Timeline

This is a timeline of events as depicted or mentioned in the Transformers film series. This Timeline is also is part of the Tyran Cluster a Universal Cluster of the Transformers Multiverse.

Prehistory

The Very Beginning

Before time began, the AllSpark is created from unknown origins.

Under unrevealed circumstances, the planet Earth forms around the entity known as Unicron.

65 million years ago, a race of mysterious bio-mechanical beings known only as the Creators uses "seeds" to cyberform many organic planets, converting their matter into a shapeshifting metal that would come to be known as Transformium. Prehistoric Earth is among the planets sown with the metal; the cyberforming of the planet triggers the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, wiping out the planet's native dinosaurs. The creators harvest the metal and take it to the planet that would become Cybertron, where they use it to create a robotic race known as "Transformers," who they intend to be explorers. The sorceress Quintessa will later purport to have been involved in the robots' creation, but her truthfulness remains in question.

Subsequent events are unclear. The creators somehow lose control of the Transformers, and most modern Cybertronians appear to have no knowledge of the aliens, instead deifying the AllSpark and crediting it as the creator of their race. Seven Primes rise to become the leaders of the Transformer race, and set out across the universe as explorers searching for energy to harvest to keep their race from dying. The Primes construct Star Harvesters on distant worlds to drain the energy from suns to create Energon. The Primes set out with one rule: “never destroy a planet with life.” The Primes use the legendary Matrix of Leadership as a key to power these harvesters.

Also in existence around this time is a pantheon of great Cybertronian knights, many of whom owe their forms to the dinosaurs of Earth, while several others are blessed with the ability to combine into a single three-headed dragon. These knights, either knowingly or unknowingly, fulfil the mandate of their creators and set out exploring the universe. Among their number is a direct descendant of the Primes known as Optimus.

17,000 BC

Circa 17,000 BC, the seven Primes and their followers arrive on Earth, intending to harvest the planet's sun. Upon discovering that Earth is inhabited by the human race, they cease their plans, but one of their number, disgusted by humans, rebels and seeks to take the power of the sun for himself. For this betrayal, the treacherous Prime and those loyal to him become the first Decepticons. War breaks out between these "Decepticons" and the other six Primes and their followers—known as the "Autobots"—over possession of the Matrix. The evil Prime loses the battle and has the Matrix stolen from him by his six brother Primes. Those Primes then create a tomb out of their own bodies to hide the Matrix from their brother, who, for his betrayal, had his name stricken from history, and was branded only 'The Fallen'.

The earliest human civilizations on Earth build their monuments over remains of Transformer activity on the planet. Around 2560 BC, construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza around the Star Harvester is completed, then later, in 1200 BC, the Tomb of the Primes is hidden beneath El Deir in Petra. A riddle is crafted to mark the tomb's location: "When dawn alights the dagger's tip, three kings will reveal the doorway." Seekers sent by The Fallen to hunt for the Matrix learn of the riddle, but fail in their search for the tomb and The Fallen abandons them, leaving them to run out of Energon and eventually die.

In an unspecified era

Ages pass, and the Transformer civil war evolves. On Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons battle for control of the life-giving AllSpark; the Autobots are led by Sentinel Prime, while The Fallen retreats to the shadows, his existence unknown to modern Autobots, leaving the Decepticons to be led by his apprentice, Megatron. As the war rages on, the rise in casualties and the devastation of Cybertron becomes too great for Sentinel Prime to bear. Knowing that his fellow Autobots will not tolerate the drastic action necessary to save their world, Sentinel strikes a secret deal with Megatron to harvest the resources of Earth to repair their dying world. Sentinel Prime invents hundreds of Pillars to create a spacebridge big enough to transport Cybertron to Earth for the repairs, lying to the Autobots and telling them they are a means to transport troops and supplies for the war effort. Sentinel Prime boards the Ark with the Pillars, intending to leave Cybertron and rendezvous with Megatron on Earth to set up the spacebridge, but the Ark is shot down by Decepticons unaware of the two leaders' secret deal. The Ark is left floating through space, believed destroyed. This results in the young knight, Optimus—Sentinel Prime's pupil and Megatron's oldest friend before he turned to evil, to whom he was considered a brother—taking leadership over the Autobots, becoming Optimus Prime.

