Possession
From Transformers Wiki
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 "Look, I'm a ghost, okay? Quit being such a jerk." | |||||||||
| "Possession" | |||||||||
| Season | 1 | ||||||||
| No. in season | 21 | ||||||||
| Production company | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Airdate | February 3, 1997 | ||||||||
| Written by | Ian Weir | ||||||||
| Directed by | Owen Hurley | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Mainframe Entertainment | ||||||||
| Continuity | Beast Wars continuity | ||||||||
| Packaged with | Waspinator, Optimus Primal vs. Megatron, Motorarm | ||||||||
 Watch this episode on YouTube
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Waspinator finds himself possessed by none other than the original Decepticon traitor, Starscream!
Contents |
Synopsis
A violent energon storm rages, causing significant damage and knocking out power to both the Maximal and Predacon bases. While the Maximals stash their extra ammo deeper in their ship's hold to prevent undue accidents, Waspinator attempts to get one of the Predacon base's computer consoles online...only to be greeted by a ghostly, shrill voice from it. A power surge hits the bug-bot soon afterwards, and when the other Predacons begin to wonder what has happened to him, in he comes, announcing his return "at long last" in the same eerie voice.
The voice belongs to Starscream, Air Commander of the Decepticon forces and second-in-command to the original Megatron, whose spark had been tumbling through time and space for an unknown number of years before settling within Waspinator. As he puts it, he was destroyed defending Galvatron from the Chaos Bringer Unicron, but his spark endured. As a show of his good faith, he pledges his loyalty to the Predacon Megatron, revealing vital information about the state of the Maximal base due to the storm, intelligence Megatron could use to plan a sneak attack. Intrigued by the idea, Megatron accepts Starscream into his ranks.
The next day, as the Maximals are making repairs to their base, they are suddenly attacked by the Preds, and Starscream's intel proves very useful in catching them off-guard. In the ensuing firefight, Dinobot is injured and the Decepticon Air Commander flies rings round Optimus Primal, forcing the Maximals to abandon ship and regroup outside. Happy with their victory, Megatron puts Starscream in charge of holding the Axalon, with Scorponok and Blackarachnia under his command, while the rest of the Predacons return to their base, in case the Maximals decide to go for a sneak attack of their own. However, despite being pleased with Starscream's help, Megatron warns Scorponok in private to watch their new ally closely. Once they're alone, though, Blackarachnia shows off her knack for history by correctly pointing out to Starscream that he was murdered by Galvatron after he betrayed the Decepticon commander. She's willing to keep this a secret, though, if she's let in on his real plans: to destabilize Megatron's control and rule both factions.
Deep in the forest, as the Maximals recover, Optimus Primal voices his confusion and concern over Waspinator's new personality. He isn't entirely convinced Waspinator is possessed by the spark of Starscream, but as the Maximal Elders had long since sealed the Decepticon's records, they're not able to confirm or deny it, either. Fortunately, Dinobot's as much of a military history buff as Blackarachnia is, commenting on how Webster's Cybertronian Dictionary has pretty much replaced all definitions of "traitor" with Starscream's name.
Realizing Starscream's tendencies, Optimus Primal leads the Maximals in returning to the Axalon and calling Starscream out to announce their surrender, citing the need to use the ship's CR chamber to repair Dinobot's (now exaggerated) wounds. Feeling generous, the Decepticon Air Commander allows Optimus and Dinobot to come on board, but as predictably as night follows day, betrays them and strips Optimus of his weapons and locks him up in the hold as soon as he steps on deck. With their leader now his prisoner, Starscream orders the other Maximals to attack the Predacon base, over the token objections of Scorponok, who is then blasted away by Starscream and Blackarachnia. They comply, and the trap is set.
Unbeknown to the Air Commander, he's been duped by the oldest trick in the book; by allowing himself to be betrayed, Optimus Primal has put himself and Dinobot in the perfect position to retake their base, which they do in a dazzling display that forces Starscream and Blackarachnia to retreat back to Predacon territory. Upon hearing of the Maximal attack that is ordered by Starscream, Megatron angrily swears to finish both Starscream and Blackarachnia off to himself. Optimus pursues and manages to best the Decepticon in an aerial dogfight, leaving him grovelling at the Maximal's feet...until Blackarachnia shows up, prompting Starscream to plead for her aid, believing they can still complete their coup. No dice; this new generation is much less gullible than their ancestors, and Blackarachnia has skillfully pulled off a double-cross on the double-crosser, igniting a small energon cache underneath Starscream to "exorcise" the Decepticon's spark from Waspinator's body.
