Transformers Animated (Spoilers within!)

[Wistwin]

Um...those scenes Sentinel and Elita appeared in during Along Came a Spider happened a long time before episode one. A long time, as in...they were still in the Autobot Academy back then.

Sentinel's bound to have grown up since.

[Haystack]

FANZONE HAS A WIFE?!

Actually, I found that part of the episode quite intriguing. I have a theory (No, save your groans! ) that Fanzone's wife may have had an accident with a malfunctioning machine or robot that left her impaired somehow. We know something happened due to Sumdak's mention of the "Unfortunate incident with the captain's wife." We also know that whatever happened, she probably survived it, what with Sumdak saying "My regards to your wife, captain."
If my theory is true, that might explain why Fanzone may not like anything machanical very much. ("This is why I hate machines!" ) Then again, I'd love to see some interaction between Fanzone and his wife, impaired or not.

Haystack

[artemis-lady-warrior]

Maybe you're right Wistwin. No need to get all technical on me.

Actually there is a reason why Fanzone is like that and how he got his name. This is what I found out about it.
Fanzone is supposed to be a parody of the fans of Transformers that have problems with the new transformers series invented "thus the name fanzone" this information used to be on wikipedia but it was removed for some reason.
If this is true that might be why he's always saying "this is why I hate machines" In a way it might be Hasbro's way of poking fun at the G1 purists or "GWhiners" as I call them.

[Razor One]

The Elite Guard Sample!

CLICK ME!

!1!!!1!one!!1!

[artemis-lady-warrior]

I just watched it. Ultra Magnus and Sentinal are bit jerks! I'm glad Jazz wasn't acting like a jerk cuz he's one of my favorite transformers. I get the feeling that tomarrows episode is gonna tick me off big time.
Organics aren't bad!!!!

[Wistwin]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!

JAZZ'S VOICE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

*two minutes later*

Sorry, just feeling giddy from caffeine mixed with plenty of Transformers.

Ahh...Sentinel speaking from experience. XD

Oh noes! What's gonna happen now!??? Something tells me Optimus and his crew aren't gonna like being 'decontaminated'!!!!!

Still giddy....fraggit....

[Wicked Woman]

Wow, why do I get the feeling that Sentinel is lying through his teeth?

Nice Sampler. I wonder if FanTransformers is allowed to do this... :-/


WW

[Wistwin]

As far as I know...It's actually against Youtube regulations to upload works owned entirely by a different company.

Probably why FanOfTransformers got banned.

[artemis-lady-warrior]

or because he put his logo on the videos when he didn't even own them.

I just watched todays episode. OHPRIMUS! I wanted to kick Sentinal's face in! He was being such a jerk! He made Jazz think humans would slime him. Jazz is so cute in this series and a ninja bot too. I be he and Prowl will become friends since they seem to get along pretty well. Jazz was like the only who was all relaxed about it besides when he thought humans would burn him with acid.
Sentinal deserved to drive off the road and fall off the broken bridge too plus I'm glad Optimus told him off. He SO deserved that.
I wasn't expecting to see the decepticons so soon but I'm glad they were there even if there was only three. Megatron sure got his body fixed up pretty quickly. He didn't have a scratch on him.
Ultra Magnus was acting stuffy and sounded stuffy nosed and his thor hammer is wicked. I hope Thor I mean Magnus loosens up or something because he is really annoying with that stuffy attitude. I thought Ratchet was an old grump. This uy takes the cake and the candles that come with it.
The end was just... I don't know how to react to it. My expression nearly matched Sari's. This just supports the theory that Sari might just be a robot after all. Hopefully more will be explained next week.

[Wonko The Sane]

And now for Season II,Episode I-The Elite Guard

Animation

The animation is getting more accostumed to as we reach the Second Season of Transformers:Animated.The landscapes are still a little sloppy,but the animators are trying their best as they reach new environments,such as the cave,and,of course,the Elite Guard.

Jazz:He does have similarities to Prowl when it comes to his head design,but much of his G1 apearance is there such as his eyes and his alt-mode,which was drawn perfectly in stand-still and at transforming.

Ultra Magnus: Drawn to an almost God-like appearance,which is quite a change to this character.The God-like appearance has died out however when he chose his alt-form,in the form of a military vehicle.Now thinking about it,it does make it a somewhat suitable choice,since the Elite Guard are supposedly Cybertron's military.

Sentinel Prime:A few upgreades here and thereto prove that he is of high rank,but his alt-mode is not quite the thing I had in mind;it felt more Earth-like than Cybertronian.

Overall,the designs of these chracters are a good combination of Earth and Cybertronian technology.Good job guys.


Characters

A good development on new and old characters for Season II.