The AllSpark is eventually lost to the far reaches of space, due to unspecified circumstances and Cybertron eventually dies from the extensive damages. This causes both the Autobots and the Decepticons to leave Cybertron searching for it.

10,000 BC onwards

The AllSpark crash lands on Earth in 10,000 BC.

At some point, the Decepticon vessel Nemesis crashes on an unidentified celestial body with The Fallen aboard.

Around 1,000 BC, Megatron discovers the AllSpark's location on Earth and ventures to the planet alone.

5th Century

Quintessa seeks to restore the damage done to Cybertron by the war and the loss of the AllSpark by draining the life force of Unicron/Earth. Realizing that she is not as beneficent as they had believed, her twelve Guardian Knights steal the control staff required to carry out the procedure, and go into hiding on Earth. In time, during the Dark Ages, they are discovered by the human "wizard" Merlin, who promises to keep their existence a secret. In 484 AD, however, Merlin calls upon the knights' aid to help the forces of King Arthur defeat the Saxon hordes. The knights agree, and bestow ownership of the staff upon Merlin, coding it to his DNA.

When Merlin passes away, the knights entomb his body, with the staff still in hand, in their ship, which they relocate to the bottom of the ocean, standing guard over it in stasis. Knowing that someday, Quintessa will come for her staff, and that that day will be marked by the emergence of a thirteenth and last knight, the Order of the Witwiccans is founded to watch over Merlin's descendants. Over the following centuries, more and more Transformers will arrive on Earth and interact with humanity, but their presence is covered up by the Witwiccans.

16th Century

In an unknown point in the 1500s, Leonardo da Vinci meets a "Machine Man", inspiring many of his inventions and sketches. He would later join the Order of the Witwiccans.

Around the 1560s, Shockwave makes his first recorded appearance. Both events were covered up by the Witwiccans.

18th Century

In the 1700s, Hound allied himself with General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

19th Century

In the early 1800s, Optimus Prime and Ironhide had made their way to Earth and participated in the Napoleonic Wars. Ironhide would be recorded participating in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, while Optimus Prime was recorded battling during the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Both of these events were covered up by the Order of the Witwiccans.

In the 1860s, Drift and another Samurai Transformer had been residing in Japan. There, the pair joined a group of samurai and presumably learnt their ancient traditions.

In 1883, Megatron was present during the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, but his presence was covered up by the Order of the Witwiccans. At some point after this, he found his way to the Arctic, where he would crash and becoming frozen beneath the ice.

In the year 1897, Captain Archibald Witwicky of the National Arctic Circle Expedition discovers Megatron when the Arctic ice gives way under his feet and he tumbles into the cavern that holds the Decepticon's frozen form. Witwicky's inadvertent entry into the cave triggers Megatron's navigation system, causing the release of a beam of light that imprints the AllSpark's co-ordinates onto Witwicky's spectacles. Witwicky is rescued by his crew, and eventually seems to slip into insanity, only seeing and drawing Cybertronian hieroglyphs. He is locked up in a mental institution and the full extent of the beam eventually renders him completely blind. Megatron's discovery would be kept classified for some years under the US government as Project: Iceman.

20th Century

1900s

In 1901, Hot Rod is recorded in a photograph as a member of the Order of the Witwiccans.

1910s

Around the early 1910s, many more Autobots and Decepticons would find their way to Earth and would participate in World War I. Aiding the British and US military forces were the Autobots, Ironhide and Bulldog, while the Decepticons, Starscream and Shockwave aided the Germans. Their participation in the war would be covered up by the Order of the Witwiccans.

Following the war, Ironhide presumably leaves Earth, while Bulldog stays behind, eventually retiring at Castle Folgan with a sad case of “robot dementia”.

In 1913, almost 12,000 years after the AllSpark's estimated crash, it is discovered by The First Seven.

