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And don't forget mycy-gars!
"A Bridge Too Close, Part II"
Season	2
No. in season	13
Production company	Cartoon Network Studios
Airdate	June 28, 2008 (Canada) July 5, 2008 (US)
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Directed by	Irineo Maramba Christopher Berkeley Noboro Huruse
Animation studio	Mook
Continuity	Animated cartoon continuity
Watch this episode on YouTube

The fates of Cybertron and Earth lie in the balance as Optimus Prime and his Autobots battle Megatron and his Decepticons in a fight to the finish for the AllSpark.

Synopsis

"'Ey! I was drinkin' dat!"

Starscream andhis clones swoop into theDecepticons' mine headquarters and concentrate their fire onMegatron. Chaos erupts as theAutobots free themselves and start tackling the clones, andBulkhead andProfessor Sumdac attempt to deactivate thespace bridge. Mixmaster is attacked by theEgomaniac Starscream and binds him in cement, whileBlurrstasis cuffs thecoward. As fast as he is, though, Blurr fails to get out of the way of Thundercracker, who crashes into both him and Skywarp, getting them caught in his cement overcoat and sending them all tumbling into the space bridge. Bulkhead attempts to recall them, but explains that the targeting coordinates of the bridge were never set, meaning that they could have been sent anywhere in the galaxy. Before he can complete his task, he is attacked by thefemale clone, but she overpowers him and hits him with stasis cuffs. Simultaneously, Megatron and Starscream engage in a one-on-one duel, but the balance doesn't last long, as the female andthe Liar approach Megatron from behind.Optimus Prime, of all 'Bots, comes to Megatron's rescue, though the irony is not lost on the two combatants.

Meanwhile, onDinobot Island,Ratchet finishes loading theAllSpark fragments into Teletran-1'sspark chamber.Sari uses theAllSpark Key to jump-start the craft, but still can't fathom why Ratchet is talking to the ship...until the ship talks back! Ratchet explains that the ship used to be a warrior who sacrificed his spark to win the Great War, and whose body has been in a state of modified stasis ever since.

Total ownage, n00b.

Back in the mine, Prime and Megatron continue battling the remaining Starscream clones, but Megatron is not above seizing Prime and using him as a shield. He calls for Mixmaster, currently battlingBumblebee andProwl, to focus his efforts on the "head Starscream," giving Professor Sumdac an idea. Just as the clones overpower Megatron and Starscream prepares to finish him, Sumdac clambers inside theHeadmaster unit and uses it to decapitate Starscream and take over his body. As Sumdac-Starscream lunges for Megatron, however, the Decepticon leader makes it clear that he is not impressed, and he blasts the Headmaster and Sumdac clean off Starscream's body. With Starscream now in two pieces and thoroughly defeated, the clones swear loyalty to Megatron.

Back on Dinobot Island, Ratchet and Sari put the AllSpark Key to work repairing the ship's memory core. The ship comments that it is unable to see, and Ratchet explains that's because it's buried in a cliff and that getting out is priority number one. With another Key boost to help, the ship fires up its engines and manages to tear itself free and take to the air once more.

In the mine, things are looking bad for the Autobots—they've all been stasis-cuffed, Professor Sumdac is a captive again, and Scrapper has foundLugnut andBlitzwing. Prowl tries a mind-over-matter style of humming (which is annoying Bumblebee) to get rid of the Stasis Cuffs. Bulkhead was surprised he could do that. However, he said it was only in theory, as he never actuallycompleted his Cyber-Ninja training. In true supervillain style, Megatron explains to the Autobots that he plans to use the space bridge to lead his Decepticons in an attack on the under-protectedCybertron, where they will take over the entire space bridge network and transport the entire Decepticon army to the planet. Bulkhead notes that the space bridge requires a receiving code to work, which would mean Megatron would have to have someone on Cybertron, but Bumblebee points out that thereis someone:Wasp, the spy he caught atboot camp. Someone is eager to correct Bumblebee, however, as Megatron's true double agent,Shockwave, appears on a monitor and reveals how he, as Longarm Prime, deceived Bumblebee so long ago. With the theatricalities and exposition complete, Megatron prepares to toss Optimus Prime through the space bridge as a test, when suddenly, the base is rocked by heavy fire from outside. Teletran-1 has arrived!

