Transformers: Armada | HD | Episode 12 | The Complete Series | Prehistory
309At the Autobot base, Rad had figured out how the people who had the Star Saber destroyed themselves. Meanwhile, Megatron is infuriated that the Mini-con panel he caught would not activate. He tried once more but did not succeed.
Rad asks Optimus how to end the transformers war. Optimus explains that though both Decepticons and Autobots are the same, the Decepticons desire to rule the universe. They created an army to begin conquest of Cybertron but their progress was halted by the Autobots who sprang into action. After years of fighting, both sides ruled one half of the planet. Then, the Mini-cons came in. No one knew how they were created but they were used as power sources. Eventually, the Mini-cons wanted to leave, something the Autobots agreed on. They protected the ship holding the Mini-cons. As they escaped, the Mini-cons went into stasis in the form of panels. Through use of a diversion, the Mini-cons made it to Earth 4 million years ago.
Optimus says it might be luck or destiny that the kids found High Wire in the first place. It is what drew the Autobots and Decepticons to Earth.
Suddenly, the base's alarms find another Mini-con using Laserbeak. They travel to the remains of an amusement park on a remote island and began searching. They are then ambushed. While the two sides fought, the kids went searching for the Mini-con. The other Mini-cons fought against the Decepticons while the kids locate the Mini-con. Suddenly, the volcano erupts, burying Optimus. While Hot Shot got the kids to safety, Smokescreen digs a trench to move the lava. Just as Megatron got the panel, Optimus came in. Cyclonus got the panel but is barraged by the Street Action team. With the panel safe in Autobot hands, the Decepticons retreat.
Later at headquarters, Red Alert theorizes that the Mini-cons are trying to achieve peace in the universe. At Decepticon headquarters, Megatron succeeds in activating the Mini-con panel and orders the reawakened Mini-con named Sonar to lead him to the others.
Transformers: Armada was written and produced in Japan, with creative input from America (the Japanese originally envisioned the series as set in the G1 continuity, but this idea was discarded by Hasbro, who also mandated the inclusion of Unicron, who had not been in the original story treatment for the series). However, the show premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami in America before its original Japanese counterpart had aired - the result of an unreasonable production schedule set by the network, which caused the series to be rushed out of production. Consequently, Armada features a lot of unfinished animation (which would go on to be perfected for the completed Japanese episodes), and a hastily produced dub which features many errors in naming such as Sureshock being repeatedly called "Grindor" in multiple episodes, Hot Shot being called "Hot Rod", and Optimus's Mini-Con partner Sparkplug being called "Leader-1" (the same name as Megatron's Mini-Con), as well as transliteration and nonsensical dialogue which does not match the action onscreen.
When Armada was released on DVD in Japan, each of the thirteen volumes came with a four-page mini-manga and an exclusive repainted Mini-Con figure. The manga, titled Tales of the Microns: Linkage, feature these repaints in an original story which served to fill in many of the blank spots and plot holes in the animated series.
Despite Transformers: Armada being made by a Japanese studio, it premiered first in the United States. The series premiered on Cartoon Network on August 23, 2002 at 4 P.M. with a 90-minute movie special, consisting of the first three episodes. Following its premiere, new episodes started coming out on August 30, airing every Friday at 6:30 P.M.
In the December issue of Japanese magazine Animage, it was announced that the anime would start airing in Japan on January 10, 2003 on TV Tokyo, with new episodes coming out every Friday at 6 P.M.