Transformers Animated/WMG

For Wild Mass Guessing about the rest of the franchise, see Transformers.

Season 4 ideas!
OK, they won't be a season 4 but hypothetically, what do you think should happen/could happen if there was. Your Season 4, Your rules! Post a description of an event and/or character and please explain the backstory! (I can post a better description if you dont understand and I will start to show you what I mean) Ok, I have to be honest - these ideas are from the All Spark Almanac Volume 2. I just added some of my own ideas. And as you can see, I didn't have the heart to kill off Blurr.
 * Duocons: Shockwave had a back-up plan. While in Trypticon Prison, we learn that Shockwave had a failsafe installed within him that he could activate manually or would activate automatically if it were to be tampered with. What does it do? Activate the Duocons of course! Shockwave activates them and they try and break The Bad 'Bots out.
 * Ahem:
 * "The Trial of Megatron" - Three-part season premiere. After delivering the protoforms and Prowl's dead body to Cybertron, Sari decides to stay, as she wants to learn more about her origins. When Bulkhead's energon farm hometown is targeted by Decepticons, he and Arcee decide to stay as well, both to defend his home and educate Sari about Cybertron. Sentinel takes advantage of Ultra Magnus's death (due to wounds inflicted by Shockwave) to become Magnus. Megatron is put on trial in the prison town of Kaon - unfortunately, Kaon is his hometown and he knows all its secrets, so he makes it break off from Cybertron and relocate to Earth using his trial as a distraction, and there is a spectacular prison break. Thus, Prime and his men, this time accompanied by Jazz (replacing Prowl) and Ironhide (replacing Bulkhead, and gaining an Earth mode similar to his movie form) return to Earth to stop him. Meanwhile, after being resurrected by Slipstream, Starscream seeks to regather his clones for yet ANOTHER attempt to otherthrow Megatron, and a mysterious figure subjects 2 newly constructed robots to the All Spark's power.
 * "Allspark-alypse Now!" - Sentinel has the the orginal team from Project Omega create something called the Powermaster upgrade, which makes him more powerful. He then travells to Earth with the intention of using the All Spark to kill Megatron, as Prowl's ghost inhabits Cybertronians powered by All Spark fragments, warning Optimus about the consequences of Sentinel's ideas. After unsuccessfully trying to reason with Sentinel, Optimus takes the Powermaster upgrade for himself, gaining the ability to combine with his trailer into a flying Autobot mode as big and as powerful as Megatron.
 * "ARRRGHHH!" - When Prowl and Jazz reconstructed the All Spark, Energon deposists were left behind in Detroit, and these deposits have been the overall theme of the season. Now the pirate Bludgeon comes to Earth with the intention of stealing the Energon.
 * "S.T.E.A.M." - The Autobots are forced to save their detractors when the steampunk tool-using, anti-technological Luddites of "Save The Earth And Mankind" run afoul of Soundwave, who has returned (alongside Laserbeak, a recreated Ratbat and 4 new henchmechs - Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy and Ravage) and joined Megatron's team.
 * "Mirror, Mirror" - Bulkhead and Sari are caught in a Transwarp accident and enter a mirror universe with evil Autobots and heroic Decepticons.
 * To further elaborate how this could go, in this one, Optimus was sent away because he was so dangerous and opportunistic that Ultra Magnus feared him, and Starscream's clones represent his honesty, his bravery, his humility, his assertiveness, and... a certain je ne sais quoi. Or, as a shout out to another Hasbro property, they could represent his honesty, his kindness, his generosity, his loyalty, and his good humor.
 * "Attack of the Predacons" - Megatron finds Blackarachnia and recruits her to his cause again. Blackarachia finally accepts her organic mode, and decides she doesn't like taking orders, setting out on her own to try to create an army of Predacons.
 * "The Trouble With Clones" - While searching for Skywarp and Thundercracker, Starscream, Slipstream, Sunstorm and Ramjet run into Swindle, who has a problem. Having been inspired by Sunstorm and Ramjet, he has created his own Starscream clones (he was the one who subjected the bodies to the All Spark), Dirge and Thrust, to serve as bodyguards. Unfortunately, he has come to regret the act, as Dirge represents Starscream's greed and Thrust represents Starscream's envy, and they're driving him crazy. Having tried (and failed) to get them off his hands by any means nescessary, he's willing to sell them to Starscream - if the Seeker can tolerate them. Meanwhile, on their asteroid, Skywarp and Thundercracker find a strange blue cube, who claims to be an Autobot named Blurr.
 * "We As Me" - After Megatron is rebuilt into a triple-changer, gaining a Cybertronian tank and jet mode, Blitzwing reflects on his past. It's revealed that he wasn't insane until Blackarachnia reformatted him into a triple-changer (apparently the technology's been perfected).
 * "Gremlins in the Gears" - The Minicons who run Kaon disassemble all machinery in Detroit, while Ratchet and Fanzone have to stop it.
 * "Rising Storm" - Starscream creates a new clone named Acidstorm, a greenish-brown mech who represents his anger.
 * "It Came from Planet Cybertron" - Cosmos has an important message for Optimus, and comes to Earth to tell him. He loses his memory after scanning a prop flying saucer from a B-movie's set, and hi-jinks ensue.
 * "The Origin of Sari Sumdac" - Sari's origins are revealed.
 * "Turf War" - The Constructicons battle with the Decepticons over control of the Energon in Detroit.
 * "Megatron Must Be Destroyed!" - The two-part series finale. Megatron's machinations threaten the entire planet. Optimus gathers as many allies as possible to defeat Megatron once and for all.
 * Or, alternatively....
 * "The Chaos Bringer" - Unicron reveals himself at last, and begins destroying Cybertron. The Autobots must find the wielder of the Matrix, Rodimus Prime...
 * Geesh, what a hard act to follow, but here are some more new ideas to be played with for the nonexistent season 4.
 * Growing Up: Sari mysteriously gains an overwhelming need for energy, culminating in her powering down. Bumblebee and Bulkhead decide to infuse her with raw energon to try to save her, resulting in her final upgrade to "Adult Sari mode": A mode with an adult Sari alternative mode, and a robot mode bigger than Bulkhead. (This is going of the WMG below about Sari growing into her true size)
 * or alternatively: "Swiss Army Girl" - Sari finally feels she's ready to use her full arsenal of weapons again, and just in time. A trap sprung by Megatron has her reform the substitute Autobots in order to rescue her friends from impending doom.
 * Brain Battle: Shockwave devises a plan to separate and destroy the autobots through deception, forcefields and cunning. When most of the team is captured, their only hope lies in...Professor Sumdac? (This would be an episode mostly run on Rule of Funny, but with the ultimate result of Professor Sumdac stepping up to save his daughter and the heroes.
 * Politics and Pride: An argument between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Magnus leads to a final struggle between these two rivals, culminating with Sentinel Magnus being humbled by Optimus and finally starting to be less of a Jerkass.
 * Omega Reforms: An episode revolving around Omega Supreme and his new role on Cybertron after the capture of Megatron.
 * The Power of Bee: A bumblebee episode. Namely, the obligatory episode where the Kid Appeal Character shows that he can protect the group, finally showing how far he's come as a character, and showing just how Badass he really is now.
 * Rescue Mission: The Elite Guard detect a signal beacon in a strange place: Through the Black Hole that Primal Major & his crew went through during the Great war! Sentinel sends some of the most expendable bots he knows: Team Optimus. They go through and end up in the "Unknown Locale" Blackarachnia ended up in at the end of "Predacons Rising" and find A gorilla, rat, rhino & a cheetah that can transform! Primal's crew took the alternate modes of local wildlife to survive the harsh conditions of the area. But Blackarachnia & WAZZZPINATOR have conjured up an army of predacons! Terrorsaur, Scorponk, Megatron and Tarantulas (Tarantulas may have been created from CNA of one of Blackarachnia's "Associates" mainly because Tarantulas appeared in "Bots of Science".
 * Pride and Predacons: One of the Predacons, Galvatron, escapes and creates a new Predacon army of Guiledart, Megastorm, BB, Saberback, Quickstrike, and Inferno, and attacks Detroit. However, the Maximals, along with new Maximals Heinrad and Airazor, send them all the way to Nebulan, where the fight continues.

