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« Transformers: Cybertron ep 8 » Galaxy Force ep 9
"Collapse" 人間の街を救え! () (Ningen no Machi o Sukue!) "Save the Human City!"
Production company	TV Aichi, We've, Tōkyū Agency
Airdate	March 5, 2005 (Japanese) August 6, 2005 (English)
Writer	Kazuhiko Sōma
Director	Masashi Nagao
Animation studio	GONZO, Azeta Pictures
Continuity	Unicron Trilogy cartoon continuity

When a newly opened gold mine causes a mountain to collapse, putting Rockville in danger, it's time for the Autobots to do what they do best. Also: Ninjas. They are darned annoying!

Synopsis

Across Earth and Velocitron, many different scenes unfold....

FLYING TACKLE HUG!

Optimus Prime and Landmine spar in the Autobot base...

A mysterious government agent studies photos of the Transformers...

And Megatron attempts to blast his way into the shrine containing Velocitron's Planet Cup. Even his prodigious strength is not enough to break down the door, and as he growls in defeat, Ransack and Crumplezone approach him with news...

About the only ones who aren't up to something exciting are Coby, Bud, Lori and the Recon Mini-Con Team, who are lounging around the Autobot base watching television. Jolt is absolutely fascinated by a televised address from the new President of the United States, but no-one else shares his enthusiasm, so Bud instead suggests that they go to their houses for a "play date". Jolt cannot dissuade his fellow Mini-Cons from the idea, and has to go with them. And it's a fortunate thing that he does: when the speeding Reverb and Six-Speed are pulled over by the town sheriff for their reckless driving, Jolt saves Coby and Bud's bacon by projecting holograms of the President and Vice President into their driver's seats, dumbfounding the sheriff and allowing them to get away.

Altogether: AWWWWWW!

Coby, Bud, Jolt and Reverb make it to the Hansens' house, where Bud shows Reverb ninja movies while Jolt pores over the Hansens' family photos and a home movie of a young Coby drinking an ice-cream float at an amusement park. Things get hairy when Coby and Bud's parents come home early, but fortunately, a phone call distracts their father before he can find the two Mini-Cons hiding in the closet. Things are going a little better at Lori's house, where Six-Speed gets emotional while reading "The Little Match Girl".

As night begins to fall, things start to calm down... until an earthquake suddenly racks Rockville! As the citizenry takes refuge in City Hall, Jolt traces the epicenter of the tremor to nearby Mount McDermott, which has been rendered unstable after a recent large-scale gold-mining operation. Jolt summons Optimus Prime and the Autobots to assist in helping minimize the effects of the disaster, but it turns out the worst is yet to come: the mountain is on the verge of total collapse, which will in turn cause the release of an underground reservoir, flooding the entire town.

"In this country, it makes you look like a pervert... but every single Scottish person does it!"

While Landmine and Overhaul help with disaster relief in Rockville itself, Prime and Scattorshot meet with the kids and Mini-Cons to try and figure out what to do. Remembering his home movie and the ice-cream float, Coby hits upon a solution: Prime uses his water pumps to drain the reservoir dry, and then Scattorshot delivers a missile blast that collapses the mountain safely into the empty cavern left behind. The plan is a roaring success, and as dawn breaks, Coby and Bud reunite with their parents... unaware that a certain sinister government agent is video-taping them from his car...

Back on Velocitron, Crumplezone and Ransack reveal their news to Megatron: they are entered in the latest big race, and can potentially win the Cyber Planet Key for him! Megatron is not entirely convinced of their ability, but permits them to race, rationalizing that he can at least focus his attentions elsewhere while they are covering the racing side of things. Megatron then departs... without noticing that Hot Shot has been eavesdropping on their conversation, and now knows that the Planet Cup is the Cyber Planet Key! His determination fired up even more than usual with this revelation, Hot Shot vows to beat all comers and recover the Key for the Autobots.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!

"...a proactive coalition for transnational synergy, indemnifying conglomerate bipartisanship."

—President of the United States

"I don't think those are real words, are they?"
"They're real words, they just don't mean anything."
"Then why use them?"
"That's just how politicians talk."

—Jolt and Coby have an all too accurate discussion about politics.

"So what is it with boys and fast cars anyway?"
"On my planet, the boys turn into fast cars."

—Lori and Jolt

"Your proactive bipartisan synergy is indemnifying!"

