#everyone did

But it also gave me an unexpected gleam of understanding as to possibly why, of all the characters in that novel, he's the one who splits opinions this harshly.

Decisions the-character-JC makes are always entirely explained and motivated by the positions the plot puts him in. That's kinda how good writing goes - you plan the pathways of Situations in a way that motivates the characters' decisions in believable ways. And JC is written in a way that 100% covers for all the variables.

And the novel even points this out, during the Guanyin Temple kerfuffle, where JGY taunts JC with a "you could have chosen differently" (except a moment of reflection tells a discerning reader that it wouldn't change a thing in the long run) and it also taunts the reader with a juicy "what if??"

Oh, so Ansur actually saved the Emperor so he could try to save him from his illthid form? Honestly, fair

The Emperor makes me so upset, and Ansur does too. It's such a tragic story of terrible circumstances and decisions that led them here

Now Ansur is dead and the Emperor just manipulates people to get his way

I don't like timeskips already. Ever since I turned 14 or 15, I've felt this crushing weight of time always burdening me. It actually lines up perfectly with some events. Adventure Time ending and Steven Universe Future existing both were the equivalent of taking my childhood and strangling it. I stopped following Adventure Time after season 4 or 5, but I came back for the finale (I was also big on reaction channels online back in 2018, but that's not something I wish to dwell on).

Anyways, Adventure Time ending and Steven Universe having a time skip dealing with storylines about aging…those weighed me down. I was 14, I had no friends besides my parents, and I was leaving Elementary School for High School. All of that merged to create an emotional crisis I still haven't recovered from. Every time I think I'm over it, something new happens to continue the traumatic cycle of existenalism.

But anyways… where was I? Right, timeskips and transformers. Season Three of Transformers G1 feels like it's just a sci-fi show with less earth stories and less fun characters. They make me get attached to the characters in the first 60 episodes, but then they kill them all. It's barbaric and an insult to my sense of enjoyability. I don't know if that's a word, but I'm using it anyways. It's not fun to watch a season of new characters who I don't care about, all while also watching what feels like Star Wars or Star Trek. I like aliens and I like robots, but I deeply hate space. And too many of a space focus is going to ruin the show for me. So yeah, it's pretty bad.

Also, I'm just gonna say it: the new villians aren't as fun. Some of the new Autobots are okay. Kup, Wreck-Gar, Wheelie, Blurr and Sky-Lynx are all really cool. They're neat additions to the cast. I like some of our new heroes. But Galvatron and Cyclonus are boring. Not bad characters, but nothing compared to the glory that is Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave. They're just not fun. Galvatron is too weird, and Cyclonus is nothing when compared to Starscream. You need someone to stand up to Megatron! I'm sorry, Galvatron. And nobody seems willing to do that except Starscream! And then he got murdered for it! He did not deserve that! I don't think it's something I can get over.

Really, the show is not the same. Transformers G1 seasons 1 and 2 are diametrically opposed to G1 season 3. They're not the same show, not at all. It's like how I enjoyed Stan Lee's original Silver Surfer comics at Marvel, but I hate Steve Englehart's butchery of the character in the late 80s. The Surfer should stay on earth! Space is fucking boring! Earth is where the real philosophical stories are at, and taking the Surfer away from that diminishes his character. It's the same here with the Transformers. They're way more interesting as aliens on earth in the present day, not as space adventurers in the far future! It's idiotic!

I can't get over just how badly everyone screwed up here. The timeskip is awful. The space opera elements are horrible. The Quintessons are absolutely the worst explanation for the Transformers existing. I've already made my note pitching my version of how things should've went, and I wouldn't change a thing about that note. But every time I remember this trainwreck of writing where Transformers basically changed storylines and even genres, I remember just how much I wish someone else had thought of my idea years and years ago.