In Season 4, the Bad Future was a result of Megatron getting a Powermaster Upgrade.
In the Allspark Almanac, they imply that Cyclonus is from a Bad Future, they also mentioned that Sentinel created a Powermaster upgrade to be able to combat Megatron, which would make Sentinel just as strong as Megatron, at some point in the season, Megatron would have become interested in the Powermaster upgrade, and would equip it for himself. Think about this: If a Powermaster upgrade makes you just as strong as Megatron, just how powerful would Megatron become if he put it on himself? The answer: He manages to take over the galaxy, or worse. He'd also dub himself "Galvatron", to instill fear in everyone, the name reminding everyone that he took over the entire galaxy, and could never be stopped. Cyclonus was sent back in time to ensure this.

Sari and Bumblebee will form their own Kiss Players-style partnership.
Not only would this build on their existing relationship, but the end of the second season provides a good basis for actually making the whole "power-up via kiss" thing feasible. And since there's no chance of pervy Decepticons that eat people, it'll even get past the censors.
 * However, if this is true, then Sari cannot also be the clone of Dr. Sumdac's dead wife, as the logical ultimate result of both facts being true -- that a gargantuan, naked Sari/Bumblebee will eventually turn everyone on Earth into Tang -- is too horrifying to contemplate.
 * "Too Horrifying to contemplate" sums up about half of Kiss Players, if not more.
 * Hey, it could happen! Think of it: all Transformers' sparks are said to be fragments of Primus' own (in the Marvel comic.) The Allspark is where sparks come from and return to in several series, and is the source of all Transformer life in series where it's a physical object. And what has been the Autobot rallying cry for some time? 'Until all are one.' What if they don't know what it really means? Rei/Sari will be used to gather all life-forces together, robotic and organic (which is why she had to be a technorganic.) into the whole that is Primus. Hence, 'until all are one.' The physical Allspark is basically Adam. If ever it's whole again, and Sari comes into contact with it...! Be Careful What You Wish For, Autobots - and humans, too, perhaps.
 * I don't see the Neon Genesis Evangelion thing happening, but Sari and Bumblebee forming a relationship...well, now that she's aged to her teen years, and has the ability to become a robot, it's more than likely. All she has to do is grow to Bumblebee's size, and problem solved.
 * They don't even need to wait for her to grow. After all, Human Error showed Bumblebee to be roughly her mental age anyway.
 * But how would they...interface?

At some point, Sumdac Systems will be purchased by Buy 'n' Large.
See the WALL-E page for a full explanation of the theory.

Porter C. Powell is holding onto one of the AllSpark Shards in secret.
This way, he can manipulate the consequences of the Autobots finding out into a "legitimate" protest that the Autobots are really up to no good, provoking an intergalactic incident in order to profit from arms dealing. To go further, he has connections to Swindle or Megatron in the interests of making money, and can use the Shard as a bargaining chip.
 * Alternatively, he's just holding on to it so the Autobots don't get it.
 * According to the Allspark Almanac 2, he did manage to acquire one... Which accidentally got jammed into his limo's dashboard by accident, which became the villainous Decepticon Stretch.

Soundwave is going to team up with Starscream.
In G1, both disliked Megatron and rebelled against him. Also, since they were so often at odds in G1, the writers might like the idea of the two working together.
 * Are... you sure you're not thinking about Shockwave rather than Soundwave? Anyway, in Animated both Soundwave and Shockwave are completely loyal to Megatron.
 * Actually, this Soundwave isn't as loyal as say, Shockwave or Lugnut so far.
 * Soundwave may not be as fanatical as his G1 counterpart, but he never seemed treacherous like Starscream. Soundwave just wants a robot revolution; something Megatron can help with.

Sentinel Prime will become a Decepticon.
Come on, he's practically the Elite Guard version of The Starscream.
 * The description for the fifth episode of Season 3, "Five Servos of Doom" is "Sentinel has incredible success capturing fugitive Decepticons, leading Prowl to suspect he's getting help." Out of context, whoohoo!
 * He's shown no signs of wanting to kill Ultra Magnus and take over, he's just got a big ego. (Okay, galaxy-sized ego.)

Blackarachnia will become an Autobot (again).
It wouldn't be the first time this has happened, and there have been hints in her characterization suggesting that Blackarachnia isn't beyond redemption. Not to mention her interactions with Optimus, which are as close to UST as robots get.
 * However, a year and a half after the show ended Word of God says  Yes the shippers are pissed considering quite a few think her characterization in earlier episodes (strongly pointed to her redemption) was tossed out the window just so the show could get their army of Beast Wars homages.
 * Not becoming an Autobot again doesn't mean the same thing as not acheiving redemption. Considering the distaste that the Autobots demonstrate towards organics it's possible that a reformed Blackarachnia might choose to not return to Cybertron but instead find another planet to settle on with her to keep her company.

Starscream will corrupt the AllSpark.
Starscream's spark chamber is empty, but he's being kept alive by a fragment of the AllSpark in his head, which makes him immortal. However, his personality is intact, which may mean that his spark has fused with the AllSpark fragment. This suggests that eventually, the Autobots on Earth will recover all but one of the fragments, the last being the one in Starscream's head. When they recover this and combine it with the rest, the AllSpark will be corrupted by Starscream, and then... uh, something bad will happen.
 * By the end of Season 3, part of this has already happened. Fortunately Prowl may very well be in there too...
 * The Aftermath Series over yonder is all about this WMG, but it doesn't actually say so until

Sari is the slider.
Haruhi only controls her own universe, so all she could do to create a slider was take an existing person from that universe and send her into another. And that's why there's no record of Sari's existence: in this universe, she never did exist until recently.
 * Add some Haruhi-powered Laser-Guided Amnesia and shapeshifting, and we're done.

Transformers Animated is a prequel to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
The AllSpark is an enormous reservoir of Spiral energy, which has been shown to repair or upgrade robots. Sari's key is a primitive Core Drill. Eventually, Headmaster will develop the Lagann.
 * Combining a Headmaster and a forklift with an AllSpark shard creates a robot that is little more than a head with arms and legs, which takes over other robots with drills. And now Masterson's going to need to build a new one if he wants to get back in the game.

