More than Meets the Eye, Part 3

« The Transformers ep 3 » « Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers ep 3 » « Transformers: Generation 2 ep 3 »
NOW ENTERING AREA 51 - ACCESS RESTRICTED! NO TRESPASSING, NO PHOTOGRAPHY PERMITTED
"More than Meets the Eye, Part 3"
Production code	4025
Season	1
No. in season	3
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Airdate	September 19, 1984
Written by	George Arthur Bloom
Animation studio	Toei, Ashi Productions, Nakamura Production
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Packaged with	Optimus Prime
Watch this episode on YouTube

When an Autobot attempt to lure the Decepticons into a holographic trap fails, the villains succeed in gathering the energy they need, leaving the Autobots with only one chance to stop them returning to Cybertron.

Synopsis

After a bad fall, it's important that you move every part of the victim. Forcibly if needed.

Caught in the blast of Wheeljack's explosive, Optimus Prime tumbles down the mountainside. Shaken but not defeated, he musters the energy to transform into robot mode. The Autobots begin digging through the rubble and Jazz finds Bumblebee and Sparkplug alive and unharmed. Before the Autobots can begin celebrating what they presume to be the end of their enemies, there's a blast from the rubble. The Decepticons have survived their burial and have blasted their way out. With their energon haul unscathed, the Decepticons take to the air.

Ironhide is tired of this string of defeats, and he soon takes to the air to follow. Bluestreak takes off to try to rein him in. Ironhide takes a few pot-shots at the fleeing Decepticons, and Skywarp breaks formation to teleport behind their pursuers. He lands a rocket square in Ironhide's back, knocking the old Autobot out of the chase. Ironhide crashes into a lake, and the Autobots catch up with him to pull him out of the water and into Ratchet's waiting repair bay. The Autobots return to base.

Back at the Autobot base, Hound taunts the captive Ravage and discusses the Decepticon spy's apparent abandonment by his comrades. In using a hologram of Megatron to goad Ravage, Hound and Mirage brainstorm an idea: to use an enormous hologram to trick the Decepticons into a trap. He pitches the idea to Optimus Prime, and the Autobot leader agrees.

Soon after, Hound talks to Mirage about a report from Teletraan I of a secret supply of rocket fuel. He says all this quite within earshot of Ravage, explaining how there's enough fuel there to make "four trips back to Cybertron." As Mirage and Hound walk away, Hound "accidentally" drops the key to Ravage's cage. The Decepticon retrieves it and escapes captivity.

The genesis of a whole lot of slashfic.

Back at the Decepticon camp, Ravage reports in to Megatron about the rocket base. Megatron is delighted; it's the last energy source they'll need before they can return to Cybertron. As Megatron gloats, Starscream grouses about the need for a change in leadership. In a foolish move, Starscream tries to blast Megatron in the back. Soundwave warns his leader, who deflects the blast with a built-in energy shield. Starscream has spent all his ammunition in this single shot, and he is left defenseless. Megatron returns the sentiment by blasting Starscream in the arm, knocking his disloyal lieutenant to the ground. Groveling, Starscream huddles to Megatron's feet, who answers his pleas only by issuing the command: "We attack the rocket base at sunrise!"

In a flat stretch of desert, Hound creates the rocket base hologram. The Decepticons move into position, and Megatron orders them to attack.

Jazz soon regrets buying from eBay.

The Autobots spring their trap, running out from hiding to ambush the attacking Decepticons. However, when they engage in hand-to-hand combat, the Decepticons break apart like poorly made machines. Optimus Prime realizes they've been had. These aren't the Decepticons, but are instead decoys. Megatron, the only real Decepticon present, laughs at Prime's misstep. He saw through the phony release of Ravage. Megatron reveals to his defeated enemy that the real Decepticon army has been attacking the real rocket base.

Cut to Cape Carlson, the real rocket base, where the Decepticon jets arrive. They transform and neutralize the human army's attempt to stop them. In short time, Megatron rejoins them, and they soon return to their launch base with all the fuel they need. Soundwave reports the space cruiser's readiness, and Megatron orders the Decepticons to prepare to blast off.

