Episode List

Season One

More Than Meets the Eye
Transport to Oblivion
Roll For It
Divide and Conquer
Fire in the Sky
S.O.S. Dinobots
Fire on the Mountain
War of the Dinobots
The Ultimate Doom
Countdown to Extinction
A Plague of Insecticons
Heavy Metal War

Season Two

Autobot Spike
Changing Gears
City of Steel
Attack of the Autobots
Traitor
The Immobilizer
The Autobot Run
Atlantis, Arise!
Day of the Machines
Enter the Nightbird
A Prime Problem
The Core
The Insecticon Syndrome
Dinobot Island
The Master Builders
Auto Berserk
Microbots
Megatron's Master Plan
Desertion of the Dinobots
Blaster Blues
A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court
The Golden Lagoon
The God Gambit
Make Tracks
Child's Play
Quest for Survival
The Secret of Omega Supreme
The Gambler
Kremzeek!
Sea Change
Triple Takeover
Prime Target
Auto-Bop
The Search for Alpha Trion
The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
Hoist Goes Hollywood
The Key to Vector Sigma
Aerial Assault
War Dawn
Trans-Europe Express
Cosmic Rust
Starscream's Brigade
The Revenge of Bruticus
Masquerade
B.O.T

Season Three

Five Faces of Darkness
The Killing Jar
Chaos
Dark Awakening
Forever is a Long Time Coming
Starscream's Ghost
Thief in the Night
Surprise Party
Madman's Paradise
Nightmare Planet
Ghost in the Machine
Webworld
Carnage in C-Minor
The Big Broadcast of 2006
The Quintesson Journal
The Ultimate Weapon
Fight or Flee
The Dweller in the Depths
Only Human
Grimlock's New Brain
Call of the Primitives
Face of the Nijika
The Burden Hardest to Bear
The Return of Optimus Prime

Season Four

The Rebirth

Fire in the Sky in a Nutshell...
Starscream digs up an old friend. Literally!

More Than...You Want to Know!

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

Don't want to read everything that happened in this episode? Well, fine! Be that way! You can just darn well click here and go on to the next part, ya spoilsport!

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

And snow it does. At Autobot Headquarters, no less. Weird? Yes, indeed...

Spike doesn't seem to care, though. He's wandering around outside when he comes across a huge snowman...that laughs. Turns out, it's a snow-covered Jazz. Jazz knocks the snow off of himself, which covers Spike. Spike doesn't care much for Jazz's "flurry in a hurry," but he does "get [Jazz's] drift." (Oy! Bad puns. Spare me!) Jazz apparently likes bad puns, though, since he laughs (Though he sounds mysteriously like Cliffjumper when he does...) Anyway, it’s on to more snow fun. Time for a snowball fight! A bunch of Autobots--including Hound, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and the aforementioned Cliffjumper--lob snowballs at Jazz, who ducks behind an outcropping. The "spheroid projectiles" cause a minor avalanche that buries Jazz, who complains "That's 'snow' fair!" (Oh, help me!) The snowball fight continues and Bumblebee prepares to lob a snowball at Ratchet, Spike tattle-tales...so Bumblebee lobs the Autobot-sized snowball at Spike instead. Nails him right in the kisser, too. (His aim is apparently much better when armed with a snowball than it is when he’s armed with a laser.) The snowball’s impact sends him rolling down a hill, and a snowball grows around him as he rolls. The Spikeball plows into Hound, Cliffjumper, and Ratchet and breaks apart. But Cliffjumper continues to slide down the hill until he's stopped by a tree. And Hound continues sliding, too, until he's stopped by...a snow-covered saguaro cactus? Yep. Which prompts Spike to marvel about the novelty of having a "snowball fight in July in the middle of the desert."

Optimus Prime, watching the antics of Spike and his apparently immature gang of underlings, marvels about it, too. Of course, Optimus being Optimus, he suspects danger, too. (Gee, ya think??) He calls up a weather report from Teletran, which promptly reports that the entire planet is freezing. Gears is positive that Megatron is behind it. (Me, I'd vote for the Cold Miser. And if you don't know who that is, you need to be watchin' "The Year Without a Santa Claus...")

