This isn't really a theory on its own, but more of a big idea made up of a lot of little theories.
Awhile back, when I did some serious work overhauling and updating all of the
Reaching the Omega Point articles on TFWiki, my original plan at the time was to continue on with giving the same enhancements to the Wreckers, Primeval Dawn, and Universe pages, hence the work I also did for the "
Apelinq's War Journals" page and creating the "
VEHICON ALERT!" page. When I gave
The Wreckers a reread, I found it difficult to work on the comic series's TFWiki pages without having first given
Beast Machines a fresh re-watch, since it had been years since I'd seen it. So after I re-watched that show, I had enough of a better understanding of its world for me to work with on enhancing The Wreckers pages.
However, before I could proceed, I wanted to find a place within the show for where "Departure", the first issue of
The Wreckers, could take place. One thing led to another and the end result is that I have now come to create a workable timeline for all of the events of the 3H fiction that are set either around or during the
Beast Machines cartoon, in relation to the cartoon, based on my own personal theories as to how they all fit together continuity-wise.
I was able to use the AU date index system of "Apelinq's War Journals" to chart the days of the timeline, as I theorize those dates to mean "year.day AU" since the "316" lines up with Blackarachnia's claim in the
Beast Wars episode "Dark Designs" that "three centuries" had passed from the time of the Autobots and Decepticons to the time of the Maximals and Predacons. And, 1 Cybertronian year, a Stellar Cycle, consists of 480 Cybertronian days, Solar Cycles, based on information provided by the
Beast Wars cartoon's creators that 1 Stellar Cycle = 400 Earth days and 1 Solar Cycle = 20 Earth hours. By mathematical calculation, 400 Earth days times 24 Earth hours = 9600 Earth hours; 9600 Earth hours divided by 20 Earth hours = 480 Solar Cycles. And the decimal numbers in these date indices go higher than 300, making them work well for Solar Cycles. Using all of this, and after observing and keeping track of both the color and the brightness of the sky in every
Beast Machines episode, here is what I have come up with:
316.075 AU ---
Journal 1: The Terror Begins 316.076 AU to 316.097 AU --- 22 days
316.098 AU ---
Journal 2: Pieces of a Puzzle 316.099 AU to 316.167 AU --- 69 days
316.168 AU ---
Journal 3: Crumbling Edges 316.169 AU to 316.182 AU --- 14 days
316.183 AU ---
Journal 4: Chaos 316.184 AU to 316.234 AU --- 51 days
316.235 AU ---
Journal 5: The Tyrant Returns 316.236 AU to 316.246 AU --- 11 days
316.247 AU ---
Journal 6: Wreck and Rule 316.248 AU to 316.257 AU --- 10 days
316.258 AU ---
Journal 7: Circle of Dread 316.259 AU to 316.262 AU --- 4 days
316.263 AU ---
Journal 8: The Virus Revealed 316.264 AU ---
316.265 AU (BM Day 01) ---
Journal 9: Back From the Past / The flashback from
Episode 8: Revelations Pt. II: Descent (Optimus Primal's team arrives)
316.266 AU (BM Day 02) ---
316.267 AU (BM Day 03) ---
Episodes 1–2: The Reformatting /
Master of the House 316.268 AU (BM Day 04) ---
316.269 AU (BM Day 05) ---
Episode 3: Fires of the Past 316.270 AU (BM Day 06) ---
Journal 10: The Wait is Over /
Journal 11: Two Against a World 316.271 AU (BM Day 07) ---
316.272 AU (BM Day 08) ---
Episode 4: Mercenary Pursuits 316.273 AU (BM Day 09) ---
316.274 AU (BM Day 10) ---
316.275 AU (BM Day 11) ---
316.276 AU (BM Day 12) ---
316.277 AU (BM Day 13) ---
Episode 5: Forbidden Fruit 316.278 AU (BM Day 14) ---
316.279 AU (BM Day 15) ---
Journal 12: A Cure is Found /
Episode 6: The Weak Component (before the ending)
316.280 AU (BM Day 16) ---
Episode 6: The Weak Component (just the ending)
316.281 AU (BM Day 17) ---
