Beast Wars: Transformers

After travelling into the distant past via a transwarp drive, the Maximals battle the Predacons in outer space, but both ships crash land on a mysterious planet. They scan for beast forms to protect their robot forms from the planet's large amount of Energon. Enraged by the apparent failure to land on Earth, Dinobot challenges Megatron for leadership of the Predacons, but is blown away by Scorponok. After the first battle on the planet between the Maximals and Predacons, Dinobot reappears to challenge Optimus Primal for leadership of the Maximals.

After the Predacons interfere with Optimus and Dinobot's duel, Dinobot agrees to serve under the Maximals, but the Predacons find an Energon-infested mountain. The two teams have a battle to get the Energon, but the Energon explodes after Dinobot saves Optimus from Megatron. Knowing that the Predacons are not gone for good, the Maximals prepare themselves for the expected long-term conflict for control of the planet's Energon, which Optimus declares to call the Beast Wars.

After losing a prototype comm-link developed by Rhinox, Cheetor tries to redeem himself by sneaking into the Predacons' base. However, Tarantulas captures Cheetor, leaving it up to Rattrap to rescue him.

The Maximals try to place a Predacon detection system during an Energon storm and Cheetor somehow ends up in the Darksyde, while Terrorsaur ends up in the Axalon. Using Terrorsaur to discover how the transportation occurred, Dinobot goes to Optimus with a plan to beam a bomb to the Predacon base. Meanwhile Cheetor discovers an Energon vein running between both bases.

An alien probe appears, and Optimus is seemingly disintegrated, leaving the Maximals bickering over who is in command.

Terrorsaur finds a floating mountain rich with Energon. It makes him incredibly powerful, and he plans to overthrow Megatron and defeat the Maximals once and for all.

A stasis pod lands and the Maximals and Predacons race to reach the protoform. Tigatron comes out, joining the Maximals, but he prefers to stay out in the wild rather than the base, so he asks the Maximals to call him when they need him.

Another stasis pod lands and Tarantulas gets there first, releasing Blackarachnia. Rattrap's loyalty to the Maximals is questioned by Optimus and he nearly joins the Predacons.

Rattrap and Dinobot accidentally activate Sentinel, the Axalon's new defense system, before it has learned that the Maximals are friends. Feeling guilty for starting it, Rattrap stays inside the Axalon to shut down Sentinel. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia leads a Predacon mission, trying to break into the Axalon, leaving Tigatron the only one to stop them.

Scorponok tries to infect Optimus with a virus meant to change him into a coward, but it changes the gorilla into a battle-hungry maniac instead.

The Maximals detect a Cybertronian probe, and try to contact it.

Terrorsaur leads a rebellion against Megatron, and the ensuing fight accidentally blows up the Darksyde when an Energon sample is hit. Thinking they have won the Beast Wars, the Maximals decide to salvage parts from the Predacon ship and go back to Cybertron. But the destruction of the Predacons turns out to be an elaborate ruse planned by the Predacons themselves.

Rhinox is converted into a Predacon by one of Tarantulas' machines, but his new-found temper becomes dangerous to Megatron and his crew.

Megatron uses a non-transforming clone of Dinobot to try to shut down Sentinel, while Terrorsaur traps the real Dinobot in a cave.

Rhinox and Cheetor must defend a crashed stasis pod from the Predacons. They are successful and Airazor is born. The concept of sparks is introduced in this episode, it is a concept that is used in Transformer lore that is still used today.

A strange floating island appears. Tigatron and Airazor are soon stranded on it, while Blackarachnia and Scorponok attempt to take control of it.

The Maximals and Predacons battle for control of the floating island. But Blackarachnia gets it, and plans to use it for her own agenda.

Tarantulas and Blackarachnia attempt to make a third spider Predacon using a crashed stasis pod, but end up creating Inferno, an insane fire ant Predacon.

The Predacons steal the Energon shielding system from the Axalon. The Maximals are forced to stay in beast mode, and the instincts of their animal counterparts begin to take over.

