That’s a really interesting observation, Anon. I’d never connected those two things, but that makes a lot of sense. TFA Optimus still thinks like an Elite Guard, and can make battlefield decisions, whereas Optimi from more civilian backgrounds can freeze up sometimes (witness The Transformers: The Movie and Optimus’s unwillingness to shoot his archnemesis if there was even a chance of hitting Hot Rod) or get too attached to the idea that, surely, there must be a way to save everyone, no matter what the situation.
Tag: analysis
“There is no good or evil, Megatron. It is what you choose to do. You choose to be cruel and I will always choose to be compassionate! By the power the Matrix, I will stop you!”
I live for a day when someone write a really epic megop fic that includes this line.
like how do you even unpack that.
“You can only be pacifist for so long before you have to choose to be cruel too, Orion.”
I just need these two lines.
It’s just basically the never ending debate of whether love and compassion can cure everything. I want a transformers story about love and compassion. that’s it.
In IDW the ruling body took away Megaron’s words because they feared what he had to say.
All he had left to create the change he sought was his fists.
They feared the effects of his thoughts, his speech so much that they went into his mind and erased his ability to put certain thoughts into a communicatable form.
In doing so the Functionalists erased any chance to avoid a war.
By taking Megatron’s ability to put his ideas into words the Functionalists took those words away from the rest of the Cybertronian race.
Countless millions of lives lost, planets rendered sterile, unfathomable damage to the universe because THE FUNCTIONALISTS WERE AFRAID OF CERTAIN WORDS.
Covering the mouth, covering the ears will free the fists.
Forbidding discussion makes violence and suffering inevitable.
I wonder how much differently things would have gone if he had been allowed to speak? There would still have been conflict but I doubt it would have reached the galaxy-spanning levels of genocide and scorched earth devastation that it did.
We’ve seen this in history so many times.
To divide and destroy all you need to do is remove the ability to communicate.
If you can’t talk with or listen to someone it’s very easy to turn them
into an boogeyman who can’t be reasoned with and must be stopped at any
cost. It becomes impossible to see them as another human being just like you.
You will believe anything that is said about them, because any ability
to put anything else into words has been taken away from you.If people can’t or won’t talk then it’s down to violence and only the most ruthless uses of force will win.
Shit, this theme figures in myths and legends from all over. It’s archetypal.
To me it’s one of the most important and overlooked details of IDW Transformers lore.
They took Megatron’s words, so he had to use his fists.
When discussion is denied, people die.
Can we talk about how Starscream’s response to total failure (of the everything’s-burning-down-around-me variety) is to get on the ground and shut down? He’s done this at least three times so far.
(This is usually the part where someone shows up to beat him unconscious)
I thought of something even worse, and it’s that all the cold-constructed have a base-level behavioral loop that goes something like, “I see you’ve fucked up everything! Stay still and someone who knows what they’re doing will be along to deal with you shortly, you miserable failure. :)”
TFA Megatron Is The Best Megatron
My favorite Megatron is the “Transformers Animated” incarnation. Most of the time, he’s suave and crafty and a more cultured variety of large ham than his roaring gladiator counterparts. But TFA Megatron is also the least successful Megatron. Now, I can’t speak for all incarnations of Transformers since I haven’t seen all of them, but I’m familiar with Bayverse, Prime, War for/Fall of Cybertron, the Marvel and IDW comic runs, etc… and TFA Megatron didn’t do so well as those other Megs. He’s the Megatron who lost to the Autobots, who got himself and his entire faction kicked off Cybertron, who spent millions of stellar cycles just drifting through space looking for one relic and accomplishing nothing else…
And then I realized something else. TFA Megatron is unique in that in his version of the universe, Cybertron is not a wasteland. The planet did not get completely trashed during the war- it still exists and it is still thriving. The reason TFA Megatron lost is because he wasn’t willing to do what other Megatrons felt was acceptable or just didn’t think about at all in their pursuit of victory: destroy Cybertron.
