Code of Hero In a Nutshell...
Dinobot has obviously taken classes at the "Ironhide Memorial School of Heroic Nonsense." He nobly sacrifices himself...for three lousy protohumans???

All The Gruesome Details

Warning! Warning! Major spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk!

Don't want to read everything that happened in the episode? Well, fine then! Be that way! You can just darn well click here and skip to the next part, you spoilsport.

From space, the Earth looks like a small blue dot, swathed in clouds and dotted with land masses. Makes you realize just how insignificant you are...

Oh, sorry. Waxing philosophic there...Anyway, the opening shot of the episode is of space...which pans down to Earth...which pans down through the clouds to focus on a narrow, lush valley (A rather nice sequence, actually...) A crow, the traditional specter of death in much medieval literature, lands on a branch of a tree and caws at two shaggy, vaguely humanoid critters, who are poking at the earth with sticks and grunting incoherently. The crow calls again...and a very large snake slithers down from the tree, undulating toward the two protohumans. Too late, the protohumans look up. The snake strikes. A murder of crows lofts into the air and begins to circle, perhaps hoping for a morsel...

Elsewhere, also circling, is Dinobot's sword. He's on his knees in his quarters, clutching the spinning sword in both hands. Out of the window, he sees three crows flying rather symbolically across the sun. Their shadows play over his face...and then, with a snarl and a growl, he tosses the sword away. It lands in a patch of sunlight. Yes, folks, something is eating away at our favorite Predacon...

Up in the command center, Optimus Primal arrives on the scene, mysteriously asks what is it? (What's what??). Rhinox asks if Optimus remembers the transwarp explosion. (You know, Op? The one you blew up in?) At Optimus' dubious look, Rhinox admits that it was a stupid question and then goes on to explain that the wavefront of that explosion will reach Cybertron in 2.218 decacycles and the result, of course, will be that those on Cybertron will then know where the crew of the Axalon is. Optimus is concerned that Megatron knows this as well, and Rattrap agrees. Optimus realizes that they better start increasing the base's defenses.

Meanwhile, Dinobot's emerging from his quarters. He finds Rattrap in the corridor tinkering with something in the wall. As he walks by, he gives the rodent a none-too- friendly smack, noting that the base is infested with vermin. Said vermin replies that not much changes..."except for the occasional allegiance." Dinobot halts in his tracks, turns back to Rattrap, who continues to taunt Dinobot, this time about giving Megatron back the Golden Disk.

Uh-oh. Dinobot, right in Rattrap's face, tells him to "push it one more inch." But Rattrap shoves him away, noting that he no longer knows where Dinobot stands. His work done on whatever it was he was doing, he stalks away in disgust. Alone, Dinobot considers Rattrap's words and his own future. "The rodent's words give off the stench of truth," he notes, and he wonders if his destiny has already arrived...and passed him by. Transforming to raptor mode as he walks and thinks, he muses that "A deed once done cannot be undone...but perhaps it may yet be mitigated." And with that, he takes off from the Maximal base, gun in hand.

Meanwhile, Cheetor's on patrol. He spots Megatron and Rampage, who both transform and open fire on him. He yells for help, and Dinobot answers the call. He goes off to find out what Megatron is up to...

Meanwhile, Tarantulas has caught an antelope in his web for dinner. He heads out of his lair...only to be promptly grabbed by Dinobot, who's buried himself between the web and Ranty's lair. Holding his gun in Ranty's face, he demands to know what information the Golden Disk contains. Tarantulas begs innocence. Dinobot shoots his gun over Ranty's shoulder, destroying the web and freeing the antelope. (Disney moment! "Oh, look, Dinobot. You've made me lose my lunch!" Sorry... :) ) Still Ranty begs innocence, citing the fact that there are no more copies of the disk's info, just the original, which Megs keeps with him. Dinobot notes that he'll have to go to Megatron. "Good luck catching up to him," Ranty taunts. "He's miles away." Dinobot just looks at Tarantulas, an evil half-smile on his face...Time to ride the Spidercycle!

