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Re: Netflix WFC: Earthrise discussion WITH SPOILERS!!!! Beware
Honestly, I *loved* this show. I will agree that the voice acting could use some work, but not only is that to be expected when they refuse to hire union voice actors (Jake Foushee's Optimus *is* improving, give him a few more years of practice, and I really think he will be a worthy successor to Cullen. Go back and really listen to g1 Optimus. he can't emote either, and is nowhere NEAR as deep as modern Cullen optimus) but I think it's a problem of voice DIRECTION, the show's attempt to sound gritty means everyone kinda sounds the same. But it IS an improvement over Siege.
Know what else improved over Siege? The movement applied to the characters. The models have always been good, but it's about the time given to have the emotions show in the movements of the characters, and that is leaps and bounds beyond what Siege had. You can see the weariness on these characters, Starscream(speaking of a worthy voice actor successor, this is what Starscream sounds like in my mind) going from bravado to terror in an instant, even the little things like the way Ironhide scratches at his head, confused by Nebulon Station. It's clear the animators have learned from their time with Siege.
I think the BIGGEST success of this series is Megatron's character arc. Megatron has had a bit of an identity crisis in recent years. Torn between the 80's cartoon villain that is evil for the sake of it, and the modern demand that villians have a motivation. For years now, we've been getting a Megatron that started as a liberator, as Optimus Prime's friend, even brother, but the middle part of that story has kinda been skipped over, or told as if Megatron at his worst was the same guy, and somehow it's totally a shock to everyone when Megatron tries to seize power.
But look at this Megatron's actions. He's brutal, yes, but Siege Megatron was hesitant to torture Ultra Magnus, only killed Magnus after repeated 'betrayals' and in a fit of rage, his biggest character flaw, his temper. This Megatron sees himself as a hero, but he ALSO believes that his way is the ONLY way. Obviously he's lying to himself, but he has a good reason to see himself as the savior, and to resent Optimus personally(even Optimus admits that shooting the allspark into space so that Megatron didn't win the war was not the BEST choice). This is a Megatron torn between his ideals, and what is needed to win the war, not helped by the fact that his advisors are a madman(Shockwave), a yesman(Soundwave), and Starscream(Starscream). He wants to keep section 12 online, but he goes and sees the truth, the bots there are useless to the war effort, and if he doesn't sacrifice them, there won't BE any cybertronians, and Shockwave confirms this. but because he HAS to believe himself the hero, he blames Optimus for what he 'has to do'. The next time he sacrifices a sector, it comes much easier, because he's already gone that far, and he's ANGRY. (same thing with killing the autobot prisoners. he already killed Magnus as a prisoner, he crossed that line, and for him, he can't admit he made a wrong choice, so he doubles down).
Scrapface is my favorite character of this series, because to my mind, he is the face of how Megatron's revolution slowly loses everyone except the extremists and the psychopaths. A loyal decepticon, he and the refraktor clones see how their hero, who liberated them, no longer really cares about them, and they are left with no choice but to see the autobots as the real heroes. He shows that Elita-1 is RIGHT, that it's the actions in the war that really matter, the counterpoint to Megatron's 'the ends justify the means', Elita is the moral center of the show, the one sees that it's not JUST about winning the war, it's about what kind of society remains AFTER you win.
Megatron's arc ends when Galvatron shows him what he is meant to become, AND how he fails as a result. Megatron fought for his idea of peace and freedom, and in the end, becomes a slave to Unicron, and is told it's because he was weak, because he couldn't do what needs to be done(because, in the end, he STILL wants what Optimus wants. He doesn't want to kill Optimus, he wants Optimus to admit that he was right)
(Also I want a scrapface now, if someone has one for sale, DM me please!)
The Mercs and Deeseus really feel like part of a bigger universe that the Bots just stumbled into. I don't think we spend enough time with them, and if this were a longer show, I feel like we'd get more planet hopping, encountering parts of 'another story'. And Deeseus cutting off his own faces was METAL.
I loved the idea of an entire race of scorpnok. While I personally prefer the more mystical origin stories to transformers, if we're going with the Quintessons as the makers of the Transformers, then of COuRSE they would make others like them. Again, it's that 'expanding the universe' but not letting us see it all, because that's 'another story'. It lets our imaginations create more than any writer could. What else is out there? This is I think, the mentality to look at the 'Galactic Odyssey' sets with!
I'm not saying it's a perfect series, but it's limitations are down to a lack of time, and the lack of union voice actors. But for what it is, I think it's some GREAT character driven Transformers, where character arcs get completed, and we're not done yet! looking forward to some Kingdom!
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