TRANSFORMERS PRIME-2010

Any scenario as long as it’s connected Initially, only one Predacon is created, Predaking, who later goes independent from the Decepticons upon learning that Megatron had ordered the destruction of his unborn siblings. Two more Predacons, Skylynx and Darksteel, appear in Predacons Rising. Season One opens with Cliffjumper being murdered by Starscream, who leads the Decepticons on Earth during Megatron's absence. Following Megatron's return, he uses Cliffjumper's corpse as a test subject for Dark Energon, which he intends to use to create an undead army from Cybertron's fallen warriors. The plan fails when the Autobots destroy Megatron's Space Bridge, leaving him in a comatose state floating in space, and allowing the treacherous Starscream to claim leadership of the Decepticons once more. The rest of the season takes on a more episodic approach, with each episode focusing on Team Prime having to overcome a new enemy or threat, usually in the form of one of Starscream's schemes. However, some episodes feature other antagonists, such as Skyquake, an ancient Decepticon warrior who is awakened by Starscream to eliminate the Autobots, only to be killed by them; Makeshift, a shape-shifting Decepticon who impersonates Team Prime's ally Wheeljack to find their base (though he is killed before he can actually reveal its location to Starscream); M.E.C.H., a human organization led by the terrorist Silas who seek Cybertronian technology for their ultimate goal of establishing a new world order; and Airachnid, a rogue Decepticon and Arcee's nemesis who previously killed her former partner Tailgate and pursues her own vendetta against the Autobots before later rejoining the Decepticons' ranks to become commander. Knock Out and Breakdown also join the main Decepticon cast, establishing rivalries with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, respectively. Eventually, Megatron recovers from his coma and reclaims leadership of the Decepticons from Starscream, who later defects to follow his own path and is replaced as Megatron's second-in-command by Airachnid. In the season one finale, the Earth starts to witness several natural disasters, later revealed to be caused by the awakening of Unicron. The Autobots and Megatron join forces to prevent the rise of Unicron, who is ultimately defeated after Optimus uses the Matrix of Leadership to knock him back into hibernation, at the expense of his memories. Regaining his pre-war personality of Orion Pax, he gets manipulated by Megatron into leaving the Autobots and joining the Decepticons. In Season Two, Megatron manipulates the amnesiac Optimus into decrypting the Iacon archives, which contain the coordinates of Cybertronian relics hidden on Earth. Jack travels to Cybertron, obtaining Optimus’ memories from Vector Sigma, and restores them to Optimus via the Matrix. From this point onwards, most of the season revolves around the Autobots and Decepticons' hunt for the Iacon relics, with both factions retrieving a number of them. Starscream also searches for the relics and manages to beat the Autobots and the Decepticons to some of them. This season introduces several new characters, such as Smokescreen, the newest member of Team Prime; Dreadwing which was Skyquake's twin brother who seeks to avenge his death and becomes Megatron's new second-in-command; and Hardshell, leader of an Insecticon hive that is found by Airachnid and later comes under Megatron's service. Plotlines featured in this season include M.E.C.H. creating their own Cybertronian called Nemesis Prime; Airachnid killing Breakdown and defecting from the Decepticons to pursue revenge against Megatron, only to be captured by the Autobots; Hardshell being killed by, Miko and Wheeljack in retaliation for hurting Bulkhead during the hunt for an Iacon relic; Silas being gravely injured and fused with Breakdown's body (becoming "Cy.L.A.S." Cybernetic Life Augmented by Symbiosis); and Megatron replacing his right forearm with that of a deceased Prime in order to wield the Forge of Solus Prime and create the Dark Star Saber, a dark counterpart to the Autobots' Star Saber. Eventually, both the Autobots and the Decepticons learn about the Omega Keys, four Iacon relics used to power the Omega Lock, which can restore life to Cybertron. The Autobots manage to retrieve three of the keys, but Starscream steals them and gives them, along with the fourth key, to Megatron in return for clemency. Meanwhile, Dreadwing learns that Starscream resurrected Skyquake as a Terrorcon, thus desecrating his brother's honorable death, and becomes disillusioned with the Decepticon cause after Megatron allows Starscream to re-join their ranks. He steals the Forge and gives it to Team Prime before trying to exact revenge on Starscream, but is killed by Megatron. The Autobots use the Forge to transform their Ground Bridge into a Space Bridge, giving them the means to travel to Cybertron and find the Omega Lock. Optimus ultimately destroys the Omega Lock to prevent Megatron from using it to "cyberform" the Earth into a replica of Cybertron, but not before the Decepticons use it to create a new base on Earth – Darkmount. The Decepticons then destroy the Autobots' base, unaware the team escaped beforehand using their Ground Bridge, though Optimus stays behind to destroy the bridge, in order to prevent the Decepticons from finding the others' whereabouts, and is seemingly killed. Season 3 (Beast Hunters) edit The third season, subtitled Beast Hunters, opens with Team Prime divided and on the run from the Decepticons, while the severely damaged but still alive Optimus is being looked after by Smokescreen. New characters are again introduced, namely Ultra Magnus, Optimus's second-in-command and the leader of Bulkhead and Wheeljack's old team, and the coldly logical Decepticon scientist Shockwave, who plans to create an army of Predacons to serve Megatron, starting with Predaking. Eventually, Smokescreen is able to resurrect Optimus using the Forge's last powers after he dies, giving him a new, more powerful body, and the Autobots reunite, destroying Darkmount. Despite this, the Decepticons remain an active threat, and Shockwave continues work on his Predacon army, until Megatron orders him to terminate it, pinning its destruction on the Autobots, after Predaking shows signs of intelligence and the ability to transform into a robot. During this time, Knock Out experiments on the captive Cy.L.A.S. with Dark Energon, inadvertently turning him into a Terrorcon that feeds on other Transformers' Energon and turns them into Terrorcons as well. He infects most of the Nemesis' crew before freeing Airachnid (who was retrieved by the Decepticons following the Autobot base's destruction), who puts him out of his misery and claims back leadership of the Insecticons. However, she is quickly dealt with by Soundwave, who teleports her and all the Insecticons to one of Cybertron's deserted moons. Later, Soundwave is ordered to kidnap Ratchet, whom Megatron forces to rebuild the Omega Lock using Synthetic Energon. During his imprisonment, Ratchet informs Predaking of the truth about his unborn siblings' destruction, and he defects, attempting to kill Megatron, but