Transformers: Robots in Disguise is part of the aligned continuity. This pretty much means that it’s closest canon relative is Prime. Which I still haven’t watched. A shame, since this one deals with a plot from that show.
Things start off with Strongarm and Grimlock fixing one of the turrets for the security system. Grimlock gets his left ad right mixed up thanks to second guessing Strongarm’s directoins, and she gets stuck under the now overloading turret. Luckily, Bee’s there and fixes things, since he memorized the shutdown code when the same thing happened to him. He tells them that he’ll always be there for them since they’re like a family, of sorts.
Fixit’s managed to fix the Ground Bridge, having actually made several improvements. He wants them all there for the first test. It does work, but…
Things go horribly wrong quickly. Two of the Ground Bridge portals collide opening a rift that allows a Decepticon to escape. It turns out to be Soundwave, and he is pissed that he’s been trapped this long. He makes quick work of Grimlock and Strongarm and chucks Bee into the rift, which closes before he can toss the others in there.
Bee comes to quickly and realizes he’s in exactly the same predicament as several of his friends from Prime. He can’t interact with anything but the ground, and the only way to make contact is through his comm. Since Soundwave immediately went to work building a beacon to alert Megatron of his presence and Laserbeak is watching over Strongarm and Grimlock, the only remaining team members are Fixit, Denny, and Russell. He spends a fair amount of time telling them not to do any of the crazy stuff they wind up doing to stop Soundwave. Soundwave is far more dangerous than the other Decepticons they’ve been dealing with, more so since he gained the ability to generate Ground Bridge portals at will.
Eventually, Bee comes up with a plan that works. They manipulate him into generating two portals too close together, freeing Bumblebee. Since their distraction also allowed Grim and Strongarm to deal with Laserbeak, they’re able to actually beat him. They then do the most sensible thing ever and chuck them right back into the dimensional portal rather than stick him in a pod where Steeljaw can get to them.
Speaking of Steeljaw, he has the B plot. He, of course, plans to usurp his new leaders, while also keeping his troops in line. He gets interrupted by Saberhorn and Glowstrike. They mention that they’ve noticed what he’s been doing since joining them. They know what he’s about.
He’s about to strike just as they offer him a junior leadership position, and quickly changes his course. It has one string attached, however; they want him to demonstrate his abilities on another, obviously mutinous, crewmate. They provide a discretion shot for the new one he rips that Sharkticon.
There was one other reason they wanted him in this position. They’ve forced the ship’s original crew of Fixit-like minicons into forced servitude, which Steeljaw notes as impressive. But they want him to work his prowess on the armory lock to get at the ship’s Decepticon Hunters.
This episode of Transformers: Robots in Disguise had the sort of things I like the most in the show. It had a menacing opponent in Soundwave. It also had Steeljaw plotting like mad to get more power.
Final Thoughts:
- I like how, rather than talk, Soundwave interprets everything via those old school wire models. It’s a nice touch.
- We know how Cybertronian ghosts work. The comparison worked almost too well.
- The continuing trend of Steeljaw getting exactly what he thinks he wants is front and center.
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