Transformers: The Last Knight’s post-credits scene, explained

Transformers: The Last Knight has been dubbed the beginning of a new start for the franchise by director Michael Bay and, even though he won’t be around for the next one, this means the post-credits scene is pretty important.

[Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Transformers: The Last Knight.]

Unlike most superhero movies, which make you sit through a nearly three-hour film just to wait another 10 minutes for the credits to finish rolling, this post-credits scene is revealed after just a few minutes.

It focuses entirely on Quintessa, the original creator of the Transformers and Cybertron, the planet they originated from. The Last Knight ends with Quintessa being destroyed by Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, her body flung off the spaceship the Decepticons and Autobots have been fighting on. Although we don’t see where her now defunct, mechanical body lands, the message seems clear enough: Quintessa has been killed.

Paramount Pictures

Except that this is a franchise that wants to keep going and Megatron, bless his heart, can’t be the only villain. As the credits stop rolling, the audience is greeted to the image of a woman walking across the sands of a desert. When she comes across a horn sticking out of the ground, an ominous sign regarding Cyberton, she asks one of the men examining it what he’s doing with it. During their conversation she smiles and, for a brief moment, a flash of the technology that encapsulates and powers Transformers can be seen. Quintessa is alive.

While this wasn’t too surprising, it is a bit of a relief. We didn’t get to see Quintessa for long in the film and she seemed like one of the more interesting characters. Not to mention that if the franchise is looking to continue for a few more installments, which seems to be the case based on what Bay has said, a climactic battle between Megatron, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee isn’t going to cut it anymore.

What Quintessa has in store for the Transformers, who are effectively her kids, and the rest of humanity, whom she considers her enemy, seems to be where the series is headed.

Transformers: The Last Knight is currently playing in theaters.