fails. Eventually, the Autobots storm the Nemesis to rescue Ratchet and destroy the Omega Lock. During the battle, Soundwave is trapped in the Shadowzone (a parallel dimension created by the interaction of multiple Ground Bridges), and Bumblebee is mortally wounded by Megatron. However, he is resurrected after falling into a pool of Cybermatter, regaining his voice, and kills Megatron by impaling him with the Star Saber, sending his body falling back to Earth. Afterwards, the Autobots use the Omega Lock to restore Cybertron and head home victorious via the Nemesis, bidding farewell to their human allies and Ratchet, who chose to stay on Earth to continue helping humanity. The series concludes with a television film, Predacons Rising, in which the Autobots and most of the Decepticons work together to try and rebuild Cybertron. The Autobots also search for the fugitive Starscream and Shockwave, who plan to create an army of Predacons to exact their revenge on the Autobots. Meanwhile, Unicron reanimates and possesses Megatron's body, and with the power of Dark Energon at his fingertips, he seeks to kill Cybertron's core, which is actually his brother Primus, and eliminate all those who oppose him. To stop Unicron, the Autobots must form an uneasy alliance with Predaking and the first of Starscream and Shockwave's new Predacons, Skylynx and Darksteel. Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) is the leader of the Autobots who is aided by Team Prime in his mission to protect Earth. Ratchet (voiced by Jeffrey Combs) is Team Prime's medical officer and an old friend of Optimus. Bumblebee (voiced by Will Friedle) is Team Prime's scout and youngest member. Similar to the live-action films, Bumblebee is mute throughout most of the series and communicates through beeps due to a damaged voice box. However, in the series finale, Bumblebee's voice box is restored. Bulkhead (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is Team Prime's muscle and a former Wrecker. Arcee (voiced by Sumalee Montano) is Team Prime's sharpshooter, only female bot, and their most agile fighter. Wheeljack (voiced by James Horan) is a Wrecker and an old friend of Bulkhead. While initially appearing for one episode in season one, Wheeljack joins Team Prime in the latter half of season two. Smokescreen (voiced by Nolan North) is a rookie Autobot soldier and an acquaintance of Optimus' mentor Alpha Trion. Ultra Magnus (voiced by Michael Ironside) is Optimus' second-in-command who is far stricter than him and comes to Earth and reunites Team Prime after they are separated. Cliffjumper (voiced by Dwayne Johnson in season 1, Billy Brown in season 2) is Arcee's partner who is captured by the Decepticons and killed by Starscream in the series premiere. Jackson "Jack" Darby (voiced by Josh Keaton) is a high schooler and only child who works at the local burger joint and bonds with Arcee and Smokescreen. Miko Nakadai (voiced by Tania Gunadi) is a reckless Japanese exchange student who bonds with Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Rafael "Raf" Esquivel (voiced by Andy Pessoa) is a young programming genius who can understand Bumblebee and bonds with him and Ratchet. June Darby (voiced by Markie Post) is Jack's single mother and a nurse at the local hospital. She learns the truth about the Cybertronians after being captured by M.E.C.H. at the time when she was briefly allied with Airachnid. Special Agent William "Bill" Fowler (voiced by Ernie Hudson) is a retired Army Ranger and Team Prime's connection to the U.S. government. Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker) is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons and sworn archenemy of Optimus Prime. Starscream (voiced by Steve Blum) is the treacherous second-in-command of the Decepticons who seeks to usurp Megatron. Soundwave (voiced by Frank Welker) is the cold and emotionless communication officer of the Decepticons with an undying loyalty towards Megatron. Soundwave is silent in almost all of his appearances and chooses to replicate other characters' voices to communicate, except for the Season 3 episode Minus One ("Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior"), which is the only time in the series he speaks. Knock Out (voiced by Daran Norris) is the Decepticons' narcissistic medical officer. Breakdown (voiced by Adam Baldwin) is a brutish Decepticon soldier and Knock Out's partner who shares a rivalry with Bulkhead to the point of becoming the latter's own nemesis. Skyquake (voiced by Richard Green) is a Decepticon warrior loyal to Megatron and is also Dreadwing's twin brother. He was awakened from stasis only to thereupon be killed by Optimus and Bumblebee not long afterwards. Starscream later brought him back to life as a Terrorcon, which did not bode well to Dreadwing when he later found out. Makeshift (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is a Decepticon spy who was formatted by Soundwave to impersonate the Autobot Wheeljack in order to find the Autobots' hidden base. He perishes in an explosion caused by one of Wheeljack's bombs. Airachnid (voiced by Gina Torres) is Arcee's nemesis and a sadistic murderer who temporarily joins Megatron's ranks.[b] She is also shown to have the ability to control the Insecticons. Dreadwing (voiced by Tony Todd) is a loyal Seeker commander who becomes Megatron's first lieutenant after Starscream goes rogue. After hearing what happened to Skyquake and having a brief parley with Optimus Prime over the matter, Dreadwing lashed out against Starscream only for Megatron to kill him in self-defense. Afterwards, Megatron told Starscream not to make him regret on who he chose to spare. Shockwave (voiced by David Sobolov) is the Decepticons' mad scientist. Originally featured only in one flashback episode, Shockwave joins the Decepticons in the third season. Predaking (voiced by Peter Mensah) is a Predacon clone created by Shockwave to serve Megatron. Vehicons (variously voiced by Steve Blum, Peter Cullen, David Kaye, Josh Keaton, Daran Norris, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Sobolov, and Frank Welker) are the foot soldiers of the Decepticons. Insecticons (variously voiced by Steve Blum, James Horan, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Frank Welker) are the insect-like Cybetronians who later became the alternate foot soldiers for the Decepticons. They can transform into rhinoceros beetles. Hardshell (voiced by David Kaye) is an elite Insecticon who served Megatron. He was later killed by Wheeljack and Miko, subsequent to which Megatron became surprised to learn from Hardshell's fellow Insecticons that a human was responsible for his demise. Bombshock (voiced by Steve Blum) is an Insecticon. Leland "Silas" Bishop (voiced by Clancy Brown) is a renegade military agent and leader of the terrorist group M.E.C.H. who seek to conquer the world using military tech. Unicron "the Chaos Bringer" (voiced by John Noble) is the ancient enemy of the Transformers and their creator Primus, his brother, who unwillingly became the core of Earth after his defeat. Unicron's "blood", Dark Energon, which can bring machines to life as terrorcons and empower the Transformers with crippling side effects, is a recurring plot element in the series. Thunderwing (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) is a herald of Unicron created for the purpose of destroying the Matrix of Leadership and appears as the final boss of the video game based on the series. Alpha Trion (voiced by George Takei) is a member of the thirteen (the original primes) and Optimus' deceased mentor who appears before him as a vision. The series were developed by screenwriters Alex Kurtzman (left) and Roberto Orci (right), who wrote first two films of the Transformers film series Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, co-writers of Transformers and its sequel Revenge of the Fallen, were announced in early February to be helming a new Transformers series which would be CGI-animated.