Enemy Line

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"I have to kiss her?"
"Enemy Line"
Season	3
No. in season	18
Production company	Allspark Animation
Airdate	February 21, 2020 (UK) May 3, 2020 (USA)
Writer	Gavin Hignight
Director	Jean Texier
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio
Watch this episode on YouTube

In an attempt to find his missing friend, Bumblebee goes on a spy mission into Decepticon territory.

Synopsis

Border guards Clobber and Lockdown exchange curiosities, amazed by the new powers that some bots have gained from Megatron. Bumblebee arrives and shows off his new skills before heading into the Decepticon territory. Both guards then remember the rules and Clobber is scolded by Lockdown for letting Bumblebee through.

As Optimus Prime brings in Grapple's latest masterpiece, a statue of Prima, Jetfire bombards him with petty redesign questions as he attempts a speech, forcing Prime to get more supplies as an excuse for peace and quiet. Meanwhile, Bumblebee is sneaking through the Decepticon half of Cybertron on a mission. Upon seeing Sky-Byte recite a poem, he claims it as the most disturbing thing he knows before witnessing feeding Insecticons. Passing, he sees Megatron issuing orders out to Astrotrain, who goes to check the border as Megatron walks off.

Helping Rack'n'Ruin with heavy lifting, Optimus once again finds Jetfire asking him questions. Mainly to get him out of his hair, Prime promotes Jetfire so he can make his own independent decisions. Upon finishing, Prime becomes overwhelmed by a line of other Autobots who prove quick to bombard him with further questions.

In Croaton City, Bumblebee finds Windblade to be absent from the Cityspeaker chamber only to be cornered by Shadow Striker, who takes him to Windblade. Shadow Striker had rescued Windblade due to having suffered a similar fate and gives Bumblebee three astrocycles to get her out... but shortens it to two after he thanks her. Bumblebee manages to make it out the door but is soon caught by Alpha Strike. He throws her off by detonating Windblade's stretcher, sending her crashing into Sky-Byte. Bumblebee calls for extraction before running into hungry Insecticons and gets overwhelmed. Luckily Hot Rod is able to notify Optimus of Bumblebee's absence. Whirl comes to his rescue and the two fly off with Windblade.

Unfortunately, the alarm had been sounded. The trio are blocked off, Bumblebee being knocked out of the sky by Ramjet and Whirl by Skywarp and Dirge. Surrounded by Deceptions, Bumblebee and Whirl are nearly executed on the spot by the now-empowered Decepticons. However, an Autobot attack force lead by Optimus, Wheeljack, and Hot Rod arrive, citing Windblade as a prisoner in Decepticon territory to be just as much of an offense to the peace treaty. A reluctant Megatron lets Bumblebee and Whirl off... but with a warning that the next time they cross the barrier, the Autobots will be terminated on sight. In the Autobot medical lab, Ratchet proves unable to do much help for Windblade though hope arrives in the form of a knowing Chromia.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Notes

Continuity notes

• As stated by Lockdown and Clobber, a few characters have inherited the multiverse energy Megatron gave them in the previous episode.
• The Grand Imperium and its statue of Prima debuted back in "Matrix of Leadership."
• It is revealed that Astrotrain was recruited to the Decepticons when Megatron freed him from a tyrant known only as "The Other One".
• Hot Rod is back to his original red coloration, which was last seen in "Battle For Cybertron III".

Transformers references

• Jetfire questions Optimus about the reconstruction of Trion Square, a location in Iacon first introduced in the 2005 IDW continuity.
• Sky-Byte is seen speaking poetry to several other Decepticons, much like his 2001 Robots in Disguise counterpart often did.
• This is the first time Dead End uses his battle mask. The way the battle mask is colored further proves the similarities between his color scheme and that of Revenge of the Fallen Dead End.

Real-world references

• TBA

Trivia

• Astrotrain is seen in his robot mode for the first time, revealing that this incarnation's vehicle mode is to scale with his robot mode, as he towers over even Megatron.
• Clobber's an Autobot now! Let's hope her tenure's longer than Drift's was.
• Optimus and Bumblebee have now taken Cybertronian alternate modes, though they barely show traces of their kibble being altered in robot mode.
• For some reason, when the episode was originally uploaded to YouTube, it was released in 480p and forced into a 4:3 aspect ratio, rather than its original 1080p 16:9 resolution. This was fixed with the 2021 reupload.
• Story editor Randolph Heard stated on his Twitter that the previous episode was meant to act as a half-season finale, with "Enemy Line" and the rest of the season airing after summer's pass.^[1][2] Of course, the entire season ran continuously.

Animation and technical errors

• In the first shot, Clobber's insignia is still the Decepticon one. It doesn't change into the Autobot emblem until we zoom in on her.
• When Shrapnel talks, he is colored like Bombshell rather than his G1 namesake.
• In multiple shots, Skywarp has Nova Storm's color palette/model.

Foreign localization

German

• Title: "Feldlinien"
• Original airdate: January 23, 2021

Portuguese

• Title: "Linhas Inimigas" ("Enemy Lines")
• Original airdate: October 14, 2021
• Notes: The YouTube upload of this episode is titled "Linha Inimiga" ("Enemy Line").

Home video releases

• TBA

References