Meanwhile, someplace cold-looking, a funky green crystal breaks through the surface of the ice...and there's Skywarp, too! (Oh happy day! Skywarp gets some lines!) He reports, to no one in particular, that tunnel-blasting is completed. Inside said tunnel, a Reflector guy stabs the funky green crystal with a tube-like thing while Skywarp informs us all that soon hundreds of energon cubes will be filled to capacity. (Gee, I hope so. If you don't fill 'em to capacity, you'll have a bunch of Decepticons sitting around bickering over whether the cubes are half-empty or half-full.) Elsewhere, Starscream is reporting to Megatron that everything is on schedule, that finding this crystal shaft that apparently leads to the Earth's core was the "hard part," but that pumping out the heat energy is "simplicity itself." Megatron predicts that soon the Earth will soon be an "icy tomb" and that they will return home with enough energon cubes to (all together now!) "dominate the universe." (Yeah, yeah, Megs...You always say that... Never happens, though, does it, sweeting?)

Meanwhile, Rumble is pounding on a recalcitrant wall of ice with his pile-driver arms, to no effect. Skywarp taunts him and Rumble, without a word, turns back to the ice with an "I'll show him 'tude" and give the ice a particularly solid whack. Which works. Too well. The ice goes BOOM! The resulting aftershocks cause Skywarp to fall flat on his keister, and the shattered bits of ice chase Rumble up the tunnel…and eventually overtake him and Skywarp. Unburying himself, Rumble sees something--It looks the very tip of a plane's wing--sticking out of the ice and wonders what it is. "Something's frozen in the ice," Skywarp answers. (Imagine that! Something that's inside a block of ice that's actually frozen. Skywarp can be so adorably dense sometimes...) Meanwhile, Starscream arrives on the scene. He wants to know why Skywarp and Rumble are "standing around like lumps at a smelter." (They aren't standing around, Screamer...They're sitting around. ;) ) "We found something," Skywarp says in his defense. Megatron, arriving on the scene, too, says, "So you have." And he goes over to investigate, nosy thing that he is...

Megatron tells Starscream that he wants a closer look at whatever it is and Starscream, being remarkably agreeable, says, "You shall have it, leader." (Bonus points for usage of the word "shall!") And he fires his lasers at whatever it is, melting the ice. Eventually, enough ice is melted away that Megatron can determine that they've found a "robot of unknown classification." A big one. Megs gets all drooly about this find's size and strength...and decides to give him the Big Thaw.

Back at Bot HQ, meanwhile, Teletran reports an abnormally large energy expenditure in the Arctic Circle and finds the funky green crystal. Teletran reports the heat loss is greatest right at that spot. Jazz suggests a natural phenomenon. (Yeah, right...) But, of course, Teletran sniffs out a Decepticon presence. And they're off! "Therrrrre they go to save the daaaaaay!" (Hmmmmm...a rear-wheel-drive Porsche driving off-road in snow and ice. Jazz is an amazing guy.)

Meanwhile, Soundwave, Skywarp, and Thundercracker are fussing over the big new robot, trying to wake him up. ("Whatever it is, being on ice kept it fresh," Thundercracker reports. HAH! :) ) But it takes a million-volt jolt (Yikes!) from Soundwave just to activate his "memory monitor." (I can relate. It can take a million-volt jolt to wake me up sometimes, too... :) Or at least a million gallons of caffeine and/or sugar…) Meanwhile, Megatron wants to know why Starscream is so concerned about this guy, to which Starscream replies that he knows him. ("Alas, poor Skyfire. I knew him well."...Wait, wrong show. Sorry!) After the big guy's memory monitor activates, Starscream goes on to explain that this big guy's name is Skyfire and that he and Starscream both used to be explorers from Cybertron. (No! I thought they were explorers from Venus!). They were on a mission to explore an uncharted planet--which, darn it all, just happened to be Earth!--but in mid-exploration they ran into a polar windstorm and got separated. Starscream "circled half the globe" looking for Skyfire (Only half? Some friend you are, Screamer...), to no avail. (Awww...poor Screamer...) But now, as Megs says, Starscream's finally found him. ("I have found you! Kunte Kinte!" Sorry...That's a reference that's way before many TF fans' time. But I just couldn't help myself!)

