One of the few complaints I've had about some of these early Beast Wars episodes has been a lack of characterisation for the Predacons. As the series villains, most of them tend to have more of a background presence in the early episodes - being more or less voiceless grunts. This episode, we get some more characterisation for the Predacons and get more of a feel of the dynamics between their ranks.
The plot of this episode involves Terrorsaur discovering a floating mountain which contains a large quantity of Energon. This gives Terrorsaur more than enough power to overthrow Megatron, and take command of the Predacons. These events are observed by Cheetor, who goes back to base to inform the Maximals of this, who then determine that the best cause of action is to detonate the mountain in order to prevent the Predacons from making use of this tactical advantage.
The highlight of this episode is that it allows us to spend more time with the Predacons asides from Megatron so we can get more of a feel for their personalities. While some of these characters have had some sprinkles of personality so far, this time we get to see how the Predacons interact with each other, and how they each react when Megatron is disposed of shows the dynamics within the ranks.
We'll start with Terrorsaur, since he's the one who gets the most focus this time around. A couple of episodes back in Equal Measures, we got a hint of his more traitorous nature when he proposed for a truce with Dinobot - the aim being the two of them could work together in order to overthrow the Predacons. This essentially positioned him as being the Beast Wars equivilent to the original Transformers equally traitorous Decepticon Starscream, who took every possible opportunity to overthrow Megatron and take command of the Decepticons.
Of course, the first thing that Terrorsaur does upon finding the Energon mountain is seize the opportunity to take out Megatron in order for him to take command. He quickly takes out Megatron and then quickly beings planning to attack the Maximals. However, in his arrogance he doesn't realise that this power boost is only temporary, so he quickly needs to go back and get another boost in order to maintain his dominance over the Predacons. Another nice touch is that, when in command, he appears to adopt Megatron's tendancy to say the word 'yes' in an exaggerated way.
Next, we come to Tarantulas. This episode shows a more scheming and calculating side to the character. When Terrorsaur takes on Megatron, he instantly notes that Terrorsaur has never had this much power prior to this. When Terrorsaur is forced to flee, he then appoints Tarantulas as leader in his absence. However, Tarantulas isn't interested in leading, so he just leaves and instead spies on Terrorsaur - hoping to learn the secret of his newfound power and then harness it for himself. This adds an intersting dimension to the character, and possibly hints that he has his own agenda separate from the other Predacons.
So far, Scorponok hasn't made too much of an impression since he's pretty much just a one note character - he's second in command, and he's loyal to Megatron. This is the same here, but what makes it more interesting is that his loyalty doesn't extend to Terrorsaur when he takes over. In fact, he is horrified when Terrorsaur takes out his commander. He's also unhappy when Terrorsaur appoints Tarantulas as second in command. Since Tarantulas doesn't seem to care for the post, he just leaves Scorponok in charge. Scorponok then orders Waspinator, the one remaining Predacon, to restore Megatron. As for Waspinator, this episode shows that he is essentially happy with just being a cog in the machine as he instantly asks Scorponok for orders once he's left in charge.
While this is definitely more of a Predacon heavy episode, the Maximals do get a look in as well. Rhinox is able to show off his scientific knowledge by determining exactly why the mountain is floating since everyone else seems confused about how it could possibly be happening. Rattrap is as snarky as ever, refusing to even humour the notion of a floating mountain until he physically sees it - even doubting Optimus's sanity when he determines that such a thing currently exists.
Rattrap also gets to have a brief showdown with Tarantulas on the floating mountain. After setting the charges to explode it, Rattrap gets ambushed by the Predacon, and Tarantulas seems to be particularly enthusiastic to take on Rattrap. After all, there is some history between the two of them after Rattrap infiltrated his lair to save Cheetor in The Web.
Optimus also gets to have a showdown with the overpowered Terrorsaur. This is a great fight since, so far, Optimus has been shown to be a more than competent fighter who is able to stand his ground against his opponents. However, in this instance he finds himself outmatched due to Terrorsaur's immense power, meaning he has to flee from him until Terrorsaur gets depleted of his immense power.
This is a really fun episode of the show, which shines through the interactions between the various characters and allowing us to see the dynamics between the various Predacons. The story might not be one of the strongest, but like a lot of early episodes of the show, it's the characters and their interactions with each other which makes it shine.
Next time: The Maximals find a potential new recruit in 'Fallen Comrades'
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