Skyfire - Did He Die?

A great many Transformers fans were devastated to see many of their favorite characters killed off in the 1986 The Transformers: The Movie feature film.  This, of course, was an obvious attempt by Hasbro and Sunbow to usher out one cast of toys and introduce a new, core cast.  The death of Optimus Prime rattled not only a fanbase, but a franchise back in the day.  Starscream's coronation is a short-lived, "bad comedy" - put to ash by the rebuilt Megatron as Galvatron.  Speaking of Megatron, who can forget Ironhide's gruesome death by having his head completely blown off by Megatron's fusion cannon (albeit mostly off screen)?  The Battle for Autobot City saw fan-favorite casualties on both sides for the Season 1 and Season 2 cast.

(Line artwork by me, colors by TFW2005.COM member BDixonarts)

Despite the horrible deaths of fan-favorites, not everyone was killed off.  Season 3 of The Transformers does see returns from previous cast members, such as Perceptor (who end up becoming a fairly prominent cast member).  Blaster is even put in a security position in charge over Metroplex.  Omega Supreme also continues as a carrier for the Autobots, though Sky Lynx pretty much takes over as the deep space carrier for the Autobots.

Speaking of carriers, we arrive to the subject of this post - Skyfire!  Until Omega Supreme arrives, he is prominently the Autobot's transport.  As a character, his introduction in "Fire in the Sky" and his return in "Fire on the Mountain" are his most prominent episodes.  He continues along, yet just fades out for the events of The Transformers: The Movie.  So, we don't see him get killed, and we can presume he makes it through into Season 3.

Therein lies our problem.  There's a fun little mystery as to the fate of Skyfire.  However, Season 3 offers some conflicting information, so let's explore: