Assemble! The Four Godmaster Gunmen
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 You can pretend it's Mirage and Drag Strip, but it's not. | ||||||
| "Assemble! The Four Godmaster Gunmen" (Seizoroi! Godmaster Yonjūshi) | ||||||
| Production company | Takara, Toei | |||||
| Airdate | 30 August 1988 | |||||
| Writer | Yoshihisa Araki | |||||
| Director | Michihiro Kanayama | |||||
| Animation studio | Toei | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
The search for the fourth Godmaster brings the Autobots and Decepticons to France, where the Headmaster Juniors attend the finale of the World Grand Prix, and meet the champion racer, Road King.
Contents |
Synopsis
The Decepticon Headmaster Juniors are hanging out in a bar, where Cancer plays a racing arcade game and Wilder reads a magazine on Formula-1 racing. Wilder's interest is piqued by an article on a retired French racer named Germain, who won the Grand Prix five times, and whose car miraculously survived every crash it was in. Although Cancer and Bullhorn don't pick up on it immediately, Wilder is sure that this invulnerable car must belong to the next Godmaster!
In France, the Autobot Headmaster Juniors accompany Lightfoot to the Rouen Circuit, where the F1 World Grand Prix is about to begin. British Motors has a car in the race, but Lightfoot admits that even its driver, Carl, is no match for the reigning champ, the so-called "British Wolf", Road King. Cab and Shūta have heard of the famous young racer, so Lightfoot introduces them to him just before the race starts and they get autographs. While they're having fun, though, Ranger and Ginrai are busy scouring Europe for the remaining Godmaster, searching in Spain and Germany, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Decepticon Juniors have made their way to the small French town of Dagneux, and, after hiding their transtectors in the woods nearby, head for the restaurant-and-bar that the retired Germain now runs. With patrons around them busy watching the Grand Prix, Wilder starts questioning Germain on the location of his race car, and the conversation gets more and more threatening until Wilder seizes the old man. He's got a few tricks up his sleeve, though, and quickly twists Wilder's arm back and throws him out of the bar. Bullhorn and Cancer try to jump him, but Germain easily parries their attacks and hurls them aside. Bruised and beaten, Wilder tells the old man that he'll be sorry as the Juniors slink back to the forest.
Back at the Rouen Circuit, the Grand Prix continues, until suddenly, there is a catastrophic crash. Many cars are sent spinning and flying, with Road King's being launched into the air, although it makes a safe landing. Carl manages to escape his car before it explodes, but Lightfoot's attention is then drawn to Road King's car... which spontaneously repairs all the damage it has taken! There is no doubt in Lightfoot's mind that the search for the fourth Autobot Godmaster is over, and he radios Ginrai to bring the last set of Master-Braces right away. Road King proceeds to win the race, and Lightfoot introduces him to Ginrai, who wastes no time in giving Lightfoot the Master-Braces. Road King slips them on, and in a flash of light, Lightfoot's suspicions are proven correct—Road King is the fourth Godmaster, and his race car is his transtector! Road King is amazed that his car possesses this sort of power, recounting how it was given to him by his sponsor when he was in a slump. His tale is interrupted by a communiqué from Ranger, who reveals that the Decepticon Headmaster Juniors are attacking Dagneux in their transtectors! Before Ginrai can even look back up from his bracelet, Road King is already racing away.
In Dagneux, Ranger attempts to hold off the Decepticon Juniors himself, but Road King comes driving by, and Wilder believes that he is at the wheel of the car they are looking for, and pursue him. The other Autobots soon arrive and fill Ranger in, while Road King heads for Germain's restaurant—Germain is his sponsor, but thankfully, the Decepticons haven't made it that far into the town yet. They're right behind Road King, however, and transform into their robot mode to take his car, but he transforms to robot mode himself and holds them off until the other Autobots join the fight. Wilder summons an army of Seacons, but even as Turtler orders them to combine, their numbers are so badly depleted by the large number of Autobots present that there aren't even enough of them left to form King Poseidon! After Turtler and the Juniors retreat, Road King introduces Germain to the other Autobots as his sponsor, and a celebratory toast for his victory in the Grand Prix, and his first victory in battle, is had.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
Human Autobots |
Human Decepticons |
Notes
Animation and technical errors
- The people sitting behind Lightfoot and the kids never move an inch or change expression, no matter what's happening. One guy is permanently holding a camera up to his face. However the people sitting behind them also varies from shot to shot—one background image is used behind separate shots of Minerva and Lightfoot.
Continuity errors
- Again, precisely what happens when one becomes a Godmaster remains inconsistent with past episodes. In this case, Road King transforms in the same way Lightfoot did (in "Lightfoot: A Dramatic Encounter"): his arms are pulled together by the Master-Braces and he doesn't have to say "Masterforce", but he does have to say "God On." This is in contradiction to the ways in which Ginrai and Ranger first transformed.
- Ginrai only tells Road King to say "God on!", but Road King then uses the complete "Transform! God on!" phrase.
Continuity notes
- Ginrai found the three additional pairs of Master-Braces in "A Strange Friendship: Cancer and Minerva". This episode wraps up that plot thread, with the third and final owner being found, although as it's been pointed out in a few other episodes, viewers must remember for the future that there is still one more Godmaster out there...
Real world references
- This episode is a bit of a treat for Formula 1 fans, as many of the cars competing in the World Grand Prix race are surprisingly faithful recreations of entrants in the real Formula 1 World Championship of 1988, even down to some car numbers and driver helmets, albeit with brand names purposefully misspelt (similar to the decals on the G1 Mirage and Wheeljack toys). Recognisable in this episode are:
- Car 2 - "Totus-Homda" of Satoru Nakajima, with a simplified version of his helmet design. Nakajima was the only Japanese driver in the field that year, which is possibly why his car was featured heavily and instead of his teammate and reigning World Champion, Nelson Piquet.
- Car 3 - Tyrrell-Ford of Jonathan Palmer.
- Car 6 - "Camon" Williams-Judd of Riccardo Patrese. Close-ups of the driver show him with the helmet design of Patrese's teammate, Nigel Mansell, but the car features a white or black 6 rather than Mansell's distinctive red 5.
- Car 10 - "Wost" Zakspeed of Bernd Schneider, including an accurate replication of his helmet design in close-up.
- Car 11 - "Marlbora" McLaren-"Homda" of Alain Prost.
- Car 12 - "Marlbora" McLaren-"Homda" of Ayrton Senna.
- Car 27 - Ferrari of Michele Alboreto (recognisable by the FIAT badge on the side) albeit in an inaccurate lemon yellow colour. Another unnumbered yellow Ferrari is also seen.
- An unnumbered AGS-Ford with its lesser used white nose livery.
- A red and white car distinct from the McLarens and Zakspeeds that is perhaps meant to be the Arrows-Megatron (and even if it's not, hey, we get to tell you there was an F1 engine called Megatron).
- And what could charitably be considered a Rial-Ford.
- Other brands visible throughout the episode include include "Sall", "Dunpop", "Poca-Cola", "Moolel", "Fireiil" and lots, lots more.
- Rouen-Les-Essarts was a real race circuit, though on public roads, not a dedicated race track. The last F1 race was held there in 1968, well before this episode was made.
- This episode's seemingly odd title is a reference to the Japanese rendering of The Three Musketeers (三銃士).
Foreign localization
English
- Title: "The Emergence of the Fourth Powermaster" (Omni Productions dub)
- Original airdate: October 21, 1990
- Title: "At Full Strength! The Four Godmaster Gunmen" (Shout! Factory sub)
Italian
- Title: "Ghibli il quarto guerriero" ("Road King the fourth warrior")
- Original airdate: ?
- The episode starts only when Cancer starts talking. The previous two shots of the game and the first shot depicting the kid are cut out.
Home video releases
- DVD
2003 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce — DVD Box 01 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 2 — Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Super God Masterforce (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2012 — Transformers: The Japanese Collection (Shout! Factory)
2012 — Transformers Japanese Collection: Super-God Masterforce (Shout! Factory)
