Right, so after reading and posting on the "Touching Death" thread, I got the idea to shed a little thought on the OTHER moments throughout the series that stay with you, even after the shows have stopped.

G1-I'd say the most memorable/defining moment would have been the episode where the Aerialbots got shot back in time, finally the wake up call the smaller ones needed to see exactly what the Autobots were fighting for, and why the Decepticons needed to be stopped.

Don't have one for Beast Wars, as so much in that series sort of invalidated alot of what came before.

RID-When they introduced the Decepticons. Finally seeing Decepticons in series was a Godsend, and gave us an evil Optimus Prime, even though they picked a lousy name until Armada.

Armada-Wheeljack's betrayal. Pinnacle of the storyline.

Didn't get to watch very much Energon or Cybertron, so no opinions.

TFM07-The Barricade VS Bumblebee part, beginning to end, just impressive...

I don't think I can get past the aesthetic of the new Animated to watch it, so blah.

Curious what you're thoughts are...

 

I think the most defining moment I've seen in any series was BW Megatron's speech to Optimus Prime right before blasting him in the face. I loved the emotion in his voice, the pure hatred and finally seeing the bad guys win (however fleeting the victory was). And it showed how truly diabolical a Decepticon (or his decendant) can be.

 

G1 - Can't actually think of one.
BW - Same as weeklyhero; The conclusion of "The Agenda, Pt 3", Best end-of-season cliffhanger EVER.
BM - Megatron to Primal : "The Beast Wars; they are over. YOU LOST."
RID - Scourge's first appearance.
Armada - Smokescreen's death.
Energon - None. it was anysmal.
Cybertron - See Energon.
TFM07 - The Autobots' arrival on Earth.
Animated - Out of what has aired so far, The entire fight between Starscream and the Autobots.

 

There is another scene in BW that just floors me.

Nemesis Pt2 I think it is when Optimal Optimus fights Megatron.

"FINISH the quote Megatron."

Right after he spits out a tooth lol.

 

Most memorable scenes. Okay...

G1 - the partially decomposed reanimated corpse of Optimus Prime taking control of the Quintesson's bomb and driving it into a star. Beautiful scene totally pissed on by the Return of Optimus Prime.

BW - I'm actually going to have to go with the first scene from Beast Wars I ever saw. Tigatron exploring the floating island in The Trigger. Not sure why, but that's the one Beast Wars scene that pops into my head first.

BM - didn't watch the show much, but I do remember seeing the Maximals on the run on Cybertron - five animals running for their lives from an army of drones. I'm thinking the first episode here, although that kinda describes half the show.

RiD - Omega Prime versus Galvatron in the center of the Earth.

Armada - honestly, the thing about this show that I remember most is "Hi, my name is Rad, and I want to tell you about the Transformers!" Pretty defining for most of the crap that went wrong with that show.

Energon - I'm actually trying to forget everything about this show.

Cybertron - Starscream, damaged all over, holding off all of the Autobots as he steals the Omega Lock. Great scene.

 

G1: Hotrod taking the matrix and becoming Rodimus Prime.You've got the touch, you've got the power.....YEAH!

IDW: Optimus finding out that Nova and Omega Supreme were not as worthy of his admiration as he thought.

Beast Wars: Waspinator denouncing the Predacons. He's comic relief yes but I still thought it was a great scene.

 

G1: Optimus Prime heading to the battlefield in the movie, taking down every decepticon in his way, and then the big battle with megatron.

Beast Wars: Megatron blasting Prime in the ark.

Armada: Starscream's sacrifice

Energon: When Optimus Prime and Galvatron started increasing in size during battle for no real reason beyond "lets have big robots". you knew right then and there "yup, this show is terrible". there was no questioning it after that.

Galaxy Force (only watched this version, as I could not stand cybertron's dub): Starscream taking on the entire Cybertron army for the Chip Square. Showed right there he was more driven than any other Starscream we had ever seen. No backing down, no matter how much damage he was taking. By the end, he was a mess, but he got it.

 

G1 - Optimus vs. Megatron in the movie. Especially when Prime walks in with the "One shall stand, one shall fall" line.
BW - Megatron trying to kill Optimus Prime.
BMacs- I think the last episode(s), where Primal is the only Maximal left alive and takes down Megatron.
RID - Didn't watch
Armada - Starscream sacrificing himself
Energon - Shockblast getting pwnd by Unicron
Cybertron - Didn't watch
TFTM07 - The arrival of the Autobots and when Optimus arrives in the city, transforms, then battles Megatron.
Animated - Too early to judge a defining moment, but I'd say "Thrill of the Hunt" has been the best one so far.

 

Only have G1 Memories and not many of em since it has been soooo long.

the biggest was watching an episode with Omega Supreme and he slung his arms around and his hands came off, transformed into the rocket and slammed into a decepticon combiner. Can't remember which one, but we all know what happened.

"megatron must be stopped...." that scene always gets me.

Watching Prowl buy it, and megatron barely flinching as he punched Ironhide's ticket.

and lastly, Omega Supreme's story and the constructicons.

 

G1: The movie when Prime says Megatron must be stoped no mather the cost , then he transforms and takes out a bunch fo Decepticons and says that classic line, One shall stand one shall fall.

 

I still love the speech Prime gives to his Autobots in the movie at the observatory saying how the humans and them are not so different, that if Bumblebee dies his death musn't be in vein and speaks of his own sacrifice regardless his Autobots disagree with him.

