Portent

Starscream, Hot Shot, and the rest continue their pursuit of Thrust, arriving at a portal to a strange organic area. The rest of the Autobots gather to fight Unicron.

1 Synopsis
2 Featured characters
3 Quotes
4 Notes
5 Home video releases

Synopsis

This was the lucky one.

In the mysterious tunnels within Cybertron, the kids explain to Hot Shot and Wheeljack that Starscream brought the kids to where they are. Hot Shot advises the kids to return to the Axalon, where it's safer, but the kids argue they can be useful, eventually convincing their gigantic metal pals. The group radios back to Optimus Prime with their status, while Billy and Fred feel neglected.

Meanwhile, Jetfire and Hoist continue to order Autobots to withdraw from their positions. Blurr relays to Jetfire orders from Optimus Prime to assist Hot Shot and Wheeljack below. Galvatron is satisfied with the Autobots' retreat, allowing his forces to take over Cybertron easily.

"I can't give you my license officer"
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE YOU ARE HEADCRAB ZOMBIE!"

Thrust, still running from Starscream, dives through a strange portal. Starscream bravely follows into the unknown. On the other side, in an organic-looking area with Transformer husks around, Sideways finally appears. Starscream arrives soon after. Next, Hot Shot's group prepares to follow through the portal, with Alexis making sure to put on a good luck charm first.

Sideways and Starscream come face to face, and as is tradition, Starscream declines an offer to join up with Unicron's side of the conflict before the battle. Sideways attacks Starscream with a swarm of bot-spiders. Hot Shot's team runs to assist, but more parasites attack Wheeljack and Hot Shot.

The kids try to rouse the Mini-Con weapons into freeing themselves from Thrust's possession, and whistling from Perceptor helps the effort. Thrust and Sideways ignore the kids and leave, their tracks covered by tendrils. Hot Shot and Wheeljack connect their backs and form an utterly silly-looking cyclone with no other options. Alexis lets Starscream join the team because she's Starscream's friend.

Sideways plugs the Mini-Con weapons into Unicron's core processor, angry at Thrust for having not grabbed the Star Saber.

As the team moves through the caverns, they run into more suspiciously organic obstacles, separating Starscream and Alexis from the rest of the crew. Starscream goes airborne to fly Alexis to safety, but Alexis (stupid) hops off Starscream (more stupid) to retrieve the good luck charm she dropped (even sillier). Starscream saves her.

Just because Jhi loves generics.

Everybody manages to make it to the surface, finding themselves on Cybertron's moon. The surface shatters and quakes, with Jetfire arriving in time to save Hot Shot, Wheeljack, the Mini-Cons, and the kids. From a distance, it becomes evident that Unicron has been hibernating inside the moon from the start. On Cybertron's surface, Wheeljack departs. Starscream also begins leaving before Alexis stops him, begging him to stay. Starscream thinks it wouldn't be fair if he betrayed them again, but Alexis knows he wouldn't do that. Starscream ponders for a moment before turning back to thank her for trusting and believing in him. As he leaves, Alexis says his name sadly and clutches her pendant.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Mini-Cons	Other
Hot Shot (1) Red Alert (9) Optimus Prime (10) Jetfire (13) Blurr (15) Hoist (16) Laserbeak (23)	Wheeljack (2) Tidal Wave (14) Galvatron (17) Demolishor (18) Starscream (20)	Alexis (3) Rad (4) Carlos (5) Billy (11) Fred (12)	Grindor (6) High Wire (7) Sureshock (8) Perceptor (22)	Thrust (19) Sideways (21) Unicron (24)

Quotes

"All right! Well, that was some fireworks display, fellas, but who said you can start the party without me?"
"Show-off."

—Jetfire and Tidal Wave

"You were wondering what kind of place this is. Well, for you, it's a graveyard. Goodbye, Starscream!"

—Sideways welcomes Starscream to Unicron.

"Unicron will awaken, and both the Autobots and Decepticons will be destroyed. They will become a distant memory. The Mini-Cons' true destiny will be revealed. Those who helped will be rewarded, and all others will suffer Unicron's wrath."

—Sideways makes with the spoilers.

Notes

Differences with Legends of the Microns

Armada (left) and Legends of the Microns (right).

In Armada, Hot Shot asks Rad why the kids came to Cybertron. Rad says they came to help the Autobots rescue the Mini-Cons, and that the kids felt useless waiting around on the Axalon, which Carlos backs up as he says it was boring. Legends of the Microns changes it slightly as Hot Shot asks why the kids are there rather than addressing Rad. Rad explains that they came down with High Wire, Sureshock, and Grindor to save the Mini-Con weapons Thrust took, and then Carlos says the enemy found them first. Alexis says Starscream ended up rescuing them and that he's still an ally after all; in Armada, Alexis refers to Starscream as "a good friend" of the kids.
Carlos tells Alexis not to jump to conclusions about Starscream being an ally since saving them was probably accidental. Alexis retorts that it doesn't matter and asks why the others don't trust Starscream. Hot Shot says Starscream needs to be more honest in Legends of the Microns but says he needs to surrender in Armada. Then, instead of asking if Starscream is still chasing Thrust as he does in Armada, Wheeljack asks if they should keep chasing Thrust.
Carlos tells Hot Shot they won't save the Mini-Cons if they stand around arguing, and Alexis asks if Hot Shot wants Unicron to get the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield. Wheeljack says the kids could be useful in Armada, but says they're right in Legends of the Microns.
The Japanese dub removes the transformation sound from many scenes where Armada added it.
In Armada, Hot Shot asks Optimus if the kids have permission to go but asks if he has Prime's consent in the Japanese dub. Then in Legends of the Microns, the scene goes silent until Optimus says his line when he nods. After getting Prime's approval, Alexis and Carlos cheer in unison, and the kids sound more excited. The lighting inside the ship and on the characters is increased slightly.
Jetfire doesn't speak until the shot of him flying over the planet. He sternly tells the combatants that now's not the time to fight. In Armada, he quips about the "fireworks" and the party starting without him; his order for the Autobots to retreat is laid back instead of urgent as it is in the Japanese dub.
In Armada, Hoist says the Autobots forces are combining to battle their new enemy Unicron, whose power is unlike anything previously encountered. Then Blurr says they must stop Unicron at any cost as all Transformers' fate hangs in the balance. In Legends of the Microns, Hoist says Unicron is the Autobots' real enemy, and he will devour all Transformers regardless of faction. Blurr continues by saying Unicron will eradicate both the Autobots and Decepticons, so now is not the time for the Autobots to fight the Decepticons.
While thinking to himself, Megatron believes that teaming up with the Autobots will be pointless if he achieves a true victory against Optimus. The Armada version is similar but arrogant compared to the contemplative Japanese version. Instead of considering the idea of the Transformers teaming up, Megatron stubbornly balks at the thought, saying the Autobots and Decepticons will never be allies as long as he's in charge.
The scene of Thrust running from Starscream before entering the portal is silent. Later, in Legends of the Microns, Sideways says Thrust is being followed. Then the scene goes silent until Thrust apologizes. Armada changes Sideways's line to him asking Thrust if he knows he's still being followed, and there's filler dialogue added to remove the Japanese dub's silence. Also, unlike the Japanese version, Thrust alerts Sideways to Starscream's arrival.
Rather than ask if Thrust escaped through the portal, Carlos says he can't see anything through it. Rad says they can't give up looking for him, Alexis remarks that it's why they are there, and Carlos replies in agreement. Armada lightens their dialogue by having Alexis take a jab at Carlos for being scared and Carlos firing back.
Alexis calls her necklace an "important amulet" in the Japanese dub but calls it her "good luck charm" in Armada.
The Japanese dub lowers the sound of the Transformers' footsteps.
