This page contains affiliate links. We may earn commissions when readers interact with or purchase items through these links. For more information, see our affiliate disclosures here.
One of the more fun aspect of Transformers Earthspark has been seeing how the Terrans choose their alt mode. This is new lore within the Transformers brand, and a big contrast to the million year old characters who had pre-established alt mode types. Jawbreaker still has not chosen an alt mode in the show, but after that excellent episode featuring Tarantulas, it seemed certain his would lean towards an animal mode, like Nightshade. Well, we now have our first look at his alt mode and it is a Pachycephalosaurus (well, a Stygimoloch, but both are classified as the same dinosaur at the moment). We can see that dino mode ever so briefly in the sizzle reel from Nickelodeon below. We also have an image of his robot mode from french tv site gulli.fr where they give a summary of the character which you can read below in either French or English.
Jawbreaker
Jawbreaker est un gentil géant ! Son extérieur robuste et encombrant cache une grande sensibilité. Il oublie souvent sa taille et sa force. "Nous n'avions pas besoin de ce mur, n'est-ce pas ?" est vite devenu un dicton de la famille Malto.
Jawbreaker est ravi de faire partie d'une famille, car c'est comme une équipe où tout le monde s'aime.
JB croit qu'il faut voir le meilleur en chacun, et si vous ne le voyez pas, vous devez vous efforcer de le faire ressortir.
De tous les frères et sœurs, c'est lui qui est le plus en phase avec les émotions de chacun parce qu'il est animé par les siennes.
Il est seul Terrien à avoir un surnom, JB, ce qui lui donne le sentiment d'être accepté et spécial.
Jawbreaker est le plus curieux concernant les liens entre les Terrans et leur héritage cybertronien et de ce qu'ils peuvent en apprendre. Il rêve de devenir un jour une légende comme Optimus Prime.
Jawbreaker a choisi un herbivore non agressif qui vivait en meute, un STYGIMOLOCH à tête osseuse (alias "Stiggy"), comme mode alternatif. En mode combat, il utilise son crâne blindé incassable pour assommer ses ennemis et défendre ses amis. Il adore faire la fête en faisant des câlins avec ses petits bras de T. Rex.
Jawbreaker is a gentle giant! Its robust and bulky exterior hides great sensitivity. He often forgets his size and strength. "We didn't need this wall, did we?" soon became a Malto family saying.
Jawbreaker is excited to be part of a family, because it's like a team where everyone loves each other.
JB believes in seeing the best in everyone, and if you don't see it, you should strive to bring it out.
Of all the siblings, he is the most in tune with each other's emotions because he is driven by his own.
He is the only Earthling with a nickname, JB, which makes him feel accepted and special.
Jawbreaker is most curious about the Terran's connection to their Cybertronian heritage and what they can learn from it. He dreams of one day becoming a legend like Optimus Prime.
Jawbreaker chose a non-aggressive herbivore that lived in packs, a Bone-Headed STYGIMOLOCH (aka "Stiggy"), as his alternate mode. In battle mode, he uses his unbreakable armored skull to stun enemies and defend friends. He loves to party by cuddling with his little T. Rex arms.
Netflix and Siege
A Review of Transformers: War for Cybertron, "Chapter One: Siege"
Spoiler Free-ish Images in this review courtesy of Netflix
In a mere two days' time Transformers fans will finally get to watch the highly anticipated, much speculated about first chapter of the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy, known as "Chapter One: Siege". You'll need a Netflix account to stream the show's 6 episodes, and in case you need a brief overview, here's the official synopsis provided by Netflix:
It is the final hours of the devastating civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war that has torn apart their home planet of Cybertron is at a tipping point. Two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, both want to save their world and unify their people, but only on their own terms. In an attempt to end the conflict, Megatron is forced to consider using the Allspark, the source of all life and power on Cybertron, to “reformat” the Autobots, thus “unifying” Cybertron. Outnumbered, outgunned, and under SIEGE, the battle-weary Autobots orchestrate a desperate series of counterstrikes on a mission that, if everything somehow goes right, will end with an unthinkable choice: kill their planet in order to save it.