[2][3] The title of the series was first announced in February 2010 as Transformers: Prime on Jeffrey Combs' website. Combs revealed he would be voicing Ratchet and that the first season would consist of 26 episodes.[4] The series' logo was revealed on May 3, 2010.[5] Orci said that one of the reasons he and Kurtzman decided to come back to the franchise is because when they worked on the live-action film, there were limitations on how much time the Transformers could appear on-screen and what type of actions they could perform, stating: There were things we wanted to do in the movies that we just couldn't do and there were character arcs that we wanted to explore with the Transformers that we just couldn't do. We wanted to show more of their mythology and their past and their planet and just hang out with them. ... And in the movie, every time you did that, it was very special but it was extremely limited. So there was always another way ... to tell ... Transformers stories and this was ... a lucky accident that .. we got an opportunity to pursue that inspiration[.][6] On February 4, 2011, when the show's first season resumed airing, it was announced that it had been renewed for a second season consisting of 26 episodes like the first.[7][8][6] The season began airing on February 18, 2012.[9] On March 1, 2013, it was revealed that the third season of Transformers: Prime, which premiered a few weeks later on March 22, would be the show's last.[10] During the same month, it was also announced that following the series finale, a TV movie called Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising would air and would end the story.[11] According to Hasbro Studios vice president Mike Vogel, "[they] knew, from day one, where [they] were going to try to wrap everything up".[12] Ironhide is originally going to be part of the initial line up, but is replaced by Bulkhead most likely due to their characterizations being too similar. Discussing ideas about the show's themes and inspirations, Orci said that while the live-action film series was "about a boy and his cars", the dynamic between the kids and robots in Prime was to be more like that of The Iron Giant.[13] In a similar statement, Josh Keaton (Jack Darby) revealed in a November 29, 2010, interview with The Trades that while the show does include human main characters, and their relationships with the Autobots are important, they are in the foreground.[14] According to Jeff Kline, from the beginning they had created a story bible of at least "three years' worth of [storylines]" and that "the universal need to find or forge a family and a home" was one of the major themes when developing the series.[15] Kline said that from the early stages of development they wanted to keep the ensemble of characters small; this was done both for production reasons and to allow deeper characterization and development. Optimus Prime, Megatron and Bumblebee were the characters that were considered "must-haves" for the series. From that point on, they tried to include Autobots and Decepticons that complemented those characters' personalities, "rather than duplicate them".[16] Regarding Arcee's inclusion in the main cast, Orci said that he regretted killing her off in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and that Prime gave them "a chance to do what [they]’ve always wanted to do with her".[17] Kline said the staff wanted to include more Decepticons than Autobots in the series, so that the Autobots would always be at a disadvantage and their jobs would be that much harder. Additionally, when asked about the death of Cliffjumper and other characters in the series, he said that "when we kill a character, we kill a character".[18] In an interview with MTV, Frank Welker (Megatron), when comparing Prime in the TV series to the original cartoon, said that the writers "go deeper into the evil side of [Megatron] and what’s driving him."[19] In a different interview, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) said that "the writing is consistent with that of the original series, though in this new version [... my character] has a lot more communication with earthlings, and so he tries to be a little more Earthlike".[20] During New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2011, many details about season two were revealed. Regarding Optimus' memory loss and joining the Decepticons, Duane Capizzi said that they wanted to satisfy fans' expectations "but take it in unexpected directions. What happens will be pretty unexpected, but pretty organic." On the revelation that Unicron was sealed inside the Earth's core, Kline said that "[they] knew" they had to include him in the series but were initially unsure how. After a writer made the suggestion, they realized Unicron could be included in a way that tied Earth to Cybertron. He also reaffirmed his comment regarding death in the series, stating that "anyone can die" and revealed that "the body count has been upgraded" in season two.[21] During NYCC 2012, it was revealed that the show would be retitled to Transformers: Prime – Beast Hunters for its third season. In Beast Hunters, the Predacons and Predaking are introduced.[22] By bringing Beasts into the show during the third season Kline said that this allowed them to emphasize further how Earth and Cybertron are "brother, or twin, planets"; something they had earlier indicated with Unicron's arc in season one.[23] He called the addition of beasts "fantastic" as it allowed them to keep shifting allegiances and "keep the [Autobots and Decepticons] out of balance".[24] The first voice actor to be cast in the series was Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet. Combs revealed this on his personal website on February 4, 2010.[4] On May 17, 2010, it was announced that Peter Cullen, who had originated the role of Optimus Prime in the original series and voiced him in the live-action film series, would return as Optimus' voice in Prime.[25] During San Diego Comic-Con on July 8, 2010, it was revealed that Frank Welker would also reprise the role of Megatron from the original series. Besides Optimus and Ratchet, Autobots Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead were also announced. It was also revealed that Starscream and Soundwave would be part of the Decepticons.[26] On September 8, 2010, the show's voice actors were announced.