The nightly visit to Philadelphia goes from bad to worse as the Maltos and Terrans run afoul of the returning Mandroid.
Tropes:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Bee is suitably horrified at seeing Brawl having been drained of his inner Energon, his left arm ripped off, and then left to hang from the ceiling.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bumblebee is still wanted by G.H.O.S.T. and Transformers are still viewed with hostility. Even worse, Mandroid escapes, turns out to be working with Agent Croft, and is given access to all of G.H.O.S.T.'s Deception captives for his experiments. On the bright side, the Maltos save Hashtag from Mandroid's brainwashing and get to see Bumblebee again, the Transformers still have human allies, and the surviving Bot Brawl prisoners have seemingly escaped, including Grimlock.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Twitch puts her own spin on an old favorite as they depart Philadelphia.Twitch: "Maltobots...Roll Out!"
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Hashtag when Mandroid places her under one of his mind control devices, made even worse with Hashtag seemingly being aware of what her body's doing.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Said, almost, word-for-word by Twitch to Hashtag.
- Mind Rape: Mandroid takes great delight in ridiculing and torturing Hashtag in her inner virtual space, telling her she's all alone and not welcome on Earth.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Twitch's reaction upon seeing Hashtag having one of Mandroid's brain control devices on her
- And in return, Mandroid's reaction when the Terrans begin to break through his control of her.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: The scene of the Maltos departing Philadelphia is juxtaposed with Robbie's friend spray painting over the anti-"Transformers Go Home!" graffiti with a more welcoming "Transformers are Home" message, as the young non-binary person Nightshade saved observes from the distance. Suitably set with the morning sunrise.
- Redemption Rejection: Despite everything he's done to the Maltos at this point, Twitch attempts to reach out to Dr. Meridian, telling him it's never too late to change. Meridian just laughs in her face and proceeds to go on a racist rant about how Cybertronians are just warmongering aliens who should be wiped off Earth permanently.
- The Reveal: The ending of the episode reveals that Mandroid has been working for G.H.O.S.T. Specifically for executive agent Croft, who is also revealed to be the mastermind behind Bot Brawl.
- Took a Level in Badass: Subverted. Mandroid has replaced his remaining human arm with Brawl's, which would normally be a case of this. However, not only is Mandroid a Non-Action Guy, he also spends the episode sickly and constantly breaking into coughing fits.
- Uncertain Doom: Brawl is drained of all Energon and looks pretty dead. However, his eyes do briefly flicker with light, and Transformers throughout various media have survived a lot of seemingly fatal situations. It is ultimately not clarified whether or not Brawl is still alive.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Grimlock's fate is left unknown by the end of the episode.
