So, two years ago, I wrote
this, a lengthy post in which I came up with a rearrangement for the episodes of Beast Wars season 1, in order to create a better sense of chronology, continuity, and serialization for the season, since season 1 is full of so many standalone episodes and the official order feels a bit off to me.
In the time since, I've changed my mind a lot about which episodes should go in which order, and feel I should share my revised episode order. There will be a lot of similarities with my original reorder, so I may be repeating several points I had made before. But there are enough differences to this new order to make it stand apart from the first.
That said, like the first order, ten episodes have been rearranged. But rather than stating up front which ones I've moved like I did before, I'll just go episode by episode to share each one as I go along.
First up is obviously
"Beast Wars (Part 1)". It's the first episode, so I needn't explain this one. But things of note are the release of the stasis pods from the Axalon during the space battle, the first instance of Cheetor venturing out into trouble in disobedience of Optimus, and Rattrap objecting to one of Optimus's orders because of how he thinks Optimus is deliberately giving him a raw deal. Each of these points will come up again in later episodes.
Next up is, of course,
"Beast Wars (Part 2)", the second half of the two-part pilot. Of note in this one is Dinobot switching sides to join Maximals, labeling him a traitor among the Predacons. Also, the Maximals take notice of the standing stones and even point out the peculiarity of it being an unnatural structure that wasn't built by either them or the Predacons.
This is where things get interesting, because third is
"Chain of Command". This episode sees the Maximals investigate the standing stones. After spotting it in Episode 2 and observing its curious existence, wouldn't it make the most sense for the Maximals to make it a priority to investigate this structure sooner than later? In the official order, they don't look into it until three whole episodes after they first spot it (and the first of those three episodes, "The Web", is even set at least an entire
month after the two-part pilot). These Maximals are an exploration team. What took them so long to investigate the standing stones in the official order?
Plus, Megatron in this episode is still pretty sore about Dinobot switching sides, acting like his betrayal was still a very recent thing. And Rattrap whines again about one of Optimus's orders, complaining that he gets all the dirty jobs, just like he did in the first episode. And, when the alien probe first comes down, Megatron initially thinks it's a stasis pod. In the official order, this episode comes well after the initial release of the pods in the first episode, meaning the viewers could have easily forgotten about that plot point until "Fallen Comrades" brings it back properly. Here, we're just expected to remember and already know what stasis pods are. All this makes the episode feel sort of like an epilogue to the pilot when watched immediately after it.
Next comes
"Equal Measures", keeping it in its place as the fourth episode. This is one of two other episodes besides the pilot in which Cheetor runs off into danger against Optimus's orders. But in this one, he is able use his wits to get himself out of trouble and save the day. In the end, he is congratulated by his peers for a job well done, but also warned by Optimus to never pull another stunt like this again, or else Optimus will punish him severely. Cheetor jokingly brushes off this warning, having learned absolutely nothing from this experience. Also, this episode shows us our first glimpse at Terrorsaur's ambitious desire to overthrow Megatron and take over the Predacons. He tries to form an alliance with Dinobot that will allow them to take out both Optimus Primal and Megatron, but Dinobot fakes him out and cancels their deal.
Then comes
"Power Surge" as the fifth episode. In my original reordering, I had moved this episode back to come after "Double Jeopardy" because of how, when Terrorsaur announces his challenge for Predacon leadership, Megatron says "I thought you already learned your lesson about challenging me, Terrorsaur." Since "Double Jeopardy" is the only other episode in which Terrorsaur openly tries to overthrow Megatron to his face, I felt placing this one right after that one was the only way to make that line of Megatron's make sense.
But, the more I thought about it, the more this episode just didn't feel right coming that late in the season. This episode simply feels like an early episode. Plus, Rattrap and Optimus's little adventure in this one feels like a good bonding experience that would foreshadow Optimus entrusting Rattrap with the top secret mission of infiltrating the Predacons' base solo in "Double Jeopardy", so this one had to come before that one. So, what, then, is Megatron referring to in this episode? Maybe he somehow found out about Terrorsaur's alliance with Dinobot and took that as a challenge to Megatron's authority, so this ep would have to come right after "Equal Measures".
