Transformers: Combiner Wars (cartoon)

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The "Game of Thrones of animation" ...Yeah, porcelain thrones.

Transformers: Combiner Wars is an animated web series. Co-produced by Machinima and Hasbro Studios with animation done by Tatsunoko Production and voice recording by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, it is targeted at older audiences, and ties into the concurrent Combiner Wars imprint. The series was run by Eric S. Calderon, George Krstic, and F.J. DeSanto, though it seems that at least two of them no longer want people to know about their involvement.

Four prelude videos were released weekly beginning June 28 2016, followed by the premiere of the series proper on August 2, on the go90 platform in the U.S., and on Machinima's YouTube channel elsewhere… until Machinima changed the episodes' settings to "private" a few weeks after the release of the final episode. A year later, they returned to general viewing audiences via Hasbro's official YouTube channel, and in 2018 were uploaded to the Prime Wars Trilogy Tumblr blog, while the go90 release was removed as part of the service's discontinuation on July 30, 2018. In January 2019, the Tumblr blog was deleted and all Prime Wars Trilogy content was delisted from Machinima's channel, including the Prelude videos, in advance of the announcement of Machinima's closure; all videos were later made available for streaming via Rooster Teeth the following March, before being delisted again in 2024 due to the site's closure.

In November 2016, Machinima announced plans to create two sequel series, forming a complete set of tie-ins into Hasbro's "Prime Wars Trilogy" line. The first, Titans Return, premiered in November 2017, while the second, Power of the Primes, was released in May 2018.

“	[...] so as we go through the story we’ll have very sophisticated story ideas and sophisticated visuals.	”
—Eric Calderon, exaggerating wildly

Overview

Forty years after the conclusion of the Great War on Earth, the Autobots and Decepticons are no more and Optimus Prime and Megatron are relics of the past. Cybertron is at last at peace, ruled by the triumvirate of Starscream, Rodimus Prime, and the Mistress of Flame. However, the Enigma of Combination, an ancient artifact of Primus, has triggered new conflict through the creation of huge, dangerous Combiners, and now Cybertron's fragile peace is in danger of collapse.

Cast

Autobots	Decepticons	Camiens
Optimus Prime (Jon Bailey) Rodimus Prime (Ben Pronsky) Combiners Computron (Ricky Hayberg) Titans Metroplex (Michael Green) Fortress Maximus	Megatron (Jason Marnocha) Starscream (Frank Todaro) Combiners Menasor (Charlie Guzman) Devastator (Patrick Seitz) Scrapper Long Haul Scavenger	Windblade (Abby Trott) Mistress of Flame (Lana McKissack) Maxima (Amy Johnston) Combiners Victorion (Anna Akana)

Episodes

Preludes

1. Optimus Prime
2. Victorion
3. Starscream
4. Windblade

Main episodes

1. The Fall
2. The Council
3. The Duel
4. Unforgotten
5. Homecoming
6. A War of Giants
7. Darkest Hour
8. Destruction's Dawn

Criticisms

While Combiner Wars was advertised as a series intended for mature fans, the series was roundly criticized by the fandom for a variety of reasons. Eerily, many of said criticisms also apply to the infamous Energon cartoon.

Storytelling flaws

Combiner Wars is split into eight five-minute episodes. As a result, the miniseries runs for forty minutes overall, which wouldn't be so bad if not for the obvious padding that permeates most episodes. "The Council", for instance, spends a minute depicting Starscream flying over an empty Cybertron before leading into the action.

The story's setting, meanwhile, is supremely ill-defined. The prelude videos for the series vaguely allude to the "Combiner Wars" beginning shortly before the end of the Great War and somehow continuing to the present despite the end of Autobot-Decepticon hostilities. No explanation is ever given for how or why this war started, or indeed for what the Combiners are doing exactly that constitutes a war. Caminus's cities have apparently been wrecked by the Combiner Wars, but whether this is collateral damage from Combiner brawls or the result of Combiners just plain smashing stuff, we are never told. The Enigma of Combination is a similarly nebulous concept, with no real explanation provided of what it is, where it came from, or what it does, beyond the fact that it has created some (all?) of the Combiners. At one point, Rodimus Prime talks about using it to "control" the Combiners, but apparently by this meant creating a new Combiner army. Later, the council talk again about using it to "control" the Combiners, but this time in the context of actually taking control of the existing Combiners.

