History WesternAnimation / TransformersPrime

** In "Partners", when she finally confronts [[spoiler: Cliffjumper]]'s killer (Starscream), she repeats the above in a [[TranquilFury quieter, more menacing tone]] before opening a can of whoop-ass on him.

* BookEnds: "Partners" opens with Starscream monologing about how he's accepted his position as Megatron's servant. [[spoiler: It ends with Starscream monologing about how he has no place on either side.]]

* CurbStompBattle: It's been mentioned a few times on here, but it feels nice to sum it up here: Megatron or Optimus vs ANYONE (other than each other of course) equals this [[spoiler: not counting Airachnid's sneak attack on Optimus in Partners]]. The most glorious example is a literal version of this, with [[spoiler: Soundwave beating the crap out of Airachnid]].

** Starscream effectively [[spoiler:guts Arcee]] at the start of their fight in "Partners".

** TheDragon: Normally Starscream. [[spoiler: Following his defection in "Partners", the role seems to rotate among Soundwave, Knock Out, and Airachnid, depending on Megatron's mood.]]

** He does it again in "Partners", although at one point, [[spoiler:[[ISurrenderSuckers he uses it to catch Arcee off guard.]]]]

** In "Partners", Starscream nearly kills Arcee, but she gets back to her feet and kicks his ass.

** Happens again in "Partners", when Starscream accuses Airachnid of being a scavenger and an opportunist. Airachnid [[LampshadeHanging points out the hypocrisy of what he just said.]]

* InMemoriam: "Partners" was dedicated to the memory of Captain H.L. "Larry" Cullen, the brother of PeterCullen who died four months before the episode aired. While Captain Cullen was never personally involved with the ''Transformers'' franchise, Peter has said he looked to mirror Larry in his performance. (In short, the inspiration for Optimus Prime passed away.)

* PlayingPossum: [[spoiler: Bumblebee does this in "Partners" to fool Airachnid into thinking she hit him with the Immobilizer]].

* RevengeBeforeReason: Arcee's obsession with defeating Airachnid to avenge Tailgate's murder. In "Partners", this also extends to Starscream for [[spoiler: Cliffjumper]]'s death, and she nearly crosses the MoralEventHorizon by killing him in cold blood, but snaps out of it in time.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler: In "Partners", Starscream first decides he's had enough of Megatron's mistreatment, then tries to join the Autobots, but after Arcee attempts to kill him, he declares he no longer has any allegiance and serves only himself.]]

* ShooOutTheClowns: No human characters appear at all in "Partners".

* TheStarscream: Like [[TheBumblebee Bumblebee]], it would be a crime if he weren't here. This incarnation appears to be a little less backstabby and more of a long-term plotter. He jumps at the chance to take control when the opportunity arises ([[spoiler: such as Megatron being critically wounded after the miniseries]]), but he is generally too afraid of Megatron to openly oppose him. He alternates between actually being in control and plotting against Megatron behind his back. [[spoiler:And in "Partners", he finally has enough and goes rogue.]]

** Starscream in "Partners", left in handcuffs with a furious Arcee watching over him, trades stories about how much each of them hate Airachnid when he accidently lets it slip that he [[spoiler:killed Cliffjumper]].

* WhamEpisode: "Partners" [[spoiler:It ends with Starscream becoming a neutral party.]]

* WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately: Spoken word for word by Starscream as his motivation for [[spoiler: switching sides in "Partners"]].

** Bulkhead spends most of "Rock Bottom" in this position[[spoiler:, and at the end of the episode, Starscream is forced to take his place]].

** Becomes humorously literal when Arcee and Bulkhead are polarized, causing them to be stuck back-to-back in "Metal Attraction".

** As of "Crisscross", [[spoiler:Jack has. [[NotSoImaginaryFriend Ironically, the only point when his mother thinks he's lying is when he's actually telling the truth, completely straight-faced]].]]

* BattleCouple: Miko muses to herself about Bulkhead and Arcee being one in "Metal Attraction", though she later becomes distressed when it appears to be becoming literal.

* CallBack: When Fowler finds the kids at the Autobot base in [[Recap/TransformersPrimeS1E3DarknessRisingPart3 "Darkness Rising, Part 3"]], Jack says they're interning for a science scholarship. When Fowler meets Jack's mom at the end of "Crisscross", Fowler tells her Jack's ''his'' intern. (Jack then tells him not to bother; she already knows the truth.)