KHAAAAAAAAAN!

Back at the Autobot ship, Optimus Prime briefs his soldiers on the grim situation. He tells them that Megatron is on the verge of returning to Cybertron, where he could become unstoppable with the energon he has tapped from Earth. The Autobots have no choice but to directly attack the Decepticons. Prime asks for volunteers, and all the Autobots—and their human allies Spike and Sparkplug—step forward. The Autobots transform into vehicle mode and roll out.

As the Decepticons begin to board the cruiser, the Autobots encircle the base. Prime's forces transform into robot form and begin the attack. The Autobots grapple with the Decepticons, but the battle is brief. Megatron and his forces get aboard their ship and blast off into the sky.

Naturally, Megatron is a firm advocate of the Second Amendment.

Optimus Prime refuses to concede defeat. He orders Sideswipe to hand over his rocket pack. Donning the pack, Prime takes off to personally pursue the Decepticon cruiser. Starscream spots Prime in pursuit. The cruiser opens fire, blasting Prime who falls out of the sky and hits the ground hard.

The Autobots gather to see if Prime is okay, and the tough Autobot shrugs off their help. It's then that he notices that Mirage is missing from their ranks.

Aboard the cruiser, Starscream makes his move to usurp Megatron. Waiting for the Decepticon leader to lower his guard and remove his arm-cannon, Starscream raises his weapon to Megatron. Just then, Mirage drops his invisibility power to fire a few shots in the cruiser's controls. Starscream turns to blast Mirage, and Megatron takes advantage of the distraction to retrieve his cannon and fire on Starscream. Chaos erupts aboard the cruiser as Mirage's sabotage begins spreading and Soundwave loses control of the ship.

WHEEEEEE!

Mirage scrambles to his feet and jumps from the doomed ship as it crashes into the ocean. The Autobots on the ground stare incredulously as the Decepticons are suddenly and mysteriously defeated. They then spot Mirage, the unlikely hero, floating to the ground in a parachute rig. The Autobots celebrate their victory.

Spike writes in his journal that because the Autobots stopped the Decepticons from stealing Earth's resources, the governments of the world have decided to give Optimus Prime the energy he needs to revitalize Cybertron. The Autobot ship is being refurbished, and Spike and Sparkplug eagerly await their trip to the Transformers' home world.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the ocean, the Decepticon space cruiser rests. Bubbles emerge from a hatch that is pulled free from the inside by massive metal hands. Megatron still functions.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"You gave us all a pretty good scare."
"It's been worse. I remember the time on Cybertron—"
"Save the war stories, hot shot. Just remember, there's a thin line between being a hero, and being a memory."

—Optimus Prime and Ironhide

"The rocket base is one hundred and forty kilometers due west of the Autobot camp."

—Ravage's sole line of dialog in the entire series.

"I am the leader of the future!"
"You couldn't lead ant-droids to a picnic. How can you pretend to lead the Decepticons?"

—Starscream and Megatron arguing over Starscream's competence... again.

"Beware, Starscream... if you dispose of me, there will always be someone waiting to dispose of you"
"Let them try! I've waited for this moment a long time, Megatron... and my time is now!

—Megatron channeling his inner Nostradamus to Starscream

"We knew you were anxious to get back to Cybertron, but at least you could have waited for us."
"Sorry, Prime. The ship was... full."

—Optimus Prime and Mirage uttering a classic line.

Season 5

"That's... That's just wonderful, Tommy. I'm so... proud of you. It's going right on the fridge! Yep! The fridge."

Tommy Kennedy and Powermaster Optimus Prime convene in the barren wasteland. Tommy has something hidden under a tarp and says it's a sneak preview of the "special project" he's been working on for school. Optimus sighs, "Finally!" but Tommy once again denies him, saying that Prime must first finish the story about how the Autobots first came to Earth. Prime whines that he's already told him the whole story, but Tommy reminds him that he never got past the explosion at the ruby crystal mine. Prime says he'll finish the story, but only on the condition that Tommy finally shows him the "special project". Tommy crosses his heart and so Prime continues...