—The President Jolt could totally be in politics.

"You darned annoying guy! I'll make you genuflect like a dung beetle simmering in yakisoba!"

—People who think Cybertron is badly dubbed should check out some of the flicks in Bud's collection.

"That ninja vanished in a wisp of flatulence!"
"Yes. It is darned annoying!"

—Seriously, Bud has, like, no taste in movies.

"I will dishonor your guts with my REVERSE QUACKING DUCK ATTACK!"

—Yes really!

"Disappeared in a puff of flatulence!"

—Bud has no taste at all. And to think Reverb was into it too!

"You're helping save our home, so now we're going to save yours. That's what we do."

—Optimus Prime

"Can't... back up... gotta push... through it... BOOOOYAH!"

—Landmine milks it

"I wonder if it tastes like green gloop?"
"It tastes like success!"

—Bud and Optimus Prime

Notes

Differences with Galaxy Force

• Generally speaking, Cybertron greatly magnifies the "family" theme running through this episode. There is more discussion on the meaning of family inserted between Jolt and Coby as they look at the photos, and the familial relationship between the humans and Autobots, and their value to each other and their worlds, is the subject of much discussion.
• In the course of the training banter at the start of the episode, Cybertron inserts the revelation that Landmine trained Optimus Prime back in the old days.
• The President's effusive use of hyperbolic verbiage is an amendment of the localization. In Galaxy Force, Jolt merely catechizes Coby on the identity of the personage in evidence in the televisual presentation.
• In Galaxy Force, the ninja show that Bud and Reverb are watching is pretty normal, but in Cybertron the writers go full-blown silly with it, with stereotypical Asian accents, wisps of flatulence, and Quacking Duck attacks.
• In Galaxy Force, it is noted in passing that it is not the Speed Planet trophy itself that is the Cyber Planet Key, but specifically the jewel in the trophy's crown.
• In Galaxy Force, the phone call that distracts Mr. Hansen from Coby and Bud is from his eldest son, Coby and Bud's brother Tim. In Cybertron, on the other hand, it is from a neighbor who wants to tell him about his new fishing rod. At first glance, removing this familial connection is a bit odd in light of Cybertron's attempt to increase the concept of family in this episode, but on closer analysis, this seems to tie back into something established in the Galaxy Force version of "Fallen", and which will come up again in "Search". Scenes in those episodes suggest that Coby does not have the greatest relationship with the rest of his family, and this scene rather reinforces that, as his father immediately forgets about Coby and Bud at the mere mention of a phone call from Tim. Cybertron consistently excised this aspect of the Hansen family life, so this is presumably the rationale behind the alteration to this scene. Cybertron also has Coby say in "Retreat" that the reason he is not very connected with his brother is "lots of wedgies."
• Galaxy Force makes a point of explaining that Prime is converting the water he sucks out of the reservoir into oxygen and hydrogen. Cybertron omits this explanation, and it did cause some fans to wonder how he was retaining such a huge amount of liquid when the dubbed episode first aired.

Continuity notes

• Landmine is still recovering from the injuries Starscream inflicted on him back in the first episode of the series.
• The mysterious government agent last appeared in "Hidden". The photos he is looking through appear to be of the events of that episode.

Transformers references

• Optimus Prime delivers a Metallikato kick.
• Optimus swears "by Primus' Spark!"

Real-world references

• Presumably, Mount McDermott is named after Cybertron writer David McDermott.
• The ice cream float that Coby enjoys in this episode is known as a "Cream Soda" in Japan, a melon-flavored soft drink with a scoop of vanilla ice cream which is, basically, the cultural equivalent of America's root beer float. Of course, since "cream soda" is the name of an entirely different kind of drink in America, Cybertron has little Coby call the drink "green gloop" instead.
• Six-Speed finds "The Little Match Girl" tear-inducing. And who can blame him?

Trivia

• The kids state they're on summer break (which explains how they have all that free time) and the President is referred to as "our new President", implying she's just a few months into her first term.
• Mr. Hansen's first name is given as "Robert".
• There isn't a single stock-footage transformation, Cyber Key power or Super Mode sequence in this entire episode! Wow!
• According to Jolt, his home planet doesn't have sunsets.

Home video releases

DVD

2005 — Transformers: Galaxy Force — Vol. 03 (Victor Entertainment) — Japanese audio only.
2008 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
2014 — Transformers: Cybertron — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)