Theft of the Golden Disk
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 C'mon, youse mugs. | |||||||||
| "Theft of the Golden Disk" | |||||||||
| Production company | Octavirate Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | July 1, 2007 | ||||||||
| Writers | Trent Troop, Ronald D. Smith, and Kristen Maxwell | ||||||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube (Part 1) Watch this episode on YouTube (Part 2)
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A gang of Predacons plot a heist that will ultimately impact time itself...
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Synopsis
Predacon mob boss Cryotek shows his student, Megatron, a hologram of an artifact he plans to steal: the Golden Disk, an alien object with the power to help take control of Cybertron. Many Maximals and Predacons have attempted to steal this before, every attempt being a failure, but Cryotek believes Megatron, his favorite student, has the capabilities, though his apprentice expresses annoyance with the crime boss' self-aggrandizing. Agents of Cryotek have found a ship for Megatron, and have found the data archive where the Maximals house all data they have on the Golden Disk, including where it is currently located. Cryotek gives him strict orders that only he is allowed to decode the data-con. As Megatron leaves with his crew and several of Cryotek's henchmen, Cryotek bids his student farewell, laughing malevolently...
At Maximal Power Station B4-Y, "Clamps" and Backslash arrive in their vehicle modes. At the Cybertropolis Maximal Data Archive, Dirge cuts through the security doors, and Megatron's lieutenant pulls out the thickly armored opening. Dirge detects several security beams, and Megatron gives orders to the two at the power station to begin setting up time bombs. "Clamps" is setting up one when a security guard happens upon him. As he begins to question the Predacon, Backslash cuts through his chest with his energon blades, telling "Clamps" to watch his back. Meanwhile, at Predacon Transwarp Research Center D-F, Buzzbomb and one of Megatron's men, a green flying bot, blast their way in, killing everyone there. Another of Megatron's men, a red flying bot, enters, observing the ship they have obtained. Meanwhile, Megatron is annoyed at the lack of progress at the power station end. Backslash is programming one of the timers, when another security guard aims his weapon at his head, ordering him to turn around. As Backslash futilely protests, Scorponok laughs at the reversal of fortunes, and activates the bomb, knocking out the power, with Backslash caught in the blast. Megatron and his lieutenant enter the archive, hurrying before emergency power kicks in.
Inside, a security guard, distracted by the statues and artifacts, backs up into the lieutenant, who knocks the Maximal against the wall, incapacitating him. Entering the vault, Megatron's lieutenant sets up a time-bomb, while Megatron takes the data-con out, inserting it into a disk, while a transmitter attaches itself to Megatron's arm. Megatron, against Cryotek's orders, sends his science officer the data-con on a private channel, and the scientist laughs maniacally as he beings to decode the data.
Emergency power kicks in, and the city lights itself up again. At the Transwarp Research Center, the red Predacon stands over Buzzbomb's smoking corpse, having blasted him with one of the deceased Predacon researcher's weapons while the power was out. As Megatron and his lieutenant exit the Archives, they come under fire from the Maximal Command Security Force. Megatron destroys their helicopter unit, while his lieutenant runs into a ravine, throwing the disk the data-con is contained in to Dirge, who quickly flies away from the scene. Grabbing onto a statue, the Predacon breaks off the arm, and uses the momentum to propel him to a gap in two buildings, using his shovel arm to skid down to the bottom, where several MCSF cops gather around him. Two of them are knocked out by the Predacon's eye lasers, while an attempt by the third to blast him in the back fails, and the Predacon throws him aside. Another cop, 9K, activates his energon axe, and the Predacon activates his energy sword in response. The two rush at each other, prepared to fight...
Back at Cryotek's headquarters, Dirge rushes in with the data-con. When Dirge questions him about the Maximals and Megatron, Cryotek reveals that he tipped the Maximals off; with the archive destroyed, any evidence to implicate him went with it, and with Megatron leading the Maximals away, Cryotek could steal the disk without anyone noticing. Dirge is shocked, but Cryotek, while fond of Megatron as if he were his son, states that he can get another; there's only one Golden Disk. In any case, Cryotek claims, Megatron was bound to betray him. Cryotek is proven right when he opens the disk and finds it only contains the transmitter, as Megatron has switched it around. As the Maximals enter and detain him, Cryotek screams his pupil's name, and later demands his lawyer...
...while elsewhere, Megatron, his lieutenant, and "Clamps" enter the chamber of the Golden Disk. Megatron holds the artifact in his hands, and laughs, uttering a satisfied "yes"....
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"I wish to speak to my lawyer."
