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"Loose Cannons"
Season	2
No. in season	6
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	March 24,2012
Written by	David McDermott
Directed by	Scooter Tidwell
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on YouTube

Wheeljack returns to Earth to look for a new Decepticon named Dreadwing.

Synopsis

If I'm coming back, I'm coming back with a BANG!

Agent Fowler calls the Autobots, furious about a Transformer fight outsideOmaha with possible collateral damage. As the Autobots are all at base,Ratchet suggests theDecepticons are to blame, however a video feed reveals the combatants as aSkyquake-type Decepticon andWheeljack. Fowler demands that the situation be handled pronto.

Fowler reaches the battleground inhis jet first and demands the pair stop, only to be fired on by Wheeljack. AGroundBridge opens up, and the Autobots step out to help Wheeljack. Outgunned, the Decepticon seizes the opportunity to scan Fowler's jet and make his escape. Wheeljack fires after him, blowing up a gas station. Though Wheeljack believes thatDreadwing was to blame for the explosion, he's informed otherwise.

So... do I get a lollipop?

Back at base, Ratchet repairs Wheeljack, who apologizes for the damage and explains his pursuit of Dreadwing. He had found his fellowWreckerSeaspray, only for his friend to be blown up by Dreadwing. After several solar systems worth of pursuit, Wheeljack caught up with the Decepticon onEarth. Optimus infers that Dreadwing has come to pay allegiance to Megatron. He tries to stem Wheeljack's hotheadedness, and Fowler arrives to admonish Wheeljack for nearly blowing their cover. Wheeljack doesn't take well to being called part of the team, and walks off, followed by Bulkhead who intends to placate him. Optimus does his best to smooth things over with Fowler.

Dreadwing rendezvous with theNemesis.Megatron welcomes his loyalty, but Dreadwing reveals he has come to Earth to avenge hisspark-twin Skyquake. When Megatron confirms Skyquake's death, theSeeker vows to make every Autobot on Earth pay, but Megatron would rather Dreadwing follow his orders.

As Wheeljack works on hisship, Bulkhead attempts to change his mind about the planet. Inside the Jackhammer, a challenge comes through over the commlink from Dreadwing. Wheeljack straps in to meet the 'Con, and convinces Bulkhead to come as well.

He's right behind me, isn't he?

Dreadwing faces off against Wheeljack, both determined to finish their business. They exchange fire, and Dreadwing runs, leading Wheeljack past a series of proximity bombs that the Autobot evades. Dreadwing runs into a dead end, but it turns out to be a trap—as Bulkhead appears atop the crevice, a last bomb on the cliff face explodes, burying the two Wreckers under rubble as Dreadwing flies clear.

At base, Ratchet finds Bulkhead's transmission over a thousand miles away. At Optimus's inquiry, he says that no response has been made.

In the crevice, Optimus helps Wheeljack out of a pile of boulders and reprimands him for endangering Bulkhead. Ratchet informs Optimus over comm that Bulkhead's signal has moved.

Wheeljack and Optimus fly to Bulkhead's location, a shipping depot. They find him in an unfortunate predicament, strapped to a crate with a bomb wired into his chest. Wheeljack gets to work defusing the bomb. From the top of a crane, Dreadwing looks on. He receives a transmission from Megatron, and reveals what he's doing. Meanwhile, Bulkhead tries to stop Wheeljack from continuing his attempts to defuse the bomb and the pair notice that Optimus is gone.

Megatron allows Dreadwing to continue his plan, though he muses to Soundwave that he does not expect Dreadwing to come back. At the depot, Dreadwing notices Optimus is missing in time for the Autobot leader to appear nearby and appeal to Dreadwing's sense of honor. Dreadwing refuses the offer of defection, and fires upon Prime, who escapes into the maze of containers.

What was that "safe word" again?

Realizing that Wheeljack is unlikely to defuse the bomb, Bulkhead takes matters into his own hands, punching out Wheeljack, tearing out of his restraints, and running away from his friend. Elsewhere, Dreadwing continues to spar with Optimus, but loses him from his sights. Bulkhead heads towards the water to muffle the explosion, but is stopped by Wheeljack, who has come to the realization that Optimus has the right idea—they need Dreadwing to defuse the bomb.

Searching the dock, Dreadwing is ambushed by Optimus crashing down on top of him with a shipping crane. Pinned, Dreadwing is surrounded by the three Autobots. Though he claims he would rather destroy himself if it will avenge his brother, Optimus calls his bluff, and he defuses the bomb. However, not about to leave empty handed, Dreadwing sets off the many bombs he had placed throughout the port, and flies off. Wheeljack wonders who will clean that up.

On theNemesis, Megatron gloats about Dreadwing's defeat, but seems mildly surprised that the Seeker still lives. Dreadwing, in the wake of his defeat, pledges his total loyalty to Megatron.

At the base, Wheeljack apologizes for his misjudgment about Optimus earlier. The Autobots, sans Ratchet, convince Wheeljack to stay on Earth, though he opts to explore the planet. He's soon driving away with a new alternate mode.

Featured characters

(Characters initalic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I don't care ifAbraham Lincoln is back! We have to contain the situation before we all wind up on the eleven o'clock news."

—Agent Fowler demands that the Autobots stop Wheeljack and Dreadwing.

"Not this again!"

—Agent Fowler gets his vehicle scanned by a 'Con for a third time.

Wheeljack: You know Wreckers don't call for backup.
Wheeljack andBulkhead: They call for clean-up!

—The remaining Wreckers provide an alternative to "Wreck and Rule!"