[27] Kline would later reveal that Hasbro Studios had placed high importance in getting Cullen and Frank Welker to reprise their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively.[16] Steven Blum (Starscream) revealed in an interview that during recording of Transformers: Prime, he and the cast are given the scripts and "a couple of days [...] to figure out where the story is going".[28] During New York Comic Con, 2011 it was announced that Tony Todd, who voiced The Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, would join the series in season two as Dreadwing.[21] According to Adam Baldwin, Breakdown's voice actor, the reason for his character being killed off and being let go from the show was due to "budget cuts".[29] Music in the series was composed by Brian Tyler. Tyler stated that when he approached to perform the music for the series, they wanted it to be "cinematic, thematic [and feature] classic scores, similar to Star Wars." Live orchestras were used to create the music.[30] A soundtrack was released on March 6, 2012. Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series) Soundtrack album by Brian Tyler Released March 6, 2012 Genre Soundtrack Length 1:12:24 Label Lakeshore Records Brian Tyler chronology Terra Nova (2012) ''Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series)'' (2012) Thor: The Dark World (2013) Transformers Prime (Music from the Animated Series) No. Title Length

1. "Transformers Prime" 3:21
2. "Optimus Prime Returns" 2:07
3. "One Shall Rise" 2:43
4. "Dreadwing" 1:41
5. "In Defense of Humanity" 2:26
6. "We Have Returned" 4:42
7. "Relentless Pursuit" 4:36
8. "This Is Your Home Now" 5:02
9. "Autobot Stratagum" 2:38
10. "Battle in the Energon Mine" 3:11
11. "Proximity Sensors" 2:17
12. "Cutting It a Bit Close" 1:28
13. "The Cons Are Back" 4:46
14. "RC on the Move" 2:02
15. "Always Welcome" 2:11
16. "Arachnid" 4:10
17. "The Space Bridge" 1:29
18. "Dogfight" 4:52
19. "Bumblebee" 1:37
20. "Next Day after School" 1:12
21. "Cybertron" 1:31
22. "Megatron on the Move" 2:44
23. "The Construct" 2:16
24. "Prime Finale" 4:16
25. "Transformers Prime End Title" 3:05 Broadcast and release edit In the United States, Transformers: Prime aired on Hasbro and Discovery Communications-owned television network, The Hub. The show began broadcasting on November 29, 2010, continuing to December 3, 2010. The rest of season one began to air on February 11, 2011.[31] Reruns of the series began airing on The CW as part of the Vortexx block (owned by Saban Brands, that Hasbro eventually purchase their assets including the Power Rangers franchise in 2018) on December 8, 2012, making Prime the first Hasbro Studios animated production to appear on United States terrestrial television.[32] The series was added to Kabillion in July 2019.[33] Reruns on Discovery Family ended in August 2023.[34][35] The series is currently available for streaming online on Amazon Prime Video, Plex, The Roku Channel, Toon Goggles and Tubi, as well as the official Transformers YouTube channel.[36][37][38][39][40][41] On November 9, 2010, Hasbro Studios announced a broadcasting rights deal with Corus Entertainment in Canada, which included Transformers: Prime.[42] The series premiered there on January 9, 2011, on Teletoon, half-owned by Corus.[43] As a part of the deal between Hasbro Studios and Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced on December 13, 2010,[44] Transformers: Prime began broadcasting in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2011, then in Central Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East on September 10, 2011, on the pan-European Cartoon Network.[44][45] In Singapore, MediaCorp has broadcasting rights for Hasbro Studios programs including Prime, with the English version airing on Okto.[46] In Malaysia, Media Prima has broadcasting rights for Hasbro Studios programs including Prime; the series was broadcast on NTV7.[47] In India, the series premiered on Discovery Kids on May 6, 2013.[48] The third season launched on October 19, 2014.[49] It was also released on Big Magic in February 2020. In Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), the series premiered on Cartoon Network on June 18, 2012, with its second and third seasons also aired on their sister network Toonami,[50][51][52] and then on TV5 in the Philippines on December 7, 2015.[53] In the United States and Canada, Shout! Factory has the home distribution rights to the series. The complete first season was first released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 6, 2012.[54] The complete second season was first released on DVD on November 20, 2012,[57] with the Blu-ray version being released seven days later.[58] The third and final season, Beast Hunters, was released on December 3, 2013.[61] The series attracted approximately 102,000 viewers per episode.[64] The Transformers: Prime/G.I. Joe Renegades special programming block on Friday from 3:30 p.m.–7;00 p.m. generated significant household and key audiences over the previous week. "[Households] (+111%, 97,000); Persons [age] 2+ (+133%, 142,000); Kids [ages] 2-11 (+130%, 62,000); Kids 6-11 (+78%, 32,000); Adults 18-49 (+117%, 50,000) and Women 18-49 (+120%, 11,000)."[65] Dusty Stower of Screen Rant, placed Transformers: Prime as the sixth best Transformers cartoon. Stower described the first season as "a very slow burn, [with] its eventual payoff [being] incredibly anticlimactic" and that in their attempt to focus on the Transformers' mythology, the writers "forgot to craft three-dimensional, likable characters". However, he concluded that the show did live up to its promise of an epic tale late in its run and reacted positively to Prime's portrayal of Ratchet and Starscream.[66] Eric Goldman of IGN gave season one a "great" 8.0 out of 10. He praised the show for creating fully formed, relatable characters, well-done action sequences, serious-minded storylines and voice acting, singling out Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Jeffrey Combs (Ratchet) and Frank Welker's (Megatron) performances. He criticized Bumblebee's portrayal as mute. He concluded the review saying that the series "accomplishes its goals, delivering plenty of fun and action, while also incorporating darker and more complex moments that older viewers can appreciate".[67] Brian Lowry of Variety said that Transformers: Prime is "unexpectedly sharp" and better than the movies, adding that the show's CGI animation is well-suited for rendering shiny robots and "their vehicular alter egos"; he ended the review by saying that while "there's nothing more than meets the eye here, [..] what does appear is plenty entertaining".[68] Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref. 