The Rebirth, Part 3 - Transformers Wiki

The battle for the Key to the Plasma Energy Chamber comes to an end.

Synopsis

With the arrival of Scorponok, the Autobots scatter, but Arcee and Daniel are captured. As the Decepticons depart in Scorponok, Optimus Prime orders the Autobots to move out. However, Spike insists on letting him and Cerebros remain behind. Though Optimus believes that Spike is their only hope if Galvatron should activate the Plasma Energy Chamber, he relents.

On Cybertron, Ultra Magnus's forces are fighting off the Decepticons, but the tide is turned when the Headmasters and Targetmasters arrive, allowing Galvatron to claim victory. Scourge and Cyclonus explain what happened on Nebulos, but Galvatron is so disgusted that he's on the verge of reducing all of them to scrap. However, Zarak explains that he has the Key, and has control over Scorponok. Though still disgusted, Galvatron agrees to at least talk, while ordering a new planetary engine he installed on Cybertron to be activated. They prepare to torture Daniel, but Arcee gives them the Key.

Heading for Cybertron, Optimus receives a vision from the spirit of Alpha Trion, telling the Autobot leader to preserve the key at all costs. However, Hot Rod and Kup inform Prime that Cybertron has disappeared. Realizing Galvatron's intentions, Optimus orders the shuttle to head for Earth. On Cybertron, which has entered the Sol system, Galvatron reveals that he intends to activate the Plasma Energy Chamber, and let the energy spread out and cause the sun to nova, destroying Earth and Cybertron. On Nebulos, Spike and Cerebros locate the Hive's city, and begin using long-abandoned controls to begin modifying the city.

Landing on Cybertron, the Autobots discover that their comrades have had their power packs removed, and their lives will end if they do not get immediate energon. The Nebulans think that they should just destroy the Key, lest the released energy reach Nebulos. However, Prime remains adamant, explaining that Vector Sigma has a plan. Unwilling to take the risk, the Nebulans simply abandon the Autobots and head to destroy the key, pursued by the weaponless and headless Autobots. However, they are attacked by the Decepticons, who are preparing to leave. Just then, Spike and Cerebros arrive in the Hive's converted city, which transforms into Fortress Maximus, with Spike and Cerebros as its components. Fortress Maximus engages Scorponok, causing the Decepticons and the Hive to flee. Spike and the Nebulans deactivate the Plasma Energy Chamber, but not before it sends a wave of energy into the sun.

Working quickly, Spike and the Nebulans begin preparing Vector Sigma to absorb the excess solar energy. Pumping it straight into the supercomputer, it directs the energy into Cybertron's storage capacitors, resulting in the complete revitalization of Cybertron. As Cerebros reactivates, he begs Spike to deactivate him, no longer wishing to endure the Great War. However, Spike tells him that Cybertron has been revitalized. Optimus declares that the Headmasters and Targetmasters are to become the guardians of Nebulos, and to destroy the Hive's machines. When this is done, Cerebros will become the guardian of Nebulos, and live in peace.

However, Scorponok survived the destruction, and it is obvious that Galvatron and Zarak do not see eye to eye. Galvatron plans to raid hundreds of worlds and destroy Cybertron, then conquer the universe, but Zarak doubts that Galvatron will be the ruler of the galaxy. As the would-be tyrants bicker, Nebulos stands free, while Cybertron begins a second Golden Age under the rule of Optimus Prime and the Autobots.

'Til all are one.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"At last... Cybertron is mine!"
"You haven't even made the down payment, Galvatron!"

—Galvatron doesn't faze Ultra Magnus

"Decepticons... prepare to face... Fortress Maximus!"

—Fortress Maximus speaking for the first and only time in Generation 1—with a voice reminiscent of Patrick Allen.

"And we've got to get this oversized shopping center in the air. Now!"

—Galvatron, in reference to Scorponok's city mode.

"It's good to be together again. Arcee, I just wanna say...Arcee...I...I..."
"You don't have to, Daniel. I feel the same way, too."

