Five Faces of Darkness

Disclaimer: characters shown may not be in this cartoon.

"Five Faces of Darkness" is the five-part season premiere of the third season of the Generation 1 animated series. It was a direct sequel to the events of the animated movie, though none of the celebrity voice actors returned to their roles.

These episodes are infamous for poor art and animation quality; but from a storytelling perspective they provide much information about ancient Transformer history, and either establish or reinforce in-character behavior for practically every member of the cast. The story is a wide-ranging adventure, taking place on half a dozen alien worlds as well as Cybertron and Earth.

"Five Faces of Darkness" is the first appearance of Metroplex, and shows the construction of his Decepticon opposite Trypticon, who destroys Autobot Headquarters in the lead up to a fight between the two Titans. Galvatron returns to lead the Decepticons, and Rodimus Prime has a head-trip into the Matrix of Leadership to learn the history of the Autobots. This story also features the first appearances of Outback, Marissa Faireborn, Sky Lynx, the Predacons, the Skuxxoid, and the offensive stereotype Abdul Fakkadi.

These five episodes, as originally aired, featured their own unique introductory title sequence, largely composed of interpretive versions of events within the mini-series.