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program Peter Cullen (as Optimus Prime) Nominated [69] Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program David Hartman, Shaunt Nigoghossian, Todd Waterman, Vinton Heuck and Susan Blu Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Vince Toyama Won Christophe Vacher Won Outstanding Music Direction and Composition Brian Tyler Nominated Outstanding Writing in Animation Duane Capizzi, Steven Melching, Nicole Dubuc, Joseph Kuhr and Marsha Griffin Nominated 2012 Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Special Class Animated Program Roberto Orci, Stephen Davis, Shuzo John Shiota, Alex Kurtzman, Jeff Kline, Duane Capizzi, Mandy Safavi, Rafael Ruthchild, Shinji Santoh, Meiko Sato and Therese Trujillo Won [70] Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program David Hartman, Vinton Heuck, Shaunt Nigoghossian, Todd Waterman, Jamie Simone, Hiroyuki Hayashi, Kazuma Shimizu, Kazushi Nagase, Keisuke Ide and Akio Kazumi Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Animation Robbi Smith ) here, or it will cause coding problems -->style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2 notheme"|Nominated Robert Poole II Roy Braverman Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Animation Ray Leonard ) here, or it will cause coding problems -->style="background: #FFE3E3; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2 notheme"|Nominated Mike Beiriger "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation" Christophe Vacher Won CINE Awards CINE Eagle Award Whole crew Won [71] CINE Special Recognition for Series Television Won CINE Special Jury Award Nominated CINE Masters Series Award Nominated 2013 Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Arato Kato ) here, or it will cause coding problems -->style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Won Jason Park Kirk van Wormer Annie Award Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated TV / Broadcast Production Christophe Vacher Nominated The official launch date of the toy line was December 1, 2011. The release date of July 2011 was incorrectly stated during BotCon 2011, but the December 1, 2011, date was later confirmed by the Hasbro Brand Team.[72] Although earlier sources stated that the line would launch on October 1, 2011,[73] or October 11, 2011.[74] Ruckus Mobile Media partnered with Hasbro to deliver Transformers: Prime innovative storybook apps for Android, and iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) systems. The app was meant to deliver immersive reading experiences with interactive storytelling including title specific activities, coloring and read-and-record functions. The app was slated to release in May 2011, but never came out.[75] Learn more This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2018) IDW Publishing has released a group of comic books based on Transformers: Prime. A comic book prequel was released on October 13, 2010, in the United States, followed by an October 26, 2010, Canadian release date. Adaptations of episodes (usually two episodes per comic book) from the series are currently being released, similar to the Transformers: Animated comic books. Some Transformers: Prime storybooks were released in April, August and September 2012, in the UK including Transformers Prime: Official Handbook and Transformers Prime: Meet the Team. IDW has also published Transformers. Prime: Rage of the Dinobots and Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters, two comic book tie-ins that link the cartoon and the video games developed by High Moon Studios. A sequel called Transformers: Robots in Disguise debuted in March 2015. The series features Bumblebee as a police officer and follows his adventures on Earth, trying to catch escaped Decepticon prisoners. The series introduces a new cast of characters who help Bumblebee in his mission, including Strongarm, Sideswipe, Grimlock, Fixit, and the humans Denny Clay and his son Russell.[78] Optimus Prime appears in a recurring capacity during the first season as a spirit, before being resurrected in the finale and joining the main cast from season two onwards. The only other characters to return from Transformers: Prime are Ratchet, Bulkhead, Soundwave, and Starscream.[citation needed] Robots in Disguise is much more light-hearted in tone than its predecessor and received an overall mixed reception. Transformers: Prime is a multiple Daytime Emmy Award-winning computer-animated television series that premiered on The Hub on November 26, 2010 with a five-part mini-series, which was followed by a season of another 21 episodes beginning on February 11, 2011. Season 2 began screening February 18, 2012, and a third season of thirteen episodes with the subtitle Beast Hunters began screening on March 22, 2013. Predacons Rising, a TV movie, concluded the show on October 4, 2013. The Canadian broadcast of the series has been undertaken by Corus Entertainment, and the show aired on Teletoon from January 9, 2011 to August 16, 2013, with the TV movie Predacons Rising premiering on November 15, 2013. The series premiered in the UK on September 5, 2011 on Cartoon Network's "Action Heroes" block. It began airing in Japan on April 7, 2012 on TV Aichi. A follow-up series called Robots in Disguise aired from early 2015 to late 2017. Contents [hide] 1 Story 2 Cast 3 Episodes 3.1 Season 1 3.2 Season 2 3.3 Season 3: Beast Hunters 3.4 TV movie 4 Production 5 Reception 6 Awards and nominations 6.1 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards 6.2 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards 6.3 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards 6.4 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards 7 Japanese release 8 Home video releases 9 Soundtrack 10 Notes 10.1 Foreign names 11 References 12 External links Story

Team Prime lives on Earth, three years after their last confrontation with Decepticons. Autobot Central Command is located in a converted missile silo in Nevada provided by the United States government, with Special Agent William Fowler acting as their liaison. However, the presence of Transformers on Earth is not generally known among the civilian population. When the Decepticons resurface, the Autobots take three teenage witnesses, Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, and Raf Esquivel under their protection. Megatron returns, having discovered Dark Energon, which grants him the power to resurrect the dead, but is injured, with Starscream taking command in his absence. After Megatron's revival, Starscream flees after repeatedly showing he is unable to prove his loyalty to the Decepticon leader. The Autobots and Decepticons eventually make the startling discovery that Earth is in fact the body of Unicron, forcing them to ally and prevent his consciousness from reasserting control over the planet. Optimus Prime unleashes the Matrix of Leadership, but at the cost of losing his memory, thereby allowing Megatron to manipulate him into joining the Decepticons' ranks. By using information from Vector Sigma downloaded to the Key, Jack restores Optimus's memory. The Autobots also contend with the human terrorist organization, MECH, headed by former military operative Leland Bishop, aka Silas, who targets the Cybertronians for their technology, capturing Breakdown, Bumblebee, and Starscream for parts, and building a doppelgänger controlled by Silas. In the ensuing confrontation, Silas is fatally injured, forcing MECH to graft him into Breakdown. With this new body, Silas destroys his own organization and attempts to join the Decepticons, only to become Knock Out's new dissection study. The Autobots and Decepticons' struggle becomes a competition for Cybertronian artifacts strewn across the planet, which turn