'Bumblebee' Ending Explained

The Transformers franchise is taken into a new era this weekend, as Bumblebee makes its way to theaters across the country. While the prequel has five other films and heaps of other canon to build off of, it wraps things up in a very particular way.

Major spoilers for Bumblebee below! Only look if you want to know!

The film follows Bumblebee (Dylan O'Brien) as he flees the War on Cybertron, crash-landing onto Earth in the 1980s and hiding in the garage of a young mechanic named Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) in San Francisco. As the film goes on, Bumblebee and Charlie strike a sort of unlikely bond, which is complicated by the arrival of Shatter (Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (Justin Theroux), two Decepticons who have managed to...well, deceive... the U.S. government's Sector 7.

Sector 7 kidnaps Bumblebee, allowing Shatter and Dropkick to torture him for answers until they discover Optimus Prime's (Peter Cullen) Star Wars-style holographic message. The two Decepticons then head to a cell tower, where they plan to transmit the data to the rest of their team.

Charlie and Memo (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) find Bumblebee and use a series of stun guns to revive him. This is quickly interrupted by Agent Burns (John Cena) and the rest of Sector 7, whose actions almost send Bumblebee into a violent state. Charlie finds a way to calm Bumblebee down, and they speed off to find Shatter and Dropkick.

At the cell tower, Bumblebee fights off Dropkick, as Shatter attempts to upload the transmission to the other Decepticons. Bumblebee kills Dropkick, pulling him apart with chains when he tries to transform into a helicopter.

Bumblebee then saves Agent Burns from his falling helicopter, only to soon be attacked by Shatter. As the two fight, Charlie finds her way up to the cell tower, stopping the transmission. Bumblebee ultimately kills Shatter as well, by drowning her in water from the nearby port.

Bumblebee gets swept under the water as well, which leads to Charlie having to save the day. In an emotional moment, Charlie gets over her anxieties towards diving, which she's had since her father passed away soon after one of her diving tournaments. She jumps into the water, saving Bumblebee.

Burns crosses paths with Charlie and Bumblebee, revealing that he's had a change of heart and acknowledging their bravery. He lets the pair get away, but not before Bumblebee offers a triumphant, Breakfast Club-style salute.

Sometime later, Bumblebee drives Charlie to a hill near the Golden Gate Bridge, a sign that he needs to leave San Francisco. Using his radio-speak, Bumblebee asks Charlie to tag along with him on his adventures, but she says no. She reveals that she's learned just how much her family needs her, the same way that Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots need Bumblebee.

The pair have an emotional goodbye, right before Bumblebee transforms into a yellow Camaro, to the surprise of Charlie. He then drives away and joins a red-and-white trailer on the highway -- who is none other than the Gen One version of Optimus Prime.

Charlie then returns home, having a new lease on life after everything that's happened. She reunites with her family and Memo, as the latter asks if they can kiss each other, only for Charlie to argue that they aren't quite there in their relationship yet.

From there, the credits begin to roll, only for the film to provide an epilogue of sorts in the form of two mid-credits scenes. You can read all about those here.

Bumblebee is in theaters now.