The previous two seasons of Transformers Prime have pitted Optimus Prime and the Autobots, along with the human teens of Raf, Miko, and Jack against Megatron and the Decepticon forces, in numerous battles, often spanning multiple episodes. While it’s unfortunate that the series is coming to a close, the good news is that at least the creators had early warning, and were thus able to put together an excellent third season with only half (thirteen) of the amount of episodes of seasons one and two. All too often, established series’ get the axe with short notice and the result is a series that doesn’t really have closure. Fortunately, that isn’t the case with Transformers Prime.
The end of season two saw Megatron and crew gain the upper hand in the fight, having destroyed the secret Autobot base and now seemingly becoming unstoppable in their quest to dominate the Earth and destroy Cybertron. With the “good guys” scattered about and unable to communicate and coordinate a new plan, Megatron’s reign seems imminent as he takes his throne in the gigantic Darkmount spire. Optimus Prime, nearly dead, rationalizes to Smokescreen that he is possibly the next Prime. Shockwave is reintroduced to the Decepticon forces and he’s been secretly working on cloning a Predacon on Cybertron, but soon after Ultra Magnus joins up with the Autobots as they begin to pool their resources together again to mount a counterattack. A few episodes later, the collection of bones of the fallen Predacons on Cybertron continues with Megatron intending to resurrect them for additional power for his army. Numerous subplots involving the unleashing of the Predaking and the continuation of rapid preparation for a final showdown, including the death of Ratchet and the capture and first spoken dialogue in the series from Soundwave, lead up to the series’ sixty-fifth episode that pits good versus evil aboard the Decepticon starship, Nemesis.
There is no shortage of action in the third season, which is staple for Prime, but these thirteen episodes also maintain a high volume of character development and reflection. The writing of Steven Melching and Duane Capizzi and others, with the oversight of Jeff Kline, David Hartman, and Shaunt Nigoghossian of the Japanese CG company Polygon, uphold the quality of the first two seasons that has earned the series multiple Emmys. As an interested, but not hardcore fan of Transformers Prime, I was pleased with the third season as a seamless continuation from the first two that came to an impressive conclusion. Of course, there is also the epilogue film, Predacons Rising, that was released in October that further expands the conclusion of the story.
As for the home release which is a two disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack, it’s about what you would expect. That is to say the presentation quality is just as good as the previous seasons, showcasing excellent image and sound quality. The work, especially in the artistic detail that both Hasbro Studios and Polygon have put into Prime for sixty-five episodes now, is simply stellar, and it really pops off the screen on Blu-ray. It’s no secret that modern CG animation in HD looks stunning. The audio for the episodes is a vibrant 5.1 Surround with only English language tracks and, once again, no subtitles at all which is a minor letdown. The bonus features, while in 1080p, are just stereo 2.0, which is sufficient.
As for extra features, it’s mostly audio commentaries. On Disc 1, audio commentaries are included for all episodes (i.e., “Darkmount, NV”, “Scattered,” “Prey,” “Rebellion,” and “Plus One”) except for “Project Predacon” and “Chain of Command.” The second disc features less commentary as they are only present for the final two episodes, “Synthesis” and “Deadlock.” The commentaries include a rotating cast of creators, including Jeff Kline, David Hartman, Steven Melching, Josh Keaton, Duane Capizzi, Sumalee Montano, and others. The commentaries are candid and interesting and worth a listen if you’ve been through the series before.
In addition to those audio commentaries, disc two holds the two other features. The first is the San Diego International Comic Con 2013 panel that featured Jeff Kline, David Hartman, Steven Melching, and a couple of other reps from Hasbro Studios. This was filmed the day before the airing of the final episode, “Deadlock.” It’s a good watch as you see these creators reflect on what they’ve accomplished and experienced over the last three years with Hasbro Studios and Transformers Prime. It’s too bad that no one from the Polygon animation studio was available for this panel or as an extra feature in general, but, it’s worth mentioning that there is a nice ten minute feature about Polygon on the Predacons Rising disc. The last extra feature is a two minute extended scene from “Deadlock” that, in an attempt to avoid a spoiler for those of you who haven’t seen it, depicts the final moments of the battle aboard the Nemesis. Timecode appears in the upper right hand corner, which is kinda cool.
And with that concludes one of the best cartoons or animated series in quite a few years. Let’s get to the summary…