TFA Megatron lost the war because he actually gave a fuck. He cares about his home planet. Sacrificing Cybertron wasn’t an acceptable cost. For my money, that makes him the best Megatron.
Names and the Importance of Identity in Transformers Animated
I’m not going to make this long because I would need to delve deeper into the show, but this has been something I’ve wanted to discuss for a while. Names in Transformers Animated is a minor, but curiously reoccurring element throughout the show. Here are a few of the things off the top of my head that TFA did concerning names…
*In Autobot culture, names seem to be given based on where you are and by who. In “Autoboot Camp”, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and a slew of rookies got their names from drill sergeant Sentinel Minor based on their characteristics (the good and the bad if Bee’s name is anything to go by.) Not only does this add to Cybertron culture, but it brilliantly explains why their names conveniently connect to their specific skills and personality. Optimus mentions in the second Allspark Almanac that he was named by his Minor Kup (for his cheerful personality) and subsequently named Elita and Sentinel because she was a bit of a snob and he was ever vigilant. It also indicates the Autobots (and possibly Cybertronians in general) do not necessary get their names the minute they’re born; it’s something they earn based on their traits and likely where they were at the time (the ones I listed for example strictly comes from military camps.)
There are other episodes where Bots gain names in different ways: Scrapper and Mixmaster improvised and named themselves because no one else did. Wreck-Gar got his through an insult due to his reckless nature, only to have Angry Archer shorten it down for him. Grimlock got his name while Megatron laments to himself, more or less working it out for his own. And so on and on.
*Y’all know Sumdac’s last name is Cadmus backwards, ‘nuff said.
*In layman’s term, “Omega” means the end. Project Omega can be taken in as a literal last step in the Great War. It was considered a final desperate measure for the Autobots against the Decepticon war (and ultimately ended it), hence the name Project Omega., hence the name Project Omega. One can only wonder what would have happened if this plan failed. This may be why Omega Supreme got his name because despite being the first to be built; he’s the last resort of an ever increasingly desperate war. Omega Supreme was also utilized as kind of a “last step” measure in a number of other places, too. He was activated by Ratchet (somewhat) to stop Blitzwing and Lugnut in “Lost and Found” because there was literally no other way to get rid of those two. He was the bot who sacrificed himself so the other Autobots wouldn’t get sucked in the Space Bridge into the middle of nowhere in the Season 2 finale. And of course, he was the catalyst for Megatron’s final plan in the Season 3 finale.
*Another interesting thing from the Allspark Almanac II; during Project Omega, there are identical worker bots that helped to built the Omega Sentinels. Blitzwing stated they have no individuality or names. He states this in disgust, saying it’s part of the Autobot’s “blind conformity”. Another keen look at the politics and culture between Autobots and Decepticons. Hmm…
*If you’re used to other TF franchises, there might be some of you questioning why Optimus’ crew often calls him “Prime” instead of just “Optimus Prime” or just “Optimus” like most of the franchise does. I mean, the TFA crew does occasionally spout an “Optimus” or the more endearing “Boss Bot”, but more often than not, they’ll address him as “Prime.” They do this a lot. It may sound like a weird quirk, but then you realize in Animated, “Prime” is a military rank. Optimus’ crew is literally calling him their Captain (or whatever equivalent rank “Prime” is); they are acknowledging him as their official leader.
*Megatron and Optimus are usually worthy rivals to each other in other incarnations; connected through a shared history. This is not the case in Transformers Animated where the two are total strangers at the start of the show. Optimus only knows Megatron through history vids and Bee even goes as far as spouting urban myths about the big guy to indicate unfamiliarity with the actual Con. In fact, Megatron views Optimus as just a tiny Autobot speck and disregards him as a pest more than anything. Megatron doesn’t know who Optimus is nor his name – he’s just an Autobot. It isn’t until the final episode when Megatron finally spouts Optimus’ name for the first time, indicating that yes, this “pest” has finally pissed him off enough that he simply cannot be ignored anymore. Now Optimus carries some sort of significance for Megatron. It’s a really subtle way of showing how much Optimus has grown; he started out as an unknown washout and eventually became a hero of both worlds.