316.282 AU (BM Day 18) ---
316.283 AU (BM Day 19) ---
Episode 7: Revelations Part I: Discovery 316.284 AU (BM Day 20) ---
Episodes 8–9: Revelations Part II: Descent /
Revelations Part III: Apocalypse 316.285 AU (BM Day 21) ---
Episode 10: Survivor 316.286 AU (BM Day 22) ---
Journal 13: Call From the Heavens /
VEHICON ALERT! 316.287 AU (BM Day 23) ---
316.288 AU (BM Day 24) ---
316.289 AU (BM Day 25) ---
Episode 11: The Key 316.290 AU (BM Day 26) ---
Episode 12: The Catalyst 316.291 AU (BM Day 27) ---
Episodes 13–14: End of the Line /
Fallout (before the ending)
316.292 AU (BM Day 28) ---
Episodes 14–15: Fallout (ending) /
Savage Noble /
Journal 14: (Primal Prime) Assuming Command 316.293 AU (BM Day 29) ---
316.294 AU (BM Day 30) ---
316.295 AU (BM Day 31) ---
316.296 AU (BM Day 32) ---
316.297 AU (BM Day 33) ---
Episode 16: Prometheus Unbound 316.298 AU (BM Day 34) ---
316.299 AU (BM Day 35) ---
Episode 17: In Darkest Knight (first half)
316.300 AU (BM Day 36) ---
Episodes 17–18: In Darkest Knight (second half) /
A Wolf in the Fold 316.301 AU (BM Day 37) ---
316.302 AU (BM Day 38) ---
316.303 AU (BM Day 39) ---
316.304 AU (BM Day 40) ---
Episode 19: Home Soil 316.305 AU (BM Day 41) ---
Episode 20: Sparkwar Pt. I: The Strike 316.306 AU (BM Day 42) ---
316.307 AU (BM Day 43) ---
The Wreckers #1: Departure /
Episodes 21–23: Sparkwar Pt. II: The Search /
Sparkwar Pt. III: The Siege /
Spark of Darkness /
The Wreckers #2: Betrayal (journey to Akalo)
316.308 AU (BM Day 44) ---
The Wreckers #2: Betrayal (from the arrival on Akalo, to the ending and epilogue) /
Episodes 24–26: Endgame Pt. I: The Downward Spiral /
Endgame Pt. II: When Legends Fall /
Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future (before the ending)
316.309 AU (BM Day 45) ---
Episode 26: Endgame Pt. III: Seeds of the Future (ending) /
The Wreckers #3: Disclosure (up to Wreckers' departure from Akalo and the scene on New Quintessa)
316.310 AU ---
316.311 AU ---
316.312 AU ---
The Wreckers #3: Disclosure (arrival on the ice planet to the end)
316.313 AU ---
316.314 AU ---
316.315 AU ---
316.316 AU ---
Wreckers: Finale Part 1 and II A year after the reformatting of Cybertron ---
Universe #1–3 plus script readings: Abduction /
OTFCC 2003 script reading /
Escape /
Homecoming /
OTFCC 2004 script reading Here is how I worked out all of this with all of the gaps between episodes.
First off, I had to work backwards from "Departure" to figure out where "VEHICON ALERT!" took place. I knew it took place between Journals 13 and 14 of "Apelinq's War Journals", but Journal 13 took place 21 days after Journal 9, which is when Optimus Primal's team of Maximals arrived back on Cybertron. While the cartoon is so tightly knit, putting "VEHICON ALERT!" around Episode 21 doesn't work because "Departure" (which takes place a decent amount of time after both "VEHICON ALERT!" and Journal 14) must come before that point.
So, first I had to find a placement for "Departure". Based on Megatron's being in control of Cybertron from his big floating head body, "Departure" has to fit somewhere between Episodes 16 and 22. The Predacon Wrecker Rotorbolt being in a Copter Drone body would suggest "Departure" to take place at some point close to Episode 20, when Obsidian and his drones first debuted. At first, I thought this was undoable since the series becomes so heavily serialized by that point; it didn't look like there was any workable amount of room for Optimus and Nightscream to have had the time that they would have needed to first travel away from Cybertropolis to recover the Deployers, and then make it back after having had their memories of those events erased by the Oracle. Thus, I looked for an earlier placement and thought I found the perfect spot between episodes 18 and 19.
