Dreamwave timeline

A timeline for the events of Dreamwave Productions' Generation 1 continuity.

Ancient era

• The universe is created. This makes a lot of people unhappy and is often considered to have been a bad idea.
• Primus and Unicron come into existence. Primus takes on the form of a planet and starts exploring the universe, creating new worlds as he goes. Unicron also turns into a planet, only he goes around eating or corrupting worlds instead. Witnessing this, Primus tries fighting Unicron. The conflict lasts eons. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
• The Thirteen original Transformers are created, led by Prima, in order to fight Unicron and pilot Primus's planet mode. The Fallen betrays Primus and serves Unicron. After a battle where the Thirteen are all destroyed, Unicron and the Fallen are imprisoned inside a black hole. Primus positions himself around a binary star and creates the Cybertronian race, then retreats into the core of the planet to stop Unicron finding him again. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

The Ultimate Guide gives the date of Cybertron orbiting this binary star as "long before the most primitive lifeforms crawled out of the primordial sludge on Earth", so that's at least several billion years ago.

• Quintessons invade Cybertron, killing en masse and severing Primus' link to his creations. They are eventually forced off Cybertron.
• Forgotten era of ancient Transformers.
• The Golden Age, the earliest known period of recorded Cybertron history, begins. Iacon is founded and becomes the primary seat of Cybertronian government. The High Council is formed with the intention of preserving Primus' original intent. Results seem to be mixed. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

Pre-war

ONE golden disc, ah ah ah!

• Quintessons infiltrate the Council of Ancients.
• Megatron explores the Forbidden Zones and finds an ancient Golden Disk. Agents of the council try to kill Megatron. The Route of All Evil

9000000 BCE

Spurred by this assassination attempt, Megatron begins gathering supporters in Kaon. The nascent Decepticon movement begins preparing for war, altering their forms to match. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide They are helped by the corrupt Emirate Xeon, who is bribed to ignore their activities. The War Within issue 3

8700000 BCE

• Gathering supporters, Megatron starts his war, murdering Xeon and using that as a pretext The War Within issue 3. On State Day of Cycle 11010, the Decepticons strike on multiple fronts, catching the vast majority of Cybertron's population by surprise. Many try to surrender, only for the Decepticons to take no prisoners. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

8500000 BCE

• The Autobots gain their first victory at Protihex. The Decepticons raze Nova Cronum. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

War on Cybertron

• Grimlock switches from a Decepticon to an Autobot.
• Prowl's home in Praxus is demolished.

8200000 BCE

TWO golden discs, ah ah ah!

• Sentinel Prime tries to reason with Megatron, and is slowly and painfully killed at Tyrest for his troubles. However, Megatron does not find the Matrix on his person, Sentinel having been canny enough not to bring it. The War Within issue 1
• An archivist named Optronix is appointed the new Prime, becoming Optimus Prime. His first act as Prime is to declare Cybertron a lost cause and order a full-scale evacuation of the planet. This proves contentious with certain elements of the Autobot forces.
• Optimus is drawn into a fight with Megatron, the two falling deep into the bowels of Cybertron, where they are granted visions of the future. Meanwhile, the Decepticons launch an all-out attack on Iacon, coming close to annihilating the Autobots, until Starscream decides to activate the planetary engine located beneath the capital. In the chaos, Optimus lobotomizes Megatron. Wheeljack is able to disable the engine before it does more damage, but Iacon is nearly leveled. However, Optimus has had a change of heart on leaving Cybertron, thanks to his visions.
• Optimus tosses away the council's Golden Disk.

The War Within

• This may be when Megatron punishes Starscream for killing the Council. Generation One issue 4

Pre-Dark Ages

• Some incident occurs involving a Cerebro-shell, Grimlock and Jetfire. (alluded to in Conflagration)
• Shockwave begins experimenting with Triple Changer technology, first on captive Autobots, then on Blitzwing, who the Autobots are later able to capture. Confrontation Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
• The Constructicons develop the mass intellect process, become the first Combiner. The result is less than brilliant, but Megatron is impressed enough to demand more. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
• Jetfire switches from Decepticon to Autobot.

