Transformers: War for Cybertron - Earthrise

 The second part of the War for Cybertron trilogy, and finally I got round to watching it.

And let's see how the remaining Autobots handle the fall-out of season 1, with the betrayal of Ultra magnus, and the Battle of the Starbridge that left Cybertron is shambles.

It all starts with an Autobot prison raid on a Decepticon jail, where they are amazed they locking up those of their own kind.   But Shockwave is working on a big plan called Project Nemesis, which will require all the energon of underperforming Decepticons, something Megatron must acknowledge after visiting Sector 12.  The Autobot team is captured by a lure of Starscream, who used the long-dead Steeljaw (btw, that was one of Blaster's cassetes in G1) to send out false messages, and brings them before Megatron for harvesting.

In space, the Ark is boarded by Doubledealer and his mercenaries, where he finds the inert body of Optimus Prime.  They are fixing the ship back up, as he has a deal he can keep the ship if he delivers the passengers to his secretive patron.  

On Cybertron, Elita and her team are about to be killed when suddenly the Decepticons they freed earlier make a break-out attempt, and even in Skythread they find an ally who thinks Megatron is going to far.  On the Ark the Autobots are starting to awaken, and they are brought before a Quintesson.  He claims it was him that freed Cybertron aeons ago, but as he is about to destroy the Autobots, the mercenaries, being doublecrossed, sweep in to free them.  Back on the Ark, they realize that not only does Megatron not have the Allspark, but that they have the actual means to search for it and take off in the vessel.  But on Cybertron, Megatron forces Shockwave to activate Project Nemesis, a gigantic spaceship powered by harvested sparks and sets out to search for the Autobots himself.

 

With the Ark not having enough power and the spacebridges on Cybertron destroyed, they set course to a station where a bridge is seemingly constantly open.  They find a spacestation wedged inside it, and as they board the station are attacked by an enraged Scorponok, the last of his kind that didn`t revolt against the Quintessons.  When Megatron and Optimus Prime engage in a duel, he orders the destruction of the station and they find themselves in a strange  "Dead Universe".  Here they meet some strange visions, Optimus Prime encountering Sky Lynx, who long ago wanted the matrix for himself but has come to terms with his own failure.

Megatron meets Galvatron, who tells him he will help kill Optimus Prime, and he reawakens the old spark of hatred Megatron had when still fighting in the pit.  He engages the Ark, but Sky Lynx sacrifices himself so that the Ark can escape the Dead Universe.  The Nemesis persues, and they find themselves above a blue watery planet where the Allspark should have gone to... Earth.

As on Cybertron the battle rages on with Elita facing Shockwave, resulting in a big explosion engulfing both forces.  As Optimus Prime communes with the Matrix on what he should do, as the mercenaries also exit the Dead Universe, out to destroy both Autobot and Decepticon alike.  Megatron through deceit overpowers Optimus Prime and takes the Matrix from him, as the Ark crashes to an ancient Earth.  It is seen by a Velociraptor... when he suddenly scans the vessel with an optical sensor.

And so the second season of the trilogy ends, and I am eager to start the third for one with that cliffhanger.  If you ask me, the Beast Wars are entering the fray, and that raptor was Dinobot...