At the end of the day, Megatron gets done fixing the back-to-normal Waspinator as Blackarachnia explains her betrayal; if she hadn't done it, she maintains, she wouldn't have been able to sniff out Starscream's true motives. Megatron reluctantly accepts this excuse, but warns her that it still doesn't invoke confidence in her loyalties. Back at the Axalon, the Maximals are finishing up repairs of their own...everyone but Cheetor, who's slacking off with a bout of stargazing, quipping "Twinkle, twinkle, little Starscream," as the camera pans up to beyond the planet's orbit, showing Starscream's spark screaming mech fluid-drenched vengeance on all within the Beast Wars as he drifts away into the void.
Featured characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Maximals | Predacons | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"What is this? Program does not respond! Waszzpinator does not understand!"
"I'll bet Waspinator seldom does! But try not to let it depress you, bug-face."
- —Waspinator, about to be possessed by Starscream
"Starscream, perhaps the centuries of weightlessness have taken a toll on your neurological circuitry."
- —Megatron seems to forget that free-floating sparks don't have circuitry.
"Lie still! And GROAN, for cryin' out loud! You're supposed to be half-dead!"
"If you don't shut up, vermin, you will be my role model!"
- —Rattrap and Dinobot. 'Nuff said.
"You're nothin' but a schemin' snake in the grass!"
"Ehh, flattery will get you flattened, vermin."
- —Rattrap and Starscream
"Ugh! Starscream and Blackarachnia! I'll have both their treacherous hides! Yeeessss...I'll-I'll melt them down and use them for aluminum siding! Oh, yes, indeed!"
- —Megatron finally learning of Starscream's traitorous nature. Odd...
"Oh, Waszzpinator has a headache in his whole body."
- —Poor Waspinator needs some medication.
"I'll be back! Even if it takes a thousand years, I'LL BE REVENGED ON YOU ALL!"
- —Starscream, as he drifts through space
Notes
Script timeline
- First draft: 4 September 1996
- Second draft: 16 September 1996
- Finalised: 20 September 1996
- As Air: 7 February 1997
Animation and technical errors
- As is customary in many episodes, Scorponok's visor shifts from yellow to red throughout his appearance.
- When Megatron "checks up" on Waspinator, his dino head inexplicably switches from his right hand to his left hand, and his thighs are clipping through his seat.
- Waspinator is all kinds of messed up when he's looking at the monitor screen, as if parts of his model have only been partially rendered. His neck, his antennae and portions of his back are half-missing, as are the insect-leg kibble on his arm in their entirety.
- Unicron's "ring" is not connected to his body.
- As Blackarachnia is explaining Starscream, the computer screen she's pointing at has an image of a stasis pod on it, likely a reused asset.
- When Starscream points to the unguarded side of the Axalon, he seems to have a finger pointing on both sides of his hand, as though the animators were unsure of which hand he was using to point at the screen. (From the looks of the previous scenes, it should be his left hand.)
- When Cheetor opens fire on the Cyberbee, the shiny reflection textures on his metal bits and his gun keep blinking on and off.
- A Primal realizes he's been tricked, the textures on his jet flames are moving the wrong way: instead of flowing downward, they're animated moving sideways, toward Primal's body.
- Cheetor's reflections partially vanish again when he starts shooting at Starscream. The same happens to Primal and Dinobot just before Primal lifts off at the end of the fight.
- As Starscream weaves around Cheetor's gunfire during the battle in the Axalon, he is missing the yellow details on the outside of his mouth.
- Rattrap's gun clips through the Axalon's wall as he fires it before retreating.
- Some of the leaves are clearly floating in the air as the "camera" pans down at the recuperating Maximals in the forest.
- As Blackarachnia winks at Starscream, the right side of her "helmet" is sunken into her head.
- In the closeup of Rhinox lowering and shaking his head, the area in the background seems completely different than in other shots.
- When the Axalon elevator begins descending, the Maximals are standing a few meters forward than in the previous shot. A fallen tree resting on a rock is farther behind them, and a rock that wasn't there before appears next to Rhinox.
- A portion of Blackarachnia's face again clips through her helmet when Starscream begins addressing the Maximals. Also, she appears to have no neck, with her head resting directly upon her shoulders.
- Not to be outdone, Optimus' head is likewise hideously deformed in the following shot, with the sides stretched down to the base of his neck, and his head sitting far too high. Additionally, his mouth doesn't move while he's speaking. Argh...
