Ring of Fire

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Challenge of the GoBots ep 40
(Broadcast Order)
Challenge of the GoBots ep 45
(Story Order)
RingOfFire Leader1.jpg
"Ring of Fire"
Production code 0142-8539
Production company Hanna-Barbera
Airdate November 8, 1985
Written by Kelly Ward, Jeff Segal and Michael Humm
Animation studio Wang Film Productions

Cy-Kill plans to devastate the Earth by causing vast destruction along the Pacific Rim.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

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In orbit above Earth, Scooter, Matt and Nick are putting the finishing touches to a railgun designed by the cadet and mounted on the USS Resolute. Cy-Kill meanwhile plans to subdue Earth by using a Megablaster to tamper with the planet's tectonic plates, having found a point to attack that will set off a chain reaction and devastate the planet. Crasher then detects the Resolute so Thruster moves to intercept. However, the rail gun scores a direct hit, knocking out most of Thruster's systems and forcing the Renegades to engage their stealth device to escape. Resolute is also damaged; Matt reports their encounter to Leader-1, Small Foot and General Newcastle at UNECOM but is unable to say where they were heading. In fact Thruster has landed exactly where it wants to - on the island in the Pacific Rim where they want to start the reaction. Matt is about to bring Resolute in when Cy-Kill contacts UNECOM to tell them of his new weapon - giving the world's leaders 24 hours to hand the Guardians over. Cop-Tur gives a demonstration of their device that causes earthquakes all around the world as Cy-Kill lists his demands.

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He calls in the Monster GoBots as reinforcements, expecting the Guardians to try something. The Guardians try to trace the Renegades, with Scooter and Nick devising a plan that tracks them to their island. Leader-1 contacts Cy-Kill and says only he will surrender; Cy-Kill agrees but believes he's up to something, sending Crasher, Pincher and Scorp off in Thruster to watch for Guardian reinforcements, causing consternation among the islanders. Turbo meanwhile parks the Command Center on a nearby atoll before Leader-1 sets off alone. However Crasher spots this and Thruster shoots down the Command Center, with fire from Pincher and Scorp sinking the ship. Leader-1 meanwhile lands - accompanied by Scooter and Small Foot, who follow him covertly but raise more curious looks from the natives. Cy-Kill, Vamp and Cop-Tur menace Leader-1, whose forcefield is soon drained by the combined Renegade firepower.

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Small Foot and Scooter find Cy-Kill gloating over Leader-1, planning to set off the volcanic reaction even though Leader-1 surrendered himself. Thruster then arrives and the pair of Guardians overhear of the Command Center being shot down. The Renegades prepare to dunk Leader-1 in lava and set the megablaster to detonate and begin the reaction in five minutes. Small Foot springs into action; she rams Crasher into the cavern wall, triggering a rock fall and allowing Scooter to pretend to be a boulder, rolling towards the megablaster's controls. Crasher's attempt to stop Small Foot causes a further cave-in and Cy-Kill orders the Renegades away, believing the rockfall will do the work for him. However, Turbo then arrives in the Command Center and exchanges shots with Thruster; both ships end up damaged. Aware that time is ticking down Cy-Kill sends Crasher and the Monster GoBots to hold him off. Small Foot frees Leader-1 and they join Turbo in the battle, though Scooter struggles to bring the machine under control. The Renegades return to their ship and escape while Leader-1's forcefield is nearby spent. Thankfully Scooter is able to deactivate the megablaster. Above the Renegades realise their plan has failed while the Guardians congratulate Scooter for saving Earth.

Featured characters[edit | edit source]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes[edit | edit source]

"Leader-1 indeed... how inappropriate can a name be?"

Cy-Kill saying what we're all thinking.

"Hurry, I'm starting to melt!"

Leader-1 at his most fearless and inspiring.

Notes[edit | edit source]

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  • The Renegades sent for reinforcements. They have a guy who turns into a crane, named Crain Brain. So why is Cop-Tur left manually operating a crane that can't possibly be to scale for him? Likely because Crain Brain had already been deleted from the toyline, but still...
  • Not an error, but while Cy-Kill's talking about how gullible Guardians are, Leader-1 is just sitting there quietly shaking his head back and forth like, 'Nuh-UH!"
  • Also, the ignorant island native stereotypes contribute absolutely nothing to the plot. None of the GoBots ever even acknowledge they're there.
  • Likewise, the rail gun is given the full Chekhov's gun treatment early on and then never mentioned again.

