| “ | Megatronus: You've earned your reward, Steeljaw. Though I can't imagine why you would want a pile of dust. Steeljaw: Dust? |
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| ~ Exact Words much? |
Wow, this really is a good month to be a TF fan. First Studio TRIGGER drops an absolute banger of a tribute that has literally brought me to tears, and Transformers One seems to be really doing well critically (am gonna see it later this week), which I will return on to comment when the 2 week period finished on the 4th if next month as my closer to the TF parade. But for now...
Okay, here is one that I look back and realize I was far too lenient on the initial proposal, as there are a lot of actual concerns the proposal just... brushes over and didn't bother to take into because of it's barebones nature. And a lot has to do with RID 2015's placement in the entire, wonky mess we call the "Aligned" continuity, in which it is undeniably a sequel to Prime. So a valid explanation will be needed for both on how a potentially mitigating backstory does not keep him out of the category, and how he fares against the villains of Prime. Let the trial commence.
What is the Work?[]
Transformers: Robots in Disguise has 2 meanings in the TF fandom. One is the 2001 anime series that served as a hype countdown to Armada, the other is the 2015 animated series that serves as the Lighter and SOfter sequel to 2010's Transformers: Prime, and supposedly a part of the entire "Aligned" continuity that was there in the 2010s. It follows Bumblebee, who was dispatched to Earth to deal with the crash of the prison ship, the Alchemor that crashes onto Earth, releasing a shipful of dangerous Decepticon fugitives, most persistent being the cunning Steeljaw. So Bumblebee now has to make up a new team of Autobots and travel to Earth to capture as many Decepticons as they can, and maybe even face some old foes.
In Season 1, we eventually deal with why the Alchemor even crashed, as a dark evil from ages past is slowly exerting his influence for a release, leading to introduction the Greater Scope of villain if the series' first season, and that of the whole show itself (alongside the High Council). The "first" Decepticon, Megatronus Prime.
Who is Megatronus Prime/The Fallen? What Has He Done?[]
Megatronus Prime is regarded as the first Decepticon. One of the original 13 Primes who Primus created to defeat Unicron, Megatronus turned on his brethren, killing Solus Prime. For his crimes, Megatronus, dubbed the Fallen now and stripped of his title as a Prime, was exiled to an alternate dimension, with Earth presumably having a role (how... idk). In his imprisonment, Megatronus' spark burnt in hate and revenge, bidding his time to be finally freed from his exile. Meanwhile Megatronus became a dark legend, to which to strike fear to Cybertron's corrupt government, the miner D-16 based his gladiator/warlord name based on the Fallen, which yes, we know, is Megatron.
However, Megatronus can't be sealed forever. Long after the Great War of Cybertron is finished and Cybertron is restored of life and is now a bustling civilization across it's surface, The Alchemor, a prison ship filled with dangerous Decepticons left the planet. Megatronus, still having the ability to influence what all happens in the primary dimension, uses that to crash the ship onto Earth, setting them loose to cause havoc on the planet. The most dangerous of them all is Steeljaw, scheming to take over Earth to make it a Decepticon haven, and would serve as the series' Big Bad. Steeljaw would then be contacted by Megatronus, who reveals himself as the one who set him free, and in promise for freeing him, he shall make Earth his domain.
Steeljaw helps Megatronus free himself, building a portal to his prison dimension. However Megatronus wants the portal be done by a certain time so to demand Steeljaw to hurry up, he makes an... absurdly dark display of his power that is shocking for such a light-hearted series. He uses his influence to have one of Steeljaw's minions, Clampdown, to unwillingly try ripping out one of his arms. Steeljaw, horrified, speeds the process. The construction is complete and the Autobots try to stop it... but they fail. Optimus, who returns from the dead, witnesses in horror as Megatronus emerges from the portal. Thrashing the Autobots, Megatronus rants about how Cybertron and Earth will pay for the exile before trying to use a drill on Optimus' head.
So how will he exact his revenge on Earth and Cybertron? Well, Megatronus gloats to Steeljaw on how he is not going to fulfill his bargain and leave him with just dust. Using his staff, he extracts Unicron's Anti-Spark from the Earth's Core and then summon the Primus' Allspark from Cybertron's core, combining both to blow up both planets, destroying all life within them. Steeljaw is obviously mad but can't faze Megatronus who tries to kill him and his team. The Autobots, now powered up, face Megatronus for a final time. Destroying the spear and thus saving both planets, the Autobots combine their powers to seemingly disintegrate Megatronus. Bumblebee does doubt if he is dead, but Fixit says at least there is no trace of him on Earth, to which Bumblebee states that if he did survive, they will be ready.
And then... they kinda forgot about him.
Mitigating Factors[]
So the biggest reason I am making a reproposal is I feel the old proposal never really explained this properly. Unfortunately, Robots in Disguise is part of the "Aligned" continuity, which has the Covenant of Primus, which before RID came attempted to be the one to connect all properties in the brand together, while causing many contradictions. In Covenant of Primus, Megatronus is undoubtedly a more sympathetic figure. In there, he was ostracized and discriminated by the older Primes for being one of the youngest, and thus was supposedly the most closest to Unicron's darkness (i.e. being evil), and undoubtedly loved Solus Prime, to which the 11th Prime, Liege Maximo, had decided to pull off some tricks manipulating Megatronus into being paranoid, setting off a chain of events that shall see him tragically kill Solus by accident. After her funeral, Megatronus imposed a self-exile on himself, something like Megatron would later do in the end of Prime, in an effort to atone.
