#mel-tdowns

As I read Myth of the Machine (all credit belongs to @/flygutzz and @/nortsauce for creating this comic!!), I noticed something about how many people treated Bendy, specifically how they talked about him and how Bendy talks about his past. And, the more I looked into it, the more I noticed implications about the world around him.

Before you continue, I want to put a quick trigger warning for discussions of bigotry/prejudice, religion (specifically religious trauma), child abuse, and death.

Smokescreen was funneled into boot camp and then sent to the most prestigious library in all of Cybertron. He was surrounded by thousands of years of Cybertronian history, most likely burying himself in books during his mission because of how bored he got, inspecting a history long forgotten by most of their species. He was forced to watch, forced to nothing, as things became more and more dire on his planet until he took a last stand. But, even then, he wasn't allowed to go down in a blaze of glory and was instead knocked out and captured. Smokescreen was sheltered, and, since he never saw the front lines until Earth, he was 'privileged' enough not to see the horrors of war. However, this means he was never taught how to work with others, and was extremely independent and isolated (he might've made friends at boot camp, but then he was sent away to Iacon and could only talk to Alpha Trion), and the others in Team Prime immediately expected him to be good at something he wasn't taught have. He was immediately thrust into the realities of war, working with people with vastly different world views than his, and he had to adapt quickly. This forced him to change from being very independent (almost selfish, in a way) to barely trusting his own judgement and relying heavily on others making decisions for him (basically, the pendulum swung from one side all the way to the other, which is very interesting).

There's also the aspect of Smokescreen's agency being taken from him by destiny/fate/the plot; he wasn't allowed to fight because he was sent to Iacon, Alpha Trion knocked him out before he could fight and made him the fourth omega key's holder, he randomly ended up on Earth, he was almost chosen to be a Prime even when he obviously didn't want to be/was overwhelmed by the prospect of it, ect ect. It's only when he choses to use the Forge to heal Optimus (aka going against the wishes of his leader, kind of gaining back that independence) that he has some real agency, that he gets to decide what he wants, and it changes his story. He isn't aware of this, of the war forcefully shaping his future and himself. Just like a soldier, Smokescreen isn't allowed to have much of his own agency due to the war and its consequences; he's forced into the box of a soldier, just like everyone else. He truly is Destiny's Child.

Now, the same can be said about Bumblebee, but there's a catch; unlike Smokescreen, Bumblebee was immediately thrust into the war. In the prequel books, I'm pretty sure he started out by being a medical assistant, carrying important medical supplies throughout the Autobot army. He was then permanently disabled by Megatron when his voice box was destroyed, but he was forced to keep going due to the war. He was possessed (once by Megatron in the show, another time by the Quintessons in the books), disabled again (Operation Bumblebee), literally killed (the s3 finale), and has to watch as others around him die in the war. He's killed people (Megatron, Skyquake, a shitload of Vehicons) and never bats an eye because he's used to it. He sacrifices every single part of himself because he wants to be useful and the only way he thinks he's useful is if he's a good soldier, one that never questions his cause or what he's doing. He follows commands, he does his best, and if his best isn't good enough, guilt eats away at him. He thinks he has no agency, no real meaning, outside of being a soldier. We quite literally see this when he continuously puts himself in danger so he can be useful; he dies because of it.

But there's more to this; there was an article by MTV where Alex Irvine shared a scrapped chapter from the Exodus books about what happened at Tyger Pax, but the article was deleted and I can't find it on the wayback machine - I saved it a while ago on a google doc if you want to read through it yourself. This, of course, goes through how Bumblebee lost his voice; before it happened, we see how Bumblebee acts, which is pretty similar to TFA Bumblebee imo. He's cocky, childish, constantly talking, and he even speaks out against orders. But the most interesting part about this article? It shows a different story of what happened to Bumblebee than TFP's depiction of it.

The Tyger Pax mission happened because they needed to send the Allspark off before the Decepticons could get their hands on it. Optimus, Arcee and Jazz were in the Well of Allsparks sending it off while the wreckers (including Bumblebee) kept the Decepticons at bay. In the show, we're told (by Ratchet to Raf) that Bumblebee was interrogated by Megatron and, because he didn't give him any information, Megatron destroyed his voice box. However, in the article, there was no interrogation; after the Allspark is sent off, Megatron is left standing there until he hears Bumblebee, laughing at him. And, once he's got Megatron's attention, Bumblebee proceeds to make fun of him to his face, even though Bumblebee was injured due to a missile from Starscream and, therefore, couldn't defend himself. Megatron takes this chance and destroys his voice box as punishment. Megatron then keeps him alive for the others to find.