"Stock footage? Bite me."

The fight moves outside as the Starscream clones, Lugnut and Blitzwing all lay siege to the Autobot ship, which is quickly overpowered by the onslaught and begins to fall out of the sky. With another burst of AllSpark Key power to boost its systems, Ratchet has the ship activate its emergency defense system, codename: Omega. As the shocked Decepticons look on, the ship transforms into a colossalrobot mode—the mountainousOmega Supreme!

Slipstream directs the Decepticons to fire on his legs to bring him down, and the move succeeds, but Ratchet links his own systems up to Omega to give him the strength he needs to rise back up and strike back. A hail of lasers and missiles is unleashed upon the villains as Omega strikes, kicks and headbutts them all across the battlefield.

Omega Supreme, no! You're too cool to die so soon!

Down in the mine, as the Constructicons clear rubble away from the space bridge and Megatron prepares to continue his test, Prowl successfully employs aprocessor-over-matter focusing technique to escape his stasis cuffs. Just as Prime is about to disappear through the bridge, Prowl hurls ashuriken that breaks his leader's cuffs, enabling him to fire his grappling line and haul himself to safety. At this point, the space bridge shuts down, and Megatron quickly deduces that the AllSpark fragment powering it is not strong enough. Luckily for him, he has another one—and he promptly grabs Starscream's head and stuffs it in the power core, along with the fragment the head contains. This, however, causes the core to overload and the bridge to malfunction. As it begins to pull in all surrounding material, Shockwave reports that the destination code has been deleted and that the bridge could send them anywhere. Even in defeat, Megatron attempts to take Prime with him, but before he can fire the blast that will rid him of the Autobot leader, Prime manages to slap a pair of stasis cuffs on Megatron, immobilizing him and causing his body to be sucked into the space bridge. Prowl and Prime free Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Sumdac, but the bridge still threatens to consume the entire state until help comes from above in the form of Omega Supreme. Omega blocks the bridge with his massive body and absorbs itstranswarp energies, willing to sacrifice himself once more to save the Autobots. After ejecting Sari and Ratchet from his body, Omega is sucked into the bridge, which collapses in upon itself and vanishes in a dramatic implosion. As Sari and her father are reunited at last, the mine begins to cave in, and the Autobots escape while the Constructicons are buried alive attempting to save their oil.

...There's no way we can make a funny without beingjerks.

Retreating to the edge of a nearby cliff that overlooks the destruction, the Autobots reflect on the fact that Omega is probably still out there, somewhere. As Sumdac expresses relief that the whole ordeal is over, Sari once again tells the Autobots that she knew her father could never have betrayed them to the Decepticons. However, even as she espouses her father's honesty, Sari looks down at a cut on her arm...and beneath her skin, she and all around her are shocked to see the sparking circuitry of robotics. Terrified and confused, Sari clutches her arm and takes a few steps away from her father, who explains that they...need to talk...

Next, onCrossfire...

Somewhere out in the endless void of space, Megatron and the decapitated Starscream float aimlessly in the cosmic night, with nothing to do but snark back and forth at each other.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Thundercracker, the Egomaniac Starscream: Fool! A mere construction-bot is no match formy superior firepower.
Mixmaster: Oh, really. Well, you know where you can stick it?
(Traps the clone with a glob of adhesive goo)
Thundercracker: Impossible! You cannot defeat me! You are not worthy! You are inferior! And your joke stinks!

—Arrogance claims yet anotherStarscream.

Slipstream: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! AIM FOR HIS SPARK CHAMBER!
Starscream:(Mocking her) 'Aim for his spark chamber!' Don't tell me how to slag Megatron! I was slagging Megatron when you were still a dream in my spark!
Slipstream: And look how well that turned out!

—Ah!Screamer andStreamer! Don't they make a lovely couple?

"It's not like you to hide behind an Autobot."
"But it'scompletely like you to hide behind an army of cheapknockoffs."

—Starscream andMegatron always discuss each other's flaws—even in the midst of battle.

