The Ties That Bind (episode)
From Transformers Wiki
| This article is about the cartoon episode. For the comic issue, see The Ties That Bind (issue). |
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 Ain't no need to watch where I'm goin'; just need to know where I've been. | ||||||
| "The Ties That Bind" | ||||||
| Production code | 232 | |||||
| Season | 2 | |||||
| No. in season | 32 | |||||
| Production company | Allspark Animation | |||||
| Airdate | June 1, 2020 (UK) March 20, 2021 (US) | |||||
| Writer | Marc Seal | |||||
| Director | Pete Slattery | |||||
| Animation studio | Boulder Media Studio | |||||
Whirl has to rescue a powered-down Scorch—and as he refuses to fly, spend all day towing him back to the Academy.
Contents |
Synopsis
Hot Shot and Whirl race around the academy racing track, though the latter is finding it difficult to get used to driving and switches to helicopter mode to avoid some obstacles. Heatwave arrives with the news someone's sent a distress call and needs extraction, and Whirl eagerly volunteers. She arrives and is dismayed to find the stricken bot is Scorch, who has managed to run out of energon while driving. He's stuck in car mode and too afraid of heights for Whirl to fly him back, so he insists Whirl will need to tow him back with her police car mode.
They start heading back, though much too slowly for Scorch's liking, until Whirl threatens to use her helicopter mode. As they slowly wind their way up a mountain road, there's a sudden rock fall and Scorch has to talk Whirl through changing gears so they can get clear of the hazard zone faster. Whirl finally gets Scorch to shut up, but suddenly starts skidding. They've hit black ice, and Scorch has to talk her through turning into the skid.
Scorch admits she's getting used to her new vehicle form faster than he did. The pair spot a mountain climber in distress and, as Whirl's helicopter mode won't work, Whirl has Scorch talk her through doing a stunt jump so she can sever the mountain climber's cable, dropping him onto Scorch's hood. After the climber thanks them and heads off, Scorch is forced to transform to prevent Whirl being crushed by a falling rock, using the last of his energon and leaving him stasis locked. With no other choice, Whirl uses her copter mode to fly Scorch back to the academy where Medix is able to revive him. Whirl hugs Scorch and pronounces them friends, and challenges him to a race, which Hot Shot joins because he's Hot Shot.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
"Slow is totally fine. It'll give us time to bond, Fly-uh, I mean Whirl. No one can resist Scorchio's charming personality for long."
"I think I'll manage."
- —Scorch and Whirl bond.
"Maybe we can try a little silence now."
"I thought we were getting to know each other?"
"You haven't asked me one thing, because all you ever do is talk about yourself!"
- —Whirl and Scorch
"Humans are pretty weird, but they also do some awesome stuff!"
"I agree! There should be a word for things that are weird and awesome at the same time. Uh, weirsome?"
- —Scorch and Whirl
Notes
Continuity notes
- Whirl only gained her police car mode recently in "Big Wheels", hence her issues getting used to it.
- Scorch was previously seen leading the Cyberblazers Cube team. This is the first time we've seen him on Earth and/or using an alternate mode.
Transformers references
- TBA
Real-world references
- Considering Scorch's advice to Whirl to "shift into a lower gear" to subsequently accelerate and escape the rock falls, Whirl's police car alt-mode may be a stick-shift. No wonder she finds driving so hard.
Animation and technical errors
- TBA
Trivia
- While it's unclear where Scorch initially crashed, the majority of the US's matching desert environments are on the western side of the country, which would result in a very long drive back to Maine.
Foreign localization
- TBA
