enjoyed this one

perfectly

Windblade

You just know he's humming the Mission Impossible theme

At a time of war, no less!!!

The Council

KNOW YOUR PLACE, CITY SPEAKER! *tink* *tink*

Use the Force, Luke

their

I enjoyed it

all

The Jolly Green Giant, after tearing another life form in half

Guess what day it is! It's Tuesday, and that means one more installment of the new Machinima Combiner Wars Series. Spoiler Alert: It's good, again. I know, I know, two good episodes in a row? What is this? Have the pigs finally taken flight? I'm serious. I actually. I really liked it. It worked with the 5 minute time slotBut we're jumping the Ion cannon here, let's take a few steps back, start looking to the skies for aerial swine, and break the new episode down.We open with Starscream reflecting on the death of Menasor and Computron, as the remains of both combiners have been delivered to the Council's tower from Caminus. The former decepticon feels directly responsible for the death of Computron, as he was the one who sent the combiner to take Menasor down, when he should have just done it himself. This is the kind of exposition I want. Something that challenges our previous perceptions of these familiar characters. By doing this, we subconsciously realize how different this world or continuity is, and how much those characters have changed. The Starscream we know would never mourn or regret the loss of an Autobot. This is not to say that some of the more random mood swings of other characters (ahem,) fall into the same category. Challenge our perception, but have it make sense in context.Rodimus argues it wasn't Starscream's fault, and that he did the right thing.Meanwhile, we see Optimus sneaking around the council's building, and Windblade is jumping from the rooftops. Megatron seems to just waltz in, which is kind of one of my favorite moments from the episode. I love the "Don't Care" attitude that Megatron has in the series. It seems he, Windblade and Optimus are all ready to mobilize. He suggests that they just go in and kill the entire concil, destroy the enigma. Windblade's on board, but Optimus naturally won't allow that to happen.The council watches them approach through security cameras. The Mistress is afraid they've come to finish the job and kill them all, and it seems Starscream agrees. Rodimus knows Prime wouldn't do that, but Starscream argues Megatron would. Here's one of two main problems I have with this episode (I know, I know, "Only two?" Hold on, we'll get there): Rodimus says that they "have no forces that can stand in their way". What? Why? Why does the council, the leaders of all of Cybertron and Caminus have no security force?They're the leaders of multiple planets! There should be tons of guards there normally, but in a time of civil unrest, you shouldn't even be able to sneeze without a dozen guns being pointed at you.Aaaaaanyway, they again consider using the Enigma to control all combiners, this time to stop Optimus and co. The enigma sure has a lot of different powers... I'm bugged that it's sort of becoming a Dues Ex Machina (heh, more like Dues Ex Machinima, amirite? -badumtiss-) device for the series. Got a problem? Any problem at all? Use the enigma! Next comes this week's clunkiest line, delivered by Rodimus. The combiners wouldn't stop "Prime. Nothing stops him once he's set on a course. And that's doubly true for Megatron." This line just suffers from bad writing, plain and simple. There's about 15 better ways that line could have been written, 13 of which excluding the word "Doubly", which just sounds odd anywhere, in any setting.Starscream and Rodimus want to try for a peaceful resolution first, given how they don't know if it would actually control the combiners well enough. They don't have enough time do make a decision, however, as the attackers rush the main building. The Council goes to a ledge to greet them, as Prime explains they're not here to fight, just to destroy the Enigma. The Mistress tells them no, and also gives us problem #2. It's an issue with the sound effects again, as The Mistress tries to be menacing and intimidating by smacking her staff on the ground, but the sound given is so small and quiet, the attackers probably didn't even hear it. It's laughable. It's like a toddler getting all huffy and upset, crossing their arms and saying "It's not funny!" You can't take it seriously! So, just like with the gun in Episode 2, the sound effects fail again.Megatron tries to pander to Starscream, but doesn't do a very good job of it, telling him he's too stupid to handle the power of the enigma. Starscream accuses Megatron of only helping because he wants the Enigma for himself. Megatron jumps and takes a shot at Starscream. The council runs inside, and Optimus, Windblade, and Megs start taking out the castle's defense cannons. Windblade gets a creepy, ominous warning from a disembodied voice. "Don't let this happen" it says. Who is this? We don't know, but it'll be interesting to find out.Starscream survives the shot from Megatron, and is concerned about the attackers. Rodimus says no one is going to die, but then it's revealed the constructions have madeway to Cybertron, too. They combine to form Devastator and break through the Council room's floor, taking Rodimus with them, tearing his arm off triumphantly.This moment actually made me gasp. It was so unexpected, and with a character I absolutely didn't expect to die, that it actually evoked some emotion. For once this series achieved not only a satisfying cliffhanger, but it achieved a near-perfect mix of talk and action for it's 5 minute run-time. The characters were good, the writing was a lot better than what we've seen in the past, and the animation seemed to be more accurate and smoother than normal. It had a great, unexpected twist, and it actually has me looking forward to the next episode for once. This is by far the best episode yet, and the template I hope they follow to a T for the rest of the series. I can really sum it up in three words:. The previous episodes haven't really been "Enjoyable" per se, and I'm not the first person to point that out by any means, but this one was. They struck such a good mixture of all the good things from past episodes, and got rid of almost all the bad things. I wish it had been this good from day one. I think wewould have enjoyed it a lot more.Haven't seen the episode yet? Well, then, what da heck are you doin' here, lettin' me spoil the whole thing for ya'? Getchaself over to GO90 to watch it in the U.S., or check out our announcement article here for possible alternate viewing options. And, as always, keep your optics and audio sensors tuned to Seibertron.com for all the latest news and reviews!