7400000 BCE / The Dark Ages

• Megatron develops an early space bridge to explore new worlds. Optimus rushes in at the last moment, both disappear to places unknown and are presumed lost. Fragmentation
• The Fallen is freed from his prison as a side effect of the space bridge incident. He begins stoking inter-party conflict. Without either Optimus or Megatron's leadership, both sides splinter into various sub-factions. Starscream gathers together a band of thugs and psychos, and tries staging a coup on Shockwave. It fails, but Starscream and his Predacons escape to become their own faction. Meanwhile, Ratbat forms his own faction, the Ultracons. Likewise, faced with Prowl's lackluster leadership, the Autobots split apart, with two groups being the already semi-independent Wreckers, and the Lightning Strike Coalition. War Within: The Dark Ages
• After their not-quite-a-success with Devastator, the Decepticons try to make a combiner again. The Stunticons become Menasor, the Combaticons Bruticus. The Autobots manage to appropriate the technology, with subgroups the Aerialbots and Protectobots becoming Superion and Defensor. Combiner groups, also labeled "the Special Teams", are ruled non-allied by the Crisis Intervention Accord, with their combat status downgraded. Devastation Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

6500000 BCE

• The Fallen captures Blitzwing, Jetfire, Grimlock and Hot Spot, due to unique aspects of all four being useful in a ritual designed to break the seal of the Well of All-Sparks and summon Unicron.
• Deus Ex Machina defeats The Fallen. Conflagration
• Shockwave and Prowl coin the term "Until all are one." Conflagration

Pre-Age of Wrath

• Ultra Magnus returns to the Autobots from his self-imposed exile. He makes significant in-roads in the war, reuniting the scattered Autobots into one faction, despite his own angst in filling Optimus' shoes. Eventually, the Decepticons become so battered they declare a truce. The Age of Wrath

6000000 BCE / The Age of Wrath

• Megatron makes a deal with the Quintessons, having forgotten that their infiltration of the Council of Ancients started this war, probably as a result of the lobotomy Prime gave him.
• Starscream and his Predacons, who remain separate from the Decepticons, attack the Autobot and Decepticon leaders as they attempt to sign their truce. In the confusion, Grimlock is assassinated (don't worry kids, he gets better!) Megatron chooses this moment to stage his return, and with the help of his Quintesson-given Aerospace Extermination Squadron, quickly overwhelms the majority of Autobots, The Age of Wrath leaving only a small band of rebels under Perceptor's leadership to fight him. The Predacons are reassimilated back into the Decepticon command structure. The Age of Wrath Pt.2
• This may be when Megatron punishes Starscream for killing the council. Generation One issue 4
• Optimus Prime returns to Cybertron, the Aerospace Extermination Squadron is destroyed, and the enslaved Autobots freed. We're not entirely sure how.

5000000 BCE

Faced with dwindling resources and a continuing war, a large amount of Autobots up and leave Cybertron. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide

4000000 BCE

• A threat to Cybertron, in the form of a giant asteroid, is detected, prompting Optimus to take a handful of his most loyal supporters on the Ark to face it. On its voyage, the ship is waylaid by Megatron's ship, the Nemesis. The two ships inadvertently fly through a space bridge portal, winding up in an unknown area of space. As the Autobots are overwhelmed, Optimus sets the Ark to crash on a nearby insignificant blue-green planet, knocking all aboard into stasis lock. Transformers: The Ultimate Guide
• The Dinobots chase the Insecticons to Earth. It's assumed the Insecticons are killed, but they start operating underground. Extermination

Pre-Micromasters era

THREE golden discs, ah ah ah!

