Transformers: Robots in Disguise Episode Guide

Episode 33: Maximus Emerges
Original U.S. air date: February 16, 2002
Written by: Tom Wyner

The Decepticons trace the Autobot car brothers and build team to an abandoned 2000-year-old temple, where Dr. Onishi told them Cerebros could be found. The Autobots locate Cerebros inside an old statue, rigid and inactive, but as soon as they do so the Decepticons blast them out and demand Cerebros. The Predacons, hiding nearby, leap out and take Cerebros to their headquarters, and the Decepticons delay the Autobots before following.

After recharging and analyzing Cerebros, Scourge and Mega-Octane theorize that he will only act on to commands issued by the Autobot commander, Optimus Prime. However, since Scourge used both Optimus and a military tanker truck as his physical template, he is able to verbally activate Cerebros himself and ask for the location of Fortress Maximus, still hidden in plain sight in Metro City. When the Decepticons and Predacons arrive together, the Autobots are all waiting there for them. At Scourge's command, Maximus ejects "the emissary," a control module which transforms into an Autobot-sized robot for which Cerebros forms the head. Maximus then transforms to an enormous headless robot and the emissary transforms into its head, giving Cerebros control of Maximus directly.

Just then, Galvatron flies in and joins the Decepticons. After explaining his transformation in the pyramid from Megatron to the larger Galvatron, he commands Scourge to have Maximus destroy the Autobots. But unexpectedly, he responds with "unauthorized access protocol" and begins attacking Autobots, Decepticons and the city itself. While the Decepticons, Predacons and Autobots fight each other, Koji runs to the scene and, unable to think of anything else, shouts out to Maximus to stop. To everyone's surprise, Maximus does stop and deactivates himself, ejecting Cerebros before sinking into the ground and vanishing completely. Galvatron transforms to jet mode, takes Cerebros aboard and leaves with the other Decepticons and Predacons and leaves the Autobots wondering just how Koji managed to stop Maximus when Optimus could not.

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Cerebros doesn't seem to be an Autobot with a personality of his own, but only an automaton that responds to orders. He's intelligent, but not independent, which means that Scourge's orders are (almost) as good as Optimus Prime's. Exactly why this is the case, and where Fortress Maximus went after sinking into the ground, has yet to be revealed.

Preserving their meticulous sense of scale, the "Robots in Disguise" cartoon represents Cerebros as being about the same size as Scourge or Sky-Byte. The original Fortress Maximus' smallest head was supposed to be human-sized; this way, however, Maximus can be large enough to serve as a fortress for Transformers without his head having to be "scaled up" between transformations.

If you like the specially-animated, eye candy transformation sequences "Robots in Disguise" uses, you'll love this episode -- nearly all the Decepticons, Predacons and Autobots get to do their thing one after the other, combiners and supercharged modes included.

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