Maximus Emerges - Transformers Wiki

Locate Cerebros
Stolen by Decepticons
Who will gain control?

Synopsis

The Decepticons arrive at an old temple, having tracked some Autobots there. Scourge scans inside to find that the Autobot Brothers and Build Team are looking for Cerebros and appear to have located his energy signature in a statue. That's all the Decepticons need, and they open fire, demolishing the temple. The Autobots are dug out by the Build Team, but are quickly confronted by the Decepticons, who demand Cerebros. Ultra Magnus arrives to help, but Sky-Byte and the Predacon trio, who have been skulking nearby, snatch Cerebros and make off with him.

The Autobots return to base, where they get chewed out by T-AI for letting Cerebros slip through their fingers. All is not entirely lost, as T-AI believes that Cerebros is programmed to ignore an enemy. Optimus sends Team Bullet Train and Build Team to look for Cerebros, while the Autobot Brothers are tasked with protecting Fortress Maximus. Side Burn is towed there by Tow-Line to prevent him from being distracted by red sports cars.

In the Megastar, Scourge and Mega-Octane revive Cerebros. Scourge believes because he scanned Optimus Prime when he was taking his Earth mode, Cerebros will obey him and, sure enough, they're able to use Cerebros to locate Fortress Maximus.

In Metro City, Maximus lights up as a beacon and is quickly spotted by the Decepticons. They move in to find the Autobots waiting for them, but Scourge has Cerebros combine with the Emissary to form the head of Fortress Maximus. Koji runs from the Autobot base, believing he can help in some way.

As the battle begins, all three combiner teams combine, Ultra Magnus arrives, and the Autobot Brothers power up. Galvatron also arrives, introducing himself and congratulating Scourge on having gained control over Fortress Maximus. Scourge commands Maximus to destroy the Autobots, but the giant begins firing at random and Optimus has to rescue Ultra Magnus from being crushed underfoot. The two brothers combine into Omega Prime as Maximus' rampage continues.

Finally Koji arrives and shouts at Maximus to stop, and the giant halts. The Autobots take the opportunity to chase the Predacons and Decepticons off. Fortress Maximus sinks into the ground, however Galvatron seizes Cerebros and makes off with the bot. As Scourge leaves, he realises that Koji may be the key to controlling Maximus.

T-AI reports that Team Bullet Train and the Build Team have been unable to locate Maximus, and the Autobots wonder why Cerebros stopped obeying Scourge and seemed to follow Koji's commands.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"He treated us like dirt. But compared to Scourge, he was Mr. Nice Guy."

—Sky-Byte on the late Megatron.

Mega-Octane: You lose, Auto-fools! Cerebros is ours now! Well done, Predacons. You finally did something right!
Sky-Byte: Thank you. I speak for all Predacons, and especially for myself, when I say that it's an honour and a privilege to be able to help our friends the Decepticons in any way we can.
Gas Skunk: Really? I thought the only reason we were helping them is because we had no other choice. Isn't that what you said?

—Gas Skunk has trouble knowing when to keep quiet.

X-Brawn: We all make mistakes, T-AI.
T-AI: Speak for yourself.

—T-AI is a harsh mistress.

Side Burn: What's that? I think my audio chip is malfunctioning.
T-AI: Very funny, but I have ways of getting you where I want without distraction.

—Very harsh.

"Today we will become the rulers of the universe. Justice and freedom will be replaced by the power of the iron fist."

—Scourge knows all you need to rule the entire universe is a really big robot.

"Access error. Access error. Unauthorized access protocol."

—Fortress Maximus causes Scourge to regret upgrading him to Windows Vista.

"Galvatron, you may have a new look and a new name, but one thing hasn't changed: your arrogance is your downfall! Omega Blast!"

—Omega Prime lets Galvatron know exactly what he thinks of his upgrade.

Notes

Differences with Car Robots

As a general point, this episode adds repeated, detailed references to Cerebros having a "command block" that will prohibit Fortress Maximus from obeying Decepticon commands, which Robots in Disguise would build upon in later episodes to form a complex, multi-layered activation protocol for the giant Autobot. This idea will not be introduced in Car Robots until next episode; in this one, the concept only comes up briefly in the scene in which Scourge and Mega Octane reactivate Cerebros, and rather than state that such a block actually exists, Mega-Octane merely wonders aloud if it is even possible for a Decepticon to control Cerebros.

