Here’s What Happened to Galvatron in ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’

Whether you love or hate Michael Bay’s take on the Transformers movie, the series has undoubtedly brought us some good moments between all that mindless chaos and destruction.

Sadly, a lot of the narrative is just bland (and that’s an euphemism), the character development is practically non-existent, and Bay has proven that you can only do so much with great CGI and that people want more than big robots fighting after two or three movies.

Continuity errors are likewise a thing with Bay’s series, and we will talk about one such continuity error today: Galvatron’s fate after the ‘Age of Extinction.’ So, if you want to know what happened to Galvatron, keep reading!

The difference between Megatron and Galvatron

Megatron originally led the Decepticons and stood as the arch-enemy of Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader. Often meeting his end at the hands of Optimus, Megatron would typically be reborn as Galvatron.

Initially a humble laborer, Megatron ascended to prominence as a gladiator. Adopting the name “Megatronus”—after one of the original Thirteen Primes who turned traitor and became the inaugural Decepticon—he later served as the template for another villainous figure. Transitioning into an activist, he sought to overthrow Cybertron’s unjust governance and dismantle its oppressive caste system.

In his formative years, Megatron took young Orion Pax under his wing. United in their cause, they advocated for equality and the freedom of self-determination for all sentient beings. Orion Pax would eventually become Optimus Prime, using Megatron’s own teachings against him when he turned corrupt.

Megatron could morph into three distinct firearms: a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, and a telescopic laser cannon. His ability to alternate between his robot form and various other modes and the details of his origins and personality differ based on the specific “generation” in which he is portrayed.

Galvatron in the live-action series

In ‘Dark of the Moon,’ the third movie in the live-action franchise, Optimus Prime kills Megatron. This was because Optimus wanted to end the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, so he declined Megatron’s truce offer and decapitated his biggest rival. And it seemed that Megatron was done for.

In the film ‘Age of Extinction,’ it’s revealed that humans, in their ingenuity, salvaged Megatron’s head and re-engineered him into Galvatron. Interestingly, the initial design for Galvatron was supposed to resemble Optimus Prime, but the final version looked much like Megatron.

Galvatron was activated and commanded to combat Optimus when the Autobots staged a raid. However, he quickly gained self-awareness and independence, confounding his human creators. His duel with Optimus was cut short by Lockdown, yet Galvatron remained set on conquering Earth, even without a substantial army to back him.

Ultimately, his plans were foiled, and he retreated after the fourth film, promising to return. True to his word, he did reappear in ‘The Last Knight’—but not as Galvatron. Unexpectedly, the one who came back was none other than Megatron!

How did Megatron reappear?

The question of how Megatron reappeared lacks a definitive answer, largely because director Michael Bay didn’t include even a brief scene to clarify this point. We know that Megatron was reincarnated as Galvatron in the ‘Age of Extinction,’ and by’ The Last Knight,’ he resurfaced as Megatron again, this time sporting new armor. While there’s no confirmed explanation, we can guess what transpired between the two films.

Galvatron was essentially a human-created robot with a human-assigned name, both of which Megatron would likely have despised. After surviving the ‘Age of Extinction,’ it’s plausible that Galvatron fled Earth to rendezvous with Quintessa, a potent Transformer sorceress, allying.

Given Quintessa’s immense power, she could feasibly have restored Galvatron to his original form as Megatron. This theory could account for Galvatron’s sudden absence and Megatron’s equally sudden return in ‘The Last Knight.’

However, this is all speculative. We don’t have concrete evidence to confirm this scenario. Why? Because Michael Bay didn’t see fit to elaborate on this narrative gap. He reintroduced Megatron as if nothing had changed since the prior installment.

So, how did Megatron actually make his comeback? In theory, Quintessa could have been the catalyst, but the real reason is Michael Bay’s lackadaisical storytelling and disregard for narrative consistency. And thus, the enigma of Galvatron’s disappearance and Megatron’s reemergence is “solved.”