I want Sentinel to suffer, and then to die in darkness.
I've been thinking about this line for a while now,
"No, I want to kill him! I want to put Sentinel in chains and march him through the mines so everyone can see him for the false Prime that he is! I want him to suffer, and then to die in darkness."
I find this sentence so revealing about the general Miner's state of mind.
Because, make no mistake, the movie is telling us in no uncertain terms, that the Miners are expected to die doing their job. And also, that they're punished if they don't accept this. Because the system views them as expendable, and tries its best to convince them as well.
The scene of the cave in shows this perfectly; protocol demands that a trapped miner be left behind, even if that means their death. Elita says it outright when Orion comunicates that Jazz is stuck: "Do not break protocol, EVACUATE" a.k.a, leave him. And maybe it's becase the only ones near Jazz at that moment were Dee and Orion, but the thing is, none of the other miners show any attempt to go in and help them. They remain still even when they see them near the exit while Elita does everything in her power to keep it open, to the point that it's D-16 the one that has to tackle her away from it when they're going out (also D-16 punching the walls of rock out of the way? Danm son).
The narrative is showing us that stopping to help is the exception, not the rule, and we can presume that if Jazz had been accompanied by different bots, he would have died. It took two of them to barely get him out of there. And man, you cannot tell me that Orion Pax never had to come to terms with the fact that if the one trapped in one of those tunnels was either him or Dee, one would have to choose between staying behind to save the other, possibly dying in the attemp, or leave their friend behind to save himself.
I want Sentinel to suffer, and then to die in darkness." - D-16.
We know that Orion could never live with this knowledge and do nothing about it. Because if he was in that scenario, he could not leave Dee, nor could he accept to be the cause of his end. So it gives additional meaning to his actions on the movie.
Because, sure, the movie presents Orion Pax as sort of bull headed and self centered (D-16 certainly calls those out as flaws), but his motives may not be so selfish as we're led to believe at first glance. He wants to find the Matrix of Leadership, not because he will be hailed as a hero if he does so, but because
"We will have to stop mining for energon" (We will stop having to die to find energon).
"We are meant for more than this" ( We are meant for more than to die in the mines).
"Don't you want to choose your own path, be able to do whatever we want?" (I don't want us to die)
It's always a "we". Because, after all, he doesn't want to see Dee die in the mines (or any of his friends, I dare say). This desperate desire to save D-16, and not just himself, is what puts the plot into motion. And he tries to save him by attempting to find the Matrix, but Orion also looks for ways to bring small joys to D-16 in the day to day, like bringing him the sticker, or participating in the race. Of course you could argue that he brought Dee to the race despite his protests because he wanted someone that he knew would watch out for him, I won't deny that, BUT, counterargument:
Look at his smile. This dude is having the time of his life participating in a race with his boyfriend and you can take that truth from my dead cold hands.
What I mean to say with all this, is that the movie tries to tell us in subtle ways that while both are trying to save the other, they're funtamentally different. D-16 is saving Orion from more inmediate problems, like hiding him from the guards, looking out for him in the mines and the race, etc. He has accepted the place they have in that society and he is resigned to it, because he thinks there's no other option. Meanwhile Orion is looking to save D-16 in a long term sort of way, by changing the Status Quo, because he refuses to accept that there are no other options.
They both cared so much for the other that they kept trying to keep the other safe in the only way they could fathom.
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Don't get me wrong, I am exicted about Cyber world I truly am. The voice acting sound decent, the animation looks so toy like its so charming.
But I can't help but be a bit bitter at the treatment of their still going show, Earthspark and even getting invested in Cyberworld.
Will it get tge same ES treatment? Will the writers and animators get fired for no reason ? Will it canceled out of the blue not even 2 seasons in?
If anything Transformers related show either lives long enough to get reckoned or "ruined" or long enough to be good just to get axed or have a clearly rushed end.
Its sad that a franchise this old has had a consistency of this very problem for its media for THIS long.
