Brought to us once again by Roosterteeth and Netflix, Transformers War For Cybertron returns with the final chapter “Kingdom”. Having crash-landed on Earth, the Autobots and Decepticons are confronted by two rival Cybertronian factions from a future that their conflict has inadvertently created, as the heroes and villains of the classic BEAST WARS series make their debut in this series. Now the Autobots must team up with the Maximals to confront the Decepticons, who have joined forces with the Predacons, in the race to find the missing Allspark. However, the Predacons are in control of the Golden Disk, a mysterious artifact that has a personal connection to Megatron and gives him an untold advantage over his enemy, Optimus Prime. Which faction will triumph in the final battle that will decide Cybertron’s future?
After two outstanding chapters we have finally reached the end and what a truly fantastic conclusion this was. Kingdom delivers an action-packed and heartfelt finale to the trilogy that serves the current storyline well, while also potentially setting the stage for future stories. Timelines and characters converge for the ultimate battle that decides the future of all Transformers. This definitely felt like an epic all on its own, featuring greatly voiced characters, a well-written though complex story, incredible action, and truly some of the best animation in the entire series. As you would expect Optimus, Megatron, and all the other characters are fantastic as they were in the previous chapters, and their arcs in this series end on a very surprising yet satisfying note that makes the adaptation of these beloved characters probably the best ones I have ever seen in the Transformers franchise. They were done very differently compared to previous adaptations and I feel it truly benefitted the series to take a new darker approach to these characters rather than recycle the same simple motives and conflicts we have had over the years. You find yourself caring for both Autobots & Decepticons in this entire series but especially more so in Kingdom as things get desperate for both sides.
The biggest stand-out characters are the Maximals and Predacons from Beast Wars, who we haven’t seen since the 90s. Seeing them come back made me feel like a kid again and I absolutely loved how these characters were improved in terms of quality and personality. Obviously, when you go back to the Beast Wars series now the animation hasn’t aged well, but there was also a charm to it that this series captures despite being much more modern and improved animation.
I would honestly watch an entire reboot of Beast Wars in this style and I think the way all the characters were voiced and written was done very well. I know some hardcore fans might be more attached to the original voice actors of the original show but I think the new voice actors did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life again, giving them lots of great scenes together with the other characters. This felt like the ultimate crossover that many people probably have waited years to see and I think the show’s creators absolutely nailed it.
The story of Kingdom is far more action-packed compared to the previous entries and far more exciting due to higher stakes. I had no clue how the series would end or what the fates of all these characters would be due to all the new twists and turns this series throws at you. It does end up getting a little bloated with some of the characters’ storylines and histories all coming together that it could definitely confuse normal viewers who aren’t big fans of the franchise or at least familiar with the characters. It could have been handled better but with what they had I think they still did an excellent job. They were still able to give us a satisfying conclusion to the series while also opening possibilities for more future stories to be told beyond this trilogy.
The action is nostalgic and fun and the animation is absolutely gorgeous, feeling far more fluid compared to previous entries. There are truly some fantastic visuals in this series that combine different types of animation together and create a completely epic world that you feel so absorbed in. I never felt so absorbed into the world of Transformers like this since the G-1 days and that is saying a lot.
And as you would expect the music is awesome as always and very fitting for a lot of the epic action this series has. I kinda wish we maybe had a remaster of the old theme of Beast Wars be used as a fun little easter egg but sadly we don’t get that. It mainly sticks to its own score just as the previous chapters have done, which I think is completely fine and I have no complaints.
They really stuck the landing with this truly unique adaptation of the Transformers franchise that, while not completely flawless, managed to avoid all of the many failures of previous adaptations. This series also proved one very important thing that I feel movie studios have to realize: We do not need to always have humans as the focus in a Transformers adaptation. The story can just focus on the Cybertronians and never needs to include any humans. It can be amazing even without them and you can feel completely invested in all the characters without the need of annoying teenagers or cliche military people. This three-chaptered and 18 episode series proves you can make an epic story about robots in disguise that everyone can love. I’m going to give Transformers WFC Kingdom an A.
You can find more of my writing on instagram, and check out my channel on YouTube!