The Emperor of Destruction Vanishes on an Iceberg is the twenty-fifth episode of Transformers: The Headmasters. It first aired in Japan on January 29, 1988 on Nippon TV.
Content[]
Summary[]
With the true extent of Galvatron's master plan revealed, the Autobot Headmasters face the Emperor of Destruction in a final battle in the Arctic.
Plot[]
Growing bolder and more determined following the death of Ultra Magnus, Sixshot steps up the Decepticon attack on Earth, dispatching the Stunticons, Combaticons, Terrorcons and Horrorcons to assault the Autobots on numerous fronts. Five installations are simultaneously attacked, and Fortress instructs Twincast and his cassettes to gather information that will allow them to pre-empt the next attack. Even Metroplex, still smarting over Ultra Magnus's demise, wants to participate in the upcoming counterattack, but as he argues with Fortress, reports start pouring in from Autobot bases that are under attack, and numerous Autobot teams race to respond to their distress calls. Metroplex acquiesces, with one provision - when the time comes, Sixshot will be his.
Meanwhile, on Chaar, Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge watch footage of Sixshot's attack on Earth, with the two lieutenants quietly grumbling about how Sixshot is constantly showing them up. Elsewhere in the base, Counterpunch regards the colossal stockpile of energon cubes that the Decepticons have amassed, and then crosses paths with Galvatron, who explains that he is about to travel to Earth, in order to make history with his next move. Counterpunch, as Punch, heads for Autobot City to inform Fortress and the Headmasters of this, but they mistakenly believe that Galvatron plans to have Scorponok, who has been absent from their sights for some time, lead the attack against the planet. At the same time, Scorponok is discovered by Twincast and Steeljaw in the ruins of an Autobot energy plant in Alaska, which he has demolished. The pair come under attack from a passing Sixshot, who blasts Twincast into a chasm while Steeljaw escapes to report back to Fortress.
On Athenia, Wheelie, Daniel and Spike watch footage of Decepticon attacks on Earth, with Spike growing more and more enraged at the villains' continuous destruction of Earth's natural environment. He is about to contact Fortress to find out why the Autobots have not done something about this, but Arcee stops him, pointing out that they can fight each other at any time, but that victory can only be won by finding out what Galvatron's true plan is. That part of the equation is concurrently being taken care of by Punch in the Decepticons' Earth base, where, as Counterpunch, he resorts to the most basic of espionage techniques - listening in on a conversation between Sixshot and Galvatron through an air vent. Aware of Scorponok's movements on Earth, Sixshot believes that the Headmaster leader is attempting to blow up Earth as he did Cybertron and Mars before it, in order to stop Galvatron's master plan. Galvatron finally reveals the true extent of his plan to Sixshot - he intends to fuse both himself and the Earth together, so that he may become a Unicron-like entity known as "Grand Galvatron". However, to accomplish this massive feat of engineering, he will require many powerful transformation components, particularly to safeguard the weakest spot on his body, his head. These parts, Galvatron explains, will be culled from the finest Decepticon warriors - with Sixshot being his number one choice for this "noble" sacrifice. Punch makes a beeline for Autobot City to report all he has learned, arriving just as Metroplex convinces Fortress to allow him to join in the attack on Scorponok in Alaska.
In Alaska, Scorponok and the Decepticon Headmasters are planting another in a series of planet-destroying explosives when Sixshot arrives. Scorponok expects a conflict, but Sixshot explains that they may now consider him an ally - he is not willing to allow Galvatron to willingly sacrifice him for spare parts. Galvatron himself arrives seconds later, as Sixshot and Scorponok pantomime a struggle to distract Galvatron as the Autobot arrive on the scene. As Metroplex and Sixshot engage in an aerial battle, and Scorponok attacks Battleship Maximus, the four Headmasters surround Galvatron for their final battle with the Decepticon leader. Their fight takes them out of the chasm to a nearby ice field, where Galvatron hurls the four young Transformers into the icy waters. He is about to deliver the killing stroke to Chromedome when Punch arrives to inform the Headmasters that Galvatron's weak spot is his head. The quartet enters Head Formation, bombarding Galvatron with blasts of their combined energy, but the formation is broken when Galvatron shoots Hardhead out of the sky. He retaliates by knocking Galvatron into the ocean, and rejoins the Head Formation; the Headmasters then collapse several icebergs on top of Galvatron, before putting an end to the villain with a colossal explosion. Sixshot and Scorponok retreat, as the Autobots look out over the icy sea - final resting place of the Emperor of Destruction.
Trivia[]
In the episode[]
Background[]
Regional Differences[]
Characters[]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Notes[]
Animation and/or technical glitches[]
- When Sixshot knocks Twincast into the chasm, Steeljaw cries. Real, watery tears. Not in a comedic anime fashion.
Continuity errors[]
- So, Galvatron can survive being at ground zero of an explosion powerful enough to blow up an entire planet, and yet he can't dig his way out from under a few tons of ice? That's really screwed up, man.
- Before Galvatron gets buried in ice, he just sits in the water for the few seconds that occur between the moment he surfaces from the water to the point where he's buried in ice. Instead of just sitting there, why doesn't he just fly out of the water and dodge the blasts from the Headmasters? He can fly, being a Decepticon and all. Yet he doesn't even try to escape from his abrupt doom. Did he forget he could fly for that brief moment?
Transformers references[]
- Galvatron's master plan was first hinted at in "Fight to the Death on Planet Hive!!", and it was revealed that he planned to "incorporate the Earth into his system" in "Ultra Magnus Dies!!", but precisely what that entailed was not explained until this episode. The idea itself was a decent one (especially given Galvatron's desire to gain control of Unicron's power by subjugating him The Transformers: The Movie), but the visual execution was absolutely, ridiculously hilarious.
- Scorponok's desire for power was pretty obvious almost from the moment he appeared in the series, but his current plan for the destruction of Earth was begun in the previous episode.
- Head Formation continues to undergo new changes with each passing episode. This time, the Headmasters debut the ability to shoot their charged-up energy as destructive bolts.
Miscellaneous trivia[]
- This episode is one of only a small number to include an original animated sequence before the title card appears. The R2 DVD release of the episode omits this sequence, which consists of Sixshot rallying the Decepticons.
- Galvatron II's end in Marvel Generation One Comics somehow bears a little resemblance to Galvatron's final fate in this episode.
- The RTM 1 dub version of Galvatron's "death" scene is downright hilarious.
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