• As the Autobots have only just learned about Cerebros in the previous episode of Car Robots, their conversation inside the ruins is one containing a lot more doubt and questioning, as they're not even sure they'll find Cerebros, nor what exactly will happen when they use him to activate Maximus, and are concerned about the danger he poses. As they know a lot of these answers already in Robots in Disguise, their conversation is changed to be a bit more foreshadowy, as they wonder how Maximus is controlled once active.
• When Scourge opens fire on the ruins, he is merely calling out his attack name in Car Robots, as he is the only one who attacks; in Robots in Disguise, he orders the Decepticons to all attack, and the English version adds in some footage of the Decepticons unleashing their weapons from the fight with the Autobots later in this scene, followed by a re-use of the shot of Scourge watching the blasts explode.
• In Car Robots, the flashback to Megatron's apparent destruction is only 4 seconds long, and tinged with a cloudy purple border. Robot in Disguise extends the flashback to 18 seconds in length, re-using more footage from the previous episode surrounded by a white border.
• In Car Robots, the Predacons believe Megatron may not be gone for good, but in Robots in Disguise, they're convinced he's a goner.
• When Sky-Byte stops while escaping to deliver a fake-polite reply to Scourge, in Robots in Disguise, he simply talks about how happy they are to help, while in Car Robots, he says he's always thought Scourge would be a better leader than Megatron.
• When X-Brawn reports in, Robots in Disguise extends the scene slightly by slipping a short extra shot of X-Brawn on the monitor screen between the close-up on Prime himself and the second shot of X-Brawn onscreen over Prime's shoulder.
• When T-AI consoles a worried Koji in Car Robots, she tells him that the Decepticons will need to get Fortress Maximus's body first. Robots in Disguise replaces this with the first reference to Maximus's command block.
• After T-AI tells Side Burn not to chase any cars, Car Robots fades out of the scene as Side Burn rubs the back of his head, remarking that he knows that already, but isn't happy about it. Robots in Disguise changes Side Burn's dialogue so that he is pretending he can't hear her, then extends the scene by re-using the shot of T-AI speaking to him, giving her an extra line of dialogue where she remarks that she has ways of getting him to do what she wants.
• While Kelly is happy not to be pestered by Side Burn in Robots in Disguise, in Car Robots, she feels "oddly unsatisfied" by his absence!
• We've described the major differences between the two versions of the scene of Mega Octane and Scourge reactivating Cerebros at the head of this section; the Robots in Disguise version also adds a lot more gobbledegook about stasis and recharging and such to fill the Car Robots silence of the pan across the Megastar and over Cerebros's prone form.
• As the Predacons and Decepticons assemble before Scourge, in Car Robots, Mega-Octane gives them the news that Rollbar and Ro-Tor have acquired Fortress Maximus's location. Robots in Disguise replaced this dialogue with another reference to Maximus's command block.
• After everyone had their stock footage transformation party, the scene is silent in Car Robots until the show goes to commercial break, after which the scene of Koji and T-AI in the base plays. Scourge delivers a speech over this silence in Robots in Disguise, which includes the first mention of the Emissary, which Koji and T-AI then wonder about; in Car Robots, Koji just pointlessly restates facts the audience knows already (that Cerebros is the one who controls Maximus).
• In Robots in Disguise, Wedge comments on Maximus's lack of a head, but in Car Robots, he's just remarking with awe that the city has transformed. Likewise, when Prime speaks after the Emissary connects, in Robots in Disguise he's replying to Wedge's remark, but in Car Robots, he's observing that Scourge is in control of Maximus.
• Koji just wants to get a look at Maximus up close in Car Robots, while Robots in Disguise changes it up so that he thinks he can maybe do something to help.
• The shot of Sky-Byte reacting to Galvatron's arrival is extended just a teeeeny bit for Robots in Disguise, in order to accommodate a fade-out as the show goes to commercial break.
• When Robots in Disguise returns from the commercial break, it adds a shot of Galvatron in bat mode, and one of Optimus Prime reacting to him, before his transformation sequence.
• Car Robots gives no real explanation for why Maximus goes bonkers and tries to shoot everyone, as he merely continues to shout "Access Error" throughout; in Robots in Disguise, a line of dialogue is added to note that he is enacting his "unauthorized access protocol".
• While in Robots in Disguise, Galvatron tells Scourge to forget trying to order Maximus around (with the odd remark that Maximus has "got his memory back"), in Car Robots, he orders Scourge to keep trying to get Maximus to attack the Autobots. In-keeping with this, some later lines from Scourge that are barked commands to Maximus in Car Robots are changed to awed reactions to Maximus's power in Robots in Disguise.

