At Autobot City, Lightspeed says what a gorgeous day it, and there are no Decepticons to ruin it. Goldbug says there hasn't been a peep out of the creeps in months, whilst Strafe jokes they're looking for all of the loose parts that got knocked out of them when they got Optimus Prime back. Lightspeed thinks the Decepticons must be spread out across the galaxy, and Goldbug wonder if they'll stay there. Scattershot says they won't -he's picked up about 100 blips on the radar, heading right toward them!

Elsewhere, Ultra Magnus finds Optimus Prime dazed. Optimus says he's ok, but ever since he released the energy of the Matrix, he's had these overwhelming feelings that something's going to happen... something big. Magnus asks if he means a Decepticon attack, but Optimus says it's bigger than that... it's going to be something unbelievable. Goldbug then contacts him and says they've got every known Decepticon in the universe heading right down their throats. An alert goes out, and the Autobots head out.

Optimus leads them out, as Galvatron orders the Decepticons to attack. Things get intense straight away, as Apeface takes on Wideload...

...and Snapdragon fights Freeway. Lightspeed fires at Mindwipe, but Mindwipe tells him his circuits are under his power. He makes him back away.

Lightspeed backs up so much he ends up falling into a river below. Up in the sky, Triggerhappy tells Misfire to pull up, but he gets hit by some blasts from Scattershot. Scattershot says this is what he really calls a battle, but Goldbug says this is what he calls getting slaughtered!

The Decepticons and Autobots move away from Autobot City, and as Skullcruncher fires, Searchlight wonders what all this senseless violence is all about. Back at the city, Wingspan and Pounce make their way inside.

Punch sees them go in and wonders what those two spies are up to, and decides to do a little spying of his own... as a Decepticon! He transforms to Counterpunch, and heads in. Wingspan and Pounce blast down a door, and are using a tracking device to locate something.

They start to crack open a safe, but then Counterpunch shows up and says Galvatron told him to check on them. Wingspan tells him to beat it, as they don't need his help. He tells them fine, they can deal with his Autobot counterpart, who he's heard is nearby...

"...REAL nearby."

Punch fires at the two Decepticons, but they are able to overpower him and take him down. They then get the safe open and take what they wanted: the key to the plasma energy chamber.

The battle is still going on outside, but as Wingspan and Pounce return, Galvatron tells the Decepticons to return to the mothership. The Decepticons immediately stop fighting and retreat.

The Autobots say they've done it, but Magnus says this doesn't feel right. Prime says the whole thing is beginning to smell like a diversion, and they need to find out what it was a diversion for. Meanwhile, Galvatron says the time of the Decepticon's final victory is nigh, as he and the other Decepticons leave Earth and head for Cybertron.

Back in the city, Optimus finds Punch, but he just points to the busted safe. Optimus says it's happening, just as he sensed it would. He tells Ultra Magnus to round up every Autobot they can spare, as they're going to Cybertron...

On Cybertron, Blurr and Hot Rod are having a race. But Hot Rod has Daniel helping drive him. As Hot Rod deals with the steering, Daniel operates the pedals. Blurr is going too fast and hits a couple of walls, and then when some targets pop up, he spins out of control.

As Hot Rod and Daniel approach, Daniel leans out and starts blasting the targets, hitting all of them. The race is over and Daniel asks his Dad how he did, and Spike says he did just fine. Arcee says he wasn't just "fine", he did great!

Blurr thinks he was robbed, as Hot Rod had an unfair advantage. Brainstorm says Hot Rod won because he had help from Daniel, which proves his basic theory is sound. Crosshairs asks what all the hubbub is about, and Highbrow tells him that Brainstorm is trying to prove that Autobots could function better with human operators inside them. Brainstorm corrects him and says they'd be human partners, but the problem is where they would inhabit them when they're in robot form. Hardhead corrects him and says the problem is him and his stupid ideas.

Daniel thinks it's a neat idea, but Cerebros says Autobots are always fighting, must they drag humans into it too? Spike tells him he thinks they already are in it. Kup thinks it might give them the edge if the Decepticons did return, but Crosshairs says that's not going to happen.

Optimus then contacts them and says the Decepticons are heading their way. Kup asks how many, and Optimus says all of them, causing Crosshairs to admit he has been wrong on one or two occasions. Optimus says that Galvatron has stolen the key to the plasma energy chamber, which is a storage chamber 12 levels below generator C.

Magnus asks about chamber, and Optimus explains it is the foundry where the original Autobot's bodies were forged, millions of years ago. Since then, every Autobot leader has been charged with guarding the key with his life. He tells the Autobots on Cybertron that no matter what happens, don't let the Decepticons open the chamber. Just then, the Decepticons land on Cybertron.

As they pour out of their ship, Silverbolt tells them no so fast -they're going to have to deal with the Aerialbots first! Galvatron tells Sixshot to show them what a one robot army really is.

