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View Full Version : TF Animated Ep16 - Megatron Rising part 2



Pulse
6th April 2008, 02:57 AM
Great episode!

Positives:
Plenty of fight scenes & good closure to season one. G1 throwbacks were a nice touch (Ark crashing into mountain & Vector Sigma?).

Negatives:
No mention of Soundwave or Lockdown & statement at end of episode that key is now more important than ever. http://utenti.lycos.it/doh/indexfiles/homer_doh.gif

I'd give it a 7/10.

Tober
6th April 2008, 03:59 AM
Yep, it was pretty good, didn't enjoy it as much as the last one tho.

I thought the final battle was anti-climatic and a bit disappointing. At least it didn't end with the intervention of Magnus or Omega or anyone like that, but I would have accepted the dinobots or Black Arachnia being involved in thwarting Megatron rather than the psudo homage to the 2007 movie.

Good that none of the characters really annoyed me either. Prime was less wussy this time as well.

And the reason why the Allspark chose Sari as the guardian... as well as what the professer wanted to tell her... hmmm...

GoktimusPrime
6th April 2008, 09:23 AM
Yeah, I really liked this ep. I like how Prime apologised to the other Autobots and admitted that he was out of line.


And the reason why the Allspark chose Sari as the guardian... as well as what the professer wanted to tell her... hmmm...
Indeed! Up till now I've been dismissive of fan theories about Sari being a robot, but now I'm rethinking my stance! ;D

MV75
6th April 2008, 09:38 AM
Was the professor rendered a paraplegic?

Anyway, excellent episode.

Why you really couldn't see the evidence with Sari, Gok, is beyond me. :D

Also I was hanging out for the dinobots to appear and mix it up, ah well, next season. Also gotta wonder what will become of starscream, having the key thrust into him as megatron took him out and all.

And speaking of key, I'm glad the matrix just didn't create another one so that both sides would have had a key each. And speaking of matrix, I'm surprised it didn't upgrade optimus when it blasted him.
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GoktimusPrime
6th April 2008, 09:55 AM
Was the professor rendered a paraplegic?
He would certainly deserve it, the dumb-@ss! I like how his relationship with the Autobots was severely damaged after he made his confession. It was noble for him to want to accompany the Autobots and take responsibility for his actions and try to help stop Megatron - and also a notable effort in trying to thwart Megatron... but yeah... karma's fully biting him on the butt now. ;)

I assumed he was suffering from catatonic shock, but yeah, he could end up being an invalid. And not a fake invalid like Chip "I can stand up from my wheelchair to catch a bomb" Chase. :p

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/transformers/images/thumb/9/94/Chipchase.jpg/200px-Chipchase.jpg<--NOT CRIPPLED!

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/transformers/images/thumb/f/ff/RollForIt_FloppyDisk_destruction.jpg/150px-RollForIt_FloppyDisk_destruction.jpg <--superhuman strength! Maybe Chip is a robot too!


Why you really couldn't see the evidence with Sari, Gok, is beyond me.
There still isn't enough conclusive evidence really - we could still be wrong. The suggestive evidence has been:
+ The key chose Sari - but really, we don't yet know why
+ We've never seen or heard of Sari's mum - but then again until Michael Bay's movie, Mrs. Witwicky never existed either!
+ The professor wanting to confess something to Sari in the face of death - who knows what it is, but yeah, I suspect that he wants to tell her that she's a robot! :)

The one piece of counter-evidence that's made be skeptical till now was the fact that she aged in "Nanosec" - so maybe she's a cyborg?? But we've only ever seen Sumdac deal with robotics, never with cybernetics. Hrmm...

The Sari Theory is fun to play around with for now until we find out the truth about her for sure. :)


Also I was hanging out for the dinobots to appear and mix it up, ah well, next season.
I don't ever want to see the Animated Dinobots again unless the writers actually do something to make them more interesting and worthwhile characters. They don't need to be Einsteins... but they need to be a bit more than savages... even functioning at the low-order level of Beast Machine's Noble/Savage would be preferable to how they've been functioning so far. (-_-) Ideally I would like to see them functioning at a similar level as the G1 Marvel Dinobots (I'm not saying that they're the same as G1, but just saying that I would like to see them functioning at a similar intellectual level - the G1 comic Dinobots were never scholars, but they weren't imbeciles either).

