Elita here is Optimus' second-in-command, and an especially competent Action Girl, to boot. She even saves him from Megatron by shooting his sword out of his hands in the first episode.
Despite being brutally tortured by the Decepticons, Ultra Magnus still refuses to lead them to the Autobots' hideout instead sending them to a false location. Even in the face of death, he still remains Defiant to the End.
Megatron: I will unify Cybertron.
Ultra Magnus: You will never win this war.
To make sure the Autobots can trust him, Jetfire tells Prowl to put a bomb in his head, so they can blow his head off if he betrays them.
Mirage using his Hologram powers to cloak an entire space bridge from the Decepticons.
Omega Supreme showing up and laying waste to the Decepticons surrounding the Space Bridge.
Megatron: (growls)Omega Supreme! So, the Guardians have chosen a side in this conflict?!
Omega Supreme: My actions are my own, Megatron! For the good of Cybertron, you must be stopped!
Earthrise
Following in Omega Supreme's footsteps, Scorponok shows what happens when a titan has nothing left to lose. Not only does it take two separate military forces to even make him flinch, taking explosives meant to tear starships apart to the face and surviving unhindered, but he manages to use that and deliver a "Reason You Suck" Speech to Megatron by comparing him to the Quintessons. And unlike so many others, the despot can't silence Scorponok with intimidation, an appeal to his Freudian Excuse, or a swift execution. He's forced to confront that someone who prides himself on rebelling against the most notorious slavers in the galaxy sees no difference between them and Megatron.
When Megatron is injured by an explosion set off by Optimus, Starscream decides to do what we know him best for and take command of the Decepticons. When an injured Megatron returns, the Decepticons show their true loyalty will always be to Megatron and help him. When Starscream protests, Megatron responds by blasting him. Later when Starscream comes groveling back, Megatron doesn't buy it and promptly orders him off the ship's bridge.
When Megatron focuses his hate in the Dead Universe, a place where thought can influence reality, to try and destroy Optimus, Sky Lynx promptly throws himself in the way to buy the Autobots time to escape. The fact that he didn't immediately die and actually survived for a bit is a testament to his power in both body and mind; no wonder he used to be so arrogant.
As both The Ark and the Nemesis crash down to Earth, someone in particular spots both the vessels plummeting to their doom. And who is that someone? A simple velociraptor minding his own business...who then activates his robotic eyes, revealing it's DINOBOT. Yes, THAT Dinobot. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Beast Wars have begun once again!
Kingdom
Kingdom delivers on something the fans have wanted for years: the old-school G1 Autobots and Decepticons teaming up with their Beast Wars descendants, the Maximals and Predacons.
Despite the Allspark being gone for countless cycles, Cybertronian life managed to persist resulting in Maximals and Predacons. This gives Autobot!Optimus hope for the future.
Optimus’ Big Damn Heroes moment in Episode 3, rescuing the Autobot and Maximal rescue team from execution at Beast Megatron’s hands.
Dinobot’s last stand is nearly as epic as his original, as he fights Ravage, Laserbeak, Soundwave, and both Megatrons to retrieve the Matrix of Leadership and return it to Optimus Prime. The fact that he actually manages to hold the upper hand for most of his fight against the original Megatron before the Predacon Megatron intervenes, all while delivering a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Decepticon leader, deserves its own mention.
At one point, Dinobot impales Soundwave through the chest, a wound that knocks him out but allows him to return later. However, Laserbeak was in his chest at that time and fails to reappear afterwords. Meaning that Dinobot not only soundly trashed most of his opponents, he outright killed one of them offhandedly.
Megatron orders Soundwave to fire at will on the Ark, but the weapons of the Nemesis are non-functional:
Megatron: Lower the boarding ramp!
Soundwave: But... out of weapons!
Megatron:Iamthe weapon! (Transforms into a tank and start firing at the Ark.)
Using the power of the Allspark, Teletraan I transforms the Ark into a gigantic robot to turn the tide of the battle at the volcano.
The final battle, with Autobots and Decepticons alike teaming up to fight Nemesis Prime and Galvatron.
Also from that scene, Megatron turning on Galvatron, and giving him a wonderful Shut Up, Hannibal!:
Megatron: You don’t control my destiny. I control yours.
For a villainous one, the fact that this Enemy Mine only barely enough to hold them off.
Megatron: There's only two of them and we're still outnumbered!
Special mention goes to how Starscream stands up to Megatron in Episode 5, veering his cannon turret away from the Ark to buy more time for the Autobots and Maximals to escape. Megatron gets the better of him in a straight fight, but Starscream wins by using his tongue and his cunning - two features that'd been Informed Abilities in the character's long history - to surprise him.
Megatron: You can't do anything right Starscream!
Starscream: I can fly. [Kicks out of Megatron's grip, transforms into his jet mode, flies back around and rams Megatron off the platform.]
