Duel in the Labyrinth
From Transformers Wiki
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 It's time to du-du-du-du-dududududu duel! | ||||||
| "Duel in the Labyrinth" (Meiro no Naka no Kettō) | ||||||
| Production code | BWN-07 | |||||
| Production company | TV Tokyo, NAS, Ashi Productions | |||||
| Airdate | 17 March 1999 | |||||
| Writer | Katsuyuki Sumisawa | |||||
| Director | Yukio Okazaki | |||||
| Animation studio | Ashi Productions | |||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | |||||
It's up to Stampy to help the Maximals beat Saberback to an Angolmois Capsule lost in the tunnels of a labyrinthine planet. Oh dear.
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Synopsis
The Maximals track the energy signature of the latest Angolmois Capsule to the planet P-0908, a lifeless world that has been left riddled with holes and tunnels due to an ancient civilization extensively mining the planet's mineral resources. Unfortunately, as they discuss how difficult it will be to find the capsule in this maze of tunnels, Stampy spots the Predacons' ship in orbit. The villains have beaten them to the planet, and Saberback has even beamed down and found the capsule already! Saberback reports on his success to his fellow Predacons, but he refuses to be beamed back up to the ship, intending to make the mission a "work of art" by completing it without any assistance whatsoever.
As NAVI activates a radar shield to keep the Maximals hidden, the team debates what to do. Stampy advocates just giving up and trying somewhere else, but Big Convoy won't hear it, and Longrack quickly appoints Break, Colada and Stampy to head down to the planet. Unsurprisingly, Stampy is less than enthusiastic, but Big Convoy tells him that it's going to take his great tracking ability to find the capsule in the planetary labyrinth.
The trio head down to the planet, and Stampy quickly picks up the capsule's signal, only to discover that Saberback already has it in his clutches and is on the move. Fortunately for the three Maximals, Saberback is completely lost in the planet's tunnels, and they are quickly able to track him down by combining Stampy's tracking skills and Colada's flame-breath burning through the tunnel walls. Unfortunately, they find him in an old ammo dump, and Colada's flame breath inadvertently sets off the bombs lying around them, blasting them all to the surface in one huge explosion. The capsule lands beside Stampy, but when he attempts to pick it up, it rolls off and disappears down one of the tunnels. The exasperated Break and Colada insist on bringing Stampy along to track it down again.
Back on the Gung Ho, NAVI carefully puts the ship in orbit on the opposite side of the planet to the Predacons, so that they won't be detected. The Predacons themselves, though, are preoccupied wondering about Saberback, until DNAVI informs them that she detects he no longer has the capsule in his possession. Magmatron tells her not to bother transporting him, wanting to see how he does on his own.
Stomping around underground, Saberback looks at the reflection of his tarnished armor in a mirror and vows to make the Maximals pay for ruining his perfect work of art. However, when he tracks them down, he finds that the Maximals are having enough troubles as it is, as they have found the capsule teetering on the edge of a ravine overlooking a river of magma. Saberback starts a rockslide that knocks out Break and Colada and sends all three of them tumbling towards the magma. Stampy is able to grab his two comrades and activates his jets to stay aloft, but Saberback opens fire on the flying Maximals and damages his propulsion system, knocking him out of the sky. Luckily, at the last moment, Colada and Break regain consciousness and grab onto the wall, snatching Stampy just before he lands in the magma. Despite all of this, the trio make it to the capsule first, and Break tells Stampy that they're counting on him to track Saberback's signature so that they can avoid him. Stampy is overwhelmed by such a rare show of good faith by Break, and he soon has to prove himself when they come upon a cave filled with huge flowers. Assuming that one of the flowers must be Saberback in disguise, Break and Colada leave the capsule in Stampy's care while they blast all of them... but they've guessed wrong, as Saberback appears from behind to snatch the capsule away and fly off through a tunnel overhead. Saberback causes an explosion to collapse the tunnel, but Stampy is able to lead his buddies through the chaos to safety.
The Maximals make it back to the surface in time to see Saberback flying off into space with the capsule in his clutches, and Break and Colada immediately pursue him. His flight systems still damaged, Stampy is content to cheer them on from below, but suddenly, geysers of magma erupt all around him; the explosion has triggered an eruption that threatens to consume the timid Maximal. Break and Colada immediately break off their pursuit of Colada to save Stampy, who cries tears of joy at this display of friendship. Unfortunately, this allows Saberback to escape successfully with the Angolmois Capsule, and Big Convoy is not pleased to hear the team's report. Stampy is willing to take all the blame, but just then, Vector Sigma speaks through Big Convoy once more, telling them that while the mission was important, care for one's teammates is more important still. He gives them 100 push-ups as punishment, surprising Longrack with his leniency.
Back aboard the Dinosaur, Saberback presents the capsule to Magmatron, who criticises the amount of time it took him to accomplish the task. Saberback blames the Maximals for the delay, but DNAVI informs him she has detected no trace of the Gung Ho on the planet, and nobody believes him.
Capsule score
- Maximals: 4
- Predacons: 3
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
Home video releases
- VHS
1999 — Super Lifeform Transformers: Beast Wars Neo — ACT. 3 (Pioneer LDC)
