From: kendrick@io.com (Kendrick Kerwin Chua) Subject: TF Weekday: Headmasters - Master Planet Mystery Date: 1996/03/26 Message-ID: <4jacd4$134@xanadu.io.com> organization: Illuminati Online newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers Just to address a few questions asked of me lately... No, I don't understand Japanese, but I know enough of it to get by as far as proper nouns and kanji are concerned. But don't expect me to be providing subtitles for this any time soon without professional translation help. 'Transformers: Super Robot Life Form' is the cartoon series that begins with the episode /More than Meets the Eye/ and ends with /Transformers The Movie/. 'Transformers:2010' begins with /Five Faces of Darkness/ and ends with /The Return of Optimus Prime/. Oh, and these are not being broadcast anywhere at the moment... I'm working off of video tapes obtained from sources I know better than to name just off the bat. About four or five episodes down the road I'll be offering copies, so be patient. Oh, and one other thing... If anybody knows the story better than I, please feel free to correct me. I've no ego to bruise about this, and I'd much rather get the story right than cover up my mistakes. Please post or e-mail if you know I've got some point of the story wrong. TF Weekday: Headmasters Episode 2 - Master Planet Mystery *The Contendors: Blaster vs. Soundwave Chromedome vs. Weirdwolf Highbrow vs. Skullcruncher Brainstorm vs. Mindwipe Hot Rod vs. Galvatron Wheelie vs. Chromedome Ramhorn vs. Headstrong Eject and Rewind vs. Tantrum Steeljaw vs. Rampage Hot Rod vs. Razorclaw Hot Rod vs. Predaking Superion vs. Menasor *The plot: The story so far -- The Decepticons have invaded Cybertron again with their new recruits, the Headmasters Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher and Mindwipe. The Autobots shuffle their forces and gain new allies, the Autobot Headmasters. The standoff on Cybertron between the Headmaster teams ends abruptly with Weirdwolf using his gratuitous transform sequence and pouncing on Chromedome, pinning him down. Skullcruncher does the same to Highbrow. Hardhead saves them both, blasting away at Weirdwolf and pounding at Skullcruncher. Mindwipe almost puts Brainstorm away except for Chromedome's timely interference, and Brainstorm returns the favor when Mindwipe decides to switch targets. From Athenia Base, Kup, Blurr, Arcee, Spike, Daniel, and Hot Rod watch. Hot Rod slips away... Optimus Prime is shot down by Galvatron elsewhere on Cybertron, only to be saved by Hot Rod who comes in, guns blazing. Prime takes his leave to go off and protect Vector Sigma, and Hot Rod takes command of the Dinobots fighting Galvatron. Hot Rod flings off a few well-placed shots, forcing Galvatron into a tactical retreat. Superion and Defensor are buried under a falling building, courtesy of Bruticus' sharp shooting and the random blasting from Abominus, Devastator and Menasor. Daniel and Wheelie watch the fight on the monitor in horror, then cheer as the Maximus Star Cruiser drops out of orbit and literally runs over the four Decepticon combiners, grounding them for the duration. Galvatron tries to fight the cruiser by himself but loses out in firepower and size. Burnt and smoking, Galvatron orders a retreat, and the Decepticons leave. The Maximus Star Cruiser lands at Athenia Base after picking up the Autobot Headmasters, and the captain of the ship steps out to introduce himself to Hot Rod. It's Fortress (Cerebros), an old-looking Autobot who knows Hot Rod's name. Kup pipes up, recognizing the name but not the face, and promptly has a hugging reunion with Fortress, who seems to have been an old friend. Kup and Fortress relate the story of the lost Headmasters... Millions of years ago, Fortress led an expedition of eleven Autobots away from the great wars on Cybertron to search for energy, just as Optimus Prime did. They landed on a planet of robotic life called Master, where they developed the technology to build 'Super Bodies' with which they could merge and transform. However, six of the Autobots rebelled; led by the dissident named Scorponok, they fought over the resources of Master until Fortress and his allies could drive them away. Now Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher, and Mindwipe have rejoined the larger Decepticon forces commanded by Galvatron. Deep inside Cybertron, on a bridge across a subterrainean chasm, Optimus Prime single-handedly defeats all but one of the many green Sentinel robots guarding the passageways leading to Vector Sigma. A voice tells him to duck... Prime does so, turning and shooting one last Sentinel he missed. Then a ghost appears; it's Alpha Trion, come back from the dead as a translucent spirit to help Prime on his