Gorilla Warfare
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Gorilla Warfare is a first season episode of Beast Wars which first aired on October 14, 1996.
[edit] Plot
While on a specimen-collecting mission some distance from home base, Optimus Primal and Dinobot are ambushed by a team of Predacons lead by Scorponok, resulting in Optimus becoming attached to one of Scorponok's Cyber Bees. The Cyber Bee, it's later learned, contains a viral mine, custom made to severely humble Optimus' personality and make him too cowardly to adequately lead his fellow Maximals against the Predacons. Removing the Cyber Bee is out of the question, however, as it had tied itself to Optimus' vital systems, and is rigged to explode if an attempt is made. Due to Scorponok's 'notorious incompetence', though, the mine has the opposite effect of what was intended, transforming Optimus into a violent rage-filled berserker.
Locking the Maximal commmander up to prevent his outbursts from endangering himself or his comrades, the others on his team debate their options, knowing that they have precious little time to find a cure for the mine (which the Predacons are surely to have). Optimus, in a flash of brief clarity, convinces Cheetor that they could use the mine against the Preds, taking advantage of the Preds' lack of knowledge of the mine's malfunction to spring a surprise attack and strongarm the antidote out of them. However, the plan is shot down by the other Maximals, who deem it too dangerous to try, prompting Optimus to strike out on his own. With their options growing more and more limited, Dinobot suggests they 'think like the old Optimus', ironically proposing to try and negotiate the antidote out of the Preds, but their attempt at doing so only serves to warn the Predacons about the mine and Optimus' impending assault, forcing the Maximals to begrudgingly aid their leader in his endeavor.
Arriving at the Darkside, Optimus easily blasts through the Predacons, only to be stopped by Megatron, who threatens to destroy the antidote if he doesn't surrender and join the tyrant's cause. Optimus refuses, however, and in a desperate act of defiance, rips the Cyber Bee from his chest and throws it at Megatron, arming its self-destruct mechanism and causing the Predacon leader to drop the antidote. Fortunately, the other Maximals have arrived just in time, and Cheetor is able to grab the antidote and adminsister it to Optimus before his spark gives out. With the Predacon's plans thwarted, Optimus is returned to the Axalon to recover, under the watchful eye of his comrades.
