Headscratchers / Transformers: Cybertron

• Why did Vector Prime need to turn back time so far when getting the Autobots back from the Giant Planet? We see their past selves heading to it, implying Vector took them back to the start of the arc, yet the dimensional gate only closed the previous episode. For that matter the subsequent episodes imply the Autobots have been gone a while, with Galvatron arriving home at around the same time.
• In Invasion why did the drone planes have cockpits?