Volcanicus (episode)

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If I've a heart made of steel, Then does that mean I cannot feel Remorse for everything I've done? My hand's a smoking gun!
"Volcanicus"
Production company	Hasbro Studios, Machinima
Airdate	May 8, 2018
Written by	F.J. DeSanto Adam Beechen Jamie Iracleanos
Director	Yuzo Sato
Animation studio	Tatsunoko Production

Volcanicus attacks the outsiders while Overlord gets some answers.

Synopsis

As Volcanicus begins his assault, Windblade, Perceptor, and Victorion are forced to flee his rampage, hiding wherever they can. Perceptor suggests they find Megatron to figure out their next move, but Victorion remains distrustful and refuses. Not far away, Megatron slowly gets to his feet after his assault by Grimlock. Noticing something shining in the bushes, he turns to investigate.

In Metroplex City, the Combiners find themselves under attack as Computron is killed and Devastator and Menasor are severely wounded by Overlord and Hot Rod, now supercharged by the power of the Matrix of Chaos and going by the name Rodimus Cron. Overlord reminisces on how he found the relic within the derelict head of Unicron under orders from his master Megatronus. The former Prime had ordered Overlord to use it to bring destruction to Cybertron, promising him a place at his side once he had brought about the apocalypse. Praising Rodimus for his work, Overlord turns to the two remaining Combiners and demands to know Megatron's whereabouts. Undeterred, Menasor and Devastator stand up again and charge the two, forcing them to the ground, but they are easily repelled.

At Victorion's suggestion, Perceptor distracts Volcanicus just long enough for Windblade and Victorion to launch a sneak attack. The two Camiens attempt to strike his combination points, but Volcanicus knocks Victorion down and grounds Windblade with a single punch. Before he can deliver the final blow, however, a blast of energy strikes him and sends him tumbling down. His attacker reveals himself as Predaking, who seeks the Enigma of Combination. When Victorion does not produce it, Predaking begins attacking her as well.

Rodimus once again brings Devastator down as Overlord holds Menasor in place. While Menasor refuses to reveal Megatron's location, Overlord orders Rodimus to destroy each of Devastator's limbs one by one. Eventually, Menasor cracks and reveals Megatron was headed for Primal Swamp, only for Rodimus to deliver the killing blow to Devastator anyway. His purpose having been served, Overlord crushes Menasor's neck and watches their sparks fly away before he and Rodimus depart for the swamp.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"We need not that traitor's help. I am perfectly capable of concocting a strategy."
"...well?"
"Do not distract! I am concocting."

—Victorion gets her bluff called by Windblade.

"Fall before my righteous fury!"

—Victorion, three seconds before she's kicked across the swamp.

"Oh, sh-!"

—Windblade's reaction to a punch from Volcanicus. What's she gonna do now?!

"Come on, Cron. Time for a road trip."

—Overlord heads towards his goal.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Overlord refers to his implantation of the Matrix of Chaos into Hot Rod, which occurred back in "At the Last Second".
• This is the second time Computron and Menasor have been killed in this continuity, as both were previously slain at the start of the trilogy in "The Fall" before being revived in "Destruction's Dawn".

Transformers references

• Unicron's head is left floating in space with one eye destroyed, referencing the third season of The Transformers, although there, he had both his eyes destroyed.

Errors

Continuity errors

• Despite multiple fatalities over the course of the Prime Wars Trilogy cartoons, even for Combiners, this is the first time we see anyone's spark released afterwards.
• Victorion claims that disrupting one combination joint will cause an entire Combiner to separate, but this is contradicted within this very same episode as Devastator's limbs are blown off one by one with no effect on his overall combined form.

Animation and technical errors

• Scale rears its ugly head again as Volcanicus blatantly changes size between scenes; sometimes he's the same height as Victorion, other times she only comes up to near his waist. Overlord also appears bigger than he should be a few times, but it's less obvious.
• The official blurb for this installment claims that Megatron was tossed "miles" away last episode. Yet when he awakens here, he's clearly still within visual range of Volcanicus—a distance that appears to be more likely measured in feet.

Trivia

• Shouldn't the sparks of each of the Combiners' components be released upon their death, instead of just one?
• Computron is killed rather easily in this episode. While the Decepticon Combiners took much more severe damage in order to be killed, Computron was felled by one blast.
• Rodimus Cron is more closely based on his Nemesis Hot Rod form from his Power of the Primes toy than his fully-evolved Rodimus Unicronus form, albeit with a mouthplate up at all times. He later upgrades to the Rodimus Unicronus design in "Collision Course".
• Following Machinima's other...unusual art decisions, the Matrix of Chaos is based on the Matrix of Conquest rather than the redecoed Matrix of Leadership accessory that came with the Power of the Primes Rodimus Unicronus toy.
• Though Devastator himself was killed and three of his limbs were destroyed, Mixmaster appears to be wholly unharmed and theoretically may have survived this episode. Likewise, several of Computron's and Menasor's components made it through the battle unscathed. However, as a result of the Prime Wars Trilogy's fondness for pretending that individual Combiner components (aside from the Dinobots) don't exist, no evidence of their survival is offered in later episodes.
• Like Devastator before him, Predaking draws his design from his titan class figure, though significantly scaled down.