Starscream: What are you waiting for? Destroy Megatron! Now!
Slipstream: ...Any leader has to be an improvement over you!
Sunstorm, the Sycophant Starscream: Oh wise and great Megatron, you have truly proven your vast superiority!
Ramjet, the Liar Starscream: I will remain loyal to you forever!
[Kicks Starscream's body and walks over to Megatron]

—Starscream learns that his clones all share the worst aspect of his personality—his treachery.

Prowl:*humming*
Bumblebee: Will you stop that stupid humming!?
Prowl: This "stupid humming" is a focusing technique. A trainedCyber-Ninja can useProcessor-over-matter to remove these cuffs.
Bulkhead: You can really do that?
Prowl: In theory... I never actually completed my Cyber-Ninja training.

—Prowl's skills don't seem like what they're cracked up to be...yet.

Optimus: I still don't see where all this "expertise" came from.
Bulkhead: I had a lot of time to study space bridge schematics back on theenergon farm. I just had a knack for 'em, I guess.
Bumblebee: Oh, well, that's great. So theone thing you're good at is going to hand Cybertron over to the Decepticons.

—Even after being declared a technical genius, Bulkhead still can't catch a break.

Megatron: Decepticons! Prepare for our conquest of Cybertron!
[The Decepticons start cheering wildly.]
Scrapper: What's a Cybertron?
Mixmaster: I have no idea, he lost me at "Your fate is sealed now."

—The Constructicons are in this for the oil, not the conquests.

Ratchet: Careful not to fire on our friends!
Sari Sumdac: And try to get a visual of my dad!
Omega Supreme: Sure... what's a dad?

—Omega Supreme is confused on the concept of organics and their paternal relationships. Bit like us really.

"Sari, we... need to talk."

—Isaac Sumdac's entry in "The Understatement of the Year" competition.

Megatron: Stopstaring at me.
Starscream: No.You stop staring atme!
Megatron: Do you think I actuallywant to spend the rest of eternity gazing at your unsightly visage?
Starscream: Trust me: your visage is no picnic either. And your face is ugly too!
Megatron: Oh, someone just take me offline now...
Starscream: What do you think I've been trying todo for the last four million stellar cycles?! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It's funny, really, when you think about it. Tragic, butfunny! AHAHAHAHAHA!
Megatron: Oh, shut up.

—Stranded and helpless in space, Megatron and Starscream bicker to the end.

Notes

Transformers references

• Omega Supreme refers to the energy given off by the space bridge as "transwarp energy", similar to thetranswarp drives used in theBeast Era.
• Knockoffs? Oh my...

Real-world references

• The restoration of Omega Supreme's memory is very similar to the scene in2001: A Space Odyssey when Dave Bowman takes HAL-9000's higher functions offline (just in reverse).
• Prowl's humming forcing the stasis cuffs to open seems inspired by a similar sequence in British superspy spoof movieJohnny English, where the titular hero attempts to escape a prison cell by whistling at the door-lock in the hope that the right frequency will cause the tumblers to rotate. Unlike Johnny however, Prowl succeeded. He isthat awesome.

Animation errors

• When Skywarp is dodging Bumblebee's stinger blasts, his eyes shift to Autobot blue for a split-second.
• After Shockwave reveals to Bumblebee that he is Longarm Prime, the pan-across shot that follows shows Shockwave on the monitor. In the next close-up of the monitor, Longarm is shown transforming back into Shockwave.
• When Megatron closes in on Optimus to toss him into the space bridge, Sunstorm's face is dark grey instead of white.
• Just before Ratchet gives his "don't give up on me now" speech to Omega, there is a shot from the front showing Ratchet with Sari tucked into the mouth of his "backpack". In the next shot, it shows Ratchet from behind, with Sarion top of the backpack, and then switches back to the front view with Sari back in the gap.
• When Megatron is dragged into the Space Bridge, only one hand is cuffed. When we see him next, both of them are.
• When Ratchet was about to slam a button inside Omega Supreme, his hand was missing in one frame.
• When Starscream is holding Megatron's sword, the glow of his AllSpark Fragment isn't reflected but the rest of his face is.
• At many points in the episode, Slipstream is shown with the face (andchin) of her male counterparts.
• As Bulkhead says Bumblebee sent an innocent bot to the stockade, both Optimus and Prowl sit up despite being stasis-cuffed.