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • Gadgets and Powers:
    • Scooter disguises himself and Small Foot behind a holographic cloud of smoke to trail Leader-1 unseen to the Renegades' hideout.
    • Vamp traps Leader-1 in an energy-draining force field.
    • Scooter uses a giant boulder hologram to roll over the Renegades.

Continuity errors[edit | edit source]

  • Crasher scores a direct hit on the ship with Thruster's blasters, but then the Renegades act as if she missed entirely.
  • Cy-Kill is seen standing right next to Crasher when she downs the Command Center, but Crasher was at the Thruster and Cy-Kill was back at their base. Indeed, Crasher and Cy-Kill are seen returning to base in Thruster later.
  • The Guardians are remarkably dim this episode. Or maybe it's just a facet of how poorly the plot hangs together.
    • Leader-1 congratulates Nick and Scooter on their brilliant plan to stop the Renegades: Find where they are.
    • Once they do, Leader-1's next step is to call Cy-Kill on the phone and say, "We know where you are, I'm coming to surrender." So...Nick and Scoot accomplished nothing, because Cy-Kill was going to tell Leader-1 where to go anyway for his surrender.
    • Then, Leader-1 brings an invisible Scooter and Small Foot along as back-up, but tells them to do nothing. Moments later, Small Foot cries, "We need to find Leader-1!"
    • When Leader-1 walks into the Renegade camp to surrender, and is in fact captured, Scooter remarks, "Oh, no! Cy-Kill's got Leader-1! I guess his plan backfired!" What was the plan, then?
  • Not for the first time Scooter's holograms are treated as if they have physical properties - he casts the illusion of being a big rolling boulder and flattens Pincher as if he's an actual boulder when the Monster GoBots should instead be being hit by a small foetal Guardian.
  • It's never explained how the Command Center goes from being a sunken wreck to being basically fine later.

Animation and technical errors[edit | edit source]

  • Scooter's proportions are oddly warped during the opening scenes, especially his head. His eyes keep bugging out of their sockets as well.
  • Crasher speaks in Cy-Kill's voice, telling Crasher to fire at will.
  • The "Ring of Fire" is a figurative term for the ring of volcanoes found around the Pacific Rim. That said, Leader-1 and General Newcastle are watching an actual ring of fire on their viewscreen when Cy-Kill's tests his power.
  • There is an enormous amount of background muttering and murmuring at UNECOM, as if Leader-1 is addressing a large crowd. Scooter has to cup his hands around his mouth to be heard, and Leader-1 has to dramatically quiet the room in order to hear him. But...there's only three humans and three Guardians present. Where's all that noise coming from?
  • Meanwhile, Matt is doing some weird dance in the corner that involves jazz fingers.
  • Small Foot's eyes vanish when she and Scooter first come out of the hologram.
  • When Leader-1 ducks Cop-Tur's flying rotor, it doesn't fly past him. The rotor just sort of vanishes halfway over his back.
  • After the commercial break, Small Foot's eyes are missing again, and her face is completely red.
  • The red rectangles on Crasher's chest are missing as she prepares to drop Leader-1 in lava.
  • Vamp is drawn with something resembling a mouth as the volcano begins to cave in, as opposed to her usual grill.

Real-world references[edit | edit source]

  • The Pacific Ring of Fire is real, though this episode is not to be taken as a scientific treatise on this geological feature of Earth.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Between the twin non-sequiturs of the rail gun and the islanders, the way the UNECOM group just disappear from the plot, the numerous plot holes, the large amount of padding (the amount of time characters spend standing around explaining what the other faction is thinking, extended Renegade laughing), the anti-climax of the ending and the general choppiness even by Challenge of the GoBots standards there's probably a story or two behind the production of this one.

Home video releases[edit | edit source]

DVD

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

Footnotes[edit | edit source]