Thrust is silent as Sideways tries and fails to lure Starscream into joining them. In Legends of the Microns, Sideways asks if Starscream hates Megatron before Starscream calls Sideways the object of his hatred. Armada warps their dialogue into Sideways claiming they could finish off Galvatron together, and Starscream saying he wants to destroy Sideways.
After Sideways chastises Starscream for his loyalty to Megatron in Legends of the Microns, he chuckles for a bit before silently raising his arm. Armada gives him an extra line, and he laughs in the next shot as the bot-spiders appear. In the Japanese dub, Sideways is silent while Starscream slashes the bot-spiders.
The shot of the Transformer corpse in the Japanese dub is silent; in Armada, Carlos states the obvious about it.
The shot of Alexis before she runs off to help Starscream is redrawn with high-quality animation, and the animation of her boarding Sureshock is modified to be more realistic (see right).
More bot-spiders are added to later scenes. Armada adds Hot Shot's line as he, Alexis, and Wheeljack arrive; the shot's Japanese version is silent. Instead of wondering what the bot-spiders are like she does in Armada, Alexis says Starscream's name. Then, in Legends of the Microns, Wheeljack asks Starscream if he's okay. After Starscream's lines, Hot Shot says the former's name. The bot parasites are unnamed in the Japanese dub.
When he unleashes more parasites on Hot Shot and Wheeljack, Sideways calls them "pathetic fools" in Legends of the Microns but says "it's feeding time" in Armada. The later scene of Sideways telling the Autobots to get over that the Mini-Con weapons now belong to Unicron is silent.
Instead of calling the kids "an audience," Thrust mocks their useless effort to awaken the Mini-Cons since they can't hear them and asks the kids if doing so during combat would be problematic. Then, in Legends of the Microns, Carlos calls Thrust a "mean spirited squid-head," and Rad says the Mini-Cons aren't weapons. The kids are entirely redrawn in the Japanese dub, with Carlos and Rad's animation showing the most change. Sideways says the kids will be lost without the Autobots in Armada but says they won't live long whether Thrust shoots them or not in Legends of the Microns.
Carlos doesn't have any dialogue when the tendrils grab him, and the shot of the kids falling back after Perceptor saves them is redrawn to be more natural (see right).
Armada plays the insert Transformers theme as Hot Shot and Wheeljack perform their move, while Legends of the Microns plays "Invincible Power." Then no music plays in Armada until Sureshock stops by Alexis, where "Invincible Power" starts playing in the English dub. The music doesn't stop abruptly in the Japanese dub.
Perceptor speaks after Hot Shot and Wheeljack help him in Armada, but he doesn't talk in the Japanese version. Starscream telling the others to stop Sideways is also an Armada addition to cover the silence from Legends of the Microns.
The Japanese dub has Starscream ask Alexis why she cares about him, with Alexis answering that they're still comrades as she has always believed that. Armada warps the dialogue into Alexis giving Starscream some generic gush about friends needing to help each other.
Carlos's line about the tunnel is heard sooner, and Alexis's line to Starscream about falling behind is an Armada addition as the scene is silent in the Japanese dub.
In Unicron's core processor, Armada reduces Thrust to more of a sniveling worm than his portrayal in Legends of the Microns, primarily due to Armada's added filler dialogue. The Japanese dub also has Sideways ask Thrust how the latter expects to approach Megatron after failing to get the Star Saber. After Sideways sets down the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield in Legends of the Microns, the ground is now animated as latching onto them, and the rest of the scene is silent.
Legends of the Microns adds some frames of Wheeljack grabbing a tendril. The Japanese dub also adds glowing circuit lines and an electrical effect to the severed tendrils after the acid wave appears (see right).