Sixshot transforms to his tank mode and blasts down Air Raid. Fireflight is next, when Sixshot transforms to his wolf mode and bites a chunk out of him.

Transforming to his car mode, he shoots down Slingshot. He then transforms to his jet mode and starts shooting at Skydive...

...and hits him. Transforming to his laser gun mode, Cyclonus catches him and fires on Silverbolt, shooting him down.

Sixshot transforms to his robot mode and says five up, five down... it's like shooting cyber ducks in a barrel! Meanwhile Scourge is seen sneaking off by himself, so some of the Autobots decide to follow him.

They board a shuttle and blast off, heading 12 levels below generator C. Meanwhile, Scourge arrives at the plasma energy chamber. He uses the key to activate it.

In doing this, bolts of plasma energy are sent out everywhere, just as the Autobots arrive and land in their shuttle. One of the of energy bolts hits Scourge, which gives him a power overload and knocks him out.

Cerebros and Spike get out and take a look at the chamber, but Spike says the markings on it don't mean anything. Cerebros says it's ancient Cybertronian, and attempts to decipher it. He hits a button that ejects the key, which Cerebros takes. As they head back into the shuttle, an energy bolt hits the shuttle's engines.

This causes them to malfunction, and suddenly the shuttle is sent hurtling upwards. It crashes out of Cybertron and speeds off into space. Kup says whatever overloaded the engine must have short circuited out all the wiring. Brainstorm says they've got to fix it, as they're getting taken millions of miles away from Cybertron.

Back on Cybertron, some of the Decepticons find Scourge. Galvatron is mad that the key is gone, and wants to have Scourge stamped down into tinfoil for losing it, but Cyclonus says Scourge may be able to tell them what happened to the key. He finds that Scourge has suffered from power surge damage, and gives him an infusion of fresh energon. Scourge is revived, and says the Autobots took the key, after the energy from the chamber overloaded him, and then hit the Autobot's ship. Galvatron tells him he will follow the Autobots, get the key and then destroy them. He sends some of the Decepticons to go with him.

Meanwhile, the shuttle's engines burn out, but the Autobots find they can't steer and are going to crash into a planet. They have to brace for a crash landing, but luckily their shuttle hits an ocean, and floats across onto some land.

But the shuttle is badly damaged, forcing the Autobots to rush out of it just before it explodes. Crosshairs asks how they'll ever get back to Cybertron now, but Hot Rod says maybe there is a used ship dealer around here somewhere, or at least a pay phone. As the Autobots walk on, they are being watched.

The two beings, Duros and Pinpointer, look on. Pinpointer says the new arrivals are machines, and they must warn the others. Duros says they don't look like anything the Hive have sent after them before, but Pinpointer says how does that matter -they're machines, so if the Hive has found their secret base, they're finished. Meanwhile, the Decepticons follow the Autobot shuttle's particle trail, and Scourge says all they have to do is keep following it. Back on the planet, Sureshot says here they are sightseeing whilst the other Autobots are getting their tailpipes kicked in by Galvatron's goons. Brainstorm pulls out the key and says at least they've got the thing the Decepticons were after in the first place.

Kup says this reminds him of the time his platoon was stranded on Regulan Four. There were only 700 of them against 3 whole Regulan metalmongers. Hot Rod thinks the odds were in Kup's favor, but Kup asks him if he ever seen a Regulan metalmonger. Hot Rod says he hasn't, so Kup tells him to trust him -they were outnumbered. They then see a bunch of aliens up ahead, but the beings immediately attack them.

They use energy lassos to restrain all of the Autobots, as Spike yells at the beings and asks them what they are doing. The leader of the group, Gort, asks him what he's doing collaborating with these stinking Hive machines. Spike says he has no idea what he's talking about, and says these machines are Autobots. Gort has never heard of them and tells everyone to take them back to the caves, they can figure out how to finish them off there.

Back on Cybertron, the battle is still raging on when Optimus and his group of Autobots arrive. He tells Fastlane and Cloudraker to search the planet until they find the key. As they transform and head out, Optimus tells the other Autobots to roll out.

Back on the planet, the beings decide to kill off the Autobots be attaching magnetic bombs to them. Hot Rod thinks this is ridiculous, don't they know who they are? Kup thinks they need a new PR man. Chromedome asks what this planet is, and Duros tells him it's Nebulos -enjoy it whilst he can. Spike is still trying to convince the Nebulons that the Autobots aren't evil, but Gort says all machines are evil. Spike says the Autobots aren't even from this planet, but Duros is going to set off the bombs anyway.

But they then hear something outside, and see a ship land. Gort asks Spike if it's more of his friends, but he says it's their enemies. As the Decepticons depart from their ship, Gort says he may have been a bit hasty in his judgment... Spike says stupid is more like it. He tells them they'll all get stomped into guacamole if they don't release the Autobots now.

