Transformers Prime Episode 12...Simply awesome

[Doubledealer]

Up until Episode 12, Transformers Prime has been a whole load of 'meh' for me. I've enjoyed the well choreographed action and don't get me wrong, it looks incredible at times (especially the darker scenes - love the glowing optics!), however, what little story is there feels very by the numbers to me and the amount of filler content is borderline ridiculous.

Now I don't know if this is a pure fluke or if something major happened at Hasbro around the time this episode was put together but holy crab cakes, episode 12 is not only good, it's simply unmissable for any Transformers fan. What amazed me even more is that I watched episode 13 straight after and, what the hell, it was excellent as well! I can't contain my excitement at the moment, and I just really hope these aren't one offs!

12 is the real gem though, it has such a deliciously creepy atmosphere and it finally focuses on developing some of the key Prime characters. Flashbacks? Check. Building on bot-human relationship? Check. Awesome new Transformer that will please Animated and Beast Wars fans (and then some), amazing action & suspense, multiple nods to the movie Predator? Check, check, check! If, like me, you were struggling with Transformers Prime, my advice is to skip the mediocrity that came before and go straight to this superb piece of entertainment. Sheer brilliance!

[Hursticon]

Easily a stand out pairing of episodes and Ep 12 is very much one of my own faves dude, the show certainly kicks up a gear from that point forward - plenty more meat to sink your teeth into, especially with the 2nd Season only just around the corner! :D

[Verno]

Is there anywhere to watch it online?

[Hursticon]

Is there anywhere to watch it online?

Beyond YouTube, maybe Hasbro.com? :o
There are other means of digitally relocating the series so as to view it... ;):p

[Verno]

They don't own the trademark for Blackarachnia anymore? :p

[Doubledealer]

Easily a stand out pairing of episodes and Ep 12 is very much one of my own faves dude, the show certainly kicks up a gear from that point forward - plenty more meat to sink your teeth into, especially with the 2nd Season only just around the corner! :D

Glad to hear it Hursti, I can't *ahem* "acquire" the later episodes fast enough now! Have watched episode 12 three times already. :o Oh and please tell me we see more of the newly introduced Transformer in later eps, she is so darn cool (helped by my favourite voice actor so far).

Verno, you must see this ep at all costs! :p On Youtube, I can only find the first 12 minutes of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhCjhtVPfW0

Send me a PM if you need a hand watching it properly via other means. ;)

[Hursticon]

They don't own the trademark for Blackarachnia anymore? :p

Nah, they just didn't want to fail in doing Blackarachnia justice for a 2nd time running. :D
(That being said, she was one of the best parts about TF:A :cool:)

Though Airachnid has her own charms, she's clearly cast from the same Spark. ;)

[kup]

This is what I wrote about the season 1 finale in another board:


SPOILERS


It took me a few weeks to get over how ******* horrible that Miko episode was and decided to finish watching the remainder of the season.

Yeah, the following episodes are indeed much better (did they change writers? ) although I would not consider the final episodes to be 'great' just decent. I still found the Beast Wars season finales to be far superior and the Prime take on the 'Unicron battle' was not as good as other past interpretation and I will include Armada in that.

My main issue was that I don't really like the whole angle of Earth being Unicron. That was just ridiculous, nonsensical and felt somewhat tacky. Although the 3 final episodes where reasonably well written and executed around this concept, I couldn't get into it so this season finale did fall rather flat with me.

On the good side, it was great to see them use the Marvel lore again (although much cut down) when it comes to the 13 Transformers and the original conflict between Unicron and Primus. It was also good to see some Decepticon and Autobot cooperation to defeat Unicron but it was no where near as epic as past interpretations due to it was just being between Megatron and the tiny Autobot band. This is probably another reason why I felt that the finale was a bit 'flat'.

Another good thing is that they gave us a bit of a unique origin for Prime and Megatron which we haven't seen before. That was somewhat refreshing although it was still a bit nonsensical when it comes to character progression. Megatron's 'fall to evil' was rather sudden with no real logical reason for it aside from 'The people who I originally objected to have denied me so now I will be evil, selfish and a megalomaniac. I will also hate prime because they liked him instead of me' this was a bit odd and rather forced.

Finally, I am not sure how anyone can think that WFC is within the Prime continuity. Although a similar theme was shown as all TF series share, they were considerable differences to how the beginning of the Civil War commences in WFC and in Prime making them as separate continuity wise just as Armada and G1 are. Differences include the backgrounds for both Prime and Megatron's relationship, start of the war as well as the whole prelude leading to Optimus becoming Prime.

Overall, pretty decent finale. Too bad that the last few episodes are not truly representative of the Season as a whole which was mostly mediocre at best. Hopefully we will see further improvements in Season 2 but I am not holding my breath as this show seems to be all about 'ups & downs' with the downs being more prominent than the ups. Yeah, I probably would have enjoyed the finale more if I had gotten into the 'Unicron is Earth' theme but I couldn't, oh well.

[Sky Shadow]

Differences include the backgrounds for both Prime and Megatron's relationship, start of the war as well as the whole prelude leading to Optimus becoming Prime.

