As a still armless Megatron oversees the search for the Autobots' corpses in the ruins of their former base, Starscream hauls in Wheeljack, who survived the crash of the Jackhammer. Megatron orders him interrogated in his fortress of Darkmount (guess New Kaon didn't stick for Megs), and Starscream declares it's the dawn of a new age, to Megatron's amusement. The Decepticons are able to find the Forge of Solus Prime and Airachnid in her stasis pod, but Megatron is enraged that they couldn't find any of the Autobots. He realizes Team Prime had fled through the Groundbridge before the blast, and orders Soundwave to increase global surveillance. The United States military attacks, but Megatron smugly wipes them out with the aid of some colossal fusion cannons at the top of Darkmount, also obliterating the abandoned Jasper. Megatron (now with his old arm back) warns Agent Fowler he'd be happy to wipe out the rest of the country if anyone tries anything else, and feigns a desire for peace and coexistence after the defeat of the Autobots. Fowler doesn't buy it, and voices his hope to June that the Autobots are still out there, laying low, unable to make contact. Fowler also has to contend with his superiors who are considering nuking the city to kill Megatron.
It turns out that Smokescreen returned to the base after the blast, and saved the mortally wounded Optimus from the Decepticons' scavenging. The battered Optimus is dragged to an underground cavern by Smokescreen using the Phase Shifter, which he recovered from Cybertron. Smokescreen resolves to find Ratchet to repair him, but a weak Optimus can only say there is "no hope" before drifting into stasis.
Bumblebee is able to evade a passing Vehicon thanks to his new black paint job, and he and Raf decide the best option is to reunite with everyone back in Jasper, while Miko and Bulkhead are heading for a meeting spot Bulkhead and Wheeljack decided on in a situation like this. Wheeljack isn't showing up anytime soon though, as he's being tortured by Starscream for information. Despite telling the truth that he surprised them and doesn't know anything, Starscream keeps it up, hoping he'll break.
Jack and Arcee are headed for Jasper when Arcee heads off to investigate a passing helicopter. Jack decides to chance a text to his mother, telling her he's safe and with Arcee. However, Soundwave immediately catches this and the Decepticons quickly mobilize to attack Jack, with Laserbeak providing a live feed for Megatron. Arcee returns and the two are able to destroy the Vehicons and take down Laserbeak. Soundwave is unable to get any footage from his fried Deployer.
Meanwhile, Knock Out has been on Cybertron, ordered by Megatron to search the ruins of the Omega Lock site for any Iacon relics. He returns to Earth with not only the Apex Armor, but Shockwave.
Tropes:
- An Arm and a Leg: Megatron is shown still missing part of his arm at the beginning of the episode. The original version was restored off-screen shortly into the episode, though.
- Badass in Distress: A damaged Wheeljack is shown being captured and later interrogated.
- Blatant Lies: Megatron tries deceiving Agent Fowler into thinking that the Decepticons only wanted the Autobots terminated and have no quarrel with humanity.
- Cool Chair: Megatron has a rather impressive one as his throne at the top of Darkmount.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: American military forces descend on Jasper and are easily crushed by Darkmount's fusion cannons.
- Didn't See That Coming: Megatron over the Vehicons finding the Forge of Solus Prime in what remains of the Autobot base. He was unaware that Dreadwing gave it to the Autobots in his disillusion with his fellow Decepticons.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Megatron questions how the Autobots came to possess the Forge of Solus Prime, completely unaware that Dreadwing secretly handed it over shortly before his death.
- Megatron strongly suspects that Optimus is actively planning a counter-attack from an undisclosed location somewhere out there. Optimus is actually badly damaged and practically under Megatron's nose.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing:
- Megatron orders Knock Out to return to Cybertron, saying he wants to find any relics the Autobots left behind in all the confusion. Smokescreen reveals in the next scene he still has the Phase-Shifter, saying he picked it up when no one was looking.
- Knock Out saying he found someone on Cybertron, in addition to some relics.
- Flashback: When Smokescreen explains how he went back to base at the last moment and was in a position to pull Optimus from the wreckage.
- Foreshadowing:
- Ratchet is the only Autobot left unaccounted for, setting up when Bumblebee and Raf go looking for him in the next episode.
- Bulkhead has a plan to meet up with Wheeljack, so he's heading to a specific location to wait for him.
- Gas Leak Cover Up: The government sets up a cover that Jasper was rocked with a meteor shower.
- Hope Spot: Arcee is relieved to find a nearby object in the sky is just a civilian helicopter. Then she hears the weapons fire where she left Jack.
- Hope Springs Eternal: Fowler remains certain that their only chance is Team Prime, and he believes that they're out there somewhere.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Smokescreen apologizes for defying orders, but he just couldn't leave Optimus to fend for himself.
- Mythology Gag: "Darkmount" was a fortress from Generation One commanded by Straxus.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Smokescreen went back for Optimus because he couldn't stand the idea of Prime facing Megatron and the Decepticons all alone.
- Not Quite Dead: We find out Optimus was rescued from certain death thanks to Smokescreen.
- Wheeljack was pulled from the wreckage of the Jackhammer, damaged but alive.
- Airachnid's stasis pod is shown as still intact and now in Decepticon custody.
- The end reveals that Shockwave survived the events of "Out of the Past," much to the others' surprise.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jack's the one to foolishly break radio silence by sending a text to his mother, alerting the Cons to his location. In his defense, his mother is the only family he has left among other obvious reasons to be worried sick, but even Miko knew better.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Jack when he sees that one text did, in fact, tip off the Decepticons to his location.
- Knock Out's reaction to a certain someone approaching the site of the Omega Lock.
- Only Sane Man: Fowler, as he's caught between a Decepticon warmonger pretending to play nice and "nuke-happy generals" underestimating the severity of the threat.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Fowler knows damn well that Megatron has no intention of playing nice with humanity.
- He also believes the Decepticons will likely tap into communications to find any surviving Autobots or the humans tagging along with them. They manage to do so when Jack contacts his mother via text.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: As the Decepticon leaders wait for the mooks to finish off Arcee and Jack.Megatron: How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her human pet?!
Starscream: Well, in my experience—
Megatron: Not a riddle, Starscream! - This Is Gonna Suck: Raf over how the only change of reuniting with the rest of the team is getting closer to Megatron's fortress.
- Torture Is Ineffective: Wheeljack mocks Starscream's efforts to get information, saying he's starting to enjoy it. He also makes it clear that none of the other Autobots expected him to return, and he wasn't informed of the situation at hand, so he knows nothing.
- Trash the Set: Jasper gets wiped off the map by Darkmount.
- Wham Shot: Knock Out shows off what he found on Cybertron: a Not Quite Dead Shockwave.