* CassandraTruth: In "Crisscross," Jack tells his mother exactly what the deal is with him and his motorcycle. An [[TheMasquerade uncooperative]] Arcee ensures that she doesn't believe him. Later on in the episode, when said mother is kidnapped by Airachnid and Jack and Arcee come to the rescue, Jack says he can explain everything, before stopping and going, "Wait. I already did."

** She pulls it off again [[spoiler:to Starscream in "Rock Bottom". He doesn't handle it as well]].

** With episodes such as [[Recap/TransformersPrimeS1E12Predatory "Predatory"]] and "Rock Bottom" carrying some rather horror film-esque tinges, some fans believe this to be the ''darkest Transformers show yet''.

* DisappearedDad: Jack's father. In "Metal Attraction", June confirms that Jack's dad left.

** More of them show up in "Rock Bottom".

* EvilVersusEvil: Breakdown and Airachnid fighting over the Polarity Gauntlet in "Metal Attraction".

* FastballSpecial: Bulkhead and Arcee in "Metal Attraction".

** DarkChick: Airachnid, since she pretty much joins the main 'Cons at the end of "Metal Attraction".

* TheGrovel: Starscream does this in "Rock Bottom" when he, well, hits rock bottom and Megatron is sick of putting up with him.

* HumiliationConga: Pretty much the entirety of [[Recap/TransformersPrimeS1E15Shadowzone "Shadowzone"]] for Starscream. "Rock Bottom" didn't cut him any slack, either.
* HurricaneOfPuns: "Metal Attraction", regarding the situation Bulkhead and Arcee are in (stuck to each other via MacGuffin).

** In "Rock Bottom", when Bulkhead tells Starscream that he isn't going to beg for mercy, Starscream (who was doing exactly that with Megatron earlier) nervously comments that begging for mercy would be "quite pathetic".

* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Mother]]: Jack's mother is kidnapped by MECH in "Crisscross" as a plot to get access to a Transformer.

* TheInnerReveal: In the episode ''Crisscross,'' Jack does this with hid mom twice. The first time [[CassandraTruth doesn't work out so well.]] The second time she buys it, but she's also seen "Jack's motorcycle" duke it out with a giant mechanical spider-monster at that point.

* {{Irony}}: In "Rock Bottom" [[spoiler: Starscream was brought to the old energon mine to be executed by Megatron as a final humiliation for [[YouHaveFailedMe all his failures]]. Upon encountering the Autobots and causing a cave-in, Starscream barely makes it out while Megatron is trapped behind. Starscream begins gloating over the switch-up, but then realizes Megatron has [[IGotBetter survived worse]] and still commands far more loyalty among the Decepticons (who would seek to rescue him), and there's no place he could hide from Megatron's wrath. He rants in anger, realizing his best option is to re-enter the mine and rescue Megatron in order to "prove" his loyalty]].

* LoadBearingHero: Throughout most of "Rock Bottom", Bulkhead is holding up the ceiling of the cave to prevent it from collapsing on him and Miko. [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, Starscream is forced to hold it up as they escape.]]

** In "Rock Bottom", Starscream initially writes Megatron off after the cave-in...but then almost immediately remembers that Megs has survived worse, and he decides that rescuing him would probably earn him some points.

* [[OutrunTheFireball Outrun the Cave In]]: Starscream fails this in "Rock Bottom", BigNo and all.

* SaveTheVillain: Subverted in "Rock Bottom". They're not willing to kill the bad guys in cold blood, but aren't going to bother rescuing them, either.

** In "Crisscross", Airachnid abandons her attempt to kill Jack and Arcee when Fowler and his troops show up, outgunning her.

** And then there's "Metal Attraction", where Arcee and Bulkhead spend half the time [[ChainedHeat magnetized together]]. Miko can't seem to help giving the shippers more fodder.

* SingleTear: Miko gets one when [[spoiler: Bulkhead tries to do a HeroicSacrifice in "Rock Bottom"]].

* SkywardScream: Starscream [[SayMyName curses Megatron's name]] in "Rock Bottom".

* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: Megatron tries this on Jack during "Rock Bottom". It doesn't work.

* TakenForGranite: Subverted in "Crisscross". Airachnid gets covered in cement which hardens, but she breaks out within seconds.

** In "Crisscross" as well.
** "Rock Bottom" too, Twice!

* VillainousRescue: Toyed with in "Rock Bottom". When Bulkhead is found by Starscream, the entrance resembles a legitimate rescue, along with a prepared speech. Then Starscream realizes he's found the wrong person.