Continuity errors

• Several immobilised characters are shown in different positions to last episode:
  • Lugnut and Blitzwing are shown lying face-down on the floor, when they were sitting back-to-back last episode.
  • Bumblebee and Blurr apparently swapped positions in Scrapper's arms since last episode.

Trivia

GASP!!!

• The Headmaster unit even works on Decepticons, whose armor is much tougher than Bulkhead's. Where didMasterson get that cutting beam?
• Speaking of the Headmaster unit, this is the first time its facial expression has changed.
• With Bulkhead and Sentinel Prime, it was unclear how their decapitated heads survived disconnected from their Sparks. Not so with Starscream, as the AllSpark fragment keeping him alive is in his head.
• Mixmaster isveeery disobedient in this episode. Megatron orders him to find Lugnut and Blitzwing at the start of the battle, but Scrapper does it instead. Then, after he cements Bumblebee to the wall, Megatron orders Mixmaster to attack Starscream, instead he just disappears until after Omega Supreme gets free. And yet Megatron never punishes him.
• In the shots after Slipstream yells "Aim for the legs", Lugnut is shown firing his engine pods (which are his hands inrobot mode) as missiles at Omega. Those probably weren't supposed to come off. However he's shown doing the same thing a minute later, and this time in robot mode, so it isn't a lone animation error. One has to wonder where he keeps all the spare hands. Certainly nothing up his sleeve...
• Fans had been theorizing that the Autobot ship was Omega Supreme since quite literally the first episode.
• Fans hadalso been theorizing that Sari had a li'l bit of robot in her since the first episode too!How silly!
• Fans didnot theorize that when this episode premiered on YTVAND on Cartoon Network, the announcers would happily yammer inanely over the closing credits sequence of Megatron and Starscream insulting each other in space. The Cartoon Network repeat the following day aired the credits without incident, thankfully.
• It was said atBotCon 2008 that the entire closing credits sequence was improvised.
• When Omega Supreme transforms, he uses the same transformation soundIronhide used in the battle of Mission City when he was attackingBrawl.
• When Omega Supreme is trying to get out of the cliff, some music fromthe movie can be heard.
• In this episode, this is the first time that Shockwave speaks with his real accent while still in Autobot mode as Longarm, indicating that he has to mask his voice in that mode.
• Several times after Starscream's head is cut off, he is shown with pupils.
• This episode, along with part 1, was adapted in comic book format using screen captures as "Transformers Animated Volume 13".

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "La porte d'à côté, 2ème partie" ("The Next Door, 2nd Part")
• Original airdate: ???

German

• Title: "Die Weltraumbrücke, Teil 2" ("The Spacebridge, Part 2")
• Original airdate:31 July2008

Spanish (Latin America)

• Title: "A un puente de distancia, parte 2" ("A bridge away, part 2")
• Original airdate:13 December2008

• Unfortunately, this was the last espisode being dubbed on Chile. The next season was changed to Colombia instead.

Italian

• Title: "Un Ponte Troppo Vicino (Seconda Parte)" ("A Bridge Too Close (Second Part)")
• Original airdate:11 April2009

• Sadly, this is the last episode in the Italian dub of Animated. Season 3 was never dubbed for unknown reasons.

Japanese

• Title: "Kyōdai naru Chikara" (強大なる力, "The Enormous Power")
• Original airdate:25 September2010

• Ratchet's turn on a new transformingstock footage, with Blitzwing and Lugnut doing the intro.

Polish

• Title: "O Jeden Most Za Blisko, Część 2" ("A Bridge Too Close, Part 2")
• Original airdate: ???

Portuguese

• Title: "Uma Ponte Muito Próxima, Parte 2" ("A Bridge Too Close, Part 2")
• Original airdate: ???

Home video releases

DVD

2009 —Transformers Animated — Season Two (Paramount) — English and Spanish audio.
2009 —Transformers Animated — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio.
2009 —Transformers Animated — Volume Six: Black Friday (Paramount) — English and German audio.
2009 —Transformers Animated — Volume Sechs: Schwarzer Freitag (Paramount) — English and German audio.
2011 —Transformers Animated — Vol. 7 (Paramount) — Japanese audio only.
2014 —Transformers Animated — Season Two (Madman Entertainment)
2014 —Transformers Animated — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)