1920s

The discovery of the AllSpark leads to the formation of Sector Seven in 1927, under the US government.

1930s

In order to prevent alien forces from discovering the AllSpark, President Herbert Hoover believed it would be best to hide it. So in 1931 the construction of Hoover Dam around the AllSpark's location begins. The walls of the dam are made extra thick with concrete to stop any energy signatures from being detected from the outside.

In 1932, archaeologists find strange symbols in ancient ruins all across the globe, specifically Egypt. These symbols are later discovered in 2009 to be the Language of the Primes.

At some point, Sector Seven transports Megatron/N.B.E.-01's body to Hoover Dam, and they continue to keep him frozen there from 1935. At some unknown point after this, scientific breakthroughs are made while studying N.B.E.-01, which begins the technological advancement of the modern age.

In an unspecified time frame, Sector Seven discovers strange energy readings from various vehicles and forms of technology all across the globe. These readings don't appear to prove any essence of life hiding within them, so Project: Black Knife ceases operation and Sector Seven switches its focus onto other classified research. These energy readings were actually from the ancient Seekers that The Fallen abandoned in his search for the Matrix. Agent Seymour Simmons would eventually beg Sector Seven in later years to continue their research into Project: Black Knife, but his superiors would believe him to be obsessed and ignore his wishes.

1940s

During World War II, many Autobots join in the battle alongside the Allies. Hound joins the United States Medical Services Corps, while Lieutenant and the Submarine join the British Armed Forces and Royal Navy, respectively. Around this time, Bumblebee (also known as "ZB-7"), makes his first historical appearance on Earth. He joins Witwiccan member Hot Rod in fighting alongside the Allies in the First Special Service Force, and befriends a young Sir Edmund Burton. In April 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler dies at the hands of his own watch. After World War II is over, Bumblebee parts ways with Burton and Hot Rod, continuing his search for the AllSpark and forgetting entirely his participation in the war.

1960s

Around mid-1961, the Ark, which had been lost to time and space, finally meets its fate. As it makes impact on Earth's moon, it is discovered via satellite in New Mexico, thus sparking the space race of the 1960s. In April 1963 the USSR sends the Luna 4 probe to the moon to take pictures, discovering drag marks on the surface and strange looking rocks. These rocks are actually hundreds of Pillars being taken from the Ark by the Decepticons after they too had discovered its location. The USSR sends another unmanned probe to the moon and it returns with the Ark's fuel cell. July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 departs from Earth and makes its first landing on the moon's surface four days later on July 20. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin successfully step foot on the Ark and begin their top secret investigation. A strategic twenty-one-minute blackout is staged by Sector Seven at NASA command to keep the true purpose of the moon landing a secret. A second American manned moon landing is carried out in November 1969, to continue excavation and research of the remains of the Ark.

1970s

From 1970 to 1972, the United States stages three further manned missions to the moon to continue plundering the Ark. Soundwave and Laserbeak scout for viable agents within the American space program, and make contact with a NASA accountant named Gould. By tapping the stock market to provide Gould with all the money he desires, Soundwave procures his services to manipulate the NASA budget and make further moon missions financially unfeasible. Consequently, the sixth and final mission launches in December 1972. Also in 1972, Soundwave employs Soviet agents to ensure that the first Russian manned mission is cancelled. Soundwave spends the remainder of the decade manipulating his pawns, and "recruiting" more and more human agents in various areas of the American and Soviet government to ensure the Ark is never re-discovered.

1980s

April 20, 1986, after years of tests in Chernobyl, the fuel cell extracted from the Ark finally blows up, causing the Chernobyl disaster. It was covered up as a nuclear malfunction.

1990s

"Alien bad news magnet," Sam Witwicky is born to Ronald and Judy Witwicky.

21st Century

2003

December 25, 2003, the Beagle 2 Rover transmits 13 seconds of footage revealing alien activity on Mars. The event is classified top secret under Sector Seven order and the mission is classed as a total failure as reports are made of the rover going missing.