Scorponok and Waspinator blow up a pit of Energon while Cheetor, Rattrap, Rhinox, and Dinobot are mining in it. All four Maximals are blinded, and must somehow make it back to the Axalon.

Waspinator is possessed by the spark of Starscream.

Tarantulas infects Rhinox with a cold-like virus which causes him to expel his Energon supplies in the form of destructive hiccoughs. Eventually, he will not only destroy the Axalon, but himself as well. Dinobot and Rattrap must cooperate for once as they search for Tarantulas' lab, hoping he has the counter-virus.

After accidentally killing a feline friend in a fight with Inferno, Tigatron feels guilty and almost leaves the Maximals. But Dinobot and Optimus are able to bring him back. Meanwhile Inferno, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur are looking for a gift to give to the "Queen", with Tigatron and Dinobot at the top of their list.

Inferno finds a second Golden Disc, marked with alien runes. Megatron and Optimus supposedly agree to a truce, and Tarantulas is determined to get off Earth.

Optimus, Rattrap, and Airazor discover an alien structure. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia discovers Tarantulas' escape plans and forces him to let her tag along.

The Vok unleash a monstrous weapon, an artificial moon, intending to destroy Earth and all Maximals and Predacons on it. Using a stasis pod equipped with transwarp cells, Optimus flies to the moon to destroy it, but Megatron deviously seals the pod shut, causing Optimus to be destroyed along with the moon.

After the Transwarp explosion, which results in the destruction of the Vok's artificial moon, unleashes an Energon wave, the impact of which kills Terrorsaur and Scorponok. Rattrap and Cheetor gain new Transmetal forms from its irradiation, but so do Megatron and Tarantulas.

Two Fuzors – Silverbolt and Quickstrike – are created from damaged stasis pods, and Megatron is able to convince them to join the Predacons. Meanwhile, Tarantulas is able to download his spark back into his new Transmetal body. Dinobot steals the Golden Discs after he and Waspinator find out that the planet they are on is prehistoric Earth. During this episode Silverbolt was thought and believed to have been a Predacon and the only one that is based off a mammal, as he is a combination of a wolf and eagle.

Thanks to the efforts of Rhinox, Optimus Primal is revived as a Transmetal, and after a battle with the Predacons, Silverbolt disbands the Predacons and joins the Maximals, as he stated in the previous episode that "Terrorize" is a word he doesn't like "the taste of".

Tarantulas, Quickstrike, and Blackarachnia are sent to secure a new Predacon post, but their conflicting intentions and the intervention of Rattrap and Silverbolt complicate things.

While on a reconnaissance mission, Dinobot is captured by the Predacons. Instead of fighting them he announces that he wants to be a Predacon again. He is able to prove his loyalty by defeating Quickstrike, but when he has to kill Rattrap, he starts to reevaluate his allegiance.

Tigatron and Airazor are beamed into space after discovering a new alien device. The Maximals and Predacons battle for control of the weapon.

Megatron gains control of the alien weapon, and plans to use it to conquer Cybertron. The Maximals are forced into an uneasy alliance with Tarantulas in order to stop him.

The psychotic Protoform X crashes on Earth and attacks Maximal and Predacon alike. Eventually, Megatron removes his Spark, using it to blackmail him into joining the Predacons under a new name: Rampage. During this time, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia begin a relationship.

The Predacons attempt to annihilate a colony of pre-humans to change the outcome of the future war between the Autobots and Decepticons. With no other Maximal around, Dinobot faces the whole Predacon army alone in battle. He tries to prevent them from changing history, even if it means sacrificing his life. This episode is widely considered to be one of the best episodes in Transformers history and the Region 1 DVD describes it as the "powerful series centerpiece". It is also considered to be the episode which catapulted Dinobot into the Transformers Hall of Fame in 2010.

A faulty Transformer named Transmutate is created from a damaged stasis pod. Silverbolt and Rampage compete for its trust, but Transmutate is killed by its own power while attempting to break up the fight between Silverbolt and Rampage.

