The Transformers: Inception

The Transformers: Inception is a 2020 science fiction TV animated series that aired on Netflix, based on the Transformers franchise, commencing its run on May 30, 2020. It depicts the mechanical world of Cybertron, and the adventures of its denizens, the Autobots and the Decepticons, across the Rom universal cluster.

Premise
Cybertron is a mechanical world in the depths of space, in the Gygax Nebula, inhabited by a race of sentient robotic lifeforms. During the Era of Exploration, the lifeforms, collectively called the Robotrax-1 came across a race of telepathic mechanoids who wished to enchant them to gain furition in their plans for universal domination. However, the Robotrax-1 rebelled, and mastered the art of transformation., driving the mechanoids off Cybertron. Millions of years passed, and crippled by the invasion, Cybertron became nothing more or less than a cosmic dreadnought due to absence of a strong leadership. This is when the dictator Shockwave, servant of pure logic, overthrew the Cybercroft Council and established his own rule. He then dispatched several spaceships on expeditions to gather resources to rebuild Cybertron. Yet a group of Cybertronians, calling themselves Autobots, led by Hound and Optmus Primal, were discontent with Shockwave's reign. Eventually it transpired that Shockwave was not as benevolent as he seemed, and the Autobots departed the planet after stealing the Key to the city of Iacon, where Shockwave had set up his biggest laboratory. Thus began the Liberation War on part of the Autobots to depose Shockwave and bring peace to Cybertron.

Plot
10 million years ago, there existed the dying world of Cybertron. Survivors of the invasion against the Cyclones have been crippled, and Energon is running low. The great Cybertronian historian Alpha Prime notes that the Era of Exploration is at an end, and does not believe Scrimgeon is competent enough to repair the damage inflicted upon Cybertron during the war. As the numbered days of the world pass by, the leadership weakens until riots rock Polyhex, commandeered by the ruthless warlord Straxus. Scrimgeon deploys his henchmen, Metroboost and Lio Convoy, to put a stop to this. Little does he know that his own second-in-command, the scientist Shockwave has planned this distraction to set in motion a coup to overthrow Scrimgeon. The plan succeeds with Scrimgeon executed by Shockwave when he returns to Iacon. Shockwave keeps the coup silent, and announces that the formation of a new Cybercroft Council is underway.

Moons, activities director for Shockwave, dispatched the Gordian, a spaceship to the planet of Hydran to strike up a deal with its native inhabitants and procure permission to set up a mining colony to harvest Energon. Likewise, Moons authorized a fleet to target different planets in the Rom universal cluster for the same purpose. Slowly the Cybertronian Empire expanded to several planets, and trading soon made the planet teeming with energy. However, Shockwave was far more ambitious. Though a system of minions led by Ramjet, Shockwave turned his attention to Catarinus, where according to an old legend, a superweapon was interned. Shockwave began preparing for an assault on Catarinus and retake the weapon. Fortuitously, one of the Autobots, Armourhide, overheard parts of the plan, and reported this to Chief Supervisor to the Council, Optimus Primal. He seemed to suspect Shockwave ever since he became ruler. But believing that they must save Catarinus, Optimus Primal assembled a squadron of Cybertronians - the Autobots: Hound, Crosshairs, Sideswipe, Mirage, Arcee, Dinobot, Armourhide, Smokescreen and Quark. Primal consulted with Alpha Prime, notifying him of Shockwave's plan, and armed with information from Armourhide, Alpha Prime created a Drill Tank to infiltrate Iacon and steal the Key to Iacon. Unfortunately, it was Starscream who detected the theft, and a bothunt was conducted across Cybertron. In hiding as fugitives, Mirage then cleverly stole the Gordian, and enabled the Autobots to board it and travel to Catarinus to warn them of an upcoming invasion. The Gordian was shot down with an Anti-Magnetic Deflector appended to Shockwave's own ship, causing the Autobots to crash on Vasquez in the Zealand System, while Shockwave obtained the Key and returned to Cybertron. Vasquez was a hostile environment, and when the Autobots were snapped out of stasis lock 6million years later, they discovered their predicament, and started training sessions. Their first task was to explore the planet, which it transpired was teeming with terrifying reptilian vertebrates with poisonous spines on their head and flammable breaths. It was not until Quark who invented an antidote to fight against these creatures that the Autobots began to truly uncover the secrets of the planet. Sideswipe wanted to return to Cybertron as quickly as possible, and Hound then discovered the metal Mechanite, which would enable them to create a Transmission Tower and repair the Gordian. Unfortunately, before the plan could be enacted, the Transmission Tower alerted Cybertron to the continued existence of the Autobots, and this time, it was Starscream and Octane who led an attack squad to hunt their quarry. The arrival of the Decepticons meant more trouble, especially when Starscream planned to reverse engineer Quark's antidote, but ended up creating Krystalak, a crystalline monster that stalked the Autobots but was defeated by their combined might by trapping it in a volcano. The Autobots were modified by Krystalak's power, and defeated the Decepticon squad. After repairing their ship with Mechanite, the Autobots travelled back to Cybertron, faced with the power of the SpaceGun (stolen from the ravaged Catarinus) as relayed by ex-Decepticon Silverbolt, who fused with Thundercracker to be reborn asTigerhawk while battling Shockwave. The Decepticons were forced off the planet after their true intentions were revealed. The Autobots returned to find their homeworld suffering from eons of corruption and subjugation, brainwahsed into believing that Shockwave was doing it for their good.

After 2 million years, the Autobot Tigerhawk monitored something eerie on the destroyed world of Catarinus: a number of Energon farms that upon investigation were revealed to be a Decepticon trap. Though they were liberated thanks to the timely aid of the spacefaring Aerialbots, Optimus Primal decided that it was only the beginning of the Decepticons' reign of terror. The decaying Energon farms had formed the unstable Nucleon, that was radiating large amounts of dark energy towards Cybertron. Now unless something was done within 300 stellar cycles (six days), Cybertron would be destroyed for good. The aformentioned quest to recover the Matrix of Leadership began, and only by unleashing the power of the Matrix at the cost of one of their allies was Optimus Primal Prime able to defeat the Decepticons and save Cybertron.