2007

In 2007, Blackout makes his way to Afghanistan, where he shoots down a military helicopter and takes its form. Three months after this, he stages an attack on the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar in an attempt to gain more information on Sector Seven and Project: Iceman. Where he fails, Frenzy succeeds, hacking into Air Force One and learning of the Witwicky family and Archibald's glasses. To protect Sam from the Decepticons closing in around him, Bumblebee positions himself in a used car lot to ensure that he will be purchased as the boy's first car. After summoning Optimus Prime's team to Earth, he is forced to reveal himself to Sam and Mikaela to protect them from Barricade, following which Sam agrees to help the Autobots in their quest. A clash with Sector Seven ensues, which results in Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela being taken to their Hoover Dam base as captives. The Autobots then use Archibald Witwicky's glasses to track the AllSpark and their captive friends to Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, in the process, they inadvertently lead the way for Starscream's Decepticons, who attack the base and bring Megatron back online. A truce is orchestrated between the Autobots and Sector Seven with help from soldiers William Lennox and Robert Epps, and they ally to battle their common foes.

Events culminate in a colossal battle over the AllSpark in Mission City, which ends when Sam plunges the cube into Megatron's chest, killing him and leaving only a small fragment of the cube behind. With the majority of the Decepticons destroyed or otherwise routed in the battle, Starscream and Barricade are forced into retreat. Bumblebee regains his voice temporarily, wishing to stay and protect Sam. With no one left to lead the Decepticons, Starscream flies off into space back to the Nemesis crash site to regroup with The Fallen. Optimus Prime later hands over the fragment of the AllSpark he collected from Megatron's corpse to the US military for safekeeping where it'll get stored in the Diego Garcia. With the AllSpark destroyed and all hope for the revival of Cybertron lost, the Autobots are granted asylum on Earth. Now calling Earth home, Optimus Prime sends a message into space to invite any other Autobots taking refuge among the stars, to their new home. The US Government disbands Sector Seven and covers up the battle in Mission City. The dead Decepticons are dropped into the Laurentian Abyss and are kept under the watchful eye of a full-time US Navy deployment.

Presumably in late 2007, a classified strike team made up of Autobots and the US Military called NEST would eventually be assigned by the US Government to track down any other remaining Decepticon activity and put an end to their meddling.

2007 to 2009

Within the years that followed a small group of Autobots, after receiving Prime's message, gather together aboard the Wreckers' ship, Xantium. When they arrive on Earth, the Wreckers are considered too violent to be allowed to join Optimus Prime and the NEST Team, so they are kept in charge of working on the Xantium under NASA's watch.

More Decepticons make their way to Earth under new orders from The Fallen and Starscream, in search of the Star Harvester and the Matrix that were left behind thousands of years ago. At this point Shockwave is discovered for the third time. A newspaper article is written up, but it's uncertain if anyone believed this article to be true or not as Transformers still haven't been made public knowledge. Soundwave continues his close watchful eye over Earth's atmosphere, reporting anything he deems worthy of note.

During this point, Sam finishes high school and gets ready to start college in 2009.

2009

Word reaches NEST of a sighting of the Decepticon fugitive, Demolishor, hiding out in Shanghai. A strike team is able to successfully destroy both him and his companion Sideways. However, the massive amounts of collateral damage and the fact that both targets escaped quarantine offends NEST's government liaison, the officious bureaucrat Theodore Galloway. Simultaneously, Sam Witwicky discovers a second surviving sliver of the AllSpark embedded in his old clothes, and upon touching it, the knowledge of the cube floods into his mind, giving him visions of Cybertronian symbols. The sliver also brings to life the Appliancebots, which are quickly destroyed by Bumblebee. Sam entrusts the sliver to Mikaela before departing for college, making her a target for Wheelie, but she is able to overpower and capture the little scrap drone, eventually convincing him to switch sides to the Autobots.

Soundwave dispatches Ravage to recover the AllSpark fragment from Diego Garcia, after which Scalpel and the Constructicons put it to use restoring Megatron to life. Knowing that the knowledge of the AllSpark—including the location of the Matrix and the harvester—has entered Sam's mind, The Fallen directs Megatron to abduct the boy, leading to a ferocious forest battle that climaxes with the death of Optimus Prime at Megatron's hands. With the last Prime's death, The Fallen believes his victory assured, and addresses Earth with the demand that Sam be handed over, forcing the youth to go on the run with Mikaela, his roommate Leo Spitz, Bumblebee and the Twins.