Down in the valley (The valley so low...Hang your head o-verrr.... hear the wind blow... Sorry, never claimed I could sing...) Anyway, down in the valley, three protohumans are wandering around aimlessly when Megatron passes over in flying-dino mode. He lands and transforms near Rampage and near the lip of the valley. There's a snow-covered mountain in the distance. (One that's faintly phallic, I might add, but you didn't hear that from me... ) Megs says that it will serve nicely. Rampage taunts him, and in return, Megs gives him to old Spark Squeeze. Megs notes that he expects a visit from Cybertron soon, in response to which Rampage, recovered from the Squeeze, notes that he eagerly anticipates Megatron's imminent demise. (Gods, but I love that guy... :) ) A likely outcome, Megs agrees as he pulls out the Golden Disk. He fits it into his tail weapon (Which conveniently has a movie projector function. How droll! ) On the projection, there's the same mountain, though it's not snow-covered. Megs announces that the disk contains images recorded in the future, or--as he points out--one version of it. He orders Rampage to take a shot at the mountain, which he reluctantly does, though only after first holding Megs in his sights for a few seconds... In a blow to male egos everywhere, the phallic peak of the mountain explodes and crumbles to dust, ruined... and, on the disk, it now shows a ruined mountain as well. It's proof positive that what Meggy's doing in the past affects the future, something that Megs likes the idea of, yeeessss... Dinobot, watching from afar, realizes what Megatron's up to and notes that with the disk, Megs' power is "limitless." (D'oh! And you gave the disk back to him, silly boy! )

Overlooking the valley, meanwhile, Megs notes that the human race is destined to emerge from the valley below them (Riiiiiiiiight...). And he notes that the Autobots defeated the Decepticons because of the humans (Suuuuuuure...) and thus the Maximals rule the Predacons. Looking toward the mountain he muses, "But no longer. Nooo." Up in the sky, Waspinator, carrying Blackarachnia, and Inferno, carrying Quickstrike are arriving on the scene. "Destiny is about to undergo an improvement," Megs notes with satisfaction as they arrive. Dinobot, meanwhile, goes to call the Maximal base...only to be rudely interrupted by Tarantulas, who shoots him, the first of the "owies" that ol' Dinobot's gonna get in this episode... In return, Dinobot fires his eye beams at the Giant Boulder™ above Tarantulas' head...and, well you know what happens after that... :) So Dinobot gets through to Optimus after all...but it's gonna be a while before the Maximals can get there. And Megs already ordered the destruction of the valley, which the Preds proceed to begin. At the base, Optimus tells Dinobot to fall back until the others get there. But Dinobot, no doubt realizing that to wait will be fatal for humanity, disobeys. "The question that once haunted my being," he says, "has been answered. The future is not fixed and my choices are my own." As the camera pans around him so that he is impressively framed by the sun (Nice shot!), he pulls out his sword and declares, "I am a warrior!" ("I travel the river of blood!" Oooops, sorry. That's Klingons... :) ) "Let the battle be joined."

As the five other Maximals race toward Dinobot's location, Rattrap frets at Dinobot's chances against six Predacons. "There won't be enough left of him to make a toaster!" he laments.

Meanwhile, the battle is joined. Big time. Dinobot slices up Inferno with his rotor tail thingy, takes out Blackarachnia with Inferno's gun. As Inferno's head flies over Megatron, he realizes that something's amiss...Meanwhile, Dinobot, who's acquired more "owies," takes on Rampage and Waspinator. Using his rotor tail thingy as a helicopter rotor, he swoops down on Rampage and Waspinator, firing Inferno's gun at them. Waspinator shoots the gun out of Dinobot's hand, causing Dinobot to fall on top of him, smushing him. Rampage transforms, gets Dinobot in his sights...and Dinobot stuffs Waspinator into the active barrel of Rampage's tri-barreled cannon, causing it to backfire, taking out both Waspy and Rampage and sending Dinobot flying back against a tree. Sporting many owies, he raises his head and staggers to his feet. Megs and Quickstrike watch from above and Megs comments on the bravery of Dinobot. He's almost touched, but notes that such moments pass quickly. He sends Quickstrike, who's probably still smarting from the whupping Dinobot gave him back in "Maximal No More," off to finish him off...and then sets his sights on a couple of protohumans cowering nearby...