The Tripredacus Council is hit by the explosion caused by the destruction of the alien device in "Other Voices", and they recognize the signal as being from Megatron's ship. After blocking the wave from reaching the Maximals, they send a covert operative to capture Megatron. The agent turns out to be ex-Decepticon Ravage, who makes an alliance with the Maximals in order to capture Megatron.

Optimus and Cheetor attempt to recover an Energon stash, but are damaged when it is destroyed by Inferno. Meanwhile, Silverbolt follows Blackarachnia to a mountain that Megatron has been interested in, and Megatron wins the loyalty of Ravage by showing him a message left by the original Megatron.

Rattrap manages to destroy the Predacon ship, taking Ravage with it. Rampage is damaged due to an automatic missile fire. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia and Silverbolt find what Megatron really came to Earth to find: the Ark, the ship that carried the Autobots and Decepticons that would go on to fight in the Great War of 1984. After breaching Teletraan 1's defense system Megatron proceeds to the control room and fires an energy blast on the dormant body of Optimus Prime, causing a time storm that begins erasing the Maximals from existence.

As the Maximals begin to fade from the time stream, Blackarachnia switches sides and saves Optimus Prime with a life-support machine. The time storm fades, but Prime is still in danger so Optimus Primal takes Prime's spark into his body to stabilize it until Prime's body is repaired. The energy from Prime's spark causes Primal's body to mutate into a new "Optimal Optimus" form. Meanwhile, Rampage destroys the Axalon's supports, causing it to fall into the water below. Optimus later returns his ancestor's spark to his body after the repairs are done. Realizing that Megatron will continue to target the Ark, the Maximals gather what they can salvage from the Axalon's wreckage and begin turning the volcano around the Ark into a new base.

Depth Charge, a Maximal from Colony Omicron, arrives on planet Earth looking for Protoform X, wanting revenge on Rampage for killing his comrades long ago. Depth Charge's frustration alienates him from the other Maximals.

After failing to set up base defenses, the Maximals attempt to salvage Sentinel from the wreckage of the Axalon. Rattrap pilots a submarine into the submerged ship, where he is attacked by Rampage. Depth Charge arrives, but only wishes to kill Rampage. Without Depth Charge's help, Inferno and Waspinator steal Sentinel from the Maximals, and it is installed into the Predacon base.

Megatron sends several prototype Transmetal II cyber-raptors to attack the early humans and the Maximals. Depending on who perfects it first, the new technology has great potential in determining the outcome of the war.

Megatron creates a Transmetal II clone of Dinobot, and Cheetor and Depth Charge attempt to interrupt the process; instead, Cheetor is presumed dead after he is exposed to the machine in an explosion. The Predacons soon come under attack from a mysterious feral beast, as a heavily damaged Cheetor returns to Maximal base.

After returning to base, Cheetor has nightmares and soon transforms into the beast from the previous episode. The other Maximals begin to hunt the creature, unaware that it is Cheetor. Megatron claims ownership of the new Transmetal II Cheetor, and sends Dinobot II to capture him. Cheetor eventually harnesses his new form.

When Blackarachnia overhears Optimus and Rhinox discussing her Predacon reprogramming by Tarantulus, she comes to believe that Optimus has decided to surgically remove Blackarachnia's Predacon core without regard for the risk to her and she deserts the base. While on the run she is hunted by Dinobot II. Silverbolt pursues as well, and confronts her on her desertion, at which point she reveals to him why she left. When she confronts Optimus with this, she is told that while the reprogramming could be beneficial to her, it is and always has been her choice to make whether or not to undergo the process. Feeling that the threat to her life is over, she returns to the Maximals.

Megatron kidnaps a young protohuman, Una, to finish a giant disruptor ray that targets Cybertronians. Una follows her directions from Megatron but Rattrap and Depth Charge arrive and save her when the child destroys the machine unintentionally.