Leo is able to lead the group to Seymour Simmons, who shares with them various purloined Sector Seven documents that Wheelie explains pinpoint the locations of the long-abandoned Seekers on Earth. The four humans break into the Smithsonian and locate Jetfire, reviving him with the second AllSpark fragment. Jetfire teleports them to Egypt and explains the story of the Primes, The Fallen, the Matrix and the harvester, giving them the knowledge necessary to locate the Tomb of the Primes. While NEST and the Decepticons gather at the great pyramid of Giza, which Devastator tears open to reveal the harvester, Sam recovers the Matrix, only for it to disintegrate into dust at his touch. Undeterred, he heads into the battle erupting in Giza, but a blast from Megatron kills him, leading his soul to commune with the Dynasty of Primes in the afterlife. They return him to life, in the process transferring the AllSpark knowledge from his mind into the Matrix, reconstructing it. Sam successfully uses it to bring Optimus back to life, but The Fallen claims the Matrix immediately thereafter and activates the harvester. An injured Jetfire sacrifices his own life so that Optimus can bond with his parts, which gives the Autobot leader the necessary power to destroy both The Fallen and the harvester. As a consequence of The Fallen's attack on Earth, the existence of Transformers becomes public knowledge.

Megatron, badly injured and humiliated in his final encounter with Prime, goes into hiding in Nambia, Africa in a small camp with the other remaining Decepticons, finally adopting an Earth form and caring for Hatchlings, while tending to his wounds.

2009 to 2012

While being awarded a medal for his heroism by President Barack Obama at the White House, Sam Witwicky has a brief encounter with Carly Spencer, an administrative assistant from the British Embassy. Either before or after this, Mikaela breaks up with him for reasons unknown; Wheelie stays with Sam. Seymour Simmons writes a book Code-Name Hero: How Seymour Simmons & the Aliens Saved the World about his experiences, which soon makes him fabulously wealthy. Epps retires from active duty and takes a consulting job, working with NASA and the Wreckers. National Security Director Charlotte Mearing is appointed the new director of NEST in place of Galloway, and quickly brings firm order to the organization, revoking Bumblebee's permission to live with Sam and arranging for the establishment of a network of Energon detectors around the globe to warn of any Decepticon threats. The Diego Garcia NEST base is decommissioned, and the group moves its headquarters to its new Washington, D.C. base, under the alias "Department of Human Health and Services."

While Decepticon high command remains hidden in Nambia, the vast majority of the villains' forces gather in seclusion on Earth's moon in preparation for Megatron's final plan. With this drastic reduction in Decepticon activity on Earth, NEST begins helping to resolve human disputes, though not always with government sanction. Carly gets a new job working for Dylan Gould. After Sam graduates college, he and Carly move to Washington D.C., with Wheelie and Brains in tow.

2013

In the present, the Autobots assist the United States military in preventing conflicts around the globe. During a mission to Chernobyl, to investigate suspected alien technology, Optimus Prime – the valiant leader of the Autobots – finds a fuel cell from the Ark, discovering that it had survived its journey from Cybertron. The Autobots are attacked by Shockwave, who manages to escape. After learning of the top-secret mission to the Moon, the Autobots travel there to explore the Ark. They discover a comatose Sentinel Prime – Optimus' predecessor as leader of the Autobots – and the Pillars he created as a means of establishing a Space Bridge between two points to teleport matter. After returning to Earth, Optimus uses the energy of his Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel Prime.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky is frustrated that he is unable to work with the Autobots and is failing to find a job. He also becomes envious of the close relationship between his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer, and her boss Dylan Gould. After finding work, Sam is provided information by his eccentric co-worker Jerry Wang about the Ark, before Jerry is assassinated by the Decepticon Laserbeak. Sam contacts the now-independently wealthy Seymour Simmons, and together they realize that the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron, are murdering people connected to the American and Russian space missions to the Ark. They locate two surviving Russian cosmonauts, who reveal satellite photos of hundreds of Pillars being stockpiled on the Moon. Sam realizes that the Decepticons raided the Ark long before the Autobots' mission and intentionally left Sentinel and five Pillars behind to lure the Autobots into a trap – Sentinel being the key to activating the Pillars and the Decepticons lacking the means to revive him. The Autobots rush to return Sentinel to their base for protection but Sentinel betrays them and kills Ironhide, revealing he had made a deal with Megatron to ensure the survival of the Cybertronian race.

Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the Moon to Earth, and Carly is captured by Gould, who is revealed to be in the service of the Decepticons. The Autobots are exiled from Earth at the demand of the Decepticons to avoid war, but as their ship leaves Earth it is destroyed by Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, seemingly killing the Autobots. The Decepticons, led by Megatron and Sentinel, seize Chicago as their agents place Pillars around the world. Gould reveals to Carly that the Decepticons plan to transport their homeworld of Cybertron to the Milky Way, then to enslave humanity and use Earth's resources to rebuild their world. Sam teams with USAF Chief Robert Epps to go into Chicago to save Carly, but they are nearly killed by Decepticon forces before the Autobots intervene, revealing they concealed themselves during the launch of their ship to convince the Decepticons they were destroyed.

Working together, the Autobots and human soldiers manage to rescue Carly and destroy Laserbeak, Soundwave, Barricade, Starscream, and Shockwave, with Optimus using Shockwave's arm-cannon to blast the Control Pillar, disabling the Space Bridge. Sam confronts Gould as he reactivates the Control Pillar, and knocks Gould into the Pillar, fatally electrocuting him. Bumblebee and Ratchet arrive and destroy the Control Pillar, permanently disabling the Bridge and causing the partially transported Cybertron to implode. Optimus and Sentinel fight while Carly convinces Megatron that he will be replaced as leader of the Decepticons by Sentinel. Sentinel severs Optimus' right arm, and is about to execute him when Megatron intervenes, incapacitating Sentinel. Megatron invokes Optimus for a truce, having the desire to become the one-in-charge again. Optimus attacks Megatron, knowing Megatron's true intentions, decapitating and killing him. Sentinel pleads for his life but Optimus executes him too, for betraying his own principles. With the Decepticons defeated, Carly and Sam are reunited and the Autobots accept that with Cybertron gone, Earth is now their home.

2013 to 2018

Over the next five years, the destruction and political fallout caused by the Battle of Chicago turns a large portion of humanity against the Transformers, and as a result NEST and all other human-Autobot cooperation programs are shut down. During this period Hound, Crosshairs (AOE) and Drift make their way to Earth. Taking advantage of the turn in public opinion, CIA agent Harold Attinger forms Cemetery Wind to hunt down all Transformers, regardless of faction, though the public believes he is working with the Autobots to hunt Decepticons. Attinger also conspires with the head of Kinetic Solutions Incorporated, Joshua Joyce, delivering him the remains of all the slain Transformers to break down into Transformium for use in the creation of KSI's own man-made transforming robots. KSI also takes Brains captive, using him to decode information from the severed heads of Megatron and Sentinel Prime to aid in the construction process.

The Creators task the bounty hunter Lockdown with capturing Optimus Prime for them. To this end, Lockdown enters into an alliance with Attinger and Joyce, promising them a cyberforming Seed with which they will be able to create a century's worth of Transformium in return for their help tracking and capturing Optimus. Realizing that they are being hunted by humanity, Optimus orders the Autobots into hiding, and is badly damaged himself in an encounter with Lockdown and Cemetery Wind in Mexico City. Adopting a new alternate mode as disguise, Optimus flees to Texas and takes refuge in an abandoned movie theater, where his injuries lead him to go offline. Bumblebee takes up temporary command over the remaining Autobots on Earth, much to the displeasure of some other Autobots, such as Drift.

