Beginning
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Beginnings" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Beginnings (disambiguation). |
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 Isn't it more like a kind of beginning in a way? Like a new beginning? For everyone? Hmm... I wonder. | |||||||||
| "Beginning" (Arata naru Tabidachi) "A New Journey" | |||||||||
| Production company | TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency | ||||||||
| Airdate | December 31, 2005 (Japanese) September 29, 2006 (English) | ||||||||
| Writer | Manabu Ishikawa | ||||||||
| Director | Mitsuru Yamazaki | ||||||||
| Animation studio | GONZO | ||||||||
| Continuity | Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity | ||||||||
With the threats of Galvatron and the black hole at last extinguished, the Autobots must look to the future.
Contents |
Synopsis
On Cybertron's moon, Optimus Prime finally brings Galvatron's evil to an end, destroying his eternal foe with the added power of Vector Prime's sword.
Weeks later, as life returns to normal on Cybertron and the other colony worlds, Optimus Prime calls an "intergalactic peace conference" to decide what should be done with the Cyber Planet Keys. With Bud and Jolt filming the whole shebang for posterity, Override, Scourge, Metroplex, Evac and Colonel Mike Franklin arrive from their respect planets to attend the talks, but none of them is expecting the suggestion Optimus Prime then makes. Rather than hide the Keys and the Omega Lock away, Optimus proposes that they follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, and begin a new space bridge project! Everyone enthusiastically supports his proposal...except for Jetfire, who is unsure about accepting command of Cybertron in Prime's absence. All the other Autobots stand up for Jetfire and agree to support him in his new role, and he takes it on with gusto, even giving Bud an interview.
Also on the interview roster are Leobreaker and Scourge, who relate the royal rumble that was held on Jungle Planet to decide its new leader. Scourge wound up winning the boxing match, and so stays on as leader, appointing Leobreaker the Jungle Planet representative for the colonization mission. A leader also has to be found for Velocitron, and so the Speedia 500 is held to make the decision. Hot Shot wins the race, but had no idea of the prize, while the prize Ransack was racing for—Thunderblast's heart—seems forever destined to elude him.
Down on Earth, the civilian Autobots and Ancient Decepticons are pitching in with the relief effort, and even Thundercracker seems to enjoy being an Autobot. Crosswise and Evac wonder what their next step in life should be, and Evac is convinced by Lugnutz to join the colonization program. Also on Earth, in the Autobot base, Bud is editing his film together, while Safeguard looks at Vector Prime's old launch pad from outside, and wistfully remembers the image of his old partner flying out of the base. Nearby, Coby and Lori are also contemplating the stars, as Coby tells her of his dream to build a spaceship and join the Transformers in space in the future. Lori hopes that she'll be able to come with him, and although she tries to backpedal on her reason for saying so, both these young people know what is truly in their hearts.
Also on Earth, Coby and Bud's brother Tim is getting a lift from Chief Dobson, who sees a future filled with chores for Tim now that his brothers can boast that they saved the universe. As they drive on their way, they pass Signal Lancer and his payphone pal, and once they have moved off out of view, Signal Lancer can stand it no longer, transforms to robot mode, and runs off to join the colonization mission!
The next day, all the Transformers gather on Cybertron to board the four ancient starships. Many goodbyes are said, and many new friendships are forged: the Gigantions are thrilled at the prospect of building a bridge across the universe... Scourge tries to hide his sadness at Leobreaker's departure... the kids give Override a farewell gift... Dirt Boss and Brakedown arrive to join the mission too, Brakedown determined not to be outdone by all these youngsters... Evac strikes up a conversation with Backstop... the Recon Mini-Con Team bid a tearful farewell to Safeguard and the Gigantion Mini-Cons... Landmine thanks the kids for all they have done for him... the Cybertron Defense Team vows to always be bound together, even if they are apart... Lucy Suzuki says goodbye to Colonel Franklin before joining the small human team that is also going on the mission, and the Colonel is left dumbfounded by her cheerful belief that he wants to marry her... and finally, Optimus Prime formally hands over command to Jetfire. When Prime calls him "commander," Jetfire corrects him: now and forever, there is only one true commander, and that's Optimus Prime.
