@agatharights said: Kaon apparently still has Trypticon Prison and a still-active gladiatoral ring…which is…curious.
I forgot about Trypticon Prison. (Which is a bad move on the Autobot Council’s part honestly. “Let’s keep all of our enemies in their home! Ah ha! They’ll never escape now! This will never bite us in the bumper!”)
And yes… the gladiatorial ring is very curious…
I wonder who these “gladiators” are… especially so close to the Prison…
And I wonder who exactly approves of this…
I was gonna say “I think they just use it for like general sports and autobots now” but oh jeeze.
…listen, I think what’s important is that we can all agree that Kaon is a scrapheap no matter what.
No they do not. Not only did they exile all the Decepticons, but anytime they find one, they get thrown into the ruins of their former capital and are forced to watch Gladiator fights.
The Allspark only knows who exactly these gladiator are. Probably a couple of strong, “heroic” Autobots to represent the power of the Autobot Commonwealth, but possibly some unruly Decepticon prisoners.
Not gonna lie, the more I re-read The Complete Allspark Almanac the more I’m…kinda starting to think that the Autobot Commonwealth in TFA might be…kinda feudalistic? Or more accurately, whatever the equivalent political system where it’s military power = direct political power. Every Magnus we know of is considered the military leader just as equally as the social leader, and they all seem to have arrive at that position solely through rising through military rankings. I mean, there’s…approximately no discussion of actual voting or democratic conventions, and if there is it seems to be limited entirely to the senate- which by all accounts looks like it’s lifelong-held positions.
I wouldn’t be surprised if being “at war” constantly has been great for military-based leadership to continue assumed command long enough to be regarded as normal, considering how much of the actual social structure and economy seems to revolve entirely around the Autobot-Decepticon War and, uh
…
i
wait
is the autobot commonwealth a shogunate??????? Somebody who actually knows how politics and government work please help me figure out what to call this sort of political system.
According to tfwiki (which cites a panel from Derrick Wyatt at TF Con 2009), “The Magnus has to answer to the civilian government, but their ability to actually remove an incompetent or reckless Magnus is limited.”
The Magnus is probably both the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State. (Kinda like the USA President, but without the extra powers for checks and balances.) After millions of years of war and a lot of anti-Decepticon sentiment, the Magnus would be seen as the most respectable, powerful person in the commonwealth. Its not clear how much control he has legally over the government or the passing of laws, but he might not need it. Ultra Magnus fought the Decepticons. He led us to victory. If you question him on certain issues, are you against the Autobots? Do you have secret Decepticon feelings? Maybe you should have a couple conversations with the Elite Guard to be sure.
Also, are you going to tell the guy with an army what to do? Probably not.
You clearly become Magnus by rising through the military ranks. As for the other Council Members, nothing is mentioned. It’s probably a similar “rising though the ranks” or “seniority” type of mentality. Probably not democratic at all.
Plus, there’s not much opportunity to challenge the government. You might be able to petition some stuff, but you’re either with the Autobots or against them. There’s a reason they constantly push the “Cog in the Machine” stuff.
However, who knows how long that will last after the Battle of Detroit and Sentinel Magnus’s reign.
tldr: I don’t think Magnus has that much legal control, but considering his military power and the Autobot Society, he’s probably a hard person to say “no” to without political backlash. There’s definitely no democracy.
I have genuinely no clue if that answers your question.
Cybertronian Database 