Legends of the Microns redraws Hot Shot with high-quality animation when he turns to see Starscream, Alexis, and Sureshock getting separated from him and the others (see right).
The Japanese dub shortens Rad's line after he contacts Alexis, so he only tells the others about her escaping with Starscream. Then the scene goes silent until Hot Shot sees more acid coming, and he tells everyone to run in the next shot.
Before jumping off Starscream in Armada, Alexis says she needs to retrieve her lucky charm before stubbornly telling the reluctant Starscream that she needs it since they won't be safe without it. Then Starscream tells Sureshock to bring Alexis back. In Legends of the Microns, Starscream doesn't know about the pendant initially, as Alexis tells him about it later after thanking him and Sureshock. She desperately begs him to stop since she lost something important to her. Starscream is surprised when Alexis jumps off, and she is primarily silent while she tumbles. After Sureshock jumps off, Starscream is surprised again, calling the Mini-Con impulsive like Alexis.
Instead of calmly saying that something is causing Cybertron's moon to crumble, the Japanese dub has Starscream shocked by the revelation that he and the others were inside Cybertron's moon. After he says his line, there's some new animation where Alexis looks down for a moment before off to the side as she does in Armada.
The shots of Wheeljack, Hot Shot, and the boys reaching the moon's surface and before Jetfire saves them are silent. As the ground between Hot Shot and Wheeljack splits, the frame zooms toward them in Armada but doesn't in Legends of the Microns. After Jetfire rescues them, the Japanese dub replaces his quip with him asking, "What is this?"
Rad and Carlos say that Cybertron's moon is Unicron in unison as his horns emerge; the English version is silent. In Armada, Hot Shot asks if it's Unicron, to which Jetfire says he believed Unicron to be a myth. In Legends of the Microns, Hot Shot asks his question in shock before Alexis says it is undoubtedly Unicron though she can barely believe it.
In Armada, Jetfire says that Unicron spied on Cybertron and the Transformers the whole time; in Legends of the Microns, Starscream says the line instead. Then Armada adds some filler dialogue to the following two scenes of everyone reacting to Unicron's reveal. One of the generic Autobots is heard in the Japanese dub asking, "Is that Unicron?"
After Wheeljack says he's moving on despite enjoying fighting alongside Hot Shot again, there's an awkward silence in Armada before he continues speaking. There's none in Legends of the Microns as Wheeljack's line is longer.
The Japanese dub redraws Alexis as she asks Starscream to stay and assures him that he wouldn't betray his friends, changing her facial expression from stoic to despondent (see right). After Alexis tells Starscream he wouldn't betray his friends, Starscream says he's no longer sure of anything in Armada, but he's silent in Legend of the Microns. After Starscream thanks Alexis for believing in him, the sound of his footsteps is heavily toned down so that the music takes precedence, emphasizing the scene's emotion.
In Legend of the Microns, the shot of Alexis watching Starscream walk away is entirely redrawn, with her face showing the most change, now looking more anguished compared to the Armada version. Her dialogue is now an internal monologue in which she says she will always believe in Starscream. However, in Armada, Alexis begins the closing narration once she clutches her pendant; in the Japanese dub, she starts it after the scene dissolves to Starscream.
Alexis's ending narration in Armada is long-winded as she talks about how, while watching Starscream walk away, Alexis realized there's a lot about the Transformers she didn't understand as the scars from their age-old battle run deeper than she knew. She says if new "battle lines" are drawn in response to Unicron's appearance, then trust will become harder to come by. Unlike the Armada version, which connects to the subplot of some characters' lingering trust issues with Starscream, the Legends of the Microns version is brief and sincere as Alexis says she could only hear her heartbeat as she watched Starscream walk away. The episode's last few seconds are silent.