- When Starscream is standing on top of the Axalon and instructing the Maximals to attack the Predacon base, his right foot clips straight through one of the autocannons. A few moments later when he blasts Scorponok, he's standing nowhere near the cannon.
- Just before he shoots Scorponok, Starscream's gun sinks into his pelvis for a moment.
- When Primal gets the drop on Starscream and Blackarachnia, both villains are missing kibble in various shots: Starscream his (well, Waspinator's) wings and Blackarachnia her spider legs. Starscream's wings briefly show up, only to vanish again when he takes off, leading to the rather awkward sight of him flying around with no sort of propulsion.
- In the same shot, as Starscream flees the Axalon, Blackarachnia isn't visible.
- Despite Primal's blasts being strong enough to knock over a chair, free Dinobot from the CR chamber and send his foes fleeing, none of his other shots inflict any damage on the command center. For that matter, when he shoots the CR chamber's locks off, they simply vanish between frames.
- At one point, Cheetor and Rattrap are commando crawling towards the Predacon base when spotlights are turned on. Both Maximals appear to be outside the spotlight border, and yet when the shot changes to a close-up, they're suddenly brightly lit up as if they're in the centre of the spotlight beam. (Also, why on earth is Rattrap crawling along on his belly in robot mode, rather than using his much smaller beast mode? Didn't we just have an episode on practical uses of alt-modes?)
- As the Maximals pull back from their assault on the Pred base, the shells coming out of Rhinox's guns clip right through the boulder on his right, while the ones flying to his left simply disappear midair.
- In the same shot, Tigatron's gun lacks any sort of firing effect. Also, his left ankle is painfully twisted.
- When Starscream arrives at the battle scene at the end, he remains airborne despite not flapping his wings.
- Perhaps deliberate, as it might make animating the scene too difficult, but Starscream's insect abdomen is completely absent during his final defeat. It's also missing as Megatron puts Waspinator back together.
- Just before he reconnects Waspinator's head, Megatron's left arm clips into Tarantulas' thigh.
- When Cheetor is staring out towards space, the stars appear to be in front of the two moons.
Continuity notes
- Inferno is strangely missing from the Predacon roster, making it unclear if he was simply elsewhere or the timeline of the episode was intended to be before his introduction. If the latter, it could theoretically fit best coming right before "The Trigger, Part 1" since Megatron is suspicious of Blackarachnia's treacherous and ambitious side that she, up until that episode, gave no reason for Megatron to be suspicious of beforehand. Whereas in this episode, her brief teaming up with Starscream would be enough reason for Megatron to be wary of her loyalty in "The Trigger" were this episode to precede that one.
- Previous episodes had strongly implied the connection, but this is the first episode to explicitly confirm that the Maximals and Predacons are descendants of the original Autobots and Decepticons.
- The Maximal Elders receive a mention for the first time, providing us a glimpse at post-war Maximal society. Notably, they have apparently sealed off some records of the Great War.
- Starscream mentions that his spark can travel through space and time, providing us with another hint about the true nature of the planet.
Continuity errors
- Looking at the intro sequence with Starscream's spark, he appears to touch down on a continent that resembles North America, somewhere in the southwest United States (apparently Arizona). The terrain and creatures in Beast Wars suggest that it takes place in Africa and the presence of the standing stones, though not necessarily Stonehenge, suggest Britain. The shots from space in "Chain of Command" also show continents that don't match North America. On the other hand, it makes sense, since "The Agenda (Part III)" puts the Axalon and the Ark within commuting distance. It's not too wild to assume that the spark kept commuting for an unknown distance even after touching down either. The fact that Starscream admits later to have seen the damage inflicted to the Maximal base "before acquiring this body" also alludes to this scenario, that he commuted after touching down. (When we see the planet at the end of the episode, it looks like the same model that we've seen before, with continents that resemble North and South America right next to two other large land masses in a formation that doesn't match present-day Earth.)
- While free-floating sparks are usually depicted as spheres, Starscream's spark has the twiddly bits which are usually only present to attach a spark to a protoform. Then again, it has been stated that Starscream's spark is not normal, so this may have been a conscious alteration?
- Megatron knew a great deal about Cybertronian history, yet apparently did not know the real nature of Starscream and his demise. However, Megatron might have been playing dumb to lure Starscream into being bolder with his actions. On the other hand, the Maximal Elders had a large portion of his records sealed due to his history. Then again, Megatron DID tell Scorponok to watch Starscream...
