"Five Faces of Darkness" part 4 Bloopers

SYNOPSIS FOR "FIVE FACES OF DARKNESS" PART 4
PLOT OVERSIGHTS	DIALOGUE AND SOUND EFFECTS
ANIMATION AND CONTINUITY	TRIVIA ANSWERS
JUNKIONISMS

TOTAL NUMBER OF BLOOPERS: 74
GREAT LINES:
SPRINGER: "Yes, sir, Mister Leader, sir!"

TRIVIA QUESTIONS:

What did the Quintesson say the probability was that Galvatron doubted the existence of the Decepticon Matrix?
What was destroyed on Cybertron by the Quintesson decoy ship?

NOTES:

When Rodimus meets the first of the former Autobot leaders inside the Matrix, the Autobot sports a symbol on his forehead that would appear to be an early version of the Autobot symbol. The Quintessons must have updated and revised their "product logo" about a million years or so later, because the slave robots from "Forever is a Long Time Coming" sport the standard Autobot insignia.

PLOT OVERSIGHTS: (12)

I find it odd that Ultra Magnus knows Wreck-Gar's name, considering he never used his name in the movie at any point. (I didn't know his name until I first saw this episode.)
When Captain Faireborn arrives on Io begins firing on the lipoles, she exclaims, "Eat null rays, you bags of protoplasm!" Then she proceed to blow them to smithereens. Whatever kind of weapon she's carrying, it ain't a null ray (which would immobilize her targets, not blow them up).
Also, isn't it awfully coincidental that these lipoles can transform?² (Between Unicron, the Sharkticons, and now these guys, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm missing the boat on the latest trend...)
I realize that Galvatron is a bit touched in the head these days, but when he breaks into the Quintesson ship, why does he yell, "Decepticons, fire!" when he's the only one there?
After the Junkions rescue the Autobots from planet Goo, Galvatron swears, "Very well, Junkions. Then you shall share the Autobots' fate!" How does he know who the Junkions are? He never encountered them when he was on the Planet of Junk in the movie.
Yet again, we are witness to the cut-one-wire-and-he's-down-for-the-count phenomenon when Rodimus short-circuits himself. I still think it's an absurd design philosophy. (So far, we've only seen this in Autobots and not Decepticons--Tracks in "Make Tracks" and Cosmos in "The God Gambit". For the Autobots' sake, it certainly is a good thing the Decepticons apparently don't know about this handy little feature!)
After Rodimus short-circuits himself to enter the Matrix, as his life force flies through the Matrix, he asks himself, "Where am I? Is this the Matrix?" Well he was just there in part 2--why doesn't he recognize it? No, Rod, you're in a hot sauna.
This episode sheds light on the origin of the Transformers and the evolution of the Autobots and Decepticons, but it never adequately explains where the Matrix came from. We see that it's passed down the generations by the Autobot leaders, but how did they get it in the first place? Surely the Quintessons would never give their slave robots a talisman of such power.
One of the former Autobot leaders explains, "Knowing we could never defeat the Decepticons with firepower, we turned to stealth--and invented the art of transforming." Well, either that's historically inaccurate, or Trailbreaker isn't up on his Autobot history. In "More Than Meets the Eye" part 2, Spike asks him why the Autobots transform, and Trailbreaker responds, "Simple--disguise! Besides, it sure beats walking!"
This episode also purports that Alpha Trion carried the Matrix, and presumably gave it to Optimus Prime around the time he rebuilt him from Orion Pax. So did the Autobots not have a leader during that time? If Alpha Trion had been leader, why did he give up the Matrix even though he wasn't dying?
Optimus Prime, from within the Matrix, indicates that Megatron "began the Third Cybertronian War, which rages to this day." As I said in my review of part 1, that's not what the narrator said at the beginning of the episode. Also, in "Sea Change," Perceptor explains that the Decepticon S.O.S. the Autobots intercepted is "similar to transmissions intercepted during the Third Cybertron War." Doesn't that sound like he's referencing a war in Cybertron's past? (It seems to me that the writers are doing back flips, trying to undo the damage done by the end of the movie when Rodimus Prime declares the war to be over. I suppose "Five Faces of Darkness" could merely be a continuation of the Third Cybertron War, but I've never heard of a war ending, then starting up again. I think they should have just declared this the Fourth Cybertron War and be done with it.)
Here's a minor mystery that is left unexplained--how did the Constructicons give Trypticon life without Vector Sigma? Are we to assume that he lacks a true "cybernetic personality"? He does seem to be on about the same level of intelligence as the Dinobots.
I also find it utterly amazing that the Constructicons built Trypticon out of a human city and the human populace never noticed--particularly since it doesn't seem as though they could have been working for more than a day or so.