A very amazing movie, no wishes to make a sequel. Earthspark a genuinely good start axed and people lost their jobs or fired for no reason which destroyed its story. A video game with an interesting game play, story and designs, nothing to come out of it.
Even if it's not within Hasbros control, this franchise i am convinced is kept up right by its dedicated fan base depsite the axutal media being so disappointing in one way or another or being completely non existent.
I will watch Cybert world after I finish Rid and *sigh* Earthspark (or at least caught up) just go say I did watch it.
Though I am exicted to see who voices Starscream 👁
(Let it be said that all this theorizing is in the name of fun, not imposing this perspective on anyone else or invalidate someone else's interpretation).
So, Transformers One and the "magical" restitution of every cogless bot's T-cog at the end of the movie, what does it represent, what does it truly mean?
I've come across a few different takes on this, and recently found some criticisms of the movie remarking how everything is fixed way too easily at the end. The energon drought is no longer a problem, and all the cogless miners have a brand new T-cog by the will of Primus himself, which is a step too far for some. Our protagonists got their T-cogs by taking the ones from four dead Primes, but brand new ones materializing out of nothing for all the cogless miners? Nu-uh, too much.
I want to argue that it's not that unrealistic if the T-cogs stand for something that the character were always meant to have, not just in a physical sense.
To be fair, I myself didn't give this too much thought the first couple of times that I saw the movie, it seemed to me like a logical step towards a happy fulfilling ending. After the emotional devastation that was the disintegration of the friendship between Orion and D-16 on the last half of the movie, I think it was much needed tbh xD (And also, probably the studio had to have the movie end with a neat little bow because they didn't know if there could be a sequel and there coulnd't be any loose ends, so there's that as well). But on a couple more whatches and reading some other opinions, I started to think on it more.
There's a point I've seen made a few times, about how a cogless cybertronian can be equivalent to a disability, since transforming is so integral to transformers. Which, I want to make clear, I'm not disagreeing with that, I think it's a pretty fair assesment of the context of that universe and its rules, but I also think it has inadvertedly contributed to thinking about the T-cogs in a very literal, physical sense, and not in a more metaphoric/abstract one. And it can be both!
Other comparisons I've seen for the T-cogs are the capacity for growth, as in, becoming adults per cybertronian standars; unlocking their full latent potential (that's a bit of the same as the first, tbh); or their original role in society/privilege, think warframe/civilian frame like in Animated canon.
However I don't feel like those explanations are quite right. The detail of the T-cog scene with Alpha Trion is often looked at separately from the scene at the end of the movie, because cogs from deceased bots are being used as oposed to "brand new ones", when in truth I feel like the same thing is happening. That these bots have been told the truth, have witnessed it, and with that truth comes something else.
The sentence that Alpha Trion says, " They were one. You are one. All are one" is used often in the universe of Transformers, the meaning behing it being "All are equal"
Perhaps it's because visually the characters are being given something, that is confusing the metaphor? but that something is not a new thing, rather, it was something that they had originally. Something that they should have always had, had not someone else taken it from them, something that, without it, takes away their right of choice and they can only do the one thing they're obligated to do. Something that was taken from them before they were even aware of it being a part of them.
Something that Sentinel convinced an entire society that the Miners didn't have, could have never had, even though he and his own knew it was a lie because they had taken it.
Try to imagine instead, chains being broken.
And remember who's origin story are we watching.
That's right, say it with me now:
And truly, What else could it be?
When Alpha Trion has that conversation with Orion and co. on the cave, revealing that "No child of Cybertron is born without a T-cog", he is giving this freedom back to the protagonists, which is physically and metaphorically represented by the T-Cogs of the fallen primes. The knowledge that he is giving them is that they were always meant to be free, intead of being relegated to the one thing, and with that they can choose their purpose. Be it stop Sentinel or just kill him, that's up to them. It's in part why I think he doesn't try to disuade D-16 of his course of action; he should have the freedom to choose that path, wherever it takes him.
