 The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1 marked the final appearances of three major Decepticons-Megatron (seen in a flashback), Soundwave and Ratbat (only seen giving the latest piece of information that Optimus Prime's body had been discovered)

Stan Bush's "The Touch" from "" is heard at the climax of part two when Optimus unleashes the Matrix of Leadership.This episode is similar to Season 2 episodes "Megatron's Master Plan part 1 and 2 " and "Attack of the Autobots" as both involved human hatred to the Autobots and starting the catastrophe.After the catastrophe, Swofford and Morgan's apologies is similar to Shawn Berger's apologies to the Autobots and probably arrested offscreen in the episode climax.