Thirst

« Transformers: Prime ep 60 »
There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
"Thirst"
Season	3
No. in season	8
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	June 7, 2013
Written by	Marsha Griffin
Directed by	Scooter Tidwell
Animation studio	Polygon Pictures
Watch this episode on YouTube

Knock Out and Starscream's experiment with synthetic energon threatens to take over the Decepticon ship and unleash an old enemy.

Synopsis

When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy."

Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"

In Knock Out's lab, Starscream bemoans his current situation, having to compete with Shockwave for Megatron's favor. His whining is interrupted by moans from Cylas, who is strapped to a table and begging to be freed. Knock Out injects him with a derivative of the synthetic energon he recovered from the Autobots. The compound drives Cylas into a rage, which Knock Out notes is one of its erratic side effects. Starscream sees in Cylas' fury the makings of a super-soldier for Megatron.

Starscream attempts to inform Megatron of this discovery, but the Decepticon leader is only interested in discussing the status of the Predacon protoforms with Shockwave, who is reporting in from his off-site lab. Brushed off by his leader as unimportant, Starscream sulks on his way back to Knock Out's lab.

Cylas becomes more enraged with each new injection of Synth En. Knock Out discovers that the more the compound is administered, the faster Cylas burns through his own natural energon reserves. Starscream cannot see the use of having another unruly beast that can't be controlled, but then has an idea: Dark Energon. Knock Out objects, noting that the "Blood of Unicron" once turned their own ship against them, and that he would need approval from Shockwave in any case. Starscream assures the doctor that a controlled, minimal injection will merely place Cylas under Megatron's command, via their leader's symbiotic link with the substance, then asserts that "super-soldiers" are a military concern and thus fall under his jurisdiction.

Under orders and under protest, Knock Out injects Cylas with the Dark Energon-enhanced formula. Cylas temporarily powers down before rebooting in a rage and breaking free from his bonds. But after only a few steps, he crumbles to his knees, desperately low on energon. Then with a fierce roar, his lower jaw splits into monstrous mandibles and a long, bladed tongue emerges, which he attempts to use on Starscream to drain him of energon. Unable to subdue him, Starscream and Knock Out flee down the halls of the ship.

Once a safe distance away, Knock Out suggests sounding the alarm. Starscream disagrees, not wanting Megatron to learn of their actions. He claims that once Cylas attempts to feed upon the ship's highly-trained Vehicon troopers, they will take care of the threat.

Elsewhere, one of the Vehicons stumbles upon Cylas, who grabs the highly-trained trooper and begins draining his energon.

Starscream and Knock Out plan the disposal of Cylas' corpse when they find the Vehicon's corpse instead. While the two argue about who's to blame for their predicament, the dead Vehicon is reanimated by the Dark Energon in its system as a Terrorcon and reveals the same segmented jaw and bladed tongue that Cylas had. Starscream's blaster fire only staggers it, and Knock Out suggests destroying the Terrorcon's head, inspired by Human horror movies. Though Starscream's missile is successful in decapitating the creature, it doesn't stop it in the least, as the body lumbers forward with the tongue sticking out of the hole where the head used to be. A concentrated volley of blasts to the Vehicon's chest destroys the monster's revitalized spark, severing its link to the Dark Energon.

Knock Out posits that Cylas could infect the entire crew in the same manner, a theory that's borne out when they find themselves pursued by multiple energy-draining Terrorcons. Starscream and Knock Out lock themselves in a comm room to get a breather and assess the situation. Accepting that this may be the end, the two Decepticons exchange some awkward final pleasantries and step back into the hall…

"No! I must kill the demons" he shouted

The radio said "No, John. You are the demons"

…Right into Megatron, who demands to know why the Dark Energon in his spark has been acting strangely as of late. Starscream provides a slanted explanation, but Megatron doesn't believe it until he's forced to destroy an attacking Terrorcon.

After a more extensive debrief of the situation, Megatron puts the ship on high alert and orders Starscream and Knock Out to seek and destroy Cylas. Around the ship, Vehicons and Insecticons battle the infected Terrorcons.

Cylas wanders into the ship's vault. Sensing energon within a stasis pod, he breaks it open, freeing and reviving Airachnid. Cylas attempts to drain her energon, though she barely ducks out of the way of his tongue, and a short battle ensues, but Airachnid is able to immobilize him with webbing long enough to deliver a fatal wound; ripping "Breakdown" open in order to destroy his spark and make sure he's dead this time, Airachnid instead finds the mutilated real body of Cylas, who survives just long enough to thank her for freeing him from his tortured existence before dying. She immediately re-establishes her telepathic control over the Insecticons and commands them to return to her. Their sudden departure is noticed by Soundwave.

Starscream and Knock Out discover Cylas' corpse. Starscream is elated until Knock Out points out Airachnid's destroyed prison, followed by Megatron demanding a status update.

And then John was a zombie.