The Autobots are a totalitarian dictatorship and Megatron is trying to help the Decepticons, a group of outcasts from Autobot society.
So, we hear Megatron give his spiel about being a freedom fighter, wishing to unite the Decepticons and lead them back home. Now let's think about this. He welcomes anyone into the fold with open arms, including those who would be outcasts among the Autobots (particularly the tragically mutated Blackarachnia), and he even shares his personal supply of oil with the Constructicons. On the Autobot side, the highest ranking individual is the closed-minded and possibly senile Ultra Magnus; also in a very high position is the Jerkass Sentinel Prime. With these sorts of people guiding the Autobots, suddenly Megatron's spiel doesn't sound quite so hollow.
 * And consider the case of Wasp. An innocent bot imprisoned as a traitor for decades, and by the time he escaped, he was completely insane and clearly damaged by his time in Autobot prison.
 * Also, note the Moral Dissonance in the way individual Autobots treat some of their various enemies: Lockdown had his various stolen "upgrades" ripped out by Ratchet, the Transformer equivalent of surgery without anesthetic; Nanosec was run into old age by Bumblebee; and Swindle was left conscious but forever paralyzed, and was taken by Fanzone to be stripped for parts -- while the Autobots watched and did nothing. And all of this without any of the other Autobots batting an eye. Prime and his crew may be trying to be heroic and noble, but let's face it, these are not inherently nice people.
 * Not to mention that when Professor Sumdac was going to melt down the Dinobots, Optimus Prime supported the decision. Admittedly, he didn't realize the Dinobots were sentient, but he didn't seem to be looking very hard -- Prowl noticed, after all.
 * Plus, Megatron uses the phrases "Reclaim" and "take back" when referring to Cybertron. Scattered across the galaxy after the implied Cybertronian civil war, they're effectively an oppressed underclass deprived of their planet.
 * And there's also the way that the Decepticon's treat their fallen heroes. Megatron is given a funeral and a statue dedicated to his works. Omega Supreme, the guy who helped the Autobots win the war, gets turned into a transport ship for a bunch of Autobot Academy flunk outs who are basically glorified repair men. Wow...way to treat your dead, guys.
 * In season three we find out that Ratchet was his guide/pilot during the war and that Omega wasn't necessarily "dead" the but in a "modified stasis" they hoped they could get him out of. They probably had him used that way because they wanted Ratchet and Omega to be close to each other.
 * The Autobots purposely created Omega Supreme as a simple minded weapon of mass destruction for killing Decepticons en masse. Roughly, he's the equivalent of a human child, and we know he's traumatized by being forced to kill.
 * Megatron's "Decepticons! Transform and rise up!" seems literal, since they can all fly, but could also reference some social mobility kind of thing.
 * Autobots don't seem to care much for their own people. They're perfectly willing to chop up the brain of a bot with amnesia for information (Arcee) if it means making Cybertron Autobot-only.
 * Plus there's the fact that Sentinel Prime, far from being just a jerk, is perfectly willing to work with Lockdown, a sociopathic monster who butchers his victims to get high off their upgrades. Not So Different from the 'Cons.
 * Raksha was Right. I'm getting that put on a T shirt.
 * The one point unambiguously in the Autobots' favor is that they have about six members that are capable of overcoming their anti-organic racism and regarding them as people. Not saying much for the Great Autobot Machine.
 * In accordance with that theory, Megatron is actually working directly for Ultra Magnus to provide a resistance force that is controlled by the dictatorship. Think about it: when Lugnut and Blitzwing first arrive on Earth, they mop the floor with the Autobots. When Megatron is brought back to full functionality and begins commanding them again, they're never used with as much strategic effectiveness again. None of Megatron's plans ever put Cybertron itself in real danger, just stations at the edge of the galaxy, or backwoods planets like Earth. And Ultra Magnus, knowing Megatron is on Earth, just leaves him there for Optimus to deal with. Likewise, Sentinel Prime doesn't find Shockwave's lair despite having the entire Elite Guard at his disposal, but Ratchet finds it almost immediately. But Ultra Magnus makes sure to secure Starscream, an actual Decepticon, and places a huge bounty on his head when he escapes. Why? Because Starscream isn't in on Magnus's plan. By organizing the Decepticon "uprising" himself, Magnus not only diverts attention from the Elite Guard's own activities, but puts otherwise dangerous threats to his authority (Shockwave, Strika, Starscream) under his own, indirect control. Kind of like 1984? No, exactly like 1984.

Female Starscream represents Starscream's opportunism.
She is the first one to switch sides the moment Megatron got the upper hand over Starscream. Secondly, her comment about Starscream not wanting to know what she represents is, in fact, an extremely self-serving statement that makes her sound like she is doing Starscream a favor in not providing him with useful information. That establishes her as self serving and shows she is aware of advantage and disadvantage in even seemingly simple situations. Her specific goals are unclear, but not being bound by megalomania, cowardice, bootlicking, and chronic lying, she is unlikely to actively seek the highest position, unless immediately advantageous.
 * Alternatively, she's his competence. She is the first and only Decepticon to figure out an effective way of attacking Omega Supreme, and the first to realize that Starscream is a horrible leader, yet she didn't just take command herself.
 * Another possibility is that she represents his traitorous side. She sided with Megatron as soon as he gained the upper hand on Starscream. The reason she refused to say which side of his personality she represented was that, if Starscream knew she was his traitorous side, he'd have her slagged, or at least mistrust her and make her own betrayal harder. Furthermore, how the hell can you have five robots, each embodying an aspect of Starscream's personality, and not have any of them being a traitor?
 * Yet another possibility is that she represents his sarcastic/snarky side. After all, everything she says is a cutting remark about Starscream's personality and/or skills.
 * Considering how much she belittles and mocks the original Starscream, she could be his self-hatred.
 * This one has apparently been Jossed.
 * Links, please?
 * Or his defiance, which is why she manifests as female -- she rejected Starscream's original form, but could only modify things so much.
 * And, of course, there's the obvious answer.
 * I suggest that she represents whatever the transformer version of Gayngst is. A mix of Starscream's self-hate and obsession with Megatron. This would explain her irrational hostility to him and quickness to side with Megatron.
 * I think she represents his bad attitude.

Megatron will become Galvatron in the next season

 * Well you can't have a Transformer cartoon without that happening.
 * Alternately, a character will become Galvatron, but it won't be Megatron. Starscream, maybe?
 * Supported by a comment in this interview, where the lead character designer (who often decides what character to use based on a role required by the writers) states that his favorite characters were Swindle, Ratbat, Galvatron, and Waspinator, and that he managed to work three-quarters of them into the show. Wasp(inator) and Swindle are already in the show, so unless Wyatt was mistaken when he said that, Galvy has a one-in-two chance of showing up.
 * Now it's been confirmed that he meant Ratbat.
 * One possibility is that Starscream will pledge loyalty to Unicron(or something) in exchange for a new body, only for Unicron to give him Megatron's body (With Meg's consciousness still in it), turning him into Galvatron. Galvy assumes leadership over the Decepticons while claiming to be a reincarnation of Megatron, but will suffer from insanity brought on by the struggle between his (dominant) Starscream persona and his (subconscious) Megatron persona.

Transformers Animated takes place in a world where superheroes and supervillains are already fairly common.
The people of Detroit are awfully quick to refer to the Transformers as the city's "very own superheroes," and nobody bats an eye when costumed villains like Nanosec and the Angry Archer show up -- indeed, both Angry Archer and Professor Princess seem to already be operating, independent of Megatron's manipulations. Maybe it's the same world that Teen Titans and/or Ben 10 occur in?
 * Note that the Marvel Transformers comics started out as part of the Marvel Universe, only drifting apart later.
 * Superheroes are Canon as of issue 2 of The Arrival, in which a Superhero known as The Wraith appears. A descendant of the Titans?
 * Has anybody ever metioned The Spectacular Spiderman? What about that?

The Transformers Animated universe is in fact an alternate universe of the original Transformers universe.
The timeline split occurred when the Matrix was lost after being passed to Alpha Trion. Orion Pax never become Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots -- that name was instead taken by an Elite Guard washout with no relation to the Prime of the other universe. The AllSpark itself is Vector Sigma functioning under another name.
 * Mild evidence: At the beginning of the first episode, Optimus Prime is watching "historical records" that are actually footage from the original cartoon.

Sari is a prototype of a Cylon

 * Let's see - looks human but isn't. Check. Crazy mysterious powers, maybe. Check. Built from following the blueprints of wholly mechanical beings. Check. All this has happened before, and will happen again...

Sari's Key is, among other things, a ZPM.
It seems to be be able to deliver a lot of energy, despite its size. This energy comes from vacuum space. The AllSpark itself is, besides an energy source, a Library of Babel that can imbue a Transformer with sufficient knowledge to function (and not be feral, like the movie). Finally, it converts matter into computronium long enough to build a functioning robot.

Sari has two daddies and a mommy: Sumdac, Megatron, and the AllSpark.
That protoform only appeared after Megatron had been in that lab for years, leading to Dude, She's Like, in a Coma when the AllSpark took a trip up to the city and worked her mojo.

