War Dawn
Title card via TFWiki, fan-archive fair use
Flung into Cybertron's distant past, the Aerialbots witness the origin of Optimus Prime, then Orion Pax, and his rebuilding by Alpha Trion.
Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker are racing through the skies with the Aerialbots in hot pursuit. They have kidnapped human dignitaries for unknown, but certainly nefarious, purposes. The Aerialbots are debating amongst themselves in pretty stark terms if humans are worth saving. After they outmaneuver the Decepticons, Starscream dumps the hostages in mid-air. He and the others escape as the Aerialbots break off to save the humans.
Back at Autobot headquarters, the Aerialbots talk amongst themselves about their admiration of the Seekers, to the ire of the other Autobots. Teletraan I breaks in before the argument gets out of hand and alerts Optimus Prime to strange energy readings emanating from Cybertron. They board Omega Supreme and head into the stratosphere to investigate.
Under the ocean, Megatron gripes about the Aerialbots and losing air supremacy. Soundwave reports in that the Autobots have left Earth, and Megatron goes after them across the space bridge. On Cybertron, Megatron explains that he has a time machine called a Kronosphere that he planned on using to steal energy from the past. Now, he wants to set a trap for the Aerialbots and send them back into the past.
The Autobots arrive on a dark and dingy Cybertron, and are attacked by Starscream and the others. Slingshot tries to get the Decepticons to stop attacking and talk to them. Starscream and the others drop down for a chat while Silverbolt frets. After gaining their trust, Starscream leads them right onto Megatron's Kronosphere. Silverbolt tries to warn them that it's a trap but it's too late. Megatron activates the device, intending to send them back to the beginning of time. The Aerialbots are encased in a purple bubble and disappear.
Seconds later, Optimus Prime and the other Autobots ram through the wall of the building and attack. Prime shoots the machine in order to stop it from trapping the Aerialbots in the past. The Decepticons retreat and Optimus orders the machine repaired. He estimates it has sent the Aerialbots 9 million years into the past to Cybertron's Golden Age.
The bubble bursts and the five planes reappear on Cybertron, but it's a different world than the one they left. This Cybertron is bright and alive. The Aerialbots admire the scenery and argue about whose fault it was that the planet was trashed. Slingshot isn't ready to blame the Decepticons and says they are misunderstood. They are interrupted by a small 'bot who introduces himself as Orion Pax. He works at the docks unloading energy shipments. Orion's friend Dion and girlfriend Ariel introduce themselves too. Dion alerts them to come outside and see the new type of flying robot that everyone is talking about. The Aerialbots go out and see Megatron, Soundwave and Shockwave flying overhead. Orion and Dion admire the flying robots, and Silverbolt warns them away from their hero worship. But does anybody listen to him? Nooooo.
After Orion goes back to work unloading ships, he is approached by a visitor who introduces himself as Megatron. Orion shows him around but when they reach the energy storehouse Megatron orders the Decepticons concealed outside to attack. When Orion tries to stop him, Megatron mercilessly shoots him and his two friends. The Aerialbots arrive after the battle to find the three Autobots inoperative.
Back in the present, Megatron is planning a counterattack to regain the Kronosphere. In nearby wreckage, Shockwave spots the body of a Guardian robot, sans head, and Megatron plans to reactivate it. Meanwhile, Optimus, Wheeljack, Ironhide and Ratchet are still trying to repair the device.
—Slingshot and Silverbolt
—Starscream right before he dumps the chumps, er, humans.
—Skywarp and Starscream talking about the Aerialbots who stopped fighting and want to "talk" to the Seekers.
—Starscream prepares to school the Aerialbots.
—Ironhide comments on the dubious loyalty of the Aerialbots.
- Orion Pax's design appears to be based on an early Ultra Magnus concept–distinct from the Powered Convoy recolour that ultimately formed the basis for that character–by Floro Dery.
- In an interview on the Kid Rhino DVD set, writer David Wise says that the meeting between Orion Pax and Megatron happened differently in the original version of the script. Megatron was to blast Orion's arm off and then use it to decapitate him. Sunbow, fearing the scene was too violent, had it changed.
- Also according to David Wise, the addition of Orion Pax to the script was a fairly late one; originally, the victim of Megatron's first attack would have been a generic robot, but the idea that this generic was a young Optimus Prime was the idea that brought the rest of the episode together.
- In a separate interview, Wise stated that Ariel and Dion were both originally meant to die in the episode. He had been unaware of Elita One, and had not intended for her and Ariel to be the same character when he wrote the episode; the connection was added after the fact by the show's story editors.
- For whatever reason, voice actor John Stephenson wasn't in this episode and thus Thundercracker and Alpha Trion had different voices; Alpha Trion's voice was Corey Burton's, and Thundercracker's was that of voice director Wally Burr (this could be explained by the Alpha Trion that appears in the episode being a younger version of the character, but there is no such excuse for Thundercracker). Burr also filled in as Jazz in "Kremzeek!" and Ratchet in "Masquerade".
- When Skywarp gets shot down, he transforms to robot mode. The same animation is used again, recolored, when Thundercracker gets shot down... and two more times on Cybertron when the jets approach the Aerialbots to talk. Hey, who would ever notice?
Screencaps via TFWiki (Teletraan I), used under fan-archive fair use.