There probably is a lot more, but these are all I can think about for now, but I hope you see where I’m going with this. They’re often minor and don’t draw much attention to the overall plot, but it’s a tremendously good use of world-building and adds to the overall TFAverse. The show has always been good adding these little touches. Welp, I hope you enjoyed the analysis I did over a show that ended like four years ago. This ended up a lot longer than I expected and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. O_O
unpopular opinion: i like sentinel prime from tfa
ITS ITS NOT CAUSE I THINK HE’S A SECRETLY GOOD GOOD GUY WHO REALLY DOES ALL HE CAN TO MAKE CYBERTRON BETTER–HE’S A BITTER, EGOTISTICAL ASSHOLE WITH A SOB STORY, BUT I REALLY LIKE THAT SOB STORY!!!
he elita and op were partners, and they were so tight they might as well have all been bonded, they were sparked in the same cadre, they went to the academy together, and were preparing their own teams to go into the academy/head right off into the military, and even took on missions together in their off time
they were ALWAYS together, ALWAYS doing the same basic things as each other so they could progress on the same level, and they were singularly unique in their fields.
elita was an expert level scientist, sentinel acted and stepped into the role of sergeant and warrior and rule upholder with startling ease, and optimus had great potential for being a leader/commander/prime in addition to having the smarts to help
they were all able to cover up the other’s faults and benefited GREATLY from having one another around
and then the accident happened
and suddenly every negative part of optimus and sentinel that elita usually could cover up and warm wa left out to rot in the open, sentinel’s bitterness overtook him in the same way optimus’ spark piercing insecurity did
they all got fucked up by what happened, and they all had to step into new roles of power they weren’t really ready for
elita became the decepticon’s best scientist in shockwave’s stead, her bitterness and self pity made her turn her back on everything she loved and cared about cause she was certain she would be derived if she went back to cybertron, a certainty that cybertronians would be disgusted by her–and that SENTINEL would be disgusted by her, so why come back at all?
optimus became the prime of a rag tag team of spacebrige technicians–well, ONE technician, and the rest were a stew of drop outs, grumpy vets, and cyber-fighters led astray. He was then essentially kicked off of cybertron to repair spacebridges with them for long, indefinite amounts of time, going extremely far away from their home planet and probably their home GALAXY since they weren’t allowed to use the space bridges themselves. he would have felt alone despite being in cramped spaces with his team, left to deal with the crushing weight of his own thoughts and insecurities
and sentinel? sentinel would have been lauded. he would be getting condolences for losing BOTH his partners, and praise for trying to “talk optimus out of it” when he knows damn well he never did that. He went on to be prime and even acting magnus, and had to lead during a time of upheaval, when civilians were wondering when the next attack would be coming, the threat of megatron’s return looming over him, and his own guilt, anger and bitterness to mix into a vat of disturbed thoughts and hyper paranoia. when ratchet returned to cybertron, he was not met with a welcome. sentinel had brainwashed the cybertronian commonwealth into being afraid of mechs that came from out of cybertron, as if anyone coming planetside was an Other, a threat, and sentinel could only encourage that behaviour.
and the complete sense of INADEQUACY he must have felt when he saw optimus, tired but happy, with megatron in chains would have crushed him.
so im not saying sentinel’s an uwu baby who can do no wrong
but in my opinion
the whole things’s pretty sad
So I finally started watching TFA; and, while I’ve not seen all of it yet, and I missed a few episodes, there’s what seems to me to be a recurring theme that I find frankly pretty disturbing and which makes me ask: is it being written this way on purpose?
‘Cause, see, first we have the Dinobots, and then Wreck-Gar, and then the ‘Structies; and in every case, wherein the newly awakened ‘bots fail to measure up to some not-explicitly-defined-or-explained metric, or they make bad choices in large part because of the Autobots’ prejudices and/or refusal to actually EXPLAIN ANYTHING, the new guys are effectively exiled. And I gotta say, if that’s how Autobots treat you? One strike and you’re out, without even getting a “hi, welcome to Earth, here are the rules” rundown? Hell yeah, I’d be talking to the ‘Cons. (The ‘Structies episode really pissed me off, in case that was unclear.)