Skyfire, meanwhile, groans (Of course! He's a male!) as he wakes up. Seeing Starscream, he realizes that he's been rescued but wonders where the heck he is because wherever he is, it sure ain’t Cybertron. Starscream helpfully informs him that he's on Earth (Like he'd know what "Earth" is, Screamer...Sheez...), and further informs him that "many years" have gone by since he crashed. I imagine that Screamer would like to have a chat with Skyfire, but Megatron's had enough socializing. He introduces himself, tells Skyfire that their mission in life is to collect enough energy to (All together now!) conquer the universe and that the Autobots are now their enemies... (As if Skyfire would know who the Autobots are, given that he's been in la-la land since before the war started...)

Speaking of the Autobots, they've miraculously arrived in the Arctic Circle. They spend a few moments admiring the aurora borealis, which Spike helpfully translates as the "Northern Lights". (Like Optimus would need help in that regard. His own name is Latin, fer cryin' out loud!) And then they’re off again. After all, this ain’t a sightseeing trip…

Skyfire, meanwhile, is all decked out with a Decepticon symbol. And, with no more ceremony, Megatron tells Starscream to put Skyfire on guard patrol, and then he strolls off. Skyfire, obviously troubled by all this war business, asks Starscream if he likes being a warrior more than a scientist, to which Starscream answers that being a warrior is far more exciting (...But not nearly so safe, of course...). And then he confides that soon he will usurp Megatron and then Skyfire will be his second-in-command. Skyfire doesn't leap for joy or anything at the prospect, but he is grateful to Starscream that Starscream and Company rescued him, so he'll try to bring Starscream credit. (American Express...Don't leave home without it. Oh, wait...Wrong kind of credit...)

Later, Skyfire spots the Autobots coming in for a visit. With reluctance, he realizes that it's time for him "to make the change from science to war." As the Autobots drive up, Spike points at Skyfire and asks, "What is that?" (Like you've never seen a Transformer before, Spike? Geez...) Skyfire orders them all to halt, which they do...and then they transform, whereupon Skyfire realizes that these are the dreaded Autobots. He levels his gun at them and yells that they "must be destroyed!" He starts shooting and everyone scatters. Spike, while running, goes for a slide and ends up in a patch of water that somehow isn't frozen. Sparkplug pulls him out, though. (Lord Chumley: "Drat! Dash! Double drat!") But then a stray shot of Skyfire's dissolves the ice around them, leaving them stuck on a little island of ice from which they cannot escape. Sparkplug cheerfully predicts that unless one of the Autobots rescues them, they're "done for." So they start to yell at the top of their lungs for help.

Skyfire hears them and, realizing that the yells are emanating from folks who aren't Autobots, he goes off, heedless of the lasers that are shooting at him, to "try to communicate with them." (Duh! They speak the same language you do, you big dope! :) ) He grabs them off of their little impromptu island and wonders why they seemed so frightened. (Gee, do ya think it could it be because a moment ago you were threatening to destroy the guys they arrived with and now you're grabbing them?) He will not harm the puny humans. So Spike asks why he's wearing that-there con symbol then, to which Skyfire replies that only the evil Autobots need fear him. Spike explains that they Autobots aren't evil, that they're fighting to protect the Earth and all the humans. Sparkplug seconds that, calling the Decepticons "monsters." Skyfire says that can't be true and that he's gonna take Spike and Sparkplug off for a little visit to Megatron who will, "show [them] that [they] have nothing to fear." (Mmmmm hmmmmm. Suuuuuure....) The Autobots watch, aghast, as Skyfire carries off the two humans. Ironhide makes a move to shoot at Skyfire, only to be stopped by Optimus Prime who, as usual, has gone all mushy at the thought of a human being hurt (Which always makes me wonder why he lets Spike and/or Sparkplug come with them all the time, but...)

