The Terrans visit the Spacebridge Memorial Park, site of the final battle between the Decepticons and the Autobots. They play a game mirroring the events of the final battle and, when Megatron appears, those events become rather too real…

Johnson depicts the pivotal event of the war here with a couple of really smart narrative touches. It’s a nice way to see Bee again (Who as we find out next episode has been having no fun whatsoever) and also a chance to go just a little bit retro. ’Bee is a VW bug at this point, and Megatron and Prime’s alliance still seems distinctly nascent. There’s one moment in fact where it seems like Prime is getting ready to sacrifice him to win. It’s not the case, and that becomes apparent very fast but the script manages to sell that ambiguity neatly. There’s also a couple of fun cameos from bots we haven’t met in the present day yet.

Most importantly though, this script wraps the concept of remembrance, and the struggles of veterans, around a story where very large robots hit one another. Rory McCann is so good as Megatron and brings a weight and maturity to the role that’s both new and grounded in the history of the character. The moment where Shockwave refers to ‘lower class’ lifeforms, and how that disgusts him, is especially well handled. Megatron’s rebellion, however bad it went, is grounded in class revolt and it’s really cool to see that expressed here. Likewise, fans of More Than Meets The Eye will find the remembrance flowers very familiar. That, along with the memorial to the fallen, gives the story a welcome and poignant grounding that cleverly expresses the past of the franchise and the future the Terrans represent.

The one bum note here is the return of Shockwave. Not because he’s bad, he’s not and Troy Baker is fantastic in the role. Rather it’s one of those moments the show occasionally leans on, when circumstance is required to make drama. Shockwave happening to break out at just that moment is a little clunky, but the resulting action sequence is so well done and Baker is so good that you let it slide.

Verdict: Poignant, character heavy and with a really solid action sequence that reintroduces one of the franchise’s all time great villains, even if other episodes this season have been better, this is still a really strong episode. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart