Yeah, bad enough to kill Optimus, but then they bring him back...as a zombie! And then they slowly destroy that zombie as his ship blows apart around him. Freakin psychos.
It’s real savage. And I love how ominous and brilliant it is as a line. You can tell how the tone of the show is so much more post 86 movie. It’s just so well done in my mind.
Yeah, I remembering watching it when it first aired and afterwards I couldn't get his messed up body and face out of my mind. They really didn't think about the fragile feelings or mental state of kids back then!
Honestly if you take aside the completely horrible timing and implications of this episode and divorced from the release of the movie, this is a very strong episode that was great for Rodimus needing to come to grips with his new burden and stepping up to the plate.
@@TF80s i remember this being a crazy episode as a kid... the discussions on the playground about it were probably the first step in many towards philosophy & burden of responsibility [when zombie Optimus rips open his chest to give you the Matrix, it has to a sign from the universe].
I suppose i was lucky enough NOT to see the movie in theaters--season three's short recap on tv is all i got which told me Optimus was dead. I met Rodimus before I met Hotrod while enjoying season three as morning cartoon before school. In retrospect, the movie was a prequel (or lost story) of how Hotrod earned the Matrix (via video cassette rental..before Blockbuster).
@@CM-wv8ns yeah I'd gotten the Ladybird book and audio cassette of the Movie before seeing season three so l knew what went down..l think l only saw the Movie itself on VHS after I'd seen the whole of season three.
Rodimus Prime in retropect was under-rated, but there is still a part of me that preferred Hotrod (mostly because of the sleek futuristic sports car alt-mode).
Rodimus gets too much crap. His leadership qualities are exactly what they push in ALOT of cartoons and Anime these days. The insecure, and unsure reluctant leader who is prone to depression? It's weird because characters like Optimus Prime get dumped on as being unrealistic these days, and people want cynical assholes. Transformers G1 is still like the exception to the rule. I love both characters and I thought Rodimus was one of the few attempts in season 3 to actually write character development.
@@mattstevenson1670 Megatron used hot rod hostage because he knew prime wouldn't shoot anyone to get at him Megatron used primes code of honor against him which was his own weakness Prime was gonna stop Megatron he said no matter the cost and he meant it even with his last bit of strength he made sure Megatron fell before he collapsed Prime learned nothing from that time Megatron used his troops powrchips to beat him in a fight or from Megatron's master plan
I am Sorry but Optimus prime is overrated? The Autobots were regulated to Cybertron moons? Means Optimus Prime once again lost Cybertron, than lost the cybertronian war by allowing Megatron to out smart him and ambush the Autobots in the shuttle and Autobot City? Than have Megatron in his sight and spend 30 seconds to have a self-righteous speech? He is always letting Megatron go to live another day? Some will say it's HOTROD fault, but this is how Optimus operates he had it coming for two seasons? Under Rodimus the Autobots were no more being put at Outpost on moons and on earth. They regain Cybertron, as well as learned of there creators and defeated them as well as the Decepticons from regaining Cybertron, as well as galactic peace conferences on Cybertron. Rodimus also helped Melissa Morgan on Earth space command, as well as protecting earth, all being done simultaneously as being his first year on the job. Optimus Prime had one battle front on earth and he allowed Megatron to build a space bridge? But did win battles on earth but never the war? So when People think Optimus Prime was a better leader I take unbiased look at Rodimus vs Optimus campaigns, and Hotrod/Rodimus is the 🏆and for the return of the Golden age it was Spike who saved Cybertron not Optimus Prime, and in the Rebirth episodes once again Optimus left Ultra Magnus to be slaughtered with the Autobots, so that Galvatron could regain Cybertron once again?
@@chrisedwards3214 No Optimus got out smarted by Megatron the Autobots ambushed on the shuttle and Autobot City it shouldn't have came down to that?! Prime had 30 seconds to kill Megatron, plus season 1, 2 instead he wants to show you how self-righteous is?, we are not going to let Optimus Prime out just because we are bias? He lost Cybertron 3 times the last time he flat out lost it after Rodimus got it back? He is overrated.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the hideousness of the Autobots' tomb being destroyed? They don't even get a final resting place; zombie-Optimus, via Quintesson control, sends it into a star. So reviled are the Autobots by every malevolent force in the galaxy that they're denied even a gravesite. I mean, goddamn.
I hated this, too. The Decepticons who became Unicron's minions were treated far better. Megatron and the others get upgrades, but WOW, the dead Autobots get their bodies destroyed, and we get a zombie Optimus! Then Hasbro wondered why many of us hated Rodimus.
This episode always stuck with me as a child. Looking back, it legitimately makes a lot of sense, at least on a conceptual level. The Quintessons created the Cybertronians in the first place; what other race could possibly hope to salvage the corpses of destroyed Cybertronians and successfully reanimate them?
For sure. I always thought they were just gonna fix his body at the end movie, then take him to Vector Sigma and give him a new spark but with no memory like when he lost his memory from Orion Pax to Optimus Prime in the first place.
At 7:20 that’s such an iconic line for this specific episode. When a zombie Prime tells you to leave this place or die, you better take his word and leave. I remember this episode and how disturbing the ending was.
@chrismc410 Not only that. Galvatron got so spooked that he sounded like Megatron again when he muttered Optimus Prime's name. Makes me wonder how far into season 3's production the voicework was. Clearly, it was a force of habit on Welkers' part.
@@Hollyjollytroll It's obviously an error, but I like to imagine that some sliver of his original Megatron personality resurfaced when he saw Optimus Prime and, ever so briefly, Galvatron reverted to who he once was. Well, before Optimus shot the bejesus out of him.
When Daniel cried over Optimus Prime death in the 86 movie and the end of this episode is really sad and powerful scene. The bond these human characters have with autobots is very close
Fun fact: As others have elucidated here the "But is Optimus really gone?...." narration was added upon the second airing of this episode which was in February 1987 before "The Return Of Optimus Prime" aired. This episode re-aired at the END of the second run(the first re-run) of Season 3 episodes, whereas it had aired early in S3 during its initial showng.
Thanks; I knew my memory was correct on this. That little ADR kinda killed the impact of what Rodimus said at the end. I need this in my collection WITHOUT it, so I may have to do some editing.
@@chrisedwards3214 at least none of the names Daniel was reading were Grapple, Hoist, Inferno, Red Alert, Skids, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Tracks or Trailbreaker (though it’s a wonder he only said *four* Autobots’ names, rather than all seven - those whose names he said, and in this order, were Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl and whose death we didn’t know about, until this episode - Huffer, who was killed offscreen, back in the movie; Daniel didn’t say the names of the remaining three Autobots who were killed, back in the movie - Brawn, Wheeljack and Windcharger)
What is sad is that in Transformers: The Movie Spike wanted Ironhide to tell Daniel that he misses him and that he would return once they kick Megatron's butt across the universe, Rachet and Prowl in Season 2 took Daniel's father Spike to the hospital in Autobot Spike, and also Rachet used to work together with Daniel's Grandfather Sparkplug in Seasons 1 and 2. I will say that The Characters in The Movie and Season 3 were one that nobody even wanted or even asked for because people couldn't connect with them like The Ones from Seasons 1 and 2.
Here's some fridge horror, Daniel probably grew up knowing those very Autobots given his parents. I can only imagine that's another reason Spike felt ill-at-ease once they got inside. Sure he's an adult now but a lot of his best pals are buried in that place. Robots he knew since he was a teen. I imagine being in the tomb was no picnic for the entire crew.
This episode is inscribed in my memory from childhood. Grim reminder that the characters I loved are truly dead with Daniel reading out their grave markers…. then that corpse falling out of his crypt.
I always have an image of a missing scene from the movie, where the Autobots load up the tomb before sending it into outer space. I imagine the Dinobots carrying Ratchet and Wheeljack and leading their two fathers into their resting place and paying one last respect to them with the sad Season 1-2 two music playing in the background.