DIALOGUE AND SOUND EFFECTS: (10)

When Dead End and Blast Off are conversing at the beginning, Dead End says, "And we owe this grand opportunity entirely to our new allies," but Blast Off doesn't get it. Swindle begins to explain, "He means, what other opportunities--" but gets cut off by Galvatron's dialogue. I don't think this was intentional since (although I can figure out what Swindle was probably going to say) his line doesn't make any sense by itself, and Galvatron wasn't actually interrupting him per se (he's not close enough to those Decepticons to be in earshot... never mind the fact that they're all in space).
When Galvatron first arrives in this episode, his voice isn't electronically amplified.
Soon after, Motormaster says, "Galvatron, you have returned!" but it's not Motormaster's voice--or the voice of any Decepticon I recognize. It sounds like one of the Sweeps, actually. (I think one of the voice actors supplied the dialogue for a "miscellaneous Decepticon," and the animators didn't know who to draw.)
Wreck-Gar's voice has changed a bit--it's a higher pitch and he doesn't have quite as much of an accent. Obviously, his voice synthesizer is fluctuating because it's such a piece of junk! (Of course, the real reason for this is that it would be incredibly expensive to keep Eric Idle on as his voice actor.)
In the Matrix flashback, the Quintessons' work station sounds suspiciously like the Enterprise bridge from Star Trek.
At one point during this flashback, a robot looking very much like Rodimus turns the Matrix over to a fellow Autobot. Curiously enough, he waves his arms around a bit, but neither of them opens his mouth. Are they communicating telepathically?
When working on Trypticon, Scrapper reports, "The bridge joint is almost complete!" but his face plate doesn't move.
A little while later, Mixmaster reports to Galvatron through a handheld communicator that Trypticon is finished. Galvatron responds, "Transform it!" but his voice isn't muffled, as it should be, since he's replying to Mixmaster through the communicator.
When the Autobots allow the Quintesson decoy ship to approach, Cosmos instructs the ship, "Come in on a seventy-two degree trajectory," but his voice isn't echoing as it usually does.
Also, oddly enough, Cosmos' lines are absent from the videocassette release of "Five Faces of Darkness." Another line that's missing is the faux pilot saying, "Our engines have just gone critical!" right after he requests landing clearance. Yet another line that's absent is the strange Quintesson voice saying, "Our decoy worked! Cybertron is now helpless!" right before Galvatron gives the order to attack. (I wonder if these lines were last-minute additions? That might explain why the Quintesson's voice is amplified so oddly... he sounds like one of the Daleks from Doctor Who.)

ANIMATION AND CONTINUITY: (51)

