Megatronus Unleashed

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"Wanna ring the bell?" "All right. Ding ding."
"Megatronus Unleashed"
Production company	Hasbro Studios, Machinima
Airdate	June 26, 2018
Written by	F.J. DeSanto Adam Beechen Jamie Iracleanos
Director	Yuzo Sato
Animation studio	Tatsunoko Production

As the gods engage in combat, the Matrix chooses the next Prime.

Synopsis

Unicron, now in full control of Rodimus Cron's body, wastes no time in firing on Megatronus, repeating his intention to destroy the Matrix of Leadership and snuff out the last remnants of Primus, including the remaining Thirteen. Megatron steps out of the way as Unicron lunges towards the Matrix, but Megatronus refuses to let himself or Solus Prime go without a fight. Despite the intensity of Megatronus’s flame blasts, they prove largely ineffective against Unicron. As the flames surrounding them finally die down, Grimlock, Optimus Primal, Perceptor and Windblade collapse to the ground. Unicron begins to return fire and engages in a fistfight with Megatronus. Seeing his chance, and beckoned to do so by Solus, Megatron fires on Megatronus's doomsday device, damaging it and causing Solus's spirit to be disrupted. Megatronus takes notice and downs Megatron with one shot, but this leaves him open for an attack by Unicron.

While the two gods grapple, the rest of Team Megatron slowly gets to their feet and begin attacking the device despite their nearly diminished energy. Refusing to lose Solus again, Megatronus blasts Unicron into the wall, critically damaging him, and runs to stop them. Despite his shots, the team right themselves quickly, and Windblade realizes that all the fighting has begun to weaken Megatronus. Despite the Fallen firing directly upon him, Primal continues to try and pull the Matrix loose from the device as Solus pleads with her lover to stop. The Matrix begins to interface with Primal, and Solus finally begins to fade as the Requiem Blaster and Enigma of Combination are released from the device. Refusing to listen to Solus, Megatronus charges again and fires, but Primal holds the Matrix aloft, and its power creates a shield around the four heroes.

As Primal negates every one of Megatronus's blasts, Perceptor reveals that the Matrix has chosen him. Primal plugs the Matrix into his chest port, and a bright light engulfs him. The others watch in awe as the light fades and Primal emerges in a gigantic new body. Though they at first mistake him for Optimus Prime, Primal explains that the Matrix has rechristened him Optimal Optimus and dubbed him the protector of all sentient beings. Despite his injuries, Unicron gets to his feet and lunges at Optimus, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly assaulting him. Seeing the Enigma and Blaster lying unattended, Megatronus makes a run for them, but is tackled by Perceptor, Grimlock and Windblade. As Unicron's punches begin to slow, Primal catches his fist and fires a massive beam that sends everyone flying, including Unicron. Neither of the two stay on the ground for very long though, and they both jump and punch at the other, their fists colliding in midair.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

*Voice-only appearance

Quotes

"You two seem to have some catching up to do...so have fun with that."

—Megatron knows when to keep his distance.

"Me Grimlock like new Optimus!"

—Grimlock casually glosses over the fact that he never liked the old one.

"It's time you learned, Unicron...Transformers no longer fear you."

—Optimal Optimus calls Unicron out.

Notes

Transformers references

• While perhaps not a specific call-out, this isn't the first time Rodimus has been used as a host for Unicron's disembodied spirit.

Trivia

• "Rodimus Cron" is consistently referred to as Unicron in this episode, to the point where it seems as though any hint of Rodimus as a separate entity is gone: for all intents and purposes, this body is Unicron now.
• Whereas Optimus Primal's design borrowed more cues from the Beast Wars cartoon design, Optimal Optimus is heavily modeled after his Power of the Primes toy down to the Primal kibble on his back and the Maximal insignia on each shoulder (despite seemingly having no ties to said faction in this continuity).
• This episode was the first to lack subtitles when it was published on go90. A subtitle track was later added when it was uploaded to YouTube.