Speaking of which, it was nice to see Bulkhead not being portrayed as an awkward and clumsy oaf for a change! I loved the scene where he air-tackles Lugnut, slamming into the woods! :D


And speaking of matrix, I'm surprised it didn't upgrade optimus when it blasted him.
That's because Megatron was using the AllSpark's energy as a weapon. I'm more surprised that the AllSpark didn't mutate Megatron when he shoved it into his chest and merged it with his own Spark - although it did seem to make him more powerful.

kup
6th April 2008, 10:40 AM
Yeah, I really enjoyed this episode. It was good and I hope they break the pattern of 6-8 mega crap episodes and then 1 good episode.

However it was refreshing to see two worthwhile Animated episodes consecutively as there were no crap episodes in between to sour the experience.

The episode was excellent all round with a couple of minor exceptions like the utterly pointless Blackarachnia bit and how Ratchet is able to catch Sari when she was thrown. Another thing that I didn't get is how did the Ark suddenly become fully functional? and why didn't they use it to go back to Cybertron earlier? The Decepticons were only after the Allspark not conquest of Earth so taking it to space would of caused the Decepticons to follow.

Gutsman Heavy
6th April 2008, 10:40 AM
Awesome, next up Magnus and Co'!

MV75
6th April 2008, 11:15 AM
He would certainly deserve it, the dumb-@ss! I like how his relationship with the Autobots was severely damaged after he made his confession. It was noble for him to want to accompany the Autobots and take responsibility for his actions and try to help stop Megatron - and also a notable effort in trying to thwart Megatron... but yeah... karma's fully biting him on the butt now. ;)

I assumed he was suffering from catatonic shock, but yeah, he could end up being an invalid. And not a fake invalid like Chip "I can stand up from my wheelchair to catch a bomb" Chase. :p



There still isn't enough conclusive evidence really - we could still be wrong. The suggestive evidence has been:
+ The key chose Sari - but really, we don't yet know why
+ We've never seen or heard of Sari's mum - but then again until Michael Bay's movie, Mrs. Witwicky never existed either!
+ The professor wanting to confess something to Sari in the face of death - who knows what it is, but yeah, I suspect that he wants to tell her that she's a robot! :)

The one piece of counter-evidence that's made be skeptical till now was the fact that she aged in "Nanosec" - so maybe she's a cyborg?? But we've only ever seen Sumdac deal with robotics, never with cybernetics. Hrmm...

The Sari Theory is fun to play around with for now until we find out the truth about her for sure. :)



Speaking of which, it was nice to see Bulkhead not being portrayed as an awkward and clumsy oaf for a change! I loved the scene where he air-tackles Lugnut, slamming into the woods! :D




Megatron did ask him if he was enjoying his chair. Could have been just from sitting within megatrons fist, but the use of the word chair had me question it.

Don't forget the other clues about Sari from her own voice actor. ;)

I like the part where bulkhead set off lugnuts explosion charge. "You talk too much". :D
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Plymouth Pronto (http://www.dodge-wiki.com/wiki/Plymouth_Pronto)

autobreadticon
6th April 2008, 12:01 PM
animated is really visually pleasing, i dunt think there is a shot that isnt enjoyable or isnt relevant

kup
6th April 2008, 02:46 PM
animated is really visually pleasing, i dunt think there is a shot that isnt enjoyable or isnt relevant

*no comment* :)

GoktimusPrime
6th April 2008, 02:58 PM
I also liked how Prowl got Bumblebee to use his "obnoxious personality" to taunt Blitzwing. ;) 90% of a fight is psychological. It also reminds me of our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman (and I thought that the movies didn't portray that aspect of Spiderman well enough).

Did anyone else find Megatron's voice kinda muffled? I know that he's been talking like that throughout the series - but I thought it was because he'd been a head hooked up to small speakers etc. Was it that muffled in the pilot? Corey Burton does a great job in doing Megatron's voice but I find that the sound editors make it sound too soft... I was hoping that after being restored that it would be louder. All the other TFs have louder voices. :/ And I don't mean loud in terms of sheer volume, I mean in terms of clarity and audibility.

MV75
6th April 2008, 03:40 PM
animated is really visually pleasing, i dunt think there is a shot that isnt enjoyable or isnt relevant

Agreed.

There wern't really any glaring animation errors unlike past hand drawn cartoons. Everything seemed to stay within scale and colour.

Gok, I think they were going for "sinister". ;)
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GoktimusPrime
6th April 2008, 03:52 PM
I think Burton is doing the 'sinister' thing well by giving Megatron that "sophisticated/civilised" villain voice that we've seen in other TF villains like G1 Shockwave and BW/BM Megatron but I think the sound editors kinda spoiled it by muffling the voice and making it less audible.

kup
6th April 2008, 05:18 PM
I kind of like Megatron's subtle but Cerebral tone of voice. Its kind of like Dr Doom or other cool thinking villains.

