So... people criticize the Bayverse for his violent, kill decepticons no-matter-what attitude, but the oft-cited "pinnacle" moment of G1 Prime is him driving through Autobot city running over Decepticons, then transforming and shooting even more Decepticons... The ONLY reason said Decepticons survived is their toys were still on shelves. That's it. Insecticons and seekers, which stopped production in 1986, were permanently killed off or turned into Galvatron's aides (Aside from Akom animation goofs).

Prime really wasn't apologizing or pussyfooting around in the G1 cartoon either. He frequently shot Decepticons with his gun, and quickly attacked Megatron first with his energon ax. The only difference between G1 and Bayverse is that G1 was aimed at 6 year old boys at a time where cartoons were under the sights of parent focus group committees and all violence was evil brainwashing... So Prime had to play nice... same with He-Man and GI Joe.

The Bayverse wasn't constrained that way. Prime got to properly reflect the personality of a tired soldier who has been fighting for millions of years.