A crazed Wasp finds his way to Earth to exact his revenge on Bumblebee... but he doesn't count on the Elite Guard following him.
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: Bumblebee proves to the others that he's himself and not Wasp, but as a result of this incident, the Earth Autobots are unable to warn the Autobot High Council of Shockwave's treachery and Ultra Magnus is fatally injured.
- Blatant Lies: Bumblebee claims that the video game is to help him with combat training. Optimus doesn't buy it for a second.
- Blow You Away: Jetstorm's wind attack is so strong that Bulkhead is the only Autobot who can counter him.
- Both Sides Have a Point: While Bumblebee did unintentionally ruin an innocent bot's life when he accused Wasp of being a traitor, Bulkhead rightfully tells Wasp he didn't make himself look innocent with his unpleasant attitude or when he was bullying Bumblebee, which gave him all the more reason to suspect Wasp was a Decepticon spy.
- Cassandra Truth: Essentially the main premise of the episode. Optimus has to convince Sentinel that Wasp was not the Decepticon spy, and that Bumblebee has to convince his friends that Wasp swapped places with him.
- Call-Back:
- When Sentinel Prime and Jazz head to Earth, Longarm Prime/Shockwave reacts with horror, as he specifically requested that all communiques with Earth be halted but a few episodes ago.
- Bumblebee brings up the events of Autoboot Camp (specifically, that he took the fall for Bulkhead when the latter knocked a tower onto Sentinel) as proof that it's really him.
- Wasp brings up all of Bumblebee's screwups from the aforementioned episode to "prove" he's really Bumblebee. Unsurprisingly, Sentinel doesn't remember.
- Chekhov's Gun: Bumblebee's video game. In a roundabout way, it's used to expose the impostor.
- Failed a Spot Check: Zigzagged. The Autobots actually do point out that "Bumblebee" or Wasp in disguise has some glitches on his face but still choose to believe him as being the real Bumblebee.
- Facepalm: Optimus does this when Sentinel finally believes him about Longarm being the spy, and questions why nobody bothered to tell him.
- Foreshadowing:
- Wasp is seen playing a video game that he rather pathetically loses. It sets up how he allows himself to be exposed when Bulkhead decides to use the game as a means to prove which bot is Bumblebee and which one is Wasp.
- During his attempt to contact Megatron, Shockwave says the risk of his cover identity being exposed has forced him to take matters into his own hands. Ironhide comes across the grisly results of that during the Wham Shot.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: Wasp, while disguised as Bumblebee, brings up all the times the little yellow bot messed up and humiliated Sentinel during their time at boot camp. Sentinel doesn't remember. But when "Bumblebee" brings up how he broadcasted that message of Sentinel badmouthing Ultra Magnus, he almost loses it.
- Jerkass Ball: While it's true that Wasp was always mean to Bumblebee and Bulkhead, Bulkhead still grabs this since in this episode alone he shows absolutely No Sympathy to the fact Wasp at the moment is a traumatized and broken bot due to spending half a century in the Stockade and only believes that Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse is in effect and is overly hostile to him. His actions include: insulting "Wasp" to his face, being ready to swing his wrecking ball at "Wasp" before Bumblebee was able to confirm his identity, and finally punching "Wasp" several times when he got him pinned down.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Once Wasp escapes and Bumblee is outside on the ground, Bulkhead, believing he is Wasp, pins him down and also punches him several times, even though the former is already enough to stop him from escaping.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Optimus complains that had Sentinel informed him that Jetfire and Jetstorm were actually Autobots and not Decepticons, he and Ratchet wouldn't have attacked them.
- Most Definitely Not a Villain: Seriously, how did no one figure out that something was up when Wasp was initially doing a bad job at impersonating Bumblebee?
- Mythology Gag: The five Autobots from Transformers (2007) (Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide) make another appearance here.
- Never My Fault:
- Sentinel has the audacity to ask why he was never told that Longarm was the Decepticon spy, even though that's practically what everyone else has been telling him all episode. Optimus can only let out a long-suffering sigh at this point.
- Wasp says that Bumblebee is responsible for ruining his life, but Bulkhead retorts that Wasp brought everything on himself with his Jerkass bullying behavior.
- Nightmare Face: Wasp pulls one of these off, combined with Dramatic Unmask, right before he knocks Bumblebee out.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Jetfire and Jetstorm not only have normal looking chins, but they aren’t homages to their original counterparts.
- Playing with Fire: Jetfire's specialty.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Bulkhead's Shut Up, Hannibal! speech to Wasp.
- There's also Optimus castigating Sentinel's style of leadership.Optimus: I just have something you never will: respect from my teammates.
- Self-Serving Memory: Wasp has spent so many decades in incarceration for a crime he didn't commit that in his mind, he was a "good little bot" before his unjust arrest. It's Bulkhead who has to point out that back in the old days, Wasp was a sneering bully who didn't make it easy to like him.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: "No, Wasp... You were always mean to me and Bumblebee. You may not be a traitor... but you were never a good bot."
- Something Only They Would Say: Invoked by Bumblebee, who proves he's not Wasp by telling Bulkhead about the time the big guy dropped a building on Sentinel's head, and willingly took the rap for his friend. Bulkhead, knowing that only he and Bumblebee are aware of this story, gets all gushy and hugs his friend.
- Wham Shot: While trying to find Longarm/Shockwave, Ironhide happens to come across a mortally-wounded and damaged Ultra Magnus.
- Wham Line:Ironhide: Ultra Magnus, what happened? Where's your hammer? Who did this?
Ultra Magnus: S-Shock...wave...