Episode six would then be
"The Web". This is the other episode where Cheetor gets into trouble after breaking Optimus's orders. But this time, he gets into bigger trouble and has to be rescued. Twice, even. The first time, Optimus makes good on his word and punishes Cheetor severely, giving more weight to the threat he gave to Cheetor back in "Equal Measures" by having this one come after that one. Plus, when Cheetor has to be rescued the second time, by Rattrap, he goes through a much more traumatic experience and seems to really learn his lesson this time. When Rattrap helps Cheetor and Optimus reconcile, Cheetor promises that he'll be a team player from now on. And for the rest of the season, he is.
In the official order, "Equal Measures" coming right after this one makes Cheetor's lesson learned in this episode feel more like a lie. But placing the episode not only after that one but also at this point in the series makes it feel like the culmination of Cheetor's personal growth, with him having gone through and completed a full character arc. And by placing the two Cheetor episodes where they are, they are each separated by non-Cheetor episodes that make the arc feel both longer and with fewer redundancies. The pilot sees him run off and get into trouble, then "Chain of Command" happens, then he gets into trouble again, then "Power Surge" happens, and then finally "The Web" happens, serving as the finale of this early-season mini-arc for Cheetor.
What's more, this episode is said to take place at least a month since the series began, with Rhinox having taken all that time to build the long-range commlink that Cheetor field-tests in this episode. I never liked that huge time gap between this episode and the pilot, so having it come this late fills in that gap with "Chain of Command", "Equal Measures", and "Power Surge". Plus, in those preceding episodes, there is no successful attempt made by the Maximals to contact each other from a great distance away. While Optimus does try to contact the base at the beginning of "Equal Measures", his comm does not reach the base due to interference from an energon storm. One could argue that his attempt to contact the base at all means that he does have a long-range commlink, I would argue that that needn't necessarily be the case since the area he is seen in looks an awful lot like the mountainous area where the base is located, which suggests that he wasn't too far away to contact the base after all, and that he only failed to because of the energon interference.
This episode also has Optimus say that Rhinox doesn't have the means to make another long-range commlink after Cheetor trashed the first one, making it sound like they never get any new long-range comms afterward. And yet, the rest of the series just has characters contacting each other over long distances whenever the plot calls for it, so it's just a general inconsistency. And even in this episode, after Optimus says Rhinox can't make another new commlink, he then says that he's gonna try and call in Dinobot from the perimeter, meaning Dinobot was way out in the field and yet Optimus was gonna contact him from the base, when he just said that they don't have anymore long-range comms. In other words, this whole comms thing is so inconsistent as to be a completely moot point.
Moving on, next is
"Fallen Comrades". Aside from "Double Jeopardy", Tigatron is in almost every episode to come afterward in this season, and the ones he doesn't appear in have Blackarachnia in them, so this episode pretty much has to come at number 7, keep it in its official placement.
Next up is
"Double Jeopardy", keeping it at Episode 8. Blackarachnia is introduced in this episode and, like Tigatron, she appears in almost every episode to come in the rest of the season, so this one must be next. Although, since Tigatron is not in this episode, it could have theoretically come before "Fallen Comrades". But in practice, that doesn't work because it begs the question of why Blackarachnia didn't help in the retrieval of Tigatron's pod if she was already up and around. Surely she'd want to look into getting to the pod first with the other Preds, out of intrigue if not out of loyalty. Her absence from "Fallen Comrades" just raises too many questions if this one were to precede that one, whereas the same is not the case for Tigatron's absence in this episode, since "Fallen Comrades" gave him an alibi for being away from the main Maximal team, while Blackarachnia (despite her self-serving ways) is treated as a full member of the main Predacon team. At least, at this point in the season.
Then we come to
"A Better Mousetrap" at number 9, keeping it where it is as well. In my original reorder, I expressed a dislike of watching this episode right after "Double Jeopardy", as it never felt right to me how Blackarachnia goes missing at the end of that episode and is suddenly back and barking orders to Terrorsaur and Waspinator at the start of this episode. It felt like a piece of the story was missing. I originally placed both "Power Surge" and another episode between the two to help ease Blackarachnia back into the show after she initially wandered off and disappeared... but while that other episode did help do that, it also created a few other problems I took issue with. And I already said why I decided not to put "Power Surge" after "Double Jeopardy", so it's no longer here either.
The more I thought about this episode, the more I began to realize that it makes sense for Blackarachnia to be in command of Terrorsaur in this episode since he had just tried to depose Megatron in the previous episode, so Blackarachnia being in charge of him here would be like a demotion for Terrorsaur as punishment. Anyway, this episode sees the introduction of the Axalon's new defense grid, Sentinel. After it goes haywire, Rattrap's attempts to shut it down lead the other Maximals to initially think he's been killed, which creates a very solemn moment where they eulogize him before he reveals himself to be alive.