In the first group of attacking Decepticons, Blitzwing is colored like Air Raid.
When Rodimus is blasting at the Decepticons with his arm lasers, the blasts are actually coming out of his fists. (He's apparently doing his Leader-1 impression.) Also, they way the background is scrolling behind him makes it look like he's rolling, not walking.
As Deliberata starts chanting, "Yes, yes!" Slag is in the background instead of Grimlock. He's colored a bit oddly, but it's definitely Slag.
As Dead End and Blast Off gossip, behind them we have Generation 2 Snarl (in dark red); Octane, colored like Grimlock; an entirely grey-blue Motormaster; and a couple of generic robots, one colored like Rodimus and another like Cyclonus.
When Galvatron arrives and opens fire, among the generic Decepticons I am able to make out Vortex colored like Groove, and an entirely grey Scavenger. Suffice it to say, most of these guys don't exist--there is no entirely yellow Decepticon, for example.
Galvatron's got his "toy" design again when he first shows up (his knees and the shape of his chest are different).
Cyclonus, Scourge, and Galvatron all seem to be running on some unseen surface at one or two different points. This is a neat trick, considering they're in space.
When Galvatron blasts Cyclonus, Cyc is carrying the wrong gun (it looks almost like Dead End's, but not quite).
Decepticon laser fire is uniformly purple, but the shot (presumably fired by Galvatron) that hits Blast Off is orange.
In the scene where Motormaster praises Galvatron's return, Onslaught is still firing away on Goo, but he's colored like Metroplex. Oh, sure, Metroplex is an Autobot, around 200 feet tall and doesn't get introduced until part 5, but it's a honest mistake, right?
Also in the above scene, the blasts coming from Motormaster's gun are orange, not purple.
The Sweeps' faces are all dark grey (instead of light grey with dark beards) as they hail Galvatron.
Skydive can clearly be seen during Swindle's pledge to the Quintessons. (Ah, he must be responsible for all those orange laser blasts.)
Rodimus still has his "toy" design (the shoulders, the shoulders!) when he's wondering what's going on with the interrupted attack on Goo.
When Magnus explains that the Decepticons need to organize their sock drawer (kidding), his eyes are too small.
When Rodimus contacts Wreck-Gar, in the close-up shot of Wreck-Gar, he's... got.. his... "toy" design! (His helmet is smaller and he's got that peculiar shirt collar. Look, check his TFU profile if you don't believe me.)
When Captain Faireborn's ship first appears, she radios Blaster to tell him that she's approaching Jupiter's magnetic field... but she's flying over Cybertron.
Also, the insignia on Marissa's shoulder still reads "DC." I guess she didn't want the Autobots to feel alienated by Earth-centricity so she tore the "E" off of her shoulder patch.
When the Quintesson (the one with the orange starfish on his forehead) asks Galvatron what the Quints would get in exchange for information about the Decepticon Matrix, his moustache is blue instead of black.
Back on Goo, Rodimus pushes Magnus out of the way of another orange laser blast. (Get 'em, Skydive!)
When Spike and Kup start getting sucked through the goo, Kup's got one green leg and one grey one. (They should be grey.)
Inside the Junkion ship, as Rodimus kneels by the junk pile the bottom of his foot is red instead of dark grey.
Wreck-Gar's color scheme has changed a bit, too. His antennas (or handlebars, or whatever those things are on his head) are red instead of grey, and his forearms are grey with red components instead of brown with grey components. Also, in the full shot of Wreck-Gar and his Junkions, it looks like Wreck-Gar's front tire is attached to his back, not his arm.
When Galvatron is blasting Goo, he makes a motion as if he were pulling the trigger of a gun with his index finger, but there is no trigger in evidence anywhere on his cannon. Then when he fires again, he just makes a fist instead.
Back on board the Quintesson ship, when the Quints ascertain that Galv doubts the existence of the Decepticon Matrix, his 'stache changes from black to grey.
When Galvatron asks why they haven't destroyed the Autobots themselves, he has what I can only describe as a five o'clock shadow. Instead of painting his face grey and his chin dark grey, the entire front of his face is dark grey.
As the Quintessons react to Galvatron's laughter over the human "weaklings," one of the Quintessons (the green spike-head) has eye sockets that are colored dark grey. He looks like he was in a prizefight.
Galvatron's left hand changes from purple to grey and back a couple of times when he agrees to an alliance with the Quintessons. (Also--this is more of a matter of aesthetics than a blooper--at first they zoomed in way too much on this scene, considering how sloppily it's drawn.)
Now there are seven--count 'em--seven Sweeps aboard the Quintesson ship. In all seriousness, did Unicron create a couple extras when we weren't looking? Or is looking like a Sweep the "in" thing to do and the guys back on Chaar are busy rebuilding themselves?