Just before launch, a transmission comes through from Wing Saber (who had previously departed Cybertron when the peace conference began to seek adventure elsewhere), informing the Autobots that he has discovered a lead on Starscream's location. Landmine overhears and request to be relieved of his duties on the space bridge mission so that he may join Wing Saber in this quest, and Optimus agrees to allow him and Mudflap to do so. With this final order given, Optimus says his goodbyes to the children, and is given Vector Prime's Planet Map by Bud with the request to return it to the aged Autobot if they should meet him somewhere in the universe. With tears flowing freely throughout the crowd of assembled humans and Transformers, Optimus Prime gives the command to launch, and the great starships take to the skies.
Flying by as the ships take off, Thundercracker wishes Optimus Prime farewell, but then, his attention is caught by a small, rattletrap rocket carying Thunderblast, Ransack and Crumplezone away. He flies over to see what's going on, and they tell him they're tired of playing nice, and have decided to become the "New Decepticon Army". They grab Thundercracker, haul him into the rocket, and strip him of the Autobot symbol he has pasted onto his chest, as he wails and cries about wanting to be on the winning side.
As the starships leave Earth's atmosphere, the Planet Map glows in Optimus Prime's hand, and the image of Vector Prime appears before him, written across the stars, a smile on his face. Optimus nods once, solemnly, and calls for the engines to be set to full throttle. And so, the Transformers set course for the far reaches of the universe... for new worlds... and new adventures.
Further adventures
Played across the closing credits are a series of still images showing what the Transformers and humans got up to in the following years. These images show:
- Optimus Prime giving out orders to Scattorshot and Red Alert on the space bridge mission
- Crosswise passing by Mr. Stanton's garage on Earth
- Scourge lifting a giant boulder
- Evac flying to the rescue of some Ancient Decepticons who have fallen through a sheet of ice
- The "New Decepticon Army"'s rocket, crashed on Mars
- Metroplex supervising a construction project being worked on by Signal Lancer, Undermine and Brimstone
- Wing Saber, Mudflap and Landmine confronting Starscream as he rises out of some lava
- Jetfire in charge on Cybertron
- Hot Shot and Clocker racing on Velocitron with various Velocitronian cars.
- The spirits of Galvatron and Vector Prime battling in the next world
- Leobreaker and Menasor confronting the mysterious Initial T
- Override, Quickmix and Brakedown on an alien planet
- Sideways, Soundwave and Laserbeak, somewhere out there in the multiverse, having found another version of Planet X
- Coby as an astronaut...
- ...sharing his ship with Lori...
- ...as they watch Bud win an Oscar.
- Optimus Prime and the Recon Mini-Con Team attending Coby and Lori's wedding. Also in attendance are Bud, the kids' parents (Robert Hansen grew a rockin' beard), Tim and his girlfriend (now wife) and their daughter, and the married Lucy Suzuki and Colonel Franklin, with their new baby.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
"I think I've only got seven lives left.."
- —Leobreaker after losing a wrestling match with Scourge.
"Ahhh, I was so close, If only I'd changed my tires before we started!"
"Oh you always blame your tires."
- —Dirt Boss and Brakedown
Crumplezone: "Man, it's always pretty boys like Hot Shot that win the races."
Ransack: "Yeah, and I was trying to impress the ladies!"
Thunderblast: "There's nothing you could do to ever impress me."
Ransack: "CZ! I'm so embarrassed, Why didn't ya tell me she was behind me?"
Crumplezone: "Buddy, give it up. She's not interested in little guys like you."
Ransack: "Some friend you are, wide load!!"
Crumplezone: "Wide load?!?!?"
[punch fight]
"For too long I've let life pass me by! Now I wanna take part in the grand drama! My legacy will be writ LARGE AMONG THE STARS! Farewell, old friend!"