—Daniel and Arcee set some...concepts in motion. Oh god...

"Cerebros, when the last of the Hive's evil is gone, you shall remain here in peace as this world's guardian."
"Thank you, Optimus Prime. It's a miracle."
[scene change]
"It's a miracle we finally got this flying junkpile of yours stabilized."
"You were the idiot who opened the Plasma Energy Chamber, Galvatron."
"SILENCE! There's much to do. We will attack other planets, we will suck them dry, we will rebuild a planet a hundred times more powerful than Cybertron and I will rule the galaxy!"
"Who will rule the galaxy?"
"ME! It is my destiny!"
"We shall see, Galvatron. We shall see..."

—Galvatron and Zarak close the series.

Season 5

When this episode was rebroadcast in the fifth season of The Transformers, it contained new bookending segments with original story material.

Tommy meets with Powermaster Optimus Prime in the barren wasteland and Tommy reminds Prime of his promise to make him a Headmaster. Prime tells him that he may not want to be a Headmaster anymore after he hears the rest of the story. Tommy tells him to just hurry up and finish the tale so that immediately afterward, he can become a Headmaster...

With the tale over, Tommy tells Prime the time has come to make him a Headmaster. Prime agrees that a deal's a deal, though he tells Tommy that as a Headmaster he'll be spending nearly all of his time half a galaxy away on deadly missions. Tommy chokes at the word "deadly". Prime also tells him that since, as a Headmaster, he'll be sharing leadership of the Autobots with him, Tommy will have to monumentally increase his study time. Tommy begins to have second thoughts and rattles off the excuse that he shouldn't rush into such a life-changing transformation, and also that it wouldn't be fair to his family and friends back in Autobot City. Tommy hopes there are no hard feelings and informs Prime that should he ever decide to go through with being a Headmaster, he wants to be Prime's Headmaster. Prime agrees and then blasts off into space, promising to return another day to transform Tommy's day into an adventure.

With this being the really for real final episode of The Transformers, we may never know if Prime ever returned to make Tommy's day an adventure again.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Hot Rod shows a rare trace of his former Matrix-bearing life, immediately recognizing that to have spoken with Alpha Trion, Optimus must have merged with Vector Sigma.
• Apparently, Cerebros can't see in his alternate mode, given his dialogue exchange with Spike at the end of the episode. His alternate mode, by the by, is basically a tiny version of Fortress Maximus's city mode.
• The story ends with the Decepticons still at large, and the Autobots in control of a revitalized Cybertron.

Real-world references

• The Nebulans reverse the polarity of Galvatron's rocket thruster, a reference to the Third Doctor's "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" catchphrase in Doctor Who.^[1]
• Star Wars sound effects:
  • The C-3PO "NO!" laser blast is used repeatedly as the Decepticon Targetmasters take out the Protectobots.