Animation and technical errors

Carlos calls Grindor "Sureshock," and Alexis later refers to Sureshock as "Grindor."
In some shots, the Autobot and Decepticon symbols are missing or just dots.
When Carlos and Alexis argue with Hot Shot, Wheeljack's right eye is gray.
When the kids speak to Optimus, the neck segments of their spacesuits are missing.
In the first shot of Thrust, he isn't carrying the Skyboom Shield or Requiem Blaster. The two weapons reappear as he jumps into the portal.
The children's gloves are gone in some shots. The Japanese dub adds their gloves to the scene of Alexis and Rad trying to save Carlos.
- When Carlos reacts to the Transformer corpse in the same shot, he stops mid-pose like his animation is incomplete. In Legends of the Microns, Carlos is redrawn doing the full pose; however, his skin tone is darker than his ungloved hands (see above).
As Alexis, Carlos, and Rad react to the corpse, the white parts of Carlos's helmet are gray, and it looks like the visor is gone.
A couple of bot-spiders in the background don't move in some scenes.
When encountering Sideways in the organic cavern, Wheeljack's face is grey for two shots. Legends of the Microns fixes his face color, but it's still gray under Wheeljack's eyes.
When the camera pans to the ridge after Sideways sics bot-spiders on Wheeljack and Hot Shot, the ridge is empty, but the kids and their Mini-Cons appear on it in the next shot. The Japanese dub adds the kids and High Wire to the scene.
As Rad spies on Thrust holding the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield, they're colored like part of Thrust.
In the initial shot of the kids and Mini-Cons on the ledge, Rad has Carlos and Alexis on his right and left, respectively. However, while trying to awaken the Skybomm Shield and Requiem Blaster Mini-Cons, Carlos is suddenly between Alexis and Rad. Then Rad is back in the middle when the scene cuts back to the kids.
Perceptor looks very off-model, and he's silent when he tries to awaken the Skyboom Shield and Requiem Blaster Mini-Cons. Legends of the Microns fixes his model, and he emits the frequency sound.
When the tendrils first appear, they're gray-colored. Their color changes between shots after this, except after Starscream saves Sureshock. The tendrils are always gray-colored in Legends of the Microns.
When Hot Shot and Wheeljack start spinning, they go from left to right, and the direction they're spinning in changes depending on the shot afterward.
- The dust they kick up doesn't match the ground's color, and it becomes purple as they finish their move. The dust is purple throughout in the Japanese dub.
In one shot before Starscream shoots the rest of the parasites, they look mostly transparent.
- Starscream is off-model as he destroys them. The Japanese dub has him redrawn accurately (see above).
Alexis's helmet is partially miscolored when she talks to Starscream in one shot. Legends of the Microns fixes the color placement.
While Jetfire walks through the tunnel, the scene cuts to the others' location when he says he hopes to find them. In Legends of the Microns, Carlos's line about the creepy atmosphere is heard instead.
Before Sideways places the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield in Unicron's core processor, he isn't seen holding them, unlike the previous shot.
Before they and the others get attacked in the tunnel, Rad and Carlos's helmets' visor frames are partially miscolored white. The Japanese dub corrects the error.
- Also, Carlos was behind Rad in the previous shot of the group, but he's missing when the scene cuts from Sideways and Thrust, only to return in the next shot.
In some shots, the kids' visor frames are a bit off-model as they have a shaded color on the inside against their foreheads. The Japanese dub either removes it or changes it to a shadow effect.
When Hot Shot and company flee from the acid, his thighs are briefly gray instead of black.
There seems to be a haze effect over the acid and the miscolored pink steam emitted when it dissolves the severed tendril in three shots. Legends of the Microns removes the effect and changes the steam's color to white.
During the shot of Starscream running towards the screen as the path closes, Alexis and Sureshock appear whenever Starscream swings his sword out to his right side. Also, after Hot Shot notices the closing pathway, Starscream is missing from the frame. The Japanese dub fixes the latter issue.
The animation of Alexis jumping into Starscream's hand is a bit shoddy.
When Alexis jumps off Starscream, several parts of her model are miscolored: her eyes are red instead of dark-green, her suit's visor frame is colored greyish instead of pink, the shoulder region is grayish-pink rather than light-gray, and the blue lining around the cuff and waist are red-violet instead. Legends of the Microns corrects all of these errors.
Before seeing her pendant on the ground, the neck portion of Alexis's suit is missing. The glints of her eyes are also missing, making her look possessed. Legends of the Microns fixes both mistakes.
Her spacesuit's neck is missing when the tendrils grab Sureshock.
The tendril around Sureshock's neck is gray after Starscream cuts it.
Before Jetfire saves Wheeljack and Hot Shot, the latter two float in the chasm forming beneath them, unaffected by gravity, despite being on the ground in the previous scene.
The shot of Starscream with Alexis and Sureshock after emerging from Cybertron's moon vibrates, although they're in midair. It doesn't vibrate in the Japanese dub.
When Wheeljack leaves Hot Shot at the end, his back doesn't look as it should. In Legends of the Microns, Wheeljack is entirely redrawn with his back now on model (see above).

