Transformers Prime - 'Darkness Rising'

Bumblebee, Arcee, Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Bulkhead

Running from 2010 to 2013, Transformers Prime was the backbone of the aligned continuity family, a unified Transformers canon influenced by but independent from earlier continuities, the ongoing live-action franchise and occasionally its own constituents (in particular the computer games War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron.) Blending aesthetics from G1 and the movies, it establishes a world in which a small group of Autobots known as Team Prime reside on Earth years after the Great War and the last encounter with the Decepticons.

"We'll get the Rock to play an Autobot hardass... and then we'll kill him off in
episode 1."

The series begins with a five-parter called 'Darkness Rising', and sets the tone with the brutal execution of Dwayne Johnson-voiced Autobot brawler Cliffjumper by the returning Starscream. Megatron soon returns, bringing with him the secret of Dark Energon, also known as the Blood of Unicron. The remaining members of Team Prime try to retrieve their teammate, only to find that the Dark Energon has revived the dead Cybertronian as a mindless rage monster.

It's pretty grim stuff.

"Won't somebody please think of the children!"

Grimmer still, three humans - lovable loser Jack, child prodigy Raf and Japanese exchange student Miko - learn of the Autobots' existence and have to be put in the Transformer equivalent of witness protection. Naturally, they feel the need to shove their oar in, but manage to be substantially less irritating than other recent human characters, and acting as the Autobots' covert operatives when giant stompy robots or cars would be too obvious. While needing a substantial amount of rescuing, the kids are able to retrieve vital information from the Decepticon ship.

Bad ass.

Recognising that Megatron intends to create an army of the undead - their words - Prime and Ratchet go to check out a mass grave left behind on Earth by the ancient wars of the Cybertronian people. With guns of limited use, they go hand to hand with a horde of zombies and emerge victorious, only for Megs to bog off, assuring them that this is only the prelude. When the data retrieved by the humans turns out to relate to a space bridge, they realise that his 'main event' will be reviving every dead Transformer on Cybertron.

'Darkness Rising' establishes the characters for the series - primarily the Autobots and Starscream, as Megatron spends much of the rest of the series in low-grade stasis lock, and the humans, also including Agent Fowler, the Autobots heavy-set government liaison - and sets the scene. And it's good stuff. Like... Beast Wars good, but with animation that doesn't look like ass. Peter Cullen returns to the voice of Prime and Frank Welker to Megatron, which is always good, and cynical medic Ratchet is voiced by veteran horror actor Jeffrey Combs. I don't even hate the humans.

The real icing on the cake, however, is a bombastic, orchestral score composed by Brian Tyler, also know for his work on various entries in the MCU and Fast and Furious franchises. It's just so goddamn classy.