A Deadly Battle

« Transformers: Victory ep 25 »
Don't go LARPing with this dude.
"A Deadly Battle" 死を賭けた激闘 () (Shi o Kake ta Gekitō)
Production company	Takara, Toei
Airdate	September 19, 1989
Writer	Yoshihisa Araki
Director	Katsutoshi Sasaki
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity

With Blacker injured after the Autobots' last battle, Star Saber is forced to brave his own injuries to face down Deathsaurus's latest trap.

Synopsis

"Oh, Primus! Chest-bursters!"
"Yeah, I think you over-did the anaesthetics, doc."

At the Autobots' Shuttle Base, the Rescue Patrol Team performs the latest check-up on Blacker, who is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in his last battle. Blacker is more concerned with his own failure than with getting better, which doesn't surprise Star Saber, who tells him to concentrate on resting. As they talk, Laster radios through with a communiqué from God Ginrai, who wants to offer his sympathies to Blacker. The Autobots' reduction in fighting power is ruefully discussed, and Ginrai offers his services if they need him.

"You will obey, Leozack. Get the point?"
"Just kill me!"

Elsewhere, aboard the Thunder Arrow, Leozack studies a map of Earth, trying to choose the Decepticons' next target. Guyhawk arrives to inform him that he has assembled the rest of the Breastforce to hunt down Greatshot, but Leozack is not happy that he has done so without his permission, and for so trivial and personal a goal. An argument nearly breaks out between the two, until Jallguar arrives to tell Leozack that Deathsaurus wishes to see him. The "meeting" doesn't go very well for Leozack—he is immediately pounced on by Deathsaurus's Breast Animals and has a sword jammed in his face. Deathsaurus announces that up until now, he has overlooked all of Leozack's treachery, but that it is time for things to change. Faced with either swearing total loyalty or death, Leozack capitulates and pledges himself to Deathsaurus utterly.

"Where's Powerglide when you need him?!"

Soon, word reaches the Autobots of an attack by the Breastforce on their Asian garrison headquarters. Knowing that there is no energy stored there or for miles around, the Autobots realized that the attack is clearly a trap, but Star Saber decides to face the villains head on despite his own injuries, and heads out with the Rescue Team, leaving the Brainmasters to guard the base and protect Blacker. Laster tries to hide from Blacker the fact that anything is going on, but although he doesn't believe him, his injuries prevent him from investigating any further.

At the Asian headquarters, the Breastforce press their attack until Star Saber and the Rescue Team arrive. While the Rescues do their thing, Leozack, Guyhawk and Hellbat dazzle Star Saber with some aerial optic trickery, and chain bombs to him. Star Saber separates from the V-Star to try and remove the bombs, but the Breastforce keep him busy until the explosives detonate, sending Star Saber and the V-Star crashing down into the mountains nearby. The Breastforce pursue him and continue their attack, forcing him to combine with the damaged V-Star, in response to which villains merge into Liokaiser.

Back at the Shuttle Base, Blacker finally wrings the truth from Laster and Braver and demands to know why they didn't accompany Star Saber. They explain that Star Saber instructed them to stay for Blacker's sake. This leads the proud Autobot to pull rank on Braver and Laster and order them into battle, leaving him to protect the Shuttle Base himself.

I never knew Deathsaurus had such slender ankles!

Star Saber and Liokaiser's battle heats up as the Autobot leader disarms his opponent. Liokaiser flees into the midst of a nearby field of ancient statues and activates his invisibility powers, hiding amongst the statues and baiting Star Saber to attack. When Star Saber strikes one of the statues, it violently explodes, setting off a chain reaction that collapses the valley and sends the Supreme Commander tumbling into an underground chamber. There, Star Saber is immediately attacked by another statue, but this one is Deathsaurus in disguise, who is ready for another go-round with his Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon. Jean and Holi arrive to watch the battle from above as Liokaiser drops a boulder on Star Saber, pinning him for Deathsaurus.

"Kiss me, Hardy"
"... neither of us has lips."