It’s more obviously intentional in the flashbacks, that the Autobots are coming from some sort of military structure and the attitudes and social mores related to that are deliberately depicted to reflect that; Sentinel is clearly intended to be an authoritarian jerkwad, and it’s possible – even likely – that the prejudices and crappy attitude that he exemplifies are part and parcel of the Elite Guard culture?
And here’s the thing … if this is actually being done on purpose, if the show is actually intentionally written to make an adult audience go, “… whoa, wait, that’s really not okay,” then that’s honestly really cool and I have mad respect. But if it’s just lazy writing and flat characterization and some particularly egregious black-and-white Purity-culture level BS, then I’m going to be hard-pressed to want to watch more of it. Especially when there’s such brilliant fic out there which does incorporate that level of nuance, where the ‘bots aren’t pure shiny heroes and the ‘cons did, in fact, have a reason to be pissed off – @mllemusketeer, @astolat, @reyairia and @lyresnake, I’m lookin’ at you.
//cracks knuckles
‘aight, my dude.
Yes, Zuzu and I portray the autobots and the decepticons as more nuanced in Battlesleep. And yes, the Autobots have their flaws. I think, in a way, it was meant to parallel the red scare back in the 50s. There is a reason why the Autobots are so paranoid; had it not been for the invention of spacebridges the cons would have kicked their asses.
(Funnily enough, despite the red scare parallels, it’s implied in the Almanac that it’st he cons that lean heavily capitalistic and the bots that are more socialist but hey let’s skip that for now).
That being said, I think the writers of TFA did not show enough of the Decepticons being evil compared to what is said in the almanac and whatnot. The Decepticons developed a chemical/bioweapon shown as the rust plague and tested it against their own army. Lucifer is implied to be a concentration camp. Megatron decided he wanted to destroy Earth over a ridiculous misunderstanding. The bots might have their issues but you’re trying to compare say, a capitalist united states to a totalitarian dictatorship. The thing is, between fanfiction villifying the Autobots and the fact that we just assume that villains gotta be villains and forget how awful they’re being, we often end up paying more attention to the bad mistakes the “good side” is doing, which causes an unintentional magnification effect.
Are the bots flawed? Yes. I like that about TFA, they are flawed and they go about things the wrong way. They are, however, not functionalist or totalitarian, they’ve just been through a lot of shit culturally.
Not to mention, holy shit, can you imagine what would happen if it was found out that the Director of National Intelligence was a fucking foreign spy?
There has been lazy writing; Sentinel being the dickish buffoon was a result of that. Still, Sentinel may be a dick, and dislike organics, but he never threatened genocide over it. And he had good reason to be disgusted at Blackarachnia. She was a traitor and was doing horrific experiments on Wasp, he had every right to attack her.
And despite lots of writers’ claims that the Autobots are functionist, there is absolutely no evidence of that – to the contrary, Bulkhead was allowed to switch professions.
Also Sentinel =/= all Autobots. The Council actually disliked him a lot and fought with him over a lot of his decisions, which shows that his behavior was particularly disruptive, and not the norm.
Anyway, if you’ve been reading Battlesleep and you’ve taken from it that the Decepticons are the lesser of the two evils, I recommend you read it again because that was clearly not our intention.
No worries – I definitely know the ‘Cons are not the good guys. I was just really surprised and taken-aback by how the Autobots – specifically Optimus – reacted to the Dinobots, Wreck-Gar, and the Constructicons, and it made me curious if that was me being overly sensitive or if the writers were setting up a certain amount of “hey, even the good guys can make bad decisions; what’s important is how you fix it once you realize it was a bad decision.”