Quickstrike, meanwhile, shoots Dinobot unawares, sending him flying once again and giving him yet another owie or two. Dinobot shoots him with his eye lasers, but it doesn't affect Quickstrike much. Lurching to his feet, Dinobot tries again, but his lasers won't work. "What's a warrior without weapons?" Quickstrike wonders. Dinobot's answer? "A warrior still," and he proceeds to grab Quickstrike and slam him headfirst against a rock. He's down for the count...and apparently, Dinobot will be soon, as well, as his computer warns him that stasis lock is commencing. Dinobot overrides it...and thus seals his fate.

Why? Because he has yet to heroically face Megatron, of course, who comes stomping around a boulder claiming that his ears are burning (He has ears? Where? ). Megs recounts the events of recent episodes, what with the Golden Disk and the power they convey, and notes that the only stumbling block in his path to "unimaginable glory" is Dinobot. So what do you think Megs is going to do about that, eh? Why, taunt some more, of course. He declares Dinobot defeated. Dinobot, of course, begs to differ. Dinobot moves to charge, at which point Megs reveals his ace in the hole: One protohuman, all trussed up. Dinobot pauses. "How positively Maximal of you," Megs says disgustedly, and taunts that Dinobot was weakened before he started by compassion. He fires up his weapon (Finally...)...but Dinobot attacks...with a stick???? (Oh, please!). Which is Megs' reaction, too, as he knocks Dinobot aside. Meanwhile, Dinobot's computer is giving him his final warning...but Dinobot still lurches to his feet. Megs' final taunt? "What can you possibly do?" "Improvise," is Dinobot's tortured reply. He attaches a rock to his stick and once more charges at Megatron, clocking him in the head. Megs goes flying one way, the disk in the other, and the power bonds trussing up the protohuman disappear. As the protohuman runs away, Dinobot catches the disk. Using the very last ounce of his energy, he destroys it with his eyebeams, and then collapses. The Maximals finally arrive and send Megs packing, who yells that he was "SO CLOOOOOOSE!" as he retreats (Shades of G1 Megatron... )

The Maximals gather around Dinobot, Rattrap with a huge gasp. Cheetor insists that they do something, but Rhinox notes that there's nothing they can do. Optimus tells Dinobot that he saved the valley, and all who live there and all who are yet to come. "Then there is nothing to regret," Dinobot notes. And, after a brief, heartfelt exchange with Rattrap in which Rattrap notes that it's good to know where Dinobot stands, Dinobot's gone forever. As his spark flies up into the night, Rattrap gets to his feet and fires off a salute, which is quickly echoed by the others. "He lived a warrior, and died a hero," Optimus eulogizes, his voice wavering, "Let his spark join the Matrix, the greatest of Cybertron."

Later, as Optimus, Silverbolt, and Cheetor fly over in a variation of the traditional "missing man" formation, Dinobot's body is "cremated" by a device which apparently works in a similar manner to a Star Trek transporter, in that it converts matter to energy..

And, off in the valley, the protohuman that Dinobot saved has found Dinobot's club. He uses it first to smack open a coconut...and then uses it to smite the snake from the beginning of the episode. Raising his club over his head triumphantly, the protohuman lets out a warrior yell that is eerily similar to that of another warrior that we all know and love...

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Nightwind's Unsolicited Opinions

Y'know...The emotional punch that this episode packs is almost enough to make me overlook a plot absurdity the size of Manhattan which eats away at the very foundation of this episode.

Almost, that is. I mean, if I did overlook it, then my reputation as a Serious Griper would be totally destroyed, wouldn't it? Heaven forbid...!

