Megatron & Starscream, Part 5
Oct. 19th, 2014 02:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyPreviously on "Even genocidal psychopaths have feelings: the series", things were going pretty well for Starscream, until Megatron had the terrible idea to not be dead.
You see, Megatron's idea of "victory" and Starscream's idea of "victory" don't quite match...
Is there a heroic equivalent of The Evil Overlord List? Either IDW!Bumblebee has read it, or he should write it :)
The Chaos Event is a story I paid no attention to whatsoever, but I do at least know that the events were kickstarted by Megatron's latest plan to kill Optimus Prime. So, even if Megs did end up saving Cybertron, that's less "being a hero" and more "cleaning up his own messes."
Still, it becomes obvious that the Decepticons will riot unless Megatron is taken alive, so Bee reluctantly gives the order to arrest him without further harming him.
In case anybody here thinks that Bee is being too harsh, let me just say two things. One, Megatron has committed genocides, plural, and is completely unrepentant about it. Two, Optimus Prime has left the planet to search for a new purpose after the end of the War, and his whereabouts are currently unknown, so if Megatron starts causing trouble now the Autobots will have to face him without their Prime; last time that happened, Megatron conquered Cybertron and started executing Autobot prisoners en masse.
Megatron's return makes everybody extra twitchy and suspicious. Metalhawk (leader of the neutrals) and Bumblebee suspect that Starscream has been secretely plotting with Megatron all along, and believe that Starscream must be trying to incite the Decepticons to violence, so they send Wheeljack to stop him. But when Wheeljack gets there, he sees...
Yep, all along Starscream has been trying to stop the violence.
Unfortunately, we already know what happens whenever Screamer tries to get the Decepticons to be reasonable.
(From Robots In Disguise #12)
In my previous post I mentioned that Starscream used his quick thinking to protect a bunch of NAILs from an explosion. As a result, Wheeljack became considerably friendlier to him, treated him with respect and even argued with Bumblebee that Starscream should be given a second chance in their post-War society.
Starscream goes to have a talk with Megatron.
Starscream isn't quite telling the truth here. While he didn't personally kill anybody, he did help Prowl assassinate Ratbat, and later outright made him assassinate Soundwave and Shockwave.
...Then again, Megatron's standard Infiltration Protocol, which he has been using on an untold number of worlds for millions of years, consists of literally killing everybody on the planet. So, I guess compared to absolute genocide, "killing a handful of key figures after attempts at diplomacy have been met with open hostility" counts as being a pacifist.
Soon, the Decepticons attack the prison.
They free Megatron and all the other prisoners. While Megs and a small posse drag Starscream to a mysterious "black room," the Decepticons riot all over the city.
By the way, there is absolutely no logical reason for Megs to kidnap Starscream. Screamer has already made it crystal clear that he won't fight Autobots and Neutrals, so he is not going to provide any backup. He doesn't have any information, nor any macguffin. Both Bumblebee and Metalhawk openly distrust him now, so Megs can't use him as an entry point to get inside HQ, nor to gain control of Autobots and Neutrals. He has no value whatsoever as a hostage (though I suppose the Autobots could be easy prey while unable to stop laughing if Megatron tried that).
Frankly, it appears that Megatron went out of his way to take Starscream simply because he enjoys messing with his head. Cold, intelligent, calculating master strategist Megatron turns into freaking Nelson Muntz when Starscream is involved.
Alternatively, he plans on using Starscream as a soldier against whatever planet they attack next after they take Cybertron (it wouldn't be the first time Megs got Starscream back to his old self after he attempted to give up fighting). But even considering Starscream's considerable skill and experience as a soldier and his usefulness as a reminder for Megs to watch his back, it's very peculiar that Megatron keeps always sticking with Starscream when he has an entire army to choose from.
Anyway, Bumblebee and Metalhawk attempt to do damage control by promising that they'd hold free elections the very next day, but it's too little too late.
LOOK WHO IS NOT DEAD.
AND PROWL IS WORKING WITH THEM AND HAS KIDNAPPED WHEELJACK.
Man, this comic has got good plot-twists :D
(From Robots In Disguise #13)
Megs is sort of bullshitting here (what else is new?). Starscream's political hijinks were at best a decent distraction, but nothing more than that. Megatron's plan would have worked even if Starscream had been sitting on his hands the whole time instead of almost succeeding in becoming the ruler of Cybertron.
But I guess telling Screamer "lol I used your own hard work to crush your dreams!" was just too much fun for Megs to resist.
Bumblebee and Metalhawk go looking for Prowl since he has disappeared and is not answering their calls, and end up falling in Megatron's trap.
Turns out that Megs has been spending all his time since he went MIA doing research on combiners, while his agents were busy making the new peace as unstable as possible.