Meanwhile, Megatron's quite happy to have a couple of human hostages, knowing as he does that such a thing will turn Optimus Prime into a wuss. He tells Starscream to deal with the humans. So Screamer dutifully rolls them across the floor as if he were bowling (Darn! 7/10 split. Hate it when that happens! :) ). He momentarily aims his laser at them, making Spike and Sparkplug almost pee their pants, no doubt-- but then he re-aims it at the ceiling and melts some of the ice up there, which creates the "bars" of a cage of ice. Skyfire, meanwhile, is rather ticked because he'd promised Spike and Sparkplug that no harm would come to them and that imprisoning them is wrong. Megatron retorts that he "overstepped his authority." Starscream echoes the sentiment, asking who the heck Skyfire thinks he is, offering safety to the enemy. Skyfire, though, thinks the humans are his friends. He goes to grab them from their cage...and Starscream shoots his hand. Skyfire's confused and Starscream scathingly explains that the humans are insignificant and that, once they've worn out their welcome, they'll be "terminated." Skyfire, horrified, thinks to himself that his function in life is to further science and reason, not to kill innocent people.

Meanwhile, the Autobots have found the opening of one of the Decepticons' tunnels. They transform and Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz, and Optimus Prime head into the tunnel. Gears stops short of going in, though. Hound complains, to which Gears replies that he's got a feeling they're heading into a trap. Whereupon the ice breaks under the line-up of Gears, Hound, Ratchet, and Ironhide, and they fall down into the chamber below. After landing, Ratchet complains that "Ironhide's carrying too much lead in his caboose." (Don't feel bad, Ironhide. So am I, at the moment. :) ) But, in short order, Hound's scanners decide that "that big Deceptigeek" took the humans...this way! And they're off!

Meanwhile, Bumblebee reports to Optimus Prime that there's no sign of the other guys. Suddenly, a yell for help from Spike can be heard which sends Cliffjumper charging to the rescue, despite Optimus' admonishment to "be cautious." (HAH! Like CJ's ever cautious... ;) ) He pulls right up to Spike and Sparkplug's cage (Amazing that the humans haven't succumbed to hypothermia yet, eh?), and melts the bars with his laser, which he says is equipped with a "defrost cycle." The rest of the group pulls up, and then they decide to go off to look for for "Ironhide and the rest of the guys..."

...Who are just then pulling up to an outcropping that overlooks the Decepticons' heat pumping operation. They realize that the Cons are pumping the heat right out of the Earth's core (Like they didn't know that before...?) and decide that they have to tell Optimus. (Like he doesn't know...?) At that moment, Megs swoops onto the scene again, micromanaging as usual. He's pleased that the work is apparently going well. Screamer likes the sound of that since it means they'll be able to go home soon, leaving "this dead planet of ice" behind them. Yups, Megs concurs...unless they're careless, of course, he adds, leveling his gaze on the spying Autobots. "Seize those Autobots!" he yells...and the Autobots are suddenly surrounded by Skywarp and Thundercracker. Megatron orders them destroyed and tells Soundwave to check for more lurking Autobots. Soundwave sends Ravage out on patrol.

Meanwhile, Jazz is complaining that they haven't found Ironhide's group. He proposes splitting up. Bumblebee proposes doubling back. Optimus nixes both ideas. (Naturally...) But Cliffjumper, impatient as always, runs on ahead, declaring that he's "gotta move"...and he "moves" right into Ravage, who decks him. Optimus shoots Ravage, though, and Cliffjumper transforms and drives off. The other Autobots follow him...and Ravage follows them. Bumblebee stops, transforms, and shoots at the ceiling (A recurring theme, with this episode...), which causes an "icefall" that traps Ravage on the other side. "That's what I call stopping him cold," Bumblebee says smugly. (What is it with the bad puns in this episode...?)

