Darkmount, NV

« Transformers: Prime ep 53 »
Sigh. Tourists.
"Darkmount, NV"
Season	3
No. in season	1
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	March 15, 2013 (Singapore) March 22, 2013 (USA)
Written by	Marsha Griffin
Directed by	Shaunt Nigoghossian
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on YouTube

Optimus struggles to survive while the other Autobots try to find each other.

Synopsis

The Decepticons search the ruins of Outpost Omega One. Starscream has investigated the wreckage of the Jackhammer, and returns with Wheeljack as captive. Megatron orders him taken back to Darkmount for questioning while the troops continue to search not far from where Optimus is half-buried. The Decepticons eventually dig up Airachnid, still trapped in her stasis chamber, and the Forge of Solus Prime but are unable to find any bodies. This turns out to be because Smokescreen has spirited Optimus away using the phase shifter. The young Autobot shelters his badly-damaged leader in an underground cavern. Meanwhile, as Megatron orders Soundwave to monitor frequencies Earth-wide for Autobot communications, Starscream spots an incoming human military force and offers to dispatch the armada to deal with them. Megatron instead turns Darkmount's fusion cannons on them, devastating the human forces as well as Jasper.

Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow.

Megatron contacts Agent Fowler, warning him that the Decepticons should not be interfered with, but with the news that Megatron bears the humans no ill will and simply wants to settle on Earth in peace. Starscream is impressed with Megatron's talent for deception. Fowler, meanwhile, reports to his superior that Jasper's evacuation was completed in time and a cover story in place, but the military want to nuke the Decepticons. June Darby, working as a medic on the military base, asks if there's been any word from the others, but there's no way to contact anyone without giving away their position.

A patrolling Vehicon scans cars moving along a road, but fails to recognize Bumblebee, who has a new paint job. Bumblebee and Raf stop and discuss how they're going to find the rest of the team, concluding the best bet is to continue heading towards Jasper. In the Rockies, Bulkhead and Miko head towards a Wrecker meeting spot Bulkhead and Wheeljack had decided on.

Back in Darkmount, Starscream's interrogation of Wheeljack is not bearing fruit as Wheeljack doesn't know anything. Megatron orders Knock Out to take a team back to Cybertron to search for Iacon relics at their previous battle site.

Smokescreen, am I... turning grey yet?

Optimus stirs, and Smokescreen relates how he snuck back to the base during the evacuation, and used the phase shifter to get Optimus out. While Smokescreen is keen to go find Ratchet, Optimus stops him, saying cryptically that there is "no hope" of finding Ratchet, but powers back down into unconsciousness before he can explain.

Jack and Arcee pause in their travels and spot a helicopter. Arcee leaves Jack to go investigate, whereupon Jack decides that sending a text message to his mother might be safe. Unfortunately his message is detected by Soundwave, and the Decepticons swiftly dispatch a force. Jack only has time to put away his phone before a Vehicon starts strafing him. Arcee, having identified the helicopter as civilian, sees the explosions and heads back. Jack unsuccessfully seeks shelter under a truck, but Arcee gets back in time to save him. The pair set up a trap at a nearby gas station, destroying it to take out the two Vehicons and Laserbeak, before fleeing.

The search for relics on Cybertron turns up the Apex Armor, and... something else. Back on Earth, Soundwave is examining Laserbeak and failing to retrieve any of the surveillance data when Knock Out's call comes through. Knock Out returns triumphantly through the space bridge with a surprise guest: Shockwave!

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race... peacefully. Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality."

—Megatron on the phone.

"Earth is our planet now, Starscream, and we shall finish what we started. Humankind has no idea what lies ahead for them."

—Megatron off the phone.

"He's feeding me a load of horse puckey, trying to crush our spirit."

—Agent Fowler is not buying what Megatron is selling.

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?!"
"Well, in my experience-"
"Not a riddle, Starscream."

—Megatron and Starscream

Notes

Continuity notes

• Fowler contacts his superior, General Bryce, previously seen in "Grill".
• This episode covers the fates of the various Iacon relics and other things left unattended in the previous episode. With the exception of the phase shifter, the relics taken by Prime's team were left on Cybertron. The Forge of Solus Prime and Airachnid both survived the destruction of the Autobot base. Prime's Star Saber and Megatron's Dark Star Saber turn up again later, intact (while the dead Prime's arm was never seen again).
• Megatron is shocked to find the Forge in the Autobot base. Dreadwing stole it and gave it to the Autobots back in "Regeneration". Obviously Megatron didn’t find out about that particular bit of treachery.
• Megatron also has his original arm back, last seen being removed by Knock Out in "Alpha/Omega". Evidently he kept it in storage.
• Starscream expresses surprise at Megatron's diplomatic skills, echoing an exchange in Transformers: Exodus.
• The Milky Way is shown outside Cybertron, consistent with the stellar cartography in Exodus.