That would be cool, I also picture a scene from the movie where Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod are loading Optimus Prime's corpse into the coffin, the very same coffin that you see in Dark Awakening, and bringing the coffin aboard the autobot grave shuttle before sending it into outer space, and you see hot rod and Ultra Magnus, Kup, Arcee, Springer, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Daniel and Spike paying their last respects and bidding farewell to great Optimus Prime, you can see tears coming down Daniel's face.
@@RhetoricalGamer I agree they should a make a mini series of the Autobots making a autobot grave shuttle, that way we could get more insight on which autobots actually died in the movie off screen.
I know there was a version of Dark Awakening without the spoilers, but I remember this episode aired the day before the airing of The Return of Optimus Prime.
@@RhetoricalGamer Oh, I'm sure every Season 1 & 2 Autobot except Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz, the Dinobots, the Combiners, Blaster, Preceptor, and the Season 2 Minibots all died.
@@Davethe3rd Inferno also survived the battle of Autobot city, a storyboarded but never animated scene showed him wishing Ultra Magnus good luck as he departed with Hot Rod, Arcee, Kup and The Dinobots in the shuttle.
This episode was a kick in the teeth. It was bad enough as a kid in this era that they killed Optimus Prime (like many children I cried during the movie), but they BROUGHT HIM BACK AS A ZOMBIE. Some other thoughts: - I never did figure out who the dead Autobot that falls on Daniel was. There are way more tombs than Autobots who died so maybe it's just someone who we don't know. RIP him. - Daniel: "Maybe he was in.. you know, a coma". Kid, you SAW HIM TURN GRAY, and the light in his eyes dim.
not only did hasbro kill off one of the most beloved heroes of all time, they resurrected him and killed him again. and desiccated the memories of all his comrades that died in the war too.
Since when have any characters in this show had this much depth? Seriously, this is the most developement Rodimus has had in the movie and the show so far combined! Definitely one of the best episodes in the entire show. Sure, it's dark, but it's so good! Feels like these are actual characters and not just hollow shells walking around.
@@chrisedwards3214 Times were simpeler in the first season with megatons ploy of the week to create or steal energon. Season 3 stories had a bit more depth to them.
In my childhood I was scared to watch this episode again, but I always loved that he died as Optimus Prime, sacrificing himself, and not being killed by other autobots as a mindless weapon. He never stops fighting for what is right even after his death, until all are one
G1 continuity got a LOT better after the movie, as well as the series really maturing. Despite the unintentional trauma it caused us 80's kids we needed those life lessons.
Rodimus was ready to follow Optimus orders and saying he's been keeping the Matrix warm for Optimus was nice like even though he's trying Optimus is the true leader and always will be of the Autobots. But Rodimus did great I mean look at what Optimus has done over the years a lot to live up to.
12:11 The stuff Kup says feels like Hasbro telling us that Ironhide, Ratchet and the rest aren't coming back (in BW I think Ironhide and Prowl who were among the first to die, are Maximal elders)
I feel bad for Optimus. Brought back from his final rest only to be used as a weapon, forced to fight against his will against his fellow Autobots and friends, destroying the last memorial to his fallen comrades, along with being used to nearly take out the entire Autobot fleet. Essentially having no clue what was truly going on but unable to fully stop his body from carrying out the Quintesson's programming until the last minute, the fact he did override their programming only further proves how much of a badass he is.
@@athlonen Well, that depends on production order. I remember when I watched this episode as a kid, it was around the Episode 10 mark. Plus, Rodimus never got the Matrix back at the end of Return Of Optimus Prime. He held it for a moment, but Optimus Prime fully reclaimed it, as Rodimus stayed as Hot Rod for the remainder of the US series.
@@StarFighters76 that's correct of the US series. Dark Awakening was Episode 8 in the US and Japan. The way the lapse of time could be explained between episode 8 and the Return of OP series is that it took time to Morgan and Swolford to get back to Earth with OP from saving him from the exploding star. But The Return of OP is where the arc begins. While we got The Rebirth: parts 1-3 in the US, they immediately went into the Headmasters series in Japan. HR was still HR, and not a Targetmaster. Daniel never got paralyzed. in episode 2 or 3 of the Headmasters series, OP needed RP's help, so he transferred the power of the matrix back to HR, making him RP again. OP suicided to save Galvatron and an exploding cybertron from an overloaded Vector Sigma (with Alpha Trion inside it still). RP continued on as leader of the Autobots.
@@DisgruntledPigumon That is true. I read this was a re-edit done in February 1987 (the version without the narration aired in October 1986), as the narration was added to promote The Return Of Optimus Prime, which Part 1 debut in February 24, 1987.
I remember how glad i was to see Optimus back in this episode and how crushed i was to see him die again!! Great and dramatic episode that also showed the tomb of the autobots that were lost in the movie!! Always send chills down my spine when Spike sees the dead body of Hound discolored and fall over!
Them bringing back Optimus Prime just to kill him again in this episode really upset me back then. At least they had enough sense to bring them back for good in a later episode.
If Alita One died before the movie it would have been when the Decepticons finally purged all Autobots off Cybertron. If she was alive during the movie then she would have been stationed at Autobot City which was largely destroyed by the Decepticons, at the Ark, or one of the two moonbases that Unicron ingested. Remember that by the end of the movie the Autobots are an endangered species. Her chances aren't that great.
I cried 1986 when I was 12 when Optimus Prime died. I cried a year later when Prime died again in this episode. I'm 48 now and watched this episode again and again I cried when Prime died. Optimus Prime can die 1000 times and I'll still cry each time.
@@Leondrius I believe it was put into production before the movie's release and it was too late to change it after the fallout from Prime's death. The bit about "The Return of Optimus Prime" was added for second airings.
@@matthewmartin1595 This was put in after the movie's release, and released before the backlash really hit. They aired the original episode of this only once, with RP saying at the end, "So Long.. Prime." It took 8 months later to rerun this with the narration to put together the Return of Optimus Prime.
@@athlonen Yeah, it never made sense how Prime's ship blew up, then in the next episode he's in a shuttle, totally unfazed, at least his body was. They knew they messed up and had to make Return of Optimus Prime to please the fans.
Just think. Had they not been forced to bring back Optimus so quickly we would have gotten a proper power master Optimus in season 4. Instead we got rushed poorly animated return of and the rebirth end cap. The End.
I have to admit this was a well written episode. However it also shows a major flaw in the Autobot command structure. The flaw is this: when the Prime Autobot is giving orders that do not make sense or is acting irrationally As Optimus was at times in his, like when he said to Perceptor "I AM IN COMMAND HERE, PERCEPTOR!" there should be a regulation where the next in line of command can invoke a regulation that relieves the Prime of command pending a thorough diagnostic. All the Autobots could plainly see how damaged and blasted and corroded Prime's chassis was, yet only Magnus and Kup had the insight to realize that Rodimus shouldn't give him the Matrix. Rodimus was clearly too hung up on not wanting to be leader and his guilt over inadvertently causing Prime's demise in the movie. The Quintessons clearly counted on this. However all the Autobots on Cybertron had to see his battle damage and should have insisted he spend time in the repair bay, however they were all too much in awe of the legendary Optimus in general plus that he was miraculously back from the grave. Perceptor is not stupid, he had to see the scope of Prime's damage and should have insisted on a security detail if necessary to get Optimus into the repair bay. Optimus however would have refused and blasted any Autobot necessary to continue his mission for the Quintessons since at this time he was just a reanimated, undead Optimus. He didn't fully revive until he nearly kills Rodimus, and that was thanks to the Matrix restoring his spark. His body was still undead thanks to Quintesson modifications and sabotage so he could handle the laser barrage at the end. Hasbro clearly intended this to be the end of him, but never underestimate the power of "traumatized" kids and irate parent groups.