Of all the Season 2 episodes, those two are the least serialized, so there can be a long enough gap placed between the two of them for the events of "Departure" to occur. What's more is that there is something in both of these episodes that not only illustrates a passage of time between the two but also creates a coincidental consistency with "Departure". In Episode 18, the technorganic orchard in the Oracle's chamber is tall and healthy, with its trees still reaching above the height of the chamber's elevated walkway. But by the start of Episode 19, the orchard is dying, with its trees having shrunk way down in size far below the walkway's height. This depiction of the orchard in Episode 19 actually lines up with how the chamber looked in "Departure", as the orchard was not visible from any angles in the comic's view of the chamber. If the orchard had been in the process of dying by the comic's point in time, that would place it a bit before Episode 19, as the orchard was rejuvenated to its original height by the end of Episode 19.
HOWEVER, the events of "Departure" are hyper-serialized with those of "Betrayal", which are then closely followed by the events of "Disclosure". During the latter, the technorganic reformatting of Cybertron occurs off-panel, meaning the whole Wreckers comic series must begin as close to the final episode of
Beast Machines as possible. Plus, at the end of Episode 19, Megatron says to Thrust, "As we remain static, the organics grow yet stronger," in reference to the Maximals having recently added both Silverbolt and Botanica to their ranks. His claim of "As we remain static" means that he has not added any new members to his forces up during all the time prior to that point, and foreshadows his creating Obsidian and Strika in the next episode. If he hasn't added any new Vehicons yet, then "Departure" has to come later since he creates Spy Streak, Quake, and Blastcharge as new generals in that story.
And since Megatron loses his big floating head body in Episode 22, the only place that "Departure" can go is somewhere between 20 and 22, right in the middle of the "Sparkwars" three-parter. Since 21 ends on a cliffhanger that leads almost immediately into 22, the only place left for "Departure" to go was between 20 and 21, as 20 does not end on a cliffhanger but rather a more finite conclusion. This isn't a pretty fit, but there is literally no other option left. "Departure" has to come as close to the end of the series as it can in order for "Disclosure" to occur during the time of the Great Transformation. At the very least, the end of Episode 20 does show a view of the technorganic orchard from the height of the walkway in the Oracle's chamber, which shows the orchard's plants to still be below the walkway, fitting with its depiction in "Departure".
Getting back to "VEHICON ALERT!", once I had the placement of "Departure" figured out, I could start looking for where "VEHICON ALERT!" could fit. It had to come a fair amount of time before "Departure" since Apelinq's return to Cybertron also occurred before "Departure", but well after Journal 14 since Primal Prime had formalized his assuming command of the Wreckers by that point, and Apelinq's return came at a point well after Primal Prime had set himself into his leadership role. Ergo, with again how tightly knit
Beast Machines is, that forced me to look for a placement in Season 1. But since Journal 13 (around the time "VEHICON ALERT!" happened) took place 21 days after Primal's team arrived on Cybertron (circa Journal 9), I was forced to see which episodes could be spaced out from each other to reach 21 days.
I placed Journal 9 and Optimus Primal's team's return to Cybertron two days before Episode 1 because of something Optimus mentioned in Episode 3. He mentioned that he and the other Maximals went offline at a point after they got back to Cybertron, which means Episode 1 didn't necessarily take place on the same night that their ship crash-landed. This is supported by how the flashback in Episode 8 showed the beginning of nightfall in the first part of the flashback, with the sky colored dark purple with a horizon glowing white from a recently ended sunset, while later in the flashback, the sky is shown to be a dark pink color; this same phenomenon of the sky starting off dark purple with a glowing white horizon then becoming solid dark pink with no glowing horizon is replicated across Episodes 1 and 2, which tells me that the flashback isn't the same night as Episodes 1 and 2 since there wouldn't be two separate sunsets during the same single night.
So, I put the flashback at two days earlier to give time for the crash-landing to occur on the night of one day, then to have the next day be when the Maximals went offline (most likely after their having first split up and gone into hiding), and then the third day would be when they all reactivated and started being hunted again by the Vehicons, leading into Episode 1's events.
Episode 2 obviously takes place immediately after the first on the same night, given the hyper-serialization of those two episodes.
