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In Battle, a Lawgiver narrator tells us what happened to Caesar after the events of Conquest. This is a narrated legend and the events are either extended or compressed in time. Caesar should really be the oldest Ape, and yet is seen among contemporaries or even seems younger than some. This would indicate that all Apes were 'awakened' during or even before the Ape revolution. At one point the Ape in charge or arms says he's been living in the armory for 27 years, so it would seem that the revolution took place at least that time in the past. I would, however, suggest the viewer ignore the time sequences and see this as a narrated history taking place generations later, and as such subject to distortions in the re-telling. Why would Caesar wat 20 years before having a kid?

Anyway, the human City (or cities,) were bombed, so we are told, and Apes living outside of cities have survived in a sort of commune, with the three Ape species living together in harmony, (so far no crimes among them.) But the Apes also live with some humans who survived alongside them and who function as teachers and advisers to the Apes. The Apes will not allow the humans to participate in council, but do indeed share shelter, food, and labor with them*. There is an indication that these (renegade?) humans have lower status than any Ape: They are not allowed in Council as has been mentioned, they have words forbidden to use when addressing an Ape and are not afforded protection that is otherwise afforded to Apes: Apes may not hurt other Apes, but no protection is given to humans.

*This would indicate that humans are weaker than Apes, and while Apes have created an agrarian society, humans have been unable to do so independently of Apes. It might also be inferred that non-domesticated humans have been weeded out by the Apes, thus we do not see them. Just as the humans were breeding the Apes for intelligence (and training them to face fire fearlessly,)  the Apes have apparently started a breeding program for human docility, and later, for reduced intellect.

For some reason, it is found necessary to travel to the forbidden, radioactive city, where the radiation burned survivors live underground. Their descendants will become the mutants we encountered earlier in Beneath, as we see the same bomb which will end up being venerated, even worshiped by them.
Apes traveling to the city awakens the dwellers there to the fact that these Apes might well become a further danger to them, and an expedition is mounted to exterminate them.

At the same time, the gorilla tribe, unhappy with being unable to learn writing (read: peaceful civilization,) have embraced the military role in the community, and Aldo, their leader, organizes a coup to dethrone Caesar. As has been mentioned Caesar might as well have been a descendant of the original Caesar since he is too young to fit the role properly according to the events, except for the fact that he remembers memories Caesar himself had.  The unification of the two Caesars might easily be a result of faulty oral history.

The invasion by the City dwellers and the coup happen at pretty much the same time, with the result being that Caesar's son dies directly because of the conspiracy, but then nothing can be done about it until the battle between Apes and City dwellers is resolved.

Once the invasion is over, Caesar confronts the gorilla responsible for the death of his son, and the new Ape society must assimilate the fact that an Ape has indeed hurt another Ape, a direct contradiction of the Ape law. As a human bystander mentions, the Apes have joined the human race.

With the Ape Cain having slain the Ape Abel, we might easily have seen Ape superiority to mankind by the treatment of the killer, but it is not meant to be so. Apes are proven not superior to humans and the killer ends up dead. I was almost expecting the gorilla to be banished...

The story ends, again with the Lawgiver narrator, now seen to be teaching this story to both human and Ape children. We witness a member of one species knocking down a member of the different species, maybe indicating that as we advance into the future we retain violent instincts, no matter what.  The camera zooms to a stone statue, witness to this, which cries a salty tear: apparently the lesson brought from the future via time travel has already been forgotten.

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As many have mentioned, this might be the poorest chapter of the series, with lofty ambitions negated by a limited budget: an Ape city is mentioned, but never seen, for example. At the most we see an Ape village or ranch. Yet, interesting bits remain here and there.

Virgil, the Ape philosopher/scientist is researching time travel and the effects of it and the possibility of branching time lines. This is in direct relation to similar ideas earlier in the series, but not only is it not apparent where these ideas are coming from, or how the research is being conducted, ultimately they go nowhere.
At the very least, however, the allow the series to end with the possibility of an alternate future where the world will not be destroyed by underground dwelling, bomb worshiping mutants.

This last chapter could easily have been improved upon, and yet the series manages to end on the right note. The movie, with its confusion of the Caesar character, also reinforces the apparent notion that the all characters played by McDowall are reincarnations of the same soul looking for redemption for previous sins, or, even that the soul has become unstuck in time like Slaughterhouse Five's Billy Pilgrim, or even, like Quantum Leap's Dr. Sam Beckett, traveling backwards and forwards in time in different bodies and at one point even inhabiting a stone statue! (Also see the Dorsai! sequels)

The one thing that the sequels have in common other than McDowall (with one exception) is screenwriter Dehn's involvement. The relocation of the focus from Taylor to McDowall's Chimpanzee characters seems to be Dehn's doing, other than the fact that producers and studio sometimes rejected some of the ideas or requested changes.
If the documentary is to be trusted the sequels were never even considered originally, so the changes in direction from the first sequel on are not based on a grand plan.
Careful study of the original drafts might reveal otherwise, however. The documentary sometimes presents naive assertions, as in indicating that there was no intended political bent in the first movie, for example...
I was also surprised in learning that the later sequels were considered too violent for the series and suffered some trimming, even after the first sequel. All the way thru these films were considered to be family (and kids) entertainment. What can be more violent than the death of a whole planet?

BTW, it looked to me as if John Landis can also be seen during the initial credits. It is after the pigggyback scene when he has a spoken line.