As the Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon is primed, Holi attempts to contact the Shuttle Base to summon help, and as the trigger is pulled, a shadow leaps in front of the blast, protecting Star Saber. God Ginrai has arrived! Weakened by the blast, Ginrai lunges at Deathsaurus with a sword and is overpowered, taking another hit from the cannon. Star Saber manages to break free of the boulder, but is seized by Liokaiser, and forced to watch as Deathsaurus bears down on Ginrai, about to deliver the killing blast. Luckily, Ginrai is able to surprise Deathsaurus with his God Cannon, blinding him and causing him to fire wildly, giving Star Saber his chance to escape Liokaiser's grip. Star Saber races into action, and slices Deathsaurus's cannon in two with his Saber Blade, before impaling the Decepticon leader for good measure. Deathsaurus still has some fight in him, but when Braver and Laster arrive to tip the odds, Liokaiser persuades his leader to retreat to fight another day. The cavern begins to cave in, covering the villains' escape route, but as Laster and Braver go to help Holi and Jean down from the crumbling rocks, God Ginrai collapses into Star Saber's arms. As Star Saber asks if his friend is all right, Ginrai chokes out that "Godmasters are... immortal..." and passes out...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Is there no limit to your cowardice?! Treachery spouts from your mouth like a fountain and never shuts up!!"
"So your last words are that of a sore loser. How amusing."

—Star Saber and Deathsaurus, who kind of has a point.

"Damn you, Ginrai!"

—Deathsaurus, after being shot in the face by God Ginrai's shoulder cannon.

"This is a trap!"

—Star Saber, about 5 minutes too late.

Notes

Animation and technical errors

• As Deathsaurus pins Leozack down with his sword, his helmet is completely blue except for his crest.
• The red arrows on the bombs attached to the V-Star change direction repeatedly. In closeups, they tend to point outward, but in wider shots of Star Saber trying to remove them, the arrows point inward.
• A reverse of the subtitling error from the previous episode happens on the Shout Factory release of this one. Up until this point, Blacker has been consistently referred to by the name of his European Motorvator counterpart, Gripper. In this episode, it's switched back to his Japanese name the entire time.
• Also from the Shout Factory release, the timing of the subtitles on this particular episode are noticeably off by a second.

Continuity errors

• God Ginrai says that he was alerted to the battle by an SOS he picked up. We're not seriously expected to believe that that's the SOS Holi sent less than eight seconds before his arrival, are we? And if not... who sent it?

Continuity notes

• Blacker's severe injuries occurred in the previous episode, while Star Saber may still be recovering from wounds suffered over the last three or four episodes.
• Deathsaurus's Living-Metal-Destroying Cannon was previously seen in "Resurrection!? The Decepticon Fortress".
• Back in Super-God Masterforce, Ginrai could have easily healed from an injury of this severity, and he stills seems to think he should be able to, given his belief that "Godmasters are immortal." Evidently, though, the loss of his human component and his Jinchōkon has left him a lot weaker than he used to be.

Real world references

• The ancient statues in this episode appear to be inspired by the Terracotta Army of China.

Trivia

• This episode firmly establishes that there are other Autobot forces on Earth, which makes sense, since up until now we've been asked to believe that less than a dozen Autobots have been patrolling the entire planet. The previous episode first suggested this in a somewhat bizarre, disjointed scene.
• How the heck does Deathsaurus fit inside that statue?
• Star Saber doesn't come off very well in this episode. He knowingly flies into a trap (the attack on the Asian base), lets himself get lured into another trap (lured by Liokaiser into the statue field), falls for yet another ambush (Deathsaurus' surprise attack) and when he's held dead to rights by Deathsaurus can only spout nonsense on how treacherous the Decepticon is. Sore loser indeed.

Foreign localization

English

• Title: "A Battle of Life and Death" (Omni Productions dub)

• While threatening Leozack, Deathsaurus doesn't make any mention of a new plan.
• Star Saber says he'll call on Braver and Laster for help if necessary, rather than the Multiforce.
• Blacker accuses Laster of lying when the latter claims there's nothing wrong.

Home video releases

DVD

2003 — Transformers: Victory — DVD Box 02 (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
2006 — The Takara Collection Vol 3 — Transformers: Victory (Metrodome)
2007 — Transformers — The Complete Takara Collection (Metrodome)
2008 — The Transformers: Victory (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.
2009 — The Transformers: Japan Generation 1 — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment) — Optional Omni dub.