• With troops on both sides beginning to shut down from lack of Energon, the first steps of Micromaster technology is developed, intended to downsize troops and save fuel. More Than Meets The Eye issue #8 The initial process is rejected after some success due to being dangerous and inefficient. Destined for Nothing
• Operation: Containment: Jetfire, Countdown, Groundshaker, and Omega Supreme leave Cybertron.
• Operation: Containment splits into two separate groups.
• Skystalker invades planet Paradron, killing most of its inhabitants.
• Countdown chases Skystalker to Paradron's core and steals their Golden Disk.
• Skystalker drains all energy from the world Kyron to send a signal to Shockwave.
• At Shockwave's suggestion Autobots and Decepticons collaborate to develop new Micromasters, setting them up in the Little Iacon establishment as a means to add more troops to each side. Unknown to either side, Shockwave uses Vector Sigma to give the miniature Cybertronians life. The early stages of the project are designed to let the Micros acclimatise to life on Cybertron before chosing which side they might join.
• The project is terminated early. Little Iacon falls into rioting, and both factions take whatever troops they can. A large amount of Micromasters feel embittered over having to fight their friends, to say nothing of feeling discrimination for their "guzzler" superiors.

Transformers: Micromasters

Micromasters era

• Countdown and Skystalker return to Cybertron.
• Countdown and Big Daddy recruit Micromasters from both sides to stop Skystalker's plans to kill all the guzzlers.
• Tired of war, Fortress Maximus quits the Autobots.
• Big Daddy decides to find the truth for himself.

Transformers: Micromasters

Pre-Great Shutdown

• Omega Supreme is pushed from being a creature of impulse into a creature of pure technical computation. Original Sin
• If the Beast Wars happened, they would be happening sometime around now.

3500000 BCE

• The Great Shutdown. All Transformers deactivate as Cybertron undergoes a new stage in its planetary evolution.
• An army of Sweeps are released by Unicron, but all except one go into hibernation.
• Arriving on a frozen Cybertron, Scourge awakens Shockwave. Scourge saves Shockwave from the Sharkticons, and then Shockwave shoots him in the back, taking the Unicron creation away to study. Generation 1 #0, eventually Scourge's presence leads Shockwave to Alpha Trion. Cold War

3500000 BCE onward

• Shockwave installs a High Council of Autobots to help reconstruct Cybertron. While they remain unaware of it, Shockwave brainwashes the population of Cybertron into docility.
• Hot Rod's rebel group reawakens Autobot senses and brings awareness of the manner in which Shockwave is oppressing the populace.
• Scourge makes his way to Earth and attacks Jetfire's ship.
• Jetfire imprisons Scourge in an Autobot escape pod.
• Jetfire and the pod are trapped in an avalanche.

Original Sin

180000 BCE

• The Beast Wars occur. Beast Wars A Meeting of Minds Ain't No Rat

This date comes from the unpublished script for Issue #1 of Transformers: Beast Wars — Shell Game

Twentieth Century

• 1939—Transformers/G.I. Joe doesn't happen. (alternate reality)

1984–1999

• 1984—The Transformers on Earth reawaken and restart the Great War. The Autobots befriend the Witwicky family. Mechanic and family patriarch Sparkplug thinks this might be a bad sign.
• Nathaniel Faireborn becomes involved. Infestation
• Faireborn starts the EDC. Starts and stops Project: Centurion. The Route of All Evil
• The Decepticons recover/capture Jetfire and hold the scientist aboard the Nemesis. Skyfire
• Megatron captures the Dinobots and their ship and holds them in a cave. Only Megatron and Grimlock are aware of this. Brothers' Burden
• Spike Witwicky marries Carly, and they have a child named Daniel. Some people also think this might be a bad sign.
• May 4, 1998—Operation Liberation: Autobot and human military action is taken against the Decepticons, with their defeat attributed to Rudy "Red" Kingsley.
• General Hallo and Adam Rook attempt to engineer their own Transformers. Failing that, they plan to control the existing ones.
• June 24, 1999—Ark II explodes as a means to cover the Autobots and Decepticons being held in secrecy by the American government. And incidentally, Shockwave wanted to keep the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth until the time was right. Revelation
• Adam Rook takes the name "Lazarus" and goes private with the operation, General Hallo takes the break-up really, really hard.

