Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy - Siege Part 1

Set prior to the Autobots and Decepticons leaving Cybertron for Earth, the new series Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy opens with the war between the two races of transforming robots still raging on their homeworld but with the Autobot forces dwarfed by the might of Megatron (Jason Marnocha) and his Decepticons. Bumblebee (Joe Zieja) is introduced as a scout who has yet to take a side in the fight, but leads Wheeljack (Bill Rogers) to a source of Energon the Autobots desperately need to continue the struggle. Caught by Jetfire (Keith Silverstein) and his Seekers, the pair looked doomed until the arrival of Optimus Prime (Jake Foushee) to stand-up to Megatron and provide enough of a distraction to get everyone else out alive.

With a few exceptions (such as Megatron's tank mode), the look of the characters is heavily influenced by the original cartoon and Generation One toys. As a fan of those original toys, and the cartoon, it's a joy to see these designs brought to life in modern animation which also lovingly creates scratches and cracks in the metal warriors, many of whom have seen better days. The show also brings back the Cybertron version of the Transformers, keeping the look from the 80s cartoon but adjusting them slightly so that the jets look even more like Battlestar Galactica Vipers. Fans of Transformers early style and storytelling should enjoy this episode, and I'm certainly coming back to see where "Siege," the six-part First Season of the show, goes from here.