Transformers Armada - reloaded.

[liegeprime]

RE: Where are the parents of the kids in the series?

This also occured a lot in Cybertron series, they even went to another dimension! Some parents these kids have!! Someone should point this to Hasbro that they should stop making TFs stories with too young children going off meeting Strangers like er I dont know Giant f%$@$#g robots from outer space and not telling an adult about it!! Bad influences on young children watching this can easily occur. It's like it's teaching them it's "okay" not to even let your parents know where you are, who you are with and dissapear for like days on end, dont attend school like your supposed to and gallivant like irresponsible brats. No wonder truancy is no big deal with kids these days, even supposed to be adult writers don't care to correct these errors in the stories. At least in G1 Spike was already old enough and working (with his dad as well) that he isn't just loafing around with the Autobots. These kids are just irresponsible, truant brats. Shame on the parents which are equally if not more irresponsible for not even looking after their kids. I mean for disspearing like that they shouldve been grounded for eternity!!
In the new animated Sari is not going to school but is home tutorial, and Prof Sumdac is really more work absorbed so it explains it a little. I shake my head on the parenting shown on all these series.

[roller]

i dont know Liege

if my kid was like rad or fred, I'd want them to bugger off with robots

Dr onishi was kidnapped, and yet Kojis mum shows up like once! im sure in 15 yrs time rad, carlos, alexis and koji will be on a thearapy lounge with Dr Katz

poor junko

[liegeprime]

They just start out as kids hanging out with alien robots and that's it. They don't even go home at all. What are they runaways, homeless vagrants or just plain delinquents? bah such discrepancies....

[griffin]

The time they spent away from home with the TFs really started to bug me as the series progressed, to the point that when they actually featured Rad's parents, it just really didn't make any sense. We have five kids, whom none of them seem to have any worried parents over a period of what may well be many months. They even have their own rooms and bathrooms in the Autobot base (Rad was taking a shower in one episode), suggesting that they lived there for extended periods of time, away from home.
The focus may be on robots to us, but if the writers and Hasbro want the focus to be on the kids for familiarity with the audience, they need to make some sense out of it by rationalising their absence, or having parental involvment/approval of their activities.
It's like their parents just don't even notice or care that they aren't around.

[Sky Shadow]

It's like their parents just don't even notice or care that they aren't around.

Could you blame them? Who wouldn't be happier if those kids weren't around? Although I did like Alexis's short-lived and rarely followed-up-upon connection with Starscream in the recent episodes you watched. I wish Armada wasn't such a mess - it's the sort of thing I want to like but it's like the series fights against me at every juncture.

[i_amtrunks]

The time they spent away from home with the TFs really started to bug me as the series progressed, to the point that when they actually featured Rad's parents, it just really didn't make any sense. We have five kids, whom none of them seem to have any worried parents over a period of what may well be many months. They even have their own rooms and bathrooms in the Autobot base (Rad was taking a shower in one episode), suggesting that they lived there for extended periods of time, away from home.
The focus may be on robots to us, but if the writers and Hasbro want the focus to be on the kids for familiarity with the audience, they need to make some sense out of it by rationalising their absence, or having parental involvment/approval of their activities.
It's like their parents just don't even notice or care that they aren't around.

They did learn from this Armada mistake by obtaining the parents permission in Galaxy Force/Cybertron.

I think the parents were just glad to be rid of their kids, especially Fred and Billy's parents (who may or may not have lived in a Caravan)

[griffin]

Season 1, Part 2, Disc 3, Episodes 41-47.

41 - Depart
The Autobots prepare to depart Earth to catch the Decepticons.
Intro - (Rad's parents)
Errors/confusion/notes:
-This is the first part of the 'Unicron Battles', making up the last 12 episodes, which is odd that it wasn't 13, to be a 'season' (multiple of 13) in TV terms.
-There is a new intro to reflect the Unicron Battles, which ends up spoiling the return of Optimus later.
-This entire episode relates to the Autobots *preparing* to leave, so very little action, and all talking.
-Highwire speaks English now.
-We see Rad's parents. He tries to explain to them all about the Transformers, but uses too many actual names, confusing them.
-Rad's father works at the observatory, but they've never seen anything of the Transformers out in space or under their noses.
-Rad is 12, but his father lets him go. And what of the parents of the other four kids?
-It's a Saturday, but Rad's mum says he is probably at school.
-Red Alert can't understand the Minicons, which is really inconsistent as to who can understand them.
-Minicons force the Autobots to take the humans with them (on this dangerous mission, to a war that is not theirs).
-The Autobot ship is underwater. Why, or how? They built it from the remnants of the Minicon ship, which was inside a mountain, with no sign of water.
-They call the ship 'Autobot Axalon', after the Beast Wars Maximal ship.
-The kids are given new uniforms (space suits).
-Rad's father is given the location of the abandoned base.
-Megatron tells the Decepticons to ignore the Autobot ship, but could be a translation error.