Optimus Prime:We have a good look at his past theough Sentinel's dialouge as a demoted Academy student,leading a few matenence bots.To the eyes of Magnus and Sentinel,Prime has done a lot of chaos when he first arrived at Earth;battling Decepticons,communicating with orgainics,and even 'destroying' the Allspark,making him look more irresponisble.However,Prime displayed something in front of Magnus and Sentinel as a excellent leader.Even though the times he had were rough,Prime always comes through in grand or hollow victories,by displaying strategy,quick-thinking,teamwork,and loyalty towards his bots,giving them more of a military purpose for them,Sari,and himself.

Ratchet:Not enough development comes to him,other than standing up to Sentinel when insulting Prime.

Prowl:We see now that he's not the only ninja-bot in the Series,in fact,he's not even that great compared to Jazz,in looks and fighting style.

Bulkhead:Not enough development for him either.

BumbleBee:Not much of him is made,except supporting comic relief.

Jazz:There are bits of G1 and Movieverse Jazz in this one in personality and in voice.He displays a curiousity in orgianic life,but was brainwashed by Sentinel's story.He is fascinated but afraid of humans,but has learned to trust them despite what Sentinel said.His fighting style is similar but better than Prowl's,as he too is a ninja-bot,usin numchucks as his weapon of choice.His speed and fighting style are displayed perfectly in his one-shot scene,and was able to have a good amount of screentime in his search to destroy the source.This will not be the last time we seen a well-written character.

Ultra Magnus:Though we seen him a few times in Season I,we finally get to have some image of what Magnus is like.He is a new bot with a recycled name,playing a commander and older brother to Optimsu,but if they are related in this show,I do not know.He still sppears to be God-like,wise,and calm,almost an enigma.His weapon is a Cybertonian hammer,a good equivalent to Optimus' axe.How he uses that hammer instantly reminded me of the Norse God Thor,King of Thunder and Lightning,and,if analyzed more,we might see similarites to him and Thor,but it the writers continue to give him more screentime,we have to wait and see

Sentinel Prime:Proud.That's one word to describe this high-ranked Autobot.Now,we are able to see 'The Tick' in action as he complains about why Optimus and his crew has communicated and touched organic life.His memories of the incident between him,Optimus,and Elita is still fresh in Sentinel's mind as he continues to strain Prime's friendship with him,and his commeradeship with his crew.He developed a bias for orgainics and still contines to do so,but developed more of a distaste to Prime,making him feel unworthy to even speak to Magnus.But Magnus told Sentinel that he dosen't demonstrate loyalty,even as a higher rank than Prime,and Prime told him that he shows faith in his crew and organics.I'm sure that he will come back again,since many people want to see his reaction when meeting Elita as Blackarachnia.

Sari:She shows streangth and determination in this Episode,calling herself a Sumdac.She still knows her way,even around a bunch of new Autobots,and still holds the Key,breaking a barrier on Magnus' ship and breaking a barrier to Prime's problem,revealing that the Allspark is fragmented rather than destroyed.

Megatron:Is now his own character,but contains that G1 appearance and Beast Warrior mind that makes him intriguing,even with a G1 plan.


Storyline

We continue to Megatron Rising,as the Autobots repair the highway and BB and Sari maintaining Sumdac's building in his 'absence'.Dr.Powell,the Chairman of the Board,considers Sari to step aside when running the company.Meanwhile,humans and Fanzone has lost trust on the Autobots after the battle between them and Megatron.Also a 'mysterous unknown object' flys above downtown,introducing characters Ultra magnus,Sentinel Prime and Jazz.The Autobots meet up with them and are 'decontamined',sealing Sari and other humans through a barrier.Sentinel shows his pride as he warns Jazz not to be near humans,tell off Prime for how incompetent he is throughout this whole dilemma.Prime explains to Magnus that the Allspark is not destroyed,but disinegrated(Spelling again),but both Magnus and Sentinel don't believe him,having no proof that Decepticons are in Earth.Hiding in a cave,Megatron,Lugnut,and Blitzwing plan on conquering Cyberton by constructing a Space Bridge.Megatron demands on Sumdac to reverse-engineer the Bridge and construct it,dispite Sumdac's resistance.Meanwhile,in order to prove that he's not lying,Optimus leads Magnus and Sentinel to Dinobot Island,where the Ark is being held,while Jazz stays with the rest of the Autobots.Sentinel continues to show his dismay for Prime as he doesn't follow his directions when driving,leading to falling off a bridge(lol).They reach Dinobot Island and Sentinel challenges the Dinobots,calling them 'primitive'.He struggles,but Magnus calls them off through his thunder-wielding hammer.As they continue searching,Sari breaks the barrier with her Key and entered the ship,but was dicovered by Jazz,and due to Sentinel's propagande,he was araid to touch her.Jazz realized the truth in orgainics as Bulkhead and the others explain to him about Sari.As for the Decepticons,they discovered that there are Allspark fragments are scattered,controlling a factory.One Allspark fragment spreads across machines through the use of a microchip,leading tinto a battle between semi-self aware war machines vs.The Autobots.As Prowl,Ratchet,BB,Sari,Bulkhead,and Jazz fight the machines,Sentinel,Optimus,and Magnus arrive to finish it.Sari,Jazz,Prowl,and Optimus enter the factory to stop the source of the machines.They dicover the Allspark fragment,giving it to Magnus and Sentinel,believing in Prime,and making a plan to find the rest of the fragments.Lastly,Dr.Powell takes over Sumdac's company,revealing to Sari that there is no proof of her exisitance.

