So I'm rewatching all four seasons and it bothers me that the episode order on my DVDs is off.   I would like to put all of them in a better order, but searching the internet I found various lists sorted differently. Take TFWiki for example, which doesn't list Child's Play and The Gambler after each other, even though they do follow each other. That's because they're using the production order I believe. So what is the correct chronological order? Starscream's Brigade should be followed by The Revenge Of Bruticus, which should be followed by Aerial Assault, because the Combaticons can't exist before they're created. I also always first watch Starscream's Ghost and then Ghost In The Machine. What else logically follows each other? I would like to list all episodes and make the ultimate chronological order.

 

Well, people have tried to come up with a chronological order, but it still will end up with caveats due to the somewhat loose continuity the series had.

 

Is there even one? Most of the episodes seem pretty self-contained for the most part with the exception of Season 3 when it's obvious it all takes place after the film.

 

Those self-contained episodes could be listed in production order for example, so then we could focus on only those episodes which follow each other chronologically, like the ones I mentioned for example?

 

I found this list for example, which tried to do it based on air dates, which is fine for me too. Some are out of place chronologically though, so that would need some adjustment. Which other episodes follow each other which I've missed?

 

@Prime of Shadows, you seem to know your episodes if I'm not mistaken...? Do you feel like chiming in too?  

 

Oh hey there! I won’t claim omniscient knowledge of Sunbow G1, but I’ll take a look. I know Season 1’s order was never screwed up, but Season 2 definitely had some errors made and Season 3 was all over the place especially in regards to Octane.

 

Ok so after a little research, you’ll want to watch these episodes in this order:
Thief in the Night
Fight or Flee
Starscream’s Ghost
Ghost in the Machine

That’s the only thing I think you’ve missed. Thief in the Night technically ends with Galvatron and Octane on good terms, so his “exile” makes little sense in Starscream’s Ghost, until you account for the fact it was supposed to be Blitzwing, not Octane. They rewrote the script later to sell Octane’s toy. You also want to make sure you see Fight or Flee
Before Starscream’s Ghost, so Sandstorm’s appearance in the latter makes actual sense.

 

Oh snap! I forgot! Also make sure you watch Dark Awakening right before The Return of Optimus Prime. Every list places it early in the season, but the episode itself ends with “Come back tomorrow for ‘The Return of Optimus Prime!’”

 

Here is the Season Two order that I like.

The first eleven episodes are pretty easy, they're the ones that feature only first-season characters:

1. Autobot Spike
2. Changing Gears
3. City of Steel
4. Attack of the Autobots
5. Traitor
6. The Autobot Run
7. Atlantis, Arise!
8. Day of the Machines
9. Enter the Nightbird
10. The Core
11. The Immobilizer (I run The Immobilizer last in this first set because it introduces Carly)​

Next, the episodes that start introducing the Season Two characters:

12. A Prime Problem (intros Warpath and Powerglide)
13. The Insecticon Syndrome (intros Beachcomber and Inferno)
14. The Girl Who Loved Powerglide (I like this one as a Coneheads intro)
15. Dinobot Island, Part 1 (intros Blaster, the S2 carbots except for Skids, and Blitzwing)
16. Dinobot Island, Part 2 (intros Perceptor and Seaspray)
17. The Master Builders
18. Auto Berserk
19. Microbots
20. A Decepticon Raider in King Arthur's Court
21. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 1
22. Megatron's Master Plan, Part 2 (intros Cosmos and Astrotrain)
23. Child's Play (final appearance of Chip Chase)
24. The Gambler
25. Quest For Survival
26. Triple Takeover (I run these two back to back since they're the only ones with Skids)
27. Make Tracks
28. Hoist Goes Hollywood
29. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
30. Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
31. Auto-Bop
32. Sea Change
33. Prime Target
34. The Search For Alpha Trion ​

Then the five "Omega Supreme episodes," I hold these until this point because the Autobots' previous off-Earth adventures wouldn't make sense if Omega had been around:

35. The Golden Lagoon
36. The Secret of Omega Supreme
37. Blaster Blues
38. The God Gambit
39. Kremzeek!​

And then the final ten episodes that introduce the Scramble City teams:

40. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 1
41. The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2
42. Masquerade
43. War Dawn
44. Trans-Europe Express
45. Cosmic Rust
46. Starscream's Brigade
47. The Revenge of Bruticus
48. Aerial Assault
49. B.O.T.​

 

It doesn't always. IIRC originally it aired in is earlier slot in the S3 running order without it, then a re-airing gave it that teaser at the end. The Rhino DVDs used the teaser version but the Shout factory ones don't.

 

That's true. The "So long, Prime" version was the original one (and the one included in the Shout! DVDs), the "narration" version is the re-run (which was used for Rhino, though I think I may have heard that there was an alternate track which had the original version, but I could be wrong).

However, fun fact, the booklet that came with the Shout! Factory Matrix of Leadership set does list Dark Awakening before Return of Optimus Prime (even though season three's order in the discs wasn't like the order indicated by the booklet). So yeah, checking it out, that booklet does seem to order the episodes in terms of story progress ('cause let's face it, the continuity in season two is very, very loose).