With the story finished, Prime demands to see what's under Tommy's wonderful tarp of mystery. Tommy pulls aside the cloth and reveals a masterfully crafted bust of Prime's head. Prime is floored, saying that his own programmer couldn't tell the difference. Tommy says that the "special project" was a celebration of the anniversary for when the Autobots came to Earth. The statue will be presented to all the Autobots to commemorate "The greatest Autobot of all: Powermaster Optimus Prime!"

Notes

Continuity notes

Ironhide and Bluestreak cannot fly. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?

• Gadgets and powers:
  • Ironhide, perhaps the most gadget-laden of all Autobots, brings out a forearm-mounted drill from inside his wrist.
  • Later, he deploys a missile launcher out of his back. Like the van mode gun he had last episode, this one appears based on the launcher on his toy's combat platform.
  • Jazz's ubiquitous grappling line makes its third appearance.
  • Ravage deploys a little grappler waldo from his forepaw.
  • Megatron generates a little deflector shield out of his fusion cannon.
  • Hound can make a seriously HUGE hologram.
  • Megatron can rotate his gun barrel around to his waist to fire it, which coincidentally resembles the original Megatron toy's barrel placement a fair bit.
  • We get our first and last look at Sideswipe's rocket pack.
  • Skywarp can shoot a white fire-extinguishing substance from a wrist nozzle.
• This is the only time in the original series that Ravage speaks, relaying the information on the rocket base with his own voice instead of merely replaying Hound and Mirage's conversation about it. When he reappeared in Beast Wars, he was similarly growly, but he had gained an Eastern European accent.
• In a continuing trend during the Generation 1 cartoon, Prime's Combat Deck looks nothing like its toy counterpart or like it will appear in any future episodes. Not really an error since it's blown up here and could've been rebuilt differently.

Real-world references

• Star Wars sound effects:
  • Death Star superlaser as Skywarp rematerializes behind Ironhide.
  • TIE Fighter engine roar as Skywarp pursues Ironhide and Bluestreak.
  • Lightsaber-slicing-equipment sound as Skywarp blasts Ironhide.
  • Lightsaber-slicing-equipment as Megatron deflects Starscream's blast.
  • Roller's sounds are all taken directly from R2-D2. Then again, the Transformers really ARE from long ago, in a galaxy far away...
• Rocket base Cape Carlson may be a reference to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Non-final premises

• As with the two preceding episodes, the Autobots can all fly in robot mode.

Animation and technical errors

Autobots superior, Decepticons inferior.

Okay, you can't really see it here. But a second later, Cliffy leans back, and boom, no insignia.