My Thoughts

I smell a shard hunt this Season.No!!!!

Sumdac had no sense of betrayal,as it turns out that he is kidnapped.So I suppose in the previous Episode he was stunned by the expeirnce of it all.Otherwise,why would he not say anything.

Still no sign of Starscream or his body.

The theories of sari being reverse-engineered seems more plausable,as Dr.Powell says that here is 'no will,birth certificate,adoption papers' or anything of the kind to prove her existance.I guess that with the shard hunt and all,we may reval of her past.The Key didn't have that much significance in this Episode,besides breaking a barrier through slicing it.

Quirks

Well,not really a quirk,but I love the concept of Cyberton,being a combination of G1 and Movieverse.

Overall,good Season Prmiere,can't wait what else is in store for them and us.

[Wicked Woman]

I favorite quirks were when Sentinel fell after disreguarding Optimus' suggestion of driving on the left side of the road and when Optimus finally stood up for himself.

I also like the fact that Jazz is a ninja bot, maybe he and Prowl could trade moves and opinions. Wishful thinking? I hope not.

Overall, yes this was a great start to the second season which makes me hope more for a third. Now I will not be able to wait until Return of the Headmaster which is coming this Saturday.



WW

[Beastbot]

Did anyone catch the "Metallikato" reference by Jazz? These guys definitely know how to do obscure homages... (Metallikato was the samurai training G1 Bludgeon specialized in.)

My review:

Negatives:
- No explanation given for why the Allspark-infused copbots were evil.
- What, Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Megatron are the only Decepticons that matter now? What about Blackarachnia, Starscream, Lockdown, and Soundwave (who's BROADCASTING A SIGNAL, apparently)!?
- How did Sentinel Prime get into the Elite Guard? He's clearly not got the mad skillz the other two do...
- No scene where the Autobots actually visited the Ark. Guess the writers decided it wasn't necessary, but it just seems like something a tad too important to gloss over, especially since we got a brief peek of the Dinos again.

Positives:
- The episode, overall, was amazing. Great dialogue, great new characters. Jazz particularly is well-done, and his interactions with Prowl are FTW.
- Ultra Magnus is THOR, GOD OF THUNDER! That hammer is the best thing to happen to that character since ever, and since he's apparently Leader class, we know his toy's hammer is gonna be HUGE. "Now I know why they call him Ultra!"
- Loved the initial fear of organics. Sari's "BOOGA BOOGA!" and Jazz's reaction were priceless.
- I actually like Sentinel Prime. Of course, if I knew him IRL I'd totally hate him, but I like seeing him being the guy everyone hates who's going to get what's coming to him. Driving off the highway and ignoring the caution signs= AWESOME.
- "Is it like this on this crazy planet all the time!?" "Pretty much."
- Loved loved LOVED the ending. Hostile takeover of a company on a kids' show-- whoda thunk? And yeah, Sari is DEFINITELY not fully human. She's gotta have SOMETHING Cybertronian in her, even if it's at the microscopic level.

Overall, incredible episode, beat only by "Thrill of the Hunt", in my opinion. A solid A.

[Purrpalz]

*watches The Elite Guard Part 2 again*

Yep, Jazz's reaction to Sari is still priceless and definatly funny.

I LOVE Jazz! And Sentinal Prime is an idiot.

I can't wait until he meets Elita-1/Blackarachnia again.

[Wistwin]

Only saw it now. *curses the Internet for being mean to her*

It was definitely a good start to the new season. Ultra Magnus is turning into one of my favorites--he can control the sky! Hmm....makes me want to take his hammer apart to find out how it does that....

Sentinel made me laugh a lot. The highway scene was priceless, so was the Dinobot scene.

On Sari, it seems she might have some Cybertronian in her after all...I mean, she doesn't exist!? O.o\\ That's kind of harsh for her eight year old brain...

Waiting for BA and Soundwave now. Hopefully Soundwave will get a better episode this season.

[Jagna]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who's noticed that the VA for Jazz is the voice of Wilt in Foster's Home for Imaginary Freinds?

.....anyone?

LoL. I only had to hear the sample a second time and go 'aHA!'