out to have been placed there by Alpha Trion, who foresaw the Autobots coming to Earth. Trion also orders them to find the Omega Keys, which will activate the Omega Lock and restore Cybertron. Though the keys are successfully gathered, Megatron gains possession of them and attempts to use the Omega Lock to cyberform Earth, forcing Optimus to destroy the Lock to save Earth. Megatron responds by destroying the Autobot base, and Optimus is mortally wounded staying behind to ensure everyone else escapes through the GroundBridge. From his newly erected fortress Darkmount, Megatron reestablishes contact with Shockwave, learning the scientist has cloned a Predacon for the intent of hunting down the Autobots. The Autobots regroup following Ultra Magnus's arrival, while Smokescreen restores Optimus with the Forge of Solus Prime. After destroying Darkmount, the status quo is restored, with the Autobots based at a Unit:E facility, while the Decepticons retreat to orbit Earth in the Nemesis once more. The Autobots learn of Project Predacon and race the Decepticons for the location of Predacon fossils, to prevent Shockwave from cloning more of the beasts. Ultimately, Megatron manipulates the Autobots into destroying the project when he discovers Predaking is intelligent, and therefore a potential power rival. Instead, he turns his attentions to rebuilding the Omega Lock. After the Decepticons kidnap Ratchet to help in their plan, the Autobots assault the Nemesis and capture the ship, killing Megatron before he can use the Omega Lock to cyberform Earth. The Autobots use the Omega Lock to restore Cybertron and settle back on their homeworld. The new peace doesn't last, as Cybertron's revival reawakens the slumbering Unicron, who takes Megatron's lifeless body as his own and seeks to destroy Primus. As Optimus retrieves the AllSpark, Autobots, Decepticons, and Predacons unite under Bumblebee and Predaking to face the Chaos Bringer in defense of their home. Optimus sacrifices himself to seal away Unicron and restore the AllSpark to its rightful place while Megatron disbands the Decepticons and goes into self-imposed exile. Cast

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others Predacons Main Cast Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) Bumblebee (Frank Welker[1]/Will Friedle) Ratchet (Jeffrey Combs) Arcee (Sumalee Montano) Bulkhead (Kevin Michael Richardson) Wheeljack (James Horan) Smokescreen (Nolan North) Ultra Magnus (Michael Ironside) Others Alpha Trion (George Takei) Cliffjumper (Dwayne Johnson/ Billy Brown/Frank Welker) Tailgate (Josh Keaton) Main Cast Megatron (Frank Welker) Starscream (Steve Blum) Soundwave (Frank Welker) Laserbeak Knock Out (Daran Norris) Shockwave (David Sobolov) Airachnid (Gina Torres) Breakdown (Adam Baldwin) Dreadwing (Tony Todd) Others Skyquake (Richard Green/Frank Welker) Makeshift (Kevin Michael Richardson) Vehicons (Various) Decepticon Miners (Kevin Michael Richardson) Insecticons (Various) Hardshell (David Kaye) Bombshock (Steve Blum) Main Cast Jack Darby (Josh Keaton) Miko Nakadai (Tania Gunadi) Raf Esquivel (Andy Pessoa) William Fowler (Ernie Hudson) Others Silas (Clancy Brown) June Darby (Markie Post) Sierra (Alexandra Krosney) Vince (Brad Raider) General Bryce (Robert Forster) Vogel (John DiMaggio) Unicron (John Noble) Nemesis Prime (Peter Cullen/Clancy Brown) Nemesis (Kevin Michael Richardson) Terrorcons (Frank Welker) Scraplets Predaking (Peter Mensah) Darksteel (Steve Blum) Skylynx (Nolan North) Episodes

For further information, see: List of Prime episodes Season 1 Darkness Rising, Part 1 Darkness Rising, Part 2 Darkness Rising, Part 3 Darkness Rising, Part 4 Darkness Rising, Part 5 Masters & Students Scrapheap Con Job Convoy Deus ex Machina Speed Metal Predatory Sick Mind Out of His Head Shadowzone Operation: Breakdown Crisscross Metal Attraction Rock Bottom Partners T.M.I. Stronger, Faster One Shall Fall One Shall Rise, Part 1 One Shall Rise, Part 2 One Shall Rise, Part 3 Season 2 Orion Pax, Part 1 Orion Pax, Part 2 Orion Pax, Part 3 Operation Bumblebee, Part 1 Operation Bumblebee, Part 2 Loose Cannons Crossfire Nemesis Prime Grill† Armada Flying Mind Tunnel Vision Triangulation Triage Toxicity Hurt Out of the Past New Recruit The Human Factor Legacy Alpha/Omega Hard Knocks Inside Job Patch† Regeneration Darkest Hour Season 3: Beast Hunters Darkmount, NV Scattered Prey Rebellion Project Predacon Chain of Command Plus One Thirst Evolution Minus One Persuasion Synthesis Deadlock TV movie Predacons Rising † Clip show Production

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GET OFF MY FACE!!! After the live-action film series, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman signed to become show runners with Jeff Kline and Duane Capizzi of The Hub's Transformers cartoon, explaining the TV show would not have the constraints of a two-hour film in delving into the mythology.[2] (Orci's employees Steven Puri and Mandy Safavi were also credited as producers.)[3] The show runners were given the "Binder of Revelation", a near 400-page production bible that Hasbro had been working on since the movies, that combined elements of the most popular continuities.[4] The show's title was based on the desire to create a master continuity and a literal Prime continuity.[2] Whereas the movies were about a boy and his car, the dynamic between the kids and the robots on the show was meant to be more like The Iron Giant.[5] The writing staff was headed by Capizzi, with Marsha Griffin as the story editor. The staff consists of Nicole Dubuc, Joseph Kuhr, and Steven Melching. Kline said they wanted the show to be very cinematic, with tension, suspense, and danger (as marked by Cliffjumper's death in the pilot) as children are more media savvy than they were in the past. Regardless, they had to be considerate as the show still had a broad audience.[6] As part of the aligned continuity family with War for Cybertron and Exodus, the producers strove to maintain many of the common elements (e.g. Optimus and Megatron's past friendship, Dark Energon's origins as Unicron's blood, Bumblebee sharing his film counterpart's backstory), but were allowed contradictions if it served the storytelling. By using the mammoth story bible, the writers could plan events years in advance. The large number of episodes per season meant they could pace and establish characters during season 1 slowly, while saving the more momentous, less stand alone episodes that delved into the backstory for season 2. Some of the plot ideas (namely the zombie robots) were based on stories they came up with when playing with the toys as kids.[2] Bob Skir has written some episodes.[7] Designers include Christophe Vacher (colors), Vince Toyama and Jevon Bue (backgrounds), and Jose Lopez (lead character designer). Vacher wanted to do something different from traditional animation and saw something edgy about Prime.[2] According to Ken Christiansen, the show's characters were formed by Hasbro Studios hiring freelance conceptual artists like himself. The submitted artwork was given Lopez's staff to be examined, and they incorporated the ideas they liked best.