How Did Megatron Come Back from Being Galvatron? Explained

The Transformers movie franchise has been one of the most successful adaptations of the Transformers storyline due to how these films were able to incorporate a ton of action that fans have always loved about Transformers. Of course, Megatron has always been one of the most important figures in all of the Transformers movies because he has always been Optimus Prime’s greatest rival. The thing is that, in the fourth movie, he became Galvatron but suddenly became Megatron again in the fifth movie. So, how did Megatron come back from being Galvatron?

Megatron came back from being Galvatron after he left Earth at the end of Age of Extinction and began serving the sorceress named Quintessa. It was Quintessa who altered Galvatron’s body to give him his classic jet form again. As such, he returned to Earth carrying the Megatron name once more.

Galvatron has always been Megatron in the Transformers movies, as he never saw himself as anyone other than Megatron. It’s only that Galvatron was a new body form that allowed Megatron to be reborn, but he always had the same memories and personality. So, with that said, let’s look at how Megatron came back from being Galvatron in the Transformers movie franchise.

Who Is Galvatron?

Ever since the introduction of Megatron in the Transformers continuity in the comics and animated movies and TV shows, he has always been one of the most interesting characters due to the fact that he is a villain with a purpose. Of course, we know that Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons and is the greatest rival to the Autobots’ Optimus Prime. And it is this rivalry that has locked them in an eternal struggle.

But the thing about Megatron is that he wasn’t always Megatron in the different Transformers shows, movies, and comics. That’s because he actually became known as a new Transformer back in the cartoon when he was introduced. In a basic sense, Megatron became known as Galvatron. As such, Galvatron is often Megatron but is also sometimes an entirely different character, depending on the Transformers universe or continuity you are following.

In most of the different versions of Galvatron, he was created from the remains of Megatron when the Decepticon leader was thrown into space after his most trusted lieutenant, Starscream, betrayed him. As he was dying, Megatron was found and rescued by the transforming planet named Unicron, who is the strongest Transformer in existence and is known to consume entire planets, galaxies, and universes.

Unicron offered Megatron a chance to be reborn as long as he served him as a herald. In that regard, Unicron gave Megatron a new body and rechristened him as the more powerful but mentally unstable Galvatron. He retained all of his memories as Megatron but was now a lot crazier and maniacal.

Of course, there are a lot of different versions of how Megatron became Galvatron, but the fact of the matter is that they are often one and the same Transformer, depending on the continuity you are following. As such, Galvatron is still Megatron in most cases. The Michael Bay Transformers live-action movie also follows the classic continuity of Megatron turning into Galvatron.

How Did Megatron Become Galvatron?

Ever since the very first Transformers live-action movie, Megatron has been the bad guy in the storyline. He was an extremely powerful Decepticon in the first movie, and that was the reason why the Autobots wanted to make sure that he wasn’t revived. Since his first appearance, he was consistently one of the bad guys that opposed Optimus Prime and the Autobots, although he took a backseat to stronger enemies during the next two movies.

In fact, in the third movie, which is Dark of the Moon, Megatron was second only to Sentinel Prime as the big bad guy that the Autobots needed to stop. That’s because both he and Sentinel had the same goal, which was to revive Cybertron and bring it back to its former glory using the resources of Earth. During the final parts of the movie, Optimus and Sentinel fight in a battle of Primes, as the older and more experienced one almost defeats the leader of the Autobots.

Megatron, however, was goaded into believing that he had been Sentinel’s lackey and pawn the entire time as he seemingly lost his leadership position among the Decepticons. As such, just when Sentinel was about to kill Optimus, Megatron came in and betrayed the older Prime because he wanted to be the one to bring the glory of Cybertron back.

Optimus used this as an opening to kill and defeat Megatron quite easily despite losing one arm to Sentinel. He used his axe to rip Megatron’s head from the rest of his body, as the leader of the Decepticons suffered a second death in a span of three movies. Of course, Optimus also killed Sentinel after that battle because he murdered Ironhide.

But in Age of Extinction, which is the fourth movie of the franchise, it was revealed that his head had been acquired by a company called KSI, which used the knowledge in Megatron’s brain to create their own manmade Transformers. But what they didn’t know was that while Megatron’s spark had been extinguished, his brain was still functioning.

As such, despite being “dead,” Megatron’s brain was actually manipulating KSI into building a new army and body for him. This body became known as Galvatron, which had a vehicle mode instead of a jet mode. Despite the new body and appearance, Megatron was still Galvatron because his memories were retained after he had been given a new body by KSI.

Of course, Galvatron and his armies were defeated in the events of the Age of Extinction. But he vowed that he and Optimus would see each other again because he was now reborn. He presumably left Earth and went back to Cybertron after the events of the movie.

How Did Galvatron Become Megatron Again?

Between the events of Age of Extinction and The Last Knight, which is the fifth Transformers movie, Galvatron returned to Cybertron, where the sorceress goddess named Quintessa resided. He agreed to join Quintessa as her servant, and that was when the goddess gave him a new jet body that resembled the one that he had when he was still Megatron. As such, Galvatron decided to use his old name Megatron again.

In that regard, Megatron’s run as Galvatron was quite short-lived because it only lasted an entire movie. But his time as Galvatron was still memorable because it allowed him to live once more and return to the Transformers continuity after his second death in the events of Dark of the Moon. Of course, while his appearance may have changed when he was Galvatron, he was still very much Megatron in terms of his memories and personality, as it was clear that he was eventually going to assume his old identity as Megatron.