Transformers references

• The name "Darkmount" comes from the fortress of the same name first introduced in the original Marvel comic; the name was later used for a toy representing the commander of Darkmount.
• Fowler references containment procedure "G-1000" when describing the evacuation of Jasper.
• Bumblebee's new black-and-yellow paint job resembles an unused redesign for him in Revenge of the Fallen.
• Darkmount's cannons seem to share a few similarities with the Dimensional Decimator, a weapon featured in the 2012 game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Both of them suck in nearby objects and clump them together, only to explode and send whatever was grabbed (or what's left) flying.

Animation and technical errors

So the Decepticons' master plan is to drive the Lousiana landmass into the ocean, forcing the state to re-locate inside Texas? Those bastards!

• As previously seen in "The Human Factor", the map of the continental United States shows Louisiana rendered within Texas, with a noticeable gap along the coastline where Louisiana should be.

Continuity errors

• The shape of the Decepticon citadel appears to have changed since the previous episode to accommodate the four huge fusion cannons.
• The tanks spearheading the failed assault on Darkmount resemble German Leopard 2s more than M1 Abrams tanks- the latter being the more logical choice as the one operated by the United States.
• In "Darkest Hour", Optimus Prime had his mouthplate retracted when he was preparing to destroy the GroundBridge controls. When he is seen lying in the rubble, he is wearing it, only for it to disappear once Smokescreen pulls him into the cavern.
• The Decepticon citadel was previously named as "New Kaon" in "Darkest Hour", only to be called Darkmount in this one. While a change of heart regarding the name isn't out of the question, there can't be more than a few hours' difference between this episode and the previous one.
• Smokescreen's return to the base is inconsistent with the previous episode, or even the flashbacks to it in this episode. He is shown to have returned within moments of the base's destruction, but was the second-to-last to use the GroundBridge, Ratchet being the last. Since Ratchet changed the coordinates, he should have returned well before the blast, and should have been spotted by Optimus when he did.
• Since releasing gasoline from the hoses requires money, or at least using an activation code inside the station, behind the counter, there is no way Jack would have been able to activate the gas line from inside the station or use a credit card to activate it within the few seconds of the Vehicons' arrival.
• At the military base, the gas station, the truck depot and everywhere else the Autobots travel, there are no civilian humans but the named cast visible anywhere.

Trivia

• This episode was initially revealed in The Hub's March highlights document under the name "Darkmouth, NV".
• The worldwide premiere screening of the first three episodes was held at the Globe Theater in Universal Studios Hollywood on March 14.
• The worldwide television premiere of "Darkmount, NV" was a day later on okto, a Singaporean channel, where it aired back-to-back with "Scattered" and "Prey".
• This episode was rebroadcast on April 19 with "Autobits", which are popups with trivia or jokes, added in.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Le Règne de Megatron" ("The Reign of Megatron")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Darkmount, Nevada"
• Original airdate: 30 September 2013

Hungarian

• Title: "Darkmount"
• Original airdate: 2 September 2013

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Darkmount, Nevada"
• Original airdate: 4 October 2013

Italian

• Title: "Darkmount, Nevada"
• Original airdate: 6 September 2013

Spanish (Spain)

• Title: "Darkmount, Nevada"
• Original airdate: 7 October 2013

Home video releases

DVD

2013 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Dawn of the Beast (Shout! Factory)
2013 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season 3 Volume 1: Battle for Darkmount (Madman Entertainment)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Saison 3 Volume 1: Le règne de Mégatron (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season 3 Volume 1: Battle for Darkmount (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Staffel 3 Teil 1: Schlacht um Darkmount (Primal Screen) — English, German, Dutch and French audio.
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Intégrale Saison 3 (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — The Complete Season 3 (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Die komplette Staffel 3 (Primal Screen) — English, German, Dutch and French audio.
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — The Complete Season 3 (Primal Screen) — English, Italian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian audio.

Blu-ray

2013 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2016 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three Collection (Madman Entertainment)