Season 3: Beast Hunters[edit]
Following the destruction of their base at the hands of Megatron, Team Prime is scattered across the United States, and Optimus is mortally wounded from the base's destruction. Optimus believes himself to be dying and declares that Smokescreen will be the next Prime, but before the Matrix of Leadership can be passed, Smokescreen repairs him with the Forge of Solus Prime. A reformatted, much more powerful Optimus joins the battle to destroy the Decepticons' citadel with Ultra Magnus, who has reunited the team. Darkmount falls and the Autobots acquire a new base from Agent Fowler. The Autobots suffer a series of losses when the Decepticons successfully acquire a large number of Predacon fossils, intending to clone an army to conquer humanity. However, after a devastating experiment gone wrong costs the Decepticons a majority of their forces, Megatron manipulates the Autobots to wipe out the project, leaving Predaking as the sole surviving Predacon. The Decepticons refocus their efforts to rebuild the Omega Lock aboard the Nemesis with the reluctant aid of Ratchet and his Synthetic Energon. In a final battle, the Autobots capture the warship, kill Megatron, and scatter the surviving Decepticon forces. After using the Omega Lock to revive Cybertron, the Autobots bid farewell to their human friends as they leave to rebuild their home.