Crossing the Rubicon (Beast Wars)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crossing the Rubicon is a third season episode of Beast Wars, notable for Blackarachnia's ascension to transmetal.
[edit] Plot
Blackarachnia has taken the transmetal driver that was responsible for Cheetor's second transmetal body and uses it on herself in an attempt to reformat herself as a transmetal, but the attempt is disrupted by Silverbolt, who enters into the scene while on patrol and not fully aware of what's going on. As an angry Blackarachnia explains her plan to him, she begins to malfunction, with electrical currents surging through her. Taking her back to the Maximal base, Blackarachnia recounts her plan again to the Maximals, who are not too pleased with her going behind their backs about this; Rhinox runs a check on her and discovers that the Predacon shell program Tarantulas used on her has been damaged by the failed transmetal plan and is now deteriorating, and is threatening her system. The best way to rectify it is to remove it before it completely degenerates and replace it with the original Maximal programming, otherwise, it'll drive her insane and wipe out her core, leaving her dead or "blank". Blackarachnia is not too thrilled with the idea of becomming a full fledged Maximal, feeling she has been a Predacon too long to imagine herself any other way; Silverbolt tries to comfort and reassure her that all will be fine and that she will only be restored to what she was meant to be. They almost kiss but the degeneration of the shell program kicks in again, prompting him to take her back inside. Before undergoing the risky procedure, Blackarachnia downloads all of her knowledge of the Ark and its access codes into Optimus Primal, citing he's probably the best bet for keeping them away from Megatron.
Tarantulas, meanwhile, has discovered that the Maximals are planning to remove Blackarachnia's shell program and relays the information to Megatron, who agrees to send the other Predacons to attack the Maximal base in an act of vengeance against Blackarachnia. The Maximals and the Predacons fight each other while Silverbolt assists Rhinox with Blackarachnia's operation, but a well placed missile by Tarantulas disrupts the procedure inside, and Blackarachnia dies. Enraged, Silverbolt swears to avenge Blackarachnia.
The Predacons retreat, Rattrap and Cheetor feel a rush of triumph, but Optimus suspects something is wrong; Rhinox informs them that Blackarachnia has died, and they gather around to mourn her. Rattrap admits that he'll miss her, as does Cheetor, while Optimus laments that they should have trusted Blackarachnia more, if only for Silverbolt. When they notice Silverbolt is not with them, they suspect the worst and go looking for him, unaware that the transmetal driver has activated itself and floating over to Blackarachnia.
Miles away, a vengeful Silverbolt is hunting Tarantulas and finds hims in the desert. Silverbolt brutally attacks Tarantulas and comes within inches of impaling him on a feather spear, but the fuzor is counter attacked by Rampage. Just as Rampage is about to kill Silverbolt, the resurrected Blackarachnia appears, now a blue transmetal Maximal thanks to the transmetal driver, and attacks Rampage, sending him through a mountain side.
Back at the Maximal base, Blackarachnia tries to explain her resurrection to the Maximals; now a Maximal herself, Blackarachnia appears to be more mellow than before, but still retains some of her "bad girl" personality. Ignoring the other Maximals, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia share a tender moment to themselves, in which the fuzor learns that the transmetal widow's kiss now comes with an extra kick of electricity.
| Preceded by "Go with the Flow" |
Transformers episodes | Followed by "Master Blaster" |
