Review of Transformers Prime season 2 finale

[Tabias Prime]

Just watch the season 2 finale.....Thoughts anyone..

incase anyone hasn't seen it.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu7CwRzYqDc&feature=youtu.be

[SMHFConvoy]

Would love to but YouTube seems to be playing up :-/

[liegeprime]

Would love to but YouTube seems to be playing up :-/

try watching it at www.animeflavor.com they have alternative players in the site as well so if one player doesnt do it , select the other one.

My thoughts... NOW THAT is A Cliffhanger!!!! Surely then Hasbro WILL NOT CAN this series as how they did Animated... if they did, they'd better hide or not attend on the next Botcon coz there will be prices on their heads ;)

It will be a very looong anticipated wait for the next season:(:(:(

[SMHFConvoy]

try watching it at www.animeflavor.com they have alternative players in the site as well so if one player doesnt do it , select the other one.

My thoughts... NOW THAT is A Cliffhanger!!!! Surely then Hasbro WILL NOT CAN this series as how they did Animated... if they did, they'd better hide or not attend on the next Botcon coz there will be prices on their heads ;)

Thanks for the link Liegeprime!

Wow, that ending. It's interesting how the 1st season of this series was so... ordinary but the 2nd season has really picked up. Possible spoilage: Seeing as next season is Beast Hunters I think someone may be getting a radical upgrade.

[griffin]

Tonight I watched the final four TFPrime episodes... not as impressed as I was hoping to be. It didn't feel like it was better than the first season finale... Each season ending should be twice as good as the previous one - this one felt like it was missing something. Worst still, the third-last episode (Ep 24) in this multi-part finale story was a clip show. That was so cheap. If it wasn't for the last 5 seconds with Dreadwing, it could have been completely skipped as an episode. You expect that sort of thing from Japanese-originated series, or joint-venture series... not from Nth American originated series.

And a season finale is when I expect a bigger cast involvement as part of the climax, but this one didn't have it. Several characters were either background or removed completely in the last 4-5 episodes.
Decepticons - Soundwave, Dreadwing, Breakdown, Hardshell, and Airachnid were either completely absent, or just in the background for much of these last episodes.
Autobots - Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee and Wheeljack were similarly in supporting roles, with Wheeljack just showing up in the last five minutes doing very little.
I was actually disappointed that I had to sit through 26 episodes for this minimally-climactic ending to the "relic hunt" that was Season 2. And they lost all those relics too.

At least the next season is said to only be 13 episodes, so won't be as much of a waste if it ends up being just as disappointing. But won't be enough screen time to get much of a look into the new Beast theme... let alone flesh it out and then build up to a multi-part climax.

Kinda looking forward to the next series after TFPrime, as this one is failing to inspire in both cartoon (story) and toys (availability).

This season should have seen more new characters after the first season was padded out with extensive character building of the small core cast. Instead, they progressively removed characters this season - Breakdown, Airachnid, Dreadwing. If Soundwave had a voice, he'd have been used more too, so the silent gimmick wore off real fast, and ended up ruining a potentially interesting character.

The Dreadwing element was a surprise, and didn't make much sense - it felt so forced, giving the Autobots the Hammer and then going back to the Decepticons... and then being shot by Megatron (which I assume is fatal).
I actually thought that Episode 25 was going to be about him finding his twin, as the title was "Resurrection" and the previous episode had him finding out to his anger that Skyquake was still out there somewhere.
Dreadwing was actually the most interesting Decepticon, with his weaponry, flight mode, power, ranking, and even the colours.... he was more interesting/productive than Starscream, so I'll miss him if he's gone for good.

And how annoyingly inconsistent is it to have the Autobots easily destroying Insecticons, despite them being rather indestructible previously.


If they take so many episodes (26) to flesh out just a handful of characters, feature existing characters, and have a story arc, I don't expect more than three or four new characters in a 13 episode season, which will be all the animation we get for the entire year of 2013.
A large new range of characters would be expensive to animate, and would prevent a decent amount of character development.

[Kazza]

I too felt the ending of s2 was rather anti-climatic, but i do like how they're setting up a grim scenario to begin in s3.

[liegeprime]

Well the 3 or four new characters you are expecting griffin might just be the 3rd party faction beasties and that's it :p.

[SMHFConvoy]

Well you can't please everyone.

[griffin]

I don't mean to put anyone off who enjoyed it. It certainly wasn't boring, as I was willing to watch the final episodes in one sitting (and the whole season as well).

