Mystery of the Ancient Ruins
From Transformers Wiki
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 Where's a can of bug repellent when you need one? | ||||||
| "Mystery of the Ancient Ruins" (Kodai Iseki no Nazo) | ||||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Ashi Productions, JCF | |||||
| Airdate | 6 May 1998 | |||||
| Writer | Junki Takegami | |||||
| Director | Hideki Takayama | |||||
| Animation studio | Echo, Sei Young, Shanghai Hongqiao | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
Lio Convoy and Apache's friendship comes to the fore when their investigation of an enigmatic temple brings them into conflict with its surprising occupant.
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Synopsis
Within Gaia's moon, Artemis has one of her characteristic freak-outs as she and Moon observe increased Angolmois Energy activity down on the planet. After getting clobbering by Artemis's mallet, Moon spots that the Maximals are on the move.
Down on the planet, the Maximals have headed out from their base in small ships to investigate a particularly strong energy signal that has been detected in the south. The signal is soon traced to an ominous ruin, sculpted like a monstrous face, in the heart of a jungle, but when a Maximal scout robot is sent in to explore, it is only briefly able to pick up the trace of Angolmois Energy before it is suddenly knocked offline. The Maximals catch a glimpse of the scythe-like blade that destroys the robot a second before its transmission ends, and Lio Convoy immediately prepares to investigate first-hand. The other Maximals argue about who should be allowed to accompany him, so Apache has them draw straws for the honor. Apache himself wins the draw, but after he and Lio Convoy leave, Tasmania Kid realizes that Apache cheated. Lio Convoy, on the other hand, saw through the deception right away, and soon calls Apache on it, leading the deputy commander to explain that he has vowed to protect Lio Convoy ever since the commander saved him during a training exercise in their early days at the Maximal military.
Meanwhile, at the Predacon base, Megastorm regards the inactive form of Galvatron, entombed in a shell of hardened lava and suspended like a wall-hanging in front of him. Just as he starts bemoaning the fact that Starscream saved his brother from his molten fate, Starscream himself appears on Megastorm's viewscreen, reporting that he and BB have spotted Lio Convoy and Apache in the jungle. Megastorm orders their deaths, and at Starscream's instruction, BB begins carpet-bombing the jungle. Lio Convoy and Apache flee from the blasts, but Apache stumbles and injures himself. Without hesitation, Lio Convoy grabs him and carries him to the relative safety of the ruins, but BB pursues and opens fire, blasting them through the nostril of the massive, sculpted face.
Deep within the ruins, in a chamber lit only by a small fire, something is stirred by the explosions outside. Enraged that the peace it has so long sought is being disturbed, the creature vows that the interlopers will meet their ends.
Back on the Maximal ship, Tasmania Kid grumbles about Apache "sucking up" to Lio Convoy, only for Scuba to tell them the tale of how Lio Convoy saved Apache's life. Suddenly, they are alerted to the explosions at the ruin by NAVI, and they immediately head out to their allies' aid.
At the ruins, Starscream realizes that BB's attack on the face of the ruins is doing no good and calls him off. With the bombardment over, Apache apologizes to Lio Convoy for being a hindrance, but Lio Convoy points to a stairwell in the back of the cave, saying that they would never have found it if not for Apache. The pair head into the depths of the temple, searching for the energy source, but soon, Apache accidentally triggers a trapdoor and disappears into darkness. As he gathers his wits, Apache is suddenly set upon by a gigantic, monstrous mantis, and Lio Convoy hears his screams as the beast fells him and drags him even deeper into the pyramid's depths.
Following scents and traces of oil and hair, Lio Convoy tracks his friend's trail to a dead end, but is not deterred, battering down the wall that bars his way with sheer force. He crashes through in a huge amphitheatre and finds Apache bound to the roof, but before he can free his teammate, razor-edged discs come spinning out of the darkness and send him sprawling. An enormous mantis emerges from the shadows and stuns Lio Convoy when it transforms into a robot mode and continues to attack, slicing open the Maximal commander's armor and knocking him to the ground. The horrified Apache watches, furious at his own inability to act, until finally, he is overwhelmed by his own emotions and shatters his bonds. As he hits the ground, he undergoes a shocking new transformation, sprouting an arsenal of fearsome weapons as he shifts into a new artillery emplacement mode.
In the jungles outside the temple, the other Maximals arrive in time to see the temple collapse in on itself, and Tasmania Kid bursts into tears at the loss of Apache. When Scuba points at the clearing at the temple's base, where Lio Convoy and Apache emerge through the trees, Kid cries even harder, having hoped for a bit of peace and quiet without Apache, but glad to see him nonetheless. When Lio Convoy notes that the Angolmois Energy signal vanished with the collapse of the pyramid, Apache apologizes, blaming himself for their failure to discover its secret. As Lio Convoy points out, though, they discovered a secret about Apache himself, which is much better. Apache still has no idea what he's talking about, and when he asks, Lio Convoy just chuckles and tells him...it's a secret!
Artemis & Moon II Report
After a token reference to recent events (explaining the nature of the signal involved in the episode by noting that the temple was built on a source of Angolmois Energy), Artemis comments with surprise on how much Moon knows, prompting the bunny-bot to inquire if she even knows what their job actually is. Moon explains that they have been assigned to watch over Gaia to ensure that the Angolmois Energy is not used in evil ways, and reveals that the ancient civilization that once existed on Gaia built the dome within the moon which they inhabit. Artemis is amazed by how much she has learned, and promises to ask Moon more next time.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Insectrons | Others |
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Notes
Continuity notes
- Starscream secretly observed Galvatron's tumble into the magma in the previous episode.
- There doesn't seem to be a particularly good reason why only one of the team should accompany Lio Convoy on his mission. Why bring all the others along at all, and why leave them doing basically nothing for the duration?
Transformers references
- During Apache's flashback, Lio Convoy is seen transferring energy to him via a cable that connects their midriffs—distinctly similar to Optimus Prime and Elita One's energy-transference in "The Search for Alpha Trion".
- This episode debuts Apache's third mode, also known as his "Angry Combat Mode." This mode acts as an artillery emplacement. The existence of this mode was previously hinted at in the closing featurette attached to "Bighorn's Rage".
Animation and technical errors
- After Lio Convoy is knocked down by Mantis, his eyes are colored red.
Trivia
- The show finally gets around to explaining just what the deal is with Artemis and Moon! And does so by having Artemis straight up ask Moon because she doesn't know herself. Yeesh.
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars II: Super Lifeform Transformers — ACT. 2 (Pioneer LDC)