But before I start griping, let me give kudos where kudos are due for the really good part of the episode. And, fortunately, it's a very strong good point...That, of course, is Dinobot's heroic and very noble death. While some might consider his death overly melodramatic (and in less charitable moments, I'm inclined to agree), I very much think that it fits the character. Dinobot, from the very beginning of the series, was always sort of larger than life, after all. He was a very complex character, probably the most complex of the entire series. I got the sense that there was this pit of raging fury lurking within him, a fury held in check only by a huge helping of steely self-control. Every once in a while, that control would slip and he'd lash out--often at Rattrap ("A Better Mousetrap," anyone?)--but in general, Dinobot was ruled by an air of cool detachment and a strict, self-imposed code of honor (Which should have been the title of this episode, but more on that in a bit...), so much so that I think that some of the writers had in their time watched a few too many Klingon episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation. And always, always, I think that above all Dinobot believed that switching sides and helping the Maximals to defeat Megatron was the right--and, therefore, the honorable--thing to do.

Until "Aftermath," that is...I think it was very interesting, once it was revealed that the Beast Wars crew was on Earth, to watch Dinobot grapple with the knowledge that Megatron had, indeed, done what he'd promised to do, and that Dinobot himself had been wrong all along. When he changed sides again in "Maximal No More," it was believable precisely because of this struggle of Dinobot's to determine where he truly belonged. And it was nice that "Code of Hero" brought that struggle full circle. Dinobot realized what Megatron was up to, realized what would happen if Megatron succeeded in his plan to wipe out humanity, and realized that if he took the time to explain it all to the Maximals, it would be far too late. He realized that his destiny was staring him in the face, that the defining moment of who he was and who he was meant to be was at hand. Right there, right then.

In the end, Dinobot did what he felt he had to do, as he always did throughout the series. He did it without any qualms whatsoever, without a fraction of a second of hesitation. He died for his efforts. And for his beliefs. And for the future of humanity.

Alive, Dinobot was larger than life. He died the same way.

Which is, in the end, only fitting. Had Dinobot, who had been so carefully developed over the course of the series so far, died unceremoniously and without fanfare like so many other of the Beast Wars characters (*cough* Tigatron *cough*--OK, so he didn't die, per se, but he might as well have...), I would have been mightily upset. I might very well have taken a sledgehammer to my TV set, in fact. A significant slice of Beast Wars fandom would have been equally disappointed, I should think. But, thankfully, Dinobot's death was handled very well. It was emotional. It was fittingly noble and heroic. Above all, it was very much in character.

However...

There's a big old plot hole that lurks at the heart of this episode, that being its very premise. How, exactly, does the scorching of one valley prevent the evolution of modern humans? The episode would seem to suggest that modern humans sprang from a small number of primitive anthropoids, and therefore that doing in those few anthropoids would subsequently prevent the evolution of mankind. I don't think so. Yes, I know that's what the disk says, but I don't buy it. It's too convenient. Evolution just doesn't work that way, or so I've been given to believe. I'm no expert on the subject, but I do know that entire species evolve into other entire species; one single individual (or even one small group of individuals) does not evolve into an entire new species. Evolution is not nearly so simple as that, though Beast Wars does have a bad habit of interpreting hideously complex things in the most simple terms possible (Like the nature of time in "The Agenda").

Beyond that, though...Say that Megatron's plan had succeeded, that he wiped out humanity by destroying those protohumans in the valley that Dinobot defended so well. What, exactly, does he or the Predacons/Decepticons gain from this? Sure, when the Autobots and the Decepticons wake up in 1984, there won't be any humans around. This might be a detriment to the Autobots, because they certainly benefitted from the largesse of humanity. But it would, I think, also be just as detrimental to the Decepticons. Why? Because they delighted in taking stuff from the humans, from already-nicely-processed forms of energy to the humans' various nifty inventions, which the Decepticons subsequently used to gain an advantage, however temporary, over the Autobots. Like antimatter. Like the Voltronic Galaxer. Like Nightbird. So without the humans around, life would be just that much more difficult--and equally so, I should think--for both the Autobots and the Decepticons come 1984. In fact, without the humans around to protect and worry about, Optimus Prime, et. al. might just be freer to kick Decepticon keister without having to worry about accidentally shooting a human, which would not be a good thing for G1 Megatron and Co. So even if BW Megatron's plan worked--as with "The Agenda"--I really don't think that it would necessarily guarantee that the Decepticons would win the conflict in 1984 and onward.