• Coloring errors:
  • As the Autobots gather around Optimus Prime's fallen form and Mirage and Cliffjumper fly in, Cliffjumper is colored yellow like Bumblebee, who is currently buried under tons of rubble. He's also missing his horns.
  • As the Autobots gather around the rescued Bumblebee and Sparkplug, Wheeljack's launcher is tan instead of light gray.
  • Bluestreak has Prowl's color scheme as Ironhide protests letting the Decepticons escape.
  • "I've made my contribution!" The center of Starscream's chest is red instead of gray during his line.
  • "It's empty!" Starscream's nose is the dark gray of his helmet instead of medium gray.
  • "You failed to dispose of me..." The red parts of Megatron's waist are gray.
  • Megatron's fusion cannon is light gray as Starscream grovels.
  • Starscream's nosecone and the center of his chest are once again red instead of gray as he lands at the rocket base.
  • Prowl's chest-sides and neck are black instead of white as Prime does his William Shatner imitation.
  • Ratchet's lightbars are white as he drives toward Prime's crash site. All three Autobots in the shot kind of slide sideways instead of driving forward.
• As he wonders about Roller, Prime is shown with round headlights instead of square.
• Cliffjumper is missing his insignia as he encourages Prime.
• Inside the mines, Soundwave is shown with a purple Autobot insignia.
• Generic Decepticons:
  • Two Skywarps as the Decepticons prepare to fly out of the mine.
  • Two generic light purple jets as the Decepticons fly off.
  • Two (fake) Starscreams as the "Decepticons" prepare to attack the "rocket base" (with their "lasers".)
  • Eight jets fly toward the rocket base: the core three, 2 lavenders, 3 dark blues.
  • 15 Decepticons are visible from the Cape Carleson control tower.
  • 5 jets are seen landing at the base.
  • A wingless lavender jet and the legs/feet of four other generics as the Decepticons cheer.
  • A purple and two lavenders (one of whom changes to dark blue mid-shot) head toward the cruiser.
  • An all-lavender jet leaps off the platform (infamously dubbed the Lady In Purple by a few fans), following Thundercracker and Skywarp, already shown to be on the ground.
  • One lavender jet retreats from the final battle.
  • One lavender jet backs away from Megatron as Starscream challenges him.
• After the Decepticons fly out of the mines, Skywarp and two generic purple Decepticon jets are drawn with the silhouettes of pilots sitting inside their cockpits.
• As Bluestreak catches up to Ironhide, Ironhide's back-mounted rocket launcher is shown in firing position (and Ironhide's shoulders are red instead of gray.) In the next shot, the launcher is missing, then is shown emerging from Ironhide's back.
• The energon cubes that Megatron holds when giving Skywarp permission to teleport are uncolored. To answer Skywarp's request, Megatron turns away from him.
• Skywarp's destroyed tailfin is back to normal after he teleports.
• Bluestreak and Ironhide continue to stare at each other for a very long time after Bluestreak says his line.
• Ironhide says he can't move... then immediately raises his arm.
• As Bluestreak carries Ironhide into Ratchet, he has one of Prowl's Highway Patrol symbols on his door.
• In the cavalcade of Autobots heading home, Jazz's blue stripes are colored red, and Wheeljack is missing his orange and green roof colors.
• A mislayering of animation cells when Hound creates a hologram of Megatron to taunt Ravage causes it to appear as if Hound is standing in the prison cage with Ravage.
• Jazz's visor is massively oversized during his "It might just work" line, and is missing its center crease line.
• After Ravage escapes, Hound is shown lip-flapping during Mirage's line.
• In the reaction shot of the Autobots when Optimus Prime is pleased at Ravage's escape, the tips of Prowl's doors are colored as parts of Jazz and Mirage's heads, and Mirage's shoulders are red.
• "You're in the driver's seat" - Prime only has 4 of his running light housings. Two of them extend all the way to his back.
• The flight controller's line, "There's nothing we can - ", is cut off for no apparent reason. In the original script, he and the other occupants of the control tower are frozen by Starscream's null-ray at this point, but this incident didn't make it to animation.
• In the pan across the Autobots (during which the Autobots have conveniently divided themselves by toy size):
  • The Autobots have completely changed positions from where they were in the previous shot. Most obviously, Bumblebee was between Bluestreak and Hound; but now he's with the other mini-bots. To make it worse, the scene recycles the two shots several times in succession.
  • Ratchet's hands are white.
  • Jazz's waist is colored windshield blue.
  • Prowl is missing his insignia.
  • Jazz is shown in the line-up, while at the same time he's standing next to Prime, giving instructions.
• As Jazz says "Autobots, transform", Optimus Prime is shown saying it.
• Ironhide and Hound have strange black dots on them as they step forward. These were presumably supposed to be "battle scars", as the script for the episode suggests that these two could show signs of damage, but the effect is not well-accomplished.
• All the transforming Autobots get the wrong transformation sound (ascending pitch instead of descending pitch) as they change to vehicle mode.
• As the Autobots approach the Decepticon base, they're shown driving at a snail's pace.
• Soundwave is missing his insignia as the Decepticons cheer.
• Soundwave's eject button lights up each time he hits it. While cool (and intentional), it's a conceit not used in any future episode.
• Laserbeak is huge as Skywarp and Thundercracker fall into formation with him. The animation of the trio turning to dive is remarkably clunky.