Robzy
6th April 2008, 09:10 PM
Great episode! Megatron is awesome!! I loved Prowl's line too! ;)

GoktimusPrime
7th April 2008, 09:14 AM
I kind of like Megatron's subtle but Cerebral tone of voice. Its kind of like Dr Doom or other cool thinking villains.
Yeah, but Doom wears a mask. :p I liked Megatron's muffled voice when he was a dismembered head (it just dawned on me that it could be seen as a G1 tribute to good ol' Straxus!!), especially when he was speaking internally to Soundwave and Lugnut... but I'm not liking it as much now that he's been restored.

i_amtrunks
7th April 2008, 09:21 AM
It was not as strong as part 1, but it was still a pretty good episode.

If you ignore the plothole of how Ratchet unfroze and got to the Ark so quick, it was a fairly solid episode, effectively putting everything back to episode 1, which should provide a kind of false sense of security for when the Cybertronian Guard arrives next episode.

Ratchet really stood out in this episode, although Prowl had the best line, and even Bulkhead was awesome in his fight with Lugnutz. Starscream helped show us that Animated Megatron wont tolerate crap, he was ruthless with Screamer!

The voice acting has been brilliant, Blitzwing is great, he isn't 3 different characters, just 3 persona's of the one character, which is portrayed very well. Burton does an excellent job as Megatron too.

Black Arachnia being a means of transport to get Sarri to the Ark was a little 'meh', but what was interesting was her saying that her Organics would not allow her to reach the Ark underwater, which I took as meaning that she must have to breathe...

GoktimusPrime
7th April 2008, 09:53 AM
The voice acting has been brilliant, Blitzwing is great, he isn't 3 different characters, just 3 persona's of the one character, which is portrayed very well. Burton does an excellent job as Megatron too.
Yeah, that was one of the many reasons why I hate the Robots In Disguise dub. In Car Robot, Gigatron is like Blitzwing, with six (and later 10) different personas depending on which mode he was in (Giga-Dragon was my favourite persona ;)) but I found that with RiD Megatron that aspect was utterly lost.


If you ignore the plothole of how Ratchet unfroze and got to the Ark so quick
I assumed that shortly after the Decepticons flew off with his hand (and the key) that he broke himself out of the ice and made haste for the Ark - but that was merely not shown. It would be a neat idea for a Mosaic though! :)


Black Arachnia being a means of transport to get Sarri to the Ark was a little 'meh', but what was interesting was her saying that her Organics would not allow her to reach the Ark underwater, which I took as meaning that she must have to breathe...
Yes, I did like how it was a revision of the technorganic concept from Beast Machines

STL
7th April 2008, 11:35 AM
I personally didn't like it.

My largest gripe was Ratchet being apologetic to Sari about losing the key. At first I hoped it was joke but as it wore on, he was actually serious. Ok, this may be a kid's show but would she have survived Lugnut and Blitzwing? I sincerely doubt it. The whole righteous belching and screaming really pissed me off to no end. And, the worst part, she ends up with it again. It took away my enjoyment of most of the episode despite the fact there were very good moments.

Great moments:
- Everytime I see the Ark now, my brain screams: Omega Supreme! I WANT!
- Optimus apologising was inevitable but always good to see.
- Prowl using BB's attitude to their advantage
- Bulkhead/Lugnut combat scene
- Bitzwing: i like the character and variation on the triple changer idea
- Blackarachnia getting rolled. Though I would've liked to have seen her have a more substantial part
- The G1 reference w/ the Ark
- The impending answer to who or what is Sari.
- Starscream not getting off the hook
- Most importantly: how the Autobots have their backs to the wall. I've never quite felt intrigued by it as in this series. I've always known the Autobots will triumph in any given story but here I really am kept in suspense of how the Autobots will prevail. They're just so outclassed and outmuscled that it keeps me interested to see how they find an avenue to Victory. Here, they really scraped over the line and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of it. It really rallies you behind them.

Another gripe I had was the whole mighty morphin' power rangers moment when Optimus changes to battlemode and has all those lines and colours blasting around him. It was a small thing though.

The lack of the Dinobots made me wonder. What was the point of showing them last episode then? Other than to underline Prowl's breach of Prime's orders? Not much.

MV75 wasn't alone in thinking if Sundac was indeed disabled after the explosion b/c i was asking myself the same question. It was just the way the scene was done and the way Megs said it that suggested it.