Airachnid leads the Insecticons through the halls of the ship, ordering them to wipe out every Decepticon aboard. At the end of the hall, Soundwave calmly steps forward to face them. The bug-bots attack, and Soundwave opens a space bridge directly in front of him at the last second. Before they can react, Airachnid and the Insecticons are teleported away. As the bridge closes behind her, Airachnid realizes that they have been sent to a moon orbiting the abandoned Cybertron and screams in rage.

Aboard the Nemesis, Megatron contacts Shockwave again to inform him they're implementing his containment protocol to prevent further outbreak. He also tells Shockwave to speed up the Predacon cloning project, as they have now lost more than half their military forces. Knock Out is sternly reminded that he is the ship's medic under Shockwave's command, and is forced to turn over all of his experimental projects to the scientist. Megatron then turns to Starscream, intent on teaching him a lesson the only way that seems to get through to him...

Back on the moon, an infected Airachnid drains the energon from one of her minions as the rest of the Insecticons line up obediently to await their turn.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Knock Out: You recall that "Synthetic Energon" I recovered from the Autobots? Well, I've been reproducing the formula to test its viability as an alternative energy source. However, the compound remains erratic, and there have been side effects.
Starscream: Such as...?
Cylas: HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!! Starscream! I hope you replaced your T-cog because I'm going to tear it out all over agin and feed it to Knock Out!!

—Knock Out resurrects an old plot point, and repeats history in the form of Cylas.

Megatron: [Talking to Shockwave over comm] Tell me of the Predacon protoforms. What is the status of their incubation? Mm-hm. Uh-huh.
Starscream: Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery. It appears that--
Megatron: Not now! [Back to Shockwave] Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important.

Starscream: Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible.
Knock Out: But...WE ARE!
Starscream: Well, you are, mostly.

"Aim for the head!"
"What? How do you know?"
"I've seen human horror films." [Starscream looks at him curiously] "At drive-in theaters!"

—Knock Out schools Starscream on how to survive a zombie apocalypse

"I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots all these years, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, this is how our lights go out?"
"Drained of our precious fluids. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon-chow, it has been an honor serving Lord Megatron with you."
"You're no Breakdown. Though I must confess, I have always admired your lustrous finish."
[Awkward pause]
"*mm-hmm* Well, then."
"Should be going."

—Knock Out and Starscream

Megatron: Would either of you like to tell me what exactly is going on?
Starscream: Yes, absolutely nothing, my liege.
Knock Out: All is quiet, too quiet. One could even say dull!
Megatron: Funny, because the Dark Energon within my spark has been pulsing.
Starscream: (To Knock Out) Allow me to handle this. (To Megatron) IT'S KNOCK OUT'S FAULT!
Knock Out: Precisely my-WHAT?!

—Starscream pulls a Starscream, as per usual

"Silas? Whatever have they done to you? But more importantly, thank you for freeing me."
"No. Thank…you…" [Dies]
"Whatever."

—Airachnid is unmoved by Cylas' final words

"Soundwave! I vow that on this day, the world will hear the sound of your screams."

—Airachnid

Notes

Continuity notes

• Airachnid was frozen in stasis in "Armada" and was retrieved from the Autobot base by the Decepticons in "Darkmount, NV".
• The polarity gauntlet can be seen in the vault, in the first of the five containment fields. It was left on Cybertron by Bumblebee in "Darkest Hour", and can be assumed to have been recovered by Knock Out's salvage team offscreen in "Darkmount, NV". This leaves only the Immobilizer unaccounted for. There is also the Resonance Blaster, but everyone seems to have forgotten about that by now.
• Silas, the formerly fully-human commander of MECH, was surgically combined with Breakdown's corpse in "The Human Factor". He changed his name to Cylas (Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis) and became a reluctant guest of the Decepticons in the same episode.
• Cylas (then Silas) entered into a partnership of convenience with Starscream in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 1" and conveniently stole his T-cog in "Operation Bumblebee, Part 2".
• Cylas (then Silas) had Breakdown pinned to his operating table in "Operation: Breakdown".
• Knock Out recovered some of Ratchet's synthetic energon in "Stronger, Faster".
• Shockwave has been working from an off-site laboratory since "Chain of Command".
• Megatron previously used Dark Energon to reanimate and control the dead in "Darkness Rising, Part 3".
• Dark Energon awakened a dangerous, self-serving intelligence within the Decepticon warship in "Flying Mind".
• Cylas' eyes turn green, then purple, when he is injected with synthetic energon and Dark Energon, respectively. This is consistent with previous applications of the substances. ("Stronger, Faster", "Darkness Rising, Part 3")
• Airachnid killed Breakdown and discovered her telepathic control of the Insecticons in "Crossfire".
• Airachnid knows Cylas (then Silas) from their brief partnership in "Crisscross".
• Airachnid's desire to have Soundwave scream likely stems from the very one-sided beatdown she received from him in "One Shall Rise, Part 3".
• Starscream refers to the Decepticon soldiers as "Vehicons" confirming it as their real designation. Wheeljack used that term in to describe them in the previous episode.
• Megatron alludes to the beatings he bestowed on Starscream in "Darkness Rising, Part 4" and in-between the episodes "Out of His Head" and "Shadowzone" when he prepares to punish Starscream "the only way he understands".
• Starscream took a fragment of Dark Energon and used it to raise Skyquake from the dead as his first "re-animated warrior" in Shadowzone, all of which Megatron revealed he knew about through surveillance provided by Soundwave in "Rock Bottom".

