Home, Part 2

« Transformers: EarthSpark ep 18 »
Beyond Cyberspace
"Home, Part 2"
Season	1
No. in season	18
Production company	Entertainment One Nickelodeon
Airdate	March 3, 2023 (Paramount+) August 26, 2023 (Nickelodeon)
Writers	Mae Catt, Nicole Dubuc and Dale Malinowski
Story by	Mae Catt, Nicole Dubuc, Isabel Galupo, Dale Malinowski and Maasai Singleton
Director	J.J. Conway
Animation studio	Icon Creative Studio
Watch this episode on Paramount+

The trip to Philly goes from bad to worse with the return of Mandroid.

Synopsis

The wonder of the world is gone

With the Malto children and Terrans in tow, Bumblebee races back to the Bot Brawl ring in hopes of finding Grimlock. They soon discover however Grimlock has long since left and the arena has been cleared out. Scouting the area, the group discover the remains of Brawl still hanging from the ceiling. Bumblebee is horrified to discover the Decepticon bruiser has been drained entirely of Energon and his left arm missing. The moment is interrupted soon by a missile firing from the distance that sets the abandoned arena ablaze.

Coming to their senses, the group is horrified to see Mandroid emerging from the flames, now equipped with Brawl's clawed hand. Accused by Hashtag of being the one behind Bot Brawl, Mandroid only laughs saying they existed long before him and will exist long after him. When Twitch tries to reason with Mandroid, saying they're willing to forgive him for their past encounters, he only laughs, saying they're the ones who brought their war to his planet, and he won't rest until they're all wiped out, before deploying his latest invention against Bumblebee, a series of Arachnamech-style tentacles that gradually begin draining him of Energon. To deal with the remaining Terrans, Mandroid sics his Arachmech army on them, which combine into a giant-centipede like creature. With Mandroid departing to finish work on his latest invention, the Terrans and Maltos try to overcome the mechanical monstrosity. During the battle however, Hashtag discovers her Wifi powers grant her not just access to the city's Wifi but the ability to control any piece of technology hooked up to it. Using this to their advantage, the Maltos distract the Arachnamech combiner as they lure it directly into a series of oncoming trains controlled via Hashtag that destroys it.

Upon freeing Bumblebee, Hashtag surveys the area to find Mandroid in the upper rafters. Overcome with anger, she leaps up to grab him only for the mad scientist to scoff at her and place a badge on her chest. Twitch arrives soon after to discover to her horror that Mandroid has placed a control badge similar to the one used on Grimlock on Hashtag, making the Terran another one of his mindless drones. Gleeful at the success of his new invention, Mandroid departs as he orders the subservient Hashtag to make sure she returns to him with her Terran siblings, alive or in pieces. Horrified and reluctant to fight their sister, Nightshade takes the fight into the city above as the rest follow, leaving Bumblebee behind to try and regain his strength. Up above, Nightshade finds their attempts to remove the badge controlling their sister useless as this new version has a forcefield preventing its removal. Meanwhile, in Hashtag's inner virtual space, she finds herself locked out of her Wi-fi powers as a digital avatar of Mandroid appears before her saying she's entirely under his control. Mandroid then proceeds to mentally torture Hashtag with images of Robby, Mo, and Stevie saying she's all alone and unwelcome on Earth. Helpless to stop him, Hashtag is reduced to a quivering mess.

Back in the real world, the mind controlled-Hashtag's powers allow her to throw volley after volley of cars at her siblings. Unsure of what to do, Robby suggests they go get Bee but Twitch refuses, saying they can't leave their family behind. Approaching Hashtag alone at first, Twitch is soon joined in hands with her other siblings, vowing they aren't leaving without their sister. United together, Robby and Mo's cyber-sleeves begin to glow as back at the cave where the Emberstone was found the waters in the cave send out a strange energy that seemingly supercharges the Maltos and Terrans. As they approach Hashtag using their powers to shield them from her attacks, the Malto family all grab a hold of her as they begin to overcome Mandroid's control of her through their connected sense of family and love for one another. As the digital avatar of Mandroid screams in impotent defiance, Hashtag finally manages regains control of her body. Coming to her senses and seeing the damage she caused, Hashtag begins to apologize before she's stopped by Twitch saying it wasn't her fault.

Sleep tight, Decepticons...