Continuity notes

Alexis made a pendant from her piece of the rock Starscream gifted the children in "Mars."
Unicron is revealed to have been hiding in plain sight as Cybertron's moon.
Gadgets and powers:
- Jetfire uses his Plasma Blaster.
- Starscream uses his Wing Blade.
- Hot Shot and Wheeljack perform a move from their days as friends where they stand back-to-back and spin in unison.

Continuity errors

Sureshock desires the precious. Sureshock shall have the precious.

In the Japanese dub, Carlos tells Hot Shot that the enemy found the kids after they descended to the planet. However, the accurate answer is that the kids more or less stumbled upon Thrust and Starscream, as seen in the previous episode.
Alexis says Starscream found the kids and brought them to the planet, which isn't true. Legends of the Microns changes it to Alexis saying that Starscream saved them.
Why does Carlos start whooping before Hot Shot stops him from taking off with Grindor as if he's forgotten the gravity of the situation? Legends of the Microns removes it, so it's not an issue.
During Hot Shot's transmission to Optimus, Alexis wears her pendant even though she technically hasn't put it on yet.
- In some later scenes, the pendant isn't visible after Alexis puts it on. The Japanese dub adds it back in some instances.
In his inner monologue, Megatron regards Hot Shot as being under Optimus's "control" and claims to now have complete control of Cybertron, though beforehand, he said that he's achieved "most" of his goal as in he hasn't succeeded yet. In the Japanese dub, Megatron says "command" instead of "control" and that Cybertron is "almost" under his control.
After Alexis, Sureshock, and Starscream get separated from Hot Shot and the others, Rad looks to the side and says, "Look, it's Laserbeak!" even though he has Laserbeak. In Legends of the Microns, Rad remembers Laserbeak, and he's reanimated about to take Laserbeak out of his pocket (see above).
Alexis says she made her lucky pendant from a rock she found on Cybertron when it's actually from Mars (as mentioned above). Legends of the Microns corrects this error.
When Rad and Hot Shot mention the crumbling moon, the scene makes it seem they're talking about Cybertron since they're looking at it. The Japanese dub fixes this by changing their lines to Rad being shocked by the sight of Cybertron and Hot Shot wondering what's happening.

Transformers references

In Legends of the Microns, Starscream mentions the Pit before following Thrust through the portal.
The Japanese dub has Carlos call Thrust by his nickname "squidhead" in one scene.
Jetfire calls himself a "Knight of the Sky" twice in the Japanese dub.

Trivia

The English version of "Portent" first aired in the United Kingdom. It aired in the United States on December 5, 2003.
Similarly with "Threaten," Legends of the Microns following episode preview narration doesn't end with the usual "Fight, Convoy! TRANSFORM!" line, and instead ends with Alexis in shock about something involving Starscream.
Legends of the Microns Year Book 2003 reveals these tidbits about the episode:
- The central theme is the mystery of Unicron.
- Alexis's belief in Starscream leads him down a new path.
- As soon as they saw Unicron's toy, the team knew how they wanted his transformation from Cybertron's moon to play out.
Like "Soldier" and "Rebellion," this episode is one of the few without significant musical changes between the dubs, except when Hot Shot and Wheeljack perform their joint attack.
Like "Swoop," this episode is one of few in the series lacking an opening monologue in both dubs.

Foreign localization

German

Title: "Ein Zeichen" ("A Sign")
Original airdate: 19 December 2003

Hungarian

Title: "Hajsza és menekülés" ("Chase and Escape")

Italian

Title: "L'inseguimento" ("The Pursuit")

Unlike in English, Alexis correctly states that the stone comes from Mars.
Starscream incorrectly states that the moon is part of Unicron, instead of saying that it is Unicron himself.

Portuguese

Title: "Presságio" ("Portent")

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Armada — Vol:14 (Warner Music Video)
2004 — Transformers: Legends of the Microns — Volume 12 (Columbia Music Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — Transformers: Armada — Season One: Part Two (Rhino Entertainment)
2009 — Transformers: Armada — Volume Two (New KSM) — English and German audio.
2014 — Transformers: Armada — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)