On one hand I was glad to see Optimus returning, but only to be used to destroyed the Autobots, but it still hurts watching Optimus dying, it’s not Transformers without Optimus prime
We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new beginning; that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human He's not really dead. As long as we remember him. It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known.
My problem with this is i understand the business practices that the 1984 & some of the 1985 toy line were discontinued hasbro could have integrated the 1984 toy line with the 1986 lineup of G1 toys to spark even more interest in the toyline instead of killing off most of the characters in the movie
That would have been a great idea. Just give the 1984 and 1985 toy line a makeover and integrate them into the 1986 toy lines so that there will be more interests in the old toy lines. In the movie, instead of all of the Autobots killed, they would be gravely injured and dying. Then I had this idea where Hot Rod use the Matrix of Leadership and gave it to Vector Sigma so that it can not only revived the dying Autobots, but give them more upgraded and stronger forms.
They should redo G1. So many good stories to tell. Would love to see a longer battle and Deceptions being reformatted. I’d make the Seekers Cyclonus & Scourge and Insections would be Sweeps due to Cloning technology
As a kid I didn't like the third season post-movie - I guess obviously as it was so much different than the first two seasons which were always in my mind the "true" transformers. But rewatching the third season now I'm growing to really like it... much more mature themes, real-world consequences of decisions and actions. I'm wondering if this was a conscious move by Hasbro.. the Transformer fan base would have matured 2 or 3 years from season 1 (a big difference when you're 7 or 8) and perhaps Hasbro were anticipating that those more cartoonish first and second seasons wouldn't appeal to these kids as much anymore as they grew.
It was a move by Hasbro done to sell toys of the new characters, hence why Transformers: The Movie had most of the characters from the first two seasons killed off.
At the time I thought that the only good thing about season 3 was the sci-fi element where they visit many different worlds, it was otherwise quite a departure from the Transformers we knew up until the movie. Perhaps at the time Transformers was having stiff competition from other sci-fi shows, so needed to reinvent themselves to keep up with the market. I thought that by the time The Rebirth happened, they sort-of nailed it, but then the series ended.
It would be more funnier if Starscream possessed Optimus Prime's corpse to get revenge on Galvatron since the fact that Megatron killed Optimus Prime while Galvatron killed Starscream in the movie
one thing i have always had a problem with these episodes is that there seems to be oxygen in there for Spike and Daniel to breathe. The same with Cybertron. What use would there be for oxygen on Cybertron and this tomb, etc.
I wish my VHS in the early 90s had this voice over at the end rather than the other one that has Rodimus saying "So long...Prime" as the image of Optimus appears because that part absolutely destroyed me everytime I watched it 😭😭😂😂
@@rockys201 There was no narration at the end.. it was Rodimus saying very mournfully (after his previous "for sure I'm gonna try" line) "So long...Prime." End of story. Roll credits. At the time it was truly..devastating.
This is the ONE episode I remembered the most as a kid b/c of the obvious. And for some reason it was one of the few episodes I was able to fully watch over the airwaves back then. Pretty dark...forced me to come to terms with the movie.
This episode stayed in my head from when it first aired from when I was a kid and the one where Springer was chopped up on that glue like planet. I remember watching the episode around 86, and really liked the character and I was called to go eat dinner. Right when I got up to go eat, I saw him get killed and his head fell out the machine. I immediately went to dinner and barely ate, thinking about the character being killed, and his head falling out the machine (obviously I was sad). I didn't see later in the episode he was brought back to life by wrek-gar. Now, a father myself, I notice they don't make cartoons like that anymore. Even though it may seem cruel to have made things like that back then for little kids, I think we were more tuned to accept violence as we grew up compared to kids of today. The rule of thumb is to do GI Joe stuff (everyone jumps out of the vehicles as they explode to fight another day). I almost forgot about when you see OP's face at the end falling apart due to that blast. That stayed in my mind for at least a week.
Its interesting how Optimus was in prestinte condition in the Awaking compared to him falling apart...his left optic destroyed, the flag ship intact...interesting
It seems that in Return of Optimus Prime episode, Swafford and Jessica were able to miraculously repair all the damage when pulling him out of his shuttle just before it impacted the star!
Probably the darkest most emotional episode in the entire franchise. The akward moment for anyone expecting a happy ending after seeing the actual one! I really curious to know whta kind of feedback it received after it's original ending.
Simple. They only aired this episode once with the original ending. They then went to one of the animation studios (I want to say AKOM; Toei was busy) and hastily got this animated. It went from nothing to full production in less than 6 months. Besides; they had no intention to bring OP back! this was the 8th episode of the season, so for them to put the return of OP in that fast, then try to move this episode from the 8th episode to the 2nd last shows how much backlash they got.
@@athlonen I agree completely. While this episode is one of my favourites i cannot oversee it's greatest flaw: It is basically taking a huge dumb on Optimus's character in order to promote Rodimus.
@@MinasTsambanis This episode honoured Prime in the most epic way possible and gave him the Heroic death he deserved...The rush job of TROOP episodes was a massive insult to Prime as a character, the fans intelligence and it pooped on everything that had happened in and since the Movie...there were so many ways they could have brought him back in an epic fashion while at the same time honouring the events of season three, if they'd put a bit of time and effort into it. Instead they went for a quick and panic driven fix which was a slap in the face to continuity and all the work that went into season three..it was a sloppy rush job of a two part episode.
@@MinasTsambanis Which is why in the Headmasters series they actually got it right in Japan. The problem here is that if they did that in the US, it would be the end of the entire franchise, let alone toyline. Thankfully and luckily for Hasbro, Beast Wars saved both.
Just like in the movie. They added for the rerun the "Optimus Prime will return." narration at the end and reaired this episode before the last two episodes. Sad they took out Rodimus saying "So long. Prime." Kinda like Rocky at Apollo's funeral saying "You're the best."
Can we all thank Peter Cullen’s brother for giving him the inspiration to make Optimus the hero that he is. He told Peter, “If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be one of those Hollywood heroes pretending they’re tough guys.”
I commend the writers for making season 3 as batshit as possible...can imagine it must've sent parents into a frenzy...There was soo much hate with the death of Prime in the animated movie, that they bought him back,....but not before making him a zombie first...
Actually, it was the executives of Hasbro who were ultimately responsible. They forced the writers to put such controversial stuff in the script. But this episode provided even more backlash for Hasbro. All of that combined with the collective trauma from the movie seriously forced Hasbro to rethink, retcon & resurrect Optimus Prime for good. But as they did so, it was already too late as general interest in G1 had already faded since the movie.
When Kup said goodbye old friend to Optimus at the end he had lost him again even when arriving at the mausoleum I got the feeling he had bad memories of loosing his friends and comrades like Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Brawn, Huffer, Wheeljack, and Windcharger.
This was a very sad episode....until we get to that two-parter later on in the season. It makes you wonder why they even bothered to make Rodimus Prime a leader when they were going to have Optimus come back in some way or form again anyway? He wasn't Optimus, but still had the potential to be a good leader. But sometimes forging the self-confidence for things that seem bigger than yourself, really is a obstacle to overcome in itself.
OP wasn't supposed to come back. That's the problem. If you skip The Rebirth and go straight to the Japanese Headmasters series, you'll see what happens there, and how Hot Rod becomes RP again.
@@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate basically, after Return of Optimus Prime, forget the Rebirth, and go to the Japanese Headmasters series. You’ll see how RP comes back, as well as changes to other transformers you know.
Well, as you know by now OP came back because of parent complaint. They already animated this episode by then, so remember the commentary that the Hasbro told the creators, "I don't care how you do it, bring back Optimus Prime." They had no choice to make that two part finale half way through. Most of the season was already animated. I wish there was a better explanation in why Optimus was repaired all of a sudden. My fan theory is that ignore this episode where he is all battered up. After the movie, the autobots decided to repair his body as if you clean up a dead body for a funeral. His spark was gone but they gave him a new body for burial only to have the Quints revive him. And then the two parter happens after this episode.
