The God Gambit
Title card via TFWiki, fan-archive fair use
On the moon Titan, Astrotrain poses as a god to enslave the local people in a bid to seize power from Megatron.
The people of Saturn's moon Titan are slaving under the tyrannical rule of Jero, the head astrologer priest. The time has come for the harvest offerings and the Titans bring their contributions to the feet of the statue of their "Sky God".
Talaria, a rebel who believes in "reason and common sense", leads a revolt, shatters the statue, and exposes Jero for using the Sky Gods as an "excuse for high taxes and harsh laws".
At the same time, Cosmos is being chased through space by Astrotrain, with Starscream and Thrust aboard. Cosmos calls Autobot headquarters on Earth and tells Optimus Prime about energy data he gathered. During the transmission he gets hit and falls towards the surface of Titan.
The Titans have gathered around a fire while Talaria tries to convince her people that the Sky Gods are an illusion. At that very moment, Cosmos crashes nearby, and Jero, tied up along with his high priests, uses the strange event to reclaim his place as leader.
Astrotrain, Starscream, and Thrust land in front of the temple, overhearing the struggle between Talaria and Jero. Astrotrain spontaneously decides to pretend to be the Titans' supreme god in order to enslave them. Starscream protests, but relents without much effort.
Starscream and Thrust prop up the unconscious Cosmos in the temple as a new idol in place of the shattered statue. Astrotrain then removes Cosmos' data storage, and points out a disconnected cable that prevents the Autobot from calling for help. He fails to notice that Talaria has been watching him. Unseen by the Decepticons she slips to Cosmos's side and reconnects the cable, re-establishing the communication to Optimus Prime on Earth. Prime tells her how to activate Cosmos' homing beam. In that moment, the Decepticons notice her, but she escapes, thanks to Cosmos who woke up just in time to fire at Starscream. Cosmos is, however, quickly disabled again by Astrotrain.
Back on Earth, Optimus Prime orders Omega Supreme to take a team to Titan and rescue Cosmos. Omega informs Prime that the trip will use up 97% of his energy, which will leave him unable to transform. The team includes Perceptor, who will discover what the energy source was, and Optimus himself intends to go. However, Red Alert warns Prime that as the leader of the Autobots, they cannot afford to let Prime be killed or captured. Jazz goes in Prime's place.
On Titan, Jero leads the Decepticons to a cave full of energy-rich crystals. Astrotrain forces the Titans to harvest crystals and carry them to the temple.
—Starscream, playing the role of Wheelie
—Jazz and Omega Supreme do not share a sense of humor.
—Perceptor isn't that concerned about Talaria's attack
—Astrotrain needs Talaria's blood in order to be appeased.
—Jazz while saving Talaria from being sacrificed.
- Astrotrain seems out of character in this episode, especially with him ordering Starscream around. It would seem that this episode may have been originally written for Megatron in the Astrotrain role and quickly re-written in order to feature Astrotrain (who was, not coincidentally, a new toy at the time). This would explain Starscream's deference (and apparent fear) of Astrotrain, plus Astrotrain's Megatron-esque dialogue.
- Like the previous episode, this one debuts a few new commercial bumpers: Shockwave and Grimlock.
- This was one of several episodes subjected to the MSTF treatment at BotCon 1999.
- This is the first episode where Frank Welker doesn't voice anyone.
- Among fans, Astrotrain's proclamation that "These fools worship Transformers!" has gained near-legendary status as a bit of humorous self-ribbing.
- Gadgets and powers: Cosmos has a signal beacon which the other Autobots can use to track him.
Screencaps via TFWiki (Teletraan I), used under fan-archive fair use.