A journey through the JP Gen1 cartoon.

[GoktimusPrime]

Oooo, Clones. We didn't get to see them much in the US Rebirth story, so this was an interesting episode. Talking in unison bugged me after a while though. And they are apparently not from Cybertron, but 'another planet'.

Yeah, the talking in unison bugs me too; I much prefer Clone Wars where all the clones are different and unique despite being clones. But then I think that if I were to have seen this in 1987 then it would've probably seemed cool as the main gimmick with the clones was to have two identical robots who transformed into different alt modes. So not only do they look the same, but they think and talk the same. Rebirth more or less did the same thing with Fastlane and Cloudraker, only that they were a bit off synch ("Roger Dodger Optimus Prime! Roger Dodger Optimus Prime!") -- and Reflector was often portrayed in the same way.

The flashback of the Autobot Clones talking about the Decepticon Clones being turned by Galvatron suggests it happened some time ago, but Galvatron was only created about a year ago, and he's been really busy since then. It's possible, but it just feels like they are talking about something that happened years ago.

Galvatron could've time-jumped.

How irresponsible of Highbrow to load Daniel's gun with a live magazine and not telling him... the kid could have been playing with it later as a toy gun, and killed someone.

Or himself. Perhaps that was Highbrow's plan.

I keep thinking of the Seacons with the title of this episode, but gotta remind myself that it's the JP Beast Wars series that has Seacons as Pirates.

You'll get plenty of Seacon action of Masterforce (though they still be not pirates ya scurvee sea dawg!)

Ep 24 - The Death of Ultra Magnus

The Decepticons have returned to their planet, Charr, and plan anew. Galvatron sends Sixshot to lead an attack on the Autobots, while Scorponok has his Headmasters searching for the Autobot Energy stores to improve his chances of deposing Galvatron. On Earth, Sixshot and Ultra Magnus fight to the death, with Sixshot revealing a seventh mode - the Wingwolf.


This would have to be the worst title in this series, as it spoils what happens in this episode.

Indeed! I just really REALLY hate the way Ultra Magnus was defeated and killed. It was the typical lazy way of making one character (Sixshot) look powerful by making his opponent (Ultra Magnus) grossly incompetent. It reminds me of a lot of martial arts/self-defence demonstrations I see and reminds me why I dislike most demos. In order for a fighter to be shown as good, you need to have him fighting against a competent and highly skilled opponent because the fighter is only ever as good as his opponent. But in this case it's even worse than incompetence... it's like Ultra Magnus _wants_ to die.

Ultra Magnus just allowed himself to get shot, then gets up again giving Sixshot time to transform and shoot him again. This process repeats itself over and over again until Sixshot has attacked Ultra Magnus in all of his modes - and NO time during this fight does he attempt to retreat, counterattack or do anything other than stand up again to get hit. It's just an incredibly stupid fight scene. The first fight between Cheetor and Blackarachnia is just as bad, but at least it was brief. Ultra Magnus vs Sixshot is not only stupid, but it was a long and extensively dragged out fight too (thanks to Sixshot needing to defeat him in 7 modes). *sigh*

Ultra Magnus doesn't turn grey like everyone else, which was only used for dramatic effect before anyway, so probably shouldn't be a definite indicator of death. And considering how indestructible characters are at times, and how some are easily rebuilt, it is hard to accept an actual (permanent) death of a character.

The one thing I do like about this episode is that they actually showed the Autobots (and their allies) mourning for Ultra Magnus' loss and actually giving him a funeral. It was touching that they decided to bury him on Earth instead of in space or on another planet (e.g. Cybertron).