- — Cryotek, right after the closing credits
Notes
- The cast:
- David Kaye: Megatron
- Ronald D. Smith: Backslash
- Frank Todaro: Dirge
- Trent Troop: Powerplant Guards
- Brad Venable: Cryotek, Scorponok
- Alec Willows: Tarantulas (archival audio)
Continuity notes
- This animation is an immediate prequel to the events of BotCon 2006's comic story "Dawn of Future's Past", ending perhaps only seconds before the comic begins.
Transformers references
- Most of the sound effects in this animation are pulled from the original The Transformers cartoon, notably the metal footfalls, laserblasts, and classic transformation sound. Also, the music that plays over the ending credits is a remix of the ending theme music from the original cartoon. Tarantulas's distinctive laugh, meanwhile, is pulled from Beast Wars.
- Cryotek is a virtual redeco of Energon Shockblast with a new head and deco inspired by his Robots in Disguise toy. Backslash is a virtual redeco of Energon Skyblast in Armada Terrorsaur colors. Buzzbomb is a virtual redeco of Cybertron Buzzsaw in the colors of the Fox Kids Waspinator toy.
- Dirge, a character originally featured in Beast Wars II, is one of Cryotek's henchmen.
- Scorponok is a virtual redeco of Cybertron Shortround, Terrorsaur of Energon Skyblast, and Tarantulas of Cybertron Ransack, albeit with a new head.
- The first Maximal security guard is mostly generic, with the hood of Cybertron Clocker's vehicle mode on his shoulder. The second has Energon Shockblast's cannon mounted on his shoulder, and uses his head. The third, along with several MCSF members, uses Cybertron Ransack's body. The helicopter unit is a virtual redeco of Armada Cyclonus. These are among the many generic Maximals featured.
- A Diagnostic Drone hovers behind Cryotek in a few shots.
- Behind Cryotek is a screen that displays the Vehicon symbol. Also shown is a Cycle Drone from two angles.
- A statue of Optimus Prime is seen near the power station.
- The artifacts in the archive include:
- Statues of Shockwave, a Mini-spy, Hooligan, Antagony, and Jhiaxus.
- A replica of the Matrix
- A Mini-Con storage panel from the Armada PS2 game.
- A Cyber Planet Key
- Megatron's fusion cannon.
- Overkill in cassette mode.
- A bust of Optimus Prime.
- The exterior statue Dinobot uses to regain control of his fall is a heavily stylized rendition of Icepick's Pretender shell.
- One of the researchers resembles a Beast Wars Terrorsaur without beast kibble coloured like Lazorbeak or Hydra, while another resembles a Beast Wars Dinobot without beast kibble.
- The bombs Scorponok and Dinobot plant use Autobot energon star models from Energon.
- Four years later in 2011, the Transformers Hall of Fame bio for Waspinator would reveal that the unnamed location of the Golden Disk in this special is none other than the Hall of Records.
Real-world references
- The script is heavily influenced by The Maltese Falcon, down to Cryotek and Dirge's performances, which were patterned after Falcon actors Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre (respectively).
- Buzzbomb is named after a robot from COPS.
Animation and technical errors
- When Megatron was under fire by the MaxCops after leaving the archives, when he fired back at them, his shots that hit them impacted with a "digital deletion effect" rather than an explosion-like one.
- Cryotek has an unpainted Decepticon insignia on his left shoulder. This error isn't terribly surprising given the fact that Cryotek's body was created from a Shockblast model.
- Backslash's hand clips through the bomb he programs.
- Part of the interior of the model of Tarantulas clips through his chest while he decodes the data-con.
Continuity errors
- Scorponok, Terrorsaur, and Tarantulas have different bodies than they do in the comic following these events (see below). This is due to the production schedules of the animation and comic resulting in there not being enough time to make completely new models and render new scenes based on the final comic designs; the "non-toy" show-Predacon trio's animation bodies are based on toy-models that had been made well in advance of the actual production.
- In one of the first lines spoken in this video, Cryotek says, "For over three hundred cycles, the Golden Disk has carried the mystery of incredible power under its shimmering surface." The thing is, a cycle is roughly one minute. He ought to have said "For over three hundred stellar cycles," instead, in reference to the three centuries between the eras of Generation 1 and Beast Wars.
Trivia
- "Theft of the Golden Disc" began life as a dialogue-less fan animation by Trent Troop and Kristen Maxwell posted to YouTube on May 9, 2006. The finished, canon remake was originally shown at Sunday, July 1, 2007, at the BotCon 2007 "Collectors' Club" panel. It premiered online on January 8, 2008.
- The YouTube version contains an extra scene not in the BotCon reel; a shot of the Darksyde in the hangar Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Buzzbomb took over. The ship never actually appeared in the original version. Oops.
- The trailer for this episode short includes a brief glimpse at a scene in which the Darksyde begins to take off. This was not seen in the episode itself (or at least, not in the YouTube version).
- It is awesome.