* VillainTeamUp: Silas and Airachnid in "Crisscross".

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: In "Rock Bottom", Megatron reveals that he's been aware of Starscream's acts of betrayal from the beginning, but didn't do anything since he found Starscream's string of failures amusing. However, now he's had enough, so he's going to kill him. Fortunately for Starscream, at this point, Jack and Arcee stumble onto the cave, and Megatron turns his attention to them, allowing 'Scream a chance to escape.

** Bulkhead and Breakdown have a moment like this when they take on MECH in "Operation: Breakdown".

** DoubleSubversion in "Operation: Breakdown". While [[EnemyMine Bulkhead and Breakdown]] are fighting MECH, one of the mooks reports some bogies on the radar, seemingly the Autobots coming to the rescue. Turns out it's really Starscream disobeying Megatron. They fight Bulkhead for a while, then the Autobots show up for a real BigDamnHeroes.

* CanYouHearMeNow: "Shadowzone" gets a bit [[ZigZaggedTrope schizophrenic]] with this trope. While stranded in another dimension, the kids try to use Miko's cell phone to call for help, but she left it at the base. Then, Jack realizes he still has his and uses that. The call gets through, but since they're in a freaking alternate dimension, the call is unintelligible. Then the kids realize they can get around this problem with texting. It works.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Subverted in "Operation: Breakdown", the titular character is taken apart (starting with [[EyeScream his eye]]), but feels no pain since Silas, the leader of MECH, made sure to have his pain receptors turned off beforehand.

* HumiliationConga: Pretty much the entirety of "Shadowzone" for Starscream. "Rock Bottom" didn't cut him any slack, either.

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Raf does this to [[spoiler:a Megatron-possessed Bumblebee who is attempting to use a shard of Dark Energon to resurrect the Decepticon leader in "Out Of His Head". It doesn't work.]]

** In "Sick Mind", this is everyone's reaction to the discovery that [[spoiler: Megatron is NotQuiteDead]]. And it's also [[spoiler:Megatron's reaction to discovering just what happened to him and what sort of state he's in]].
** Also, in "Out Of His Head", everyone's reaction to [[spoiler: [[HesBack Megatron's return.]] Especially Starscream.]]
** In "Shadowzone", Jack, Raf, and Miko have this reaction to learning that [[spoiler: they're trapped in a parallel dimension with a Decepticon zombie.]]

* RampJump: Optimus uses [[{{Ramprovisation}} a glacier]] to get onto the ''Nemesis'' in "Out of his Head".

* TitleDrop: In "Sick Mind":

** Another one occurs in "Out of His Head" when Optimus Prime ruins Starscream's plan to thaw a glacier in the Arctic and begin mining a huge energon deposit. Starscream loses his cool and screams that Megatron's greatest mistake was letting Optimus live. And then [[spoiler: ''Megatron comes back'']]...

** "Out of His Head". Megatron inadvertently saves Optimus from Starscream's wrath... if only because he wants to kill Optimus himself, and because he is currently deciding whether to kill Starscream for his treachery.
** Again in "Operation Breakdown", when Starscream and a bunch of Vehicons show up just in time to drive off Silas and the MECH goons, saving Bulkhead and Breakdown[[spoiler: at which point Starscream orders Breakdown to kill Bulkhead]].

** An egregious example of this is Skyquake, being based on the Lockheed Martin F-35. If you thought Starscream's transformation was disproportionate (which, taking real-world measurements into account, isn't that far off), Skyquake is a freaking ''giant'', easily towering over the kids in "Shadowzone" and almost matching Optimus in height in [[Recap/TransformersPrimeS1E6MastersAndStudents "Masters and Students"]], while his real-world alt form, the F-35, is a mere two feet longer than the F-16. There's a reason why his toy is a Voyager-Class, alongside Optimus, Bulkhead, and Starscream.

* ActingUnnatural: Miko and Raf [[EpicFail trying to lie to Optimus]] in "Speed Metal".

** Optimus Prime gets one in "Convoy", where he saves the train with Jack, Miko, some soldiers and a nuclear reactor on board, Superman style.

* BigNo: Knock Out does one when Starscream punishes him in "Speed Metal".

* BlofeldPloy: Starscream does this in "Deus Ex Machina". When Knock Out tries to claim credit for retrieving the Energon Harvester, Starscream aims it in his direction and fires...killing a hapless Vehicon positioned behind them.

