The Last Magic Man
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| "The Last Magic Man" | |||||||||
| Production code | 0142-8548 | ||||||||
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera | ||||||||
| Airdate | December 2, 1985 | ||||||||
| Written by | Mark Young | ||||||||
| Animation studio | Wang Film Productions | ||||||||
Science vs. magic. Whoever wins...we lose.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Cy-Kill, Crasher and Cop-Tur capture Scooter, Nick and A.J. and take them to their new cloaked base near the Guatal[1] cave dwellings, where Cy-Kill plans to harness the strange energies in the area, which Scooter identifies as dangerous harmonic energy. Cop-Tur is searching for the source of energy - and finds a levitating human. The man introduces himself as Tinotchka and deflects the Renegade's attacks before disappearing. Tinotchka then enters the base and warns them against disturbing the balance of energies in the area. He disables their stealth device, allowing the searching Leader-1 and Turbo to find the Renegade base, and the kids trick Cop-Tur into freeing Scooter, allowing the Guardians to escape. Crasher and Cop-Tur pull out, leaving Cy-Kill behind in the exploding base – though when the Guardians investigate the wreckage they find no trace of him.
Baffled, they head for UNECOM's Deep Sea Platform to meet with Matt. Cy-Kill has survived after being transported away by Tinotchka; the shaman has him in his lair, and tells the sceptical Renegade he's an immortal being with great magical powers. Cy-Kill deduces his powers come from statuettes of his past lives and threatens to destroy Tinotchka if he doesn't help him. The magician agrees and Cy-Kill sets out for the UNECOM platform with him in tow; Tinotchka disables Leader-1 and Turbo while Cy-Kill sets fire to the platform before escaping in Thruster. Scooter is captured and confronts a visibly aged Tinotchka, who reveals he ensured Turbo and Leader-1 escaped. Away from the source of his power he is waning rapidly, partly due to the lack of magic in the world. Cy-Kill meanwhile contacts Fitor and Dr. Go on Roguestar as he prepares for an assault on GoBotron. He has Scooter and Tinotchka brought before him, and asks why the magician didn't destroy Scooter. The magician replies that he can only affect GoBots in robot mode. However when the Renegades move into orbit, the planet disappears; Tinotchka has it miniaturised in his hand and threatens to destroy it unless Cy-Kill returns him home.
The Renegades agree but once back in his cave Tinotchka, who instantly becomes younger, destroys the token anyway. He then escapes with Scooter, who grabbed his statuette. When the Renegades try to chase them the shaman summons a sand storm, though Scooter's leg is injured. The Command Center arrives, and Turbo and Leader-1 battle the Renegades while the kids help Scooter. He notices that Tinotchka has slipped away while the Guardians drive off the Renegades, and that GoBotron's destruction was just one of the shaman's illusions. Leader-1 and Turbo are able to out-fight the Renegades in the caves, and Cy-Kill calls a retreat. Meanwhile Scooter catches up with Tinotchka. The shaman tells him that he simply changed the detectors on Thruster and reveals his time is at an end. The statuette has disintegrated and he blinks out of existence, reminding reminding Scooter there is always magic in the universe - he has but to seek it out...
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Guardians | Renegades | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
Quotes[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- Three random generics march past Fitor on Roguestar as GoBotron disappears.
Continuity errors[edit | edit source]
- The Renegades seemingly arbitrarily deactivate their stealth device right after the tour bus passes, only for Cy-Kill to gloat, followed by several lines of expository dialogue, and then Cy-Kill ordered the stealth device turned back on.
- After the battle at UNECOM's Deep Sea Platform, Scooter is suddenly seen imprisoned with Tinotchka aboard Thruster. Scooter was never seen being captured by the Renegades, having run out of frame right after Tinotchka disabled Leader-1 and Turbo.
- Tinotchka explains that his magic did not disable Scooter as it did Leader-1 and Turbo because it only can affect Go-Bots in robot (non-vehicle) form, yet Scooter was standing with Leader-1 and Turbo in robot form just as they were when Tinotchka's magic struck them. Furthermore, when Tinotchka directed his magic at them, images of Leader-1 and Turbo were shown on his hand, indicating that only they were his intended targets in the first place.
- If Leader-1 believes Cy-Kill to be dead why is he surprised there's no Renegade activity?
- Tinotchka is pretty chill about dying at the end for someone who Cy-Kill coerced into doing his bidding earlier by threatening his life.
Animation and technical errors[edit | edit source]
- The orange on Crasher's back is white when Tinotchka deactivates the stealth device.
- Cy-Kill refers to Roguestar as "Doomstar" when addressing Fitor; this was an early working name for the Renegade flagship. Jeff Segal and Kelly Ward presumably didn't read the script closely, and on this occasion it's hard to blame them.
- Tinotchka's personal statue is monochrome when first seen, but once Cy-Kill starts waving it around the statue is colored exactly like Tinotchka.
- In the reverse, Tinotchka himself is colorless when Scooter spies him through the tube.
- When Crasher and Cop-Tur chase Turbo through the caves, Cop-tur is suddenly outside then back inside the cave from one shot to the next, then both Crasher and Cop-Tur are suddenly outside again right after they accidentally collide.
Real-world references[edit | edit source]
- The caves seem loosely based on the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, at least going by the location shown on the map.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Cop-Tur is just SO happy with his cave painting! Gold star, Cop-Tur! You just want to give him a hug.
Home video releases[edit | edit source]
- DVD
2015 — Challenge of the GoBots — The Series, Volume Two (Warner Archive Collection)
Footnotes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Spelling uncertain