I'm just someone who loved the way Beast Wars and Animated (both multi-season, story-arc shows) were both exponentially better with each finale... so I guess I was just expecting something MORE epic.
It also feels like the cliff-hanger is once again centred around Optimus, which is kinda disappointing.
But the set up for Season 3 is certainly more complex and interesting than the set up for Season 2 (this time all the Autobots are scattered and "lost"... last time it was just Optimus that was lost).

I did like the bit where the Autobots armed up with all the ancient relics, and used them in battle... but then they were all lost. (and kinda seemed pointless, as they didn't end up putting a dent in the vast army of Vehicons and Insecticons that we see in the final minutes - if they have most powerful weapons in the universe and can't decimate the Decepticon forces, it's not going to be plausible for a half-dozen Autobots to ever defeat them without relics or help)

[GoktimusPrime]

I quite liked this episode - a riveting cliffhanger of an ending... especially with Megatron's secondary objective of Cyberforming Earth and attacking the Autobots' base - creating a whole new complication level for our protagonists. But compared with Other Visits Part 3 or The Agenda Part 3 I suppose there just wasn't that intense build up toward it that gave it that "Ooomph!" that those other season enders had. To me, that's what's held this ep back from being the really epic season finale that it could've been... there could've been a more intensive run up. Instead we had a drawn out relic hunt, followed by a recap episode, then really intense final two episodes instead of building up to that climactic ending sooner. Even the ending of Prime Season 1 was better done in this regard IMHO.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/shortpacked/shortpacked_tfprime_humans.jpg

[BigTransformerTrev]

I too felt the ending of s2 was rather anti-climatic, but i do like how they're setting up a grim scenario to begin in s3.

Ditto. Seems to explain a little better why we are getting the likes of their version of Predaking in season 3 - the fact the bots have gone into hiding and now need to be hunted down individually

[Sky Shadow]

Second season finales will always be judged against and pale in comparison to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z-Lcmd8PCc&feature=youtu.be&t=20m32s


Seems to explain a little better why we are getting the likes of their version of Predaking in season 3 - the fact the bots have gone into hiding and now need to be hunted down individually

That might actually be interesting.

[i_amtrunks]

After a whole season that was more or less skippible, I actually didn't mind this episode. Compared to BW or Animated it would be one of the worst episodes of the series, but compared to only the Prime series, it was pretty good.

Gave a nice dire ending, and setup for season 3 (if the writers do not waste it), and now the Beast hunters also make sense, Megatron and his lackeys are so useless there is no way they'll be able to hunt down the bots. One thing I was glad for in the two parter was that they didnt spend half the time letting us see Soundwave and Screamer catching the humans, considering how much screentime in this series has been dedicated to giant 20 foot tall robots being unable to catch slow, stupid meatbags.

I am glad there are only 13 episodes next season, and that none will be wasted on Airachnid, Silas or Hardshell. Maybe next season someone other than Prime can do something every episode.

If Hasbro cannot be bothered making more characters for cost reasons, they need to do more with their limited cast, ala Beast Wars.

Overall another tepid and dull series gone by the wayside. hopefully the series will be put out of his misery as it limps into season 3.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I must admit I enjoyed it, but considering how slow the toys side of things have been, it just seems a little pointless. must admit though, the Decepticons having a huge mega base in the middle of earth is a pretty cool idea.

It does however make them a pretty large target. Can they withstand the forces of Earth's army? Megatron will have to focus on actually conquering earth rather than just stealing the Energon and trying to kill Autobots now.

the prospect of only 13 episodes seems a little short to me however as we are going to ahve to have new characters, and a new mode for Optimus made up (I suspect a 2 parter here).

While I have enjoyed watching the show, I must admit it has lost a lot of enjoyment because the toys haven't come out or lived up to my expectations. Which I never thought would bother me that much, but it does. I guess whenever I have watched a show and a cool character has turned up, I have usually been able to track one down in toy form. Not the case for Prime and I think it is detracting from the series somewhat.

case in point. Smokescreen. I could have really gotten into that guy, but he is just a recolour of Knockout. Majorly lacking door wings and not looking all that similar.

[liegeprime]

So watching the episode again - does this mean Airachnid is dead as well? I mean the Autobase got completely leveled - and she was trapped like a bug in amber......I guess that's one more character off'd the way there kill characters in Tf Prime left and right ... this ain't a show for kids now hehehehe

[GoktimusPrime]

Unless that casing somehow protected her. *shrug*

[UltraMarginal]

I really enjoyed it, I did wonder where wheeljack was but then he turned up and started making a mess of things. :D

One thing I don't think people have picked up on, Beast Hunters isn't season 3, it's season 4. It's still another year before the "beasts" arrive.

and as much as both animated and Beast wars were great cartoons, I can't help but feel there are some rose tinted glasses floating around in this thread.

