‘MASTER BLASTER’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

As we approach the end of Season 3 and the ‘Beast Wars’ TV series, just when you thought we had Blackarachnia being upgraded with a Transmetal II body, Megatron gets upgraded too. And in an unusual way. 🙂 It’s a shame his new form doesn’t last beyond three stories.

In ‘Master Blaster’, the Predacons take control of Optimal Optimus’ body to gain access to the Autobots’ Ark. They do this when Tarantulas implants one of his bugs on Optimus so that it can invade his body. It permits Quickstrike to control him remotely in a machine.

This is a large, mechanical suit of a similar form to Optimal Optimus’ body. Quickstrike knocks out all the Maximals using Optimus’ Optimal body, which includes Silverbolt, Rattrap, Rhinox and Cheetor. Blackarachnia returns and finds the Maximals’ base empty.

Blackarachnia is captured by Optimus controlled by Quickstrike, and Megatron orders Rampage to attend to her whilst he and Optimus controlled by Quickstrike head off for the Ark. Incidentally, Depth Charge doesn’t appear in this story. He’s been absent for a while.

At the Ark, Megatron has Quickstrike open the Autobot ship using the access codes provided for Optimus by Blackarachnia, as established in ‘Crossing the Rubicon’. Once inside, Megatron seeks to find a way for his powers to be on par with Optimal Optimus. 😐

This is where we get to see the Generation 1 Megatron, leader of the Decepticons inside the Ark. I hadn’t seen the G1 ‘Transformers’ three-part story ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ to know the Decepticons infiltrated the Ark to end up being with the Autobots on the ship. 😐

Megatron steals the spark of the original Decepticon leader Megatron. Very soon, he becomes a Transmetal II dragon that can transform into a robot and vice versa. I recall purchasing the toy Transmetal II dragon Megatron after seeing ‘Beast Wars’ as a TV series.

Tarantulas and Quickstrike betray Megatron in process. Blackarachnia escapes and teams up with Optimus, whose link with Quickstrike gets broken. After an epic fight between Optimus and Megatron, the Maximals soon aid Optimus before Megatron flees.

‘Master Blaster’ rating – 8/10