The other Autobots tell the Nebulons they've got the wrong bunch and they aren't their enemies. As the Decepticons close in, Arcana says those were their last energy bombs -if they free the Autobots, they'll have 20 machines after them, rather than 10.

Gort decides to free the Autobots, just as the Decepticons enter the cave. They start firing, and Crosshairs, Sureshot and Kup are taken down. Slugslinger declares the Autobozos are history now he's here.

Skullcruncher, Mindwipe and Weirdwolf continue firing, and take out Pointblank and Hot Rod. Snapdragon bites Arcee, but Daniel tries to help her by jumping on his head.

Snapdragon bites him and after shaking him around, throws him to the floor. Brainstorm says they've got to stop them somehow and comes up with an idea: the magnetic bombs! The Autobots throw them at the Decepticons, which explode around them. Scourge yells for the Decepticons to grab the fallen Autobots, and clear out.

The Decepticons pick up whoever isn't standing, and withdraw to their ship. As they take off, some of the remaining Autobots go after them. Back in the cave, Spike asks if the Nebulons can do anything for his son. Arcana and Firebolt say there is some medical equipment in one of the other caves, and will do what they can. Arcee asks them to please do, as Daniel saved her life, and he's her dearest friend in all the world.

The other Autobots arrive at a forest with some hills behind it, and Highbrow thinks it would be not be unreasonable to surmise that they went up there. Some of the Nebulons arrive and Gort tells them not to proceed, as they'll never make it through that forest -trust him. Highbrow thinks he's mad to ask them to trust him, as he wanted to blow them up!

They head into the forest, but are then attacked by various machines, forcing them to immediately leave. Hardhead tells Gort he's beginning to understand why they don't like machines. Gort says they'll never get past them, so Hardhead says they'll re-group back in the caves. In the caves, Daniel is put on a life support machine. Arcana says the boy will live, but there has been severe internal damage. He will have to rely on these machines, unless they can get something more portable.

Daniel wakes up and is glad to see Arcee is ok. Arcee says it's thanks to him. Highbrow asks who built those machines, and Gort explains it was the Hive...

The machines maintain the environment of Nebulos, except for out here, as they never come here. But the machines are also enforcers, enforcers for the hive. Here on Nebulos, it's the people who serve the machines, and the machines serve the Hive.

The Hive consists of 10 rulers and their supreme leader, Zarak. They all live far under the ground, and have developed their mental powers to the point that they can control machines with their very thoughts. But their bodies have weakened, and are totally useless. The machines are the Hive's eyes, ears and fists.

Gort says they found out about the Hive, and have been fighting them every since. Duros... Stylor...

...Arcana and himself are strategists. Whilst Pinpointer... Firebolt...

..Recoil... Haywire... Peacemaker...

...and Spoilsport are their soldiers, every one of them a crack shot. Duros says they've been dodging the machines all their lives, and Recoil says they know every weak spot on them. But Haywire says that if they had the strength, size and power of the Autobots... Highbrow says in other words, their bodies. Spike begins to think that Brainstorm's idea is making more sense by the second. Brainstorm says does he mean putting humans -or Nebulons -inside the Autobot's bodies? Gort says it's the only way they'll defeat the Hive's machines.

Brainstorm says it's the only way they can rescue the others, and stop the Decepticons from getting the plasma energy chamber key. Spike says it's the only thing that'll save his son from being tied to a life support system. They decide to do it, and start creating plans for modifications.

All of the remaining Autobots are up for it, with the exception of Cerebros. He says he's standing for what he believes in, and his one wish is to never fight again. Chromedome asks what happens to their memories and personalities whenever they detach their heads from their bodies. Brainstorm says that you simply download into the auxiliary memory circuits in your chest. With everyone ready, Arcee makes has a request for Spike: give her Daniel. Spike says he couldn't think of a better partner for him.

The Autobots remove their heads, and place them on the floor. Spike tells them that they are about to become Headmasters.

NOTES

-The Rebirth introduces an absolute ton of new characters, who were all part of the 1987 Transformers toyline. No explanation is given for where all these new Autobots and Decepticons came from, but given how there were only three episodes to introduce them it's no surprise. Writer David Wise said that he was told that he was to write five episodes, but was then later told that it was going to be cut down to just three episodes instead. So he had no option to just shove the new characters on in gangs.

-The Season four intro is an altered version of season three's intro. The new sequences are taken from Transformers toy commercials. One sequence features this character:

This is Flywheels, a Decepticon Duocon who never actually appears in any part of The Rebirth. Whether he was meant to or his appearance in the intro was an error remains a mystery.

-Optimus Prime and the Constructicons are the only characters to appear in all four seasons.

-In Japan, The Rebirth wasn't aired in 1987, instead, Japanese fans got a new full-length series called The Headmasters. The Rebirth would eventually be dubbed into Japanese and released in Japan much later.