"Look away from the animation errors!"

• Prime orders Combat Deck to fire during a series of identically framed shots. The first shot shows buttes in the background behind him. The second shot shows a solid mountainside. The third shot shows clear sky.
• Megatron's gun barrel is missing as he prepares to face Prime. So is his insignia.
• How long's it take for the animators to forget that Megatron lost his cannon? About 1 scene. It's back in place as Prime judo-throws him, then gone again as he regains his feet a shot or two later.
• How long's it take for the animators to forget that Starscream lost an arm-cannon? No time at all. It's back in place as the Decepticons retreat, despite being smushed by Prowl.
• Mirage is clearly visible (prominent, in fact) during the Autobots' final, desperate assault on the space cruiser, despite later being shown to have snuck aboard it. This is either a major continuity error or the one time that Mirage's electro-disruptor works in the cartoon in the way his bio says it does.
• The establishing shot at the start of the third act uses a flubbed take: A major piece of artwork—the Decepticon starship blasting off into the sky—is missing, meaning the Autobots on the ground are reacting to nothing. (The completed shot does appear in the teaser for the episode at the end of Part 2, however.)

"Sideswipe, give me your plot device!"

• Sideswipe's rocket pack seriously just appears out of nowhere when it's called for by the plot. It's not part of his animation model and is never seen before or after, even when Sideswipe needs to fly.
• "You got him!" Starscream is missing his wing insignia.
• As the Autobots help their battered leader to his feet, the animation is really wobbly; Prime's head grows bigger, the detail patterns on his legs change completely, and the line-art is just very crude and "shakes" a lot in general.
• Similar to the scene of the Autobots attempting to capture Ravage in the previous episode, the various congratulations given to Mirage after he brings down the Decepticon ship were not attributed to individual characters in the script, and were simply listed as being delivered by the Autobots as a group. As such, they are delivered by random actors who are not using any of their normal Transformers character voices. We hear "Mirage!" from Frank Welker, "You did it!" from Ken Sansom, and "You stopped the Decepticons!" from Welker again, his delivery on that last one making it sound an awful lot like Mirage is congratulating himself.
• As with the previous two parts, Norm McCabe's name is listed as Nor M McCabe in the credits.
• Frank Welker's name was mistakenly left out of this episode's voice credits, as they were in the previous two parts.

Continuity errors

DULL SURPRISE!

• Mirage, Hound, Jazz and Prowl all react with shock at Optimus's statement that Ravage's escape was a good thing. Yet they were all in on the plan to let Ravage get away to tell the Decepticons about the secret hologram rocket base that is most certainly not a trap. Did they just forget?
• For that matter, how did Megatron figure out the Autobot trick? Ravage reports the same rocket base location that he heard from Hound. Was Hound dumb enough to accidentally blurt the real rocket base location in front of Ravage? Or did Megatron somehow figure out the ruse after Ravage made his report? Why would he do that? When we last see him, he's all excited to attack the same rocket base that Ravage just told him about. Or maybe he just has absolutely zero faith in Ravage's ability to escape on his own, and put two and two together.
• What is the point of rigging up the dummy Decepticons? Did Megatron go through all that trouble just to rub Prime's nose in it? Wouldn't it be smarter to leave the Autobots waiting and wondering?