Firing squad time! The Autobots have their backs to the funky green crystal, and Starscream and Skyfire get to play executioners. Starscream loftily says that Skyfire went mushy from all of his years under the ice but, nevertheless, Screamer's giving him the honor of blowing up the Bots. Skyfire protests. "Dammit, Starscream, I'm a scientist, not an executioner!" (OK, so he doesn't say it quite that way, but again I couldn't resist. Anytime's a good time to paraphrase Dr. McCoy...) Starscream orders Skyfire to kill them. Skyfire's reply : (George Bush) "Not gonna do it." (/George Bush) And that's the last straw for Starscream. With a yell of "Traitor!" (Isn't that Cliffjumper's line?) he shoots Skyfire, who falls. Then he shoots the Autobots...who go BOOM! They wind up as a pile of random parts. (Ewwww...) Starscream, quite pleased with himself, then stalks off, telling Skyfire to feel fortunate that he didn't end up with his "friends." On his way back to the tunnels, he steps on Skyfire...who groans like a man, of course. :)

But of course the Autobots weren't really blasted to bits. Of course it was really a Hound Hologram™, something that Ratchet has to explain to Skyfire. Then Skyfire, quite happy that the Autobots are functioning, passes out. "Yeah, we're functioning," Hound says ("Fully functioning" *wink wink nudge nudge*). "I sure hope we'll be able to say the same for you." Good thing Ratchet was in their group, eh? :)

Later, all the Autobots have regrouped as Ratchet finishes up with Skyfire. Cliffjumper's confused about why they're repairing a Decepticon. "He tried to save us!" Hound asserts. "And Starscream blasted him for it!" Ratchet adds, sounding all outraged. But he's done all he can do...and, of course, Laserbeak is watching all from above...

...and transmitting all that he sees to Megatron, who's lounging down in the tunnels, idly playing with an energon cube...which he lobs at Starscream, whacking him upside the head with it. Megs berates Starscream (As usual...) for failing to terminate the Autobots, whereupon Starscream, rubbing at the side of his head, realizes that he was tricked by one of Hound's Holograms™. (Now he figures it out...I tell ya, I love Starscream, but he can be just as adorably dense at Skywarp sometimes... :) ) And Megatron orders the Cons to attack. And they're off! Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp take to the air. "Autobots below!" Starscream yells. "Fire at will!" (Skywarp: "Which one's Will?" Sorry, old joke. Couldn't help myself again... :) )

The Autobots scatter... all except for Ratchet, who won't leave his moaning patient. But then he gets shot, so the point's moot... Optimus pulls out the heavy artillery, namely the gun thingy in his trailer. He shoots it...and nails Skywarp in the stabilizers. Skywarp can't pull out and he takes Thundercracker down with him for company. They crash into the cold, cold water. Optimus goes off to have a little one-on-one with Megatron, using "swords" made from broken-off bits of the funky green crystal. Megatron eventually breaks his sword, realizes he's in deep doo-doo...until Skyfire comes up behind Optimus Prime. Megatron gloats...until Skyfire informs him that he ain't no steeeenking Decepticon no more. :) Trading his Decepticon symbol for an Autobot symbol that he got who-knows-where, he declares that he takes no orders from Megatron. He throws Megatron across the tundra, bats away Reflector...

And then has to deal with Starscream, who declares that Skyfire is "through." (Skywarp: "Through what?" :) ) Skyfire transforms, and they have themselves what's known as a good old-fashioned, knock down, drag out dogfight, trading insults and laser fire. And then they play chicken, flying straight at each other. And neither one pulls out, so they collide, bashing wings. Starscream goes down, and quite ungracefully. Skyfire's going down, too, but first he shoots around the area near the funky green crystal, burying it again in the resulting avalanche. Unfortunately, he crashes into the avalanche and buries himself, too. "Skyfire, noooooooo!" Spike yells in anguish. (Aw, don't worry about it, kid. He'll be back in the episode after the next one... :) )

