The Decipticons attack some humans working at a gold mine, and they “capture” all the humans but one, who gets way to alert the Autobots. It’s all part of Megatron’s plan, whatever that means. The miners look like they could be a pop group from the time period.

Autobots transform, and roll on down. Some boring talk, and it’s a Robot Fight. Megatron turns into that stupid gun, but the Autobots won’t fight because the miners might be hurt. Megatron gives less than a shit, and uses some nearby boulders to lay the smack down on the Autobots. Megatron captures Gears, and Optimus gets up just in time to see them flying away. For some reason he doesn’t follow them.

Back at Decepticon HQ, they’ve got Gears hooked up to a device that apparently is supposed to suck power directly from the sun. The circuit has altered Gears personality, so he’s nice now. Megatron turns on the sun ray, and we are treated to shaky screen and reaction shots from major world landmarks. The French don’t seem to worried.

At the Ark, Optimus “is sure Megatron is behind” the sun crazy spots now happening. Gee, you think?

Unless Megatron’s plan is stopped, the sun will explode in slightly less than 2 “earth hours”, though I don’t know what the fuck other kind of hours they might’ve been speaking of to require that little bit of clarification. Autobots transform and go after Megatron, who is in central Africa.

Commercial break.

Starscream is worried about instability in the beam, and Megatron tells him to shut the hell up. I’m sure this won’t come back to bite him in the ass.

Gears is playing “nice” like he’s about to kiss Megatron on the exhaust pipe. Starscream almost blows up the beam, because he’s a putz, and Gears is having second thoughts about this slavery business.

The Autobots jump over a gorge in their car forms, for some fucking reason, and Bumblebee nears bites it, because he’s a putz. Somehow they arrive in Africa without crossing water. Naturally, they start shooting at the sun beam without worrying about what might happen if they hit it. The lazers bounce off it, since it’s got a force field.

Optimus instantly knows the weak spot in Megatron’s force shield, and cliffjumper nominates himself to dive head-first into the beam and deactivate the shield. It works, and Cliffjumper is apparently okay, so we have our second Robot Fight of the episode.

Starscream is finally going to blow Gears head off, but Cliffjumper takes him out. Bumblebee and Soundwave go at it, and Soundwave gets beat with his own cassette-dog. Optimus and Megatron fight (awesome) and talk (boring). Megatron is apparently unaware that the sun ray is going to blow the sun the hell up, and he doesn’t believe Optimus when he tells him so. Somehow Megatron picks up Prime and tosses him at the sun ray.

Commercial break.

Gears saves Prime, and Megatron shoots him with himself. There’s a standoff, Megatron’s got prime in his sights, and is about to shoot him if the Autobots don’t disarm. The sun is going to explode in a matter of “astro seconds” whatever those are.

Gears is, apparently, still following Megatron orders, and Cliffjumper is pissed. “You turned him… NICE” Megatron gets Gears to turn the beam up.

Optimus asks for a last request, and of course Megatron allows it. Optimus asks Gears to blow up the sun ray, and he does which leads us to Robot Fight #3!

Starscream and Gears throw down, and Starscream kinda sucks, so he gets his ass handed to him. Optimus decks Megatron, and they hug a little bit before Optimus lands a judo kick and Megatron high-tails it. Optimus spouts some technobabble about how delicate an operation it will be to shut off the sun ray, and instead he just punches it, which works.

Optimus wants to destroy the sun needle, but first Gears wants his old badass self back. The other Autobots want him to stay all wussified, but he appeals to their decency or whatever, and now he’s a bitchy old man again.

Gears rigs the sun needle to blow up, and blow up it does. Then he complains until the others leave.

Moral of the story: Sucking energy from the sun makes everything all shaky, Gears is a jerk, Starscream is a putz, and Optimus can’t fight. Also, miners dress kinda like Night Ranger.