• The Mini Vehicle Autobots are shown disguised as lab-coat-wearing scientists to complete the holographic illusion of a rocket base, though it's a pretty poor disguise when you realize these scientists are big enough to turn into trucks and cars. Also, where'd they get the lab coats? (For that matter, why not just make holographic scientists?)
• Superhuman Spike:
  • Spike can throw a rock with enough force to knock Starscream's Null Ray off his arm.
• Prime is nearly knocked out of commission by the explosion that collapses a Burmese ruby mine, yet he simply seems to shrug off the effects of getting hit by a cruiser cannon and falling to Earth from the very edge of the atmosphere.
• Mirage only shoots the ship's control panel. How does this set the entire ship on fire?
• Despite the heights the space cruiser certainly reached before the sabotage, Mirage parachutes down to exactly the spot where the Autobots were assembled.
• The space cruiser is shown crashing into the ocean near the coast. However, later episodes show the cruiser is well far away from any coast line.
• Spike's narration is a bit confused; the Autobots didn't stop the Decepticons from stealing Earth's energy. They just up and left on their own!
• In the biggest continuity goof of the entire series, the next episode will completely ignore the premise of the Autobots preparing to return to Cybertron, which is the entire point of this episode's closing scenes. In fairness, they did think the Decepticons were destroyed, and maybe they were forced to abandon the plan to return to Cybertron when they realized that wasn't the case, but still.

Home release changes/errors

• All three parts of "More Than Meets the Eye" were spliced together into a single continuous episode for the More than Meets the Eye 25th Anniversary Special Edition disc, included as a pack-in with Universe 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime toy. During Part 3, the sound effects for the Cybernet Space Cube, added for the Generation 2 broadcast of the episode, can be heard over the scene transitions, despite the original broadcast version of the visuals being used; the result is a lot of strange mechanical noises being inserted with no clear on-screen source.

Trivia

Apparently Pat Lee had this as a poster in his office.

• There is a nice touch by the animators during the scene where the Autobots assist Optimus Prime after he rolls down the hill at the start of this episode. After Mirage, Prowl and Ratchet have pushed Optimus Prime's truck mode upright, he bounces as his suspension compensates for the weight of the truck landing on its wheels.
• After Ironhide assures that he'll be right back in action, Optimus Prime is depicted with rather exaggerated 'puffy' proportions for a brief sequence before he transforms into vehicle mode, which is similarly exaggerated with large wheels in comparison to the rest of the truck, followed by an exaggerated Ratchet in vehicle mode. Part of this animation is later reused near the end of the episode after the Decepticon space cruiser crashes, with the rest of the Autobots having similar proportions in both robot and vehicle mode. Masami Ōbari is credited as the animator for Prime's "transformation sequence", and this bizarrely proportioned Prime certainly fits with Ōbari's design aesthetic. Numerous other shots in the episode, including Megatron during Starscream's coup at the episode's end, and the Autobots when encouraging Optimus when he struggles to transform after surviving the mine explosion also take heavy cues from Ōbari's style.
• During the showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, an animation oddity results in what a few fans have taken as evidence of an obscure, little-used ability of Optimus: the Finger of Doom! Optimus deploys Combat Deck to shoot Megatron's cannon off of his arm. Simultaneously, Megatron fires his arm cannon and destroys Combat Deck. However, during the shot of Combat Deck exploding, the animation of Prime pointing at Megatron is re-used. The next shot is Megatron being disarmed by an energy blast, which would seem to have come not from Combat Deck, whose blast should have already arrived, but from Prime's immediately prior pointing finger... his Finger of Doom!

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Plein la vue - Partie 3" ("Show off - Part 3")
• Original airdate: ?

• Concerning the European French dub:

• Megatron claims that the Decepticon decoys are "robots taken from museums". The super-realistic statue designers were quick!
• Soundwave still does not want to pronounce Laserbeak's name. When ejecting the cassettes, he says "Rumble! Ravage! Warning! Ready for combat!"
• The most hilarious case of name-dodging happens in this episode, when Optimus Prime asks Sideswipe for his jetpack by saying "YOU! Give me a jetpack!".

German

• Title: "Die letzte Schlacht" (Generation 2, "The Last Battle")
• Original airdate: May 14, 1994

Italian

• Title (dub 1): "Megatron"
• Original airdate: ?

• The fake supply of rocket fuel is called a "supply of combustible rocks".

• Title (dub 2): "Molto più di quel che appare - Terza parte" ("Much More than What Appears - Third Part")
• Original airdate: ?