After the debacle that was the Prime Wars trilogy of streaming shows, fans looking for something different in (perceived) tone from the outstanding Transformers: Cyberverse have eagerly awaited the arrival of this latest installment. Many of us are happy to see toys that we've had for a year and a half reach the silver screen. All of us are wondering if it will be good - read on to find out.
The main plot of the series is summed up well in the synopsis above, and most fans will likely find the "30,000 foot view" of the plot to be about what's expected. While stories about the end of the war on Cybertron are as old as the franchise itself, the past decade or so has created so many disconnected permutations of this story that it's starting to become Transformers' version of Bruce Wayne's parents being killed. It makes sense for this first chapter to play things relatively safe in this context, given the amount of casual fans likely to be exposed to this series that haven't experienced the wide combination of movies, video games, books and other Transformers TV shows covering the same general story as much as those hanging out here on Seibertron.com on a daily basis have in recent history. For the most part, the good guys are the Autobots, the bad guys are the Decepticons, they're in a war which is bad and has been long, and events occur with big, sweeping consequences for the Transformers. The show keeps it simple on a high level, and to be honest, it works.
Those backgrounds are nice.
One of the reasons the somewhat standard main plot works is because the side plots with tighter character focus are then able to grasp the spotlight and provide the series' most compelling moments. The first hour of the show does feature a great deal of talking and walking but it's worth sitting through because the characters you should really be paying attention to, such as Jetfire and Bumblebee, gain foundational characterization that pays off as the episodes progress. The cast is a little big and there's maybe one "B" plot too many running in the middle of this first chapter given its length, but this isn't a problem that sticks around for long.
Slow and low
The aforementioned cast of characters is kept somewhat small and if you're expecting anyone that doesn't have a Siege toy, temper that expectation now. Heck, if you're expecting any Battle Masters or Micromasters from the toy line, I'm going to go ahead and bring you that disappointment now too, because they're not present. Optimus Prime and Megatron receive the most spotlight as expected, with Jake Foushee reprising his role as Optimus Prime after performing him in Cyberverse. It's one of the weaker Optimus Prime performances that I can recall, but Foushee does kick some more emotion in nicely during some of the more action-packed sequences. Marnocha's Megatron sounds tired, which feels character appropriate, but is overall so low and slow that if you were only listening to audio you might mistake the character for Unicron or some other giant Transformer. It's worth noting this could be entirely on the provided direction and not the actor himself, to be fair.
Thankfully, there are standout voice performances surrounding the sub-par ones. Keith Silverstein brings in a fantastic performance as Jetfire, layering in his experiences playing Char Aznable in another globally huge robot franchise to create a take on the character that feels fresh while carrying appropriate emotion. Georgia Reed delivers punchy lines as Chromia in another more subtly notable performance, to me at least, while Frank Todaro's Starscream has evolved into one of the best interpretations of Chris Latta's original take on the character's voice that's ever been recorded.
Now if voice director Philip Bache could just get everyone to actually enunciate the first "r" in "Cybertron" we'll be getting somewhere very good.
Just enough transforming and rolling out. Usually.
Transformers shows are notoriously limited by budget constraints, as making complex CGI models of robots transform into CGI models of vehicles is, presumably, complicated and expensive. There's just enough transforming most of the time that it feels appropriately present throughout, and sometimes this is accomplished through clever-ish use of smoke and other camera panning effects leaving your imagination to fill in the rest. It works fine and is preferable to skipping out on opportunities to have the Transformers, you know, transform. There was only one moment early on where I wanted to pull my hair out because the Autobots were running away on foot from Decepticons, some with flying alt modes, who were also chasing them on foot. The rest of the animation is fine with the movements of characters looking infinitely better than what was seen in Prime Wars, though not quite as nice as other recent forebears such as Transformers: Prime or even Cyberverse with the characters in "Siege" moving their hands a little too much, too often while they speak. The backgrounds are also positively gorgeous at times, with large, sweeping vistas and massive buildings giving Cybertron a sense of grandeur and scale. Occasionally the characters stand out oddly against them, but this was something I only noticed once or twice during interior shots.