Episode 3 is not as serialized as the first two, but still comes pretty close after Episode 2. However, in this episode, Megatron expresses frustration over how his Vehicons are "continually defeated" by the Maximals, which sounds to me like the Vehicons have suffered more than just the two defeats by the Maximals that were had in Episodes 1–2. Thus, I felt that placing Episode 3 two days after Episode 2 would suffice.
Episode 4 at first seems like it comes immediately after Episode 3, with Megatron berating his Generals over their failure to defeat the Maximals, but I offer two counterarguments for placing it a little after. First, Megatron had previously fought against this very same team of Maximals for 52 episodes of
Beast Wars, so he ought to have understood the possibility that the Vehicon Generals could lose in their first battle against the Maximals. It would make more sense for Megatron to be this agitated not simply after the Generals' very first defeat but after a fair number of defeats.
Secondly, Rattrap's demeanor at the start of this episode clashes with how he was at the end of the last episode. At the end of Episode 3, Rattrap was excitedly eager to let Optimus know about how he and Blackarachnia learned about Rhinox and Silverbolt being their missing two fellow Maximals. But at the start of this episode, Rattrap is annoyed about Optimus having found out about those two. To reconcile this, I'd imagine that Optimus was told about the two the next day after Episode 3, and then after about three days of the Maximals searching for the two, only to come up short each time, Rattrap had grown weary of their fruitless searching and became annoyed by the time of Episode 4. So, about three days after Episode 3 seems to work for Episode 4.
Episode 5 coming five days later came about as a necessity to get to the 21 days later needed for Journal 13 and "VEHICON ALERT!" to take place at a workable point in Season 1. I knew I'd need such a big gap at some point in the season to make it to 21 days at a good spot, and it just so happened that Episodes 4 and 5 are the least serialized of all of the Season 1 episodes. Plus, Jetstorm's two encounters with the Maximals in this episode have everyone behaving like Jetstorm and the Maximals have been fighting each other for quite a while on a regular, routine basis, rather than the two fights in this episode being only their third and fourth encounters with each other.
Episode 6 feels about as serialized with Episode 5 as Episode 3 felt with Episode 2, so two days later worked. Though, this episode is also the first of a very scant few episodes to take place across more than one day, as the very end of the episode features the sunrise of the next day, so that gave me an additional day in the timeline. Also, Journal 12's date means that it just so happens to be same date as the pre-ending scenes of this episode, making it fall on that same day.
Episode 7 feels like it comes a few days after Episode 6 since, at the end of that episode, Optimus could barely move. He was struggling and straining to operate his limbs and keep himself upright at the end of last episode, when he is back to full strength by the start of this episode, up and running around at top speed with the other Maximals. As such, three days later seemed like a good length of time for episode to come after Episode 6.
Episode 8 is the first one that definitely feels like it comes on the very next night after its preceding episode. It's more serialized that the ones I put two days after, but isn't the same night as Episode 7 due to Optimus Primal having tried to make contact with the Oracle for a good amount of time between episodes. Plus, the sky in this episode has a glowing pink horizon in it while the sky of the previous episode had no glow to its horizon, suggesting that the nighttime of this episode is earlier in the evening than that of the previous episode's night.
Episode 9 is unquestionably the same night as Episode 8, starting immediately from where the previous episode's cliffhanger left off.
Episode 10 is another that feels serialized enough to be the very next night, which by this point mathematically brings us to 20 days after Primal's team first arrived on Cybertron, allowing the very next day after this episode to be where Journal 13 and "VEHICON ALERT!" take place!
Now, this placement between episodes 10 and 11 is, admittedly, an unusual fit. The end of Episode 10 and the beginning of Episode 11 strongly imply that the two are directly linked to one another. However, I offer another counterproposal to this. Near the end of Episode 10, the Maximals had only just discovered the fossil chamber, while by Episode 11's beginning, they've already moved in, set up a base camp, and are underway on an excavation to drill down to the planet's organic core in hopes of unearthing a reservoir of water (instead unearthing organic goop). During all this, Cheetor also notes that "Megatron has been awfully quiet, lately," when the Maximals had previously had a run-in with Megatron's activities (via his Generals) in the previous episode.