42 - Miracle
The Autobot ship is targetted by the Decepticons, and it takes the Minicons to protect them and bring back to life their leader, Optimus Prime.
Intro - Optimus, again.
Errors/confusion/notes:
-Smokescreen is suddenly called Hoist, and agrees to it.
-Megatron wants to attack the Autobot ship, despite the last episode scripted/translated to suggest otherwise.
-Hundreds of Minicons appear in space, but where did they all come from? They were created to infiltrate Cybertron (learnt later), and were all supposed to be on the ship to Earth. Where did these ones suddenly come from?
-Kids see the image of Unicron again, and his name is finally revealed.
-If they all have Warp technology, why go through an Asteroid field, instead of warping past it, or just directly to Cybertron?
-Iceberg is called 'Junk' by Alexis (which is the Takara Micron name).
-Thrust is now being called 'pencil-head' as well.
-The Autobot's mission was to return to Cybertron to defeat the Decepticons, so why let them leave when they are defeated in the Asteroid field?
-Did the Minicons actually merge with the Matrix, or draw out the 'spark' of Optimus from it? Or something else? The Japanese version maybe explained it, but in this English version, he just appears.
-For some reason, Megatron is happy. Even if he was short-sighted in the past, he still wanted to destroy Optimus later.

43 - Puppet
The Transformers encounter a monster of Unicron, looking like Optimus, but is only defeated when the Autobots and Decepticons join forces.
Intro - Nemesis Prime (with trailer, but never combines with it), Overload. Recoloured Starscream, Hotshot, Red Alert, Megatron (as Galvatron), and Demolishor.
Errors/confusion/notes:
-Nemesis Prime - shortest intro ever by a Transformers toy character?
-One off different intro.
-Narrator also explains the return of Optimus as something the Minicons had the power to do, but should they have that power, and why not bring others back?
-Why don't all the new Minicons go inside the ship, instead of just floating in space around the Autobot ship?
-A vortex suddenly appears, and Red Alert and Hotshot are sucked in. It is later said to be on the other side of the universe, but they are close enough for the Decepticons to arrive within a few minutes, and the Autobots soon after.
-The Minicons (who had the power to bring Optimus back to life) now also have the power to 'reformat' several characters (Megatron, Starscream, Demolishor, Hotshot, Red Alert).
-Starscream says he 'looks like Thundercracker', but that isn't a character in the show, or referred to at any other time.
-Megatron suddenly starts calling himself Galvatron, and has to tell people several times to call him that now.
-Overload is suddenly introduced, and appears to be a non-sentient trailer/weapons pack. The partner Minicon is not seen or used. Optimus just calls on it to powerlink to it.
-Nemesis Prime is revealed to be linked to Sideways and Unicron.

44 - Uprising
The Earth Decepticons arrive and launch their attack on Cybertron, devastating it. The Earth Autobots arrive to fight the Decepticon fleet, but another vortex appears. The Minicons intervene again to stop the vortex.
Intro - (none)
Errors/confusion/notes:
-The Decepticons are now at Cybertron, with a huge fleet that easily crushes the Autobots still there. If they already had this huge fleet, they wouldn't have needed to wait for Megatron/Galvatron to return to defeat the Autobots.
-Unicron's vortex appears near Cybertron, but no one even mentions it or seems to notice it for ages.
-Optimus still decides to attack Decepticons on Cybertron, despite just recently acccepting Unicron as a greater threat that they need the Decepticons help in defeating.
-More proof that a Transformers war couldn't exist for millions of years, with the planet trashed in just one short attack and very few survivors.
-Very propaganda-ish when the Earth Autobots arrive on Cybertron and start announcing that Optimus is here to save them. And if the survivors they find on Cybertron aren't Autobots (or Decepticons), then who are they?
-Axalon is incorrectly called Axion.
-Optimus tries to reason with Megatron, but the usual denial of 'a Megatron' to the claims of 'an Optimus' occurs.
-I thought Unicron was on the other side of this (and the other) vortex, but isn't. So what is the point of the vortex, if it isn't a gateway for Unicron?
-Minicons reveal yet another mystical power by forming a shield to block the vortex. I had thought it was to stop Unicron from coming through, but it just stops things being sucked into it.

