Bad Moon Rising

	"Bad Moon Rising"
Production company	Hasbro Studios
Airdate	August 24, 2019 (Austalia/NZ); September 6, 2019 (CN app/website); September 14, 2019 (USA)
Animation studio	Boulder Media Studio

This article is about the Cyberverse episode. For the Lost Light issue, see Dissolution Part 4: Bad Moon Rising.

Starscream makes a power play for control of the Decepticons as the Moon hurtles toward the Earth.

Synopsis

Thanks for helping me... pull myself together.

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(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

“Prepare engines for takeoff! Recall all Seekers! And someone tell me what these little buttons do!”

—Starscream hasn’t gone through management training yet.

Optimus wounded Megatron in the leg in the previous episode. While Megatron waved off Shockwave's concerns about the injury, it seemed to be affecting Megatron more than he let on.
Also in the previous episode, Megatron demoted Starscream from leadership of the Seekers for failing to reinforce him when called on. Slipstream was promoted to take his place.

Starscream's recollection of Megatron's various admonishments over time is similar to how his Armada counterpart eventually developed deep resentment towards his Megatron after countless eons of abuse. The big difference is that Armada Starscream was a genuinely competent and loyal soldier who really didn't deserve the abuse, while so far Cyberverse Starscream has been shown to be a sniveling and opportunistic coward.

The episode's name, is of course, taken from the Creedence Clearwater Revival song of the same name.

This episode marks the first time the Nemesis is mentioned by name.
The brutal beating Megatron dishes out to Starscream is arguably the most visceral thrashing any animated version of Starscream has ever suffered. It is even shot in a vaguely horror movie-esque style, with Megatron silently and inexorably stalking Starscream as he desperately flees and/or pleads for mercy. Even Shockwave, Soundwave and Shadow Striker seem taken aback with the brutality.

It's par for the course in most soft sci-fi stories, so we can't really hold the writers responsible for this (though we'll certainly point it out), but Wheeljack's ability to simply "reverse" the planetary engines is something of a handwave to move the plot along; you can't just "reverse" a rocket thruster like a car motor. In reality, "reversing" the planetary engines and restoring the Moon's normal orbit would involve having to turn the entire Moon 180 degrees, then firing the engines to push it back into its normal orbit—assuming, that is, that Cybertronian technology obeys the laws of physics...
Similarly, the moon's approach towards Earth would probably have some sort of effect, especially where the oceans and tides are concerned.