Pictured: A combiner.

Beyond this, for a series named Combiner Wars, the series puts very little focus on the characters that it was ostensibly created to advertise, treating them as interchangeable background extras. While Devastator receives some dialogue and characterization, Victorion appears out of nowhere seconds before she's assimilated by Starscream – even though she was the only combiner to receive a prelude video that hyped her up as a key player in the series. It's not really clear what combiners are supposed to be in this continuity: Starscream mentions that they're "still Autobots and Decepticons", implying that the combiners adhere to the usual factions, but other instances of dialogue treat them as though they're an entirely new faction of Transformers who have, by all indication, materialized overnight to wreak havoc on all and sundry. The closest it comes to any kind of "combiner war" on-screen is the brief scuffle between Menasor and Computron in "The Fall", which lasts for all of one minute. While the Council describes this combiner threat as a massive, out-of-control problem, the threat they pose in the actual show feels hollow – Menasor, for instance, dies from one slice of Windblade's sword. The combiners are never actually depicted combining, and the only components presented individually are three of the Constructicons. Even when their limbs are severed, the show doesn't acknowledge the fact that these can ostensibly become individuals. In the climax of the series, it briefly appears Starscream will become a super-combiner with the other combiners forming his limbs. Instead, he becomes a giant screaming head. No, really. Speaking of disembodied body parts, the series ends with Windblade summoning Metroplex... And all it amounts to is his arm rising up from the ground instead of him actually transforming from the city.

In terms of characterisation, while Optimus Prime and Megatron generally hew close to classic Generation 1 fiction, other characters received wildly different interpretations that proved unpopular with the target audience. Windblade, previously depicted as a kind and heroic diplomat, is re-imagined as a vengeful fiend aiming to kill anyone and everyone associated with Combiners, thus quickly gaining her the fan nickname "Murderblade". Starscream's prelude video, meanwhile, introduces him to the audience as an individual who is genuinely seeking redemption for his prior deeds, which was at least a new take with narrative potential. This new role is borne out for most of the series, until the eleventh hour; in "A War of Giants", he is suddenly revealed to have been playing a scheming long-game, despite the audience having been assured of his good intentions by an internal monologue!

To give SOME iota of praise to the show, while almost every other character has been broadly criticized, Megatron was almost universally praised. His personality being a combination of wizened old soldier and constant snarker, the above-expected quality of his vocal effects, and the excellent performance of Jason Marnocha led to him being widely regarded as a runaway success. He's so well done, it's difficult to believe he's actually appearing in the same show as everyone else.

Production flaws

Timing

Combiner Wars ended up being rather infamous for having very poor timing. While the Combiner Wars toyline debuted in late 2014, the existence of this series was first announced in July 2015, and the scripts for the first seven episodes were not finalized until January 2016. As a result, the lead time required for animation led to the series debuting in August 2016... by which time Combiner Wars had already ended as a general retail line and been succeeded by the Titans Return line.

Animation

Despite the fact that the series is animated by the legendary Tatsunoko Production, the series suffers from below-Cybertron-quality CGI, with cel-shading distressingly similar to Energon. The problems are compounded by the very noticeably low framerate – possibly an attempt, like the concurrently running Robots in Disguise series, to emulate hand-drawn animation, but not one that's at all successful. Characters have very basic mouth flaps when speaking, and whilst they can at least pull off facial expressions a little better than in Energon, it's still generally unexpressive.

Alright, let's just be honest here: this series makes Energon look like a masterpiece.

Home video releases

Transformers: The Last Knight

Main Article: Paramount Pictures

• Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Available as a Target exclusive, the Blu-ray combo pack release of Transformers: The Last Knight comes with the complete Combiner Wars cartoon (You heard that right).

External links

• "Transformers Combiner Wars: Animated Shorts" playlist on YouTube
• A screencap comic meant to recap the Combiner Wars show