Animation and technical errors

• The action begins with a reset—as Scorponok advances, the Autobots are once again circled around Prime and Arcee. This time, they flee from an energy bolt instead of Scorponok's tail smash.
• Skullcruncher is shown lip-flapping, but it's Grax's voice speaking.
• Optimus is shown against a generic orange-yellow background as he speaks with Spike, rather than the rocks or sky that should be there.
• Coloring errors:
  • Under the opening titles, Pointblank's car mode is colored like Sureshot's.
  • Afterburner is colored like Crosshairs in the opening shot of the battle on Cybertron. In the foreground, an unconscious Searchlight has Hun-Grrr's colors.
  • Alongside the fallen Silverbolt are several generics, and an Aerialbot (Fireflight?) in Blot's colors. In the same shot, Brawl is colored like Peacemaker or Pinpointer.
  • The red squares on Galvatron's shoulder panels are missing in several shots.
  • As Cerebros sits up after his repairs, his eyeband is gray instead of blue.
  • In the pile of deactivated Autobots, Wideload's head is all-white.
  • Prime's grille is yellow when the Autobots arrive at the junk pile on Cybertron.
  • As Cerebros asks Spike what he's looking for, his eyeband is dark gray instead of blue.
  • As he stops outside of "Gorponok", Prime's truck-mode grille is yellow again.
  • "Gorponok" is entirely gunmetal gray, and completely off-model.
  • When Cyclonus captures Optimus and the others, Vortex is miscolored as Blades.
  • Cyclonus and the Combaticons run outside to see what's happening as Fortress Maximus approaches... but the generic figures who then are shown outside Scorponok have (more or less) the Terrorcons' colors.
  • Zarak transforms into an all-white Scorponok head.
  • In the next shot, Scorponok's scorpion head is white with green antenna.
  • In the next shot, head-mode Zarak has black antenna instead of orange. Scorponok's legs are purple instead of green.
  • Cerebros's eyeband is gray again as he thanks Optimus (and his Autobot symbol is black.) Seriously, blue and gray—how hard is that to remember?
• Quite a few shots in this episode show an incredibly small Cybertron, with the curve of the planet's surface visible in the same shot as the characters. Check out the shot of Silverbolt crashing, for example, or the Combaticons walking up to Galvatron a moment later.
• Once Silverbolt is shot down, the whole battle just disappears.
• The Combaticons are right there when the Protectobots attack. Why don't they help their leader?
• As the Targetmasters exit Scorponok and transform, the transformation sound effect plays and is nearly finished before any of them start transforming.
• Cerebros' mouthplate doesn't move during his first lines.
• Monzo is supposed to be torturing Daniel, but Vorath is shown.
• When Optimus Prime sees Alpha Trion holding the key to the plasma energy chamber, the key changes shape while he is holding it; it has its regular edges when he's holding it normally, but changes into a featureless triangle when he's holding it up.
• An establishing shot shows Cybertron rocketing toward Earth... and not just literally. As shown, the planets should have collided in a few more seconds.
• The Key is again missing its ridges when Cyclonus presents it to Galvatron.
• Magnus was piled, inert, in a pile of deactivated Autobots. As he listens to Galvatron's plan, however, both he and Silverbolt are stealthily hunkered down in a pile of random non-robot scrap.
• When Prime's shuttle lands on Cybertron, Earth looms in the background, but a layering error has Earth passing in front of several Cybertronian buildings.
• In the same shot (of the Autobots transforming into robot mode), Hot Rod looks huge compared to Optimus.
• The first time we see Magnus, the Autobot logo on his shoulder is missing.
• Prime's transformation sound effect plays and is finished at the start of his transformation.
• Highbrow is shown lip-flapping to Gort's words.
• As he drives off to stop the Nebulans, Prime's truck-mode stripe is HUGE, and he has side mirrors in one shot (the only shot of the series that he has them).
• In the following shot, Cyclonus is holding his regular gun instead of Nightstick, and Onslaught's eyeband is white.
• As Zarak pops out of Scorponok to mock Spike's "pathetic little darts", he's drawn at the same scale as the Scorponok/Zarak toy. Given how big cartoon Scorponok is supposed to be, however, this means that cartoon Zarak is gigantic—bigger than a regular Transformer.
• For his transformation to head mode, Cerebros doesn't get a transforming sound effect until after he's already finished. And it's not even shown on-screen.
• When Fortress Maximus transforms back to city mode after punching out Scorponok Spike is misdrawn as Cerebros, making it briefly appear that there are two of him.
• As alluded to above, the Transformers fleeing the battle between Max and Scorponok are remarkably large.
• Blades-colored Vortex shows up again, fleeing the battle between the city-bots.
• Scorponok reverts to city mode after Fortress Maximus beats him up, but when the Decepticons are trying to get past Max, Scorponok is in scorpion mode.
• As Prime tries to reason with Spike inside Scorponok, night sky is shown behind him.
• During the same dialogue, Optimus' fog lights are entirely white, even the bulbs (which are red in most other shots).
• After Galvatron sets the timer, the squares on his shoulders are outlined but not colored in (red).
• As Galvatron observes the Autobots' escape from Scorponok, Optimus' legs are completely white.
• After Spike blasts Arcee and Daniel free, Cerebro's face is completely white.
• When Spike turns to tell the Nebulons to remove their exo-suits, Highbrow and Brainstorm in their (human sized) robot modes can be seen right behind him. According to Spike, it's supposed to be Gort and Arcana, who correctly appear in the next scene.
• As Vector Sigma does its golden-age thing, Arcee is shown among the inert Autobots reviving. She's complete with her head, which should still be detached after Daniel separated from her. Also, why are she and the others in the same pile of scrap as Ultra Magnus? Did they just willingly throw themselves onto the Dead Autobot pile?
• Daniel is suddenly and inexplicably back in his exo-suit as Arcee drives up.
• As the Autobots celebrate their victory, Bumblebee shows up. Right next to Goldbug. In the foreground is a giant Pinpointer. Super-tiny Cybertron is particularly obvious in this shot.
• As Gort explains that there's still much work to be done on Nebulos, the Headmaster partners are Optimus's size.
• Rather than actually transforming into Arcee's head, Daniel disappears into her torso, then her head just slides out.
• Despite his exo-suit supposedly transforming into Arcee's head, Daniel is wearing the suit inside her head at the end of the episode.