Placing some time between these episodes (say, about four days or so) allows room for not only "VEHICON ALERT!" to take place (with Megatron sending all of his Vehicon units from Cybertropolis to Polyhex to deal with the newcomers who had turned up there), but also for the Maximals to have the time they would have needed to A) scrounge up the materials they needed for their drilling machine, B) build said drilling machine, and C) start using it without interruption from Megatron, enabling Cheetor's observation to make more sense. Further support for this can even be found in the episode itself: After Tankor destroys the drill, Rattrap says it'll take him "three solar cycles" to get it back up and running, suggesting that it took that long for the drill to have been built in the first place. One day of finding the materials needed to build the drill, plus three days to build it and start using it, equals four days after Episodes 10 for Episode 11.
Plus, if Tankor had been among the Vehicons sent to Polyhex, his unscheduled return to the Oracle's chamber would be in direct defiance of Megatron's orders, adding further meaning to the Diagnostic Drone's comment of "Megatron will be very suspicious of your absence," in Episode 11. And finally, there surprisingly aren't a whole lot of Vehicons seen in Cybertropolis in Episode 11, with the bulk of them being just a few Cycle Drones, several Mole Drones (which were
not sent to Polyhex in "VEHICON ALERT!"), and Megatron himself controlling some buildings. Were most of the Vehicons off in Polyhex (or still on their way back) at this time, that would further explain why there are so few of them seen in this episode. Therefore, I placed Episode 11 four days after 10.
Also, it is during this gap between Episodes 10 and 11, but after "VEHICON ALERT!" that Apelinq gets sent back in time to partake in the events leading up to Point Omega. As for the Vehicon General Mirage (who attacked Apelinq when he disappeared), it is my theory that Megatron would have created him around this time as well, probably right before he sent the Vehicons to Polyhex. As for why Megatron felt the need to create him, we know from the Season 1 finale of the cartoon that Megatron was onto Tankor's personal agenda from the start, so perhaps Megatron felt the need of another general after he could no longer fully trust Tankor to be loyal. And, well, a race car would be helpful in getting the Vehicons from Cybertropolis to Polyhex quickly.
Anyway, Episode 12 is serialized with Episode 11, but not hyper-serialized, so it's the next day. While Rattrap said before in Episode 11 that he would need three days to repair the drill, he didn't need to since he and the others stole one of Megatron's Mole Drone to drill down to more organic goop for them. In this episode, the drill has not been repaired, but was apparently reconfigured into a garden sprinkler instead (used to water the cave's orchard with organic core goop), which probably took less time than it would to simply repair the drill.
Episode 13 is the same case, one day later.
Episode 14 is hyper-serialized with Episode 13, so it's the same day. But by the episode's end, the next morning has begun, so the ending is the next day after Episode 13 and the pre-ending parts of 14.
Episode 15 is hyper-serialized with the ending of Episode 14, so it's the same day. Also, this episode is the only one in the whole series to take place completely during the daytime. And, Journal 14 also happens to fall on this date, which would make sense given how Primal Prime's team would have been fighting Vehicons ever since they arrived on Cybertron, so Journal 14 falling on the same day as Episode 15—the first day of the cartoon in which Megatron's legions of Vehicon drones are completely offline—works out very well since it gives Primal Prime's team a moment of rest and time for him to make his sole War Journal entry. And said entry notes that the Wreckers have moved themselves to a new location, which would also fit coming on the day where no Vehicons would interfere with the Wreckers' moving day.
Episode 16 is the only one in the whole show that actually gives an official in-universe timeframe in relation to its preceding episode. The episode is said to take place five nights after the previous one, so there it goes five days later.
Episode 17 is another one that I put two days after the previous one. This is because Megatron in the episode behaves like his last encounter with Optimus was very recent. But, at the start of this episode, all of the Maximals are aware of Noble being alive as a mindless animal, when the ending of the previous episode had them all thinking he was dead, a lifeless puppet that Megatron discarded like trash. That tells me that they had another encounter with the fully animalistic Noble in between episodes, so two days later it goes. Also, the second half of the episode takes place during the daytime of the next day, so that's another day for the timeline.
