The second chapter in the Transformers: War for Cybertron trilogy comes to Netflix with Transformers: War for Cybertron - Earthrise. The anime series follows the events of its predecessor, Transformers: War for Cybertron - Siege, with Optimus Prime and a team of Autobots stranded in space in the midst of their search for the Allspark. Of course, hot on their heels is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.
Earthrise continues Optimus Prime and Megatron's pursuit of their drastically different approaches to saving their home planet of Cybertron. Whereas Optimus and the Autobots hope the Allspark will create a peaceful solution to reviving Cybertron and bringing it back to its former glory, Megatron will stop at nothing to make himself Cybertron's ruler. Both leaders truly believe in what they are fighting for, which makes their dichotomy all the more intriguing. Optimus blames himself for the Allspark being lost after he tossed it into a space bridge in Siege but hopes to make up for his mistake by retrieving the powerful artifact. Meanwhile, Megatron resorts to possibly his most gruesome plan ever to keep himself and the Decepticons alive while the Energon drought intensifies. If you ever had any doubts that Megatron is a villain, Project Nemesis will cement his place on the villain totem pole.
The second season of Transformers: War for Cybertron continues to deliver deep cuts for the most faithful Transformers super fans. The synopsis for Earthrise gives away the appearance of the Quintessons, who are credited as the creators of the Transformers. Fans got to experience their special brand of judgment in 1986's Transformers: The Movie. Though their appearance is brief, the inclusion of the Quintessons serves as a reminder of how vast the Transformers universe is, and how many Easter eggs and callbacks to previous animated installments the War for Cybertron creative team at Rooster Teeth Studios can utilize. There is also another welcome nod to Transformers: The Movie when Optimus Prime and Megatron get a glimpse at their potential futures.
A fight sequence that technically takes up an entire episode also introduces another familiar Transformer, which leads to an uneasy alliance between Autobots and Decepticons. As forgiving as Optimus is, seeing him continuously give Megatron the benefit of the doubt can be weary at times. Of course, it is understandable since Optimus, Megatron and Ultra Magnus were brothers-in-arms under Alpha Trion's leadership. Optimus can't help but see the good in Megatron, even though the latter is responsible for Ultra Magnus' death in War for Cybertron - Siege. More history is also teased in Earthrise between Megatron and Elita-1, possibly alluding to a love triangle involving Optimus. This could be another hidden reason for their division.
The animation and voice cast in Earthrise continues to impress, as Rooster Teeth mixes anime influences with CG-animation. This is put on full display near the end of the season when Optimus finds himself in a very unique location that has its origin in Transformers comics. Earthrise mostly takes place on Cybertron and deep space, but the season finale makes use of the title's name to drop our heroes and villains into the location where Season 3 will take place.
A toy leak revealed that Transformers: War for Cybertron's finale will incorporate the Beast Wars, another popular CG-animated Transformers series from 1996, and will be subtitled Kingdom. It will be interesting to see how this updated take on Transformers will tie into Beast Wars. There is also the matter of whether War for Cybertron will have a clean ending or leave the door open for future installments. As one of the only remaining Transformers series currently producing new episodes, fans will gladly take more content on Netflix if given the chance.
Developed by Rooster Teeth Studios, Transformers: War for Cybertron - Earthrise features the voice talents of Jake Foushee as Optimus Prime, Jason Marnocha as Megatron, Linsay Rousseau as Elita-1, Joe Zieja as Bumblebee, Frank Todaro as Starscream, Rafael Goldstein as Ratchet, Keith Silverstein as Jetfire, Todd Haberkorn as Shockwave & Red Alert, Edward Bosco as Ultra Magnus & Soundwave, Bill Rogers as Wheeljack, Sophia Isabella as Arcee, Brook Chalmers as Impactor, Shawn Hawkins as Mirage, Kaiser Johnson as Ironhide, Miles Luna as Teletraan I & Cliffjumper and Mark Whitten as Sideswipe & Skywarp. The series is now available on Netflix.