Blackarachnia attempts to become a Transmetal II with the help of the alien device she had stolen. However, thanks to the intervention of Silverbolt, the experiment takes a terrible turn and threatens her life. Rhinox travels into her subconscious to try to rid her of her Predacon makeup, but Tarantulas and the Predacons are successful in destroying Blackarachnia indirectly. However, as Silverbolt is out for revenge, the alien device reincarnates her body into a Transmetal, thus giving her a new form.

During an attack on the Maximal base, Optimus is hit with a burrowing cyberbug that allows Quickstrike to take control of his body. Tarantulas and Quickstrike form an alliance in order to destroy the Ark and Megatron. Tarantulas convinces Megatron to use the spark of the original Megatron to upgrade himself as Optimus did. Once Megatron absorbs his namesake's spark, Tarantulas has Optimus (controlled by Quickstrike) drop Megatron into the lava. Blackarachnia manages to stop Tarantulas, using her past knowledge of his work. After he was thought to have "died", Megatron rises from the lava, having now become a gargantuan red fire-breathing dragon.

Quickstrike is put to trial for his betrayal of Megatron, but it is interrupted when the Vok send Tigerhawk, a supernatural fusion of Tigatron and Airazor, to stop Megatron's interference with time. They do not realize, however, that Megatron has part of his predecessor's spark within him, thus destroying him would cause another timestorm. Upon his arrival, Tigerhawk destroys the Predacon's ship. Tarantulas captures Tigerhawk and proceeds to kill his Vok control. The experiment goes fatally wrong however, and Tarantulas is killed. The sparks of Tigatron and Airazor reunite with the body of Tigerhawk and he is welcomed back home to the Maximals.

With the destruction of the Predacon base, Megatron is forced into a corner once again as the Maximals hunt for him. Megatron sends Inferno, Waspinator, and Quickstrike to find a new base, while he goes with Dinobot and Rampage to search the debris of Tarantulas' lair for anything that may turn the tide for the Predacons. They find an underground passage that leads to a minisub that runs on a submerged track – which in reality leads to the Nemesis – the almighty Decepticon warship piloted by Megatron that first attacked the Ark on the way to Earth. Depth Charge is dispatched to destroy the submerged colossus, but inadvertently kills himself when he destroys Rampage with raw Energon. Rampage's death causes Dinobot to scream in pain. Nevertheless, the Nemesis rises from the ocean, with Megatron at the helm. Meanwhile, Waspinator quits the Beast Wars.

The Nemesis has proven to be powerful and dangerous under the now-insane Megatron, killing both Maximals and Predacons alike. Tigerhawk is destroyed with a large energy cannon, and Inferno and Quickstrike both get killed in Megatron's whimsical attempt at taking out a group of proto-humans. Optimus fights Megatron alone, while Dinobot II decides to aid the Maximals by sending them data about the Ark (a consequence from his spark now being independent, which apparently allows him to think more for himself and like the original Dinobot, though the episode hints that Dinobot II has become a conduit for the memories of the original Dinobot from beyond the grave as he recalls the last words spoken to the original Dinobot from Code of Hero, though this is never outright confirmed. However the clone loses the metallic echo his voice originally possessed upon his creation and begins to show signs of Dinobot's personal code of ethics, citing the concept of honor, which up until that point the clone did not care about, to Megatron when he is about to unleash Nemesis' firepower on a single proto-human after physically stopping him from opening fire on him). The Maximals receive the data and discover an Autobot shuttle in the Ark, which Rhinox flies and crashes into the Nemesis control tower, taking out Megatron as it goes all the way through both sides. Optimus flies away while Dinobot II bids farewell and goes down with the ship. The Nemesis is now out of control and flies off toward South America, where it would be discovered during the Great War. The Autobot shuttle and the Transformers on board are safe to resume their original place in time. The Maximals return to Cybertron triumphant with Megatron as their prisoner.In a deleted scene, Optimus rips the original Megatron's spark from Megatron's chest and restores it within its rightful body. Meanwhile, Waspinator, who quit the Beast Wars last episode, is shown to be worshipped by the protohumans, and declares he is "happy at last".