- On that same note, both Blackarachnia and Dinobot knew about Starscream, even though Primal stated that his records were sealed. It's possible that the records were sealed only to the Maximals (as Primal notes it was the Maximal Elders who sealed them), but given what we'll learn of the state of Maximal/Predacon relations on Cybertron and the Maximal Elders' dirty little secrets, that explanation is rather hard to believe.
- Despite being born from a Maximal Protoform, Blackarachnia refers to the Decepticons as "our" (the Predacons') ancestors. On the other hand, this is neither the first nor the last time she will identify herself as a Predacon, shunning her Maximal origin.
- Back in "Beast Wars (Part 2)", when facing the Axalon as it points slightly to his left, Rattrap noted that the direction to his right was east, meaning that the Axalon faces a southwestern direction in its crashed position. In this episode, however, Starscream and Megatron claim that the Axalon's damaged left side (which would be facing southeast according the aforementioned earlier episode) is its southwest side, and that the ship's right side faces northeast, which would thus mean that the Axalon instead faces northwest, in contrast to the pilot episode.
- Starscream apparently imprisons Optimus in shackles that he can break out of in about five seconds flat. However, in the episode commentary on Madman Entertainment's Beast Wars Season 1 DVDs, story editor Bob Forward states that Primal originally had a very complex way of breaking free involving tools and the dexterity of his beast mode appendages, but the animators changed this to just him "busting out", possibly due to time and monetary constraints.
- The later episodes "Optimal Situation" and "Master Blaster" will show that a Maximal or Predacon body containing two sparks (their own and one from an Autobot or Decepticon) undergoes dramatic changes, taking on a new, larger appearance and gaining incredible might. Waspinator, however, undergoes only minor physical changes and gains no obvious power apart from somewhat enhanced speed.
- Megatron does infer that the "power" of the second spark has an effect on this, but this also seems strange, as Starscream's spark, due to its immortality, would be presumably better than the average. On the other hand, Starscream's spark will later be described as "mutant" in "Bad Spark", so perhaps this prevents the dramatic changes seen in other characters. There is also the fact that both Primal and Megatron were Transmetals when they took onboard second sparks, which might have also had an effect. (From an out-of-universe perspective, the producers likely forgot this instance when the other mergings occurred. Waspinator does have the ability to recover from constantly being almost destroyed, so your fanon might want to chalk that up to Starscream's influence.)
Transformers references
- Obviously, Starscream himself firmly ties Beast Wars to established Generation 1 history, though you could argue that Waspinator thinking he was Shrapnel already did this.
- Starscream's spark—or "ghost", as it was then called, had already possessed several Decepticons in the Generation 1 episodes "Starscream's Ghost" and "Ghost in the Machine". His actions won't stop there.
- We get a few, very fleeting glances at Starscream's original body. His head is white and his face is blue, making him resemble his appearance in Marvel Comics instead of his cartoon character model.
- Starscream introduces himself to Megatron as "Air Commander", referencing his original function.
- While lying about the circumstances of his death, Starscream name-drops Galvatron and Unicron.
- The Predacon insignias on the side of Waspinator's cranium change into Decepticon insignias while Starscream's spark is inhabiting his superstructure (seen at right). The only other physical change is the addition of a yellow stripe along the upper edges of his "mandibles", similar to their inner edges.
- Blackarachnia reveals to Starscream that she knows the real circumstances behind Starscream's demise: he was blasted by Galvatron, as seen in The Transformers: The Movie.
Real-world references
- Optimus Primal says "Hasta la vista, Starscream", paraphrasing a famous line from the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day. As he flies away immediately after saying this, Optimus Primal is seen wearing a pair of sunglasses, aping (ahem) Arnold Schwarzenegger's trademark look from the movie.
- Rhinox's line "It's tramplin' time" could be an homage to "It's clobberin' time!", the catchphrase of the Thing of the Fantastic Four.
Trivia
- Doug Parker performs both Starscream (standing in for the late Chris Latta), and the very Starscreamy Terrorsaur. In fact, Parker's Starscream is basically Terrorsaur with a metallic distortion a la G1 Soundwave, and Terrorsaur's voice is made much deeper than normal to avoid confusion. Perhaps Starscream should have possessed Terrorsaur instead — of course, nobody would notice the difference.
- According to fan consultant Ben Yee and story editor Bob Forward on the Madman DVD commentary track, the original idea for this episode was to have the spark of an Autobot possess one of the characters. This idea was abandoned early on because a model of Starscream had already been made for "The Web". Besides, Starscream had the experience.
- Also according to Forward, the angles used for Waspinator (when he is possessed by Starscream) are much more "heroic" than normal (views from slightly below him, extreme closeups, etc.), to reflect Starscream's personality.
