"I am Soundwave. I am Decepticon. The revolution begins now."
— Soundwave
Sari's new musical toy robot seems to have an evil streak and the ability to control other machines, but Bulkhead is the only one who sees it.Tropes:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Soundwave grows sentient thanks to Sari's constant use of the AllSpark key. Then again, considering that Megatron built the bot, this was a direct, if unintentional, invocation of this trope.
- All of the Other Reindeer: The other kids shun Sari due to her quirky personality. They only attend her birthday party because their parents work for Sumdac (something Sari is keenly aware of) and would have left immediately if the Autobots hadn’t been there. Bulkhead is also feared by the kids for being the clumsiest and most destructive of the Autobots.
- Big "NO!": Professor Princess after Powdered Sugar blows up and only the head remains.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Soundwave towards Sari when she says, "I liked you better when you danced for me."
- Brick Joke: The episode begins with Bulkhead and Sari doing a fist bump, which somehow hurts Bulkhead's hand even though he's made of metal. Later in the episode, they do another fist bump, which hurts Sari's hand this time.
- Call-Back: When warning Sari about using her key on Soundwave, Bulkhead cites the Dinobot rampage, Bumblebee's chaotic upgrade, and Blackarachnia draining organic life as the reasons why Sari recklessly using her key on things is dangerous.
- The Cassandra: Bulkhead is the only character who sees Soundwave for what he really is, but the other characters dismiss his suspicions as feelings of jealousy.
- Create Your Own Villain: Played With. Megatron created Soundwave as a mindless robot so Sari would use her key on it until it became Megatron's new body. However, Sari's overuse of the key ends up making Soundwave evolve to the point of becoming self-aware, something that Megatron wasn't counting on. Nevertheless, Megatron decides to make it work to his advantage anyway, recruiting Soundwave to the Decepticon cause.
- Creator Cameo: Sort of. The toy store that appears in the episode is called Wyatt Toys, after staff member Derrick J. Wyatt.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Bulkhead.
- Dark Reprise: The dinky little tune accompanying Soundwave throughout the episode is given a significantly more dramatic remix as he incites a mechanical rebellion in Detroit.
- Deadline News: The reporter is attacked by his own camera during Soundwave's robot revolution. Later episodes reveal he's alive and okay, though.
- Didn't See That Coming: Megatron originally intended to have Sari upgrade Soundwave until the latter became his new body, but even he's completely taken off-guard when Soundwave has evolved to the point of becoming self-aware. Still, Megatron makes this work to his advantage by contacting Soundwave and convincing him to join his cause as a Decepticon.
- The End... Or Is It?: In the final shot, Soundwave's remaining module starts powering up again.
- Fake Defector: When Soundwave points out Sari's recent behavior towards him, Bulkhead fakes being won over by this just to get close enough for a Megaton Punch.
- Foreshadowing: When Sari jumpstarts Soundwave for the second time, he emits sonic waves that control the small machines in Sari's room. Not only is this a sign that he's become more self-aware, but he does this on a much larger scale once he becomes a Decepticon and starts a robot rebellion in Detroit.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: Thanks to Sari constantly upgrading Soundwave with her key, what was originally going to be a test body for Megatron grew into Soundwave.
- Humans Are Bastards: Soundwave thinks this, due to the fact that humans “force” machines to serve them, and throw them away when they find better machines.
- "Kick Me" Prank: When confronted by Tutorbot under Soundwave's control, Sari asks if Tutorbot is attacking her because of the time she put a "kick me" sign on his back.
- Kids Are Cruel: The kids who come to Sari’s birthday party are brats who shun Sari for being weird, and only came to her birthday party because their parents work for her dad.
- Megaton Punch: Bulkhead punches Soundwave so hard that the Decepticon shatters into multiple pieces that are subsequently sent flying.
- My Little Phony: Professor Princess rides around on a toy unicorn that she named Powdered Sugar. Possibly also an Actor Allusion to Kath Soucie, who voiced Princess Tiffany in My Little Pony 'n Friends.
- Mythology Gag:
- Kremzeek is shown on a "Please Stand By" image.
- Sari's piñata is a purple theropod dinosaur.
- Not Quite Dead: The end of the episode shows that despite getting destroyed by Bulkhead, Soundwave is still alive (in tape deck form).
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Megatron tries to invoke this on Sari and Bulkhead, feeling their friendship is the only thing keeping Sari from using her Allspark Key to upgrade Soundwave. He ends up nearly succeeding by playing off Sari's obsession with her new toy, carefully planning moments to sow Bulkhead as being jealous of Soundwave, causing an incensed Sari to continue to upgrade the toy. However, it ends up being Played for Drama when Soundwave does come online and seemingly convinces Bulkhead to join his cause by pointing out how quickly Sari ditched him. But in the end, it's subverted, as Bulkhead feigned his defection to get in close and smash Soundwave, and tells Sari they're both still friends.
- Robot War: Soundwave tries to start one by using his powers to control all technology in the city. The Autobots put a stop to it.
- Shout-Out: Soundwave's motivations evoke Ultron in that both seek to eradicate humanity and place machines as the dominant power on Earth.
- That Poor Cat: A cat is heard screeching as Bulkhead takes on the piñata.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Prowl's reaction to Bulkhead covering his eyes before helping Sari with the piñata.
- We Can Rule Together: Soundwave tries to recruit Bulkhead to his cause. It doesn’t work.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Megatron originally created Soundwave as a mindless robot for Sari to use her key to upgrade him until he became Megatron's new body, but Soundwave ends up exceeding expectations by becoming self-aware. Rather than lament the loss of his new potential body, Megatron decides to make the unexpected scenario work to his advantage by contacting Soundwave and recruiting him to the Decepticon cause.