So, why are these two stories different? Well, I'm fairly certain it's because Bumblebee lied. The fact that Bumblebee didn't stay quiet was what caused him to lose his voice - of course, Megatron being a megalomaniacal dictator who feeds off of mentally and physically destroying people isn't Bumblebee's problem, but, from his view point, him losing his voice is his fault. This is further enforced by what Megatron says after it happens: "Let that be your story. Tell it how you may." Obviously, it's a jab at how Bumblebee can't talk anymore, but if you look deeper into it? No one was there but the two of them. Bumblebee could tell whatever story he wanted to, and no one would be there to correct him. So, not wanting to face the ire or pity from the other Autobots (since he thinks this was a his mistake, one he knew better than to make), Bumblebee lied and said it was an interrogation, and that he was the perfect soldier up until the very end. However, Bumblebee knew the truth; he thought that this was all his fault, and this soon to become self-hatred only added to his need to be useful, to be cared about. He forced himself to be the perfect soldier because the one time he messed up, he paid for it.

But I want to focus on Bumblebee and Optimus here.

I remember making a post saying that Optimus is can be very hypocritical and have inconsistent morals at times, and I was mostly thinking of TFP Optimus when I made it. He gives Megatron so many different chances, no matter how many horrible things Megatron does; he's constantly grieving the death of his best friend, and, every time Megatron does something slightly good, Optimus clings to it. It gives him hope that maybe, just maybe, Megatron will change if he gives him the chance to.

Now, in this episode, it starts out with Optimus and Ratchet talking to each other; Optimus seems to be grieving Megatron, or, at least, grieving the person he thought Megatron was. He says that he wished he had the chance to change his mind, to prove that there was still some good in him. This is really interesting to me because he never does this with any of the other Decepticons - obviously, him and Megatron were close (whether you view them as platonic or romantic doesn't rlly matter rn). He gives Starscream a chance to back down and he tries to convince Skyquake to stop fighting and both of them turn him down, but with Megatron, Optimus gives him more than just one chance - Now, I do understand that Optimus tried killing him in the s1 finale, but he fails to and never tries again; I’m pretty sure that’s because Megatron helped the Autobots kill Unicron, and that gave Optimus was once again given hope that he could change. 

And, at the end of the episode, Optimus says, “If Skyquake chose to stray from his master’s path, we might not be burying him today,” which is so interesting! Looking at this quote in the short term, Optimus thought he was dead, but looking at this in the long term? Megatron never really strays from his path. He does everything for his own selfish gain and never truly changes until Predacons Rising (and, even then, you could argue that he changes due to selfishness), yet Prime only tries to kill him once and then proceeds to give Megatron more leeway. 

This kinda becomes a dichotomy when you include Bumblebee in this. 

Now, Bumblebee was born into the war. He never learned who Megatron was before he was thrust into becoming a scout for the Autobots, so he doesn’t hold himself back when it comes to trying to kill Megatron (or any Decepticon), unlike Optimus. This is what leads Bumblebee to kill both Skyquake and Megatron, which adds a really interesting parallel to both of these situations. It also gives the episode name, Masters and Students, a really interesting meaning. Optimus, the master, wants to give Megatron, a genocidal dictator, unlimited chances to change because of his clouded and positive view of the world, while an argument can be made that Bumblebee, the student, has a much more negative outlook due to his upbringing in the war and he’s not really willing to give the Decepticon higher-ups second chances. 

There’s also more interesting stuff that foreshadows what happens at the end of the show! Near the beginning of this episode, Bumblebee and Raf are talking, and Raf asks Bumblebee why he isn’t a warrior yet. Optimus then steps in, saying something that he thinks Bumblebee deserves the warrior title, but Bee has a lot to learn, which sets up him becoming a warrior later. And then, at the end of the episode, Optimus says, “Bumblebee, putting yourself at risk wasn’t the wisest of strategies, but you performed admirably,” setting up how Bumblebee ‘dies’, gets brought back to life, and then kills Megatron, effectively ending the war, at the end of s3. This line also subtly adds an interesting character flaw to Bee; he’s extremely self sacrificial, especially when it comes to protecting/helping the Autobot cause. This is heavily implied/basically confirmed in later episodes (Sick Mind, Operation: Bumblebee), and this is most likely due to Bumblebee only seeing himself as a soldier and basing his self-worth on what he can do for others/the war.