[8] Other concept artists include Augusto Barranco and Walter Gatus. Supervising director Dave Hartman headed a team including Todd Waterman, Shaunt Nigoghossian, Vinton Heuck, and Kirk Van Wormer. Polygon Pictures provided the CG animation, for which Digitalscape performed a recruitment drive for before the show began production.[9] Lopez said the animation would be a "groundbreaking mix of 2D animation and CGI".[10] Each character has three CG models: the robot mode, their alternate mode, and one for the transformation.[11] Lopez said the designs were personality driven, and that the 3D animation allowed them to go "crazy" with the transformation schemes. In contrast, the characters were given realistic textures,[12] and are subject to battle damage during episodes.[13] A show on the level of Prime would take two years to produce, but the animators only had ten months. Five episodes are animated at a time (hence the monthly gaps during the first season).[2] Beasthunters-logo1.png The staff had three years of story planned, but while writing it became clear that the escalating storylines made it impossible to maintain self-contained episodes and they burned through those planned three years within the second season. The idea of incorporating Beasts into the third season was a late idea.[14] The ending of Season 2 was also changed to feature Optimus Prime being heavily damaged to set up the story of obtaining a new body in the third season.[15]

Susan Blu was the casting director, but was replaced as voice director by Jamie Simone following a death in her family.[16] Brian Tyler composed the show's theme song and background music. Matthew Margeson served as music arranger. According to an interview with Tyler, the first five episodes of the series were scored "to picture" (i.e. writing music that syncs up to the on-screen action) while the rest made use of a music library containing variations on character, action, and suspense themes.[17] Rik Alvarez said in 2015 that Prime and Hasbro's design team had often clashed on story (the writers wanted more autonomy from the "Binder of Revelation" and Hasbro wanted a more streamlined franchise), which came to a head on Beast Hunters. The show also went overbudget (each episode cost $1.6 million)[18] and The Hub itself didn't have as many people as planned, dooming the show despite plans for a fourth year.[19][20] Dropped plans included a S3 set mostly on Cybertron, with Maximals and Predacons in a 'wild west' set up [21] and an idea for pirates in S4.[20] In turn, this also derailed plans for a massive Avengers-style crossover project for Hasbro properties, launching off the end of Prime called Unit:E, which began as a one-off comic in 2011, and had seeds planted in various episodes (implying Agent Fowler worked for Unit:E itself, plus mentioning Skystrikers and M.A.S.K.). Reception

Transformers: Prime has received widespread acclaim, even from outside of the Transformers fandom. Over the course of the show's run-time, it won nine Daytime Emmy Awards,[22][23][24] two CINE Awards,[25] and was nominated for several more, as well as consistently ranking as one of the Hub's most popular programs. Within the fandom, the show quickly won fans over, an impressive feat for the chronological successor to the widely loved Transformers Animated. Qualities particularly celebrated include the cinematography, visuals and animation, voice acting (including the return of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker to the roles of Optimus Prime and Megatron, something the actors themselves rejoiced over), and characterization. There is also a great deal of praise given to the serious, more mature storytelling of Prime that had not been attempted in Transformers media since Beast Machines. For all of these reasons, it is usually considered one of the best Transformers cartoons. That said, the show is not universally loved, and not just because Bumblebee was better when he could speak. In the second season, the show's aforementioned budget problems were the cause of some of the most common complaints: in addition to necessitating two clip shows (an all-but-extinct concept in cartoons in the 2010s), the cashflow crisis caused several plot threads to suddenly be dropped or truncated in order to shrink the cast; Breakdown and Airachnid were abruptly killed or written out (respectively) despite being a feature of active subplots in order to eliminate the cost of their celebrity voice actors, as were characters performed by actors that were not part of the "main" cast, like Silas, Hardshell, and Dreadwing. Other complaints focused on the lack of buildup or foreshadowing for certain major threats like Unicron and the Predacons; in the case of the latter, former Hasbro employee Rik Alvarez confirmed that this was the result of Hasbro staff changes forcefully altering the direction of the show from what was intended.[26] Another criticism had been made towards the lack of weight given to character deaths beyond Cliffjumper, usually resulting in anticlimax. A minority also lamented that the expensive animation budgeted the number of character models they could render, and thus led to a relatively small cast and an isolated setting, not unlike Beast Wars. Awards and nominations

2011 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program - Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime Outstanding Directing In An Animated Program - David Hartman, Supervising Director; Shaunt Nigoghossian; Todd Waterman; Vinton Heuck; Susan Blu, Voice Director Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Vince Toyama, Background Designer (WINNER) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Christophe Vacher, Colour Designer (WINNER) Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction And Composition - Brian Tyler Outstanding Writing In Animation - Duane Capizzi, Writer/Producer; Steven Melching; Nicole Dubuc; Joseph Kuhr; Marsha Griffin 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing (Animation) - Robbi Smith, Dialogue Editor, Robert Poole II, Sound Effects Editor, Roy Braverman, Foley Editor Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing (Animation) - Ray Leonard, Re-Recording Mixer, Mike Bieriger, Re-Recording Mixer Outstanding Special Class Animated Program - Roberto Orci, Stephen Davis, Shuzo Shiota, Alex Kurtzman, Jeff Kline, Duane Capizzi, Mandy Safavi, Rafael Ruthchild, Shinji Santoh, Meiko Sato, Therese Trujillo (WINNER) Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program - David Hartman, Vinton Heuck, Shaunt Nigoghossian, Todd Waterman, Jamie Simone Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Christophe Vacher (WINNER)[27] 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Jason Park, background design for "Orion Pax, Part 3". (WINNER) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Arato Kato, character animation for "Hard Knocks". (WINNER) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Kirk Van Wormer, storyboard art for "Nemesis Prime". (WINNER) 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Jose Lopez, Character Design (WINNER) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation - Yasuhiro Motoda, Character Animator (WINNER) Japanese release