Then again, maybe Megs is just petty and wants to destroy humanity out of spite? Nah, I don't think so. Megs is many things, but petty is not one of them. G1 Megs has much more of a tendency toward pettiness that BW Megs ever displays... So, overall, I just don't get what Megs has to gain from the whole plot. Which, unfortunately, just highlights the fact that all of it, I'm afraid, is a plot device designed to give Dinobot something worth dying/committing suicide for. Which in my book, makes Dinobot's noble death seem far less necessary. Which is a shame...

There's one other thing that completely baffles me about the episode. Why does Megatron give up so easily? He was, indeed, "SO CLOOOOOSE!" So why leave? And don't even get me started on the effectiveness of Dinobot's club against Megatron...That's just entirely unbelievable, no matter how ticked off Dinobot was at the moment. It's the equivalent of firing a spit ball at a charging elephant...

And how about the episode's title, eh? "Code of Hero"... "Code of Hero" makes absolutely no sense. It should be "Code of a/the Hero." Or "Code of Heroes" or "Code of Honor." Or something. "Code of Hero" is definitely missing an article in there somewhere. :) Sure, you may think it's a minor gripe, and maybe it is. Sure, the fact that it's oddly titled shouldn't make me take away points from an episode. But...let me just say that if I were going to write something professional, something that would be shown to the masses, especially in a televised format, then I would make darn shootin' sure that every facet of that piece of my writing was correct, complete with standard grammar. Bad/informal grammar is fine and dandy for newsgroup posts or even a silly episode guide like this one, but for something professional? Something public? It just doesn't fly with me. If one is going to put so much effort into crafting something to be good enough to be shown on television, then one should put just as much effort into titling said piece. "Code of Hero" sounds like something produced by a chimpanzee (or a protohuman :) ) that's been plopped down in front of a typewriter, which is a shame. Why? Because the title of an episode is the first thing that I, as a viewer, see. Seeing "Code of Hero" up on the screen literally made my skin crawl, even though I knew that was the title of the episode before I watched it. Perhaps I'm just overly sensitive to stuff like that, given that I used to teach English for a living, but...well, to me, it's just a symptom of sloppiness. Poor grammar, whether in the body of a written piece or in its title, indicates to me that the writer doesn't care enough about what he/she is producing to make it conform to grammatical standards. That's not the image that I, if I were the writer of "Code of Hero," would want to project. I doubt that it's the image that the writer of anything would really want to project... At least, I hope not...

OK, enough grammar ranting. :)

How 'bout a bit of Greek mythology instead, just to finish this off? Why? Because there's an interesting Greek mythology parallel that's (sort of) here in "Code of Hero." Prometheus was a Greek immortal who gave the gift of fire to humanity, which until he did this, was a thing which belonged only to the gods. This, of course, royally ticked off the gods and, as punishment, the gods chained Prometheus to a rock for all eternity. Each day during his confinement, a large eagle visited him and ate his liver--which, since he was immortal, didn't kill him, but it couldn't have been very pleasant. :) Now, it occurs to me that Dinobot is kind of like Prometheus, only instead of giving fire to humanity, he gave them weaponry. I kind of think Dinobot would sort of like that legacy...though I can only hope that he's not chained to a rock somewhere having what passes for his liver eaten out of him every day... :)

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Great Moments

I am the first to admit that, from the time Dinobot breaks the Golden Disk with the very last bit of his power right through to the end of his "cremation," I am bawling like a complete idiot whenever I watch this episode. It's even worse than the bawling I do for Ironhide every time I watch TF:TM! After watching this episode six times in a row to tally up everything for my trivia toteboard, I truly felt like I'd been through an emotional wringer. While writing the summary, it was hard to see the laptop's screen through the tears. I'm serious!! I must make sure I am not in the video room at Botcon when this episode is playing, or I'll make a total idiot of myself...which, now, of course, means that someone (Hi, Scott!) will make sure I'm in the room...