Continuity errors

• "How're we ever gonna fight that thing?" Hot Rod wonders, apparently forgetting that they've got a whole giant living city-robot back on Earth. Unless he really DID have to kill Metroplex during the hate plague...
• Prime implores Spike to return to Cybertron with the others on the grounds that he's the only one who stands a chance if Galvatron releases the plasma energy. What about the dozen or so Nebulans boarding the ship, who are every bit as organic as Spike?
• Onslaught's single line is not in his usual voice.
• Shouldn't Cybertron's close proximity to Earth cause the planet to tear itself apart, as it did in "The Ultimate Doom, Part 2"? Prime seems blissfully unconcerned about it.
• Chromedome claims that the Autobot Headmasters are "stuck being vehicles without their heads", yet Hardhead was seen moving around and firing his Shatterblasters in dual wield fashion(!) in the previous episode for some time after Duros disconnected. Perhaps the automatic transformation into vehicle mode following a Headmaster pilot's disconnection can be delayed somewhat?
• Spike is able to construct a complex, super powerful Transformer single-handedly out of an entire city using alien technology in what may be no more than mere hours. This may be normal for Transformers to do, but Spike...?
• The 10-minute delay Galvatron sets on the Plasma Energy Chamber seems like a rather optimistic time frame to escape the destruction of an entire solar system. He would have to travel in 318 times the speed of light just to pass Pluto in time!
• Two episodes ago, a crew of Autobots had to take a shuttle to reach the Plasma Energy Chamber. This episode, Spike apparently just runs there on foot in no time flat.
• Zarak greets Spike by boasting that he has kidnapped his son Daniel... when Zarak has never previously met, seen, or discussed Spike (who shows up unrecognizable in a full-body Headmaster suit anyway).
• And then of course, there's the mondo-unbelievable premise of the episode's resolution, that one can simply "reverse" a rocket engine to suck in energy in general, and excess energy out of an about-to-explode star in particular. Does this mean you can put your car in reverse and suck all the burnt gasoline back into it?

