Clutch of Doom

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Challenge of the GoBots ep 50
(Broadcast Order)
Challenge of the GoBots ep 50
(Story Order)
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"Clutch of Doom"
Production code 0142-8543
Production company Hanna-Barbera
Airdate November 22, 1985
Written by Kelly Ward, Jeff Segal and Eric Lewald
Animation studio Wang Film Productions

With the fate of humanity in the palm of his hand, Cy-Kill forces the Guardians to name him Overlord of GoBotron.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

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Doctor Aeolis demonstrates his hermetic[1] condenser to the Guardians and their friends in Greece. They try to bully Scooter into being a guinea pig before the Doctor points out in only works on organic beings; instead he shrinks down Matt and A.J.. The machine stores them in a small globe capable of storing up to a billion people in suspended animation, a process Aeolis hopes will revolutionise space travel due to the ease at which it will allow large numbers of people to be transported. Scooter nearly drops the globe and is lucky Nick catches it; destroying one of the globes would kill anyone stored inside. Matt and A.J. are returned to their normal size. Leader-1 is impressed and leaves Van Guard with Aeolis as security for his machine; however, one of Cy-Kill's spying devices has already told him of the device. As soon as the Command Center has left he attacks Aeolis' laboratory with Crasher and Bad Boy. Van Guard sends a distress signal but they overwhelm him before help arrives, and Bad Boy finds the condenser, escaping with it while the others keep the returning Leader-1 and Turbo occupied. Once Bad Boy gets it back to Cop-Tur on Thruster, Cy-Kill and Crasher return to the ship and the Renegades escape thanks to their stealth device. Leader-1 finds Van Guard and Aeolis but Cy-Kill uses the condenser to kidnap Earth's entire population, holding the globes containing them all in his hands. Leader-1, Turbo, Scooter, Matt and Nick return to GoBotron and report to Zeemon and the Guardian Council in GoBotolis; they have little choice but to wait for Cy-Kill's demands. The Renegade leader orders Fitor to prepare for occupation of GoBotron and appears before Zeemon in GoBotolis, declaring himself Overlord of GoBotron and planning to use GoBotron as a launch pad for galactic domination.

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He announces the birth of a new Renegade age to the population of GoBotron, promising order and peace. He declares Leader-1 and the Guardians outlaws; Zeemon, Turbo and Matt are watching as well as he declares any act of aiding the Guardians to be treason, punishable by death. Leader-1, A.J., Scooter, Nick and Aeolis are hiding out on the planet in the Command Center and Turbo reports in by scrambler. Zeemon deduces GoBotolis' vault is place the most likely to house the globes. However, their transmission is picked up and Cy-Kill sends Crasher and Cop-Tur to investigate, before assigning Bad Boy and Fitor to guard the vault. Despite his best efforts Zeemon is shot down by Crasher and Turbo is forced to surrender to prevent the old Guardian being executed. Meanwhile Leader-1 and Scooter sneak into GoBotolis, using the latter's hologram projector to disguise themselves as Cy-Kill and Crasher. They get access to the vault but Scooter fails to hold the hologram. Leader-1 blasts the guards and the pair make a run for it, but have to leave the globes; Fitor and Bad Boy chase them until they're called off by an irate Cy-Kill. To stop Leader-1, he announces that he will destroy one of the globes unless the Guardian is brought to him in 48 hours.

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Cy-Kill crushes a globe to make his point. Blaster and Van Guard cry out in protest and destroy the screen but are both restrained and imprisoned by Geeper-Creeper and the Renegade enforcers. From their cell they tell Turbo, Zeemon and Matt of Cy-Kill's actions. Zeemon states that no more humans must die, and Leader-1 will be forced to hand himself in. Cy-Kill allows him to broadcast his request and then sentences Turbo, Van Guard and Blaster to Disassembly for their defiance. Zeemon pleads for their lives to be spared and for himself to be disassembled instead but Cy-Kill refuses, and shows them that Leader-1 is now his prisoner as well. However, Leader-1 suddenly smashes the globes; Nick and A.J. free the Guardians from their restraining bolts. Bad Boy and Fitor are blasted before all four turn their weapons on Cy-Kill, blasting him through a wall. The Renegades retreat and the population of Earth is restored - Leader-1 having switched the globes when he was in the vault earlier, with Aeolis having made fakes. Just then a baffled General Newcastle contacts GoBotron, demanding to know what is going on. Leader-1 chirpily tells him not to worry and just think of it as an unexpected vacation.

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes[edit | edit source]

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"Back off, gas-guzzler!"
"Fat chance, muffler-mouth!"

Turbo and Crasher duel insults.

"(Cy-Kill)'s been in a foul mood ever since he took over GoBotron..."
"Yeah, I almost wish we were rebels again, it was more fun."

Bad Boy and Fitor on the price of victory.


Notes[edit | edit source]

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  • As usual with kids' TV shrinking machines, the device's ability to work on organic matter extents to clothes, sparing us a naked Matt.
  • The GoBotron population watching Cy-Kill's broadcast is mainly made up of generics (and lots of vague shapes) but includes Heat Seeker, Blaster, Small Foot (maybe intentional), two Scorps (likely unintentional) and two miscoloured Robotech Valkyries (definitely unintentional).
  • Turbo and Zeemon are transmitting from an engine works site on GoBotron, but when they run outside it looks more like a barn. Surrounded by trees. On Earth. Although seemingly an error, the future episode "Mission: GoBotron" confirms the Guardians are indeed constructing a forest section on the planet, and the sequence does have the 'starry' background which usually signifies a scene on GoBotron.
  • Cy-Kill's enforcers include blue generics with what look like baseball caps.

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • Gadgets and Powers:
    • Bad Boy has a storage compartment in his chest.
    • Scooter's holograms are strong enough to disguise him and Leader-1 as Crasher and Cy-Kill...at least temporarily.

Continuity errors[edit | edit source]

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  • Zeemon's "Guardian Council" is composed (this episode, at least) of two Guardians modeled after Professor Von Joy. They never get named or speak. In the same scene only Nick is initially visible to Leader-1's left at the big table in GoBotolis; Matt appears between them when the shots move closer.
  • The unseen switcheroo (a device also employed in "Dawn World") really pushes plausibility to breaking point, and while it just about hangs together it means Leader-1 spends the entire third act being secretive just for the drama. What would he have done if the Renegades had decided to execute their captives on the spot?

Animation and technical errors[edit | edit source]

  • Van Guard's forehead flashes between black and gray as he laughs at Matt and A.J.
  • Cy-Kill's mouth stops moving in the middle of his lines as he watches the Command Center fly away.
  • The blue communication lights on Leader-1's chest remain lit after he speaks to Scooter at the Command Center.
  • The back of Crasher's head is gray inside of black right before she blasts Zeemon.
  • Geeper-Creeper's eyes aren't colored in yellow when he first appears.
  • When Zeemon begs for the lives of the other Guardians, his screen keeps flashing after he quits talking.
  • Blaster's hands are missing when Cy-Kill sentences him to death.
  • The number of globes in Cy-Kill's possession is rarely consistent from scene to scene and even shot to shot.
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Real-world references[edit | edit source]

  • The Parthenon is visible in the background of Doctor Aeolis' lab, which is presumably therefore in Athens.
  • Threatening containers full of miniaturised captives is a trademark tactic of DC Comics supervillain Brainiac.

Foreign localization[edit | edit source]

Home video releases[edit | edit source]

DVD

2015 — Challenge of the GoBots — The Series, Volume Two (Warner Archive Collection)

External links[edit | edit source]

Footnotes[edit | edit source]

  1. Spelling uncertain