Transformers-Prime-Japan-Logo.png Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Prime (超ロボット生命体 トランスフォーマー プライム Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers Prime) began airing in Japan on TV Tokyo affiliate TV Aichi, beginning April 7, 2012, with an 8am Saturday morning timeslot (the same channel and timeslot as the previous two Transformers cartoons to air in Japan). It ended its 52-episode run on March 30, 2013. To reflect Takara's unique marketing strategy for the toyline—the prominent gimmick of the non-show Arms Microns—the series included CGI-animated cartoon shorts starring those little robots, called "Arms Micron Theater", at the end of every episode. The shorts centered around the Arms Microns maintaining an undercover presence amongst the Autobots, who are not even aware that their weapons are alive. Another additional segment titled "From the Cybertron Satellite, Transformers Division", hosted by the popular J-pop idol group, Tokyo Girls' Style, was also tacked onto each episode. These segments featured the idol girls interacting with Vector Sigma in order to relay important facts about the Transformers franchise to the audience. These facts usually involved promoting the newest toys and merchandise available as well as offering tutorials on how to transform the toys (much like the Otoboto family segments from Transformers Animated). Due to the longer title sequence and end credits, as well as the two additional bonus segments, each episode had approximately three minutes of content removed for time constraints. Many of these edits were to reduce environment pans or establishing shots. However, as the show was reworked to appeal to a younger audience (as all Western Transformers cartoons are when localized for Japan), the violence during the fight sequences was edited for content. Like all Japanese dubs of Western Transformers cartoons, transformation commands were added, such as shouting "Transform!" Additionally, whenever a character popped their weapon out of their hands/arms, they screamed "Arms Up!" Text was overlayed on the screen whenever a character first appeared in each episode, providing their name and function. In addition, promotional text for various Transformers-specific campaigns from TakaraTomy scrolled by over the episode as things were happening, which could be kind of... distracting. Like the dubs of Beast Wars, Beast Wars Metals, Beast Wars Returns, and Animated, the localization of Prime was headed up by Yoshikazu Iwanami. As is his way, Yoshikazu had the humor ratcheted up considerably. Self-aware, Fourth Wall-breaking jokes were added. An example occurs as early as the end of "Darkness Rising, Part 2", when the manipulator arm turns into a spider-like creature and starts crawling around. In the dub, Ratchet thinks he hears the audience telling him to watch his back, but brushes their concerns off as unimportant. Characters were also fundamentally altered to be more humorously quirky. Airachnid, for example, was changed into a female parody of Pepé Le Pew; boy-crazy and single-mindedly amorous in her pursuit of Jack. As with Yoshikazu's previous efforts, ad-libbing was utilized extensively to soften tension and suspense; the characters talk a lot. On August 12, 2012, TV Tokyo aired the "Transformers Prime Perfect Transformation Late Night 2-Hour Special" hosted by Chisato Mori, Nozomi Furuki and Yūki Tai. The special featured a recap of "Darkness Rising, Part 1" thru "Rock Bottom", brand new "From the Cybertron Satellite, Transformers Division" and "Arms Micron Theater" segments, various cast interviews and commentary, and a special comparison between the original English language version of "Predatory" and the radically different Japanese language version.[28] The Japanese version of Prime only ran for 52 episodes (the first two seasons of the original English language version). "Darkest Hour" was edited and reworked to function as a series finale. This mainly involved rescripting the ending and cutting the cliffhanger so as to give the show a more ambiguously positive send off; Optimus Prime valiantly holding the line as Megatron looms over him in the Nemesis. The Beast Hunters era of the Prime franchise was rebranded by TakaraTomy as a new franchise, Triple Combination: Transformers Go!. While the Beast Hunters toys were marketed and sold in Japan, it is not likely that the remaining 13 episodes of Prime and the Predacons Rising film will ever be released there. The entire dub of this series is currently available on Amazon Prime Video Japan; however, unlike the original, it is only available in Standard Definition (480p). The Transformers Prime timeline spanning the "Aligned Continuity" covers billions of years, beginning with cosmic creation and ending with the restoration of Cybertron.Here is the complete, chronologically ordered timeline including deep lore, historical eras, and major series events.Pre-Earth Era: Cosmic Creation & The Civil WarThe Dawn of Time: Primus and Unicron, cosmic entities representing order and chaos, fight a multi-millennial war. Primus creates the Thirteen Original Primes to defeat Unicron. Unicron is cast out into the vacuum of space, eventually becoming the core around which dust and rock form the planet Earth.The Age of Primes: Primus merges with the core of Cybertron, creating the AllSpark to birth future generations. Cybertron enters a Golden Age of peace and technological advancement governed by a rigid, oppressive caste system.The Rise of Megatronus: A low-caste gladiator named Megatronus fights for social equality in the pits of Kaon. He shortens his name to Megatron and gathers a revolutionary political following, including an idealistic data clerk named Orion Pax.The Betrayal: Megatron and Orion Pax present their visions for Cybertron to the High Council. Megatron demands the overthrow of the old order by force. Orion Pax advocates for peaceful change through empathy. The Council chooses Orion Pax to be the next Prime, causing a bitter rift. Megatron forms the Decepticons and launches a global war.The Poisoning of Cybertron: Megatron infuses the core of Cybertron with Dark Energon (the blood of Unicron) to corrupt the planet. Orion Pax travels to the core to purge the poison. Primus recognizes his pure spark and bestows upon him the Matrix of Leadership, transforming him into Optimus Prime.The Great Exodus: The core of Cybertron shuts down completely, rendering the planet dead and uninhabitable. The AllSpark is launched into deep space for safekeeping. Millions of Autobots and Decepticons flee the planet in starships, scattering across the cosmos.Ancient Earth Era: The Hidden HistoryPrehistoric Era: Unicron remains dormant at Earth's core. The rogue Decepticon scientist Shockwave creates clones of ancient Cybertronian beasts, known as Predacons, and sends them to Earth to harvest Energon. An unknown cataclysm wipes out Earth's native Predacons, leaving their fossilized remains buried.Ancient Human History: Soundwave and other Transformers secretly visit Earth over the centuries. They scatter powerful artifacts—such as the Omega Keys, the Forge of Solus Prime, and the Apex Armor—across the globe to keep them out of Megatron's hands.Modern Earth Era: The Series EventsYear 1: The Dark Energon Crisis (Season 1