I'm going long on this part of the review, but need to mention that the action and battle sequences are crisp, busy, and ultimately quite satisfying.
Always a look of dull surprise...
If there's one thing I found to be a let down, it's the sound. The balance of voices to background music and sound effects was occasionally off, and I had to turn up my 5.1 system temporarily at times to make out what some characters were saying. The classic transformation sound effect from G1 is used effectively in some places, but they forgot to sample more than one version of it making me wonder why they even bothered at all. It's something that should be done with differences in tempo, levels and duration based on the character and what they transform into but here, a lazy, one-size-fits-all approach was used. Edward Bosco's voice performance as Soundwave is ruined by a poor attempt at his voice effect but at least he also plays Ultra Magnus well, proving he's not a slouch. The musical score by Alexander Bornstein is entirely forgettable and sounds like the Tron: Legacy score by Daft Punk was cut into small samples to avoid a lawsuit then rearranged into a generic bore-fest that adds no emotion to anything at any point. My apologies to Mr. Bornstein if generic, derivative music that sounds like everything else while also sounding like nothing whatsoever was precisely the musical direction desired by Hasbro and Netflix.
Producers of Transformers shows, if you take nothing else from this review, please take this: just hire Vince DiCola next time. Barring that, hire a good Synthwave artist that can provide some exciting electronic scoring to go with the action.
Verdict Pictured here: the fandom after watching the "Prime Wars" trilogy
:exhales:
It doesn't suck.
All I wanted was for this show to not suck, and it achieves that. The wider story is a bit blasé to this long time Transformers fan who rabidly consumes its media, but the side plots and character work help elevate it. Some of the character models are re-used as generics far too often, but the overall nice visuals make me care less about that. The voice performances are hit or miss and the score is terrible but excellent all-around work on characters like Jetfire, Ratchet, Mirage and even Impactor lead me to forgive. The really important thing here is that it was a fun watch that doesn't ask for a ton of your time. You'll have about 2.5 hours sometime in the next week where the Transformers will entertain you, and for many fans, that's a big increase.
I considered going a notch higher on the score below, but "Tarnhauser Gate" was too cringe-worthy to let go without some punishment.
Final Score . ½
out of
Seibertron.com was provided with complimentary advance screening access to Transformers Chapter One: Siege by Netflix for the purpose of this review. "Thank you" to Netflix and Hasbro for this access!
We have images from the Hasbro Brand panel that was held at Toy Fair earlier today. After those images you can also see what was being discussed during the Transformers panel.
But before that, we also have some extra nuggets from Toy Fair. Below is an image of the upcoming retro handhelds from Hasbro as well as the trading cards on site. You can see more images of such here.
While not directly Transformers related, Hasbro is bringing GI Joe back. There will be some new 6 inch figures coming out soon with Roadblock, Scarlet, Duke and Snake Eyes.
Now Transformers!
The panel is introduced by Gregg Berger as Grimlock (and as himself).
Netflix Series
We see a sneak peek at the Netflix War for Cybertron trilogy from Rooster Teeth.
It is three parts and Siege takes place in the final hours of the Cybertronian civil war. This will be a military story, with incredible stakes and the bonds that form on the battlefield.
We see stills from the show where we can see Elita One and Bumblebee.
The character designs are taken from the CAD data of the toys, including their transformation.
The trailer is shown. We see Ultra Magnus, Optimus, basically everyone from the Siege line. They look the same as the Siege toys, as told. The animation does not seem as slow as the previous web series but still not smooth either.