journey. At Athenia Base, Fortress and Hot Rod realize that for Optimus Prime to successfully protect Vector Sigma, he must have the Matrix, which was lost earlier on Earth. Spike, Kup, and Daniel offer their advice, and then Hot Rod tries to contact Optimus Prime via radio. Prime rides an elevator further down into Cybertron, where an automated laser turret catches him off guard. With Alpha Trion to give him warning, he's able to overcome the laser turret. But more dangers lie ahead... Hot Rod frustratedly bangs on the console; he can't contact Prime, so he decides that it's his job to bring the Matrix to Optimus. Chromedome offers his help, but butts heads with Wheelie, who doesn't think that the Headmasters' help is worth much. Kup keeps the conflict from coming to blows, and Hot Rod decides to bring along Blaster and the Cassettebots for reinforcements. Before leaving, Blaster ejects a tape and hands it to Wheelie, who looks at it, mystified... Hot Rod, Blaster, and Ultra Magnus leave Athenia by the Autobot Space Bridge, arriving at Autobot City. Blaster's sensors go off... He looks up just in time to see Ratbat falling off of his hiding place and transforming. Blaster ejects Steeljaw to chase him into a storage room, where he's ambushed by Ravage. Blaster ejects Rewind, Eject, and Ramhorn as Soundwave rises from behind a crate. Soundwave drops a gas cannister after exchanging a few terse witticisms, and then flies away through a hole in the wall, headed for the desert. From Charr, Galvatron contacts Sixshot at the Dinobase on Earth. Soundwave has arrived, and Galvatron orders them both to stop Autobots from finding the Matrix. Apparently, he's realized the flaw in Prime's plan as well. At Autobot City, Jazz scans for the Matrix's energy signature, and uploads the data into Blaster's tapes so their sensors can pick up on it. Hot Rod sends out the Aerialbots as a distraction... Sixshot detects their flight and sends out the Stunticons to fight them. Meanwhile, Hot Rod and Blaster make their way out into the middle of the arctic. Galvatron detects them on his monitor, and orders Soundwave to stop them. Hot Rod and Blaster pause to take some readings when they are ambushed by the Predacons. Blaster ejects his tapes. Ramhorn and Headstrong fight to a standstill, the former with superior artillery and the latter with superior agility. Tantrum blows away Eject and Rewind, forcing them to retreat behind cover. Steeljaw and Rampage claw each other to an impasse, while Divebomb flits around taking potshots at everybody. Razorclaw buries Hot Rod under an avalanche of snow. Hot Rod breaks free and transforms, hopping mad. In car mode, Hot Rod speeds up towards Razorclaw, knocking him flat on his butt with a swerve and a broadside. Razorclaw gets mad and orders the Predacons to merge, but Hot Rod is ready for it... He launches up into the air and hits Razorclaw AGAIN, preventing Predaking from forming. However, his luck has run out... the maneuver sends Hot Rod over a cliff and into the soft snow below, where Menasor has just landed... Up at Athenia Base, Kup and Wheelie watch the fight on the monitor, worried as heck. Menasor is about to step on Hot Rod when Superion appears and knocks him over with a dazzling side kick. Menasor struggles towards Hot Rod and picks him up, trying to use him as a hostage or a shield. But Superion is too dumb to reason with, so he runs right into Menasor who drops Hot Rod. Superion tackles and pins Menasor, yelling at Hot Rod to run off and find the Matrix already, dammit. Hot Rod drives up an incline and gets far away from the battling combiners... And right into an ambush by Soundwave. Blasting up into the sky at Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, Hot Rod doesn't see Soundwave pointing a gun right at his head. Blaster does though, and forces Hot Rod down just in time to avoid the shot. He encourages Hot Rod to run, and Blaster and Soundwave have a showdown, one on one. Equal and parallel gunshots come from and go towards both Soundwave and Blaster as Galvatron watches from Charr. They both lose an optic, and then both fall to one knee. A simultaneous right punch tears a hole in both robots' chests, and they both fall again. Hot Rod turns at the sound of the melee, just as Blaster executes a lucky chop, removing Soundwave's right arm and forcing him back into the snow. But Soundwave bounces back, and crunches Blaster into an icy cliffside, leaving him there just long enough to fling one desperate kick at his stomach. Soundwave falls from the effort, and Blaster launches himself from the side of the cliff to do an elbow drop right into the hole on Soundwave's chest. Soundwave manages one last punch to Blaster's face. Blaster goes down and Soundwave stands up... But