45 - Dash
As the Decepticons settle into their newly conquered Cybertron, the Earth Autobots rally support from the scattered forces on Cybertron, while Hotshot goes off on his own to convince Galvatron that Unicron is real.
Intro - (none)
Errors/confusion/notes:
-What is the priority for Optimus, defeating Unicron or retaking Cybertron? It seems to alternate from each episode, or at least the translation alternates between the two.
-Scripting error with Red Alert turning to Optimus but addresses Hoist when in the Axalon.
-Animation error with Jetfire coloured red like Optimus.
-Scripting error/omission? Red Alert makes a significant command decision while Optimus just sits in his chair and says nothing for or against it.
-Hotshot enters the Decepticon base on Cybertron, with heaps of shooting all around him, but no one gets hit.
-For some reason suddenly (scripting omission?) Wheeljack stops fighting Hotshot, is friendly to him, and supports his desire to speak to Galvatron.
-Translation error? Thrust says something insignificant to Galvatron, but Galvatron reacts rather agressively towards Thrust suddenly. There is no lead up to this change of relationship, as Thrust was his most loyal, trusted warrior/advisor, but now out of nowhere, Galvatron doesn't trust Thrust at all and is rather hostile to him. I think the original Japanese version probably has more brought to light about Thrust's new allegiance to Unicron before Galvatron turns on him, but in this English version, no one knows anything about his new allegiance until after he is turned on, and he then announces it.
-Animation error, after Thrust picks up Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield, he is briefly shown not holding them as he leaves.
-Kids get helmets for their new suits, but each has a different colour. Try understanding the reality of that, in terms of wasted resources by the Autobots to not only create these suits for humans, but to colour code them to help identify each when they have their helmets on...

46 - Drift
The main 3 kids go to Cybertron and learn that Unicron created the Minicons as a way to have both sides wipe each other out and remove all opposition before he attacked. Somehow the kids are briefly sent back in time, and are the reason the Minicons flew to Earth millions of years ago, to find the kids and gain their freedom from Unicron as mere tools of war.
Intro - (none)
Errors/confusion/notes:
-Wheeljack not only allows Hotshot the chance to report into Optimus, but also calls Hotshot his buddy. More bad translation perhaps, as the pair suddenly put behind them their personal conflict without anything to say why.
-Script error with Alexis saying that Wheeljack has been on their side 'for a while'.
-Translation error with Wheeljack criticising Thrust for being a traitor, but that's hypocritical.
-Nude shower scene with Rad and Carlos...
-Only the main 3 kids go to Cybertron, but makes sense later.
-Cybertron appears to have an organic core like in Beast Machines.
-If the Minicons are created by Unicron, why doesn't he excert control over the Transformers when they are powerlinked to Minicons?

47 - Portent
A portal from within Cybertron leads to one of the moons, and the Transformers discover that Unicron was a lot closer than they originally thought.
Intro - Unicron (bits of him anyway).
Errors/confusion/notes:
-Starscream continues to act more like an Autobot than a Decepticon, or a 'traditional' Starscream.
-Script error, with Alexis saying that Starscream found them and brought them down to the planet (Cybertron), but they met him while they were down inside the planet.
-Autobots signal a retreat, but they have already signaled the retreat a couple of episodes ago.
-Hotshot and Wheeljack can link up as if it was a toy related gimmick, but the toys don't.
-Animation errors with Sideways and Thrust occasionally not being drawn with the Minicon weapons while they have them.
-Sureshock is called Grindor by Alexis.
-I really can't believe that in millions of years, Unicron would have remained dormant, and the inhabitants of Cybetron wouldn't have found him within that nearby moon. In a war of territory, the moons would have been acquired and occupied ages ago, either as bases or staging grounds, and suitably explored for resources. Even if the exterior was rock, the metallic interior would have been discovered eventually and mined (which would have awoken Unicron).

[Paulbot]

Kids get helmets for their new suits, but each has a different colour. Try understanding the reality of that, in terms of wasted resources by the Autobots to not only create these suits for humans, but to colour code them to help identify each when they have their helmets on...

Maybe the Autobots need those colour-coded helemts because all those humans look alike to them...

[SilverDragon]

RE: Where are the parents of the kids in the series?

This also occured a lot in Cybertron series, they even went to another dimension! Some parents these kids have!! Someone should point this to Hasbro that they should stop making TFs stories with too young children going off meeting Strangers like er I dont know Giant f%$@$#g robots from outer space and not telling an adult about it!! Bad influences on young children watching this can easily occur. It's like it's teaching them it's "okay" not to even let your parents know where you are, who you are with and dissapear for like days on end, dont attend school like your supposed to and gallivant like irresponsible brats. No wonder truancy is no big deal with kids these days, even supposed to be adult writers don't care to correct these errors in the stories. At least in G1 Spike was already old enough and working (with his dad as well) that he isn't just loafing around with the Autobots. These kids are just irresponsible, truant brats. Shame on the parents which are equally if not more irresponsible for not even looking after their kids. I mean for disspearing like that they shouldve been grounded for eternity!!
In the new animated Sari is not going to school but is home tutorial, and Prof Sumdac is really more work absorbed so it explains it a little. I shake my head on the parenting shown on all these series.

Yeah. It is kind of weird, this parental absence, especially since their offspring are fighting giant space gods and giant evil robots. You'd think they'd think twice if they were asked "Mum, can I go fight the planet-eater Unicron?"

At least Animated gets it right, with Prof Sumdac being too wrapped up in his work to keep Sari out of trouble, and so trusting the Autobots to take care of her. Even so, they do show he's concerned for her-'Survival of the Fittest' comes to mind.