* CarFu: Very common, thanks to the characters' need to keep their presence a secret. Particularly evident in "Convoy", where the Autobots' battle with [[NebulousEvilOrganisation MECH]] gets several of the MECH cars run off the road, flipped over, ''[[EveryCarIsAPinto blown up]]'', and otherwise disabled, presumably killing the drivers and passengers.

** Played with in "Predatory". Jack mentions his pocket knife and fire starter at the beginning of the episode, setting up two guns. When Jack is being chased by Airachnid, he takes out his knife, says [[LampshadeHanging "Who am I kidding?"]] and keeps running. The fire starter is used to light energon and blow up Airachnid's ship.

* CueTheSun: The end of "Predatory", set during a particularly heartwarming moment between Arcee and Jack.

** With episodes such as "Predatory" and "Rock Bottom" carrying some rather horror film-esque tinges, some fans believe this to be the ''darkest Transformers show yet''.

* DeusExMachina: One of the episode titles. Lampshaded and Invoked in said episode. Near the end, Miko explains the trope just in time for Agent Fowler to execute it.

** In "Convoy", we see various vehicular crashes with ''human'' mooks inside the cars. While the first car that crashes clearly shows the mooks surviving, the others don't, and one of the cars clearly ''[[StuffBlowingUp explodes]]''. And then there's the mook that Fowler accidentally kills by holding him in the path of a tree branch.

* GoryDiscretionShot: In "Predatory", there's energon splattering across the wall like blood due to Airachnid slashing open one of Arcee's allies in a flashback.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Subverted in "Convoy". Fowler tries to get information out of a mook by holding him off the side of Optimus driving at highway speed. Then said mook gets hit by a tree branch and dies.

* MagicSkirt: Averted in "Speed Metal" when Jack drag races another guy down a long strip. The blast from the cars whips up a breeze that looks to blow Sierra and her friend's skirts up, but she immediately pulls and holds the skirt into place as soon as it starts to billow.

* MoralDissonance: Bulkhead has shown apathy toward Fowler and Vince, both {{Jerkass}}es, and was apparently thinking it's okay to let them die, because "What? Guy's a jerk!", although he ''does'' get called out on it both times. Similarly, see the FamilyUnfriendlyViolence entry for "Convoy".

* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: Silas tries this in "Convoy", but Optimus manages to save the DNGS.

* PoliceAreUseless: In "Deus Ex Machina", the museum guard calls the police before he finds Miko and takes her into the security room for questioning during the night. At the end of the episode, ''morning comes'' and the police never arrive, when realistically, it should only have taken them a few minutes to get there. ''Fowler'' manages to get there before they do, and he was supposed to be ''on break'' at the time.

** And in "Speed Metal," a much louder example: "IT. IS. LORD!!!!"

** "Convoy" has a few sweet moments between Jack and Miko. She even holds his arm and, well, he tries to sweetly say goodbye.

* ShownTheirWork: The train in "Convoy" is surprisingly accurate. The Mythos also get themselves some decent references, like Bumblebee being hooked up to an Electro-Pulse modifier, something mentioned ''way'' back in Generation 1, and only once.

* {{Trainstopping}}: Optimus in "Convoy"

* UnwillingSuspension: Starscream's preferred method of keeping prisoners. Airachnid kept Arcee like this during the flashbacks in "Predatory".

** And in "Speed Metal", when Starscream tells Knock Out to forget about drag racing and focus on repairing Megatron (specifically, buffing out his body), Knock Out replies with "Buff this!" in a way very similar to flipping someone off.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous: Knock Out's punishment in "Speed Metal".

** Bulkhead gets this treatment from Jack again in "Speed Metal" when local bully Vince is taken hostage by Knock Out.

** In "Con Job", after being tackled by Wheeljack, Starscream gets it.

* BluffTheImpostor: Bulkhead to Wheeljack[[spoiler:/Makeshift]] in "Con Job" with "The Battle of Darkmount Pass".

** "Scrapheap" has two such instances in one scene. At the end of the episode, Miko ''absolutely freaks out'' over a tiny spider, when earlier she'd mildly made fun of Bulkhead for his fear of Scraplets. (The difference is Bulkhead has a ''genuine reason'' to be afraid of them: The little things are ''lethal''.) Bulkhead also comments that she ScreamsLikeALittleGirl, when he'd done the same thing earlier (and of course, Miko actually is a girl).