FWIW, one of the many reasons that I like to write villains like the Cons is because most simplified hero narratives have blatantly inconsistent villains. They want the villain to be intriguing and appealing and powerful (so you enjoy watching them), but they also want them to just be the bad guy so the hero has an excuse to pound them. That inconsistency opens up the entire story.
(The heroes are ALSO often inconsistent, but generally the narrative works overtime to make them look good by the end, and I am a suspicious reader who gets contrary when a creator is telling me something too hard that way.)
The truth is that neither Decepticons or Autobots are good nor bad guys. They are not real. “Canon” is not real. It’s all just a story. And the stories you or I tell are literally just as true as the story by whoever wrote the original cartoon or movie or comic. Canon is just a convenience. It’s a bunch of building blocks that your audience can recognize. But we’re good at recognition: you can take a block and turn it upside down and put it on an angle or chop it in half and people will say “oh hey I recognize that” and we can enjoy the ways in which it’s the same and also the ways in which it’s been changed.
I haven’t actually seen the episodes you’re describing so can’t talk about them specifically, but in any canonical TF story, their actual goal is to sell toys, and everything else gets subordinated to that goal: characterization of both Autobots and Decepticons, the worldbuilding, the plot, etc. Thinking as a TFA writer, if you have to introduce a bunch of new robots in an episode, and you want Optimus and team to also have screentime in that episode, then you need extreme conflict between Optimus & team and the new robots or else you don’t get enough punching.
As for should you keep watching, FWIW, I myself watch only as much of canon as I need to get what people in fandom are talking about, and after that primarily to get some more fun new blocks to work with. An episode of canon is like a new Lego kit. I don’t really want the thing in the box, I want to expand my ability to play.
“in any canonical TF story, their actual goal is to sell toys”
Truth Coming Out of Her Well To Shame Fankind
Well-stated on all counts 😀
So I finally started watching TFA; and, while I’ve not seen all of it yet, and I missed a few episodes, there’s what seems to me to be a recurring theme that I find frankly pretty disturbing and which makes me ask: is it being written this way on purpose?
‘Cause, see, first we have the Dinobots, and then Wreck-Gar, and then the ‘Structies; and in every case, wherein the newly awakened ‘bots fail to measure up to some not-explicitly-defined-or-explained metric, or they make bad choices in large part because of the Autobots’ prejudices and/or refusal to actually EXPLAIN ANYTHING, the new guys are effectively exiled. And I gotta say, if that’s how Autobots treat you? One strike and you’re out, without even getting a “hi, welcome to Earth, here are the rules” rundown? Hell yeah, I’d be talking to the ‘Cons. (The ‘Structies episode really pissed me off, in case that was unclear.)
It’s more obviously intentional in the flashbacks, that the Autobots are coming from some sort of military structure and the attitudes and social mores related to that are deliberately depicted to reflect that; Sentinel is clearly intended to be an authoritarian jerkwad, and it’s possible – even likely – that the prejudices and crappy attitude that he exemplifies are part and parcel of the Elite Guard culture?
And here’s the thing … if this is actually being done on purpose, if the show is actually intentionally written to make an adult audience go, “… whoa, wait, that’s really not okay,” then that’s honestly really cool and I have mad respect. But if it’s just lazy writing and flat characterization and some particularly egregious black-and-white Purity-culture level BS, then I’m going to be hard-pressed to want to watch more of it. Especially when there’s such brilliant fic out there which does incorporate that level of nuance, where the ‘bots aren’t pure shiny heroes and the ‘cons did, in fact, have a reason to be pissed off – @mllemusketeer, @astolat, @reyairia and @lyresnake, I’m lookin’ at you.
//cracks knuckles
‘aight, my dude.
Yes, Zuzu and I portray the autobots and the decepticons as more nuanced in Battlesleep. And yes, the Autobots have their flaws. I think, in a way, it was meant to parallel the red scare back in the 50s. There is a reason why the Autobots are so paranoid; had it not been for the invention of spacebridges the cons would have kicked their asses.