- —Signal Lancer's show-stopping transformation sequence is probably the most epic moment in Transformers history, right?
"I hate emotional goodbyes."
"What could be emotional about saying goodbye to you?"
- —Leobreaker and Scourge, who is about to burst into tears.
"Fire up the engines to full throttle! We have a course set to the far reaches of the universe, and it's time to go! Courage, hope for the future, and teamwork—our adventure will continue as long as we remember the words of Primus: 'Til all are one!"
"TRANSFORM!!!"
- —Optimus Prime and everyone go forth.
Notes
Differences with Galaxy Force
For whatever reason, the final episode of the series has the most changes out of any of 'em!
- All of the dialogue delivered by a narrator in Galaxy Force is, as usual, given to a character in Cybertron. For this episode, that character is exclusively Optimus Prime, leading to a few odd moments where he refers to himself in the third person.
- The opening scene of this episode is a replay of the finale scene of the previous one, as Optimus Prime finishes off Galvatron. There is one piece of new footage mixed in with the old: after Prime bids his foe farewell, this episode sees Galvatron open his mouth and reply. However, while he can be heard to groan Prime's name in Galaxy Force, in Cybertron, no sound escapes his lips.
- As in the previous two episodes, the landscape of Cybertron differs between each version of this episode, with Galaxy Force featuring background paintings of organic trees and fields of grass, and Cybertron replacing the trees with CGI-animated technorganic equivalents and the grass with circuits boards. Check out the previous two episode articles for some visual examples.
- Optimus Prime does not immediately appoint Jetfire leader in his place in Galaxy Force; Jetfire's reaction is not shock at being appointed, but discontent at Prime deciding to leave on the mission. When Prime and Jetfire talk later, Jetfire starts out by opposing the notion as Cybertron will be left without a leader, at which point Prime gives him the task.
- In Galaxy Force Ransack is not racing merely to impress Thunderblast, but because she has promised to marry him if he wins. Ransack and Crumplezone start fighting after they lose because Ransack gets angry at Crumplezone for telling him Thunderblast isn't interested in him in Cybertron, but in Galaxy Force, it's because Crumplezone wasn't aware of the marriage proviso.
- In Cybertron, Bud freaks out and runs out of the Autobot base to get more tape for his film; in Galaxy Force, Jolt has reminded him that it's dinner time and he needs to get home.
- In Galaxy Force, Tim has been picked up by the nameless driver after another automotive breakdown, who says he was happy to do it because of his brothers' role in saving the Earth, causing Tim to express amazement that he knows them. In Cybertron, the driver is turned into "Chief Dobson", who jokes that Tim will be doing all the chores for his universe-saving brothers for a long time.
- In Cybertron, Brimstone is looking down dismissively on all the other Transformers who want to fly, until Undermine tells him to leave them alone. In Galaxy Force, he can't remember which ship he's supposed to be on, until Undermine calls him over to the right one.
- Scourge's attempt at feigning disinterest in Leobreaker's departure is more convincing in Galaxy Force, where he is not about to burst into tears as he in Cybertron.
- The marriage proposal between Colonel Franklin and Lucy Suzuki is flip-flopped across the two version. In Cybertron, Lucy proposes on behalf of Colonel Franklin, believing that it's what he wants to say, and the colonel is left incredulous. In Galaxy Force, on the other hand, Franklin says that he will wait for her to return, and Lucy teases him by saying that he should come chasing after her. He doesn't, but he promises quite excitedly to wait, calling after her "I love you, Lucy!"
- As all four ships take off, the music accompanying their departure in Galaxy Force is the show's first opening song "CALL YOU... Kimi to Boku no Mirai", which has not been heard since "Countdown to the Destruction of the Galaxy". Naturally, Cybertron replace this with its own theme music.
