Beast Wars Scorponok was a pretty forgettable also-ran henchman, so it’s honestly no real loss that in Kingdom he’s a generic. The real tragedy is that we never see Scorponok’s little claw pal, Cyberbee! There’s so many Scorponoks and yet zero Cyberbees. It’s a crime. We have “Code of Hero” at home Image: Netflix It’s absolutely shameless, but you can tell it was written under the throes of Dinobot Fever, which is a malady I also suffer from. So I give it all four of Dinobot’s thumbs up. A+ Dinobot pandering, would binge again. Oh wait, there’s still more ’80s stuff! Image: Netflix

Transformers Generations War for Cybertron: Kingdom Core

Phew. Are we all done with the ’80s now? Can we march on to the acoustic guitar covers and plaid? The Golden Disk’s B-side hits Remember when I gushed over Dinobot at the end of my writeup for Earthrise? Well, my gushing was well-founded! I think the folks behind Kingdom also gush a little over Dinobot, and it shows, and so a lot of episode 3 felt very me-targeted. I am the intended audience.Includes Transformers Generations War for Cybertron: Kingdom Leader Class figure, accessories, Golden Disk card, and instructions. DISCOVER KINGDOM: Worlds collide when the Maximals and Predacons join the fight, coming together with the Autobots and Decepticons in an epic battle that will alter their destiny forever What I’m saying is that green Cog’s name is obviously Christmas Cog. Spoiler Toys III Photo: David Willis BEASTIFY THE BATTLEFIELD: Unleash the primal power of the beasts with the ancient and highly advanced F.O.S.S.I.L. technology. Sentient Fossilizer bots, infused with primordial energy, break apart and weaponize their allies. Use Deluxe Fossilizer figures to beastify this figure with epic bone armor accessories! (Each sold separately, subject to availability.) The original Airazor was the Maximal’s wry kid sister who had a crush on big ol’ sexy Tigatron, not realizing that speaking up about her crush on big ol’ sexy Tigatron is what triggers them both to get suddenly ejected from the series. It’s like slasher film rules, where “sex” = “holding hands” and “getting stabbed by the Scream guy” = “getting abducted offworld by a tentacled alien plant trap.”

Kingdom Core Transformers Toys Generations War for Cybertron: Kingdom Core

In episode 3, as the Autobots and Decepticons wander the forest around where the Allspark is located, it starts to give them each personalized hallucinations. Megatron sees Galvatron. Optimus Prime sees his perished mentor Alpha Trion. Arcee sees Cog (who died in Earthrise). Sideswipe calls out for Sunstreaker, his twin brother who doesn’t appear in this trilogy. Starscream’s hallucination is, of course, his crown and cape from his coronation scene in The Transformers: The Movie. Image: Netflix In a major departure from most Generation One Transformers retellings, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their double crew of warring robots actually survive their double crash on prehistoric Earth! They just get up off the floor easy as they please, rather than taking a four million year nap. Nobody even wore a seatbelt. Note: the Voyager “Sounds of Earth” Golden Record (known in Transformers circles as the Golden Disk) as seen in Kingdom has some pretty low-res English on it. It should say, y’know, “Sounds of Earth” there, but instead there’s what looks like pixelated Cybertronian letters. This Optimus Prime collectible figure stands at the new Core Class scale! The 3.5-inch mini-figure allows fans to collect a mini version of the iconic character to pose out with other Optimus Prime figures at larger scales! (Each sold separately, subject to availability.)I was honestly hoping they’d recycle Dinobot’s character model in different colors like 16 times like they did for Cog or the Reflectors or the Seekers, just to give me an excuse to (1) tell you about them at length, and (2) buy up a bunch of Dinobots and customize them into those recolors. But alas, it was not meant to be. GOLDEN DISK CARDS REVEAL POSSIBLE DESTINIES: Includes a Golden Disk card that reveals a possible destiny of a key character. Collect other Kingdom figures to reveal all 3 alternate destiny variants for each character! Includes a Golden Disk card that reveals a possible destiny of a key character. Collect other Kingdom figures to reveal all 3 alternate destiny variants for each character! (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.) Beast Megatron steals the disk for the same reason he did in the original series: because long ago G1 Megatron encoded information on the disk that gave information on how to change history and alter the course of the war in the Decepticons’ favor! And so Beast Megatron and his Predacons stole the disk and also a ship that could travel in time (they just leave those out and about in Cybertron’s future), they were followed by Optimus Primal and his Maximals, and both factions crash landed on prehistoric Earth. They’re from the future and know a lot about history Image: Netflix

TRANSFORMERS,F0662 Toys Generations War for Cybertron

The transforming Ark robot is the largest toy in the Kingdom toyline, and so yes obviously it was going to show up in Kingdom, just as Omega Supreme and Scorponok showed up respectively in Siege and Earthrise. But a deeper reference is who Hasbro designed the Ark robot to resemble: the Last Autobot, the Autobot symbol-faced demigod who appeared in the last two issues of the original Marvel comic book series. Image: IDW Beast Wars’ Cheetor was the Maximal’s awkward over-eager teenager. Beast Wars’ Tigatron was an aloof tree-hugging samurai loner. The last chapter of War for Cybertron left viewers wondering how Galvatron obtained the Voyager Golden Record that he was trying to pass off to Megatron. Would you believe … from one of the two Voyager probes? It’s crazy, we know! True to form, the good guys arrive too late around Dinobot’s dying body, the Predacon turncoat having wrestled the Matrix of Leadership away from Megatron, and the Autobots and Decepticons give him their last respects as he shuffles off towards the Transformers Afterlife. It’s just like Dinobot’s death in “Code of Hero” except Prowl and Sideswipe are also there! Image: Netflix We see Menasor! (He’s the combined form of the Stunticons, who do not appear in this trilogy.) Image: NetflixAlso: Kingdom’s Dinobot is voiced by Krizz Kaliko, the rap artist. I am only bringing this up because this means Dinobot is… A VELOCIRAPPER! Eh? Ehh?) Dinobot even gets to call him “vermin” once, even though the two never speak otherwise. Sometimes Beast Wars fans get fan service, too. Beast Megatron, no Image: Netflix In Beast Wars, G1 Megatron’s face is reflected in the disk as he’s encoding a message in it while in deep space.