Challenge
From Transformers Wiki
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| Are you asking for a challeeenge? | |||||||||
| "Challenge" (Planet X no Himitsu) "The Secret of Planet X" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | November 5, 2005 (Japanese) September 19, 2006 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Manabu Ishikawa | ||||||||
| Director | Megumi Sakai | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO, Office Take Off | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity | ||||||||
The Autobot search teams continue to explore the depths of Gigantion, the Jungle Planet is in danger, and the mystery of Planet X is revealed.
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Synopsis
On Earth, Colonel Franklin and Lucy Suzuki watch as Primus fires his main cannons in another attempt to stall the expansion of the black hole, which continues to grow more and more powerful. Watching the expansion of the singularity through the ever-growing space bridge portal in the sky over Earth, Crosswise and Mudflap remark on the situation as well, and worry about the Jungle Planet, which seems to be suffering the worst effects of all the colony worlds. On Jungle Planet, Brimstone is struck by lightning and plummets from the sky, but is saved by Backstop, while across the galaxy, on Gigantion, Snarl senses the pain of his homeworld and howls into the (artificial) night sky. Leobreaker wonders why he can't feel the same connection, and Snarl assures him he should be glad he can't with what's going on now.
Elsewhere on the Giant Planet, Ransack and Crumplezone come out of hiding in a rubble-strewn room, feeling particularly down-hearted after their recent string of all-too-humiliating defeats at the hands of Optimus Prime. The two decide that once they get the "Cyber Planet Thingy" they'll be strong enough to take on all the Autobots... only to promptly fall through the weakened floor to a lower level, directly in the path of Optimus Prime's team. Again. Optimus transforms to super mode and uses his Cyber-Key-enhanced blasters to send the pair flying off. Again.
Somewhere else in the depths of the planet, Soundwave and Sideways are scanning for something. They're interrupted by the Cybertron Defense Team, who demand to know what they're doing. Caught in the act, Soundwave at last reveals his and Sideways's story...
- In the distant past, the world of technological marauders known as Planet X discovered that their planet was dying, and attacked Gigantion, with the intention of taking it for their own. In retaliation, the Gigantions used the Cyber Planet Key to increase both their size, and the size of their planet, leading to a war that culminated when Planet X unleashed its mightiest weapon. Alas, the weapon's power was so great that even they could not control it, and they only wound up destroying their homeworld. Sideways and Soundwave are the two lone survivors of Planet X, and now seek revenge against the Giant Planet for all they have lost!
The tale told, Soundwave ejects Laserbeak, who produces a thick smog that surrounds the Autobots and reduces visibility to near-zero. Using their special abilities, the two Planet X agents attack and confuse the Autobots: Sideways creates multiple illusions of himself that assault Red Alert, while Soundwave alters his voice and image to make Hot Shot and Scattorshot accidentally attack each other. Hot Shot and Scattorshot are then separated again, and Soundwave plagues both of them individually: first, he adopts the voices of different Autobots and attacks Hot Shot's confidence, then, he disguises himself as Hot Shot and tries to get Scattorshot to take his hand. At the same time, however, the real Hot Shot appears, so Scattorshot tricks Soundwave by asking the Hot Shots if they remembered an event that in reality never happened. Scattorshot fires on the fake, nailing Laserbeak and dissipating the smoke, and a second volley takes down Soundwave. That leaves the small army of Sideways clones, but Scattorshot brazenly declares he can see right through them-prompting the real Sideways to start in surprise and blow his cover. Sideways' location revealed, Scattorshot sends him flying with a leaping kick, and the three Autobots use their Cyber-Key-enhanced weapons to bury the two Planet X agents under a ton of rubble.
In another of Gigantion's cities, Snarl and Leobreaker run across Scourge. Scourge berates the two, and Leobreaker challenges Scourge for leadership of Jungle Planet, proclaiming Scourge is unfit to rule, since he only cares about himself. The two combatants shift to beast mode, and the two battle across rooftops and through buildings. After some nasty blows, Leobreaker drops to one knee, and Scourge begins to walk away. Snarl informs Scourge of Jungle Planet's suffering, and Scourge says he already knows: his connection to his homeworld is just as strong. Leobreaker isn't done yet though, and Snarl has had enough, transforming to wolf mode to tackle Scourge as well. All three robots battle with their Cyber-Key-enhanced weapons, a fight that decimates several buildings... and leaves Scourge the only one standing in the end. In another part of the planet, Coby notices that the two beast-bots' signals have stopped.
Back on the highway Optimus Prime's team is travelling on, Ransack and Crumplezone accidentally fall through the ceiling and land in front of the Autobots. Again. The two indignantly refuse to give up, and plunk themselves down in the Autobots' path. Coby radios Bud about Snarl and Leobreaker, and Wing Saber arrives on the scene as well. He and Optimus combine into Sonic Wing Mode, and blast the two Decepticon dopes, with predictable results. Override and Lori show up shortly afterwards, Lori promising a good story....