Next on the list is
"Dark Designs" at number 10. This is the episode I originally placed right before "A Better Mousetrap", as this episode initially sees Blackarachnia absent from the Predacons' first ambush on the Maximals at the beginning of the episode, only for her to later show up at the Predacon base with the others. This, I felt, would have helped to ease her back in the show after she vanished at the end of "Double Jeopardy", since she's already back and shoved in our faces at the beginning of "A Better Mousetrap". But a number of other issues arose from that placement.
First, Terrorsaur tries to strike a deal with Evil Rhinox to help him take down Megatron. I originally didn't see this as a redundancy with his actions in "Double Jeopardy" because I had also placed "Power Surge" right after that one and before this one. But with the removal of "Power Surge", Terrorsaur's actions in this episode did indeed feel like a redundancy with "Double Jeopardy", which I didn't like. I also didn't like how, when the Maximals first hear about Rhinox getting turned into a Predacon, Cheetor says "Better dead than Pred." Had I kept this one between "Double Jeopardy" and "A Better Mousetrap", that would make Cheetor sound pretty insensitive since Rattrap would have just gone through an ordeal in which he himself had played the role of a Predacon, and Rattrap takes no offense to Cheetor's line in this episode (Dinobot does, though). So, separating this episode from "Double Jeopardy" by placing it after "A Better Mousetrap" felt more right.
But then, why even move it up from its official placement at all? Because, early on in this episode, Megatron says that he underestimated Rhinox after getting beaten by him. He says this as if Rhinox had never bested him before now, and Rhinox gets some pretty up close and personal blows on Megatron in both "The Probe" and "Victory", thus requiring this episode to come before those. Though, one other thing that made this episode feel like it could come after "A Better Mousetrap" is the fact that the underground area near the Maximal base was blown up in that episode, and this episode begins with the Maximals searching for underground energon deposits in the area surrounding the base. While it's not the exact same spot where the ground was blown up, the explosion in that episode feels like it could have been what inspired the Maximals to search the area nearby for any energon.
Finally, Megatron also says in this episode that the Transmuter took a long time to create. One could take Rattrap's actions of pretending to betray the Maximals and become a Predacon in "Double Jeopardy" as inspiration for where Megatron got the idea to turn a Maximal into a Predacon in the first place (even if Megatron knew he was faking his betrayal, the idea could have still entered his mind from those events). Megatron's absence from "A Better Mousetrap" could be explained that he was working on the Transmuter during that time.
Next is
"Double Dinobot" as Episode 11. This is the same place I put this one in my original reorder. I wanted this episode to come pretty closely after "A Better Mousetrap" because this episode sees Megatron directly targeting the Maximals' new defense grid, Sentinel. It felt natural to me that he would want to do this right after Sentinel's debut episode, but after thinking more about it, there were two issues I had with this one coming right after that one. First, since none of the Predacons ever found out about Sentinel in "A Better Mousetrap" (and Megatron wasn't even in that episode), it felt kinda weird that Megatron would be suddenly so interested in taking out Sentinel in this episode, when we were given no indication that he ever knew about Sentinel beforehand.
And secondly, this episode has a scene where Cheetor wonders if Rattrap may have fallen to his death into a river of lava, and Optimus is, shall we say, rather cavalier about the idea. Had this episode come right after "A Better Mousetrap", we'd get back-to-back episodes wherein someone wonders if Rattrap is dead, and the first time it's treated as a sad serious moment, while the second time it's brushed off so casually; almost insensitively, even. This is another reason I placed "Dark Designs" between "A Better Mousetrap" and "Double Dinobot", to better space out those two a little bit. I still wanted "Double Dinobot" to come closely after "A Better Mousetrap" since Megatron's desire to disable Sentinel feels like something he'd want to do not long after Sentinel's creation (as opposed to waiting a whole
five episodes before doing so in the official order), but it felt like there needed to be just one episode between the two in the meantime.
And, "Dark Designs" has Megatron mention Rhinox's knowledge of the Maximal base's defense systems, which could be seen as an allusion to Sentinel. And the fact that both "Dark Designs" and "Double Dinobot" depict Megatron with an interest in experimentation feels like the two should go together (as they do in the official order, even), with Megatron taking what he learned from "Dark Designs" and implementing it into his experiment with the Dinobot clone in this episode. If he can't turn a Maximal into a Predacon and keep it under his control, he'll create his own Maximal infiltrator with loyalty built into it. And with how "Dark Designs" ended with the Maximals storming the Predacon base and defeating Megatron in his own home, such humiliation would leave him wanting revenge by infiltrating the Maximals' base. This would lead to him learning about Sentinel and thus wanting to take it out in this episode.