Later, the Autobots gather around the spot where Skyfire was re-buried, Spike sobbing. "He risked everything to save us and the Earth," Optimus says, attempting to comfort the forlorn human. "The energy drain has been stopped," Ratchet says. "The Earth'll heat up again," Bumblebee adds. "And the Decepticons are defeated," Hound finishes. "But Skyfire's gone," Spike wails. (OK, he doesn't “wail,” but still...) Optimus goopily says that he'll be remembered so long as freedom exists. (But freedom doesn’t exist! Oh, never mind...) "We shall remember you, Skyfire," he says (Bonus point for Op!) "We shall remember," the rest of the Autobots echo, earning bonus points, too. They don't, of course, add, "And we'll even remember to dig ya up in two episodes," though they should have said that... :)

Back to the top!

Nightwind's Unsolicited Opinions

Much controversy surrounds Skyfire. Some G1 fans, it seems, can talk endlessly about Skyfire and his choice of allegiance, and the schools of thought concerning him seem to break down into essentially two main viewpoints. One viewpoint, held mostly by Decepticon fans, brands Skyfire as nothing less that a vile traitor, an ingrate who rewarded the Decepticons' kindness in deicing and going to great lengths to revive him by defecting the the Autobots' side of the war. The other view--probably the majority view, I would imagine--would point to Skyfire as a model case of "doing the right thing," of discovering for yourself what is "right" for you and then pursuing "rightness" no matter where that path might lead and no matter the personal cost.

I am, perhaps, a rare Decepticon fan in that I hold the latter opinion, not the former, and I hold that opinion without a qualm. Yes, the Decepticons discovered and unburied Skyfire. Yes, they went to great lengths to revive him after that. But that was where the "kindness" ended. After that, there was no option open to Skyfire but to do what Megatron wanted him to do, and he was expected to do so without question. And, in fact, the Decepticons (or Megatron, at least) did not revive Skyfire out of the kindness of their hearts, really, but out of selfishness and greed for power (Which is par for the course for Megatron, but that's beside the point.) Megatron, getting his first eyeful of Skyfire, practically drools and, his voice full of avarice, says, "With his size and probable strength, he will make an excellent Decepticon." Any thought as to what Skyfire might want or what might be best for him? Ummmm...no. There isn't even a hint that the notion to ask what Skyfire might want crossed Megatron's mind. Megs is clearly not thinking, "Oh, poor guy! Stuck in the ice like that. Let's help him!" here. No, he's thinking, "Holy cow! This guy could kick some serious keister for me. Let's get him out of there and onto the battlefield!"

And, once revived, there's no adjustment period for Skyfire. No time for him to get his bearings. No real introductions. No history lesson--propaganda-laden or otherwise--as to why the Autobots need to get pounded. And, most disturbingly, virtually no lag time between Skyfire's awakening and his assignment, essentially, to the front line. The poor guy wakes up, and Megatron basically says, "Hi! I'm Megatron. You're a Decepticon now and the Autobots are your enemies. Here's a gun. Go kill them. Have a nice day!" Gotta wonder what Skyfire thought about that. Imagine waking up from ten million years or so of doing a popsicle impression, and being given a gun and told to shoot someone you didn't know, even if told that they were an enemy. Would you do it? I wouldn't. Not without a lot more information than the little that Skyfire received, at least.

Think about things from Skyfire's viewpoint for a minute. Last thing he knew, he was doing a fly-over of an uncharted planet on an exploratory mission with his buddy Starscream. Something went horribly awry. He crashed. Then he wakes up. He doesn't quite comprehend, I'm sure, how much time has passed. He doesn't know that his species is plagued by a brutal civil war. He doesn't know where he is. Heck, after being down so long, he might not know who he is! And the only person he does know--Starscream--is (to him) suddenly and vastly different than he was before. I should think it would be...a little disconcerting. But the Decepticons did "save" him, and Starscream is a friend, so Skyfire decides that he owes the Decepticons a favor and that he will "try to bring [them] credit." And, it should be noted, he does try--until presented with irrefutable evidence that the Decepticons and their philosophies are not in line with Skyfire's personal beliefs and that Megatron in general does not easily tolerate those who have opinions which differ from his own. And then all hell breaks loose, leading Skyfire to decide that the Autobots' way of thinking is more in line with his own personal way of thinking, which leads to his "defection."

