The Alexicon

Ever since joining the Lost Light crew as (co)captain, Megatron has apparently been kept from full strength by replacing his usual energon with "Fool's Energon," a weaker substitute. This seemed to be an incidental detail (in MTMTE? ha!) until issue 50, where Velocity comments that Fool’s Energon can have profound effects on a bot’s personality. Here and in issue 52, it’s implied that the change of fuel might have something to do with Megatron's change of heart - that it doesn’t just alter his physical strength, but also may have kicked off his turn towards redemption.

At this point, I saw some fans make comments like, "I hope that his whole anti-violence swing isn't just because of different energon affecting his system..." and at first, I had similar thoughts. If his personality has been altered chemically, doesn't that cheapen his character arc? Is he still the "real" Megatron? But wait a minute. I take chemicals that alter my brain. And so do millions of other people with mental illnesses.

I realize that psychotropic drugs don't work out for everyone for a variety of reasons, so I'm not trying to sell this as a magical problem-solver. But in my case, the medication I take makes me feel like a functional human being. It's not the difference between being "happy" and "sad." It's the difference between fighting to get out of bed every day, and being able to face the ordinary slings and arrows of existence. And it has had a transformative effect on my quality of life.

Does this mean I'm not the "real" me? Well if the real me is a crying lump on the floor, then as Megatron said, "I’m better like this!”