MovieChat Forums > Robotech (1985) Discussion > What was the Point of the SDF-2?

What was the Point of the SDF-2?


I haven't watched this show in many years, but have just gotten through the Macross Saga thanks to Netflix. I understand that they changed some of the story elements from the original Macross show, but some things towards the end make no sense at all.

Lisa is given her own ship, the SDF-2 in the last episode. She is then shown in the room on the SDF-1 that was the control room for the Defense Forces, the SDF-1 is shown being attacked and then they run to the old bridge to launch it. This is clearly what happens, this is what happened in the original Macross. Yet for some reason Robotech has the dialogue say they are on the Bridge of the SDF-2, the SDF-2 is attacked and destroyed (even though it's clearly the SDF-1 attacked and not destroyed) and they are running to a different ship. Am I missing something?

Why say the SDF-2 was destroyed? So they can be on the SDF-3? It makes no sense. I had to find the final episode of Macross dubbed to see what happened in that episode that was changed over. Is there anything else that made no sense on Robotech but does make sense in Macross?

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There actually was an equivalent to the SDF-2 in Macross, the MegaRoad, it just wasn't part of the final battle and certainly not destroyed in that universe (I believe it was located on the moon). Hikaru and Misa later take command of it for their journey into outer space, that which results in them and their ship going missing. Not having seen Macross, pretty sure that's how it went there.

In Robotech, the SDF-2 was adapted the way it was to explain why there are three mounds at the burial site of the SDF-1's supposed unsalvageable remains in The Masters. The idea Carl Macek wanted to convey, though wasn't quite specific enough in the dialogue, was one mound contained the SDF-1's Protoculture Matrix while the other two were remnants of the SDF-2 and Khyron's battle-cruiser respectively. The 'Three Mounds' make up "SX Point 83", the UEG's code-name for what eventually becomes Reflex Point.

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Yeah, I realized after asking that it tied in to the next saga.

Basically they just hoped you'd "buy it" and shut up. I guess the occasional thing that makes no sense is what you get when you try to combine 3 unrelated shows and make them 1 saga.

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Wow, all these years as a Robotech fan (having grown up with it!) and even becoming a Macross fan as an adult... and I never realised that was Carl's thinking behind the 'mounds' in Masters! :)

I always just thought it was "the crash site remains" and that was that! I never did get the SDF-2 being anything but the SDF-1 inexplicably renamed!

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Yeah, the whole SDF-2 issue is a hot topic for debate and hate. I think what Robotech wanted to convey in the battle was that Lisa and the Bridge Bunnies were on the SDF-2 at the start of the battle, the bridge for it just happened to be an identical design to the SDF-1's auxiliary counterpart (a decent in-story explanation is because the ship was rushed into completion). Note that when Rick tries contacting Lisa, he and another pilot he's in contact with are referring to the SDF-2, plus the fact Claudia specifically says "Welcome aboard, ladies" when they make it to the SDF-1 bridge. The aspect of WHERE the SDF-2 was in regards to the context of Robotech is the most "WTF!?" aspect.

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When you watch the last episode of Macross, you see Kyhrons cruiser crash into the SDF-1's torso tearing off the Deadalus 'arm' and hurling it to the side.

They could have just stated that the smallest of the three mounds was the Deadalus.

It would have prevented a lot of debate and controversy over the years.

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They never even stated what the mounds were at all in the series, just that they were at the site of the last battle with the Zentraedi (I'm not even sure they were that specific). It's a pretty weak tie-in when, for starters, you never have any dialogue attempting to tie it in, and for another example, it depends upon a completely invisible second SDF ship which I had always assumed was just the SDF-1 rechristened. It wasn't until years afterwards when I heard the "three mounds" explanation.

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Wow, I just watched the Macross saga of Robotech (for the first time since a partial viewing 31 years ago, when I was much younger) and I was going to start a thread on this whole SDF-2 business had I not seen this thread addressing it.

The issue with the mounds seems very, very weak. But worse is the fact the animation clearly showed the SDF-1 being attacked at the end. Even if there were to be an SDF-2, to explain the mound, it should have been described as being "in the shipyard being built" or something, and not shown, instead of making a weak attempt to make it appear as if the SDF-1 were really a different ship.


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The finale of The Macross Saga unfortunately suffered due to the changes made to the script when Super Dimension Fortress Macross was adapted into Robotech. The scenes supposedly involving the SDF-2 were confusing because it was obviously footage of the SDF-1 being used. It was anticlimactic that Lisa was given a new ship to command, only for it to be quickly taken out of commission. Lisa's escape from the SDF-1 and the presumed deaths of Gloval, Claudia, and the Bridge Bunnies were mentioned in dialogue instead of being shown because those events didn't happen in Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Another issue I have is how Minmei comes across as an immature airhead who apologizes for stringing Rick along in Robotech, whereas she's a sadder, more sympathetic character in the final scene of Super Dimension Fortress Macross.

There's a problem with the idea that the wreckage of the SDF-1, SDF-2, and Khyron's ship is buried in the three mounds shown in The Masters, and that it's the same site as Reflex Point in The New Generation. The final battle between the SDF-1 and Khyron's ship took place in Alaska, while Reflex Point was shown on a map to be in the Great Lakes region.

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The finale of The Macross Saga unfortunately suffered due to the changes made to the script when Super Dimension Fortress Macross was adapted into Robotech

Not just the finale. Numerous elements were changed. Overall it was a bit clever, but some things were hokey and the finale was altered the most. I don't see why the SDF-2 was needed as a plot device at all. At least most of the other changes were made to try to explain something substantial in the series.


Another issue I have is how Minmei comes across as an immature airhead who apologizes for stringing Rick along in Robotech, whereas she's a sadder, more sympathetic character in the final scene of Super Dimension Fortress Macross

Indeed. A much better character. I haven't seen all the episodes from the original (w subtitles) but I've seen the finale and a couple others. I was compelled to look them up when I realized the huge inconsistencies with the SDF-2.

The mounds could have been explained away in so many other ways. One being simply that the SDF-1 broke into different sections...

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The mounds could have been explained away in so many other ways. One being simply that the SDF-1 broke into different sections...


Yeah, that would have made more sense. One of the SDF-1's arms was torn off when Khyron's ship crashed into it. Rick and Lisa could have then taken the new ship Lisa was assigned to command into space instead of talking about building a third SDF.

I don't want to come across as too critical of Robotech, because despite its flaws it was still better than most cartoons on American TV during the 1980s. The Macross Saga was pretty faithful to its Japanese source material compared to Battle of the Planets and Voltron.

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Oh, yeah, I recall I was rather captivated by Robotech in 85 when it was being broadcast in the USA. There was just something about it. But I know I would have been even more impressed by the original Macross. Everything is relative.

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