And now we finally get to
"The Probe" at episode 12. Like in my original reorder, I wanted to use this as Part 1 of a two-part midseason finale. For all the same reasons I originally gave, I am keeping it here. The Maximals attempt to contact Cybertron so they can finally go home, but the Predacons thwart their efforts. And all the while, Dinobot expresses a disinterest in returning home because he fears that he would be treated by the Maximal authorities as nothing more than a criminal.
And here comes
"Victory" as Episode 13, the second part of the midseason finale. After failing their first attempt to return to Cybertron in "The Probe", the Maximals try again here. A connective tissue with that episode is Dinobot's continued fear of being treated like a criminal should he return to Cybertron, as he resolved to stay behind on the planet. The final launch sequence of the Axalon and the battle aboard its bridge that leads to its descent back down make for an exciting climax to end the first half of the season on.
Beginning the second half of the season as Episode 14 is
"Gorilla Warfare". No change here from my original reorder. This episode is an exciting one to start the second half of the season, and features almost all of the main cast thus far (only Tigatron is absent). Optimus also gets to be the focal character for once, and the beginning of this episode sees him and Dinobot doing some ecological studies. This seems like something Optimus would want to do after have resigned himself to the fact that he and his team are truly stuck on this world and need to make the most of it, creating a sense of serialization between this episode and the previous one.
Next comes Episode 15,
"The Spark". The same placement as both its official order and my original reorder. Airazor is introduced here and she appears or is mentioned in every episode to come after, so this ep had to come next. Also, Blackarachnia complains for the first time ever about following Megatron's orders, planting the seeds for what is to come next for her.
Then we come to
"Possession" as number 16. Basically, every episode onward is in the same order as my original reorder. This episode sees Blackarachnia get taught the ways of deception by Starscream, meaning it had to come before "The Trigger" since that two-parter is when she first puts her deceptive side to its fullest extent. It was always baffling that this episode came so long after that two-parter, especially since Inferno is completely absent from this episode, making it feel like it really ought to have come sooner. Megatron is even suspicious of Blackarachnia's ambitions at the start of "The Trigger", when she had never given him any reason to suspect her in any episode beforehand. This episode, however, sees Megatron first realize Blackarachnia's potential for treachery, so it makes even more sense for this to come before "The Trigger", since he is very wary about her loyalties in that episode.
Next comes
"Dark Voyage" at number 17. I really, so very badly wish I could have placed this episode earlier. In fact, I so much wanted to place it all the way back between "Fallen Comrades" and "Double Jeopardy", since it feels like an early episode of the series and lacks any appearances from Airazor, Blackarachnia, or Inferno. So why did I place it this late in the season? Because while Airazor is absent, she is still mentioned by Optimus, meaning she exists by this point. Why didn't I place it one episode earlier in place of "Possession"? Because it also felt wrong to put an episode where Airazor doesn't appear right directly after her debut episode, since she was barely in her debut episode. She makes a fair number of appearances in "Possession", allowing that episode to show her off more (even if she's not that episode's focal character). This episode also creates some nice breathing room between the special guest episode of "Possession" and the special two-parter of "The Trigger", so as to not overwhelm the audience with two back-to-back important episodes.
So, yeah, it should be no surprise after saying all that that next episode to come is
"The Trigger, Part 1". This 18th episode marks the beginning of the end for the season, setting up things for the final arc that leads directly to the season finale. Megatron is also skeptical about Blackarachnia and wear her loyalty is truly lie, making more sense for "Possession" to come before this episode.
Next is
"The Trigger, Part 2" at number 19. It's the second part of the two-parter begun by the previous episode, so let's continue.
Then comes
Spider's Game at number 20. This episode deals with the immediate aftermath of "The Trigger", with Tarantulas fearing the planet's imminent doom after the signal sent to the aliens by the destruction of the flying island. Blackarachnia also still harbors ambitions of taking over the Predacons in this episode, but this is the last time she is shown to have those feelings. Inferno is also introduced here and appears in every episode afterward.