But anyway... Does that whole stretch count as a "Great Moment," you may be asking? You bet yer bippy it does! :) When you need a good cry (You women out there will understand, I'm sure. :) ), this is the episode to watch!

A Great Moment within a Great Moment: Trust Dinobot to paraphrase Hamlet even while dying...Gives me shivers every time he does that...

Another Great Moment within a Great Moment: Trust Rattrap to be the first to show any distress at the prospect of Dinobot's death. Trust Rattrap to be the first one to salute him at the very end. It's a fitting cap for a relationship between two characters who, at first, couldn't have been more hostile toward one another. But then, as time went by, the relationship kind of morphed into more of a back-handed affection and respect for one another, to the point that Rattrap was perhaps the most broken up over Dinobot's death. Pity that this angle was never followed-up upon in the series, although fanfic writers have attacked it with abandon, of course...

The music in this episode is haunting. I admit that I don't always pay attention to the music in the episodes because they tend to use the same themes over and over again. But there are some themes here that, I think, are never used again in the series, which is a nice touch. They were killing a much-loved character, after all, so perhaps someone felt that the least they could do was compose some new music for his passing. The results, I must say, are very nice...

On a tight shot of the Golden Disk, the disk is clearly inscribed with "The Sounds of Earth." And this is before it's revealed that the disk came from the Voyager spacecraft. Had I noticed this before, it would have come as no surprise to me that the disk came from a Voyager probe, as revealed three episodes hence in "The Agenda, Part 2"...but unfortunately I didn't notice it until I had paused the tape on exactly that spot to write down the summary of the scene so far... It's a nice touch for the observant folk among us. Wish I was one of them... :)

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Closed Captioning Weirdness
(Or, Sometimes What You Think They Say Is Not Really What They Say…)

1. As Cheetor sights Megatron and Rampage out on their stroll, he activates his comm and says, "Cheetor to pod base" instead of "Cheetor to bot base."
2. Right after that, he says "Got a blue plate sighting in Tango Sector..." instead of "Got a blue plate sighting in Tengu Sector..."
   (Tengu, of course, is an esteemed ATTer. The captioners had no idea what to do with his name, I'll wager, so they transmuted it into a word phonetically close to it, hence the "tango." Just goes to prove that none of the captioners are ATTers... :) )
3. Megs orders, "Quickstrike, scrub him," instead of "Quickstrike, scrap him."
   (Apparently, Megs likes his adversaries squeaky-clean before he thrashes them... :) )
4. As Megatron and Dinobot are facing off, Megs plays his trump card, directing Dinobot's attention to the trussed-up protohuman he's captured and says, "One more step and it's ready. It's an early anthropoid" instead of "One more step and it's raining bits of early anthropoid."
   (Hey, I'm just surprised that they got "anthropoid" right... :) )
   

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Totally Arbitrary Overall Rating, Just For the Heck of It

Like "The Agenda," this is another one that's difficult for me to rate. There's stuff in "Code of Hero" that I really like, but also stuff in it that I really hate. Love Dinobot's final sacrifice, hate the too-easy way that Megs leaves the scene. Love the little bits like "Sounds of Earth" inscribed on the Golden Disk, hate the horrible title! Love the music, hate the protohumans with a deep, abiding passion, although they aren't nearly as annoying here as they become in Season 3. And, to top it all off, the thing plays with my emotions too much. I tend to think highly of things that make me bawl, or at least that make me become emotionally involved with what's playing out on the screen, even when high marks aren't warranted. Overall, I like "Code of Hero" better than I like "The Agenda." Even though they suffer from similarly shaky premises, "Code of Hero" is more concise and far more meaningful than "The Agenda."

I still would not label this the best of all of the Beast Wars episodes, but it's certainly not terrible. I gave "The Agenda" a 7 overall (though, thinking about it again, it should have been a 6 or a 6.5), and I like "CoH" better...Bearing in mind that I should have rated "The Agenda" lower, I'll give "Code of Hero" an 8, although that's mainly because of the overwhelmingly emotional nature of the episode. Without that, it would have rated far, far less... What can I say? I'm a woman; I go for stuff that tugs at the old heartstrings... :)