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Unpopular Transformers Fandom Opinion
Watching the whole thing through from the beginning, it has come to my attention that I really enjoy Transformers Season Three. This shouldn't surprise me - I liked it just fine when I was a kid - but it gets so much bashing in fandom that I wasn't expect it to be as much fun as it is. It's not that I don't understand why some people hate it. Not only have has most of the cast from the first two seasons been thoughtlessly killed off to make way for new toys, the settings and stories are very different. I'm as pissed off as the next fangirl about the mass slaughter of beloved Autobots, but considered on its own merits these episodes have a lot going for them. Here are ten reasons that they rock:
1. The main problem with this season is that Ironhide, Wheeljack, Jazz and the like have been replaced with too many cookie-cutter Autobots who don't get a chance to develop properly as characters. Luckily, the Decepticons don't really have that problem. Almost all of the new bad guys get proper introductions and enough personality that you can tell them apart from each other. (The Terrorcons may be an exception, but I haven't got that far yet.) It's not until Season Four that fifty billion interchangeable Decepticons arrive on the scene all at once.
2. Many of the new or reformatted Decepticons are awesome. Don't get me wrong, I miss the hell out of Starscream when he's not possessing people, but I do love seeing more of the Combaticons, Scourge, Trypticon and most of all OCTANE.
3. Galvatron and Cyclonus get their own dot point, because while the Autobot change of leadership didn't really work in the show's favour - I have considerable affection for Rodimus, but replacing Optimus Prime was a ludicrous thing for the show to try - the Decepticons fare better. While they will never replace Megatron and Starscream in my heart, the dynamic between the crazy leader and his loyal, long-suffering, honourable second also fascinates me. Also, Galvatron is really funny.
6. Ultra Magnus has always been one of my favourite Autobots, and without the massive cast changes in Season Three, he would not exist!
5. I feel kind of bad about the way he pushed Ratchet and Wheeljack out of the spotlight and into the path of a laser gun, but I have loved Perceptor since I was tiny. Season Three has MOAR PERCEPTOR on average, so that's good. Also, Season Three has Skylynx! And Wreck-Gar!
6. There are more than zero female characters. Not many female characters, but if they weren't going to go with gender neutral alien robots - implausible after The Search For Alpha Trion - tokenism is better than nothing.
7. The stories and settings are a lot more varied. While Season Three does lose touch with the 'alien robots in disguise on Earth' concept at the heart of the show and turn into space opera, at least we don't get a dozen episodes about Megatron trying to beat the Autobots with magic crystals.
8. There are some truly excellent episodes in here - not just Starscream's Ghost and Ghost in the Machine, but Webworld and The Return of Optimus Prime. Others are cheesy fun to match anything in Season Two (well, maybe not City of Steel) like Thief in the Night and Carnage in C Minor. (I should add that Thief in the Night is also deeply offensive to Arabs and anyone else with half a brain, but it has Octane stealing world monuments, so it is still love.)
9. The Quintessons are a regular foe for the Autobots and Decepticons who make a nice change of pace and complicate things nicely. They're also the only successful attempt at portraying alien behavior the show ever managed - more successful than many aliens in more adult genre TV, for that matter. "Perhaps a quiet chuckle?" is one of my favourite lines in the whole series. With their presence, we also learn much more about the history of Cybertron.
10. The updated version of the themesong rox00rs.
So there are things I don't like about Season Three - Daniel, Wheelie, Grimlock devolving into an overgrown toddler, Carly having no personality, the lack of Optimus and Starscream - but over all I give it the thumbs up. I bet Season Four sucks just as much as I remember, though.
1. The main problem with this season is that Ironhide, Wheeljack, Jazz and the like have been replaced with too many cookie-cutter Autobots who don't get a chance to develop properly as characters. Luckily, the Decepticons don't really have that problem. Almost all of the new bad guys get proper introductions and enough personality that you can tell them apart from each other. (The Terrorcons may be an exception, but I haven't got that far yet.) It's not until Season Four that fifty billion interchangeable Decepticons arrive on the scene all at once.
2. Many of the new or reformatted Decepticons are awesome. Don't get me wrong, I miss the hell out of Starscream when he's not possessing people, but I do love seeing more of the Combaticons, Scourge, Trypticon and most of all OCTANE.