What I don't understand is that we can accept that despite the differences in the above in the G1 cartoon, Marvel UK comics, Marvel US comics, Dreamwave comics, IDW comics and many more, they all fall under the banner of G1. Heck, in some the protagonist's name was always Optimus Prime, in others he was Orion Pax or Optronix. So why can't War For Cybertron and Prime have different origins and be the same continuity 'family'? (If we're told that's what they are.)

[Doubledealer]

What I don't understand is that we can accept that despite the differences in the above in the G1 cartoon, Marvel UK comics, Marvel US comics, Dreamwave comics, IDW comics and many more, they all fall under the banner of G1. Heck, in some the protagonist's name was always Optimus Prime, in others he was Orion Pax or Optronix. So why can't War For Cybertron and Prime have different origins and be the same continuity 'family'? (If we're told that's what they are.)

I dunno, it's probably so kids don't get too confused and throw a tanty eg. Kid watches Bayformers 1-3 and becomes a fan of Transformers in general (god knows how), starts to watch TF: Prime and wonders why the bot who looks like Optimus Prime in Bayformers is now called Octopus Prime? :confused: Also for mums when they go shopping "Oh, Timmy has an Optimus Prime at home but I don't think he has this one" *throws it in the basket*

I'm still luvin' the show guys, up to episode 18 now. :) One slightly annoying continuity issue at the start of ep16 bugged me though...At the end of ep15 Starscream is severely injured and missing an arm, an arm which by this time has taken quite a beating itself while absent from Screamers body, and also something that can no longer be replaced due to it being outdated tech. Yet at the start of ep16 here is Starscream bouncing around with both arms and in perfect condition? Maybe the dark Energon just takes a while to kick in and can restore lost limbs? :p

[kup]

lol For some reason I read the thread title as 'Episode 24' meaning the end of the season. Sorry about that.

[Doubledealer]

lol For some reason I read the thread title as 'Episode 24' meaning the end of the season. Sorry about that.


This is what I wrote about the season 1 finale in another board:


SPOILERS


It took me a few weeks to get over how ******* horrible that Miko episode was and decided to finish watching the remainder of the season.

Yeah, the following episodes are indeed much better (did they change writers? ) although I would not consider the final episodes to be 'great' just decent. I still found the Beast Wars season finales to be far superior and the Prime take on the 'Unicron battle' was not as good as other past interpretation and I will include Armada in that.

My main issue was that I don't really like the whole angle of Earth being Unicron. That was just ridiculous, nonsensical and felt somewhat tacky. Although the 3 final episodes where reasonably well written and executed around this concept, I couldn't get into it so this season finale did fall rather flat with me.

On the good side, it was great to see them use the Marvel lore again (although much cut down) when it comes to the 13 Transformers and the original conflict between Unicron and Primus. It was also good to see some Decepticon and Autobot cooperation to defeat Unicron but it was no where near as epic as past interpretations due to it was just being between Megatron and the tiny Autobot band. This is probably another reason why I felt that the finale was a bit 'flat'.

Another good thing is that they gave us a bit of a unique origin for Prime and Megatron which we haven't seen before. That was somewhat refreshing although it was still a bit nonsensical when it comes to character progression. Megatron's 'fall to evil' was rather sudden with no real logical reason for it aside from 'The people who I originally objected to have denied me so now I will be evil, selfish and a megalomaniac. I will also hate prime because they liked him instead of me' this was a bit odd and rather forced.

Finally, I am not sure how anyone can think that WFC is within the Prime continuity. Although a similar theme was shown as all TF series share, they were considerable differences to how the beginning of the Civil War commences in WFC and in Prime making them as separate continuity wise just as Armada and G1 are. Differences include the backgrounds for both Prime and Megatron's relationship, start of the war as well as the whole prelude leading to Optimus becoming Prime.

Overall, pretty decent finale. Too bad that the last few episodes are not truly representative of the Season as a whole which was mostly mediocre at best. Hopefully we will see further improvements in Season 2 but I am not holding my breath as this show seems to be all about 'ups & downs' with the downs being more prominent than the ups. Yeah, I probably would have enjoyed the finale more if I had gotten into the 'Unicron is Earth' theme but I couldn't, oh well.

I've now watched all of season 1 and have just read your earlier comments.

I pretty much agree on all fronts. The finale wasn't bad but then it wasn't all that great either. I didn't like Unicron at all, like you said the whole idea of him being planet Earth is ridiculous. Despite this, it should have been a lot more epic than it was.

One thing that's starting to irk me about Prime is how easily the Transformers are able to ground/space bridge anywhere they want instantly...eg. 'ere Ratchet, be a good bot and beam me up just behind Unicron's left eye ball, a gentle 10 minute stroll from his spark which I can easily extinguish with this nice Matrix I got inside me chest plate.' Would the 1986 film be as memorable if they simply did this? I did get a Shadow of the Colossus flashback at one point though so props for that, and I especially loved when Megatron cracked one of the big Unicronies in the face, shattering his entire body. :D

Favourite encounter has to be the one between Soundwave and Airachnid. "Always watch out for the quiet ones." Damn right Knockout! Love how Buzzsaw/Laserbeak attaches onto Soundwave's chest as additional armour, sa-weet!

The ending worked out well for those who, like me, think Optimus Prime is a horrendous bore in TFP. Maybe in Season 2 he'll actually display a bit more personality and *gasp* come up with some less overused cringe-worthy one liners.