Quite enjoyed this episode. As others have said, the fight scenes were quite well done. It was good to see Ultra Magnus having an epiphany; it didn't feel too forced to me. He felt a concern for unit moral and sought sage advice from Optimus Prime about it. I'm not sure what to make of Wheeljack's development in this story though. Previously he's always been portrayed as a lone wolf and somewhat social misfit who refuses to fall in line... yet in this episode he selflessly goes and fixes Ultra Magnus' ship. Wheeljack's decided to bond with Ultra Magnus because he fought well against Predaking in the cave... but it's not the first time he's fought alongside Magnus, only that this time they fought more cooperatively. If anything, Wheeljack saw greater change in the battle in terms of becoming a better team player.

The idea of Predaking "evolving" to transform into a robot was interesting. Reminds me of the way I initially played with my Beast Wars toys (this was before the cartoon came out so I was just making up my own continuity ). I also like how the Predacons have yellow eyes, making them distinct from either Decepticon and Autobots (though it further cements the whole "racial distinction" between the factions which is something I don't like; I prefer the G1 comics and Beast Wars where eye colour just varied between individuals and bore no relation to morality/factions). Predaking also seems more morally ambiguous... he's not really an evil character. He was vicious before because he was like a mindless beast, his sentience and sapience has evolved since then. He serves Megatron and the Decepticons out of filial piety for having created him and attempting to revive his brethren rather than any personal animosity against the Autobots -- at least until the Autobots were set up to destroy the clones (a clever plan by Starscream to 'divide and conquer' their enemies). Whether Predaking destroys the Autobots or if the Autobots destroy Predaking, the Decepticons stand to benefit either way.

Quote Originally Posted by doublespy View Post
-When the Wreckers say they don't call for back-up, they really mean it. But it even didn't occur to Bulkhead and Smokescreen to check in with the other two after they split up, they just walked out of the mine.
Bulkhead and Smokescreen only just exited the mine and had no reason to fear for Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack's safety. It was a simple split up and scout operation. They were most likely waiting for Magnus and Wheeljack to also exit and rendezvous with them and only seconds had passed before the explosion went off. Though I admit it was odd that only Optimus Prime arrived to rescue them... unless he got their faster because he flew in with his jetpack.

As I predicted, Predaking has significantly "powered down" since his previous appearances. Before he was portrayed as being an unstoppable and nigh-invulnerable juggernaut. Now, while still being extremely powerful, he isn't nearly as massively powerful as he was before. Unless one reasons that his robot mode isn't as strong as his creature mode - in which case, why didn't he just transform into creature mode?