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Optimus Prime: "Well, well, look what the cybercat dragged in!"
Ransack: "Ow, my head..."
Metroplex: "At least nothin' important was hurt."
- —The Autobots display their high opinions of Ransack and Crumplezone
"You know, sometimes being us is no fun at all!!"
- —Ransack, on his recent string of defeats
"Your disc scratched, homes? You keep laying down the same beat and I keep giving the same answer: it isn't here."
- —Soundwave, to Sideways
"You'll understand how we feel once your homeworld says peace out. But for now, since we can't have you all up in our grill, it's time to clear the dance floor... and get rid of you."
- —Soundwave prepares to kick Autobot skidplate
"Look at you, Snarl. Just following these Autobots around like you're their lapdog. You used to be a proud and noble warrior, but now you're nothing but a loser who does what he's told."
- —Scourge's pot calls Snarl's kettle black.
"Battle isn't just about actual fighting, Scourge! It's about what you're fighting for! Optimus Prime and the rest of us are fighting for what's right!"
"Huh! Don't lie to yourself. You're fighting for something different, not better."
- —Leobreaker and Scourge
"But first, we gotta deal with these schmoes."
"Hey! Don't call us that! ... what does that mean, anyway?"
- —Bud and Ransack
"You're the ones who wanted to fight us, right? Well, you should have the chance to battle the very best! Nothing but the most powerful Autobot is gonna satisfy two tough guys like you, right?!"
"Er... er... I guess."
"Well, we could take on someone a little less powerful, I guess."
- —Wing Saber ready to send Ransack and Crumplezone blasting off again
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
- Galaxy Force includes a "previously on" segment summarizing the events of "Ambush".
- In Cybertron, it is noted that Planet X was "running out of juice"; in Galaxy Force, it is not merely the planet, but all life in their universe that was coming to an end. Galaxy Force proceeds to note that the natives of Planet X found Gigantion on "the edges of space-time, in another universe", indicating that it was they who were responsible for pulling the planet into the universe it now resides in (a fact that would later be confirmed outright by a timeline on TakaraTomy's website). Also, this makes it explicit that Planet X is a native world of the parallel universe, which Cybertron does not directly state.
- When Scattorshot tricks Soundwave, he does so by recalling something Jetfire did from before the Autobots travelled through the warp to Gigantion. In both versions of the show, he claims Jetfire freaked out over the confined space of the warp; Cybertron, however, omits Scattorshot noting that what really happened was that Jetfire freaked out over getting a shot, as seen in "Warp".
- Cybertron has Scattorshot brazenly declare that he can see through the Sideways clones, causing the real Sideways to start in surprise and blow his cover. In Galaxy Force, Scattorshot merely creates a distraction that Starscream was behind them. Hence, it was probably sheer luck that Scattorshot delivered a flying kick to the actual Sideways.
Animation or technical errors
- Primus still has the Omega Lock and keys plugged into his back at the beginning of the episode, even though the Autobots took those with them to Gigantion.
- Once again, Ransack's black "mask" appears and disappears with noticeable frequency. For one of many examples, check out the image of him and Crumplezone sitting, above.
Transformers references
- Scourge calls Leobreaker "Autobrat," an insult used by Blitzwing to refer to Hot Rod in The Transformers: The Movie.
- Hot Shot claims the fog Laserbeak emits is "thicker than Nebulan pea soup". This is actually one of two references to the homeworld of the Generation 1 aliens in the Cybertron series: the other comes from Jetfire's Key Code data file.
Real-world references
- Crumplezone and Ransack "blast off" again when Optimus blasts them early in the episode. And then again at the end.
Trivia
- This episode offers us our first genuine look at the present day inhabitants of the Jungle Planet. Back in "Honor", we were shown a few natives in a flashback, who were all atypically hand-drawn. With this episode, we finally glimpse some fully CGI-animated beast-bots, with alternate modes including an antelope, a deer, some sauropod dinosaurs and some long-beaked birds.
- Soundwave retains his distinctive modulation even when mimicking other characters. The Autobots don't seem to notice this so presumably it's just for the audience's benefit.
- When Soundwave is playing with Hot Shot's head, he imitates Red Alert, Optimus Prime, Vector Prime, and Jetfire.
- Snarl and Leobreaker both use their Cyber Key attacks in robot mode in this episode. Leobreaker has done this before, but this is the only time Snarl does it. It's an interesting thing to watch, because Snarl's beast mode head is his right hand.
Home video releases
- DVD
2006 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 11 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)