Transformers: Season 3, Part 1

01. Five Face of Darkness (Part 1)
02. Five Face of Darkness (Part 2)
03. Five Face of Darkness (Part 3)
04. Five Face of Darkness (Part 4)
05. Five Face of Darkness (Part 5)
06. The Killing Jar
07. Chaos
08. Dark Awakening
09. Forever is a Long Time coming
10. Starscream's Ghost
11. Thief in the Night
12. Surprise Party
13. Madman's Paradise
14. Nightmare Planet
15. Ghost in the Machine
16. Webworld
(they MAY also have another episode to this first part, and that would be:)

17. Carnage in C-Minor

Here is what Season 3 Part 2's will have:
18. The Quintesson Journal
19. The Ultimate Weapon
20. The Big Broadcast of 2006
21. Fight or Flee
22. The Dweller in the Depths
23. Only Human
24. Money is Everything
25. Grimlock's New Brain (One of my Favorites!)
26. Call of the Primitives
27. Face of the Nijika
28. The Burden Hardest to Bear

Now... Will Rhino add the following two ending episodes even though they have released these on VHS and DVD already? They better! They are part of season 3! :)

29. The Return of Optimus Prime (Part 1)
30. The Return of Optimus Prime (Part 2)

And Here is the 'Sometimes called' VERY short 'Season 4.
(also known as the Headmasters Series)

01 The Re-Birth (Part 1)
02 The Re-Birth (Part 2)
03 The Re-Birth (Part 3)

I wonder how they will/IF they will even release these last 3. Since these were the actual LAST episodes.. Time will tell!

Indeed, the Transformers would never be the same again. And to my surprise, I got used to the new characters and setting of season 3 and it became my favorite season since.

First of all, I love the whole sci-fi space age setting of season 3 (earth was getting pretty dull). The tone is much darker and more in sync with that of the Movie.

Then there's the characters. Don't get me wrong, I liked Optimus Prime in the earlier seasons, but Rodimus Prime's uneasiness as a leader made for a more interesting, relatable character. On the other hand, Optimus Prime was basically a robot version of Papa Smurf.

Then there's Galvatron. Besides looking way cooler than Megatron, there was his madness. I found Galvatron and the whole decepticon predicament more believable than in earlier seasons. Before Season 3, the Decepticon's army always had the upper hand. They ruled Cybertron, had more energon and more firepower than the Autobots. Megatron came up with clever plans that should have succeeded, but spent 10 minutes gloating about his impending victory instead of blasting the Autobots away. Then say, Bumblebee, would come up from behind Megatron, give him a wedgee and it was retreating time. Please! At least in Season 3 the Cons army is crippled and their leader is insane. They strike out of desperation rather than with strategy, which makes there failure to retake Cybertron much more believable. Galvatron's desperation and broken psyche makes him a much more dangerous Decepticon than Megatron.

Finally, there's the Quintessons. They make interesting vilains and add some freshness the old Decepticon/Autobot conflict.

I'm only giving this box 4 stars, because the remastering on the first 5 episodes (Five Faces of Darkness) doesn't look that great (Maybe they lost the master tapes?).