(Trion also probably wanted to see Sentinel getting the shit beaten out of him, but we're gonna sidestep that for now)
When Optimus gives T-cogs to all those miners, he is giving them freedom they were always meant to have. I mean he says it, outloud, at that ending scene: freedom and autonomy to be whomever they want.
Man, to have that panel of IDW Optimus saying "Autbots stans for autonomous robots" right now. I can't find it xD
I guess a counterargument could be that Orion in particular was always trying to choose something other than mining, and was constanly breaking protocol, so he didn't need to physically have a T-cog to have his own autonomy, right? But, 1. yeah that's kind of the point, even if they take it away, freedom is inherent to all of us, and also 2. if you're punished for trying to step out of a role that you've been forced into, you're not exactly free, are you? The simbolism was there reflect the change from wanting that freedom to actually having it.
And the whole thing with the T-cog of Megatronus Prime... I'd say stands appart, mostly because it feels more like a mcguffin or a reperesentation of power, but I think I can try and tackle that on another post.
So, yeah, that's whay I think the writers were aiming at with the metaphor of the T-cogs, although multiple interpretations can always be taken from the same text, these are simply my two cents added to the conversation. Thanks for reading and feel free to add your own thoughts!
Warnings: low self esteem, body image issues, larger/chunky OC, harmful words. But also reassurance and comfort. Suggestive.
Francis stared in the mirror at her own reflection. She poked and prodded at parts of her body. She tried to suck in but her gut was still there. She exhaled and the dress could barely hold in her belly. Cade and Vivian's wedding was in a couple of hours and Francis was tempted to fake being sick. Her form fitting bridesmaids dress was not made for her. It was made for the other three bridesmaids. She had seen them earlier, and their dresses fit their bodies perfectly. Francis grabbed her rolls through the dress, though carefully as she was worried if she stretched the fabric any more it would tear.
"Disgusting." She muttered.
"What is?" The French accent was a joy to hear, immedietely sending butterflies to her stomach. Hot Rod poked his head and arm through the window. "Mi amor, you look so beautiful!" He exclaimed. He used a finger to lift her hand and make her do a little spin.
Francis didn't respond. Just looked at herself in the mirror again.
"What is wrong?" Hot Rod always knew when something was wrong.
"I don't think I should go."
"Why not?"
"I just..." Francis had told Hot Rod her opinions on herself before. And Hot Rod always told her not to think that way. But sometimes it was hard not to.
"It doesn't fit right." Francis stated. She wasn't lying, but she also wasn't delving into further details.
"Cheri, that is why it is perfect."
"What?" Francis turned to him confused. She watched his optics trail over her entire body, up then down and up and down again.
"Primus hold me back before I rip that dress off." Francis laughed and blushed. Hot Rod always knew what to say. He cupped his servo around her back and guided her towards the window and him. He leant down and planted a kiss to her head. He held her gently and rubbed her cheek with his thumb digit.
"You are the most beautiful woman in the universe no matter what you wear. And you know only my opinion matters right?" Hot Rod asked.
"Yes, but..."
"No buts here. Am I a liar?"
"Of course not."
"Non, but this is." Hot Rod released Francis to grab the mirror, he pulled it out the window and threw it as far as he could. "That thing tells lies. You are so beautiful. I would show you right now but I don't want to mess up the look."
He kissed her forehead.
"As soon as the wedding is over I am tearing that dress off, showing you it is just fabric. And that you are the thing that is beautiful." Francis blushed again feeling quite warm.
"You always know what to say Hot Rod. Thank you. I'm so lucky to have you."
Francis met Hot Rod halfway this time, she held his helm with both hands and placed soft kisses upon his lips.
"When does this wedding end?" Hot Rod asked.
"About 11pm. So we've got a long way to go yet." Francis answered.
Ok so shockwave is really cool especially with the gun arm yet most designs I do t like with how the head looks but mostly because the legs make him look really boring. (Aka Earth spark and Cyberverse Shockwave).
Might make my own design to show with some creative elements.
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