Like the first episode of the season, this episode felt like a lot of setup for what’s coming. We did get some backstory details that proved to be quite interesting, however. We learn a bit about Shockwave, particularly how Megatron had entrusted Starscream to terminate him at some point in the past. Starscream hadn’t actually killed him, of course, but he did leave him for dead on a deserted Cybertron. Shockwave survived, and, being a scientist, he made use of his newfound solitude by conducting his research without distraction. He was brought back into the Decepticon fold by Knock Out, and Megatron quickly made him his new first lieutenant, much to Starscream’s chagrin. Shockwave isn’t Starscream’s superior in terms of rank, exactly, but this move did put the two on equal footing, with both now striving to impress Megatron more than the other. I have to imagine Megatron knew they’d be at each other’s throats with this arrangement because they definitely never miss an opportunity to undercut one another.
The Autobots are still scattered to the winds, but we learn there are still more out there whom we haven’t met yet, but this episode we do get to meet Ultra Magnus, who joins Arcee and Jack out in the wild when a strange starship lands to let him off. Ultra Magnus appearing is huge since he’s definitely one of the more popular and high-ranking Autobots in the Transformers Universe. Seeing him step out of the ship was awesome and gratifying. We only got to see him for a couple seconds, though, so I can’t wait to see him in action.
The major plot point of this episode was Starscream’s allowing Wheeljack, who had been captured last episode, to escape from the Decepticon compound. He’d been implanted with a tracking device by Starscream, the logic being that he’d lead the ‘Cons straight to more of the Autobots. This was quite the sweet move on Starscream’s part, and it allowed him to score some points with Megatron.
It would have been great if it had worked, that is.
Wheeljack is no dummy, so he was able to thwart Starscream’s plan, which ensured no other Autobots were captured. As a result, naturally, Starscream looks like a failure in Megatron’s eyes, so this gave Shockwave a chance to curry favor by unveiling what he had been working on in solitude back on Cybertron. Transporting him to the Decepticon base on Earth via a space bridge, Shockwave gave us our first glimpse of the “ultimate Autobot hunter” — Predaking.
Now we’re talking.
I can’t wait to see this guy in action. Hopefully next week.
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