@@terryrocks2j Nope.. not a this point, unfortunately. This was the 8th episode of the entire 3rd season. Takara wasn't going to bring him back at all, so they were going to suicide him off completely, as He was part of an at-the-time, 2-year old toyline. They aired this show once with the original ending of "So Long... Prime", spoken by Rodimus at the end, then was never aired again until they brought up the ads for the Return of Optimus Prime, in which the day before that 2-parter started, they re-aired Dark Awakening with the modified ending, where they took out Rodimus' line, and added in the narration about "is this really the end of Optimus Prime? Find out on tomorrow's exciting episode of Transformers: the Return of Optimus Prime". In short, Hasbro really screwed up when not only did they kill off OP, but got the idea of doing that from them also killing off Duke in the GI Joe movie.
Would have been cool as hell if the Quintessons reactivated the 4 dead Autobots from the shuttle attack. Then you would have an Anime style 5 Bot Zombie team of Optimus, Prowl, Iron Hide, Ratchet and Brawn.
That would have been awesome, imagine a zombie ironhide walking around with half a head gone from Megatron blasting him in the movie. However I could pic a confrontation between a zombie ironhide and Kup which would have been epic.
Tomorrow's episode, huh? Back then, we (or I) was in the mercy of whatever episode local free channel would show the next week. And because of random if not oft-replayed episodes, I was unable to follow the sequences, plus the fact I only saw the movie (i.e. Great War) in 2000. Got the chance to see the original episode, where Optimus had a farewell message (until altered by narrator Victor Caroli's hanging question). So to say the least, it was a thrill seeing the two-part return of the revered Autobot leader. Hearing Perceptor here made me realized the possibility he and Skylynx shares similar voice actor.
Personally I loved this episode even as a kid. I think kids should be exposed to the concept of death and see scary things. Like any fairy-tale, mythological story or factual piece death is a part of it, as is tragedy. Now I agree the amount of death in the movie for example was too much and this episode with the context of the movie is very dark for kids, but again I still loved it.
I always thought that even if rodimus was the upgraded mature version of hot rod, he still retrained hot rod's personality. Here when optimus prime appears he is kind like, cool what's the plan? Funny that when he reverts back to hot rod he sounds like a surfer "alright let's party"
Hasbro in 1986: “You wanna see us crush the spirits of an entire generation of kids?”
Also Hasbro in 1986: “You wanna see us do it again?”
I know a guy who can do that
I remember being slightly disappointed at the movie. But this episode was upsetting.
@@danieljeyn9847 this was one of my first g1 episodes before season 1 and 2
Yeah, bad enough to kill Optimus, but then they bring him back...as a zombie! And then they slowly destroy that zombie as his ship blows apart around him. Freakin psychos.
@@tyranusfan Cry about it.
"How convenient Rodimus. We can lay your remains besides those of your mentor." - Galvatron That was savage writing.
If I had enemies like that and said those words next to my mentor's tomb I'll be happy she'd save my tail roater
But atleast she's resting until I hope to see her
Evidence galvatron still remembered optimus
It’s real savage. And I love how ominous and brilliant it is as a line. You can tell how the tone of the show is so much more post 86 movie. It’s just so well done in my mind.
I love Sludge’s little existential crisis at 13:10
The half blown up look Prime had at the end terrified me when I was little
Transformers the movie last when Optimus was alive he gave the matrix to Ultra Magnus. Now he alive and goes straight to Rodimus 🤔
Parents in 1986 "Optimus Prime dying in the movie upset my child"
Hasbro "Don't worry, he comes back in this episode" maniacal laugh
@@DREDAY717
the matrix chose rodimus
The matrix also gave optimus some common sense back at the end.
Yeah, I remembering watching it when it first aired and afterwards I couldn't get his messed up body and face out of my mind. They really didn't think about the fragile feelings or mental state of kids back then!
@@ralphg2771 yeah the old days were great 😉
Honestly if you take aside the completely horrible timing and implications of this episode and divorced from the release of the movie, this is a very strong episode that was great for Rodimus needing to come to grips with his new burden and stepping up to the plate.
It's my favourite episode of all.
@@TF80s i remember this being a crazy episode as a kid... the discussions on the playground about it were probably the first step in many towards philosophy & burden of responsibility [when zombie Optimus rips open his chest to give you the Matrix, it has to a sign from the universe].
@@CM-wv8ns that fight scene between Hotrod and Optimus was fantastic stuff.
I suppose i was lucky enough NOT to see the movie in theaters--season three's short recap on tv is all i got which told me Optimus was dead. I met Rodimus before I met Hotrod while enjoying season three as morning cartoon before school. In retrospect, the movie was a prequel (or lost story) of how Hotrod earned the Matrix (via video cassette rental..before Blockbuster).
@@CM-wv8ns yeah I'd gotten the Ladybird book and audio cassette of the Movie before seeing season three so l knew what went down..l think l only saw the Movie itself on VHS after I'd seen the whole of season three.
I know Hot Rod is no Optimus Prime, but I admired his courage when he stood up to him and said "I'm taking command!"
i just wished everyone give hot rod/Rodimus Prime some credit.
AGREED
@@redips well... Everyone still feel sad because he was the one that caused optimus to die...
It wasn't him was the writers.@adamryamizard5560
"Suffocate or smother" is the kind of dialogue that made me love Rodimus. So callous!
Same here, loved his sarcasm. Optimus would NEVER have said something like that.
Rodimus Prime in retropect was under-rated, but there is still a part of me that preferred Hotrod (mostly because of the sleek futuristic sports car alt-mode).
@@trence5 Well there was the one time he said: ...a boobytrap that actually captures boobies...
Rodimus Prime has always been my favourite Autobot.
Rodimus gets too much crap. His leadership qualities are exactly what they push in ALOT of cartoons and Anime these days. The insecure, and unsure reluctant leader who is prone to depression? It's weird because characters like Optimus Prime get dumped on as being unrealistic these days, and people want cynical assholes. Transformers G1 is still like the exception to the rule. I love both characters and I thought Rodimus was one of the few attempts in season 3 to actually write character development.
Optimus dying again didn’t upset me as much as the mausoleum with my 1984 bots being destroyed. 😢
Yeah I felt that too
It was all a mistake!
They are all dead though but yeah I feel ya. I wonder if spark plug is dead because I don’t remember seeing him in the movie or in season 3
@@citizenkill7435 According to Fandom, he was killed when Ark II exploded in 1999
That hurt,
"I don't know if I'll ever be the leader that you were... but for sure, I'm going to try" That line made me like Rodimus even more.
It’s ironic that Optimus fired at Hot Rod without holding back. Afterall, Prime owed him for getting in the way with Megatron that led to his demise.
Transformers headmasters later on however he quits
@@mattstevenson1670 Megatron used hot rod hostage because he knew prime wouldn't shoot anyone to get at him Megatron used primes code of honor against him which was his own weakness
Prime was gonna stop Megatron he said no matter the cost and he meant it even with his last bit of strength he made sure Megatron fell before he collapsed
Prime learned nothing from that time Megatron used his troops powrchips to beat him in a fight or from Megatron's master plan
I am Sorry but Optimus prime is overrated? The Autobots were regulated to Cybertron moons? Means Optimus Prime once again lost Cybertron, than lost the cybertronian war by allowing Megatron to out smart him and ambush the Autobots in the shuttle and Autobot City? Than have Megatron in his sight and spend 30 seconds to have a self-righteous speech? He is always letting Megatron go to live another day? Some will say it's HOTROD fault, but this is how Optimus operates he had it coming for two seasons? Under Rodimus the Autobots were no more being put at Outpost on moons and on earth. They regain Cybertron, as well as learned of there creators and defeated them as well as the Decepticons from regaining Cybertron, as well as galactic peace conferences on Cybertron. Rodimus also helped Melissa Morgan on Earth space command, as well as protecting earth, all being done simultaneously as being his first year on the job. Optimus Prime had one battle front on earth and he allowed Megatron to build a space bridge? But did win battles on earth but never the war? So when People think Optimus Prime was a better leader I take unbiased look at Rodimus vs Optimus campaigns, and Hotrod/Rodimus is the 🏆and for the return of the Golden age it was Spike who saved Cybertron not Optimus Prime, and in the Rebirth episodes once again Optimus left Ultra Magnus to be slaughtered with the Autobots, so that Galvatron could regain Cybertron once again?