We'll be meeting the Spirit of Earth, and Sari is both her and Primus' love child.

 * Who says that only Cybertronians get to have a living, self-aware planet?
 * If that means the Autobots get to summon Captain Planet, I'm sold.

Sari will become a Powermaster.
For one thing, there's a villain called Headmaster, so this series needs a Masterforce reference other than Red Alert's striking resemblance to Minerva. Sari's upgraded form is about the right size to act as a Powermaster, plus the conversion from human-looking to robotoid mirrors the transformations of the Headmaster Juniors and Godmasters. And of course she seems to be full of AllSpark power.
 * This was actually considered. In the Allspark Almanac II, there are test drawings for Powermaster Optimus Prime, which would combine with "a Minicon" to activate the armor. Having the "Minicon" turn out to be a Sari toy would make a lot of sense.

Blurr has become the Companion Cube
Cliffjumper decided at the last minute it would be more productive to recycle rather then incinerate. He sent cube-Blurr to their other Elite Guard operative GLaDOS.
 * Just so he can get incinerated anyway.
 * If he's gone crazy and starts threatening to stab people in the back, he'll make a good replacement for Starscream.
 * The Enrichment Center would like to remind you that the Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center encourages you to disregard its advice.
 * Especially if it tells you to buy Micro Machines.

The Constructicons will eventually come to form Devastator, who will be equipped with a drill
Dirt Boss has just joined the group, and there doesn't seem much reason for him to unless the writers plan on doing this. As for the drill part, a drill is a construction tool, and Dirt Boss is stated to designed in homage to Lagann...
 * And, naturally, Dirt Boss will be the head, since: A.) he's the leader, B.) he's too small to form anything else, and C.) he used to be a Headmaster Unit, so it would probably come naturally to him.
 * Apparently there's concept art floating around of Mix in his cement mixer mode with the rear of the truck up in the air, almost as though it were a leg...

When Ironhide noticed that Ultra Magnus' hammer was missing...He was secretly hoping to loot it off his body

 * Fits with how the Autobots generally treat their dead/offline.

Sentinel Prime will get some Character Development and become a nicer person.
Out of all the Autobots, Sentinel is the biggest contributor to the Black and Gray Morality of the Autobot/Decepticon conflict. (The Autobot scientists who created Omega Supreme at least had the excuse of being at war, Sentinel is just a jerk for the sake of being a jerk.) The writers will attempt to fix this by giving the big-chinned jerk some development, maybe have him learn an Aesop. While it's rather unlikely Sentinel will become a straight-faced hero, becoming a Jerk with a Heart of Gold seems plausible.

The jet twins are the robot versions of Thunder and Lighting from Teen Titans
Think about. Yellow and blue, say brother WAY too much, powers are water and heat based. Not a hard connection to make. Animated is made by the same company who made Teen Titans, after all.

Optimus Prime and his crew were formed primarily to guard Omega Supreme, though they themselves may not have been told this.
Let's look at the crew. Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee all attended Autobot Academy, and Bulkhead is recognised as the greatest authority on space bridges. Bumblebee's stingers have combat settings. Prowl is an accomplished ninja. Ratchet is Omega's guide/mentor. That's a rather impressive team for repairing out-of-the-way space bridges. More likely, this team was assembled by Ultra Magnus to keep Omega Supreme out of Decepticon servos. Magnus wouldn't be able to justify sending Academy graduates on such an assignment, but it would make the perfect cover for a group of dropouts and old-timers. They probably weren't told the true nature of their mission in order that if they were attacked by Decepticons, they wouldn't reveal the true nature of their ship. This theory indicates that Ultra Magnus knew Megatron was still online and the 'Cons had yet to be defeated. Since he has previously been show to be entirely willing to suppress information in the name of keeping order, this is entirely plausible.
 * This is supported by "This is Why I Hate Machines." The fact that Omega Supreme wasn't scrapped has been kept secret, even from high-ranking Autobots such as Sentinel Prime. Clearly, Ultra Magnus is up to something.
 * The space bridge repair schedule was of course set to include the rock Prowl was meditating on. Who knows how many other elite fighters they might have picked up if they hadn't hit that AllSpark/destiny snag first.

Optimus' Crew is either the reincarnation of or the alternate-universe counterpart of the main characters from Gargoyles.
I mean, just look at them: "One million years ago, transformations and the blaster ruled.
 * Brave, noble leader with a buff build.
 * Big, dumb-but-loveable lummox voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.
 * Slim Lancer voiced by Jeff Bennett.
 * Old, battle-scarred veteran as second-in-command, with a beer gut.
 * Little guy with a love of technology.
 * Female human sidekick of an ethnic minority, who helps explain things about modern human society to the other heroes. Becomes the same kind of non-human being as the others at some point. Also has a close family member who gets used for evil-doing by one of the villains.
 * So wait is Porter C Powell Xanatos then? And I guess Blackarachnia would be Demona.
 * Naw, Xanatos was never as whiny as Powell was. I'd say Megatron fits the bill a bit better. Meltdown has gotta be Macbeth, though.
 * I think Macbeth could sue for libel after that comment...if he were y'know alive. And real.
 * If Megatron is Xanatos does that make Shockwave his "Fox"? The mental images...
 * Who said they were only 'mental' images?
 * In the words of the Tenth Doctor: STOP IT!
 * Lugnut's jealousy makes even more sense now!
 * And the mass-shifting...
 * This tropers inner Yaoi fangirl is cackling away right now
 * I guess the SUV are the Quarrymen then?
 * Bulkhead/Red Alert is bound to happen if this keeps up.
 * This means Blackarachnia fits the bill for Demona as the lost love of the leader who falls to the dark side.
 * All this needs now is a Transformers version of the Gargoyles Opening Narration. And here it is:

It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear.

It was the age of autobots.

Vehicles by day, soldiers by night,

We were betrayed by the decepticons we had sworn to protect,

frozen in stasis lock by an energon surge for a million years.

Now, here in Detroit, the stasis is broken, AND WE TRANSFORM AGAIN!

We are defenders of the road!

We are AUTOBOTS!"


 * Someone has got to turn this into a fanfic! I know I'd read it.

Safeguard can use Fire Spin.
Rule of Cool. Also, a fire tornado would be an appropriate both your powers combined move, given Jetfire's fireballs and Jetstorm's Hurricane Hands. Sentinel Prime stopped the fight before we got to see. Killjoy.
 * "Five Servos of Doom"? Is that you?
 * Maximum Tou Long, Surely?

All of Optimus's team will get "military grade" upgrades over the third season.
So far in the series, Bumblebee's Stingers (which previously caused him to be Shooting Superman whenever he went up against bigger opponents) have had their power dampeners removed, restoring them to pre-Autoboot Camp military effectiveness, and Prowl has regained (apparently for good) his "Samurai Armour" upgrades. Given that the Decepticons will be playing a much bigger role in the series, the Autobots' biggest weapon is currently transwarping randomly around the universe, and at least one of the other three has a "military" figure in the toyline (Bulkhead's Leader class model, which apparently represents the changes that the Headmaster would have made to Bulkhead's body if he'd kept it long enough), it seems likely that Optimus, Ratchet and Bulkhead will also get tricked out.
 * Ratchet already reattached his EMP generator (after having it since less than halfway through season 1), if that counts.
 * And now Prime has a Jet Pack. So that's everyone but Bulkhead.
 * All Bulkhead needs is to get smarter

Optimus is building up reasons to have Sentinel removed from command.
That could be the "have it out" he was talking about. You have to figure that Lockdown is pretty high on the "public enemy" list, so working with him would be a pretty big crime for a military officer without some serious extenuating circumstances.