3. Galvatron and Cyclonus get their own dot point, because while the Autobot change of leadership didn't really work in the show's favour - I have considerable affection for Rodimus, but replacing Optimus Prime was a ludicrous thing for the show to try - the Decepticons fare better. While they will never replace Megatron and Starscream in my heart, the dynamic between the crazy leader and his loyal, long-suffering, honourable second also fascinates me. Also, Galvatron is really funny.
6. Ultra Magnus has always been one of my favourite Autobots, and without the massive cast changes in Season Three, he would not exist!
5. I feel kind of bad about the way he pushed Ratchet and Wheeljack out of the spotlight and into the path of a laser gun, but I have loved Perceptor since I was tiny. Season Three has MOAR PERCEPTOR on average, so that's good. Also, Season Three has Skylynx! And Wreck-Gar!
6. There are more than zero female characters. Not many female characters, but if they weren't going to go with gender neutral alien robots - implausible after The Search For Alpha Trion - tokenism is better than nothing.
7. The stories and settings are a lot more varied. While Season Three does lose touch with the 'alien robots in disguise on Earth' concept at the heart of the show and turn into space opera, at least we don't get a dozen episodes about Megatron trying to beat the Autobots with magic crystals.
8. There are some truly excellent episodes in here - not just Starscream's Ghost and Ghost in the Machine, but Webworld and The Return of Optimus Prime. Others are cheesy fun to match anything in Season Two (well, maybe not City of Steel) like Thief in the Night and Carnage in C Minor. (I should add that Thief in the Night is also deeply offensive to Arabs and anyone else with half a brain, but it has Octane stealing world monuments, so it is still love.)
9. The Quintessons are a regular foe for the Autobots and Decepticons who make a nice change of pace and complicate things nicely. They're also the only successful attempt at portraying alien behavior the show ever managed - more successful than many aliens in more adult genre TV, for that matter. "Perhaps a quiet chuckle?" is one of my favourite lines in the whole series. With their presence, we also learn much more about the history of Cybertron.
10. The updated version of the themesong rox00rs.
So there are things I don't like about Season Three - Daniel, Wheelie, Grimlock devolving into an overgrown toddler, Carly having no personality, the lack of Optimus and Starscream - but over all I give it the thumbs up. I bet Season Four sucks just as much as I remember, though.
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And yeah, Ultra Magnus and Arcee -- two favourites of mine who wouldn't exist without season 3 (well, and the movie XD).
Naturally I miss Starscream, but the bits that he is in I think are some of his best in the entire series -- his bitchy little comments to Octane and Galvatron are freaking priceless XD
And we all know how I feel about Octane XD
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Ultra Magnus has always been one of my favourite Autobots
And thus you should should write fic about him! *COMPLETELY INNOCENT ENCOURAGING SMILE*
So there are things I don't like about Season Three - Daniel, Wheelie
Wheelie is just too sophisticated for you.
Was that rhyme intentional? THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW.
In conclusion: OCTANE.
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AH WHAT
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I completely thought you were being sarcastic in your last comment reply! (Which was something like "Let's have all the female characters on chins, and in fact make new ones!") I thought "Harsh..." at the time and went away sorrowful. But now all is clear.
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"I hate the Autobots! I hate Cyclonus! And I'm not too fond of you, either!"
And poor Cyclonus trying to deal with this obvious psycho is one of the best things about series 3 XD
Probably the smartest thing Cyclonus could have done would be to depose Galvatron and give the Decepticons some sane leadership - but he could never do that. His loyalty probably does his faction more harm than anything.
(Not that the Decepticons weren't in terrible shape before Galvatron came back, but maybe if Cyclonus had focussed on finding Energon instead of finding Galvatron, they'd have been better off.)
Naturally I miss Starscream, but the bits that he is in I think are some of his best in the entire series -- his bitchy little comments to Octane and Galvatron are freaking priceless XD
I am just up to watching Starscream's Ghost now, and it is even more awesome than I remembered from last time!
And we all know how I feel about Octane XD
I love the way how, at the end of the episode, he quietly slinks away while Galvatron is busy yelling at Starscream. Also, I kind of want Octane/Trypticon. The hurt/comfort practically writes itself!
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That's a good analogy. I think Season Three might actually have gone over better if they'd branded it as Transformers: The Next Generation or something, which it effectively is.
And thus you should should write fic about him! *COMPLETELY INNOCENT ENCOURAGING SMILE*
But I have all these things I am meant to be writing for springkink! And choc_fic!
Wheelie is just too sophisticated for you.
You know, I hate to admit this, but I think he might be growing on me a tiny bit. Like mould.
In conclusion: OCTANE.
OCTANE! I have just been watching Starscream's Ghost, and I love the way he just quietly slinks away while Galvatron is yelling at Starscream. No doubt he is on the other side of the universe trading in junk and watching porn.
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"Well, all I can say is... BWAAAAAAA!!!"
Well, the Decepticons weren't in awesome shape evern after he came back -- I agree with you, if Cyclonus had actually focused on, like, leading, instead of running around looking for Galvatron, things may have gone better for them XD
Also, I kind of want Octane/Trypticon. The hurt/comfort practically writes itself!
Haha! Dude that would be so awesome XD Seriously, I love how his (second) fight with Metroplex goes down, too XD
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First introduced in the Movie and appeared in various Transformers episodes during Season 3 and were revealed (in the cartoon canon) to be the creators of all the Transformers on Cybertron.
They're basically tentacled beings with energy beams underneath usually seen with 5 faces (with some exceptions in episodes "The Killing Jar", "Dweller in the Depths" and "Madman's Paradise") which were later revealed to be the faces of:
Death (the most common one "We sentence Judge Deliberata to death" FFoD prt 2)
Wrath (Devil, "I praise your decision. Open the pit." FFoD prt 2)
Bitterness (solemn, green and teal face "Indeed, such intuitive powers could present a serious impediment to our operation." FFoD prt 2)
Doubt (pointier green helmet, "Erh, then recovering the journal will be more difficult than we'd imagined." Big Broadcast of 2006)
Laughter (orange seemingly the most benign dude, "It *About the supposed destruction of the Autobots* is a day so long in coming that I am uncertain how to celebrate it." - FFoD prt 3)
Some of their nefarious deeds in the animated series were:
Five Faces of Darkness: Revealed to be the creators of all the Transformers, tricked Galvatron into an alliance with the promise of a fictious Decepticon Matrix, interrogated Kup, Magnus and Spike about Cybertron before sending them to their deaths (they were saved by Arcee, Grimlock, Springer, Rodimus Prime and the Aerialbots) and then nearly destroyed them all by having the Sharkticons (in fact the deranged Galvatron was the one who activated the switch) activating a switch that made all Transformers inert (Spike saved them all)
The Killing Jar: A Quintesson named Inquirata (who is a single faced Quintesson) captured Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Marissa Faireborn and Wreck Gar in order to conduct behavoural experiments on them
Dark Awakening: Reviving Optimus Prime as a zombie to lure the Autobots into a trap that nearly succeeded
Madman's Paradise: A rogue Quintesson named Mara-Al-Utha conquered the magical realm of Menonia for millions of years (we are given insight into how the Quintessons dealt with law breakers of their spieces, namely by transporting them into other dimensions)
Forever is a Long Time Coming: Inquirata returns and his plan was to use a time window to kidnap the Autobot leader of the rebellion (that occured over millions of years ago) that drove the Quintessons from Cybertron, A3.
Webworld: A Quintesson tricks Cyclonus into commiting the mentally unstable Galvatron into the insane asylum planet of Torkulon in hopes that the Torkuli would be forced to lobotomise him seeing that they deduced that he was a lost cause (and a dangerously unpredictable wild card).
Nightmare Planet: A group of Quintessons kidnapped Daniel in order to bring his nightmares to life and use them to destroy the Autobots
The Quintesson Journal: The two fueding planets of Zetaxis and Lenark were discovered via a Quintesson journal that they were fighting a pointless war so that the Quintessons could profit through selling their weapons to the two planets
Big Broadcast of 2006: Whilst in pursuit of the journal the Quintessons discover it was last seen on Junkion so they decide to brainwash the Junkions via subliminal messaging so that they can get them to uncover the journal for them. This plan eventually goes haywire after Autobot intervention
Dweller in the Depths: An age old aborted Quintesson experiment is released, a techno organic energy siphon used to drain energy from any living target and transforming them into Energy Vampires.
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The Face of Nijika: The Quintessons were trying to prevent a planet that was evolving at an extraordinary rate from seeing the stars (because of their extraordinary psychic or technopathic ability) with a quadrant lock , after they along with Cyclonus and the Autobots were trapped behind the quadrant lock and into the planet Samojan they decided to go after Perceptor's universal emulator that they could use in replacement of an isolator key
The Return of Optimus Prime: The Quintessons were fleeing from their infected Sharkticons and one of them agreed to help revive Optimus Prime. In the second part the same Quintesson attempted to deter the infected Decepticons from destroying Optimus Prime who had entered deep within the Matrix to find a cure to the Hate Plague.
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Octane was great, but wasn't in too many. I kind of accept him into the fold of season 1 & 2 for my own fanfic writing. He's an odd one, and if they'd made him a big time regular, the season would have been so different (and possibly more interesting.)
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Webworld is, I think, one of my top five TF episodes of all time.
"It will take them centuries to rebuild."
"Only centuries? Perhaps my work here is not yet done!"
Octane was great, but wasn't in too many. I kind of accept him into the fold of season 1 & 2 for my own fanfic writing. He's an odd one, and if they'd made him a big time regular, the season would have been so different (and possibly more interesting.)
Yeah, I wish we had seen more of Octane. My personal fanon is that we didn't see him in the first two seasons because he was hiding from Megatron after pissing him off somehow *g*.
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It's just not the same without him!
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I see this question has already been answered, but one thing not covered was why I like them. They're delightfully creepy and, unlike the Autobots and Decepticons, their logic is not our Earth logic. Not only do they go around executing prisoners who have been found innocent, individual Quintessons happily over to be executed for messing up. One favourite quote of mine:
"It is a day so long in coming I am uncertain how to celebrate it."
"Perhaps... a quiet chuckle."
"Very well then. Let us... chuckle."
... and then they do. Creepily.
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Yeah XD The face of Death was the only face mentioned in the history portions (The Quintessons segment, it was narrated by the Transformers narrator Victor Caroli) at the end of the third season episodes (I think they did it because some or most of their episodes were running short of time so they needed some filler until the credits began)
It's okay, not many people knew what the faces represented until a few years ago (around the same time it was official that Marissa Faireborn is the daughter of Flint Faireborn and Lady Jaye in G.I. Joe)
Sorry for hogging up your page with the information, I kinda went overboard *blushes)
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I hadn't realized they'd officially revealed her mother's identity, although of course everyone assumed *g*.
Sorry for hogging up your page with the information, I kinda went overboard *blushes)
Given my own habit of babbling obsessively about things that interest me, I can't complain!
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Gah! I did not mean for it to come across that way; possibly it is my tendency to use too many exclamation marks.
But yes - I would like for TF; Animated to get beyond tokenism if possible. If they don't, hey, at least we get Arcee and Blackarchnia. Also,
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I have been lucky enough to
forceencourage several friends into the fandom with me *g*.no subject
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Webworld is, I think, in my top five TF episodes of all time and made from pure awesome. As is Galvatron/Cyclonus!
(Uh, unless there is another pairing in Webworld and I missed it because I was too busy squeeing.)
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Y'know with the whole Alya solution scene I think I heard fangirls squeeing from all the way in China XD
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I have a billionty TF slash pairings - unless Starscream/The Known Universe can be counted as just one - but Cyclonus/Galvatron is probably my second favourite of the lot.
Y'know with the whole Alya solution scene I think I heard fangirls squeeing from all the way in China XD
I'm not sure how those scenes could be more slashy!
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Yeah, you kinda feel sorry for poor Galvy boy...well they coulda added a cut scene where Cyclonus and Galvy ki--* (gets hit by a steel boot that resembles Galvy's "boot") OW!!!
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It is an awesome pairing, and well-supported by canon. (Especially since this is the fandom that has produced oodles of Prowl/Jazz.)
Yeah, you kinda feel sorry for poor Galvy boy...well they coulda added a cut scene where Cyclonus and Galvy ki--* (gets hit by a steel boot that resembles Galvy's "boot") OW!!!
I approve of your suggestion! *ducks other boot*
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