We see the Siege rereleases in new decos that we saw earlier today. All will be sold at Walmart.
The Mirage we saw is a Deception disguise
Each figure comes with a piece of Teletran One and you have to collect all 10 figures to build it.
IDW
The new series will get to number 25 and Orion will finally be called Optimus Prime
Earthrise
This is about the journey to earth. A "story" never told before.
Most of the toys we saw in the leaks of the past 2 days are shown now.
Runumuk is shown first and Runabout will be revealed later this year.
Snapderagon and Double Dealer are part of the mercenaries fraction.
We do see Snapgradon's Kaiju mode. Doubledealer turns into a modular base as well.
3 Quintessons revealed.
The Judge which can switch faces with a switch in the back. Comes with a throne which becomes a battle station. The whole figure becomes a playset. A micromaster can go inside the little cage.
Alicon is there and we see Slither Fang who is a cobra that turns into a shield and modular ramp.
Sky Lynx is shown. Has all his 4 modes plus a 5th mode as a bade and the NASA logo is on the shuttle mode. The shuttle is called "the magnificence"
Scorponok is shown, he will be in scale with Fort Max. Great poseability and double headmaster. G1 base will connect to Omega Supreme and all the other modulars from Earthrise.
Generations Selects
This niche ecomm line was a success. There is a 4 pack cassette pack which will complete your cassettes and also give you Doubledealer's aprtners. Warden confirms the blue cassette is Frenzy.
Hasbro sent us the trailer for the upcoming Netflix Transformers War for Cybertron series.
You can see it below
Please let us know what you think of the voice work, the animation (brought to you by the same people who did RID 15 and Prime). Is this a step up from the Machinima web series? But most of all, what's up with Magnus wearing a cloak?!
Here is the accompanying information:
LOS ANGELES, CA – Feb. 22, 2020 – Netflix and Hasbro, Inc., in partnership with Rooster Teeth, today released the first teaser trailer for Chapter One of the highly anticipated TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY, premiering on Netflix. The Series raises the stakes of the Autobot and Decepticon war with Chapter One having six, twenty-two minute episodes, complete with a new animation look and style that presents the TRANSFORMERS bots like you’ve never seen them before. The TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY plunges us deep into events that live at the heart of this legendary franchise, with SIEGE shining a spotlight on a critical timeframe in TRANSFORMERS history on Cybertron.
TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: SIEGE begins in the final hours of the devastating civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The war that has torn apart their home planet of Cybertron is at a tipping point. Two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron, both want to save their world and unify their people, but only on their own terms. In an attempt to end the conflict, Megatron is forced to consider using the Allspark, the source of all life and power on Cybertron, to “reformat” the Autobots, thus “unifying” Cybertron. Outnumbered, outgunned, and under SIEGE, the battle-weary Autobots orchestrate a desperate series of counterstrikes on a mission that, if everything somehow goes right, will end with an unthinkable choice: kill their planet in order to save it.
Rooster Teeth (RWBY, gen:LOCK) is producing the original series for Netflix, and Polygon Pictures (Godzilla, Knights of Sidonia) is serving as the animation studio. TRANSFORMERS veteran F.J. DeSanto (Transformers: Titans Return, Transformers: Power of the Primes) is serving as showrunner on the series with several contributing writers, including George Krstic (Megas XLR), Gavin Hignight (Transformers: Cyberverse), and Brandon Easton (Agent Carter, Transformers: Rescue Bots).
“We’re thrilled to be working with Rooster Teeth, Netflix and Hasbro to bring this fan-oriented MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE story to life,” said Shuzo John Shiota, Polygon Pictures Inc. (PPI) President and CEO. “The TRANSFORMERS universe has so many rich characters and engaging stories. Getting the opportunity to be part of the team bringing the robots in disguise to life in this new trilogy is unbelievable.”
