Rebellion on Planet Beast

It's a boring time for the Autobot Headmasters as they go out on patrol with nothing exciting happening, until they detect something is in the ship's weapons room. Fortress sends Chromedome and Hardhead to check it out, so the two Autobots enter and tell whoever's in there to reveal themselves or they will come in and get them. And who steps out?
 

Oh dear. It's Daniel. And to top if off, he knocks over a barrel which may have exploded but double oh dear -Wheelie's here as well having followed Daniel without him knowing. Daniel and Wheelie are taken to the bridge where they are impressed by the ship and beg Fortress to let them stay onboard. Fortress lets them as long as they don't get in the way or disobey Fortress.
 

And at that moment the Autobots pick up two signals heading slowly towards them from space. These two creatures (known as Battle Beasts) are wearing exo-suits and are glad that they have found the Autobots, but as they land on the ship they both collapse. Chromedome and Hardhead rush out and get them to bring them back inside for medical treatment. The two creatures say that they have travelled from Planet Beast and they need the Autobot's help.
 

The two Battle Beasts go into more detail: their planet was peaceful but one day it was invaded by the Decepticons who captured a load of Battle Beasts and put them to work in a large underground factory. Another problem is that a lot of Battle Beasts actually joined forces with the Decepticons leading to a war. Fortress decides to go to Planet Beast to deal with the Decepticons and informs the Autobots on Athenia of what's going on.
 

The narrator then goes into a bit more detail about Planet Beast, explaining how great it was until the Decepticons showed up and how now there are 2 Battle Beast armies fighting each other, although the rebel army (the good side) is losing the war. The scene then goes back to the present and shows us the leader of the rebel army, Prince Lion, who is concerned that they have many wounded soldiers and that if help doesn't arrive soon they'll be finished.
 

Fortress and chums arrive on Planet Beast and land, unknowingly seen by an evil Battle Beast. As the Autobots depart from the ship Daniel and Wheelie start jumping around making noise so Fortress tells them to shut up or they'll be sent back home. Meanwhile the Autobot's arrival is reported to Galvatron on Charr.
 

One of the commanders of the evil Battle Beast army tells Galvatron how a giant spaceship has recently landed on the planet. Galvatron and the Decepticon Headmasters determine that it must be Fortress and the others, so they head to Planet Beast to attack them. Before they go Cyclonus and Scourge, who are already on Planet Beast, chip in with an idea of luring Rodimus Prime there so they can destroy him too.
 

The Autobots are taken to the Rebel base and are introduced to Lion. Inside the base Lion explains about the underground factory, and that something is being built down there. Chromedome asks what they are building but no-one knows, so Fortress guesses that it must be some kind of new weapon. The Autobots agree to help Lion in freeing his people and defeating the opposition.
 

Wheelie and Daniel have been left behind at the ship and are pretty bored, so Wheelie suggests they go exploring despite Fortress telling them not to do so. Daniel doesn't want to go at first but Wheelie persuades him. Almost as soon as they start walking off a small monkey finds them and asks them to help him rescue his mother and father who have been set to work in the underground factory. Wheelie tells him to show them where the factory is.
 

They approach the factory but lets face it: Daniel and Wheelie both suck and everything goes horribly wrong when a Battle Beast spots them and sends out a squad to get them. And because Wheelie doesn't do the sensible thing of transforming into his car mode and transporting Daniel out of there, they both get captured, although the small monkey escapes.
 

Via the Trainbots Rodimus arrives on Planet Beast with some never seen before Autobots - Repugnus, Grotusque and Doublecross. Rodimus finds Fortress' ship but there isn't anyone on it, and Rodimus knows that Fortress would not have taken Daniel with him, so the newly arrived Autobots start searching the area.
 

Fortress and the others are taken to where the underground factory is and Fortress gets pretty annoyed when they see Daniel and Wheelie been taken away. Chromedome says he'll rescue them and runs down followed by Hardhead, but at the bottom of the hill the Decepticon Headmasters appear and attack.
 

Highbrow and Brainstorm run down and the four Autobots use a technique where they change around their heads to increase their power, and then easily defeat the three Decepticons. Up on the hill Fortress tells Lion to take his army in and free his people whilst the Autobots deal with things top side. However things are difficult for Lion as the swamp they need to get through is infested with piranha type creatures which can eat through metal.
 

Just then Rodimus appears having flown Fortress' ship over to the swamp and has the ship suck up everything in the swamp, meaning that Lion and his team can move through. Rodimus then takes on a few evil Battle Beasts before Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge reveal themselves and Galvatron starts to fight Rodimus.
 

There's a rather silly sequence in this fight where Cyclonus attempts to batter Rodimus over the head with a rock but with Rodimus and Galvatron rolling around he can't get a clear chance, so Scourge grabs Rodimus' legs to stop him from moving, but Cyclonus still manages to miss and smack Galvatron right in the face with the rock instead.
 

In the underground factory the captured Battle Beasts are still being forced to work, but the factory guards are suddenly called away due to the Autobot attack outside. The little monkey we saw earlier then frees Daniel, who then frees Wheelie and they decide that they have to find a way out of here. The little monkey is reunited with his mother and father and the other Battle Beasts follow Daniel and Wheelie.
 

As they are about to leave they run into the Monsterbots, who explain that they are not the enemy and that Rodimus has arrived on Planet Beast. They also say that they can't go back the way they came due to the enemy following them, so they go through a shortcut the little monkey shows them instead, although not before Repugnus takes a blueprint for whatever it is being built in the factory.
 

Up on the surface the Autobots and Decepticons engage in battle with neither side being able to press forward until Fortress casually pilots his ship to ram Cyclonus and Scourge into the drained swamp below, where they are attacked by the piranhas. Chromedome says he'll go and look for Daniel whilst the others stay and fight. The fighting doesn't last long though as Galvatron gets knocked down and orders the Decepticons to retreat and leave Planet Beast.
 

Later on Lion returns having found Daniel, Wheelie and the other Battle Beasts and they regroup with Rodimus. Rodimus, Highbrow and Fortress inspect the blueprint which Repugnus gave them and work out that it is a component for something although they don't know what it could be for, although whatever it is must be gigantic. Rodimus tells the Monsterbots to remain on Planet Beast for now incase the Decepticons return, which they do. The other Autobots then depart from Planet Beast and head back to Athenia.

This episode is one of the more famous ones in the series due to it being a cross-over with another toyline entirely - Battle Beasts. Battle Beasts, known as Beastformers in Japan, was never really a popular toyline (I agree with the commenter in the above linked video who says the "Collect all EIGHTY-FOUR!" may have put people off) but it was owned by Takara who must have thought it would be a good idea to do a cross-over. The Battle Beasts appear in a couple of later episodes as cameos.

Another thing about this episode is that it features the first animated appearance of the Monsterbots (Repugnus, Grotusque and Doublecross). It's been rumoured that they were going to be in the US The Rebirth episodes but due to budget cuts The Rebirth was shortened from a five parter to a three parter and the Monsterbot's roles removed because of this. The Monsterbots (known as Firebots in Japan) appear in a few more later episodes of this series though.