Oh, and what was Prowl's one-liner? I can't remember it but I know he said something

autobreadticon
7th April 2008, 01:59 PM
i like how the cartoon provided a reason for professor sumac and sari to appear in season two, both with really interesting roles for season 2 ;)

GoktimusPrime
7th April 2008, 03:07 PM
I concur with STL about the over done song and dance routine transformations - I most noticed it with Megatron... I find most of the transformation sequences in this series are either over done or underdone. I hope this will improve next season.

Robzy
7th April 2008, 03:11 PM
I personally didn't like it.

My largest gripe was Ratchet being apologetic to Sari about losing the key. At first I hoped it was joke but as it wore on, he was actually serious. Ok, this may be a kid's show but would she have survived Lugnut and Blitzwing? I sincerely doubt it. The whole righteous belching and screaming really pissed me off to no end. And, the worst part, she ends up with it again. It took away my enjoyment of most of the episode despite the fact there were very good moments.

Great moments:
- Everytime I see the Ark now, my brain screams: Omega Supreme! I WANT!
- Optimus apologising was inevitable but always good to see.
- Prowl using BB's attitude to their advantage
- Bulkhead/Lugnut combat scene
- Bitzwing: i like the character and variation on the triple changer idea
- Blackarachnia getting rolled. Though I would've liked to have seen her have a more substantial part
- The G1 reference w/ the Ark
- The impending answer to who or what is Sari.
- Starscream not getting off the hook
- Most importantly: how the Autobots have their backs to the wall. I've never quite felt intrigued by it as in this series. I've always known the Autobots will triumph in any given story but here I really am kept in suspense of how the Autobots will prevail. They're just so outclassed and outmuscled that it keeps me interested to see how they find an avenue to Victory. Here, they really scraped over the line and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of it. It really rallies you behind them.

Another gripe I had was the whole mighty morphin' power rangers moment when Optimus changes to battlemode and has all those lines and colours blasting around him. It was a small thing though.

The lack of the Dinobots made me wonder. What was the point of showing them last episode then? Other than to underline Prowl's breach of Prime's orders? Not much.

MV75 wasn't alone in thinking if Sundac was indeed disabled after the explosion b/c i was asking myself the same question. It was just the way the scene was done and the way Megs said it that suggested it.
QFT!!! :)
You said it perfectly... I agree with everything you wrote (although I really did like the episode a lot!!!)



Oh, and what was Prowl's one-liner? I can't remember it but I know he said something
...It was when he planned to use Bumblebee's "obnoxious personality"! :D:D

autobreadticon
7th April 2008, 03:47 PM
I concur with STL about the over done song and dance routine transformations - I most noticed it with Megatron... I find most of the transformation sequences in this series are either over done or underdone. I hope this will improve next season.

i think the takara fans were complaining of not enough over the top transformation sequences

GoktimusPrime
7th April 2008, 08:19 PM
Really? Who on Earth said that?? I've never heard or seen a Japanese fan call for more over the top transformation sequences.

Yes, it is something that is typically done in animé and tokusatsu series targetted at infants, but I've NEVER seen an actual Japanese TF collector/fan call for these kinds of transformations. In fact, most Japanese Transfans aren't too huge fans of some of the post-G1 Japanese series. Beast Wars Metals and Beast Wars Returns didn't go well with the fans.

Bartrim
9th April 2008, 07:47 AM
I have just caught up on animated (finally) and I've got to say that Megatron rising parts 1 and 2 were the best episodes yet IMO. Looking forward to more transformer on transformer battles in season 2 and less annoying evil humans.

As much as everyone likes Prowls one liner (yeas it was pretty funny) I thought it was funnier when Prime said "I couldn't think of a another team of Autobots I'd rather have by my side" and Bumblebee replied with "Really?! Because I'd really like to have the elite guard by my side right now" (or something along those lines, I'm hopeless for direct quotes):D

GoktimusPrime
9th April 2008, 11:55 AM
yeah, reminds me of Rattrap. :)

Paulbot
11th April 2008, 11:37 AM
And the reason why the Allspark chose Sari as the guardian... as well as what the professer wanted to tell her... hmmm...

Finally caught up with these episodes yesterday. I think the Professor wanted to confess that he'd help rebuild Megatron and thus responsible for what he thought was going to kill them both. But my first reaction was the Sari's a robot one, however that doesn't match with the visualisation of Sari's DNA that appeared when the Allspark opened and scanned her.


If you ignore the plothole of how Ratchet unfroze and got to the Ark so quick

I thought we saw Ratchet break out of the ice and look at his handless arm. He was on his way to the Ark when the Decepticons attacked so I don't think it's surprising he got there quickly. Eitherway it didn't strike me as odd when I watched it.

I was disappointed the Dinobots didn't participate in the battle, since it looked like the Ark crashed on their island. But maybe next time.