• When Optimus saves Magnus from being squished under Maximus's foot, in Car Robots, he wryly remarks that Optimus must be desperate to merge with him, and when Optimus responds that he does want to merge, Magnus, his joke having not quite worked out, gets angry and snaps that okay, they'll merge, but just this one time! In Robots in Disguise, this is replaced with some of Magnus's characteristic angry muttering about how he's not under Optimus's command and will only merge with him if it's not an order.
• In a moment of post-9/11 caution, a wide shot of Fortress Maximus raking the entire city with his lasers is deleted from Robots in Disguise (right), and replaced with a mirror-flipped shot of Maximus simply towering over the surrounding buildings. The same shot is reviewed on a monitor in the Autobot base at the end of the episode, and Robots in Disguise replaces it again with the same footage.
• In Robots in Disguise, everyone basically realizes right away that Koji's words were responsible for stopping Maximus; in Car Robots, none of the characters remark on this until Scourge is retreating and reviews video footage of Koji's plea.
• In the final scene of Car Robots, Side Burn laments that the Decepticons came away the victors, while T-AI point out that at least Scourge has lost control of Maximus. Robots in Disguise changes this to be a bit more technical, with Side Burn wondering why Scourge lost control, and T-AI speculating that his recognition program rebooted for some reason—another foreshadowy line tied in with the "command block" stuff that'll be explained in the future.

Animation and/or technical glitches

• When Rollbar and Armorhide transform prior to the battle for Maximus, there's a tree floating in the air on the right-hand side of the screen. Additionally, they both seem to shout "Rollbar, transform" in unison, despite the fact that, y'know, only one of them is called Rollbar.

Continuity errors

• As with most of the recap animations featured in the series, the brief flashback of Megatron's "death" uses animation taken from the previous episode, but with altered dialogue.
• Galvatron rose from the grave last episode, right where the Predacon Trio were... so why does he only turn up at the end? Why didn't he go back to the Megastar when they did?
• Cerebros is supposed to obey the leader of the Autobots, i.e. Optimus Prime, and that's why he obeyed Scourge's search command in the first place. Funnily enough, throughout the whole battle it just doesn't occur to Prime or any of Autobots that Optimus should try commanding Maximus. It's like they don't even know just as much about Maximus and Cerebros as the Decepticons do.

Trivia

• Apparently all you need to rule the universe is a really big robot.
• The Predacon trio don't seem to have suffered any ill effects from their draining by Galvatron; indeed, none of them even bother to mention that it ever happened.
• It's amazing that the Decepticons need Cerebros to find Fortress Maximus.
• Galvatron claims that Megatron is dead and that he himself is a different person. Not that again!
• Megatron's grand return as the all-powerful Galvatron consists of him jetting into battle, getting lightly beaten up, and calling a unilateral retreat. Even when you're a ten-changer, some things never change.
• T-AI's "scolding face" sure makes her looks like she has a toothache.

Foreign localization

Italian

• Title: "Maximus"

• Prowl's line: "Oh, great! Now we've got to fight Galvatrash and his gang of merry men while Fortress Maximus is firing at anything that moves" is voiced by Side Burn's actor. Since Prowl has a mouthplate, this doesn't create problems like having Prowl moving his mouth talking in his brother's voice and it could be in fact interpretated as Side Burn talking, but it's weird to hear Side Burn's voice while he's the only Autobot Brother not pictured.

Portuguese

• Title: "O Poder Emerge" ("The Power Emerges")

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

DVD

2001 — Transformers: Car Robots — Vol. 9 (Pony Canyon) — Japanese audio only.
2005 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Three-Disc Box Set: Part 2 of 2 (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Season Two (Maximum Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers: Robots in Disguise — Ultimate Collection (Maximum Entertainment)

External links

• "Maximus Emerges" transcript on RiDForever.info