Episode 18 follows up almost immediately from the ending of Episode 17, with Cheetor still welcoming Silverbolt back to the team, as though Silverbolt had only just then arrived at the Maximal base for the first time. Since the end of Episode 17 took place during the day, Episode 18 would be later that very night.
Episode 19 needs enough time after 18 for the technorganic orchard to wilt up and shrink down to its near-dead state seen in this episode, when it was tall and healthy back in 18. As 18 and 19 are the least serialized season 2 episodes, I put 19 four days after 18. Another reason for this gap is to space out Episodes 17 and 21 further apart from each other. In Episode 17, Megatron downloads a portion of the Oracle from Optimus Primal. In Episode 21, a mere four episodes later, Megatron reveals that he'd since "spent a great deal of time" studying the Oracle from that download. The more time there is between 17 and 21, the better that Megatron's claim of "a great deal of time" having passed between those two episodes makes sense.
Episode 20 is when the show becomes very serialized from here on out. I put this episode one day after 19.
However, we now come to where "Departure" would fit, which I've already explained the reasons for its placement here. I have put it two days after Episode 20 because there needed to be at least one day before it to let Optimus and Nightscream travel to the far side of Cybertron. What's more, the sky is a dark and cloudy night sky on the far side of Cybertron at the beginning of the story, a bright orange-red morning/daytime sky in Cybertropolis, and then dark again in Cybertropolis at the end of the story. This would mean that the majority of the story takes place when it is daytime in Cybertropolis, with night having only just fallen by the end. As such, I am placing it on the same day as Episode 21, just a few hours before the episode starts.
As a result, this puts Episode 21 two days after Episode 20, despite the fact that 21 really feels like the very next night after 20. This one-day gap between 20 and 21 is also when Megatron would have created Spy Streak right before "Departure", since he is already active as a Vehicon General before Quake and Blastcharge are created.
Though, Apelinq's return would have come a fair amount of after Episode 15/Journal 14 but before "Departure". For ease of giving more time between Primal Prime's assuming command and Apelinq's return, let's just say that Apelinq returned at some point around the time of Episode 16, since "Departure" also said that he and Primal Prime found an old Autobot shuttle "some time ago", placing more time between that story and Apelinq's return before it.
Moving on, Episode 22 is hyper-serialized with 21, so it's the same day.
Episode 23 is also hyper-serialized, so it too is the same day as 21, 22, and "Departure".
Episode 24's serialization is ambiguous enough that it could either be, once again, the same night as 21–23, or the very next night. It really all depends on how much time Megatron would have needed to mass produce his final Vehicon army that he creates in this episode. I chose to be generous and give Megatron a whole day to rebuild his forces, and so put it on the next day, but it could still just as well be the same day.
Episode 25 is hyper-serialized, so it's the same day as 24.
And finally, Episode 26 is also the same day as 24 and 25. All except for its ending, which features the dawn of a new day.
Back to the 3H material. The present-day events of "Betrayal" begin immediately where "Departure" left off, starting on the same night as both it and Episodes 21-23. It continues throughout that night until the Wreckers arrive on Akalo, a journey that seems to span just that night on Cybertron, but when they arrive it is not morning but sundown on Akalo. This reads to me as Akalo having a day/night cycle opposite to that of Cybertron. Going by this logic, the first sundown and night on Akalo would be the dawn and daytime of the next day on Cybertron, which is when Episodes 24-26 occur. Dawn soon comes on Akalo at the end, followed by morning in the epilogue, which would likewise be the same night on Cybertron as 24-26.
"Disclosure" then begins later during the evening of the same day that the end and epilogue of "Betrayal' took place, meaning it occurs on the morning of the next day on Cybertron, the same day as the ending of Episode 26, this being the dawn of the Great Transformation. When the dawn of the next day on Akalo comes, the Wreckers depart from Akalo and Cryotek tells the Quintessons about Cybertron's new technorganic appearance. This would be later in the evening of the same day as Episode 26's ending. Thankfully, after this, Akalo is no longer part of the story, so tracking the inverted day/night cycle between it and Cybertron is necessary no longer.