Prime Directive

Modern era

Reawakening

• Lazarus recovers several Transformers from the wreckage and uses them to commit terrorism-for-hire.
• April 3, 2002 — Optimus Prime is recovered, General Hallo summons Spike Witwicky to reactivate Prime.
• The Autobots and Decepticons ruin San Francisco for the millionth time. Superion and Devastator are destroyed.Prime Directive

The Keepers strike at Earth

• Six months after the destruction of San Francisco, Spike Witwicky is drawn into a web of lies involving the alien Keepers The Transformers Trilogy

• Scourge escapes from Shockwave's captivity and flees to Earth. His shuttle crashes in Alaska and kills a pod of whales. Optimus Prime is gripped by generic dark visions of a threatening nature. War and Peace Preview

War and Peace

• One year has passed since the destruction of San Francisco
• Shockwave has all Decepticons and most of the Autobots on Earth brought back to Cybertron.
• Scourge is captured by the humans.
• Starscream blasts Megatron into space.
• Grimlock recovers the Dinobots and returns to Cybertron.
• Shockwave uploads contents of Vector Sigma to his own laboratories.
• A signal is sent to Unicron.
• Shockwave falls down a hole and thus his oppressive regime is overthrown.
• Starscream and friends returns to Earth.

War and Peace

• Wreck-Gar recovers Megatron. Revelation

Generation 1 (ongoing)

• Cyclonus is created. For once, it is worthy of the name. Generation 1 #0
• Wreck-Gar finds Megatron and repairs his brain damage. Runnin' with the Devil

Ascension

• Starscream's party overcomes the fact that their transport is alive and manages to make it to Earth; they scan new alt modes for the Combaticons.
• Bumblebee and a crew head to Earth on the Orion.
• An attack on the Ark leaves most of Starscream's Decepticons captured.
• Bruticus defeats most of the Autobots.
• The Ark is detonated in an attempt to stop Bruticus (which doesn't work).
• Sunstorm is activated and arrives on Earth. Night of the Combaticons
• Sunstorm takes Starscream to some weird goo thing on Earth. Original Sin
• Starscream causes Sunstorm to detonate crazy, Jetfire prevents the explosion from destroying Earth. Bumblebee deserts the Autobots.
• Megatron "kills" Wreck-Gar. Runnin' with the Devil
• Megatron recruits the Predacons. Welcome to the Jungle
• Megatron steals Shockwave's tiny army from Cybertron and heads to Earth.
• Prowl also heads to Earth with his own team. Lost and Found
• Project Centurion is reinitialized.
• Megatron reveals to his inner circle how the Great War started.

De-ascension

This was deemed inadmissible in bankruptcy court.

• Dreamwave goes out of business in a large explosion. Pat Lee and friends walk away smoking possibly with money.

The future

FOUR goddamn discs, ah ah ah!

• Hot Rod fights alongside Fortress Maximus. The War Within
• Hot Rod obtains the Matrix and becomes the leader of the Autobots as Rodimus Prime.More than Meets the Eye
• The Great War ends, and the Pax Cybertronia signifies peace... maybe.
• Advancements in technology lead to the Autobots and Decepticons being upgraded into Maximals and Predacons.
• A new Megatron and his henchman venture into the past. More than Meets the Eye
• This Megatron later returns to Cybertron from the Beast Wars and conquers the planet. Optimus Primal's Maximals return even later and fight a technorganic war against Megatron and his Vehicon armies. Beast Machines Singularity Ablyss