@@chrisedwards3214 No Optimus got out smarted by Megatron the Autobots ambushed on the shuttle and Autobot City it shouldn't have came down to that?! Prime had 30 seconds to kill Megatron, plus season 1, 2 instead he wants to show you how self-righteous is?, we are not going to let Optimus Prime out just because we are bias? He lost Cybertron 3 times the last time he flat out lost it after Rodimus got it back? He is overrated.
Hearing Kup say "Goodbye old friend" took me straight back to my childhood and I started to tear up all over again.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the hideousness of the Autobots' tomb being destroyed? They don't even get a final resting place; zombie-Optimus, via Quintesson control, sends it into a star. So reviled are the Autobots by every malevolent force in the galaxy that they're denied even a gravesite. I mean, goddamn.
yeah when i was a kid seeing the tomb being destroyed hurt me a lot. and even rewatching it still hurts.
I hated this, too. The Decepticons who became Unicron's minions were treated far better. Megatron and the others get upgrades, but WOW, the dead Autobots get their bodies destroyed, and we get a zombie Optimus!
Then Hasbro wondered why many of us hated Rodimus.
This episode always stuck with me as a child. Looking back, it legitimately makes a lot of sense, at least on a conceptual level. The Quintessons created the Cybertronians in the first place; what other race could possibly hope to salvage the corpses of destroyed Cybertronians and successfully reanimate them?
Lmao.. I was thinking the samething😍
For sure. I always thought they were just gonna fix his body at the end movie, then take him to Vector Sigma and give him a new spark but with no memory like when he lost his memory from Orion Pax to Optimus Prime in the first place.
Why stop at Optimus? Why not bring a zombie bot army with the others that died?
Very true.
@@allenfowler1886 Because the Autobots would follow Optimus into a trap and not Prowl or Ironhide.
At 7:20 that’s such an iconic line for this specific episode. When a zombie Prime tells you to leave this place or die, you better take his word and leave. I remember this episode and how disturbing the ending was.
Even Galvatron got the stepping
@chrismc410 Not only that. Galvatron got so spooked that he sounded like Megatron again when he muttered Optimus Prime's name. Makes me wonder how far into season 3's production the voicework was. Clearly, it was a force of habit on Welkers' part.
@@Hollyjollytroll It's obviously an error, but I like to imagine that some sliver of his original Megatron personality resurfaced when he saw Optimus Prime and, ever so briefly, Galvatron reverted to who he once was. Well, before Optimus shot the bejesus out of him.
This episode just tossed so much salt into our wounds.
as shown in many parts of the episode like 18:08 it shows that even as a zombie optimus still cares and i love that😭
When Daniel cried over Optimus Prime death in the 86 movie and the end of this episode is really sad and powerful scene. The bond these human characters have with autobots is very close
Fun fact: As others have elucidated here the "But is Optimus really gone?...." narration was added upon the second airing of this episode which was in February 1987 before "The Return Of Optimus Prime" aired. This episode re-aired at the END of the second run(the first re-run) of Season 3 episodes, whereas it had aired early in S3 during its initial showng.
Thanks; I knew my memory was correct on this. That little ADR kinda killed the impact of what Rodimus said at the end. I need this in my collection WITHOUT it, so I may have to do some editing.
Armada
Armada 2002 2003
Damn , when Daniel was reading the names of the Autobots , it hurted more than I imagined it would .
Wish he would have read more
@@chrisedwards3214 at least none of the names Daniel was reading were Grapple, Hoist, Inferno, Red Alert, Skids, Smokescreen, Sunstreaker, Tracks or Trailbreaker (though it’s a wonder he only said *four* Autobots’ names, rather than all seven - those whose names he said, and in this order, were Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl and whose death we didn’t know about, until this episode - Huffer, who was killed offscreen, back in the movie; Daniel didn’t say the names of the remaining three Autobots who were killed, back in the movie - Brawn, Wheeljack and Windcharger)
It definitely laid the ground work that most of the first series Autobots were killed off.
What is sad is that in Transformers: The Movie Spike wanted Ironhide to tell Daniel that he misses him and that he would return once they kick Megatron's butt across the universe, Rachet and Prowl in Season 2 took Daniel's father Spike to the hospital in Autobot Spike, and also Rachet used to work together with Daniel's Grandfather Sparkplug in Seasons 1 and 2. I will say that The Characters in The Movie and Season 3 were one that nobody even wanted or even asked for because people couldn't connect with them like The Ones from Seasons 1 and 2.
Here's some fridge horror, Daniel probably grew up knowing those very Autobots given his parents. I can only imagine that's another reason Spike felt ill-at-ease once they got inside. Sure he's an adult now but a lot of his best pals are buried in that place. Robots he knew since he was a teen. I imagine being in the tomb was no picnic for the entire crew.
This episode is inscribed in my memory from childhood. Grim reminder that the characters I loved are truly dead with Daniel reading out their grave markers…. then that corpse falling out of his crypt.
I'd guess that the "corpse" was just a random Autobot, but I always thought it looked a bit like Windcharger.
For all it's campyness G1 packs a mean punch
@@rosalindshays5679 that's because it was
Что мешало их починить как это сделал Телетран 1 в первой же серии?
@@Izbrannyi1 failed plot armor.
I always have an image of a missing scene from the movie, where the Autobots load up the tomb before sending it into outer space. I imagine the Dinobots carrying Ratchet and Wheeljack and leading their two fathers into their resting place and paying one last respect to them with the sad Season 1-2 two music playing in the background.
IDW need to make a mini series of this.
That would have been a great scene. Even such badasses as the Dinobots would break down emotionally as they carried their creators to their graves.
That would be cool, I also picture a scene from the movie where Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod are loading Optimus Prime's corpse into the coffin, the very same coffin that you see in Dark Awakening, and bringing the coffin aboard the autobot grave shuttle before sending it into outer space, and you see hot rod and Ultra Magnus, Kup, Arcee, Springer, Jazz, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Daniel and Spike paying their last respects and bidding farewell to great Optimus Prime, you can see tears coming down Daniel's face.
@@RhetoricalGamer I agree they should a make a mini series of the Autobots making a autobot grave shuttle, that way we could get more insight on which autobots actually died in the movie off screen.
Jazz is playing "Amazing Grace" on his speakers.
7:18 - I wept and squealed and cheered wildly when i saw it as a child.
"Me Sludge not glad to see you"
That line had me laughing back then and still makes me laugh.
This is definitely one of the best episodes of Season 3.
100% 👍👍...although this version is spoiled by the narration at the end.
With bad animation... :(
@@tomaszperfikowski7647 the animation isn't terrible but isnt the top quality like some episodes
@@tomaszperfikowski7647
doesn't matter
I know there was a version of Dark Awakening without the spoilers, but I remember this episode aired the day before the airing of The Return of Optimus Prime.
Daniel: Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Huffer.
Me: Don’t forget Brawn, Wheeljack, Windcharger and especially Optimus Prime.
I'm like, "When'd they kill Huffer?!"
@@Davethe3rd Oh I am sure he got blasted during the attack on Autobot City offscreen.
@@RhetoricalGamer Oh, I'm sure every Season 1 & 2 Autobot except Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz, the Dinobots, the Combiners, Blaster, Preceptor, and the Season 2 Minibots all died.
@@Davethe3rd Inferno also survived the battle of Autobot city, a storyboarded but never animated scene showed him wishing Ultra Magnus good luck as he departed with Hot Rod, Arcee, Kup and The Dinobots in the shuttle.