Why the quotes around "defection?" Because, to me, Skyfire's change of allegiance was not a defection or a betrayal or a traitorous act, at least not to the Decepticon cause. (Whether or not Skyfire betrayed Starscream is entirely another matter...) If nothing else, Skyfire was never really a Decepticon. For one thing, at the time of his crash on Earth, Skyfire was non-aligned, as was Starscream. (In fact, it's unclear to me whether or not the two factions even existed as such at that time. "War Dawn" would seem to indicate that they didn't, but the cartoon is notoriously contradictory in its continuity so you can't really say for sure...)

But even after his reawakening, I wouldn't call Skyfire a Decepticon. Sure, he wore the symbol, perhaps...but it never seemed to weigh lightly on him. Why? Because, quite simply, he wasn't given a choice in the matter of his allegiance. He wasn't allowed to make up his own mind about his allegiance. Megatron (and Starscream) assumed that Skyfire would join them and be loyal to the cause, perhaps out of gratitude, perhaps out of friendship. (And you know what happens when you assume: You make an "ass" out of "u" and "me.")

This lack of choice for Skyfire is ironic to me because, amongst Decepticon fans, you hear much talk about freedom and personal choice from people trying to justify the Decepticons' ruthless actions in relation to "lesser" forms of life (Like...oh...humans. :) ). There's much talk amongst Decepticon fans about how the Autobots are "bad" because, so it's said, they spout off about freedom--and in fact insist upon it--but at the same time they want to make everyone accept their altruistic, cooperative, and peaceful worldview as the only valid one. If they succeeded in that endeavor, of course, the result would not be "freedom." It would be "everyone has to think like the Autobots," which is just as much "tyranny" as "everyone has to think like the Decepticons" would be. (Now, to me personally, "freedom" as everyone talks about it and exalts it--related to TFs or not--does not exist. The only real "freedom" is chaos and anarchy...and anarchy and chaos don't work well, either. But that's beside the point. ) Anyway, the Autobots get branded as "hypocrites" when it comes to the "freedom" issue almost as much as the Decepticons get branded as "evil" when it comes to...well, any issue, really.

But then along comes Skyfire, a non-aligned Transformer who's been out of the loop for ten million years or so. And he's offered no choices, none of that elusive "freedom" that every jabbers on about, especially by the Decepticons. So, if the Decepticons do what they do in the name of "freedom to live as they choose," then who are the hypocrites? Well, I'd say they all are, Autobots and Decepticons! Except for Skyfire, who decided for himself what was right for him and makes no demands of anyone else in that regard. And then Skyfire stuck by his decision without wavering. Even if you don't agree with his ultimate decision, you can perhaps admire his conviction in making it and then in standing by it. I know I do...

In the end, though, the most important thing to me about this episode is not Skyfire's actions, no. This, to me, is an affecting if rather hurtful episode to watch not because of Skyfire's plight, but because of (Surprise, surprise! :) ) Starscream's. He gets a big "owie" in this episode, poor guy...

Trouble is, it's not a physical "owie." Starscream takes a lot of physical abuse over the course of the series, mostly from Megatron, and it seems that he's become inured to it, for he can usually shake it off with ease. Or so it would seem, at least... But Starscream takes a different kind of beating in this episode, the kind from which it's often not so easy to recover. Physical wounds heal; emotional ones often don't. And even when they do, they leave a noticeable scar that never really goes away. And Starscream takes a big old stab to the heart in this episode. And this time it's from a friend, which is probably thousands of times more painful to him than anything he gets at the hands of Megatron.