Bumblebee asks good ol' Prowl how a noble and loyal Autobot like him could ever betray them like that, and Bombshell reveals that Prowl never betrayed them: he was an innocent victim of mind control! Bombshell frees Prowl from mind control for a few seconds, just to rub it in as Prowl dejectedly asks Bumblebee how he could not tell that his long-time friend wasn't himself.
It's a sad scene. Poor Prowl. Bombshell is a dick.
Megs is also a dick. He forces Prowl to combine with the Constructicons and form Devastator, then sends them to destroy the central hospital and kill as many injured Autobots as possible.
(From Robots In Disguise #14)
Again with the "I totally expect(ed) you to succeed me one day!" spiel. I honestly can't tell if Megs is being sincere.
IDW!Megatron certainly loves messing with people's heads, and especially Starscream's, so his words can't be trusted (plus the condescending hand on the wing totally reads "I'm mocking you" to me). But even if you only consider his actions, Megatron constantly refuses to kill Starscream and always keep him around, while he normally immediately executes traitors. Heck, he formed an elite squad of his very deadliest soldiers for the specific purpose of murdering anybody who tries to defect because he wants to make it clear that the Decepticons ideology is the most important thing of all, but he refused to kill Starscream even when Screamer makes it clear that he really doesn't give a crap about that and would happily cooperate with Autobots to assassinate loyal Decepticons like Soundwave. No matter what, insubordination or coups or death wish or even outright rejection of the Decepticon idelogy, million of years after million of years Megatron always refuses to let Starscream go.
Back to the comic. Megatron attacks Bumblebee and tells him that he is definitely going to kill him.
To be continued.
You see, Megatron's idea of "victory" and Starscream's idea of "victory" don't quite match...
Is there a heroic equivalent of The Evil Overlord List? Either IDW!Bumblebee has read it, or he should write it :)
The Chaos Event is a story I paid no attention to whatsoever, but I do at least know that the events were kickstarted by Megatron's latest plan to kill Optimus Prime. So, even if Megs did end up saving Cybertron, that's less "being a hero" and more "cleaning up his own messes."
Still, it becomes obvious that the Decepticons will riot unless Megatron is taken alive, so Bee reluctantly gives the order to arrest him without further harming him.
In case anybody here thinks that Bee is being too harsh, let me just say two things. One, Megatron has committed genocides, plural, and is completely unrepentant about it. Two, Optimus Prime has left the planet to search for a new purpose after the end of the War, and his whereabouts are currently unknown, so if Megatron starts causing trouble now the Autobots will have to face him without their Prime; last time that happened, Megatron conquered Cybertron and started executing Autobot prisoners en masse.
Megatron's return makes everybody extra twitchy and suspicious. Metalhawk (leader of the neutrals) and Bumblebee suspect that Starscream has been secretely plotting with Megatron all along, and believe that Starscream must be trying to incite the Decepticons to violence, so they send Wheeljack to stop him. But when Wheeljack gets there, he sees...
Yep, all along Starscream has been trying to stop the violence.
Unfortunately, we already know what happens whenever Screamer tries to get the Decepticons to be reasonable.
(From Robots In Disguise #12)
In my previous post I mentioned that Starscream used his quick thinking to protect a bunch of NAILs from an explosion. As a result, Wheeljack became considerably friendlier to him, treated him with respect and even argued with Bumblebee that Starscream should be given a second chance in their post-War society.
Starscream goes to have a talk with Megatron.
Starscream isn't quite telling the truth here. While he didn't personally kill anybody, he did help Prowl assassinate Ratbat, and later outright made him assassinate Soundwave and Shockwave.
...Then again, Megatron's standard Infiltration Protocol, which he has been using on an untold number of worlds for millions of years, consists of literally killing everybody on the planet. So, I guess compared to absolute genocide, "killing a handful of key figures after attempts at diplomacy have been met with open hostility" counts as being a pacifist.
Soon, the Decepticons attack the prison.
They free Megatron and all the other prisoners. While Megs and a small posse drag Starscream to a mysterious "black room," the Decepticons riot all over the city.
By the way, there is absolutely no logical reason for Megs to kidnap Starscream. Screamer has already made it crystal clear that he won't fight Autobots and Neutrals, so he is not going to provide any backup. He doesn't have any information, nor any macguffin. Both Bumblebee and Metalhawk openly distrust him now, so Megs can't use him as an entry point to get inside HQ, nor to gain control of Autobots and Neutrals. He has no value whatsoever as a hostage (though I suppose the Autobots could be easy prey while unable to stop laughing if Megatron tried that).