When the series is over, Optimus will be promoted to Magnus
Even if, by the grace of Primus, Ultra survives, chances are he'll want to retire after something like that. Optimus will be redeemed by the series end due to his inevitable defeat of Megatron, so chances are pretty good.
 * Optimus can't deal with that right now!
 * So he would be Optimus Magnus?
 * "Me Optimus not Magnus! Me Optimus Prime!"
 * Trukk Not Magnus!

Warpath is an ex-Decepticon.
Helps explain his bad attitude and the fact that he's armed with a gun.
 * It's not impossible; Lockdown was an Autobot protoform himself, but he was so rotten that he became an Unaligned Cybertronian after abandoning Yoketron's academy. And, despite Lugnut's disgust for his mercenary ways, he works for Megatron and other Decepticons often enough to be considered a Decepticon in at least an honorary format.
 * My theory for defection? They wouldn't give him flight tech, and it remained a sore point. Also they tried to kill him via an unwinnable suicide mission at some point, but that's just a detail.

Cybertronians don't have anything resembling childhood, and thusly don't understand the concept.
There's a fair bit of evidence that part of the process of "manufacturing" a protoform involves uploading all kinds of basic data, so that the newly assembled Transformer is ready to take their role in life immediately upon activation. In essence, the state of life that humans and other organics go through in order to acquire basic life skills, childhood, is completed while a Cybertronian is "in utero" (so to speak), and they are thusly "born" as fully functional adults. Unless something goes wrong with the creation process, the only difference between a Cybertronian who's been online for decades and one who just came out of the pod is the former is more experienced. I admit that Sari is a bit of kink in this theory, but she did come online in a place without the data network of Cybertron, was raised to believe she was a member of an entirely different species, and did look rather "underdeveloped"- compare the protoform Sari to the sparkless protoform that Prowl attempts to use to resurrect Yoketron in Five Servos of Doom. It's possible that her pod was "cracked" when she was physically ready to be "born", but she hadn't yet received her data upload. Or it could have something to do with her being technorganic.

Blackarachnia and Waspinator went back in time.
They went to a forested area with no one around. They were found by a gorilla, a rhino, a cheetah, and a giant rat. The transwarp drive was described in Beast Wars as working through time as well as space.
 * Conclusion: Next time we see Blackarachnia, she will be the four-million-year-old Queen Of The Spider-Moles and rise up to conquer the surface world, moments ahead of her bitterest enemy, the all-consuming Wasp Swarm.

There is a "good" Starscream clone that will become an Autobot
Every clone so far has been a massive amplification of one aspect of his personality. And let's face it, even Starscream must have some amount of bravery to balance out his instinct for cowardice. So you pull that aspect out and amplify it and you end up with an incredibly brave jet, and one unlikely to fight for the Decepticon cause. So this "brave Starscream" will defect to the Autobots and become their Earth-based air support.
 * Well, the Jet Twins KIND OF fill this role already, but if there was an actual clone... Animated Skyfire, perhaps?

The Dinobots will join the Detroit Police Force.
With all the supervillains and Decepticons running around Detroit, it's obvious that the police force can't do anything about them unless the Autobots are around. Captain Fanzone knows that the Dinobots are on Dinobot Island. Three official pardons and swearings later, and the Dinobots are official protectors of Detroit, rather then on-again, off-again villains. But really, this theory exists less for logic and more for he Rule of Cool.
 * "Me Grimlock no bozo, me cop!"

Waspinator is going to do something unpleasant to Blackarachnia as part of his plans
For one thing, he has a serious grudge against Blackarachnia for using him as a guinea pig, and this version of Waspinator is both insane and big on grudges. Another thing to consider is the manner in which real wasps prey on spiders...

Maximals and Predacons are simply subgroups in this continuity
Rather than separate races like Beast Wars. If Blackarachnia and Waspinator are Predacons, that would make Sari a Maximal with a human as her beast mode.
 * The Predacons originally were a subgroup of the Decepticons in G1.

Sari is going to continue growing at a human rate until she reaches normal size- normal size for a Transformer
Blackarachnia and Waspinator aren't exactly normal arthropod size, so that's 2/3 of the known technorganics built on the scale of the technology side, not the organic side. Sari's just growing at her altmode's rate because she took her altmode before her primary mode, and so didn't have the major initial growth normal for Cybertronians. Girl is going to have one hell of a growth spurt when she hits puberty, temporally. Sudden cravings for metal and hydrocarbon-based liquids optional.
 * Which could be both hilarious and awesome, if taken to its logical limits. If her alternate form were in scale with the other technorganics, she'd be about the size of Omega Supreme.

The Autobots are the ones who put Arcee in a coma.
Arcee was far too dangerous to be left to run around Cybertron. She had no memory, making her very vulnerable, but she still carried the Omega codes around in her head. Killing her would just be barbaric, so they never turned her back on and just left her in a closet after the war.
 * Implied to somewhat true in "This is Why I Hate Machines". While probing Arcee's already damaged circuits for Omega's codes, processor was seemingly irreparably damaged prior to Rachet's examination.
 * Well, Ratchet was the one who hit her with the EMP.

Sentinel Prime used to be capable.
It would explain how he got to such a high position. While it's been implied that Sentinel got so far because of his connections, successor to Ultra Magnus is pushing it a little bit. At some time between his days as a drill sargeant and the present, Sentinel did something heroic that catapulted him to the highest ranks of the Elite Guard. However, since this is Sentinel we're talking about, the promotion only blew his ego up to massive proportions, and he's been sitting on his laurels ever since, content with the belief that he is an awesomely amazing Autobot. Of course, by now he's been coasting far too long.
 * Alternatively, he just took the credit for someone else's heroic deed.
 * Smart money's on Optimus being that "someone else." Hell, it wouldn't be surprising if it also involved how he was kicked out of the Elite Guard in the first place. (P.S. That's canon.)
 * Or maybe he's a star at administration work. He's definitely a paper tiger, but he could have been promoted for being a really good paper tiger.

Blitzwing is actually two separate Transformers fused into one being.
This would explain his multiple personalities and alternate modes. The Random persona is actually a result of the two minds becoming unstable and fusing, which is why Random is able to reconcile Icy and hothead when they argue.
 * Alternatively, he was three different transformers to begin with (brothers, maybe?) that were fused together. Either one of them didn't have an alt-mode, or had one very similar to that of one of the others.

Wreck-Gar will become Magnus
Ultra Magnus will survive, and use Sentinel Prime's skidplate for taget practice. He'll then plan on retiring, and decide that serious thought should go into his sucessor, lest another Sentinel take his place. After speaking with many Autobots (including Jazz, Jetfire, and Jetstorm), he will find that Optimus Prime is the best choice. But Optimus, being the kind of bot he is, refuses the position. Magnus will understand, and ask for recommendations. Our final shot of the series will be of Wreck-Gar holding Magnus' hammer, giving a cry of "I AM WRECK-GAR, MAGNUS!"

Blurr will take over Starscream's original body.
In some way or another, either Blurr's spark or the cubed Blurr will wind up in Starscream's body. Blurr will take over the functions and come in to help the Autobots. Not sure about the whole "no head" thing, though.

Due to her upgrade, Sari's head is the only part of her that is still organic in any significant way.

 * We can tell her arms and legs aren't due to articulation points being clearly visible- on the sleeves, meaning her "shirt" is probably a part of her body now. Her hands look organic, but organics doesn't unfold like that (not without much bleeding, anyway). Also, note that when she transforms, most of her body shifts a bit, but her head is simply covered up by a helmet and mask that extend.
 * She probably still has traces of organics elsewhere in the form of neural pathways instead of wires (her comments and the head thing indicate a brain, which works best with organic wiring), and a semi-vestigial gastrointestinal tract (she can still eat human food so we know she can still digest; semi-vestigial because energy blasts imply that she probably requires energon now, as her calorie requirement would be off the charts otherwise, and they wouldn't miss a Big Eater joke like that).