- In what is easily the biggest, most famous change made to the entire series, the montage of the starships departing has two scenes of new animation added into the Cybertron version of the episode (pictured at right) to further tie the series in with the two preceding parts of the Unicron Trilogy. One depicts thirtysomething versions of Rad White, Carlos Lopez, and Alexis, the Autobots' human allies from the Armada cartoon, with the image of their old partners the Street Action Mini-Con Team behind them, while the second features a late-twenties Kicker Jones, their ally from Energon. Kicker has an image of Hot Shot in his Energon body behind him, but let's be honest—that was probably supposed to have been Ironhide. The images of Hot Shot and the Mini-Cons are taken from the original toys' Japanese package art.
- Cybertron cuts out one of the "further adventures" images seen in the credits, which is a nice, clear close-up of Bud winning his Oscar. The scene is still in the show, but only as a less-visible image on a television screen that Coby and Lori are watching.
- After the ending credits in Galaxy Force in the TV broadcast, Optimus addresses the audience and says "Thank you for everything!"
Animation or technical errors
- Optimus is rather oversized in the wedding still. This does not make it look any less cool.
Transformers references
- In the brief glimpse we get of the President appointing Franklin as Earth's ambassador to Cybertron, there is one other young woman visible on stage, standing to the far left. By all appearances, this is Alexis, drawn to the specifications of her Energon character model, in her purple jacket and skirt, with name-tag and un-fashion-conscious white sneakers. And the thing is, this was in the Galaxy Force version too!
- In Soundwave and Sideways's scene during the credits, Soundwave is carrying the music player based on his Generation 1 counterpart that Sideways was seen using back in "Memory".
Real-life references
- When Scourge uppercuts Leobreaker, the camera angle shifts to show a mouthguard flying up into the sunlight. While surely downright baffling if you don't know what you're looking at (why would a robot wear a mouthguard?), this image is an iconic shot associated with the boxing manga Tomorrow's Joe.
- Backstop describes Scourge as "the once and future king" of Jungle Planet, referencing the book of the same name by T.H. White.
- In Galaxy Force, Bud contemplates changing his name to "Steve" when he becomes a director, probably a reference to a certain Mr. Spielberg.
- As Jolt gives Safeguard his farewell embrace, he says: "I'll miss you most of all, Tin Man!", a paraphrased line from the movie version of The Wizard of Oz. In the movie itself, it was the Scarecrow that would be missed most of all, but, see, they're robots, so... Tin Man.
- Chief Dobson was likely named for Paul, Michael, and/or Brian Dobson, the trio of brothers who voiced several characters throughout the Unicron Trilogy...though which of them voices the Chief remains up for debate.
- Brakedown is carrying a comically large furoshiki, a Japanese cloth typically used for wrapping and/or transporting small items.
Trivia
- Chronologically speaking, this is the final episode of the Cybertron storyline, and was indeed the final episode of Galaxy Force broadcast. However, since the Cybertron broadcast of the series had smooshed the first two episodes together to create "Fallen", the episode count was down by one, and the second episode, "Inferno" was dubbed in its entirety to make up the numbers, becoming a "lost episode" that was broadcast (and released on DVD) as the 52nd and final episode of the Cybertron series.
- As Optimus Prime gives Jetfire a pep-talk about leadership, we're treated to an unnecessarily toy-accurate extreme close-up of the switch on the back of Optimus Prime's head that flips up the figure's mouthplate.
- A resident of Gigantion is seen using Longrack's vehicle mode character model. It probably isn't Longrack himself since this individual is depicted as being much bigger.
Foreign localization
Italian
- Title: "Un nuovo inizio" ("A New Beginning")
- The two lines about cats lifes make absolutely no sense here: "You're only gonna have eight lives left, kitty cat!" is changed to "You're still existing just because you have eight lives, cat!", while "I think I've only got seven lives left!" becomes "I think I still have seven lives left!". This is even worst giving the fact that, in Italy, cats are referred to as having seven lives instead of nine, making an average Itaian viewer even more confused.
- The name "Chief Dobson" is never used in this dub, making the character unnamed as in Japanese.
- The song about the hundred buckets of gears on the wall is changed to the popular nursery rhyme "Un elefante si dondolava".
Home video releases
- DVD
2006 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 13 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