And I’m sure that every Decepticon in season 1 and 2 except Soundwave, his cassettes, Blitzwing, Astrotrsin, and the combiners has died as well.
This episode was a kick in the teeth. It was bad enough as a kid in this era that they killed Optimus Prime (like many children I cried during the movie), but they BROUGHT HIM BACK AS A ZOMBIE.
Some other thoughts:
- I never did figure out who the dead Autobot that falls on Daniel was. There are way more tombs than Autobots who died so maybe it's just someone who we don't know. RIP him.
- Daniel: "Maybe he was in.. you know, a coma". Kid, you SAW HIM TURN GRAY, and the light in his eyes dim.
not only did hasbro kill off one of the most beloved heroes of all time, they resurrected him and killed him again. and desiccated the memories of all his comrades that died in the war too.
The real reason Optimus committed die again was because his restored free will also caused him to regain his memories of Kiss Players.
That's a legitimate reason to commit die
The most shameful death was crying over cartoon aliens in a video game that's shameful
If I was grimlock I would call prime weak too
“Monsters, they made me a weapon to destroy the ones I loved!” That gives me chills.
"...the VERY ones I loved IN LIFE. But you will save them...Rodimus Prime!"
literally how we felt after the movie
"back to Cybertron is my final order". excellent leadership in moment of sorrow
Till all are one
Mausoleum is a place for the Fallen Autobot Heros who had died during the Great War against the Decepticons
Since when have any characters in this show had this much depth? Seriously, this is the most developement Rodimus has had in the movie and the show so far combined! Definitely one of the best episodes in the entire show. Sure, it's dark, but it's so good! Feels like these are actual characters and not just hollow shells walking around.
Season 3 is deeper than season 1 and 2. But people only look at the animation quality
@Wally Webbs
thats season 3.
People say its bad but its actually more grown up than 1 and 2
@@alphatrion100 I just wish galv was taken more seriously
@@alphatrion100 good storylines after the movie it was like the good old days are gone
@@chrisedwards3214
Times were simpeler in the first season with megatons ploy of the week to create or steal energon. Season 3 stories had a bit more depth to them.
In my childhood I was scared to watch this episode again, but I always loved that he died as Optimus Prime, sacrificing himself, and not being killed by other autobots as a mindless weapon. He never stops fighting for what is right even after his death, until all are one
G1 continuity got a LOT better after the movie, as well as the series really maturing. Despite the unintentional trauma it caused us 80's kids we needed those life lessons.
And even after all these years just watching this scene again it still gets to me.
I say we all come together and go find the quintesons and make the most pay
I can't watch Optimus death in the movie or hear
Rodimus was ready to follow Optimus orders and saying he's been keeping the Matrix warm for Optimus was nice like even though he's trying Optimus is the true leader and always will be of the Autobots. But Rodimus did great I mean look at what Optimus has done over the years a lot to live up to.
12:11 The stuff Kup says feels like Hasbro telling us that Ironhide, Ratchet and the rest aren't coming back (in BW I think Ironhide and Prowl who were among the first to die, are Maximal elders)
9:54 just a bit glitchy
I feel bad for Optimus. Brought back from his final rest only to be used as a weapon, forced to fight against his will against his fellow Autobots and friends, destroying the last memorial to his fallen comrades, along with being used to nearly take out the entire Autobot fleet. Essentially having no clue what was truly going on but unable to fully stop his body from carrying out the Quintesson's programming until the last minute, the fact he did override their programming only further proves how much of a badass he is.
Rodimus couldn’t get rid of that Matrix fast enough. Lol
yet got it back 4 episodes later after the Return of OP.
@@athlonen Well, that depends on production order. I remember when I watched this episode as a kid, it was around the Episode 10 mark. Plus, Rodimus never got the Matrix back at the end of Return Of Optimus Prime. He held it for a moment, but Optimus Prime fully reclaimed it, as Rodimus stayed as Hot Rod for the remainder of the US series.
@@StarFighters76 that's correct of the US series. Dark Awakening was Episode 8 in the US and Japan. The way the lapse of time could be explained between episode 8 and the Return of OP series is that it took time to Morgan and Swolford to get back to Earth with OP from saving him from the exploding star. But The Return of OP is where the arc begins. While we got The Rebirth: parts 1-3 in the US, they immediately went into the Headmasters series in Japan. HR was still HR, and not a Targetmaster. Daniel never got paralyzed. in episode 2 or 3 of the Headmasters series, OP needed RP's help, so he transferred the power of the matrix back to HR, making him RP again. OP suicided to save Galvatron and an exploding cybertron from an overloaded Vector Sigma (with Alpha Trion inside it still). RP continued on as leader of the Autobots.
Rodimus was the reluctant leader.
But is this really the end of Optimus Prime? Find out in tomorrow's exciting episode, "The Return of Optimus Prime".
I'm glad I have both times they aired this on tape. The original run didn't have the narration at all.
@@athlonen right, because it wasn’t the next episode, it was long after.
Haha. Finally Hasbro learned their lesson not to traumatize kids (and adults) by killing Optimus permanently.
@@athlonen I had a bootleg that had this first broadcast.
@@DisgruntledPigumon That is true. I read this was a re-edit done in February 1987 (the version without the narration aired in October 1986), as the narration was added to promote The Return Of Optimus Prime, which Part 1 debut in February 24, 1987.
I remember how glad i was to see Optimus back in this episode and how crushed i was to see him die again!! Great and dramatic episode that also showed the tomb of the autobots that were lost in the movie!! Always send chills down my spine when Spike sees the dead body of Hound discolored and fall over!
Without a doubt, this is one of the darkest episodes in the show. It really left an impression on me. One that haunts me even to this day.
Same
Poor Spike. How much heartbreak can a kid take?
Them bringing back Optimus Prime just to kill him again in this episode really upset me back then. At least they had enough sense to bring them back for good in a later episode.
Optimus in the thumbnail: "IM SUREOUNDED BY IDIOTS"
If only Elita One was there I would have liked to see her react to this especially if she was in the movie.
I agree imagine in the end of this episode she will die with him in the sweet note
She was presumed dead by now maybe Megatron and shockwave had her killed when they banished the autobots from Cybertron some time after 1985
Elita One would’ve made a great addition to the 86 film.
If Alita One died before the movie it would have been when the Decepticons finally purged all Autobots off Cybertron.
If she was alive during the movie then she would have been stationed at Autobot City which was largely destroyed by the Decepticons, at the Ark, or one of the two moonbases that Unicron ingested.
Remember that by the end of the movie the Autobots are an endangered species. Her chances aren't that great.
@@gandalflotr2898if that did happen. She too would be revive in The Return of Optimus Prime. Which was really easy for her to comeback online.
I cried 1986 when I was 12 when Optimus Prime died. I cried a year later when Prime died again in this episode. I'm 48 now and watched this episode again and again I cried when Prime died. Optimus Prime can die 1000 times and I'll still cry each time.
The most F%$ked up episode ever. I mean the idea was "Hey kids were unhappy how Optimus died in the movie. Lets fix it." And they gave us this. WOW.
The Return of Optimus Prime fixed all that, but yeah, what was this?
@@Leondrius I believe it was put into production before the movie's release and it was too late to change it after the fallout from Prime's death. The bit about "The Return of Optimus Prime" was added for second airings.
@@matthewmartin1595 This was put in after the movie's release, and released before the backlash really hit. They aired the original episode of this only once, with RP saying at the end, "So Long.. Prime." It took 8 months later to rerun this with the narration to put together the Return of Optimus Prime.
@@athlonen Yeah, it never made sense how Prime's ship blew up, then in the next episode he's in a shuttle, totally unfazed, at least his body was. They knew they messed up and had to make Return of Optimus Prime to please the fans.
Just think. Had they not been forced to bring back Optimus so quickly we would have gotten a proper power master Optimus in season 4. Instead we got rushed poorly animated return of and the rebirth end cap. The End.
