The celebration of the 20th anniversary of Beast Wars continues as we move into the second season. Though shorter than the first, season two finds a way to deliver more in the short amount of time the creative team had to work with.

After the intense ending of the first season, the Maximals find themselves without a leader. They don’t have long to mourn as the energy wave brought on by the destruction of the doomsday device which killed Optimus Primal hurtles towards the Earth. When it hits, it causes many to turn into a new form of Transformer, the Transmetal, a mixture of animal and metal which allows them to have vehicles modes. The wave also causes new threats to awaken all across the world and will lead both teams closer to the their origins. Back to the original war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. 

This season is full of great moments. Each episode is dedicated to moving the plot forward with no room for filler. Thanks to this aspect the show doesn’t let up for a moment in its intensity. From the introduction of the Fuzors, to the lose of Airrazor and Tigertron, and Cybertron finally discovering their location, every episode is full of action, drama, and references to the Transformer mythology. This really was the season where fans came around and realized just how much this show had to offer.

The season also introduces some very interesting and entertaining characters such as Silverbolt, the noble knight, Rampage, the experiment gone wrong, and the malfunctioning Transmutate, an innocent creature with destructive power. The show also found way to top the previous season’s cliffhanger by introducing one which was far more intense than fans ever thought to be possible. 

Hands down the best episode of this season was Code of Hero. In it, Dinobot comes to terms with his destiny and realizes the future he saw when he researched the golden disc was coming true and there was no way around it. He would have to fight in order to protect blossoming humanity from the Predacon forces. The battle would be fought on his own and he would lose his life in the process. The episode became infamous as one of the most powerful and well crafted episodes ever in the Transformers franchise.

With this review two seasons are down and one to go. The review of the third season of Beast Wars will be coming sometime later this year. Hopefully these write ups are convincing others to go out and check out this series. The computer graphics may not have aged well but the show is still filled with elements which make it necessary viewing from anyone who calls themselves a true Transformer fan.

RATING: A