However, the entire "Aligned" continuity... is non-existent in continuity. There will be some clear nods but for all those nods, there will be over 10 contradictions with what all games, novels, etc. The only thing that matters is the Broad Stokes connecting them but then diverge in everything else. And mercifully, we've got explicit Word of God statements that RID's writers are very selective on how they should be connected with other material, in which their priority is to only be consistent with being in continuity in Prime, rest of the "Aligned" material they could throw in a nod or two to connect them, but it will only be the loosest of connections. This general loose continuity is why I had proposed and we were able to count Megatron from the War for Cybertron games despite supposedly being connected to Prime where he ends up disbanding the Decepticons upon a Heel Realization, because the connections between them are so loose, they might as well be their own thing.
This works because Megatronus' portrayal on RID just does not gel with his portrayal on Covenant of Primus, at all, like the degrees it doesn't is almost comical. When his backstory gets brought up, it was only on him being a villain where he willingly betrayed the Primes and killed Solus Prime in will than it being an accident, and his immediate exile was carried out by the Primes than a self-imposed one of guilt and remorse, with Earth... somehow having a role in it, something not even mentioned in other materials. And by the time of his release, he only wants revenge for his exile, than yk, have remorse for the very crimes he got himself exiled (such as killing Solus Prime), which again, does not fit CoP's ending of his arc as the Atoner.
Like at least I could some hesitance on WFC!Megatron as TFP!Megs actually would've kept as PE had Prime ended at "DeadLocked". But here? They truly feel like seperate characters, and the portrayal of each one's backstory being vastly different in portrayal despite supposedly being the same event (which the "Aligned" continuity is never shy of considering how Exodus and the WFC game have major differences portraying the same key events) which considering the continuity being very very loose, I'm taking them as seperate. And honestly even if we did consider the backstory, RID firmly strips him off the remorse or anything sympathetic considering he is now just bitterly vengeful for his exile... which he wouldn't be if he regretted his crimes.
So, when we look at just his appearance in RID, which again, his established backstory there is completely stripped of any tragic elements, his motive being blind revenge against Earth and Cybertron for a well-deserved exile, boastful over crushing Autobots, and pulling an exact words gambit with Steeljaw to go against their agreement of having Earth be spared for Steeljaw to rule. With just RID, he really has nothing of issue, and despite the series' Lighter and Softer tone in comparison to Prime, is a clear Knight of Cerebus for the series who has ramped up the stakes for the season finale, and is the only villain in the entire to show to even die (presumably, but it counts for something). He's pretty much written to be PE here and his characterization be more in line to how he was portrayed on his debut on the DreamWave run or his Bay version (wish it hadn't though because he is only slightly less boring than the latter... which is as insulting as it sounds).
Heinous Standard[]
So, even with the above in mind, we really should factor the heinous standards of Transformers: Prime as it's a very clear sequel with the ties growing stronger with each season (such as with the arc on Starscream or Soundwave's return) and again, something I feel the old proposal neglected. Now, I have detailed the heinous standard of Prime on my proposals for Starscream and Airachnid. So if you are familiar with those, you will end up realizing the competition... is steep as the villains get really nasty. Like even Soundwave returns here worse than ever with a plan that will result in Earth's destruction, and RID's Big Bad, Steeljaw has massive plans of destruction at times, and then we add in the nasties in Prime.
So... how does Megatronus stand out, especially with his power as an enhanced Prime and in a sequel that is lighter and softer? Simple. Megatronus uses his powers to have by far the worst mass murder attempt in the entire "Aligned" brand, which is to destroy 2 heavily populated planets, Earth and Cybertron who at the time were bustling with life. When it comes to "attempting to kill that many people at once", nobody, in both Prime, RID, or even the rest of "Aligned" brand as a whole, aim for such a big mass murder attempt. Like Megatron and Starscream scheme the complete conquest of the universe, with the former noted could potentially jeopardize another planet and the latter using the Minicons as his "doomsday devices", so they have more weight than your average "conquer the universe" plan. But neither of them still have as much weight as Megatronus' explicit scheme to wipe out all life on 2 densely inhabited planets at the same time in which neither of their individual attempts at mass murder only peaking at just one planet at a time, also with the additional petty motive for mere revenge for a well-deserved exile than a simple, impersonal need for domination, also unlike Megatron or Starscream.
He also has other touches of cruelty as well, such as crashing the Alchemor to free an entire ship full of dangerous Decepticons such as Steeljaw onto Earth that places numerous human lives on jeopardy throughout the series, or forcing Steeljaw to hurry up by literally forcing one of his minions to try ripping out his own arm, a stark, special level of cruelty that is jarring for such a lighthearted series and not done by anyone else in both series.
Final Verdict[]
When you ignore the shaky continuity which the materials with a sympathetic portrayal that just does not gel well enough with his portrayal here to truly be mitigating, he is a keep.