Who is the second in command of the Optimus's crew? It's not Ratchet despite his official bio. I say Prowl is the unofficial Second-in-Command of Optimus's crew. Is Shockwave the new Second-in-Command for the Cons due to Screamer's betrayal and BlackArachnia's no longer hanging around Luggy and Blitz?
I'm not sure if I see anything in the series to contradict the information on Ratchet's official bio. But I do agree with you about Shockwave.
I still think it's Ratchet. Prowl is still to much of a loner. As for the cons, we don't know enough info to say if Shockwave is the 2nd in command. We may find out in Season 3.
Yeah, I'd really have to say Ratchet is second in command. He's the only one on Prime's crew with experience from the Great War and all. Prowl we've learned never finished his ninja training (for as of yet unknown reasons), and isn't much of a team player. For the Decepticons, well Shockwave I'd say would usually be Megatron's second in command, but given he's been undercover for years obviously he couldn't do both. With Starscream's betrayal, I'd have to guess Lugnut took over as Megatron's second in command.
You guys must have forgotten this one line from "Thrill of the Hunt" 2:22 mark in this video (the way Ratchet says the statement shows he doesn't want to be the second in command. As for Prowl, Optimus practically puts the two youngsters (Bulky and Bumble) under Prowl- Blast from the past and Nanosec are good examples of these.
Ratchet would make a good second in command due to his experiance, but Prowl is basically the unofficial one. As for the cons, Shockwave is while Lugnut thinks he is based on his undying loyalty to his All-Mighty Leader of the Decepticon Cause Lord Megatron.
As much as I love Prowl and would love to have him be Prime's deputy of sorts, I think Rachet is still second-in-command. He's got a lot more experience than Prowl, and he still seems to hand out advice (asked for or not) to the other bots like a good ol' mentor should. Sure, he leaves most of the orders to Prime, but the others generally listen when he Rachet tells 'em t' do something. As for the Decepticons, you're right on track with Shockwave being second-in-command as far as I'm concerned. ^.^
Prowl gave advice to Bulky and Bumble in under 30 seconds flat while Ratchet gives a minute worth of advice.
So? That's not a good argument. I know you love Prowl (he's one of my favs as well) but give Ratchet his due.
First off, I think you're misunderstanding the context of Ratchet's quote about "i'm a Medi-bot, not a Field commander"... I look at it as Ratchet has a lot of inner turmoil, guilt, and fear regarding his past experience with Lockdown, and what he had to do to Arcee to ensure her intel would not be recovered... Ratchet is hesitant to make a 'command' decision in present day due to these harbored memories that Lockdown brings out. As an analogy, if you've ever seriously been hurt doing something (i.e. Broken your leg after crashing in a motocross stunt) you've got a gigantic mental hurdle to overcome if you are faced with that situation again... heck a lot of people just get off the horse and never come back. Second - Prowl getting BB and Bulky to listen to him a lot quicker than Ratchet in Blast from the past is coincidental as a part of the plot relates to training to be more Hero-tastic... not something that Ratchet is a specialist at. Though, if you have another specific example, i'd happily consider it. Third - Even though the team dynamic tends to support the "Chain of Command" in some regard, I think the writers play off of personality types on quite a few occasions as the story allows... i.e. Ratchet being the Crotchety Bastich that no one wants to listen to.
Lugnut is probably the second in command, he's always around Megatron and most of the time with the other cons he's barking orders to Blitzwing. Shockwave? Just a spy.