Anyway, the Wreckers travel through space to a distant ice planet located ten star systems away. That trip had to have taken some time to make, since the planet was that far away. Part II of the Wreckers Finale contains a statement that says it (and, by extension, Part 1 of the finale) takes place barely a Cybertronian week after the planet's reformatting, so it would be seven days after the ending of Episode 26 and the Wreckers' departure from Akalo in "Disclosure". Thus, I put the rest of "Disclosure", from the Wreckers' arrival on the ice world to the end, three days after the Wreckers left Akalo on the same day as Episode 26's ending. This is because it took them about one day to first travel to Akalo from Cybertron, so the Wreckers' journey back to Cybertron from the ice planet would be four days by combining the total travel time from Cybertron to Akalo to the ice world, albeit flown in reverse.
This also adds up to match with the Wreckers Finale being about seven days after the Great Transformation. Since that event happened during "Disclosure" on the same day as the Wreckers prepared to leave Akalo, their flight to the ice world being three days, plus their return flight back to Cybertron being four days, equals seven days total. While it is not known if a Cybertronian week is exactly seven days like an Earth week is, I'm considering it as such for simplicity's sake, since there is no unit of time for a Cybertronian week in either
Beast Wars or
Beast Machines.
However, there is one other things to note about this "barely a week" claim. According a War Journal entry written by Apelinq at the start of "Disclosure", it has been "deca-cycles" (meaning "months") since he gave command of the Wreckers to Primal Prime. The events of
Beast Machines Season 2 most assuredly do not transpire over the course of "months" (a month and a half, at most), nor does the Wreckers' journey from Cybertron to Archa Nine take that long. Also, the Director's Cut version of "Betrayal" features an extended prologue that declared the original voyage to Archa Nine from Cybertron (made by Glyph's team) had taken "weeks" to accomplish. While enough weeks can equate to a small number of months (let's say two months or so), the Wreckers' journey certainly doesn't take anywhere near that long.
At the start of "Wreckers: Finale Part 1" (at least, its officially published first few pages), the Autobot news reporter Rook states that the Quintesson invasion has begun "less than three deca-cycles" since the reformatting of Cybertron." This is also stated in the unpublished script for that issue, its prologue claiming it has been "months" since Optimus Primal's sacrifice. Again that is ludicrous. The journey from Cybertron, to Archa Nine, to Al-Badur's ice world, and back to Cybertron couldn't have possibly taken place that long. The Great Transformation even occurs during "Disclosure" a mere two days after "Departure".
This is why I am going by the "barely a Cybertronian week since the planet's reformatting" statement in Part II of the finale, as that is a much more workable timeframe for the Wreckers comics to span, making all of the previous "deca-cycle" and "month" uses in error.
And at last comes all of the Universe issues and script readings. "Abduction", the 2003 script reading, "Escape", and "Homecoming" all take place roughly within close proximity of each other, with the 2004 script reading happening just about any amount of time afterward. As for when these all take place in relation to
Beast Machines, the inside cover of "Abduction" states that it has been one year since Optimus Primal's death, with Rook reiterating this in the comic itself. Though, Rook incorrectly uses the term "mega-cycle" instead of "stellar cycle", as a mega-cycle is more like an hour, while a stellar cycle is a year.
Before I finish, let me close with a few more things.
Because "VEHICON ALERT!" gets placed in Season 1, that creates a bit of a continuity error with both Rotorbolt (who was among the new arrivals sighted in Polyhex) already being in the body of a Copter Drone, and Copter Drones themselves being among the Vehicon units assigned by Megatron to go to Polyhex, long before they and Obsidian would appear in the show. To fix this, I theorize that Megatron had already been working on the Copter Drone design long before their first appearance in the show. As "Departure" would establish all of the toy-only Vehicon drone types that appeared in that comic to have been early-model designs that Megatron created during the earliest terrorist attacks he launched way back before he unleashed his virus on the planet, I could buy that the Copter Drone type was also one of these early design models, and that when Megatron brought forth Obsidian to be his new air-based general, he simply pulled out a preexisting drone type design rather than having just made up a new one altogether. The same would apply for when he created Spy Streak, Quake, and Blastcharge.
As such, this opens the door to the possibility of Strika's Artillery Drone type having also been a preexisting model, but I could see her drone type going either way since there were no Artillery Drones featured in either "VEHICON ALERT!" or "Departure".
I think that's everything.
