Does this remind anyone of the G1 episode, "Fire in the Sky?" This seems like Skyfire's tale of being found on earth by the Decepticons and being indecisive on which team to accompany, then later sides with the Autobots. There is much less soul searching for Skyquake, as he remains loyal to Megatron, regardless of his leader's absence. Starscream watches a clip from the end of the previous episode, Darkness Rising pt 5, as he applauds Megatron's grand exit. Megatron is presumed dead, Starscream is in command of the Decepticons, and to his surprise (not mine) he finds the Decepticons questioning his ability as a leader (considering that if Megatron cannot succeed, how can Screamer?) So he and Soundwave leave to resurrect a Guardian that Megatron stationed on earth to protect the energon deposits. Megatron should have summoned his guardians when he got to Earth and loaded them up with Dark Energon... but who am I to question Megatron's ways. --The first intro sequence.. really good.- Raf, Miko & Jack are involved in the school's science fair and need to get their project done, with the help of Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee, respectively. Starscream, with the aid of Soundwave, are in a large open rocky-mountain area, trying to detect the guardian's signal. Soundwave is having a hard time detecting the giant, but finds him when he increases power output. Meanwhile, Prime explains to Raf that, although Bumblebee is skilled, he still has much to learn, as he is very young with respect to Cybertronian life cycles. The Autobots then pick up an "exposed Energon" signal traveling (with Starscream); Prime summons Rachet to help, who then opts to remain to supervise the science projects; Prime takes Bumble to investigate instead (could this be his chance to prove himself?..). Soundwave and Starscream, the latter with hopes that this guardian will inflict great destruction in his name and raise the moral of the Decepticons, resurrect Skyquake from his slumber with the small Energon cube(why are they both there? Couldn't screamer take a clone with a radar? by the way, they're way out in some rock canyon or something, no rhyme or reason and certainly no Energon). Starscream tries to indoctrinate the new giant with words, but to no avail. Skyquake remains loyal to Megatron's command and refuses to accept his passing. Prime arrives and speaks bluntly about the future of Cybertronians now that Megatron is gone. Starscream acts cocky and gets swatted for it by Skyquake, Starscream sides with Soundwave at the top of the canyon. Prime and Skyquake go at it like they're fighting over the West Bank, Skyquake saying "I'll never side with a Prime." Hmmm, what could this mean, is it foreshadowing an upcoming back story? Is it paving the way for more Primes? Will it allow for the existence for the "Original 13?" No one can say, but I can say that it was poorly put in as a fail-safe literary device that will probably never be used. Close to completion, the students get some uninvited advice from the Reanimator himself, Rachet, and turns their A-1 Earthling science projects into Cybertronain Academy grade concoctions of genius (thats all that happens to Jack, Raf, Miko, Bulkhead, Arcee and Rachet... pretty weak if you ask me, but there are some fun things like Raf's volcano, Miko's solar system, but aside from that, their story seems pretty redundant. Sure, its a slice of life having the adviser becoming more involved than the student and subsequently dominating the project with his own ideas, but it really takes away Skyquake's story.) Prime and Skyquake go at it like they're fighting over the West Bank, Skyquake saying "I'll never side with a Prime." hmmm, what could this mean, is it foreshadowing an upcoming back story? Is it paving the way for more Primes? Will it allow for the existence for the "Original 13?" No one can say, but I can say that it was poorly put in as a fail-safe literary device that will probably never be used. Soundwave detects Megatron's life signal, and Starscream opens his mouth too quickly by disregarding it. He then volunteers to investigate himself. Soundwave is ordered to document Prime vs Skyquake's battle and Starscream heads to where the space bridge was, tailed by Ratbat, or whatever that breast plate is. BREAST ARMOR! Starscream has a monologue over the "unwell" Megatron, and is then caught by Soundwave's spy. Putting his foot in his mouth, Starscream commands Soundwave to initiate a rescue operation. Did I mention Fowler is in this one, yeah, he's flying a state of the art top secret military prototype jet (with semi-transformed leg parts showing underneath) as he intercepts an air force transmission regarding alien comm-links and commandeers their investigation. He finds himself where Skyquake is, who analyzes the jet for a transform mode and takes off, taking the battle to the air. Soundwave & Starscream rescue Megatron and quickly (but reluctantly) get him into stasis. Bee jumps off a cliff & catches Skyquake in flight and attempts some "jet-judo." It worked out, cause the giant crash landed, possibly only to be re-thawed again... oh, they're on rock? right, so he's dead? Really?...OK, then. There is a moral to this episode, I think. Its best to pursue your own course to success or the will of your mentors' will dominate... or its best to stray from the mastery of others... wait, that doesn't sound right... its more like "Masters are those of their own domain, and you should master your own," or don't attempt to closely follow suit. The whole students and masters thing kind of breaks up when I try and compare Rachets+students vs Megatron/Starscream/Skyquake+students vs prime/bumblebee vs bee/Raf vs jack/Raf etc.. They included all characters, and had something for everyone, but it seemed so calculated, nothing really changed from the events in or the outcome of the episode, and Skyquake seems like a bit of a lug with no redeeming qualities. Basic filler.
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