Sentinel's days are numbered.
In every other continuity where he's appeared, Sentinel's sole purpose in the story has been to die to make way for Optimus to become supreme commander of the Autobots. Sentinel is now Magnus, with Optimus being the obvious choice for successor if he dies. TFA Season 3 is Darker and Edgier than seasons 1 and 2. Sentinel is a jerk, so no one would mind too much in real life if he got whacked, and lately he's been building up exactly the sort of bad karma that The Plot Reaper aims for. 1+1+1+1=4, and Four Is Death; this troper would bet dollars to energon that Sentinel will be dead by the end of season 3.
 * Don't we wish.

Decepticons are, slowly, going extinct.
Okay, there are only about 11 Decepticons shown over the course of the series, not counting turncoats, clones or earth-born ones. Meanwhile, there are 20-30 named Autobots and a fully populated planet Cybertron. Plus, all Decepticons shown are old, veterans of the great war. Meanwhile there are plenty of new Autobots, like Bumblebee and the jet brothers. Also, remember that Autobots had a massive stash of protoforms on Cybertron, which the Decepticons stole. So, the theory goes that Decepticons have no way of reproducing, and possibly the only means to do so exist on Cybertron itself.
 * As "Endgame" showed, creating new Transformers requires blank protoforms and a spark, and what better way to generate new sparks than the All Spark itself?

Blitzwing has a fourth personality
This one is both extreamly devious and extremly introverted. He stays quiet in the back of Blitzwings mind, letting the others control him until the right time to strike and take over the Decepticons as new leader. He probabaly also has a plan to eventually put each personality into a new body so that they don't drive each other even more crazy than they already are.

Optimus will assume leadership of the Autobots and prepare to lead them into battle against the Decepticons, now in open war.
The series seems to have set itself up so that it now resembles the beginning of many Transformer continuities. Sentinel Prime is now leader of the Autobots and as in all other continuities will be killed by Megatron causing Optimus to take his place. Megatron's people will assault Cybertron to liberate their leader, which will prove to be the cataclyst that causes the Generation One characters we've seen in cameos to take an active role in the war against the Decepticons, who have had enough of hiding after having their plans aborted so many times.

Strika will rise to lead the remaining Decepticons against the Autobots.
Unless Megatron breaks out of the slammer, she's the highest-ranked one we've seen who's still free. Either Optimus or Rodimus will sortie against them with both teams under his command.
 * Along those lines, she might be the one to break Megatron and the other Decepticons out. After all, they've got her consort in there too...

The Clones will (unwillingly) sacrifice themselves to resurrect Starscream
It was stated that each clone embodies a fragment of Starscream's mind/personality. With the original having been killed off for real when the All-Spark fragment in his head was removed, and given both the mystical nature of the All-Spark and Starscream's record for making pre-emptive plans (turning the Lugnut Supremes into bombs, for example), the Clone-Screams will be drawn together. And when all are in place, they will fuse together and transform into a new Starscream.
 * Alternative theory; Starscream's own Spark will reemerge from the All-Spark, perhaps rendering him a ghost as an even more direct Mythology Gag of his G1 fate, perhaps leaving him an immortal yet disembodied Spark, as a Beast Wars gag.

Sari can hear the Voice of Primus
Because she absorbed the power of her Key. She doesn't "know stuff" because her processor/brain's been upgraded, she knows stuff because the Power of the Key enables Primus to whisper key bits of info into her ear when neccesary.
 * Or possibly Vector Sigma. Considering that the key is virtually identical in function to Vector Sigma and the key to him.
 * And soon, very soon, Primus will tell her the real reason she was created...to defeat the biggest meance to Cybertron and Earth alike...

Alternatively, Sari is now a techno-path
All those glowy pulse thingies is actually her communicating with other machines on a non-verbal level. Probably something to do with her human brain interacting with her robotic upgrade, perhaps allowing her hands to act as mechanical receptors that lets her hear what the machines desire. Hence how she knew the jetpack needed tuning, and Arcee called out to her to save her in the best way she knew how. (Pretty smart)
 * Though this could lead to some awkward revelations when she's trying to fix the toaster. (Wait, you mean you don't like things dark brown? What do you mean I have bad taste in bread?)

Sari will, after the finale, move to Cybertron
Its the only place to go to learn about her heritage, and the only place where she could learn how her protoform got to Earth in the first place. Plus, with her ability to "know stuff", the Cybertronian Academy of Sciences will be falling over itself to recruit her, and will likely offer a study into her origins as payment for her research services.
 * She is even shown going to Cybertron for the victory celebration. Its possible, perhaps likely, that she said goodbye to Isaac before leaving, and doesn't plan on returning to Earth anytime soon.
 * She would be a good candidate for Earth's ambassador to Cybertron. Since she's a Cybertronian raised on Earth, she is equally connected to both.
 * This is another plot development which would have occured in Season 4. Sari and Bulkhead would have remained behind on Cybertron, with Ironhide taking Bulkhead's place as The Big Guy and Jazz taking Prowl's place.

Prowl has Ascended
His spark is now one with the AllSpark, and was able to save Optimus from the blast radius. He will return as a Spirit Advisor to mentor his friends.
 * Starscream may be in the same boat, only instead of serving as a mentor he'll appear as a ghost to mock Megatron at every oppurtunity. Megs will have to tolerate Starscream being around because he can't do anything about it.

Female Starscream, Wreck-Gar, and the Constructicons are dead as of "Endgame, Part II"
Prowl and Jazz use processor-over-matter to draw all the AllSpark fragments from across Detroit into one place; this includes the spark in Starscream's head. Since Female Starscream, Wreck-Gar, and the Constructicons were brought to life by AllSpark fragments, it stands to reason their fragments would also have been brought out. (The Dinobots and Soundwave were animated by Sari's key, so they wouldn't be affected. The origins of Laserbeak and Ratbat are unknown.)
 * Jossed, in the case of Female Starscream, Word of God says that Starscream used his AllSpark fragment to create sparks for his clones.
 * Also, the line about not being able to get enough fragments suggests that there are *plenty* still out there... he didn't even say he got almost all of them. Also, being brought to life by a fragment doesn't necessarily mean one is physically present.

Female Starscream survived and will become The Starscream for the new Decepticon leader.
Female Starscream appears to have the ambition and treachery of the original Starscream, as seen in A Bridge Too Close, as well as not being weighed down by the egomania/lying/syncophancy/cowardice of the other clones. If the Decepticons get a new leader, it's likely Female Starscream will join up, plotting to off said leader and gain leadership.
 * She and Strika will plunder Cybertron together before Femscream steals the credit at the last second.

Ratchet thinks upgrades are bad due to his experience with Lockdown
The other mature Autobots only seem to act that "Upgrades are bad" when used irresponsibly or when out of their league. Ratchet on the other hand keeps harping about how "Autobots don't fly" despite Jet Fire, Jet Storm and (for some reason he keeps forgetting) Omega Supreme. He's had the worst surviving experience with Lockdown, and he is a bit of a psychotic freak.

The Decepticons have Mind Control tech
Optimus said in "Rise of the Construtacons" that as long as they lack the Con branding, they still had a choice. He might be speaking metaphorically, but... If you pay close attention in "Along Came A Spider," Blackarachnia, broken and lost, was begging Optimus to leave her so he wouldn't see her sorry state. She's so lost and disgusted with HERSELF. But as Optimus pleads with her to return with him, something seems to "click" in her. You can see her eyes flash red, and faintly hear what sounds like a computer booting up. Then all her anger and pain, she turns it from herself to HIM. It's not Freudian psychology at work, but Decepticon programming--a shell program installed during her and the Constructicons' branding process, Energon!Inferno-style.
 * Makes ZERO sense in the context of the series. Starscream sports a brand yet he constantly ries to kill Megatron. If Megatron was mind controlling them all they'd be blindly loyal to him. And the brands themselves are purely physical, as we see when the Constructicons are branded...there's no tech element to them.
 * Transformers are littered with Sufficently Advanced Technology. The brand could be installing hardware into them or connecting to their processors wirelessly and overriding them or anything. And the Beast Wars shell programs aren't 100% certain either, Blackarachnia was the only Predacon reprogrammed from a Maximal protoform, yet she turned against both Tarantulas and Megatron. Most likely, the Decepticon Shell Program instills the qualities most desired in a decepticon, such as self-interest and a lust for combat.