2018

Eventually, struggling inventor and single father, Cade Yeager purchases Optimus, intending to gut the "truck" for parts, only to instead reawaken and befriend the Autobot leader. Cemetery Wind tracks Optimus down to Cade's home, but Optimus is able to escape with Cade, his daughter Tessa and her boyfriend Shane, and regroups with Bumblebee, Drift, Hound, and Crosshairs. Learning of KSI's involvement in their misfortunes, the group launches an attack on the organization's Chicago headquarters. They rescue Brains, but wind up in battle with two of their man-made Transformers, Galvatron and Stinger. During the fight, Lockdown ambushes Optimus and takes him captive. Thinking the deal done, Lockdown gives Attinger and Joyce the promised Seed, but the Autobots are able to rescue Optimus without Lockdown's knowledge.

Brains reveals that Galvatron is Megatron reborn, who has been manipulating KSI all along. Galvatron brings the other KSI drones to life as his new Decepticon army, and a titanic battle ensues in the streets of Hong Kong as the Autobots try to keep the Seed out of the villain's hands. Optimus recruits Lockdown's other rescued captives, the Dinobots, to aid the Autobots in the fight, but during the mayhem, a furious Lockdown returns to recapture the Autobot leader. With the aid of Bumblebee and the Yeager family, Optimus kills Lockdown and Attinger, but Galvatron escapes. Optimus departs Earth with the Seed to confront the Creators, assigning the Autobots to guard Cade and his family in his absence.

2018 to 2023

In the years that follow, most nations of Earth declare Transformers illegal and form the new military unit Transformers Reaction Force to deal with their threat, forcing the robots to either go into hiding, or relocate to friendlier nations like Cuba. Since humans aiding Transformers is also considered illegal, former Agent Seymour Simmons moves to the beaches of Cuba too. Cade Yeager continues aiding the Autobots, which causes him to become a fugitive. He, alongside Optimus's Autobot team and the Dinobots hide out in a South Dakota junkyard. Tessa goes off to college and loses contact with her father as he is now a wanted criminal. More and more new Transformers arrive on the planet regularly.

Meanwhile, deducing that her staff lies hidden on Earth, Quintessa takes control of the shattered remains of Cybertron and moves the planet toward Earth's solar system. In advance of her coming, she recruits Galvatron (now going by "Megatron" once again) to locate the staff for her, so she can complete her ancient plan.

2023

Investigating the newest arrival, who lands in Chicago, Cade and Bumblebee encounter Izabella (orphaned in the Battle of Chicago) and her Transformer companion Sqweeks and rescue them from the TRF. They are unable to save the life of the newly arrived Transformer, but before dying, the robot gives Cade a talisman that marks him as the legendary "last knight." In time, Optimus Prime crosses paths with the approaching Cybertron while on his own space journey, and he too becomes Quintessa's pawn when she takes control of his mind, redubbing him "Nemesis Prime."

Believing the talisman will lead him to the staff, Megatron allies with the TRF to expediently hunt Cade down, but with the aid of Edmund Burton and Cogman, Cade is able to elude their pursuit. Together with Bumblebee and Merlin's last living descendant Viviane Wembly, Cade locates the knights' ship at the bottom of the ocean and retrieves the staff, only for the mind-controlled Optimus Prime to arrive and attempt to take it for his own. Bumblebee is able to break Quintessa's control over Prime, but Megatron then steals the staff and delivers it to his mistress just as Cybertron arrives at Earth. The knights reawaken and attack Optimus for his perceived betrayal, but Cade saves him when his talisman activates and becomes a sword. Recognizing Cade as the last knight, the knights join forces with the Autobots.

Quintessa begins draining Unicron's lifeforce via Stonehenge, but together, the united Autobots, knights, and U.S military storm her base, where Viviane is able to use her genetic link to Merlin to deactivate the staff and stop the drain. After the battle, Earth and Cybertron are left physically intertwined and the Autobots make their way back to their home planet. Quintessa, once again deceiving her enemies, fakes her death and adopts a human form, beginning a new plot to kill Unicron.

Other Timelines

• Titan Magzine Movie Timeline