Among the Decepticons aboard the Quint ship, once again hailing Galvatron, are Starscream colored like Onslaught, and two Shockwaves, colored like Scrapper. (Octane shows up too, but I suppose we can allow that.)
In a long shot of the Autobots mourning the loss of Springer, Ultra Magnus is colored entirely light grey and dark grey (I have no idea who they thought he was).
When Kup thanks Wreck-Gar for reviving Springer, Ultra Magnus has a Kup face.
Rodimus has a Hot Rod face again when he apologizes to Springer for being lost in thought.
When Rodimus (who still has a Hot Rod face) decides to short-circuit himself and opens up his chest, the Matrix casing is grey instead of orange. Also, after the commercial break, his chest is closed again.
As Rodimus journeys through the Matrix, he eyes are grey when the image of the first Autobot leader vanishes.
Why, exactly, do so many of the Autobots' ancestors look so much like Rodimus Prime? We see about half a dozen robots who are variations on the Rodimus scheme, all of whom were presumably churned out at more or less the same time in the factory. If that's the case, shouldn't they look more like... Hot Rod?
In the Quintessons' gladiator ring, there's a blue and orange robot wielding a chain mace who very clearly has wheels on his legs and shoulders. Strange, considering at the time of this scene the concept of transforming into vehicles hasn't been invented yet.
Hook and Scavenger (as a crane, oddly enough, instead of a steam shovel) appear at one point in the flashback. On Cybertron. In their Earth modes.
This may not be a blooper at all. but the five female dancers are identical in design to... Elita One! You gotta appreciate Alpha Trion's sense of irony, fashioning his deadliest female warrior after some slave dancers!
When the Rodimus-clone is dying and passes on the Matrix, his left arm disappears for an instant.
The flashback also shows the Constructicons (all eight of them?) are seen creating Megatron. Was this before or after Megatron built them on Earth, as he claims in “Heavy Metal War”? Or perhaps this was before Megatron reprogrammed them with his robo-smasher, as told in “The Secret of Omega Supreme”? (Realistically, no Autobot in the Matrix could possibly have witnessed the creation of Megatron. I think the Autobot leaders inside the Matrix start to go senile after a few million years. Secondly, as I said in my review of “The Secret of Omega Supreme,” Omega was most likely lying about the Constructicons being good at one time. So my "official" viewpoint is that the Constructicons were built on Earth.)
As the Constructicons are preparing Trypticon for activation, Vortex is colored like Octane.
When we first see Long Haul, he's has gotten himself a new color scheme as well. It isn't that of any Transformer I can make out--he's mostly light blue, with some grey, an orange truck window, and blue eyes. He appears this way in a later scene with the other Constructicons.
Also in this scene, Long Haul performs an action that always causes me to burst into hysterics. He's busy tightening a bolt on a plank of metal; after two or three good turns on the bolt--satisfied that he's tightened it sufficiently--he rips the entire metal plank out of its moorings!
After Trypticon is awakened and there is much rejoicing, three of the Constructicons are colored like Ultra Magnus, Kup, and Wheelie. A fourth is colored an indeterminate white-and-grey scheme.
When the Autobots first spot the Quintesson decoy ship on their monitor, Perceptor is colored like Grimlock.
All five Aerialbots are entirely white as they attempt to intercept the decoy ship.
At the end when the Decepticons attack Cybertron, the same Decepticon attack footage is used from the end of part 3. Galvatron, of course, is missing in this scene--shouldn't he be leading the charge?
In the final scene, the Quintesson (spike head) who says, "Cybertron will be ours!" has black eyes. They should be yellow.

JUNKIONISMS:

"Glad you used the dial, wish everybody would."--a very clever play on the Dial deodorant soap commercials, whose slogan was, "Aren't you glad you use Dial? Don't you wish everybody did?"
"..but why'd you come on down to Goo?"--Bob Barker's catch phrase from The Price is Right! was, "Come on down!"
"While you wait for me, Wreck-Gar will put you in good hands."--All-State realtors commercials, whose slogan was, "You're in good hands with All-State."
"Don't you cry. I've got a secret."--The last part is from a game show from the 1960's called I've Got a Secret.¹
"You'll have Springer back faster than Snap, Crackle, Pop!"--Rice Krispies cereal, whose mascots are named Snap, Crackle, and Pop (and for a time was also their jingle).

TRIVIA ANSWERS:

86.77%.
It crashed into the Cybertron central power facility. (This line is absent from the videocassette release.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
¹Endora60
²Parallax