the strain is too much, and Soundwave violently explodes into millions of pieces. Galvatron roars in anger. Hot Rod gets to Blaster just in time to watch him turn grey and die. His dying words wish Hot Rod luck in finding the Matrix. In the background, Laserbeak swoops low to pick up Soundwave's head, and all the Decepticon Tapes fly off into the horizon. Up on Athenia Base, the Autobots mourn. Wheelie plays Blaster's tape, which turns out to be a sad little tune Blaster was working on in his spare time. Chromedome makes peace with Wheelie, and enthusiastically offers his services again. The four Headmasters go down to Earth to help Hot Rod. As Prime fights more automated defenses deep inside Cybertron, Hot Rod is headed across the barren desert towards a place he hopes he'll find the Matrix. To be continued... *The characters: The little disagreement between Wheelie and Chromedome will turn out to be a standard setter as far as Headmasters goes. Long gone are the agreeable, nicey-nicey Autobots we're used to from the American series. In Headmasters, the writers seem to be making a point of having Autobots disagree over what their jobs are or who's better at what. Granted, they usually resolve their differences in the space of one episode, but at least the good guys are questioning the reasons for their actions. This is a much more mature attitude that adult fans will probably enjoy. Now all we have to do is get it in English. :) The reunion between Fortress and Kup is a cheap but effective way of establishing that Fortress is another one of your long line of Autobot Commander types. Speaking of which, the robot called Fortress is the one we would commonly refer to as 'Cerebros.' In plain terms, he transforms into the head of Fortress Maximus, which is also the Maximus Cruiser in case you haven't figured that out. Chomp the bit just a little; we won't see Fortress Maximus whole and in action until about ten episodes down the road. Hot Rod is a commander! If you ever wondered what happened after Rodimus Prime lost the matrix, the answer is 'Not much' as far as the Japanese continuity is concerned. He barks orders to Ultra Magnus, takes charge of the Dinobots without degaussing an optic and even tackles solo missions with no problem at all. I'm very comfortable with this, for some reason... Too bad we lose out on a lot of other characters. The fight between the Stunticons and Aerialbots is all shock, no talk. They're more articulate when merged than when not, it seems. Also, Razorclaw isn't quite the silent, patient type we've come to expect. Wheelie is also relegated to the role of the everyman, rather than the survivalist punk we know him as. Whenever a hard question has to be asked, you can bet that Wheelie will be the one doing the asking. *The plot holes: Only two really worth mentioning... The first is that Hot Rod mysteriously teleports from Cybertron to Athenia base when the Maximus Cruiser lands. He certainly didn't get a ride to Mars because Fortress introduces himself as he steps off the cruiser. Also, the location of a lot of command types gets very skewed as they watch the fights from their respective monitors. I thought this was unique only to the Japanese episodes until I watched some of the US shows closely; there's a lot of tube watching there as well ("We interrupt 'As the Kitchen Sinks' for a special news bulletin...") The leader-leads-from-behind a-video-screen thing happens a lot in Masterforce and Victory as well. *Moving pictures: Better than the first episode in a few places... Shading on faces is very effective, particularly in one closeup of Daniel's face, which looks very convincing and realistic. Also, the transforms are often slow and dramatic, like when Hot Rod breaks out of the ice or when Hardhead drops into vehicle mode ("Transform, dash!") to help out his buddies. The backgrounds are very stark and spartan though, almost jarringly so; I've had about enough of desert rocks and icy white arctic horizons. TF:Weekday (C) 1996 by Kendrick Kerwin Chua. The names of places and characters mentioned above are TM Hasbro Inc., Marvel Entertainment Group and Takara Inc. where appropriate. Check out http://www.io.com/~kendrick for a continuously updated archive of TF:Weekday reviews. KKC, has decided to just keep things simple and offer SLP copies of Headmasters, which amounts to three video tapes' worth. Watch this space for ordering information. Or something... -- "If I knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called RESEARCH now, would it?" kendrick@io.com - Kendrick Kerwin Chua - WTB: Hasbro/Takara Transformers toys home webpage at http://www.io.com/~kendrick - also available at kchua@unf.edu NOTscape Friendly! Use less graphics in web pages to speed up info retrieval!