** "Scrapheap" is practically the Transformers' version of [[StarTrek Tribbles]].

** [[spoiler:Makeshift's]] reaction to realising that Bulkhead tricked him into blowing his cover in "Con Job".

* PlotTailoredToTheParty: "Scrapheap". The base is swarmed with Scraplets, metal-eating termites. The only way to get them out of the base is through the [=GroundBridge=]. The only way to fix the [=GroundBridge=] is to repair the leak in the fuel line. The fuel line is where the scraplets swarm is located. Now if only there was someone in the base not made of metal who could go down there to fix the fuel line...

* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: Invoked by Bulkhead when he finds the pod in "Scrapheap".

* VillainousBreakdown: In "Con Job", Starscream gets progressively less patient as Makeshift fails to report in. Then Wheeljack ''escapes'' and promptly kicks all of Starscream's soldiers' asses, in addition to laying a smackdown on Starscream himself. It all culminates in [[spoiler: Wheeljack sending back Makeshift...who then explodes, due to the bomb hidden on him]].

** An egregious example of this is Skyquake, being based on the Lockheed Martin F-35. If you thought Starscream's transformation was disproportionate (which, taking real-world measurements into account, isn't that far off), Skyquake is a freaking ''giant'', easily towering over the kids in "Shadowzone" and almost matching Optimus in height in "Masters & Students", while his real-world alt form, the F-35, is a mere two feet longer than the F-16. There's a reason why his toy is a Voyager-Class, alongside Optimus, Bulkhead, and Starscream.

* BackToBackBadasses: Optimus and Ratchet vs [[spoiler:Megatron's undead army]] in "Darkness Rising, Part 2". By the end of it, there's a massive pile of scrap, and the two Autobots are only mildly injured.

* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: Cliffjumper's horn does this when broken off by the Vehicons, and Optimus's broken arm-blade does it in "Darkness Rising, Part 5".

** In "Darkness Rising", [[spoiler:Cliffjumper]] spits out a bit of SymbolicBlood when he's brought before Starscream.

* BulletproofHumanShield: Bulkhead does this with several Vehicons when he attacks the ''Nemesis'' in "Darkness Rising".

* CallBack: When Fowler finds the kids at the Autobot base in "Darkness Rising, Part 3", Jack says they're interning for a science scholarship. When Fowler meets Jack's mom at the end of "Crisscross", Fowler tells her Jack's ''his'' intern. (Jack then tells him not to bother; she already knows the truth.)

* ClickHello: Arcee pulls one on Starscream in "Darkness Rising" when he threatens to kill Fowler if the Autobots don't back off. Further establishing that this Starscream is awesome, even this doesn't make him back down.

* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: A quick one in "Darkness Rising, Part 4", when the Autobots finally locate Fowler.

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: For the Transformers, this is obviously a traditional and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] case. Averted with Fowler's helicopter in "Darkness Rising", which has a Gatling gun. Played straight with MECH, but then again, considering how tough the Autobots and Decepticons are, it's actually justified too. Averted with members of the US Army, who are seen carrying assault rifles but never firing them.

** In "Darkness Rising, Part 3," Bulkhead rips out a Vehicon's spark (or at least a fair portion of the vital components in his chest) onscreen. To him, he's ripping out the guy's heart, so he tells Miko (who's watching) to look away, seemingly to protect her [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocence]]. Naturally, she just looks on in awe.

** In "Darkness Rising, Part 1", Starscream punches a hole in [[spoiler:Cliffjumper]]'s chest. Fluid leaks out and splatters on the ground in a manner not unlike blood.
** In Part 2, Arcee leaps on a Vehicon's shoulders and '''rips his head off with her ankles!'''

* HeroicSecondWind: Optimus gets one in "Darkness Rising, Part 4" after he gets dogpiled by zombies.

* TheLostLenore: [[spoiler: Cliffjumper and, to a lesser extent, Tailgate]] for Arcee. The other 'bots seem affected too, especially in "Darkness Rising, Part 5" when [[spoiler: Arcee]] takes serious damage.

* NeckLift: Starscream gets one from Megatron in "Darkness Rising, Part Four".

* OneManArmy: Bulkhead is second only to Prime in combat power, and he produces a fine showing of this in "Darkness Rising, Part 4", when he takes on a squad of Vehicons by himself with surprising grace, finesse and power. He's also the only Transformer that wasn't Optimus to hold his own against [[spoiler:Megatron, while he's fully powered by his dark energon]]. A very impressive feat.