Optimus: If you will not take orders from me, that is one thing. But when you place one of my Autobots in danger...
Wheeljack: With all due respect, sir, Bulkhead knew the risks; every Wrecker does. I'm sure he's just... uh... somewhere in this rubble.

—Wheeljack reassures Optimus about Bulkhead's condition... well, sort of.

"I will be quite surprised if we ever set eyes upon Dreadwing again."

—Megatron putting his faith into his soldier.

"Sorry, Jackie. It's 'cause I love ya."

—Bulkhead shows the tough love.

"Sorry, fishies!"

—Bulkhead runs towards water with a bomb attached.

Notes

Continuity notes

• This episode features the first on-screen use of the term "Terrorcon".
• Bulkhead brings up Optimus, Bee and Fowler's fight with Skyquake, and Arcee mentions his zombified resurrection at Starscream's hand which occurred in "Masters & Students" and "Shadowzone".
• Soundwave shows scenes of Optimus and Bumblebee's fight with Skyquake in "Masters & Students".
• It seems odd that Dreadwing could feel his twin Skyquake dying, but didn't sense his twin's resurrection at the hands of Starscream.

Transformers references

• Wheeljack namedrops former WreckersImpactor,Roadbuster,Rotorstorm, andPyro. The Generation 1 incarnations of these four characters are all Wreckers from various continuities:Impactor andRoadbuster were original members of the group when it was first introduced in "Target: 2006", whileRotorstorm andPyro joined inLast Stand of the Wreckers. Like theirPrime counterparts, all four characters have indeed been seen to die while serving as Wreckers in one continuity or another. Seaspray being a Wrecker, meanwhile, is a new addition.
• Wheeljack namedrops theDromedon System and the planetsMaderan andSandokan.
• Dreadwing is referred to as aSeeker.
• Dreadwing references thePit.
• Bulkhead calledSeaspray "ol' barnacle butt", which references the deceased Autobot's hovercraft-mode in the Generation 1 continuity.

Real-world references

• Fowler compares the activities of the Wreckers to "black ops", a term for covert military operations. In popular culture, black ops are generally seen as being dirty business that regular soldiers aren't able to carry out, and units that carry them out are often independent of the normal chain of command. Describes the Wreckers pretty well.
• Fowler mentionsAbraham Lincoln.
• Wheeljack calls Earth a marble. One of Earth's nicknames is the Blue Marble.

Animation and technical errors

• When Wheeljack faces Dreadwing in the forest, the scar on his left shoulder (that was inflicted by Dreadwing in their first showdown on Earth) seems to have disappeared. Few moments later it's there again.
• When Ratchet finds Bulkhead's signal, the state of Louisiana is missing on the U.S. map where the signal is located.
• When Wheeljack is chasing Dreadwing through the chasm, his grenade can be seen on his hip, despite it having been used earlier.
• When Ratchet is fixing the scar on Wheeljack's arm, Wheeljack's shoulder clips through his chest.

Trivia

• Fowlerreally needs to stop flying that jet of his around Decepticons who look like they turn into jets. He seems to be getting tired of it.
• Wheeljack finally takes an Earth-based vehicle mode, which is helpful since he becomes a recurring character after this point.
• Dreadwing's proximity bombs have plates resembling his wings.
• Megatron actually sounds irritated when he's warning Dreadwing against going after Optimus. Seems he's getting tired of 'cons getting themselves maimed or killed trying to go after Prime.
• This episode was available as a pack-in with packaging variants ofRobots in DisguiseBumblebee,Knock Out,Kup,Rumble,Soundwave, theVehicon andWheeljack. The figures themselves were unaltered.
• After a mention in this episode, writers considered having Seaspray reappear in the third season of Prime. However, time constraints prevented more Wreckers being introduced into the show.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Le Retour de Wheeljack" ("Wheeljack Returns")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Das wandelnde Pulverfass" ("The walking Powder-Keg")
• Original airdate:30 October2012

Japanese

• Title: "Kenbaku Henkei! Wheeljack to Dreadwing" (剣爆変形!ホイルジャックとドレッドウイング, "Explosive Sword Transformation! Wheeljack and Dreadwing")
• Original airdate:10 November2012
• Cut: The opening scene of Fowler contacting the Autobots about the fight between Dreadwing and Wheeljack.

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Gatilho Solto" ("Loose Trigger")
• Original airdate:10 June2013

Italian

• Title: "Cannone sciolto" ("Molten cannon"), "Mine Vaganti" ("Loose Mines", 2017 airing)
• Original airdate:15 October2012

Home video releases

DVD

2012 —Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
2013 —Transformers Prime — Vol. 16 (Avex Trax) — Japanese audio only.
2013 —Transformers Prime — Folge 8: Der falsche Prime (EDEL:kids) — English and German audio.
2013 —Transformers Prime — Season 2 Volume 2: Battle for Supremacy (Madman Entertainment)
2014 —Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2014 —Transformers Prime — Season 2 Vol. 1: Orion Pax (Primal Screen)
2014 —Transformers Prime — Saison 2 Vol. 1: Orion Pax (Primal Screen)
2014 —Transformers Prime — Stagione 2 Vol. 1: Orion Pax (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.
2015 —Transformers Prime — Intégrale Saison 2 (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime — The Complete Season 2 (Primal Screen)
2015 —Transformers Prime — La Seconda Stagione Completa (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.

Blu-ray

2012 —Transformers Prime — Season Two (Shout! Factory)
2015 —Transformers Prime — Season Two Collection (Madman Entertainment)