“The TRANSFORMERS brand is a global phenomenon with toys, consumer products, films, television shows, and literature, resonating with millions of passionate fans around the world," said Tom Warner, Senior Vice President for the TRANSFORMERS franchise for Hasbro. “This brand new Netflix series will add to the incredible slate of TRANSFORMERS offerings with a truly unique story that will delight both existing fans and those being introduced to the wonder of robots in disguise.”
"TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY marks the inaugural production for our Rooster Teeth Studios division and we’re proud to be partnering with and entrusted by Hasbro and Netflix," said Matt Hullum, Rooster Teeth co-founder and Chief Content Officer. "As fans of these characters, it's been a joy bringing our storytelling and animation expertise to this project. This teaser trailer is just a taste of what’s to come in this series, and we can’t wait to see what the fans think, especially our Rooster Teeth community!"
The Series voice talent cast includes Jake Foushee (Optimus Prime), Jason Marnocha (Megatron), Linsay Rousseau (Elita-1), Joe Zieja (Bumblebee), Frank Todaro (Starscream), Rafael Goldstein (Ratchet), Keith Silverstein (Jetfire), Todd Haberkorn (Shockwave, Red Alert), Edward Bosco (Ultra Magnus, Soundwave), Bill Rogers (Wheeljack), Sophia Isabella (Arcee), Brook Chalmers (Impactor), Shawn Hawkins (Mirage), Kaiser Johnson (Ironhide), Miles Luna (Teletraan I, Cliffjumper) and Mark Whitten (Sideswipe, Skywarp).
More details regarding Chapter Two, TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY: EARTHRISE and Chapter Three coming soon.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio eOne, as well as its entertainment labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for children and their families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked No. 13 on the 2019 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR Magazine, and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past eight years. Learn more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro) and Instagram (@Hasbro).
About Netflix
Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with over 167 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
About Rooster Teeth
Rooster Teeth is a pioneering media and entertainment company responsible for some of the biggest online series in history, such as the award-winning and longest-running web series, Red vs. Blue. They also produce the globally acclaimed animated series RWBY, the first western anime series to be distributed in Japan; the award-winning Rooster Teeth Podcast; and Immersion, a reality format that brings video game theory to the real world. Rooster Teeth has a massive global footprint of more than 45 million subscribers to its YouTube Network, 5 million unique monthly visitors to its RoosterTeeth.com hub and 3 million registered community members. The company was founded in 2003, and is a subsidiary of Otter Media, a WarnerMedia company. Discover more at RoosterTeeth.com.
Today Hasbro held a preview event for Toy Fair 2020 for their investors. Some of the information was for those in attendance only but the audio and presentation slide show from the event was available for Seibertron. Out of the almost three hour presentation there are a few major points that will interest Transformer fans:
- The new War for Cybertron animated series will finally debut on Netflix this year! A preview was available those in attendance only but is likely to be available for wider audiences tomorrow or soon after Toy Fair.
- Transformers and G.I. Joe media are being handed to company eOne. No clear details on future plans but mention of work on projects for both brands.
- New console game (Switch/VR) titled Transformers: Doom of Cybertron is in the works.
Toy Fair hasn't even started and its cup is already running over. Make sure to stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest in Toy Fair 2020 Transformers news!
Thanks to our own Sabrblade we have the first image of Transformers Cyberverse Build-a-Figure Deluxe Arcee! The image comes from the Walmart Mobile App. Some fans who've been critical of the 'partsforming' taking place with War For Cybertron: Earthrise Arcee will likely be pleased to find a concurrently released Arcee that appears to have a complete and intact transformation. What are your thoughts? 2020 is now the battle of the Arcees; make sure to chime in with your thoughts on your favorite in the forum. More reveals sure to come on this ToyFair weekend so be sure to stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!
