liiiiiife | |||||||||
| "Hero" (Great Race Kaishi!) "The Great Race Starts!" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | April 9, 2005 (Japanese) September 10, 2005 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Kazuhiko Sōma | ||||||||
| Director | Atsushi Nakayama | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO, Radix | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity | ||||||||
Six straight episodes of the same damn race over and over again start here! Woo-hoo!
Contents |
Synopsis
On Velocitron, Red Alert and Hot Shot get involved in yet another argument, as Red Alert tries to stop the weary youngster from participating in a race against Dirt Boss to win the right to go against Override one-on-one. However, with Optimus Prime's arrival on the planet imminent, Hot Shot is even more determined to win this race, as he will have nothing to show for disobeying his leader's orders if he does not. Unfortunately for Hot Shot, it turns out that the race is a ruse perpetrated by Crumplezone and Ransack, who open fire on Hot Shot just as Dirt Boss is trying to turn him into a smear on the asphalt. Optimus Prime, Vector Prime and Landmine arrive in the nick of time and send the two goons running, at which point Red Alert and Hot Shot are forced to admit to disobeying Optimus Prime's command. Hot Shot then succumbs to exhaustion, and collapses.
The Autobots take Hot Shot back to Brakedown and Clocker's workshop, where Hot Shot's wounds are examined and treated. With the prognosis looking good, Optimus Prime confronts Red Alert on what has really been going on, and the medi-bot tells him of their belief that Velocitron's Cyber Planet Key is disguised as the Planet Cup and how Hot Shot has been racing to win it. Optimus angrily dismisses the notion of racing for the fate of the universe and decides to meet with Override himself, hoping to make her see reason.
On Earth, Coby and the others receive the news about Hot Shot's condition, and the worried Coby returns home. He finds his dad attempting to fix the engine of his motorbike, offers his aid, and easily fixes the problem, much to his dad's pleasant surprise.
Back on Velocitron, Optimus Prime approaches Override at her private race track, where she is more occupied with thoughts of Hot Shot and Megatron than she is with training. Having heard Prime's speech before from both of them, she has no interest in listening to him, and his pleas to even just borrow the Cyber Planet Key fall on deaf ears. Override challenges Prime to a race for ownership of the Cyber Planet Key, and departs. Their brief conversation is spied upon by Crumplezone and Ransack, who take the information they've learned back to Dirt Boss, so that he can join the race as well.
While Optimus is away, Hot Shot awakens, and, believing that he has failed his leader, gives up on winning the race despite the protests of his comrades. While Red Alert and Clocker try to buoy his spirits, a furious Landmine verbally assaults him, telling him that he will be glad to see the youth shipped back to Earth. Hot Shot tenses for a moment before agreeing and slinking off, with Clocker following after him. Red Alert can't grasp why Landmine was so harsh, but Vector Prime and Brakedown understand that he was trying to ignite a flame in Hot Shot's heart. Although they do not realize it, Landmine's words have had some effect, as Hot Shot angrily punches a cliff-face outside, lamenting his situation as Clocker tries to cheer him up. Unbeknownst to either of them, just around the corner, Optimus Prime has returned, and heard the whole thing...
Into the sun if that would keep our dream aliiiiive
A little later, Prime reports Override's response to the other Autobots, and gives a surprising order: the Autobots will follow through with Hot Shot's original plan to race for the Planet Cup! All the Autobots are aware that Hot Shot is the only one of their number who has any real chance of winning the race, and the team rallies behind Hot Shot, making him realize that the weight of the universe is not on his shoulders alone.
On Jungle Planet, Scourge muses over the frequent absences of Megatron. In truth, Megatron is in the nearby jungle, receiving a secret communication from Crumplezone and Ransack, who inform him of Optimus Prime's arrival on Velocitron.
The next day on Velocitron, the ostentatious race tournament for the Planet Cup at last begins! Override, Dirt Boss, Crumplezone, Ransack, Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, Red Alert, Landmine, Brakedown and Clocker line up to compete, and the race begins in earnest. Override and Dirt Boss take an early lead, while Crumplezone and Ransack hang back to bring up the rear as they debate whether or not to win or just mess it up for everyone. Hot Shot, meanwhile, has a mechanical hiccup and can't accelerate, so Red Alert gets in front of him and pulls him along in his slipstream to get him going. Hot Shot streaks ahead of the other Autobots, closing on the two leading racers as he vows never to give up!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"I know I disobeyed orders and messed up the mission..."