I personally think the TF Prime is the best incarnation of transformers on TV that we've had to date. It's by no means perfect, but what childrens tv show ever is?

[griffin]

I'm pretty sure the NYCC presentation and/or press release from Hasbro said that Beast Hunters is Season 3 (with the toys starting to come out in about 4 months time). Otherwise the toys would be coming out a year before the season they are featured in and wouldn't still be in stores in 2014 for Season 4 - plus, we already have some animation done to introduce them.

[griffin]

Found the press release (http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/hasbro-reveals-transformers-prime-beast-hunters-at-new-york-comic-con/25992/) that says spring 2013 (which is our autumn - Mar-May).

[aaron2]

It was great!
Fast forward to the climax of that episode and we see the Autobots in a loosing battle, their one true weakness used against them; namely the capture and ransom of their Human companions. Now, to be fair, I found the sudden kidnapping of the teens to be more then a little convenient. We know that since their encounter with the Cyborg Silas, Raf's location having been tracked by Soundwave in the process of the teen hacker using an uplink to stop Silas's Orbital Laser, the Decepticons had confirmed that the teens were in Jasper Nevada, likely in close proximity to the Autobot HQ.

[GoktimusPrime]

the Decepticons had confirmed that the teens were in Jasper Nevada, likely in close proximity to the Autobot HQ.
Not necessarily. The Decepticons know that the Autobots have a Ground Bridge, which allows them to travel to any part of this planet in an instant (e.g. from Nevada to the Arctic). So having the Autobots' allies being based in Nevada isn't a definite indicator that their base is located there, but it does cast suspicion on that region. Tactically it was a bad idea to befriend those humans -- the Autobots already had allies in the form of Agent Fowler (and through him the United States military). It would've made more sense to have the military set up a special task force to work with the Autobots, much like R.A.A.T. in G1 or N.E.S.T. in the Revenge of the Fallen/Dark of the Moon. But I guess the writers wanted to have some kids to befriend the Autobots so that kid audiences could see the world of TF Prime through their eyes; much like how we had Buster, Spike and Daniel in G1 etc. Although Beast Wars did prove that you _can_ write a Transformers stories without recurring human sidekicks! :)

[5FDP]

Finally just got around to watching the season finale (yeah I know, I'm a bit slow :o).

Watching the first few episodes of season 2 was slow and painful however it did pick up towards the middle. The last 4 episodes were great and the way it ended definitely left me wanting more.

The series doesn't have the same charm of Animated nor the nostalgic feel of G1, but it's a good show to watch when there is nothing else on.

[Bidoofdude]

Heck, I haven't finished season 1. I am slow. Guess it's because we don't get it here anymore. :(
And no I will not buy DVDs for it. :mad::p

[Kazza]

Heck, I haven't finished season 1. I am slow. Guess it's because we don't get it here anymore. :(
And no I will not buy DVDs for it. :mad::p

Stream it off youtube?

[GoktimusPrime]

Or better yet (http://otca.com.au/boards/showpost.php?p=211&postcount=2): (see Rule #18)
+ Borrowing the DVDs from someone else
+ Renting the DVDs from Blockbuster
+ Buying the DVDs, watch them, then sell them second hand if you don't like them. You may wish to wait for the DVDs to go on sale below RRP.

:)

[kaiden]

Just watched the entire season 2 over 2 days. Smokescreen, Shockwave, the Star Sabre & the Phase Shifter were my highlights of the show.

A lot of things happened that I wasn't impressed with
-MECH and Silas and the decisions that led to their demise.
-Starscream getting organ harvested by tiny humans, same for bumblebee really... but what ever happened to Breakdown's T-cog when he was dismembered?
-Insecticons were just annoying.
-Episode recaps.

I was mostly impressed with Smokescreen and how the show was suddenly less boring. Episode 23 "Inside Job" was definitely my favourite featuring him. I'm very happy to see that he's getting a proper toy in the new beast hunters line and that his armor is removable so his design remains intact and not a lazy redeco of Knock Out.

the ending was acceptable but its hard to understand how it transitions into Beast Hunter's 13 episodes... from what I've read, Shockwave makes the Predacons and loses control of them and they go on to hunt the Autobots - and that is supposed to wrap up the entirety of TFs Prime.

Looking at the new toys, Optimus Prime will have the biggest change to his appearance - a completely different truck and that just feels weird.