- Additionally, Yee provided all of the original Starscream's Tech Spec biographies to writer Ian Weir as a reference for Starscream's character and personality. Yee was pleased that Weir incorporated Starscream's original "Air Commander" function as the character's rank and title.
- This is the second time Optimus airlifts an injured Dinobot out of a battlefield, only for Terrorsaur to get in the way. This time, however, Terrorsaur doesn't get a chance to fire before Optimus punches him out of the way.
- After Blackarachnia convinces Starscream to take her on as his protégée, as they're walking away Starscream's hand is at her shoulder but then starts moving down towards her um... butt. Perv.
Foreign localization
French
- Title: "Possession"
- Title: "Possession" (Canada)
German
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- Starscream is given a very deep voice in this dub, perhaps to clearly differentiate him from Waspinator and the Starscream-like Terrorsaur, who were both dubbed by the same actor, Holger Potzern.
Italian
- Title: "Il traditore" ("The Traitor")
- Waspinator and Starscream's voices sound exactly the same, making quite weird the fact that Megatron asks what happened to Waspinator's voice.
- In this episode, Autobots are strangely called "Biocombat", which in the Italian dub of this series should refer to all Transformers.
- Starscream saying that Unicron is a Transformer makes this episode a rare occasion in which the word "Transformer" is used in the Italian dub of Beast Wars.
- Optimus's: «Hasta la vista, Starscream» became: «See you soon, Starscream», losing the Terminator 2 reference.
Japanese
- Title: "Fujimi no Starscream" (不死身のスタースクリーム, "The Immortal Starscream")
- Original airdate: 18 February 1998
- After Waspinator tells Megatron that he's okay, Megatron yells that he wasn't asking Waspinator if he was alright, he was asking about Navi-ko.
- Kazuki Yao plays Starscream in this episode and, of course, makes an attempt to impersonate Hirotaka Suzuoki. Starscream's Japanese characterization was rather different from his American one; being younger, vainer, and more charismatic. To match all the manic close-ups and weird angles, as well as Waspinator/Starscream's flamboyant body language, Yao winds up playing a far more intense Starscream than Suzuoki ever did. If anything, it sounds like Yao impersonating Suzuoki impersonating Latta.
- Blackarachnia's brief history lesson about the Decepticons' war with the Autobots, and both being the ancient ancestors of the Predacons and Maximals, respectively, is completely rewritten to be entirely about Starscream being a "legendary warrior of Destron history.". This is because, in the Japanese version, there is little distinction between the Decepticon and Predacon factions (besides their sizes and insignia, of course), with both referred to as simply the "Destron" faction (the same is true of the Autobots and Maximals both being called "Cybertrons"). Moreover, it is made even more explicit in this version of the scene that Megatron has never heard of Starscream before first meeting him in this episode, with him flat-out expressing an unfamiliarity with him.
- Blackarachnia's mentioning the Chronicles of Cybertron is changed to merely "the history books of the universe."
- After Airazor delivers his vague news report to Tigatron, as he flies away, Tigatron shouts after him, "Thank you de gozaru!"
- Optimus's mentioning the Maximal Elders is omitted, with Optimus instead saying "Starscream is a mysterious robot."
- When Optimus leaves Starscream to his doom, he bids a blander, "Farewell, Starscream", losing the Terminator 2 reference.
Portuguese
- Title: "Possessão" ("Possession")
Spanish
- Title: "Posesión" ("Possession")
Mandarin
- Title: "Èlíng Fùtǐ " (恶灵附体, "The Evil Within")
Home video releases
- VHS
1998 — Beast Wars — Warning from Space (Alliance Video)
1998 — Robots-Bêtes — Alert Dans L'Espace (Alliance Video) — French audio only.
1998 — Beast Wars: Super Lifeform Transformers — Starscream's Invulnerability (Pioneer LDC) — Japanese audio only.
1998 — Beast Wars / Robots-Bêtes Three pack (Alliance Video) — Available in English or French audio.
2001 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Beginning: Vol. 4 (Universal)
1998 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Predacon Edition (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
- DVD
2000 — Beast Wars: Transformers — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2003 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete First Season (Rhinomation)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 1 (Shout! Factory)
2011 — Beast Wars: Transformers — The Complete Series (Shout! Factory)
2005 — Beast Wars — Classic Episodes: Volume 3 — The Battle Rages On! (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2005 — Beast Wars — The Complete First Season (Alliance Atlantis) — English and French audio.
2006 — Beast Wars: Transformers — Season 1 (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers: Beast Wars — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