"Who's he talkin' to??"
- —Hot Shot's narration confuses Ransack
"Annoying blue guy, this one's for you!"
- —Ransack before shooting at Hot Shot
"Ridiculous! We can't wager the galaxy on a road race!"
- —Optimus Prime versus the plot
"Don't waste your time. There's no point in fixing me, Red Alert. I'm useless anyway."
"Hot Shot! I am not letting you give up on this now—or for that matter, ever!!"
- —Hot Shot and Red Alert
"But the universe is in grave—"
"Would you CAN IT! I said I don't want to hear it!"
- —Optimus Prime's usual speech is interrupted by Override
"Maybe you didn't save the universe, but you saved me and Breakdown and that makes you my hero! ...I'll never give up on you, Hot Shot, but that means that you can't give up on me either, no matter what!"
- —Clocker
Announcer: "...Crumplezone and his partner-in-crime, Ransack!"
Ransack: "...Crumplezone and Ransack?!"
Crumplezone: "It's alphabetical."
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
- Galaxy Force includes a "previously on" segment that recaps the events of "Ship".
- In Galaxy Force, the race at the start of this episode isn't a ruse. Also, when Red Alert tells Hot Shot to back out after Dirt Boss goes berserk, Galaxy Force has him tell Red Alert not to interfere instead of complaining that he's trying to pull out.
- Optimus's tone towards Red Alert and Hot Shot when he learns the truth is slightly different between the two shows. In Galaxy Force, Optimus is quieter yet clearly disappointed and upset. In Cybertron, Optimus is downright pissed at both of them, with him yelling on multiple occasions.
- Galaxy Force has Prime place Hot Shot and Red Alert under house arrest. Cybertron refrains from having him hand down any formal punishment.
- Galaxy Force merely has Coby silently think Hot Shot's name as he looks at his image on-screen. Cybertron has him make a comment on how the Autobots had trusted him, just as his parents trust him: a total non-sequitur which we would normally consider to just be another artifact of Cybertron's modified and expanded dialogue and not bother noting... except that it appears to be an attempt at making the utterly pointless, out-of-nowhere scene of Coby helping his father even remotely relevant to the rest of the episode.
- Cybertron indicates that at least part of the reason everyone has to race for the Planet Cup (besides racing being the customary means of settling things on Velocitron) is because Override doesn't know which of the two factions are telling the truth, and is using the races as a decider. In Galaxy Force, on the other hand, in addition to it being the planet's custom, it is hinted that Nitro Convoy (Override) is only doing it because it's the first excitement he's had in years and he's trying to prolong it. Jerk!
Continuity notes
- The Galaxy Force version of this episode specifically recalls how Hot Shot removed his self-diagnosis system, back in "Speed".
Transformers references
- Red Alert gives thanks to the Allspark that Optimus Prime has arrived, one of only a sparing number of references to the concept in the Unicron Trilogy cartoons.
Real-world references
- Red Alert tells Hot Shot to avoid using his flux capacitor, referring to the famous device from the Back to the Future movies.
Trivia
- Dirt Boss comes from the "baja", Crumplezone and Ransack from the "tri-track area". They also appear to have some fame (or infamy anyway), as do Clocker and Brakedown, since the announcer knows them on sight.
- Megatron was last seen being caught in the explosion of the Atlantis. His survival is unexplained, but at the same time, unsurprising; Cybertron's incarnation of Megatron is ridiculously durable and powerful. Presumably, the strange green sphere of bubbling liquid and tubes that he is installed within when he contacts Crumplezone and Ransack in this episode is supposed to be part of some regenerative process, but this is never explained in either version of the show, and never seen fully again (future episodes will have different methods of healing Megatron). As such, Cybertron pokes a little bit of fun at it by having Ransack directly call attention to it, wondering what it was all about. Crumplezone jokes, "Maybe it's a beauty treatment!"
- Beginning with this episode, an unidentified actor fills in for Ryan Hirakida as Bud, and continues to do so until "Ice".
Home video releases
- DVD
2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 04 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