Sentinel Prime is more insecure than he lets on.
While there is some implications of Sentinel Prime having a inferiority complex towards Optimus Prime, it may possibly go deeper than what has been seen. He knows that Optimus is better and more efficient, as he did score the highest in the training simulation. He almost always manage to show him up (Usually while bailing him out) and manages to earn Ultra Magnus' favor while Sentinel is told that he could be more like him (And this is after he's discharged from the Academy). And the Autobots under Optimus' command respect him while Sentinel's... Let's just say Jazz demonstrated how much respect (or lack thereof) they have for Sentinel. Sentinel's feelings of inferiority to Optimus had built up in his mind over time, causing him to pull rank at every opportunity just to be recognized as superior of the two. He constantly puts up a mask of arrogance to hide his insecurity. When Sentinel blamed Optimus for Elita-1's death, it could possibly be seen as a desperate attempt to find one instance of Optimus not being so perfect for once. One could possibly see Sentinel's actions in "Five Servos of Doom," let alone his comments about Optimus always enjoying "being the hero" as an example of him looking for a chance to be the "Primer Prime." In Sentinel's mind, he feels that he's being unfairly compared to Optimus, who is a borderline Marty Stu who's Always Someone Better. It could also explain his Jerkassery. He may come off as unbearable to many, but perhaps no one hates Sentinel more than himself. Optimus knows this, which explains why he is always quick to defend Sentinel and/or cover for him. He knows that if he actually did report Sentinel's misconduct or blunders (Thus getting him demoted or even kicked out of the Elite Guard), it would cause him to snap. As to his obsession with rules and order? It’s established that organic planets are off-limits to Autobots. Sentinel chose to go to one anyway, and his girlfriend died. Because he broke the rules, something bad happened to him, adding a layer of “once bitten, twice shy” to his character. He’s anal about following the rules and about order because, even if it’s on the most subconscious of levels, he’s trying to keep others from suffering his heartache.
 * Unfortunately, the events of "Predacons Rising" seemed to make him snap even harder.
 * I have a similar explanation: Sentinel and Elita-One were clearly involved in “Along Came a Spider.” Sentinel was devastated at her supposed “death”, and tells Optimus that it’s his fault. This explains why he hates, at the very least very strongly resents, Optimus.

Sari is somehow related to Heatwave
Otherwise known as the torso component of Nexus Maximus, one of the original 13 Primes. Note the similar powers of Heatwave and post-upgrade Sari. Sari could very well be Heatwave's "daughter".

Cybertronians are color-blind
Nobody notices anything unusual about the original Coward and Sycophant Starscreams except for their attitudes--they literally can't tell the difference between clones and the real Starscream. Nobody even notices that they look completely different from each other, and Swindle has just as much trouble telling the Sycophant and the Liar apart later on.
 * But then why do they have colours?
 * They don't realize they do.
 * Alternatively, the colours don't exist in-universe. They're only there so that we viewers can tell them apart.
 * So how come Prowl figures out that it's Ramjet at the stadium? Think about this. In the s2 finale, Thundercracker and Skywarp disappeared very early in the battle. Slipstream is physically different to the others outside of colours. So of the two left - (Sunstorm and Ramjet) - he knows their personality traits. Look at Sunstorm's dialogue when Sentinel "captures" him - Prowl knows that the sycophant is in custody now, and that the liar is still at large. So when he comes to the stadium, he knows it's Ramjet.

Starscream is also part of the Allspark.
It would make sense, his soul was probably contained within the Allspark fragment, meaning that Starscream is also an Allspark spirit, and that he and Prowl are fighting inside of it.
 * Way ahead if you (see above). Though actually we don't know they know about each other. Depends how much space there is in there, among other things...

Blackarachnia's going to begin reformatting other cybertronians into techno-organics.

 * Sideways, a decepticon mad scientist, will help her develop a new, more barbaric (and more efficient) method of reformatting which she will then use on him, reformatting him into Tarantulas.
 * Lio Prime and his crew stumble upon her evil scheme, but she reformats them into mindless brutes. Only by breaking the mental bonds holding him down is Lio Prime able to transform and transcend, thus freeing his comrades.
 * Including Rattletrap.
 * What about Waspinator?
 * Waspinator cannot go off-line. Waspinator has plans.
 * Sideways? Jhiaxus. Now, Sideways could pretend to be a new Autobot/Decepticon/most likely both but his true alliance be to someone else. He's gotta remain a symbol-changing double agent... and we know that whatever continuity he appears in, he's up to something and not what he seems, but never what his real plan is until he's ready.

Prowl and Starscream will return.

 * In a shout-out to this comic. Pleasant dreams, young Transfans!
 * Well, not like that. Too disturbing. If they DO come back, though, you can bet it won't be in their original bodies. New names are optional.

Shockwave wasn't the only shapeshifter at some point in the past.

 * He had to have come from somewhere, right? However, the shapeshifters were hated and feared by the other Cybertronians, and would be a very dangerous enemy if they were to join the Decepticons, so the Autobot Council had the Elite Guard destroy them all. Or at least they tried to. His people left Cybertronian space before the attack, to found an oppressive empire to get back at those who persecuted them and bring order to the galaxy. Shockwave stayed behind either to help an ally who aided his people, or because he's actually a triple agent.
 * To go along with this, perhaps he has a sibling and/or a master... named Sixshot.
 * This theory fits with how lousy the Autobots are generally shown as being.

Shockwave was originally a neutral or (unlikely) an Autobot.

 * He became a Decepticon either to escape from being Perceptor and Wheeljack's latest lab rat (those enhanced shapeshifting powers of his are rare if not entirely unique), or for revenge for the mentioned attempted genocide in the WMG above.

Protoforms are being used as an Author Tract to discuss Stem Cell Research.

 * Consider, Protoforms are esstentially Cybertronian embryos. They can copy existing Cybertronian and human genetic material and duplicate it, as seen with Sari and Starscream's clones; much like how stem cells are blanks which can mimic whatever they are lain next to. However, when Prowl tries to put the spark of his sensei into an existing protoform to save his master's life, he is rebuked for it and is told that he musn't sacrfice new life to preserve the old. In which case, the writing staff may come across as a little anti-stem cell research-y.
 * The difference is, its possible to create stem cells without actually destroying what would be a life- such is simply a misconception due to the materials used. Whereas a protoform is essentially a baby.

Ultra Magnus doesn't like his position.

 * We know that G1 Ultra Magnus shied away from leadership positions, even hesitant to accept the Matrix of Leadership from Optimus Prime. The creators of the show included a lot of references to G1 in Animated, including some personality traits, so it stands to reason that Animated Ultra Magnus would rather avoid leadership positions as well.
 * My theory is this: When Ultra Magnus was selected as successor to the previous Magnus, he either felt so much respect for him or was such close friends with him that he felt he couldn't say no, and that same sense of obligation made him decide to keep the position as long as he was capable. Eventually Sentinel did something (see WMG titled 'Sentinel Prime Used to be Capable') that put him in the Council's good books, leading them to pressure Ultra Magnus into naming Sentinel his successor. Truth be told, he doesn't feel Sentinel is right for the job, so he now feels obligated to stay on as Magnus until he can talk the Council into letting him choose a different successor.
 * This could explain why Ultra Magnus seems so detached or irritated most of the time; he has to deal with people he doesn?t like in a job he doesn't want but can't get out of, and just wants to get things over with as quickly and efficiently as possible.
 * "I can't deal with that right now!"
 * Possibly he really wants Optimus as his successor, but can't have him since he was discharged from the Academy. He's just waiting for Optimus to redeem himself so he can be reinstated. He tries not to help Optimus much so that no one accuses him of playing favorites; Optimus needs to earn the position himself so no one will question it.