(Funnily enough, despite the red scare parallels, it’s implied in the Almanac that it’st he cons that lean heavily capitalistic and the bots that are more socialist but hey let’s skip that for now).
That being said, I think the writers of TFA did not show enough of the Decepticons being evil compared to what is said in the almanac and whatnot. The Decepticons developed a chemical/bioweapon shown as the rust plague and tested it against their own army. Lucifer is implied to be a concentration camp. Megatron decided he wanted to destroy Earth over a ridiculous misunderstanding. The bots might have their issues but you’re trying to compare say, a capitalist united states to a totalitarian dictatorship. The thing is, between fanfiction villifying the Autobots and the fact that we just assume that villains gotta be villains and forget how awful they’re being, we often end up paying more attention to the bad mistakes the “good side” is doing, which causes an unintentional magnification effect.
Are the bots flawed? Yes. I like that about TFA, they are flawed and they go about things the wrong way. They are, however, not functionalist or totalitarian, they’ve just been through a lot of shit culturally.
Not to mention, holy shit, can you imagine what would happen if it was found out that the Director of National Intelligence was a fucking foreign spy?
There has been lazy writing; Sentinel being the dickish buffoon was a result of that. Still, Sentinel may be a dick, and dislike organics, but he never threatened genocide over it. And he had good reason to be disgusted at Blackarachnia. She was a traitor and was doing horrific experiments on Wasp, he had every right to attack her.
And despite lots of writers’ claims that the Autobots are functionist, there is absolutely no evidence of that – to the contrary, Bulkhead was allowed to switch professions.
Also Sentinel =/= all Autobots. The Council actually disliked him a lot and fought with him over a lot of his decisions, which shows that his behavior was particularly disruptive, and not the norm.
Anyway, if you’ve been reading Battlesleep and you’ve taken from it that the Decepticons are the lesser of the two evils, I recommend you read it again because that was clearly not our intention.
No worries – I definitely know the ‘Cons are not the good guys. I was just really surprised and taken-aback by how the Autobots – specifically Optimus – reacted to the Dinobots, Wreck-Gar, and the Constructicons, and it made me curious if that was me being overly sensitive or if the writers were setting up a certain amount of “hey, even the good guys can make bad decisions; what’s important is how you fix it once you realize it was a bad decision.”
The Constructicons I think were mostly the writers being intensely classist.
The Dinobots, well, Optimus had a point, they were dangerous, unstable, and difficult to reason with. Sure I didn’t agree with him, and I think the writing didn’t either, but there was a point. Given his past, it’s totally understandable he’d want to play on the safe side. He also didn’t know they were sentient.
Wreck-Gar I think was mostly Ratchet fucking up and he admits to doing so.
Optimus in TFA is pretty flawed and much different from his more gentler self in TFP, but that just makes it more fun to work with him and give him character development IMO.
what I say: Optimus and Elita are a cute couple.
what I mean: Optimus and Elita’s relationship in the episode The Search for Alpha Trion was actually touching and an underused dynamic especially back in the 80’s. They are of equal ability and there is a mutual respect between them. Not once does Optimus (or even the cons) ever expect less of her because she’s female. She was just as every bit as badass of a leader as he was, even having a deep strong yet gentile voice like he did. The episode had this sort of reverse damsel in distress thing going on where the man had been captured and was near death and woman had to risk her life to save him, rather than the usual trope where the woman of equal rank is captured as the man has to save her. Both characters truly loved each other and it was shown with how Optimus was willing to go back to Cybertron for Elita as soon as he found out she was still alive without even giving it a second thought, whereas usually he would stop to think it over because it was clearly a trap. And Elita used her special power to save Optimus even though she knew she would likely not survive it. To me personally, thier feelings for each other being shown through their actions like this didn’t make it feel like just another forced het romance and actually got me engaged and made me want to see them together again. This deeply loving relationship and mutual respect and rank that they had for each other is rarely, if never, touched upon in other continuities which is a shame because what they had was truly touching and beautiful.
Cybertronian Database 