* PietaPlagiarism: [[spoiler: When Bumblebee carries an injured Arcee back through the [=GroundBridge=] at the end of "Darkness Rising".]]

----

* ActorAllusion: In "Convoy", Clancy Brown plays a human super villain "Silas" who bedevils Optimus Prime. By coincidence or design, this is the second time Clancy Brown has found himself playing a supervillain who is an antagonist to a [[SupermanTheAnimatedSeries benevolent super-powered alien primarily clad in the colors red and blue.]]

* EigenPlot: "Scrapheap". The base is swarmed with Scraplets, metal-eating termites. The only way to get them out of the base is through the [=GroundBridge=]. The only way to fix the [=GroundBridge=] is to repair the leak in the fuel line. The fuel line is where the scraplets swarm is located. Now if only there was someone in the base not made of metal who could go down there to fix the fuel line...
** It is lampshaded by Ratchet: "We're lucky it happened... on a Saturday."

** Nearly as bad in this episode was how well they implied that they drilled out [[EyeScream Breakdown's eye]], even showing the removed eyeball and mentioning what it was. Ew.

* DawsonCasting: Played straight with 32-year-old Josh Keaton and 28-year-old Tania Gunadi respectively playing teenagers Jack and Miko, but narrowly averted by Andy Pessoa, who's 16 playing 12-year-old Raf.

** The next time MECH shows up, this continues. Breakdown and Bulkhead have a BackToBackBadasses moment that is not shy about showing them smashing and exploding clearly manned cars and helicopters.

* EigenPlot: "Scrapheap". The base is swarmed with Scraplets, metal-eating termites. The only way to get them out of the base is through the [=GroundBridge=]. The only way to fix the [=GroundBridge=] is to repair the leak in the fuel line. The fuel line is where the scraplets swarm is located. Now if only the Autobots had some people not made of metal who could go down there to fix the fuel line...

** [[spoiler:Megatron makes an alliance with Optimus in One Shall Rise Part 2 against Unicron.]]

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: It starts off with a conversation between Cliffjumper and Arcee, then a fight with Decepticons where Cliffjumper fights them alone, doing well, then he's captured[[spoiler:, and unceremoniously murdered by Starscream]].

** Breakdown vs MECH.
** [[spoiler: Megatron vs Unicron]]

** In the third, Bulkhead rips out a Vehicon's spark (or at least a fair portion of the vital components in his chest) onscreen. To him, he's ripping out the guy's heart, so he tells Miko (who's watching) to look away, seemingly to protect her [[ChildrenAreInnocent innocence]]. Naturally, she just looks on in awe.

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Optimus and Starscream both write [[spoiler:Megatron]] off after [[spoiler:the space bridge explodes with him at ground zero. It takes until the next episode for Megatron to show up again, alive and...[[http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/5/5b/Masters%26Students-Megatronstasis.jpg not exactly well.]]]]

** Also, in "Out of his Head", everyone's reaction to [[spoiler: [[HesBack Megatron's return.]] Especially Starscream.]]

-->'''Optimus''': I have been foolish not to see what history has proven over and over again. That Autobots and Decepticons will ''never'' mend their ways. If there can be no diplomatic solution to this perpetual conflict, then I must not allow more darkness to fall upon this or any planet. [[spoiler: Megatron must be ''destroyed''!]]

* Badass: [[WorldOfBadass Holy]] [[AdaptationalBadass shit.]]

* HoYay[=/=]FoeYay: In "Masters and Students", [[spoiler: Starscream finds Megatron barely alive]], and gets ''very'' uncomfortably close [[spoiler: to Megatron's nearly dead body]]. One wonders if this is a reference to the fanfiction.
** And then there's Arcee referring to Wheeljack as Bulkhead's "boyfriend".
** As well as Knock Out complimenting Optimus' bodywork in vehicle mode...
* HotMom: June looks like she could still be in high school.

The show is animated in CGI but carries a bit of a [[ForTheCelOfIt 2-D flair]]. Here is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVu67D2hXyA the opening sequence]] for the series. The overall look and tone of the show follows closely with the [[Film/{{Transformers}} live-action films]] (with Optimus, Bumblebee and Megatron having similar designs) while it continues to take inspiration from many other Transformers incarnations, and it has inspired a new MMO game, ''TransformersUniverse''.

* VictoryGloating[=/=]EvilGloating: Starscream is fond of this, usually when he thinks he's rid of Megatron once and for all.