 

True, but I find the episodes flow better together, as Optimus seemingly explodes at the end of Dark Awakening, and while it’s implausible either way that two humans could infiltrate the ship beforehand, I do find it likely that his ship component could have gotten blown out into who-knows-where, where the humans could rescue him in Return.

 

Had to take a break from the forum for some time due to having to work from home and looking after our kids a lot, so not much free time on my hands, all thanks to the corona virus measures they're taking here.

Nice to see so many people contributing on here! Thanks @Prime of Shadows, @Ikkstakk, @Liege Nemesis and @TheUltimateBum for your help.  

Anyone else who we can drag in to get a better order in the episodes? Maybe @Dean ML, you're a toon nut too, right?  

 

It reminds me of this thread: My episode count/running order.
The entire watching order is right there.

 

I've updated that list since, but here's The Transformers by prod. number with the least tweaking possible.


[4023] - More Than Meets The Eye - Part 1
[4024] - More Than Meets The Eye - Part 2
[4025] - More Than Meets The Eye - Part 3

[01] - Transport To Oblivion
[02] - Roll For It
[03] - Divide And Conquer
[04] - Fire In The Sky
[06] - Fire On The Mountain
[05] - SOS Dinobots
[07] - War Of The Dinobots
[08] - The Ultimate Doom - Part 1 [Brainwash]
[09] - The Ultimate Doom - Part 2 [Search]
[10] - The Ultimate Doom - Part 3 [Revival]
[11] - Countdown To Extinction [The Ultimate Doom - Part 4]
[12] - A Plague Of Insecticons
[13] - Heavy Metal War

[16] - Autobot Spike
[17] - Changing Gears
[18] - City Of Steel
[19] - Attack Of The Autobots
[20] - Traitor
[21] - The Immobilizer
[22] - The Autobot Run
[23] - Atlantis, Arise!
[24] - Day Of The Machines
[25] - Enter The Nightbird
[26] - A Prime Problem
[27] - The Core
[28] - The Insecticon Syndrome
[29] - Dinobot Island - Part 1
[30] - Dinobot Island - Part 2
[31] - The Master Builder
[32] - Auto Berserk
[33] - Microbots
[34] - Megatron's Master Plan - Part 1
[35] - Megatron's Master Plan - Part 2
[36] - Desertion Of The Dinobots - Part 1
[37] - Desertion Of The Dinobots - Part 2
[38] - Blaster Blues
[39] - A Decepticon Raider In King Arthur's Court
[40] - The Golden Lagoon
[41] - The God Gambit
[42] - Make Tracks
[43] - Child's Play
[46] - The Gambler
[44] - Quest For Survival
[45] - The Secret Of Omega Supreme
[47] - Kremzeek!
[48] - Sea Change
[49] - Triple Takeover
[50] - Prime Target
[51] - Auto-Bop
[52] - The Search For Alpha Trion
[53] - The Girl Who Loved Powerglide
[54] - Hoist Goes Hollywood
[55] - The Key To Vector Sigma - Part 1
[56] - The Key To Vector Sigma - Part 2
[58] - War Dawn
[59] - Trans-Europe Express
[60] - Cosmic Rust
[61] - Starscream's Brigade
[62] - The Revenge Of Bruticus
[57] - Aerial Assault
[63] - Masquerade
[64] - B.O.T.

[00] - The Transformers: The Movie
[86] - Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 1
[87] - Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 2
[88] - Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 3
[89] - Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 4
[90] - Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 5
[91] - The Killing Jar
[92] - Chaos
[93] - Dark Awakening
[94] - Forever Is A Long Time Coming
[106]-Fight Or Flee
[96] - Thief In The Night
[95] - Starscream's Ghost
[97] - Surprise Party
[98] - Madman's Paradise
[99] - Nightmare Planet
[100] - Ghost In The Machine
[101] - Webworld
[102] - Carnage In C-Minor
[103] - The Quintesson Journal
[104] - The Ultimate Weapon
[105] - The Big Broadcast Of 2006
[107] - The Dweller In The Depths
[108] - Only Human
[110] - Grimlock's New Brain
[111] - Money Is Everything
[112] - Call Of The Primitives
[113] - The Face Of Nijika
[114] - The Burden Hardest To Bear
[115] - The Return Of Optimus Prime - Part 1
[116] - The Return Of Optimus Prime - Part 2

[01] - The Rebirth - Part 1
[02] - The Rebirth - Part 2
[03] - The Rebirth - Part 3

 

Do Scramble City and the other Japanese specials count?

 

Not for this topic.  

 

I'm loving some of the suggestions here!
To add something I always looked at Secret of Omega Supreme as the first appearance of him, all about the start of the episode and conversation leads to that, like he arrived on Earth recently.

 

Awesome. But what is the reasoning for your selection of the order of the first 11 episodes in your list? You mention why Immobilizer is last which makes sense. But what about the others?



Based on the order they were aired in syndication (which is in the episode names in the image) wouldn't it make more sense like this? It keeps The Immobilizer last but puts the others back in their original order, while omitting ones that aren't part of the "Season 1 characters only" group.