From the looks of this comment section our trauma never ended! Optimus meant that much to us!
I can’t believe they are making me cry 😢 again over Optimus Prime’s death in this episode.
Rodimus Prime: I Don't Know If I'll Ever Be The Leader That You Were. But For Sure, I'm Gonna Try. So Long, Prime.
Then the narrator clues in tomorrow's two-part season finale.
@@Rlotpir1972 Right.
0:42 “the Decepticons are creaming us”
I have to admit this was a well written episode. However it also shows a major flaw in the Autobot command structure. The flaw is this: when the Prime Autobot is giving orders that do not make sense or is acting irrationally As Optimus was at times in his, like when he said to Perceptor "I AM IN COMMAND HERE, PERCEPTOR!" there should be a regulation where the next in line of command can invoke a regulation that relieves the Prime of command pending a thorough diagnostic. All the Autobots could plainly see how damaged and blasted and corroded Prime's chassis was, yet only Magnus and Kup had the insight to realize that Rodimus shouldn't give him the Matrix. Rodimus was clearly too hung up on not wanting to be leader and his guilt over inadvertently causing Prime's demise in the movie. The Quintessons clearly counted on this. However all the Autobots on Cybertron had to see his battle damage and should have insisted he spend time in the repair bay, however they were all too much in awe of the legendary Optimus in general plus that he was miraculously back from the grave. Perceptor is not stupid, he had to see the scope of Prime's damage and should have insisted on a security detail if necessary to get Optimus into the repair bay. Optimus however would have refused and blasted any Autobot necessary to continue his mission for the Quintessons since at this time he was just a reanimated, undead Optimus. He didn't fully revive until he nearly kills Rodimus, and that was thanks to the Matrix restoring his spark. His body was still undead thanks to Quintesson modifications and sabotage so he could handle the laser barrage at the end. Hasbro clearly intended this to be the end of him, but never underestimate the power of "traumatized" kids and irate parent groups.
That overhead throw. Rodimus beat Optimus using the same move he beat Galvatron with in the movie. Almost ironic.
I used to hate Rodimus Prime as a kid, now I admire him.
On one hand I was glad to see Optimus returning, but only to be used to destroyed the Autobots, but it still hurts watching Optimus dying, it’s not Transformers without Optimus prime
We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new beginning; that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human
He's not really dead. As long as we remember him. It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known.
Spike: "Great. What'll Daniel and I do when the air runs out?"
Rodimus: "Basically you'll have two choices: suffocate, or smother."
One of the best episodes ever! Watched this as a kid and loved it
Deffo.
This episode scared the crap out of me when I was a kid!
My problem with this is i understand the business practices that the 1984 & some of the 1985 toy line were discontinued hasbro could have integrated the 1984 toy line with the 1986 lineup of G1 toys to spark even more interest in the toyline instead of killing off most of the characters in the movie
That would have been a great idea. Just give the 1984 and 1985 toy line a makeover and integrate them into the 1986 toy lines so that there will be more interests in the old toy lines.
In the movie, instead of all of the Autobots killed, they would be gravely injured and dying. Then I had this idea where Hot Rod use the Matrix of Leadership and gave it to Vector Sigma so that it can not only revived the dying Autobots, but give them more upgraded and stronger forms.
Well said BomberMonkAssassin35.
They should redo G1. So many good stories to tell. Would love to see a longer battle and Deceptions being reformatted. I’d make the Seekers Cyclonus & Scourge and Insections would be Sweeps due to Cloning technology
As a kid I didn't like the third season post-movie - I guess obviously as it was so much different than the first two seasons which were always in my mind the "true" transformers. But rewatching the third season now I'm growing to really like it... much more mature themes, real-world consequences of decisions and actions.
I'm wondering if this was a conscious move by Hasbro.. the Transformer fan base would have matured 2 or 3 years from season 1 (a big difference when you're 7 or 8) and perhaps Hasbro were anticipating that those more cartoonish first and second seasons wouldn't appeal to these kids as much anymore as they grew.
It was a move by Hasbro done to sell toys of the new characters, hence why Transformers: The Movie had most of the characters from the first two seasons killed off.
At the time I thought that the only good thing about season 3 was the sci-fi element where they visit many different worlds, it was otherwise quite a departure from the Transformers we knew up until the movie. Perhaps at the time Transformers was having stiff competition from other sci-fi shows, so needed to reinvent themselves to keep up with the market. I thought that by the time The Rebirth happened, they sort-of nailed it, but then the series ended.
We were blessed to get episodes like this when we were young.
Damn. Hits hard even as someone who didn't start watching it until it was already in syndication (early 90s)
12:54 It can sem like the dinobots lost the ability to transform in season 3.
They decided to stay in dino mode but they did get dumber
4:29 This kid should never go near a scrap yard.
It would be more funnier if Starscream possessed Optimus Prime's corpse to get revenge on Galvatron since the fact that Megatron killed Optimus Prime while Galvatron killed Starscream in the movie
@10:01 As someone who hated Hot Rod after TFTM, this moment was the ultimate in fan service.
Oh my the 1984 Autobot bodies that were already dead had to be destroyed the amount of disrespect
one thing i have always had a problem with these episodes is that there seems to be oxygen in there for Spike and Daniel to breathe. The same with Cybertron. What use would there be for oxygen on Cybertron and this tomb, etc.
I wish my VHS in the early 90s had this voice over at the end rather than the other one that has Rodimus saying "So long...Prime" as the image of Optimus appears because that part absolutely destroyed me everytime I watched it 😭😭😂😂
The narrator really liked to give us hope that Optimus Prime was always going to return!
In the Original airing he doesn't say Optimus was coming back to life.
@@great159 what did the original say?
@@rockys201 There was no narration at the end.. it was Rodimus saying very mournfully (after his previous "for sure I'm gonna try" line) "So long...Prime." End of story. Roll credits. At the time it was truly..devastating.
@@rjhunter1873 it must've gotten a really bad reception when they had to retcon everything and bring Prime back to life.
1:58 nice call back to the Movie when Galvatron destroyed the autobot ship before finding out from Unicron that they escaped on a smaller ship
9:53
Hot Rod: Alright Hot R0¶ I$ B@ck Le+'z P@@Rt¥¥¥¥¡
Optimus: oof me...
"The blast doors to the command center are locked!" "Fortunately, I have a delicate lockpicking technique." *PUNCH*
the unforgetable zombie Optimus!
Zombimus Prime!
This is the ONE episode I remembered the most as a kid b/c of the obvious. And for some reason it was one of the few episodes I was able to fully watch over the airwaves back then. Pretty dark...forced me to come to terms with the movie.
This episode stayed in my head from when it first aired from when I was a kid and the one where Springer was chopped up on that glue like planet. I remember watching the episode around 86, and really liked the character and I was called to go eat dinner. Right when I got up to go eat, I saw him get killed and his head fell out the machine. I immediately went to dinner and barely ate, thinking about the character being killed, and his head falling out the machine (obviously I was sad). I didn't see later in the episode he was brought back to life by wrek-gar. Now, a father myself, I notice they don't make cartoons like that anymore. Even though it may seem cruel to have made things like that back then for little kids, I think we were more tuned to accept violence as we grew up compared to kids of today. The rule of thumb is to do GI Joe stuff (everyone jumps out of the vehicles as they explode to fight another day). I almost forgot about when you see OP's face at the end falling apart due to that blast. That stayed in my mind for at least a week.
Cyclonus: My Lord! We just replaced that screen from the last time you blew it up!
Its interesting how Optimus was in prestinte condition in the Awaking compared to him falling apart...his left optic destroyed, the flag ship intact...interesting
It seems that in Return of Optimus Prime episode, Swafford and Jessica were able to miraculously repair all the damage when pulling him out of his shuttle just before it impacted the star!
