"Transform... and transcend." [Transformers 25th Anniversary, part six]

OUR WORLDS ARE IN DANGER! [UNICRON TRILOGY PART THREE: CYBERTRON]
The series that would round out the Unicron Trilogy -- now clearly so named because of the dark god's momentous involvement in all of the three series -- Transformers: Cybertron would also be one of the more redeeming factors for the era. The last series for a while to be written and produced in Japan for dubbing and Americanization across the Pacific, Cybertron's Japanese counterpart Galaxy Force was originally projected by Takara to be separate fromArmada and Energon storywise -- hence a general problem linking them together in continuity.


The story-based cause of this problem? Unicron's defeat at the end of Energon has caused his prison, an Energon sun, to collapse and form a gigantic black hole -- a singularity that is causing physical AND temporal distortion across universes, subtly shifting aspects of reality this way and that. The Autobots explore technological means of attempting to stop the black hole from spreading and sucking our reality into it, but their graviton grid fails and they are forced to heed unlikely counsel -- from the mysterious ancient Transformer known as Vector Prime.


Vector Prime tells the Autobots that Cybertron must awaken to combat this new threat, and shares an ancient legend -- the Transformer god Primus IS Cybertron, and must be activated with the use of four Cyber Planet Keys that were entrusted to the early Cybertronians, who all left to colonize other planets in other systems. A revived Megatron and Starscream each secretly make plans to steal the keys for themselves, to recreate the universe in their images. Some Cybertronians flee to Earth to seek asylum, Hot Shot leads a team to Velocitron to try and win the race trophy [their Planet Key], and Optimus Prime heads for Jungle Planet.


The race for the Cyber Planet Keys begins in earnest, spanning four planets -- our own Earth, the racing-dominated planet of Velocitron, the beast-ruled Jungle Planet and the construction-filled Gigantion. Along the way, Megatron and Starscream each make their separate bids for the Cyber Planet Keys and their unifying Omega Lock mechanism, Planet X makes its presence felt, Optimus Prime and his Autobots interact and bond with the various locals they meet -- humans, beasts, racers, and builders -- and Primus awakens to kick some bad guy ass.


The toyline reflected the cartoon closely, from show-accuracy in color schemes and toy designs to the nuances of individual Cyber Planet Keys. The line-wide gimmick here was Key-activated weapons and features: slotting a Cyber Planet Key -- a clear plastic disk designed thematically depending on which of the six planets it was based on -- into a toy's ignition point could trigger or unveil spring-loaded launchers, deploy bladed or other weaponry, change wheels into wings, and so on. Each key for a US-released toy had a special 4-character code printed on the back, which kids could enter at the Transformers.com website to unlock more information about the character, the show, the mythos, or even the production and design process.


Like their keys, toys were designed thematically based on the planet they were said to hail from. It is thus that perhaps more than ever, Transformers: Cybertron fully accomplished the objective of providing something for every sort of fan. Where Energon had vehicles and beasts, Cybertron had both realistic [Earth-based] and futuristic [Velocitron-based] vehicle alternate modes for its characters. Varied design aesthetics hearkening back to various design eras of the brand, the presence of more returning Mini-Cons, and even the introduction of Micro Series "Legends of Cybertron" versions of the normal-sized figures made the Cybertron toyline memorable.


Complex transformations, effective kid-appeal characters and a good balance between toy gimmicks and toy poseability were the order of the day for Cybertron, a line that showed many of the concepts of the Unicron Trilogy brought to fruition. Even the writing featured actual non-annoying and nuanced human characters, a solid female lead character in Velocitron planet ruler and race queen Override, and generally interesting, quirky character personalities.


Taking several elements from all the series that had come before, Cybertron ended the Unicron Trilogy on a pleasant note, and added several elements to the mythos that are still being used in official and non-official fan-written fiction today. This left the franchise and the fandom in a prime position for a classic series tribute and the coming of the 2007 Movie.

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