Next we got
"Law of the Jungle" as Episode 21. The episode opens with Cheetor and Dinobot searching for any more alien sites. While this was originally used in the official order as a means of foreshadowing to the alien energy anomaly seen at the beginning of "Before the Storm", it feels like it would make more sense for the Maximals to be searching for more alien sites right after having just gone through the ordeal they went through in "The Trigger", rather than waiting a whole six episodes later to start looking for them. I would have put this one right after "The Trigger" if not for Inferno's appearance in this episode requiring "Spider's Game" to come between the two. And, as it so happens, "Spider's Game" ended with Optimus mentioning that Cheetor, Dinobot, and Rattrap were already out in the field doing reconnaissance work. Cheetor and Dinobot being out in the field looking for alien sites at the beginning of this episode happens to match up with that so nicely.
Also, Inferno in this episode is still very vindictive about Tigatron having destroyed his stasis pod back in "Spider's Game", implying that that was still a recent event by this episode's time. And Inferno is very prominent in this episode, further making it feel like it should come right after his debut, as the remaining two filler episodes don't give as much focus to him as this episode does. It feels wrong following his debut episode with one where he's more of a background player (which actually did happen in the official order). And in this episode, he's also more wild like he was in his debut episode, making it look like he's still getting used to being both a Predacon and a team player.
Then we come to Episode 22,
"The Low Road". Keeping this one in its official placement, Inferno is a bit less prominent in this episode than the preceding two, but he is shown to be more of a team player with Terrorsaur and Waspinator, working together with them in better cooperation and coordination. This shows a bit of character growth for him in this order, going from a total wild card in his debut, to half wild card/half team player in the previous ep, and more of a team player here. Megatron also suffers a most humiliating defeat in this episode, paving the way for what he does in the next one.
Episode 23 becomes
"Call of the Wild". Inferno is totally domesticated by this one and a complete background player. With his bigger roles now preceding this one, he's had his time in the limelight completed and is fully integrated into the Predacon team. And with the humiliating defeat Megatron suffered in the previous episode, it feels natural that he'd want a kind of revenge where he would render the Maximals not only helpless but just as humbled as he was. And this episode sees that kind of helplessness and disgrace carried out, only for the episode to end with the Maximals triumphant, ending the season's last filler episode on an uplifting high note before things get real in the next three episodes.
And so, we come to the final three episodes, which really need no explanation:
"Before the Storm",
"Other Voices, Part 1", and
"Other Voices, Part 2". With these episodes now preceded by two fillers, it makes the alien energy anomaly found at the beginning of "Before the Storm" come off as a surprise that the audience doesn't see coming as much, making it all the more exciting when it builds up to the season's grand finale.
So in the end, the episodes are now arranged like so:
Episode list:
01. (01) "Beast Wars (Part 1)"
02. (02) "Beast Wars (Part 2)"
03. (05) "Chain of Command"
04. (04) "Equal Measures"
05. (06) "Power Surge"
06. (03) "The Web"
07. (07) "Fallen Comrades"
08. (08) "Double Jeopardy"
09. (09) "A Better Mousetrap"
10. (13) "Dark Designs"
11. (14) "Double Dinobot"
12. (11) "The Probe"
13. (12) "Victory"
14. (10) "Gorilla Warfare"
15. (15) "The Spark"
16. (21) "Possession"
17. (20) "Dark Voyage"
18. (16) "The Trigger, Part 1"
19. (17) "The Trigger, Part 2"
20. (18) "Spider's Game"
21. (23) "Law of the Jungle"
22. (22) "The Low Road"
23. (19) "Call of the Wild"
24. (24) "Before the Storm"
25. (25) "Other Voices, Part 1"
26. (26) "Other Voices, Part 2"
In other words:
- Swap the places of "The Web" and "Chain of Command", then move "Power Surge" up right ahead of "The Web"
- Keeping "Dark Designs" and "Double Dinobot" together, swap the two of them together with the placement of "Gorilla Warfare"
- Move "Possession" up right ahead of "Dark Voyage", and then move both of them up together to come between "The Spark" and "The Trigger, Part 1"
- Swap the places of "Call of the Wild" and "Law of the Jungle"
And in this new order come the following serializations:
- Episodes 1-3: the Beast Wars begin, with stasis pods released into orbit, Cheetor getting into trouble, Rattrap complaining defiantly, Dinobot switching sides, and the Maximals noticing the standing stones. The Maximals then investigate the standing stones, where a battle sees Megatron still sore about Dinobot's betrayal, Rattrap still complaining, and the arrival of an alien probe is initially mistaken for a stasis pod. A big mystery is left lingering for now.
- Episodes 4-6: Cheetor gets himself into trouble again, but gets himself out of trouble and saves the day. Optimus commends him, but also threatens severe punishment should Cheetor ever disobey him again, which Cheetor just shrugs off. Meanwhile, Terrorsaur tries to team up with Dinobot against both Megatron and Optimus, but his efforts are ruined. He then gets empowered by a mountain of energon and overthrows Megatron for real, but soon loses his power. Cheetor then gets into even bigger trouble and is punished by Optimus as promised. He breaks rank again and goes through an even more traumatic ordeal from which he must be rescued by Rattrap, who helps him reconcile with Optimus. Cheetor has finally learned his lesson and matures into a true team player.
- Episodes 7-11; The first two stasis pods come down, adding Tigatron to the Maximals and Blackarachnia to the Predacons. Rattrap infiltrates the Predacons under the guise of joining them and helping Terrorsaur to take over again. This ends in failure for Terrorsaur, who is punished and put under Blackarachnia's command, while Megatron begins a new project that involves turning a Maximal into a Predacon for real. Meanwhile, the Maximals create a new defense grid name Sentinel, who nearly kills Rattrap when it goes haywire. Megatron completes his project, the Transmuter, and uses it on Rhinox, hoping to gain information on the Maximals' defense systems. But Evil Rhinox is too ambitious for his own good, forcing Megatron to turn him back into a Maximal. The Maximals storm the Predacon base to rescue Rhinox and humble Megatron in his own home. He then seeks breach the Maximals' base out of vengeance with a new and improved infiltration method of cloning Dinobot. The clone nearly succeeds in killing Rattrap, but he survives again, and the real Dinobot defeats the clone and thwarts Megatron's plans for good.
- Episodes 12-14: Cybertron sends out temporal probes to search for the missing Axalon and her crew. One probe is detected by the Maximals and they attempt to contact it, hoping to go back to Cybertron. All except for Dinobot, who feels he'd be treated as nothing more than a criminal back on Cybertron. However, the Predacons spy on their efforts and successfully stop the Maximals from signalling the probe. The Maximals then spy on the Predacons, who fake their own deaths so that the Maximals can loot the Predacon base for equipment to repair the Axalon, which the Predacons aim to hijack so that they can return to Cybertron. Dinobot still does not wish to go home and opts to stay behind, but he discovers the Predacons' deception and a battle leaves the Axalon grounded for good. Now that they're not going anywhere, Optimus decides to do some more exploratory work, only to be attacked by Scorponok and infected with a viral mine. The resultant berserker Optimus leads a full attack on the Predacon base and an antidote is acquired, saving Optimus's life at the last second.
- Episodes 15-19: A third stasis pod adds Airazor to the Maximal ranks. At the same time, Blackarachnia has grown tired of taking orders from Megatron. With the arrival of the ghost of Starscream, he teaches her the ways of deception, which leaves Megatron wary of Blackarachnia's potential for treachery. After a harrowing ordeal where most of the Maximals wander around the jungle blind, Tigatron stumbles upon a mysterious flying island guarded by powerful weapons of alien design. With her newfound sense of ambition, Blackarachnia seeks to take this power for herself and rule the Predacons. The resulting battle destroys the island, which sends an ominous signal into deep space.
- Episode 20-24: Fearing the planet's doom, Tarantulas attempts to steal the stasis pod of the newly-awakened Inferno so that he can build an escape ship, but Tigatron blow up the pod. Inferno joins the Predacons, but is outraged over Tigatron having destroyed his "colony", and continues to bear this grudge during a battle that occurs while the Maximals are out searching for more alien sites in the wake of the flying island's destruction. Inferno gradually grows into his role as a Predacon, learning to work better with Terrorsaur and Waspinator until finally becoming a full member of the group. During this time, Megatron suffers a grueling defeat in the "wild bean vine" incident and makes the Maximals suffer with the loss of their rectifier coil, forcing them to stay in Beast Mode inside their base day-after-day. Loosing sleep and their sanity, they become more and more feral until Tigatron shows them how to embrace their animal sides and delete the programming block within them. They are triumphant over Megatron.
- Episode 22-26: Everyone is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of an alien energy anomaly and a new Golden Disk, which foreshadow to the aliens' arrival and their decision to destroy the planet with a weapon built into one of the two moons in the sky. The Maximals and Predacons are able to destroy the weapon, but at the cost of Optimus's life, leaving the season ending on a cliffhanger.