In a rare case of "this never happens" we're treated to a first look at a figure that nobody knew existed until it showed up at retail. Thanks to Darryl Wall (@DWallsEpicHauls) for giving us our very first look (not even at Toy Fair!) at Rescue Bots Academy Flip Racers Whirl after finding it at retail in Nova Scotia and posting it to Twitter. It isn't a figure that will interest most Transformers fans, but it's nice to know that in 2019, with all the events and leaks and retailer assortment lists, there's still the occasional surprise.
And if you've found anything out in the wilds that you think is news worthy feel free to take a picture and send it into us and post it in the Energon Pub Forums!
File this one under "things you didn't know you wanted until it existed." Autobase Aichi's blog posted new stock photos of upcoming Rescue Bots Academy figures coming to the Rescan class and it would be hard to ignore the dino-mode Grimlock that turns into a motorcycle! He was shown at Toy Fair 2019, but at the time we didn't really know what we were looking at. Yes, it's silly, but that's what makes it fun! As you would expect from Rescue Bots it's a simple figure and may not satisfy most collectors, but it does have an effective transformation. And I love that goofy grin, what a happy bike!
There's also a new Whirl race car figure in the same class alongside Brushfire, Heatwave, Bumblebee, and Chase. Plus there's new stock images of the Academy Rescue Team box set shown at Toy Fair. So what do you think of the new Grimlock trading in his bot mode for a motorcycle? Sound off in the Energon Pub forums below!
After a slight delay through the SDCC madness, we have reached the final episode of the entire Machinima Prime Trilogy of cartoons. It's been over two years in the making, and it's finally come time to take a look at the culmination of all those previous episodes. It's been a wild ride from start to finish, with a few ups and certainly a few downs. We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though, because we have one more episode to look at before the entire series draws to a close. Let's do that now, and make sure to read to the very end for more of my final thoughts on the entire trilogy. Join me as I break down, in our final Prime Trilogy review ever, The 10th epsiode:
Saga's End
Strap yourselves in, it's going to be a long one.
(The following review contains spoilers for the Prime Wars trilogy. There are A LOT this week. Proceed...on your way to oblivion.)
The episode picks up where the last left off, with Rodimus, with his newly upgraded form, in a heated battle with Optimal Optimus at the Well of Sparks.
Megatronus turns his attention towards the main cast, and turns the requiem blaster towards Megatron. At the last moment, out of nowhere, as Megatron is about to be blown to bits, Predaking drops from the ceiling on to Megatronus.
Preda-ex-machina
Predaking demands to know where the Engima of Combination is, but he never explains why. Megatronus engages him, and it gives a moment for Windblade and Grimlock to help Optimal Optimus. They hold Rodimus down as Optimal removes the Matrix of Chaos from within him.
As we switch back to watch Megatronus battle Predaking some more, we get a strange point-of-view shot from Predaking's perspective. It's a neat concept, but it doesn't come across very well, as we only see Predaking's arms for a split second, and everything else in the several-second long shot looks like a mistakenly placed empty frame. I even had to watch the scene a few times to make sure that's what they were trying to get at.
Heart Stopping Action!!!
We also get flashbacks to the first episode of the entire trilogy, when Windblade sliced through Menasor like butter, as Megatronus just tears Predaking's head clean off with little to no struggle in the next scene. You know, this giant combiner that was winning in a fight against Volcanicus just a bit ago. Him.
FATALITY
He then chucks Predaking's decapitated head at Megatron, who responds with an "Oh Shit", which is really strange in my opinion, to hear from Megatron's mouth.
I haven't really addressed the swearing that has really more or less suddenly appeared in this portion of the Trilogy, with "Ass"s and "Damn"s scattered all through the past 10 episodes, so I'll share my thoughts now. While I am 100% behind a more adult or mature focused Transformers show, this series seems to think that making Megatron say "You're starting to piss me off" several times is the way to do it, instead of a darker setting or more complex story lines. The words feel even stranger to hear because, as I said, none of the other seasons really had swearing this bad or frequent. It seems like the show runners sprinkled some curse words here and there this season as a cheap and easy way to make the series seem more "Adult".
