Last episode saw our first introduction of a new character with the appearence of Tigatron. That episode did a good job of building up the reveal of the new character and then showcasing him being a badass in order to convince the audience to go out and buy his action figure. This episode sees another new character join the cast, this time joining the ranks of the Predacons. However, unlike Tigatron, this new Predacon ends up taking a backseat as we get a story focused on Rattrap.
After a stasis pod crash lands in an icy region, Optimus and Dinobot go to recover the pod only to find the Predacons have managed to beat them to the pod. After a brief battle, the Predacons manage to get the pod and take it back to their base. Since Rattrap was the one who lead the Maximals to the pod, his loyalty to the Maximals is put into question, leading to Optimus sending him on a mission into Predacon territory to prove his loyalty. After getting ambushed by Terrorsaur, Rattrap surrenders and swears alliegence to the Predacons - is this a rouse, or has Rattrap truly gone over to the dark side?
One great thing about this episode is that Rattrap finally gets an episode focused on him. Up until this point, the character has primarily been utilised for comic relief - mainly making snarky remarks and complaining about the situations he ends up in against his will. This time, we get to see what he brings to the Maximals.
Of course, Rattrap's defection is a clever rouse on Optimus and Rattrap's part - but what's clever is that we don't know this until the very end of the episode that this was the plan all along. Optimus is the first one to express his doubts of Rattrap's loyalty, which shocks the rest of the Maximals who all vouch for Rattrap. For the whole episode, we're lead to believe - much like the Maximals, that Rattrap has joined the Predacons for good...
Then once Rattrap is alone on the Predacon base, he begins sneaking around, and we find out that his defection was a ploy to sneak onto the base. We don't know the purposes of this, but he does end up finding what he's looking for - a Maximal chip, which it turns out was allowing the Predacons to monitor Maximal communications. At the end of the episode, we then learn from Optimus that the plan was for Rattrap to enter the base to find out how the Predacons were monitoring their comms, and that this plan was to be done in utmost secrecy.
This episode really shows how resourceful and clever Rattrap is - kind of placing him as the James Bond of the Maximals. His small size is useful for sneaking around and investigation, and he seems clever and resourceful enough to get out of sticky situations. While he is also handy with a gun, he's not as used to full scale warfare - which puts his actions in previous episodes into perspective where he was reluctant to put his life on the line.
Terrorsaur also uses this to his advantage, as him and Rattrap proceed to offline and capture Megatron, allowing Terrorsaur to take command of the Predacons. What this episode shows us is that Terrorsaur is way too ineffectual to lead the Predacons. This is something that Megatron uses to taunt Terrorsaur once he breaks free and the Maximals begin attacking the base.
The one disappointing aspect of this episode to me is Blackarachnia - who serves as not only the show's first new Predacon since the opening episode, but also the first female character to be introduced into the show. While she does later grow into one of the most interesting and compelling characters in the entire show, in her first appearence, she doesn't really get given much to do. This is bizarre seeing as the show's primary purpose is to sell toys, so clearly this episode should be making the target audience want to buy her action figure.
This is just speculation on my part, but this might have something to do with how these kind of action toylines are heavily marketed towards young boys, and while girls do enjoy these shows as well, sadly a lot of toy manufacturers tend to focus on demographics and place things into boxes (i.e. girls like this, and boys like this), and assume that boys won't want to buy an action figure of a female character. As an example, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show notable for featuring a lot of strong female characters, but Mattel never released toys of these characters as they assumed that boys wouldn't want them. Because of this kind of mindset, it's possible that Hasbro wanted to downplay the female characters as they assumed that the boys who were the primary target audience of the show wouldn't want them, so felt promoting them was a waste of time (which might not be so farfetched, given how the show's only other female character barely appears in the show).
In spite of my gripes with Blackarachnia's lack of involvement in this episode, I feel this is a fun episode that allows Rattrap to have a moment in the spotlight after mainly sitting on the sidelines in previous episodes.
Next time: Rattrap ends up trapped alone on the Axalon in 'A Better Mousetrap'
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