Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy Season 2 Review

January 3, 2020 at 5:55pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a Netflix Original animated series that is the latest take on the Transformers franchise. This is a set three part series that will tell an overall story about the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons. This second part is titled “Earthrise” and presents a bridge series as the two factions head outwards into the cosmos in a search for the All-Spark. It’s definitely an interesting premise, and a great improvement over the initial set of episodes.

They really did take this in a surprising direction that I hadn’t anticipated. With the hasty push to leave Cybertron right away I assumed we were headed for yet another round of just Earth based situations. That was not the case, we’re seeing the two groups deal with the problems caused by Optimus Prime (Jake Foushee) during the end of the first season.

Megatron (Jason Marnocha) is seemingly losing his composure as he makes great sacrifices in order to leave his dying home world in order to find Prime. Then you have Elite-1 (Linsay Rousseau) dealing with the worsening situation surrounding remaining Autobots on Cybertron and finally Optimus being left adrift.

This season digs heavily into the lore of the Transformers in surprising ways while also being a fn connection to the big movie which was a complete shock to me. In general this does some interesting things that I hadn’t expected, and I’m actually quite excited to see how it all concludes. It was definitely a deeper and more thought provoking set of episodes in comparison to what preceded it. That was exciting to witness, as it wasn’t expected.

I really liked the animation efforts here, Roosterteeth did a great job on them. The various characters are rocking an old school aesthetic with slight adjustments and they’re sleek. I did quite like the designs that were showcased, and the environments as well. Cybertron is now one truly desolate landscape. That’s even more the case with this season, dusty and lifeless. The movements were great, though overall the pacing did feel slow at times.

Not a whole lot of conflict, but a ton of chatting. I did at times find the dialogue to be a tad awkward, but it worked for what this was I suppose. I wasn’t too impressed by the audio in this one, the sound effects didn’t have much of a punch. It also didn’t quite seem to hit that iconic sound, or music at any point. It’s cool when movies or series leave their mark on the themes, and that just wasn’t present at all.

The voice acting was fine, the voices might sound odd if you’re an older fan. I felt Foushee’s Optimus Prime was better this time around, yet not perfect in regards to sounding how I’m used to the character sounding. I think that they effectively pushed the rating this one had for youth, since it is targeted at the younger audience. This season was definitely an improvement in many ways, while visually being similar to what came before it. That’s good for a cohesive watch if you’re viewing this after the fact.

The Conclusion

Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy Season 2 Earthrise is a great improvement upon the first season providing some dark moments and leaving things at a wonderful spot for the conclusive season. I really liked the teases, and the surprise connection to the classic animated film. It definitely went in a direction that I hadn’t anticipated, and that was delightful.

I think there’s a lot of potential for this series as they aim to wrap it up. It had some deeper themes, good moments of action and some surprises along the way as well. There’s a lot they can do from here, and it feels a lot less predictable in comparison to the initial order of episodes.

I liked how the factions were both struggling, and the types of concessions they would make in order to reach their goals. It’s got some neat back story lore, and does some surprising things with it. Should be a much better time for long time fans, while also being awesome for the target audience as well.

Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy Season 2 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Content Access was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 7.6