This isn't to say I'm against swearing at all, either. Far from it. I think it can actually be used to punctuate emotional moments and make a character's personality distinct. But you can understand my suspicion that this series' use of it wasn't exactly for storytelling purposes.
GIVE ME YOUR FACEEEEE
Solus Prime, still flickering into existence using power from the Well of Sparks, makes the projection of herself gigantic, and picks Megatronus up and out of the battle with Megatron. She envelops him, dragging him down into the well, causing a column of new sparks to launch out in to the universe from the well, which Perceptor remarks will create the next generation of Transformers.
The heroes' problems aren't over yet, as the Matrix of Chaos, while having been removed from Hot Rod, is still searching for a new host. It finds Megatron, who was one of it's bearers in the past, and starts to be enchanted by the evil object. As he tried to fight it, he realises that the only way to stop it from just going and finding another host is to destroy it completely - Megatron included. Optimal Optimus readies the Requiem Blaster, and aims it at Megatron. As the realization falls over all of the cast that this is what must be done, they say their final goodbyes and thank yous to the former Decepticon leader.
As Megatron raises the Matrix of Chaos, Optimal Optimus primes the Requiem Blaster, and fires. Megatron is vaporized.
One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. But until then there must be no tears, no regrets. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me I am not mistaken in mine.
Perceptor analyses the ground in front of him, and confirms that while the Matrix took the majority of the force, no trace of Megatron remained.
But the cast doesn't have much time to morn, as the one and only Optimus Prime crawls out of the Well of Sparks, because this cartoon isn't in the business of breaking new ground. Yes, of course the precious Autobot leader has to come back to life, and, on top of that, of course he has to upstage the death of the character that led the team through the majority of the trilogy. The show had successfully created a touching, emotional, impactful moment with the death of Megatron, and totally ruined it by saving Optimus Prime. Even if he had waited a beat or two longer to crawl out of the Well, it would have not only allowed time for Megatron's death to reach it's full emotional potential, but it would have made Prime's reveal more impactful.
IT'S ALIVE
Prime explains that he was reanimated through some confusingly illogical process regarding his connection to the Matrix of Leadership. But he says that everyone else who was killed by Megatronus can't be brought back to life.
After the dust settled, we see Prime and Optimal in what appears to be the Sanctorum again. Optimal promises Prime that he'll return the Matrix, but Optimus refuses. Instead they wrap up the character arcs in a not-so-tidy fashion. Windblade has become the city speaker for all titans in the universe, along with Emissary, while Hot Rod is still recovering. Grimlock has gone to morn Sludge with his fellow dinobots, and Perceptor is now the guardian of the Enigma and the Requiem Blaster.
EXPOSITIONNNNNNNN
And, as the two Primes continue to walk away, lurking in the shadows is the one who started it all, Starscream.
*Roundabout by Yes plays*
And on that bombshell, it's time to end.
That's it. This over two year long saga has come to a close. Looking back on it, was it really that bad? Was it really that disappointing? Did it deserve the hate it received? Well...I personally think so. This show started and ended with consistent problems, ones I've harped on, sometimes painfully so, before. Blocky, generic mouth movements, stiff animation to the point only one character (in a shot of many) was moving at a time, the occasional bad voice take, editing, etc. And while many, admittedly, were improved upon with each consecutive season, I think they dedicated too much of their increased budget on celebrity cast members than what was needed to fix the flaws, and new ones began to pop up. Continuity problems, notably, were one that severely impacted this season's first half of episodes. Characters being thrown one direction, and waking up in the complete opposite direction, for example. And, as an interesting side note, with the death of this show comes the death of it's host streaming service, Go90, as it's parent company announced it would be shutting down the platform tomorrow.