In the beginning of the episode, Starscream is almost...cuddly. He's mushy. He's all nostalgic for the past, all happy that he's found his friend Skyfire, whom he'd thought dead, after all those intervening years. This is not the cold, exaggeratedly arrogant, and often aloof Starscream that we all know from the rest of the series. This is not the Starscream who--as many people seem to think--cares about no one but himself. (This is, in fact, what I would call the "what Starscream was like before Megatron got his claws into him" Starscream, but that's a whole 'nother bucket of worms.) And somewhere in that nostalgia and happiness, I'm sure that Starscream had to be thinking that--finally!--here was someone who would be on his side at Decepticon Headquarters, someone that Starscream could really count on and lean on (Don't even start with "Lean On Me," Outtsyder. :) ) since it seemed he could count on few--if any--of his comrades. He finally had a friend, which I would imagine would be a marvelous--not to mention novel--thing in Starscream's life.

But...Wrong-o, reindeer! It didn't happen that way. Starscream went to lengths to get Skyfire wedged into the Decepticon hierarchy (And Megatron listened to him, which is the strange thing!)...and then Skyfire pulled what, to Starscream, would have to have seemed a fast one, switching over to the other side. Granted, Skyfire was reluctant about war and fighting all along, and Starscream, perhaps, should have picked up on that. He should have seen the flags that Skyfire's confusion and reluctance should have raised. Warning bells should have gone off in Starscream's head. But, perhaps blinded and deafened by the prospect of finally getting some support from a friend, Starscream didn't see the signs or hear the bells. As a result, he gets a swift emotional kick in the pants.

And that had to hurt. I'm always sympathetic toward Starscream no matter what he does, but even if I wasn't I'd still feel for him in this episode. The loss of a friend due to betrayal is always a bitter pill to swallow. And Starscream took it hard. Publicly, he expressed his hurt in scorn and derision and physical violence aimed at Skyfire. (And I really don't blame him!) Privately, perhaps, Starscream's emotions were a bit different...At least, I like to think so... :)

And, in the end, the emotional nature of this episode is what I like most about it. There's actually very little in the way of mindless action in this episode, which is a blessed relief as far as I'm concerned because I really couldn't care less about that stuff. I go for goop. I like goop. I'm a goopy girl, after all. :) And this episode is pretty goopy, so I likes it, I does. It focuses on emotions, not gunpower. It focuses on Skyfire's moral dilemma and on Starscream's reaction to Skyfire's betrayal. While the latter is rather hurtful for me, personally, to watch, I like it because it's not something you see on G1 every day. Not many episodes--and particularly not many pre-movie episodes--focus on the characters' emotions. And of those that do, it's not often that it's a Decepticon who gets that focus. The fact that it's Starscream who gets that focus just means that the episode earns double bonus points from yours truly. :) So, for me, this one's a keeper. Goopy emotional stuff rules! :) That's all I have to say about that.

But, before I move on, a few Nightwind Wonderments™:

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Great Moments

I have two favorite lines in this episode.

One is:
Ratchet, after he and his group fall through the ice: "Ironhide's carrying too much lead in his caboose."
Time to lay off the Doritos, 'Hide... :)

And the other is:
Ironhide, upon seeing the Decepticons' heat-pumping operation: "Well, I'll be reprogrammed with a rivet roller."
Don't know why that one amuses me so much, but it does for some reason. It's the drawl, I tell ya! The drawl! :)

Other than that, I tend to like the snowball fight opening, for some reason. Contrary to what I might have led you to believe in the summary, I like bad puns, and that opening sequence is littered with a few doozies in that regard. :) And, for some reason, I can just see the Autobots involved having a snowball fight. They're all the type who would do that...

And Skywarp and Rumble in the beginning, before they discover Skyfire, are just cute. :)

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Appearance List!

In order of first line spoken, these are the characters who have lines in "Fire in the Sky":

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Totally Arbitrary Overall Rating, Just For the Heck of It

Goopy, goopy, goopy! Gotta love it! Well, I do anyway... 'Specially when it's Screamer bein' all goopy-like. ;) I hereby give "Fire in the Sky" a...9.5. Just 'cuz of the Goop Factor.