Bumblebee emerges from underground, lamenting how they were never able to find Grimlock and how this Bot Brawl ring likely isn't the only one in operation. Encouraged by words from Robby how that doesn't mean they'll let that stop them from trying to make the world safe for humans and Transformers, Bumblebee tries to depart. However, after all he's been through, he finally collapses from a combination of exhaustion and Energon deprivation. Seeing that their mentor is just sleeping, the Maltos depart Philadelphia to get back to Witwicky before their parents wake up. As they roll out with the sun rising, Sam from earlier sees Stevie spray painting over the "Transformers Go Home" graffiti with a more welcoming "Transformers Are Home" message.

Elsewhere, a weakened Mandroid—his health rapidly deteriorating due to a lack of Energon to power his Cybertronian appendages—is carried by his Arachnamechs to a rendezvous with G.H.O.S.T. director Agent Croft, who is revealed to be one who was managing the Bot Brawl ring in Philadelphia. Croft tells Mandroid they'll be working much more closely together from now on, commissioning him to begin constructing more of his new control badges, and providing him with an energon patch to ensure he's healthy enough to do the work. When he says he'll need test subjects, Croft volunteers him the Decepticon prisoners of G.H.O.S.T. as Mandroid looks around with glee.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Of course, you're behind Bot Brawl!"
"It'd be comforting if that were true, wouldn't it? However, the Bot Brawls were happening long before I arrived, and they'll continue long after I leave."

—Hashtag gets a harsh lesson about humanity from Mandroid.

"Don't listen! They're lying to you!"
"You're wrong! I was never alone."

—Mandroid gets told by Hashtag to shove it.

"Maltobots...roll out!"

—Twitch puts a new spin on an old favorite.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Mandroid has rapidly deteriorated between this episode and the preceding one, following the addition of Brawl's left arm in place of his own. Evidently, the alterations he has performed to his biology require him to consume energon; without it, his health has taken a dive, leaving him gaunt, sallow, and with a rasping voice and cough. This degeneration was first hinted at back in "Age of Evolution, Part 2", in which Mandroid briefly slipped into a raspy voice while addressing the masquerading Terrans, punctuated by him clearing his throat to return his voice to normal.
• Thrash compares the Terrans temporarily supercharged powers to how he felt after soaking in the waters of the cave from "Friends and Family", only much greater. However, Robby and Mo seem to be turned off by just how powerful it felt.
• The "Maltobots" phrase was first used by Bumblebee in "Hashtag: Oops" and now seems to have been adopted by Twitch as the group's call-sign.
• Agent Croft's shady nature has been hinted at in previous episodes, from experimenting on Skullcruncher and ordering her brother to round up Decepticons regardless of threat levels in "Hashtag: Oops", to wanting to arrest Alex and Dot Malto for harboring Bumblebee in "Security Protocols", to authorizing the dumping of toxic waste in "Bear Necessities".

Transformers references

Real-world references

Errors

• When Mandroid is meeting with Agent Croft; two Arachnamechs are shown carrying him in. During the scene, one of them disappears entirely and is not shown again; even in wide shots.

Trivia

• As with "Secret Legacy, Part 2" and "Age of Evolution, Part 2", most online distribution platforms do not list this episode separately from Part 1, instead choosing to combine both parts into a single 44-minute video.

Foreign localization

Brazilian Portuguese

• Title: "Casa, Parte 2" ("Home, Part 2")
• Original airdate: ?, 2024

• For unknown reasons, both parts of "Home" were skipped by Paramount+ in Brazil and are currently available only on Netflix.
• An inexplicable mixing error happens when Nightshade says "The badge, it has some kind of force field". Instead of doing a dramatic pause before saying "force field", the line is said all at once and is finished while Hashtag is closing in on them. Then, when it cuts back to Nightshade when they should be saying "force field", it instead plays the exact same voice clip from when Hashtag shouts "you're wrong!" to Mandroid later in the episode.

French

• Title: "Chez soi, partie 2" ("At home, part 2")
• Original airdate: September 16, 2023

German

• Title: "Heimat, Teil 2"
• Original airdate: March 11, 2023

Hungarian

• Title: "Hazai pálya, 2. rész" ("Home Turf, part 2")
• Original airdate: September 9, 2023

Indonesian

• Title: "Rumah, Bagian 2" ("Home, Part 2")
• Original airdate: TBA

Polish

• Title: "Dom: część druga" ("Home: part two")
• Original airdate: September 9, 2023

Home video releases

DVD

2024 — Transformers: EarthSpark - Season 1: Episodes 11-26 (Paramount)