In Ruins

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"In Ruins"
Season	2
No. in season	2
Production company	Hasbro Entertainment Nickelodeon
Airdate	June 7, 2024 (Paramount+) TBD 2024 (Nickelodeon)
Writer	Ian Busch
Director	William Ruzicka
Animation studio	88 Pictures
Watch this episode on Paramount+

Mo and Thrash stumble upon ancient ruins and discover a mysterious creature inside.

Synopsis

The Malto family is searching the area around Witwicky for Emberstone fragments. Jawbreaker thinks he spots something, but it's just litter. Meanwhile Mo Malto speeds through the woods on Thrash though they seem more keen on enjoying themselves than searching. Mo challenges Thrash to jump a gorge, which ends up with them both plummeting to the ground, albeit to a reasonably safe landing. Mo spots a nearby cave and decides they should investigate it. Thrash is less than keen, but follows Mo in and soon has to save her when she triggers a trap that almost drops into into a pit lined with spikes. Further along, Mo triggers another trap that fires darts at the pair, and eventually they reach a sealed door. Thrash is relieved, until Mo dares him to open it and with some effort, they push it open enough to go in. Within they find a chamber containing ancient ruins decorated with petroglpyhs, and in the center, a huge pod. Mo and a reluctant Thrash go for a closer look. Mo spots Quintus Prime's symbol on the pod and, assuming it's related to Quintus's mission to spread life through the galaxy, uses her cyber-sleeve to open it. The pair are alarmed when the inhabitant of the pod snarls as it emerges, before collapsing to the ground in front of them. Spying Mo's cyber-sleeve, it hisses the name Quintus. Assuming it's a friendly associated with Quintus, Mo and Thrash decide to head home, but promise they'll be back.

Over dinner, Mo asks her father about ancient ruins that might be under Witwicky, and Robby recalls rumours of people going missing while looking for said ruins. Dot forbids any searching for ruins. As Thrash removes a stray dart that was still wedged in his neck, the creature from the pod appears in the driveway outside the house. Mo spots it first and making an excuse, goes to intercept it. Taking it into the barn, she offers it energon and cave water, but its interested in neither, so she returns to the kitchen and swipes the last of the meatballs. She and Thrash return to the barn and offer the creature meatballs, but Alex walks in having followed them, and identifies the newcomer as a Quintesson. The Quintesson Executioner takes the opportunity to grab Mo's cyber-sleeve, drawing energy from it and growing bigger and more menacing.

The Maltos attempt to shut the Quintesson in the barn and Mo explains how she and Thrash stumbled on their foe. Alex attempts to contact Dot, but the Quintesson starts bashing its way out of the barn, forcing the trio to run. They head into a corn field to hide. Alex is just explaining that the Quintessons and Quintus have a complicated history when the Quintesson catches up with them and begins chasing Mo. Thrash manages to keep Mo from its grip and the three Maltos rendezvous, at which point Mo comes up with a plan to lure the Quintesson back to the pod in the ruins. Though Alex vetoes the idea, the Quintesson comes out of nowhere and whisks off Mo in a direction Thrash realizes is towards the ruins. Alex and Thrash give chase.

Binding Mo to a pillar in the ruins, the Quintesson triggers a mechanism that raises the pod on a pyramid. It turns back to find Mo has escaped and the girl activates her cyber-sleeve armor ready to fight. Thrash and Alex arrive, only for the Quintesson to seal the entrance to the ruins, forcing them to start to dig their way in. Inside, Mo starts leading the Quintesson through the ruins. It tells her that Quintus created and then abandoned the Quintessons and points out that the Prime has abandoned her too. She successfully opens the pod, but the Quintesson demands she stands trial as Quintus's proxy. After more struggling, she manages to seal the Quintesson in the pod, which rockets into the sky as Alex and Thrash watch. The pair assume Mo was in the pod until she appears beside them for a happy reunion.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"You wanna walk down a darkly lit path that looks like it hasn't been used for centuries and feels like it's right out of some horror movie?"
(sigh) "Sometimes you really get me, Thrash."

—Thrash and Mo Malto

"It does seem like someone doesn't want us to be here."
"Yes! And his name is Thrash."

—Mo and Thrash

"You couldn't have found a Quintesson judge? Or baliff? Maybe a Quintesson massage therapist?"

—Alex Malto

"Even though you single-handedly defeated an intergalactic executioner, you'll always be my little Mosey."

—Alex Malto

Notes

Continuity notes

• TBD

Transformers references

• Quintesson Executioners have been among the Quintessons since The Transformers: The Movie where one was seen, well, executing Arblus.
• Alex rhetorically asks Mo why she couldn't have released a Judge or Bailiff.

Real-world references

• TBD

Errors

• TBD

Trivia

• This episode was dedicated to storyboard artist Will Ruzicka.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Les ruines" ("The Ruins")
• Original airdate: July 7, 2024

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Em Ruínas" ("In Ruins")
• Original airdate: July 6, 2024