Trivia

• This is the final episode of the original cartoon. Had "The Rebirth" been the five-parter that was originally intended, the show would have ended with 100 episodes.
• Man, somebody sure doesn't care about selling Aerialbot toys anymore, huh? They get shot down one after the next in Part 1, are shown fleeing in disarray from Abominus in Part 2, and show up in Part 3 just long enough to get shot down again.
• Why did Galvatron get the Combaticons to construct the rocket engine when he has the Constructicons? The Constructicons' toys weren't on sale anymore.
• Fortress Maximus and Scorponok's city modes make terrible space ships.
• After Galvatron sets the timer, we hear a snippet of music that was heard many times in the first season of the show.
• It's strange that Galvatron would want to unleash the Plasma Energy Chamber to destroy Earth's solar system if he still wanted Cybertron. The supernova created by the sun would have destroyed Cybertron.
• Why does Galvatron point towards Triggerhappy about Nebulons being in the Decepticon bodies (referring to Headmasters) when he is a Targetmaster?
• David Wise, writer for this episode, was rather notorious for recycling plots, scenes and dialogue from one show to another. The parting scene where Galvatron and Lord Zarak are sent hurtling away inside Scorponok, bickering over leadership, was recycled almost exactly for the original miniseries finale of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, "Shredder & Splintered". In that episode, the Shredder and Krang are sent hurtling back to Dimension X inside the Technodrome, bickering over leadership. Zarak's final, ominous line of "We shall see..." is even given directly to Krang. Wise recycled this idea incredibly quickly, as the Turtles episode first aired less than two months later.

Foreign localization

French

• Title (European French broadcast): "Une nouvelle naissance, partie 3" ("A New Birth, Part 3")
• Title (Canadian French broadcast & European French DVD release): "La Renaissance, partie 3" ("The Rebirth, Part 3")
• Original airdate: ?

• Albert Augier is absent from that final episode, which means... that Galvatron gets a new voice, again. Serge Bourrier takes the role, being Galvatron's 7th voice actor since The Movie.
• The recap from previous episode contains only the narrator's raw voice, there is no music or voice effects.
• During this episode, Vector Sigma is still called "Victor Sigma".
• Spike's line "Arcee!" as she gets grabbed by Scorponok is pronounced by Scorponok instead, which... works with the evil way it is said.
• The beginning of Onslaught's line ("Galvatron!") is said by... Galvatron, with the latter's voice effect.
• Optimus Prime tells Cerebros that he will be le gardien de ce monstre ("this monster's guardian") instead of le gardien de ce monde ("this world's guardian").
• Francis Lax and Georges Atlas are the two voice actors who managed to stay during the dubbing of the entirety of the series, being present in almost every episode between the first and the last one.
• Missing lines:

• Daniel's line as he tries to escape Scorponok is missing.
• Chromedome's line "You little creeps! We're stuck being vehicles without our heads!" is missing.
• Optimus Prime's line "We've got to stop them!" is absent.
• The dialogue between Crosshairs and Optimus Prime as they arrive is missing. The Autobots' dialogues as they drive inside the building are also entirely missing.
• Fortress Maximus' unique line of the series, "Decepticons... prepare to face... Fortress Maximus!" is... well, missing.
• The Autobots' line "Power overload!" is missing.
• Spike's line "The energy is overloading the sun, it's going to go nova!" is missing.

German

• Title: "Die Wiedergeburt, Teil 3" ("The Rebirth, Part 3")

Italian

• Title: La Rinascita (Terza Parte) ("The Rebirth (Third Part)")
• Original airdate: November 21, 2014 (on YouTube), February 22, 2025 (re-edited version)

• "The Rebirth" was not dubbed for Italian release, airing The Headmasters as a continuation of the series. The episodes were dubbed between 2012 and 2014 along with the redub of Season 3, and features the same cast. A DVD release couldn't be made at the time (even the redubbed Season 3 DVDs were made in a very small quantity), so the episodes were released for free on YouTube in November 2014 on the Contactoons channel (Contactoons is a cartoon block that airs on a few Italian regional channels, airing older programs that regular channels no longer carry). The videos were made private 24 hours after they were made available, but they can still be accessed by checking the channel's "film animazione e serie tv special" ("Animated movies and TV show specials") playlist. A new public upload of the three episodes was made in February 2025, which differs from the 2014 one by having the theme song replaced with the Italian Transformers Energon theme song.
• The dub itself is basically an amateur production, with very unfitting voices and stuff. Many character names are also mispronounced.