The plot as a concept was enjoyable, with many characters that we've never seen interact in Transformers media before thrown together. It was a fun thing to see, Overlord fight with the Mistress of Flame, Optimal Optimus fighting basically what was Nemesis Rodimus Prime.
To be fair, the show started with a disadvantage, premiering right as it's "Tie in" toy line was coming off the shelves, with the second season following the same unfortunate pattern. And while this could be written off as another fault of the show runners, or Machinima, I think that was a slight of Hasbro's part. Out of the creators' control.
Art was one of the absolute highlights of the show
Positives for me looking at the entire series as a whole were the art style/color palette, and the score. I've talked about both before, and, aside from the animation at times, it was a very pretty show to look at. It was at it's best when it cuts to a sweeping open shot of the universe, or a building with many colored lights. It felt very futuristic and modern, and I think they nailed the aesthetic they were looking for. I honestly think it's one of my favorite /looking/ Transformers shows of all time. The character models and designs are great, and, if they had been animated better and given better lines, most characters would also be some of the best iterations we've seen. As it sits, only one character from the trilogy holds that title in my mind...
It was that smile. That damned smile.
Megatron. Probably the most universally praised part of the entire three seasons. As such, I won't dwell very long. Perfectly capturing what a post-war Megatron would be, the show runners, character designers, and voice actor, Jason Marnocha, killed it. With a ridiculous amount of personality and wit, he is, hands down, one of the best new interpretations of Megatron we have ever seen.
And, ultimately, I think he's so good, that that's how the show will be remembered. Not for it's terrible pacing, or emotional moments that didn't really land, or Slug disappearing randomly. I think it was a show that started out with a disadvantage and hype it couldn't live up to (what show really could live up to "The Game of Thrones of animation) and, through a series of missteps, became fatally flawed. Despite a few diamonds in the rough here or there, I think, at risk of sounding like a fanboy keyboard warrior, but as a Transformers fan, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.
And that's it. Thank you so much for not only reading this review of the finale of Power of the Primes, but all of my reviews over the past 2 years. I really can't express enough how thankful I am for your support of them, your memes based off them, or your discourse (whether you agreed or disagreed with me). I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. They were a lot of fun, and I loved writing comedy-based pieces to share with you guys. Stay tuned for some more Seibertron articles looking back on the Machinima cartoon courtesy of myself and William James 88 in the coming weeks. Thank you again!!!
Thanks to an email from James Eatock, we have news that there are now several original G1 Production Art pages that have been posted by Eatock himself, and that now several are up for auction on Ebay! These original Production arts feature characters that showed up in the Sunbow cartoon, and feature some pretty neat things, such as the 1983 (you did read that right) design for Bumblebee and the original art for Mirage, before his show look was finalized and changed fairly significantly.
Most of the art pieces are just for show now, but there are 6 pieces that have currently made their way to Ebay, and include shots of Prowl, Ravage, and some scenery used in the show. The current auctions also include over 200 other art pages from other shows, are available and up for Auction on Ebay, with all the auctions ending on Sunday.
Check them out some of the highlighted Transformers art below, and let us know what you think of these Production art pieces, and if you intend to bid on this historical pieces that are on Ebay, or may make their way to Ebay soon!
These are affiliate links. We may earn commissions when you purchase items or services through these links.
ANTAGONY Transform ...
WFC-GS25 TRANSMUTA ...
PROWL Transformers ...
MOTORMASTER Transf ...
SCOURGE Transforme ...
SERGEANT KUP Trans ...
WFC-GS13 HUBCAP Tr ...
HARDHEAD Transform ...
MINDSET Transforme ...
JAZZ Transformers ...
RATCHET Transforme ...
HOT ROD + FIREDRIV ...
Autobot WHEELJACK ...
TURBO TRACKS Trans ...
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
![[Valid RSS]](/images/rss/valid-rss.png "Validate Seibertron.com's RSS feed"){kind=small}