Japanese

• Title: "Chikyū Dasshutsu!" (地球脱出!, "Escape from Earth!")
• Original airdate: July 20, 1985

• In the scene where Ironhide chases after Megatron and Skywarp, it is Thundercracker who is heard requesting permission to teleport.
• Cut: When Ironhide is loaded into the back of Ratchet, after he says, "No way", his lines about being back in action, Prime's "Let's get out of here!" (with the aforementioned "puffy proportions" shot) and the footage of all the Autobots transforming and rolling out have been cut. The following scene of Spike sitting by the Ark, writing that Prime would make a neat President, has been cut entirely.
• Cut: After Ravage escapes and jumps off the cliffside, a few seconds of the Autobots gathered there reacting have been shaved off. The fade-in to the next scene and Prime and Gears standing together have also been cut. The sequence resumes at the shot of Hound, Mirage and the others walking together.

Mandarin

• Title: "Dìsān Tiān" (第三天, "The Third Day")
• Original airdate: ?

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Mais do Que Os Olhos Veem, Parte 3" ("More than Meets the Eye, Part 3")
• Original airdate: ?

• This episode did not air in the 1980s and was first released on DVD with a different dub from the rest of the show.

Serbian

• Title: "Više nego što se vidi treći deo" (Generation 2, Више него што се види трећи део, "More than Meets the Eye Part 3"), "Sile zla treći deo" (Generation 2, Силе зла трећи део, "Forces of Evil Part 3")
• Original airdate: ?

Toys inspired by this episode

• Masterpiece MP-27 Ironhide (TakaraTomy, 2016)

This Masterpiece figure includes a pair of accessories seen in this episode: The back-mounted missile launcher is included by default with it, while the drill hand was a preorder bonus for the figure's second release in Asian territories other than Japan.

• Masterpiece MP-44 Convoy (TakaraTomy, 2019)

One of the accessories included with the third iteration of Optimus Prime in the line is the rocket pack he borrows from Sideswipe in this episode. As a further note, the pack is molded so that it can be used by the Masterpiece Sideswipe mold too.

• Masterpiece MP-47 Hound (TakaraTomy, 2019)

One of the accessories included with this figure is the key he used to close Ravage in the cage.

• LEGO 10302 Optimus Prime (LEGO, 2022)

One of the accessories included in this set is a completely brick-built version of Sideswipe's rocket pack, which can be attached to Prime's back in robot mode.

Home video releases

VHS

1985 — The Transformers — Volume 1: "More than Meets the Eye" (Family Home Entertainment)
1985 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers (VAP) — Japanese audio only.
1986 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (A.M.T. Video Gems)
1988 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (V.I.P. Video Gems)
1991 — The Transformers — Arrival from Cybertron (Little Gems Junior Video Club)
1999 — The Transformers: Generation 2 — More than Meets the Eye (Seville Entertainment)
2001 — The Original Transformers — Exclusively from Blockbuster (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1994 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers — Convoy Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — The Transformers — Autobot Edition (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers — DVD Box 1 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2002 — Transformers: Generation 2 (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Original Series: Volume Two (Sony Wonder)
2002 — Transformers — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition (Sony Wonder)
2002 — The Original Transformers — First Season Collector's Edition (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — The Original Transformers — Volume One (Rhino Entertainment)
2003 — Transformers — Collection 1: Series 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 1 (Metrodome)
2004 — Transformers — Volume 1 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — The Best of The Transformers (Madman Entertainment)
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Classic Episodes (Metrodome)
2007 — Classic Transformers — Series One: Part One (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2008 — Transformers — Volume 01: Stagione Uno Parte Prima (Medianetwork Communication) — English and Italian audio.
2009 — Transformers — Season One (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — More than Meets the Eye (Shout! Factory)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2011 — Transformers — L'Attaque des Autobots (UFG Junior) — European French audio only.
2014 — The Transformers — The Complete First Season: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

External links

• Episode Dossier at The Cybertron Chronicle
• Full episode script with revision pages dated 13th March 1984