The Truth Is Out There

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"The Truth Is Out There"
Season	3
No. in season	6
Production company	Hasbro Entertainment Nickelodeon
Airdate	October 25, 2024 (Paramount+) TBA, 2024 (Nickelodeon)
Writer	Ian Busch
Director	Scooter Tidwell
Animation studio	88 Pictures
Watch this episode on Paramount+

Prowl, Thrash, and Robby use their detective skills to find who unleashed the hate plague.

Synopsis

Izzy and Robby play paper football. Izzy asks about how the Autobots are doing following their recent experience with Hate Plague and comes out triumphant from the paper football game, but their subsequent almost-kiss is interrupted by Twitch who's fetching Robby for an Autobot meeting. Izzy is understanding and kisses Robby on the cheek as she leaves, leading to the emotional leakage to reach the rest of the Maltos currently on the road to Autobot base.

Optimus Prime believes the Hate Plague was inflicted on them intentionally by parties unknown. Thrash bugs Robby for details about his kiss from Izzy, disrupting the meeting for a few moments as Robby has to assert Izzy isn't his girlfriend. Nightshade has determined that Terrans and humans aren't affected by the plague, but can be carriers, so Prowl has launched an investigation into how and when Bumblebee was first infected and enlists Thrash as a deputy. The first thing Bumblebee recalls is having a fight with Megatron, which took place in the base's parking area. Though suspicion falls on Megatron for a moment, leading to tension between him and Prowl, he points out that Bumblebee was the one who angrily started that fight and so was clearly already infected.

The team takes to the streets of Witwicky, which Bumblebee recalls driving along. He recognizes a small green car with tinted windows as one that followed him and knocked him off the road. It speeds off as the team gives chase but they eventually corner it and out steps Jon Schloder. He explains that he'd spilled his coffee, leading to the erratic driving. Regarding the previous day's incident, he says that he spotted Bumblebee driving poorly and perpetrating acts of road rage, but lost track of the Autobot. They head to the previous place Bumblebee had been: the Malto farm. Jawbreaker immediately claims he must be to blame as he's always ruining everything. Alex shows his collection of Autobot memorabilia to Prowl, and provides the information that Bumblebee was already acting uncharacteristically angry when he was there.

They head to the barn where Thrash comes up with a number of unlikely suspects before pointing the finger at Jawbreaker for breaking his bowling ball. Refocusing the investigation on the Hate Plague, Robby recalls having an arm wrestling match with Bee, during which Bee seemed to be fine, and Izzy dropping off one of his baseball caps. When Prowl touches said baseball cap, he's suddenly stricken with Hate Plague. He advances on Bee, forcing Thrash and Robby to keep him busy so Bumblebee can go for help, which swiftly shows up in the form of Nightshade and their Smart Trainer 5009, outfitted to provide an on-the-spot cure for the Hate Plague, and Prowl is soon back to normal. Nightshade's able to analyze the virus on the hat and calibrate the Smart Trainer to track down the source of the infection.

The Smart Trainer leads the team though the countryside to a pod within which a Quintesson is making a report to the Quintesson Judge. They quickly corner the Quintesson, only for it to scan a nearby raccoon and shape shift into a perfect copy. Robby's able to catch the raccoon, but it again shapeshifts into a bird and flies off, albeit not without taking a shot to the wing from Prowl. They give chase, tracking it to a Witwicky street full of pedestrians. The team fans out, and Thrash again encounters Schloder who points him in the direction of a kerfuffle between a woman and a bird. Thrash is heading to investigate when he spots a second Schloder and realizes he's been talking to the disguised Quintesson. The chase leads them to the school where they find Izzy walking up the steps. When Prowl points out Izzy could be the shapeshifter, Robby quizzes her with questions only Izzy would know, and determines she's definitely the real Izzy... but then Prowl spots she's also bleeding green goo. Robby is devastated at the revelation that Izzy has been a Quintesson all along. They attempt to corner the Quintesson, who shapeshifts into Prowl and flies off until Robby and Thrash bring it down into the school's football field. The Quintesson next shapeshifts into Jawbreaker and manages to overcome Thrash and Prowl, but after turning back into Izzy, its attempts to persuade Robby to let it go end up with Prowl trapping it in a force field. Now captive, the Quintesson spills that the only thing of interest are Robby and Mo's cyber-sleeves as they're a gift from Quintus Prime and rightfully belong to the Quintessons.

Later, Robby again confronts "Izzy" at the Autobot base, and she announces it's only the beginning.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I feel like I'm floating on a cloud of birthday balloons that have been blown up by puppies."

—Jawbreaker

"Terran Thrash, due to your dogged pursuit of the kissing facts, I'd like you on my team."

—Prowl

"The game's afoot. So many suspects. Cosmos? A carnival ride turned supervillain from one too many gums on the floor? Fluffy Ears? In cahoots with Energon Bear, possibly? Then we come back to JB. Lovable, clumsy JB, who is clearly the guilty party that broke my bowling ball!"

—Thrash is way too into being a detective.

"I can't believe you think Izzy is a suspect, Prowl."
"I appreciate your loyalty, but romantic entanglements have hobbled many a soldier. Ask Optimus."

—Robby and Prowl

Notes

Continuity notes

• We finally get elaboration on Schloder's whereabouts since the end of season 1. Previously his only appearance post season 1 was in "The Butterfly Effect" during which he was part of the fair and had no lines, though he evidently retained some authority as he was able to arrest Fairmaestro. During this episode, he notes that he's on leave from his "North Pole outpost" which suggests he runs the secret G.H.O.S.T. outpost that the kids visited in "Fire and Ice". As G.H.O.S.T. and its systems were previously shown to be being shut down, as per such episodes as "Control Alt Delete", it's unclear at this point who he's working for.
• Schloder mentioning him wanting to start a family of his own hits different when one remembers his sister was Karen Croft.

Transformers references

• This episode reveals the Hate Plague is spread by spores like its G1 counterpart. Another key difference is that some beings are naturally immune.
• Bumblebee tells Megatron to "eat beryllium baloney", a term in use since the G1 cartoon.
• Alex’s action figure collection includes a G1-looking Bee, a G1 Blaster, a Hotrod, a green and red Seaspray, and a Doubledealer. He also name drops Scavenger. 

Real-world references

• The episode's title "The Truth Is Out There" is a reference to X-Files's iconic tagline.

Errors

Trivia

• Thrash's personality in this episode feels much more in line with his earlier season 1 characterization rather than his current season 2 characterization.