A fourth series is going to be made in Japan.

 * Because there's a slogload of loose ends left after the end of series 3. And something resembling Violen Jiger shows up in the Japanese opening
 * The new toys will include Pallete Swaps of Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Energon, Power Core Combiners, and many other toys unreleased in Japan.

Lugnut's processor was completely fried after the events of "Endgame"
Being forcefully ejected from Omega Supreme and having control of Megatron's clone squadron violently cut off created a feedback effect that wiped Lugnut's processor. All the other Decepticons were seen being apprehended except for Lugnut; the Autobots didn't have to overpower him because he was rendered into the same catatonic state Arcee was in for the majority of the series.
 * Hmm... Well, she recovered, didn't she? So even if the above is true...

Slipstream is actually Starscream
When Megatron supposedly "killed" Starscream, his spark was energize by the allspark-powered key to be immortal which left his body. The now-immortal spark flies off to the remains of the Decepticon ship and discovers the protoforms. Thus he gains a new body, but decides to make some "modifications" to it, thus remodeling himself. "Slipstream" then goes back to earth, manages to find a shard of the allspark, then embeds it inside of the now-lifeless shell of "her" former body and brings it back to life. She decides to watch on as the "corpse" acts accordingly in his bid to take down Megatron. The creation of the Starscream clones were a convenient coincidence for her as she could Hand Wave her appearance as part of them. Her hatred of Starscream could easily be explained as resentment for the drone who has stolen his identity and making a joke out of his name (a sign of his vanity overclouding his judgment). Nevertheless, the situation has developed into into a Xanatos Gambit: If "Starscream" manages to defeat Megatron, it would be easy to dispose of the impostor. If he doesn't, turning against him would be a way to prove her loyalty to Megatron, throwing off suspicion of her true motive.

Lugnut and Strika's marriage is a political one, and not a very happy one.
I mean, can you imagine being married to Lugnut? "Your optics...they remind me of the GREAT AND GLORIOUS MEGATRON!" "The way you command your troops...echoes the GREAT AND GLORIOUS MEGATRON'S GREATEST SPEECHES!" "Your energon casserole...is almost as good as the GREAT AND GLORIOUS MEGATRON'S BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!" While Lugnut may genuinely be in love with her, it's hard to see Strika putting up with that.
 * ... unless she's also a fangirl of the GREAT AND GLORIOUS MEGATRON!
 * Derrick J. Wyatt's Formsprimg says she is.

Earth and the moon loves Tara Strong's voice
That's why every female character born on earth or the moon is voiced by her.

Jetfire is suffering from Depression
It's no secret that the twins idolize Sentinel as some sort of father figure, learning from him and following his orders to the letter. They are growing up to be mindlessly obedient, always aiming to please and occasionally over-doing orders that Sentinel gave them, exaggerating the idea further than they should.

Now, seeing as Sentinel is a huge Jerkface, he would probably over-react to small failures that Jetfire may or may not actually do. Or perhaps, just has really bad days and blames Jetfire and Jetstorm for any random whatever that he goes through. Constantly calling them names and treating them very badly.

This chews away at Jetfire endlessly. He, being the more expressive and emotional of the Jettwins (if him exploding in an enormous fireball at the thought of his brother being dead are any indication), will probably blow the meaningless-in-long-run insults and derogatory comments out of proportion, constantly seeing himself as inadequate and a complete failure. Him resorting to hurting himself is not him trying to lessen the pain inside by hurting himself outside, but him punishing himself for things that he didn't even do. He honestly believes that he should punish himself, in order to make Sentinel happy; slapping a smile to his face when in the company of others to keep them from suspecting anything.

Don't blame Sentinel completely though; Jetfire himself is probably emotionally unstable enough to spiral into depression anyways, Jetstorm is most likely unsure of what to do to help his brother and instead keeps his distance instead of helping him, and Sentinel doesn't realize what Jetfire's putting himself through because he's so busy with other things and Jetfire's really good at hiding it.

Swoop will become Magnus.
It's a very prevalent meme in both the TFARP of Twitter and the RP on Formspring, even getting one of the fans to start designing him! Heck, even Derrick J. Wyatt approves of Swoop Magnus! This is a sign. His day will come, and he will prove himself worthy!

There eventually would have been a crossover with G.I. Joe.
Just read the final note on Notes, you'll understand.

The Cloaked Mystery Villain is...

 * Just some guy named Chuck. Decided to put on a costume and pretend to be evil. He was just messing with Green Screen that day.

This is actually the results of Beast Machines Megatron altering the timeline so that he is Optimus Prime.
What, did you think it was a coincidence that David Kaye voiced Optimus this time around?

In the Animated Shattered Glass Universe, the Decepticons are morally ambiguous
The Shattered Glass universe has the heroes and villains switch sides. But the Autobots in Animated are quite morally ambiguous. So it becomes instead of Good Vs Evil, Neutral with Redeemable Points Vs Evil. Starscream will be like Sentinel Prime, albeit more experienced.

Sari is a Quintesson experiment.
After Lockdown stole the protoforms he was approached by a group of Quintessons. Lockdown decided to make a little profit on the side and sold them one. The Quintessons modified "Sari" to become a techno-organic creature because they are interested in the technology. They sent her to Earth prgramed to absorb and then integrate the DNA of a native. Then when she had grown enough the Quintessons plan to abduct her and cut her open to learn more about how Transformer tech and organic biology interect, possiblly with the intent to replicate it without having a protoform handy. It's also possible there are other protoform babies like Sari out there somewhere.

Had the series finished at Season 4, there would have been a Distant Finale...
...And in the Distant Finale, Earth would be much more advanced, the characters sporting new alt modes and scars, and there would be a monologue, the character monologuing? Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen and given a somewhat bulkier look.
 * In the Japanese version, he would refer to himself to as Convoy.

Ultra Magnus engineered the recovery of the AllSpark.
Ultra Magnus always felt Optimus was a better officer than Sentinel, and hoped to set him up as his successor. Forced to expel Optimus from the Academy on a technicality, he "pulled the strings" to assign him to the ship that was actually a dormant Omega Supreme -- this is seen in the actual show. What if Ultra also planned the ship's future route? The double discovery of Prowl and the AllSpark seems too lucky to be an accident. Perhaps Ultra Magnus knew of its location all along, and steered Optimus along the path where he could reactivate Omega Supreme, and thus get the leverage he needed to make up for his reported misdeed and get into the Elite Guard. Except the Decepticons interfered, setting up the events of the series.

Swoop is actually an Insufferable Genius who's Obfuscating Stupidity.

 * The only reason he does so is because Grimlock would beat him up because he don't like smart 'Bots. Snarl would either sit it out or join in, depending on what mood he's in.

Sari's clothes are techno-organic.

 * Think about it. She's always seen wearing the same clothes - even when they are different (i.e. her pajamas in Rise of the Constructicons) they are still the same colour/style. She has a back pack that appears to be an extension of her dress. When she transformed her clothes did as well. They probably emerged when her protoform was touched by Professor Sumdac and have just been adapting themselves to her needs ever since. Sari probably just thought they were something her Dad made for her and never thought about her shapeshifting clothes again. It would explain why her clothes seem to become a part of her after her upgrade, because they always were!
 * Quite likely; as I recall, there were quite visible mechanical articulation points on her arms post-upgrade, articulation points the color of her dress, with no sign of the bunching or layering you'd get from real clothing..