Right there and then I knew this was the Prime I wanted for the film, not some Armada crap or anything.

 

G1: Rodimus resurrecting Optimus because he can't lead effectively. Sums up everything you need to know about the characters.

 

Regarding the Transformers series that I ever watched, these are the moments engraved in my mind:

G1. Undead Optimus Prime driving a spaceshuttle towards its destruction. That image literally stayed in my memory forever. Legendary...

Beast Wars. Can't quite remember details, but something to do with an Ant/bot that wasn´t neither autobot or decepticon. Don't know why, but it comes to mind.

Beast Machines. Prime inside a room full of floating bright spheres... Might've been me allucinating though....

Armada/Energon. Ultra Magnus and his lone wolf crusade. Made him cool.

Animated. Thief to Prime "Are you nuts??", Prime "I'm nuts, bolts and armor plating." Oh Prime, you funny bot  

 

G1: Almost anything with Dinobots in it, down to Grimlock creating the Technobots.

BW: Dinobot alone against all the other Predacons in "Code of Hero". It had everything that made BW great, action, violence, "fate of the universe" tension, and the occasional bit of slapstick/humor.

BM: Hmm... final battle between Optimus and OpOp-Megatron was pretty neat.

RiD: Skybyte, that's me!

Armada: The last episode

Energon: the first episode. They might as well have put up a sign that said "It's mostly downhill from here, kids."

Cybertron: various bits of business involving Scourge and/or Thunderblast. They're just fun to watch. Needless to say, "Ambush", AKA the "Chromia vs. Lori" episode was a guilty favorite.

'07 Movie: Autobots bumbling around in Sam's backyard while he looks for glasses.

Animated: I suspect the strongest points are yet to come.

 

G1: Desertion of the Dinobots, Call of the Primitives.

G1 movie: Optimus's entry, battle and subsequent death.

Beast Wars: Never saw enough, but Primal taking in Prime's spark was cool.

RID: Scourge.

Armada: Starscream's defection to and then from the Autobots, culminating in his death. His friendship with Alexis, the ONLY non-annoying Armada human child. In fact, pretty much the whole last third of the show was good.

I never saw Energon or Cybertron.

07 Movie: Arrival, "Taking the children, was a bad move" - That's my favourite scene.

Animated: None strike me as defining yet. They will come though.

 

G1: Prime, sitting up realising the wisdom beats hatred. We have "the Touch" in the background, and my 10 year old self going "WOO!".
BW: Silverbolt's break out to save Blackarachnia in Agenda #2.
BM: The end, with the Maximals standing on the hill, finally able to admit their feelings to each other (and poor Cheetor and Nightscream, having to put up with the other getting all soppy).
Armada/Energon/Cybertron: Nope, I've got nothing.
2007 Movie: Blackout's attack on Soccent Forward Base and Prime's transformation (wish they'd have kept the original transformation sound effect).

 

G1: Nothing. Utter crap for the most part. (bear in mind, I count season three and "The Rebirth")

BW: Damn, where do I start? That show had so many of these moments, I guess the Agenda as a whole. Especially the end of part 3.

BM: Primal and Megs fight. Just goes to show how powerful and destructive Primal's old body used to be, and how he held back. Also showed just how resourceful and skilled Primal was in the "weaker" body. Close second is the episode "Weak component". One of the best written TF episodes ever. The emotional impact is very moving and it just goes to show how Rattrap's character depended on his guns, and once they were gone, he showed his true colours, but eventually regained them, gradually throughout the series.

RID: There were a couple. Everytme Ruination combined and that "Oh shit..." music played had me chilled. Scrouges introduction was pretty cool. Anything with Sky-byte, especially the end of the last ep.

Armada: Armada Starscream's death was moving, but not really defining, but it was memorable.

Energon: Utter crapola.

Cybertron: See Energon.

Movie: Two scenes; Autobots arrival, and Decepticons mobilizing. Anyone who's seen the movie will know why I chose them.

Animated: So far; nothing to dramatic/defining, but the series is still in it's infancy. Out of what we've seen, the Starscream fight, Ratchet's bout with Lockdown at the end of "TOTH", and Grimlock's Transformation are pretty memorable.

 

G1 - Either Megatron and Prime fighting on top of the Hoover Dam(?) in MTME or their fight in the movie. Both very memorable to me.

BW - Inferno finding the Alien Disk at the beginning of "Before the Storm". Something about that sequence sticks out in my mind a lot. That and Megatron rising out of the lava in "Master Blaster".

BM - Optimus Primal vs. 'Optimal' Megatron.

RID - RUINATION... AWAKENS! The whole combination sequence.

IDW "G1" - The scene in Spotlight: SHOCKWAVE where ol' SHOCKWAVE actually feels real emotion for just a fleeting few seconds... then casually stores that memory away for later study.

TFTM'07 - Barricade in hot pursuit of Bumblebee.

 

G1-The movie
BW-Code of Hero, The Agenda trilogy, and Nemesis parts 1 and 2
BM-Primal vs Megatron at the end
RID-Can't much recall a lot from it
Armada-Starscream's sacrifice
Energon-Nothing
Cybertron-Nothing
The Movie-Blackout's attack on the base, the autobots arriving, decepticons mobilizing, final battle
Animated-vs. Starscream, Blast from the Past, Thrill of the Hunt