Transformers references

• Protoforms are the first stage of Transformer life in many continuities.
• Megatron again refers to his upcoming Predacon army as "beast machine super-soldiers".

Real-world references

• Knock Out's proclamation of "It's alive" echoes the famous words spoken in Frankenstein. This is what, the third time in this series?
• In addition to the segmented jaw and barbed tongue, the Terrorcons' teeth also transform into vampiric fangs.
• As Knock Out indicated, destroying the head is the traditional way to kill zombies in many horror movies. But only human ones.
• This episode heavily pays homage to the 1985 zombie film The Return of the Living Dead where two humans (Frank and Freddie) cause a gas to spread across a cemetery that revives dead corpses into zombies and then plays comedy with the two trying to control the situation while blaming each other for the zombie apocalypse, much like Starscream and Knock Out in this episode. The zombies in The Return of the Living Dead couldn't be killed by headshots, either.
• There is also some homage to the film Blade II, specifically in the physiological effects of the virus. The Reapers, genetically-engineered vampire mutants, possessed the same type of unfolding jaw and feeding tendril, as well as a greatly increased blood appetite due to a heightened metabolism.
• Starscream and Knock Out's conversation while hiding from the zombies is reminiscent of a scene in Dr. Strangelove wherein General Ripper and Group Captain Mandrake are hunkered down as a firefight rages around their base, and Ripper explains his fear that Communists are out for his "precious bodily fluids".
• Knock Out places his fingers on the neck of the first Vehicon that fell victim to Cylas to check for life signs. This is often done to test a seriously injured person for a pulse in their carotid artery.
• The Terrorcons' mouths open like the Predators, and they also have a tube-shaped tongue with fanged jaws like the Xenomorphs.

Errors

• Knock Out discusses the events of "Stronger, Faster" and "Flying Mind" with Starscream, even though Starscream wasn't part of the Decepticon ranks when either took place. While it is conceivable that Starscream learned of the events of both episodes through the ship's logs or another source, Knock Out speaks as if they were both witness to them.
• Airachnid lost one of her legs to the closing pod door when she was put in stasis, but all six are intact in this episode.
• Starscream's missile cleanly beheads a Vehicon, leaving no burn marks or exposed circuitry of any kind. For that matter, the headless Vehicon reveals that there is no "joint" on the model for the head to attach to, just a completely flat surface with a hole for the tongue. You normally don't see it because the neck just goes straight into the base of the collar, as if the collar form-fits around the neck.

Trivia

• This is the only episode to not feature the Autobots in any capacity. Previously, "Patch", the last Decepticon-centric episode, had flashbacks which contained Autobots even though none appeared in person. Peter Cullen, however, gets to voice the zombified Vehicon trooper Megatron puts down.
• Starscream says that the ship is crawling with "highly-trained Vehicon troopers". Kinda makes you wonder what a poorly-trained one is like, huh?
• On-the-move teleportation seems as if it's becoming Soundwave's signature move, having used it to dispatch Arcee in "Orion Pax, Part 1" and to claim the Predacon fossil in "Project Predacon".
• Steve Blum is credited as "Insecticon #1" instead of Bombshock this time.
• Starscream alludes to having collected "dozens of Predacon bones", and Shockwave has already grown a batch of protoforms. This implies a significant timeskip between this episode and the last, since Shockwave had only just just established an off-site laboratory in "Chain of Command" and "Plus One" takes place immediately after that episode. Furthermore, the amount of bones collected, assuming it's not hyperbole on Starscream's part, suggests a rather bad run of luck for the Autobots.
• While there have been several offscreen and implied deaths of humans in Transformers Prime, this is the first full "watch the light die from his eye" death, not only in Prime, but in western Transformers animation.
• When Starscream suggested a drop or two, Knockout clearly injected a whole syringe of Dark Energon. Though it's possible that a single drop is enough to render the entire syringe of Synthetic Energon purple.

Foreign localization

French

• Title: "Les Mutants de l'Energon noir" ("The Mutants of Dark Energon")
• Original airdate: ?

German

• Title: "Durst" ("Thirst")
• Original airdate: 9 October 2013

Hungarian

• Title: "Szomjúság" ("Thirst")
• Original airdate: 11 September 2013

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Sede" ("Thirst")
• Original airdate: 22 November 2013

Italian

• Title: "Assetati" ("Thirsty")
• Original airdate: 6 September 2013

Spanish (Spain)

• Title: "Sed" ("Thirst")
• Original airdate: 17 October 2013

Home video releases

DVD

2013 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season 3 Volume 2: Race for Salvation (Madman Entertainment)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season 3 Volume 2: Race for Salvation (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Season Three Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Saison 3 Volume 2: L'ultime affrontement (Primal Screen)
2015 — Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters — Staffel 3 Teil 2: Auf zur Rettung (Primal Screen) — English, German, Dutch and French audio.
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)