#shredhead

Basically I've seen some versions of these once or twice per example "Jazz should've been here instead of Shredhead" "This guy thinks he's on the team" "How is an infant (Shredhead) more loyal than the others" a lot of them can be read as jokes, but likeee... Nobody has really been refuting these that I've seen, so I just want to clarify WHY Shredhead chose to stay cus I think a lot of people ignore them or don't pay attention to them since they're newer.

If Shredhead joined Elita, it would genuinely be the most OOC thing for them to do. They are apart of Cliffjumpers clan first a foremost, their priority is Cliffjumper and Carly, NOT the war. If Cliff and Carly are on Earth, they're not going with the Autobots on Cybertron.

Something worth noting about Shredhead is it is heavily implied that no part of them ever took part in the war. Cliffjumper states the day after Starscream took his clan is the day he joined the war. Unless some members of his clan got involved without him, they never were an Autobot so they wouldn't be that loyal to the cause. I doubt anyone was involved though since they were all together when they all died.

Also yes I say "no part of them" because they're the amalgamation of Cliffs clan.. Before writing this I forgot this panel and assumed Shredhead was just a member of the clan with everyones power combined, but Cliff asks them for their name and calls them the combined sparks of his clan... Side tangent, ik, but I totally forgot so I thought I'd remind people incase anyone forgot like I did :) this further shows that they're loyal to Cliff because they embody everyone in his clan.

"I know one thing for certain. The sparks that made me who I am are forever connected to you." LITERALLY SHREDHEAD SPELLING IT OUT FOR US. In this scene we also see how they're immediately attached to Carly as soon as Cliff explains who she is. SHREDHEAD ONLY GAF ABOUT THESE 2 IT IS SO CLEAR!!!

"Im strong enough for the both of us and Carly"

Some people might read this scene as Shredhead wanting to stay on Cybertron to fight the war, but I think it makes more sense to read it as them being willing to stay behind so Cliffjumper can see Carly. Elita said only one person can go, and Shredhead knows how much Carly means to Cliff. Unfortunately for them Cliffjumper wants to protect his family too, so he threw Shredhead in instead.

All of the culminates in Shredhead staying when Cliffjumper returns. Cliffjumper is back on Earth, and Carly has always been here. If I can be blunt, WHY ON EARTH WOULD SHREDHEAD NOT STAY??? Maybe you could argue they have more attachment to Cybertron than Earth, but I think their attachment to Cliffjumper and Carly is stronger.

I also think it's wrong to say Shredhead is loyal to Optimus for staying. They're not loyal to Optimus, but their clan: Cliffjumper and Carly.

At the end of the day, I completely understand being upset that Jazz left (since he is the most egregious one, I do think it was entirely OOC for Jazz to leave. It's possible there is a good reason that could be explored in issue 32 though) but I don't think he should've replaced Shredhead. Instead I think both of them should've stayed, why are we acting like there's a set number of slots for who stayed... If you wanna think up a hypothetical where Jazz stayed, DONT KICK OUT MY GOAT SHREDHEAD!!!