1:52 a small clip from the animated cartoon movie
Was, l never noticed that before..l thought it was just a nod to that movie scene.
Probably the darkest most emotional episode in the entire franchise.
The akward moment for anyone expecting a happy ending after seeing the actual one!
I really curious to know whta kind of feedback it received after it's original ending.
Simple. They only aired this episode once with the original ending. They then went to one of the animation studios (I want to say AKOM; Toei was busy) and hastily got this animated. It went from nothing to full production in less than 6 months. Besides; they had no intention to bring OP back! this was the 8th episode of the season, so for them to put the return of OP in that fast, then try to move this episode from the 8th episode to the 2nd last shows how much backlash they got.
@@athlonen I agree completely. While this episode is one of my favourites i cannot oversee it's greatest flaw: It is basically taking a huge dumb on Optimus's character in order to promote Rodimus.
@@MinasTsambanis This episode honoured Prime in the most epic way possible and gave him the Heroic death he deserved...The rush job of TROOP episodes was a massive insult to Prime as a character, the fans intelligence and it pooped on everything that had happened in and since the Movie...there were so many ways they could have brought him back in an epic fashion while at the same time honouring the events of season three, if they'd put a bit of time and effort into it. Instead they went for a quick and panic driven fix which was a slap in the face to continuity and all the work that went into season three..it was a sloppy rush job of a two part episode.
@@MinasTsambanis Which is why in the Headmasters series they actually got it right in Japan. The problem here is that if they did that in the US, it would be the end of the entire franchise, let alone toyline. Thankfully and luckily for Hasbro, Beast Wars saved both.
@@TF80s Continuity was not one of the Transformers's strongest assets.
See the Constructicons, the Vector Sigma/Quidesson dilemma and many others.
This, along with "The Search for Alpha Trion", was my introduction to G1 when I was 10 years old....
Just like in the movie. They added for the rerun the "Optimus Prime will return." narration at the end and reaired this episode before the last two episodes. Sad they took out Rodimus saying "So long. Prime." Kinda like Rocky at Apollo's funeral saying "You're the best."
I loved the "So long Prime" ending. This one is so anti-climactic!
Yeah, miss that So long... Prime as well. Anyway, great episode despite Akom animation.
@@ShanaReviews yeah, can't believe this was Akom, l love the animation of this episode...apart from Ultra Magnus' big red lips.
Haha, Rodimus yells "take cover!" then runs behind Ultra Magnus and Kup and starts firing.
This is great character development for Rodimus. I don't normally watch the original cartoon, but I enjoyed this episode a lot
Seeing Optimus' face at the end. Reminds me somewhat of the 1960 French horror film Eyes without a face.
Can we all thank Peter Cullen’s brother for giving him the inspiration to make Optimus the hero that he is. He told Peter, “If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be one of those Hollywood heroes pretending they’re tough guys.”
"Will this be the end of Optimus Prime? Find out in the next episode, The Return of Optimus Prime"
*ghost of starscream is next episode lol*
I commend the writers for making season 3 as batshit as possible...can imagine it must've sent parents into a frenzy...There was soo much hate with the death of Prime in the animated movie, that they bought him back,....but not before making him a zombie first...
Actually, it was the executives of Hasbro who were ultimately responsible. They forced the writers to put such controversial stuff in the script.
But this episode provided even more backlash for Hasbro. All of that combined with the collective trauma from the movie seriously forced Hasbro to rethink, retcon & resurrect Optimus Prime for good. But as they did so, it was already too late as general interest in G1 had already faded since the movie.
@@wayneshobbygallery even better...
I was devastated as a kid when I saw this episode.
Finally snarl gets an appearance. Barely appeared in the movie.
When Kup said goodbye old friend to Optimus at the end he had lost him again even when arriving at the mausoleum I got the feeling he had bad memories of loosing his friends and comrades like Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Brawn, Huffer, Wheeljack, and Windcharger.
Seeing the tubes of the old transformers made me tear up
This was a very sad episode....until we get to that two-parter later on in the season. It makes you wonder why they even bothered to make Rodimus Prime a leader when they were going to have Optimus come back in some way or form again anyway? He wasn't Optimus, but still had the potential to be a good leader. But sometimes forging the self-confidence for things that seem bigger than yourself, really is a obstacle to overcome in itself.
OP wasn't supposed to come back. That's the problem. If you skip The Rebirth and go straight to the Japanese Headmasters series, you'll see what happens there, and how Hot Rod becomes RP again.
@@athlonen That's really the reason why I hate dubs. Because I didn't even know that Rodimus Prime comes back.
@@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate basically, after Return of Optimus Prime, forget the Rebirth, and go to the Japanese Headmasters series. You’ll see how RP comes back, as well as changes to other transformers you know.
Well, as you know by now OP came back because of parent complaint. They already animated this episode by then, so remember the commentary that the Hasbro told the creators, "I don't care how you do it, bring back Optimus Prime." They had no choice to make that two part finale half way through. Most of the season was already animated. I wish there was a better explanation in why Optimus was repaired all of a sudden. My fan theory is that ignore this episode where he is all battered up. After the movie, the autobots decided to repair his body as if you clean up a dead body for a funeral. His spark was gone but they gave him a new body for burial only to have the Quints revive him. And then the two parter happens after this episode.
@@terryrocks2j Nope.. not a this point, unfortunately. This was the 8th episode of the entire 3rd season. Takara wasn't going to bring him back at all, so they were going to suicide him off completely, as He was part of an at-the-time, 2-year old toyline. They aired this show once with the original ending of "So Long... Prime", spoken by Rodimus at the end, then was never aired again until they brought up the ads for the Return of Optimus Prime, in which the day before that 2-parter started, they re-aired Dark Awakening with the modified ending, where they took out Rodimus' line, and added in the narration about "is this really the end of Optimus Prime? Find out on tomorrow's exciting episode of Transformers: the Return of Optimus Prime".
In short, Hasbro really screwed up when not only did they kill off OP, but got the idea of doing that from them also killing off Duke in the GI Joe movie.
This whole episode terrified me as a kid. Im surprised it never gets talked about on like a top 30 most disturbing kids cartoon episodes
Would have been cool as hell if the Quintessons reactivated the 4 dead Autobots from the shuttle attack. Then you would have an Anime style 5 Bot Zombie team of Optimus, Prowl, Iron Hide, Ratchet and Brawn.
That would have been awesome, imagine a zombie ironhide walking around with half a head gone from Megatron blasting him in the movie. However I could pic a confrontation between a zombie ironhide and Kup which would have been epic.
Tomorrow's episode, huh?
Back then, we (or I) was in the mercy of whatever episode local free channel would show the next week.
And because of random if not oft-replayed episodes, I was unable to follow the sequences, plus the fact I only saw the movie (i.e. Great War) in 2000.
Got the chance to see the original episode, where Optimus had a farewell message (until altered by narrator Victor Caroli's hanging question). So to say the least, it was a thrill seeing the two-part return of the revered Autobot leader.
Hearing Perceptor here made me realized the possibility he and Skylynx shares similar voice actor.
Personally I loved this episode even as a kid. I think kids should be exposed to the concept of death and see scary things. Like any fairy-tale, mythological story or factual piece death is a part of it, as is tragedy. Now I agree the amount of death in the movie for example was too much and this episode with the context of the movie is very dark for kids, but again I still loved it.
I always thought that even if rodimus was the upgraded mature version of hot rod, he still retrained hot rod's personality. Here when optimus prime appears he is kind like, cool what's the plan? Funny that when he reverts back to hot rod he sounds like a surfer "alright let's party"
21:33 Ultra Magnus: 😮
Bro it look like lipstick
stunticon wildrider getting blown up @14:46 always got me thinking there could've been potential for a subplot involving him defecting to the autobots
I'm glad Optimus came back for good
Who isn’t? (that’s a rhetorical question)
Rodimus called Daniel kid as though they weren't best buddies in Transformers: The Movie.