Japanese

• Title: "Ginga Saidai no Kiki" (銀河最大の危機, "The Biggest Crisis of the Galaxy")
• Original airdate: 1996 (home video); July 21, 2007 (broadcast)

• "The Rebirth" was not initially dubbed for Japanese release, instead being replaced by the domestic series Transformers: The Headmasters. The episodes were eventually dubbed in 1996 as special features on Pioneer's LaserDisc and DVD collections. "The Rebirth" received its first Japanese television broadcast in 2007, airing on Cartoon Network Japan.
• To further distinguish "The Rebirth" from the continuity of the Japanese series, it was released with the American The Transformers branding and title sequence. With a few exceptions (such as "Convoy"), most of the characters are referred to by their Western names. For instance, Hot Rod is not called "Hot Rodimus", Kup is not called "Cher" and so on.
• With the exception of Tesshō Genda (Convoy), Seizō Katō (Galvatron) and Issei Masamune (narrator), all characters were recast with new actors.
• Voice direction for the 1996 dubbing of "The Rebirth" was conducted by Shōzō Tajima.
• Due to having been released straight-to-video, this is one of the few episodes of The Transformers not to have been edited for time in Japan. As such, Japanese DVD and laserdisc releases include an optional English audio track for the episode.

Russian

• Title: "Vosrozhdenye (Chastj 3)" (Возрождение (Часть 3), "The Rebirth, Part 3")

Toys inspired by this episode

• Legends LG-54 Bumble & Excelsuit Spike (TakaraTomy, 2017)

A redeco of Hasbro's Titans Return Legends Class Bumblebee (which has nothing to do with this episode) that includes an all-new figure (based on the Titan Master template) representing Spike Witwicky, specifially in an exosuit as seen in The Transformers: The Movie, who transforms into the head of Cerebros, specifically based on his Western animation model as seen in The Rebirth.

Home video releases

All releases listed are in English audio unless otherwise noted.

VHS

1987 — Transformers — Die Wiedergeburt (Dritter Teil) (Polyband) — German audio only.
1988 — Transformers — Headmasters: The Rebirth (Parts, 1, 2 & 3) (Tempo Video)
1989 — Transformers — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime (Tempo Video)
1991 — Transformers — Headmasters / The Return of Optimus Prime / Cosmic Rust (Tempo Video)
1998 — The Transformers: Generation 2 — Rebirth: The Movie (Behaviour Entertainment)
2001 — The Original Transformers — Heroes: The Rebirth (Rhino Entertainment)

LaserDisc

1996 — Transformers: The Headmasters Set (Takara) — Japanese audio only.
1999 — The Transformers: 2010 (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.

DVD

2001 — The Transformers: 2010 — DVD Box (Pioneer LDC) — English and Japanese audio.
2001 — The Original Transformers — Heroes: The Rebirth (Rhino Entertainment)
2002 — Transformers — The Rebirth: Parts 1-3 (Sony Wonder)
2004 — The Original Transformers — Season 3 Part 2 & Season 4 (Rhino Entertainment)
2004 — Transformers — Season 3 and Season 4 (Metrodome)
2005 — Transformers — Collection 6: Series 4 (Madman Entertainment)
2005 — Transformers — Volume 24 (Déclic Images) — European French audio only.
2006 — Transformers — The Complete Generation One Collection (Metrodome)
2007 — The Transformers — Complete Collection (Madman Entertainment)
2007 — Transformers — Box-Set (3DVDs) (Flex Media) — German audio only.
2008 — Transformers — Box-Set (2DVDs) (Flex Media) — German audio only.
2009 — Transformers — Season's Three & Four [sic] (Metrodome)
2009 — The Transformers — Complete Collection: Decepticon Edition (Madman Entertainment)
2009 — The Transformers — The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary "Matrix of Leadership" Collection (Shout! Factory)
2010 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 25th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2011 — The Transformers — The Complete Original Series (Shout! Factory)
2014 — The Transformers — Seasons Three & Four: 30th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)
2014 — Transformers — The Classic Animated Series (Metrodome)

References

1. ↑ Post on David Wise's blog

External links