Frankly, it appears that Megatron went out of his way to take Starscream simply because he enjoys messing with his head. Cold, intelligent, calculating master strategist Megatron turns into freaking Nelson Muntz when Starscream is involved.
Alternatively, he plans on using Starscream as a soldier against whatever planet they attack next after they take Cybertron (it wouldn't be the first time Megs got Starscream back to his old self after he attempted to give up fighting). But even considering Starscream's considerable skill and experience as a soldier and his usefulness as a reminder for Megs to watch his back, it's very peculiar that Megatron keeps always sticking with Starscream when he has an entire army to choose from.
Anyway, Bumblebee and Metalhawk attempt to do damage control by promising that they'd hold free elections the very next day, but it's too little too late.
LOOK WHO IS NOT DEAD.
AND PROWL IS WORKING WITH THEM AND HAS KIDNAPPED WHEELJACK.
Man, this comic has got good plot-twists :D
(From Robots In Disguise #13)
Megs is sort of bullshitting here (what else is new?). Starscream's political hijinks were at best a decent distraction, but nothing more than that. Megatron's plan would have worked even if Starscream had been sitting on his hands the whole time instead of almost succeeding in becoming the ruler of Cybertron.
But I guess telling Screamer "lol I used your own hard work to crush your dreams!" was just too much fun for Megs to resist.
Bumblebee and Metalhawk go looking for Prowl since he has disappeared and is not answering their calls, and end up falling in Megatron's trap.
Turns out that Megs has been spending all his time since he went MIA doing research on combiners, while his agents were busy making the new peace as unstable as possible.
Bumblebee asks good ol' Prowl how a noble and loyal Autobot like him could ever betray them like that, and Bombshell reveals that Prowl never betrayed them: he was an innocent victim of mind control! Bombshell frees Prowl from mind control for a few seconds, just to rub it in as Prowl dejectedly asks Bumblebee how he could not tell that his long-time friend wasn't himself.
It's a sad scene. Poor Prowl. Bombshell is a dick.
Megs is also a dick. He forces Prowl to combine with the Constructicons and form Devastator, then sends them to destroy the central hospital and kill as many injured Autobots as possible.
(From Robots In Disguise #14)
Again with the "I totally expect(ed) you to succeed me one day!" spiel. I honestly can't tell if Megs is being sincere.
IDW!Megatron certainly loves messing with people's heads, and especially Starscream's, so his words can't be trusted (plus the condescending hand on the wing totally reads "I'm mocking you" to me). But even if you only consider his actions, Megatron constantly refuses to kill Starscream and always keep him around, while he normally immediately executes traitors. Heck, he formed an elite squad of his very deadliest soldiers for the specific purpose of murdering anybody who tries to defect because he wants to make it clear that the Decepticons ideology is the most important thing of all, but he refused to kill Starscream even when Screamer makes it clear that he really doesn't give a crap about that and would happily cooperate with Autobots to assassinate loyal Decepticons like Soundwave. No matter what, insubordination or coups or death wish or even outright rejection of the Decepticon idelogy, million of years after million of years Megatron always refuses to let Starscream go.
Back to the comic. Megatron attacks Bumblebee and tells him that he is definitely going to kill him.
To be continued.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-19 07:39 pm (UTC)Just a thought.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-19 10:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-19 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-20 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 09:56 am (UTC)I think he kinda views it as yin-yang. Starscream's clever and treacherous in a way he isn't, and he knows the combination has good results (Like, how they took out the Senate together). Some of his successor talk is the idea that if Starscream could be made more like him it'd be a full package. Yet at the same time, he's used to the yin-yang relationship and comfortable with it. So he wavers between trying to push Starscream to be a successor, and pushing him to his place as eternal second in command.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 12:34 pm (UTC)Which is why he's keeping Starscream around and explaining it. If Starscream gets too low, it's teacher-and-student. If Starscream gets too high, it's uppity subordinate who needs to remember he's not in charge.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-21 12:56 pm (UTC)Megatron's "GRRRRRR KILL THEM ALL!!!" strategy has got them stuck in a huge interplanetary war for four million years, with their race on the brink of extinction (is there even a way to make new Transformers anymore?) and doomed to be even more so if Megs actually succeeds in killing all the Autobots and any Neutrals who fail to submit. And, as my next post will show, even this most recent plan is doomed to fail.
Meanwhile Starscream has been playing politicians for all of six months and he was a couple of steaps away from becoming the ruler of Cybertron.
Like in the first two panels of this page:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/milliar1/19_zps456a59f2.jpg
Megatron's methods simply do not work. And eventually Megatron himself is forced to admit it (dude, I can't wait to post the page where Megs admits that Starscream made him change his mind).
no subject
Date: 2014-10-22 02:54 am (UTC)