OMG! Nightscream does bear a freaky similarity to Michael Jackson!

Mako, do you know your BM ep descriptions are so hilariously written?! LOL!

 

I LURVE Beast Machines.
Beast Wars is a classic and pretty hard top. But the dark and desperate feel woven into BM made me happy. The spirituality was kindof awkward at parts but it never bothered me at all.

P.s. Did anyone realize that this year is the 10th anniversary of Beast Machines!?!?!
Tripl3 w00t!!!

 

That's pretty cool. I wanted to do Headmasters, but there weren't enough episodes up on youtube to do it properly. Then I thought maybe Beast Wars 2 would be good since I've never seen it and I'd bet a lot of other people haven't either. But again, just not enough eps available on youtube to do it right.

Then I thought, oh what the hey- I have Beast Machines on dvd. I'll do that! It just works out nice that it's also the 10th anniversary.

*thinks about that for a moment*

So Beast Wars premiered in 1996 if I recall correclty. That's 12 years ago, yet somehow the CGI in Energon and Cybertron looks worse. And that's considering that only the robots were CGI while everything else was handled by cel-animators. Meanwhile in BW and BM everything was CGI. That's a million extra things that the animators had to render. Plants, bugs, water, facial expressions etc. etc. etc. just to make the world seem alive and believable. It's either very sad that nothing since the end of Beast Machines has surpassed its visual quality or very cool that even to this day BW and BM represent the height of animation in a Transformers show (notice how I said, "show," and not "movie."   ).

And thanks, BO! My weird sense of humor was all that kept me going through Energon's final arc and it just kind of works its way into my reviews even now. Plus I'm hopeless when it comes to taking this stuff too seriously.  

 

I gave in and watched about 5 or 6 BM episodes so far... and I actually like what I see! I can see how others can not like some certain ASPECTS about it, but I don't think it can ruin the entire series. Besides the crappy ending. Still don't like that, but, oh well, there's a lot of awesome to make up for that.

I hate how the Maximals look (Cheetor is the least disturbing to me) and hate everything they do/say ("I am transformed" annoys me, but then again, BW's terrorize/maximize was annoying in very early episodes). How the Maximals are in this series won't ruin them for me in BW, though.

Megatron (I've counted four 'yesss'es so far, he does say it, however little! Huzzah!) and the Vehicons completely make up for everything else. I liked them from what I read, and now I love them from what I've seen. I love Jetstorm and Tankor (must be the Grimlockiness), they bring so much joy. I'm also laughing more than I thought I would, judging on what other people said. Those speed lines get me going, among scenes with Primal going all spiritual with the trippy space backgrounds.

The storytelling is great so far, and I'm diggin' the music. All I know is that I want toys and will possibly buy the DVDs at some point. Props to Mako Crab's great episode descriptions for persuading me!  

 

And props to that cute little avatar of yours. It's Megatron's wee binoculars!  

 

It was okay i mean i liked it but i had to watch it the second time. Armada i liked more i know people hated it but i actually really loved it. The characters in Beast Machines where to werid. I dont know i just couldnt get into it.

 

It was ok. But Going from BW to BM is the opposite of going from the AEC trilogy to Animated. BW was perfect (or near perfection) then you go in with huge hopes and are completely disappointed. But with Animated we had high hopes and went from crap to pure gold. If you look at Beast Machines with out seing it as a sequel to BW and stand it on it's own, it is fairly good. But look at it in a continuation from BW, then it is awful.

I still don't care for it much because of what they did to Rattrap.... (bastards!)

 

That's the best approach to cartoons i always think! Never take 'em too seriously. Wish i could follow my own advice there all the time....

That's so true rattrap007. The reason some of the previous TFs shows were a letdown for fans was probably alot to do with our comparison of them with better shows or expectations. BM, as you say, would surely have been recognised more for its deep, mature writing if not for the fact that its radical change of ideas clashed too much with what BW had set up just before.

Definitely part of the reason Animated has been well received so far is because it rewards us for our knowledge of TFs with all the nods to previous TFs shows and concepts. It's subtly incorporating pokes at G1 and BW. Strangely, it's a TFs show that actually thrives on comparison with older shows.

 

Ooh, good point. Hadn't thought of that (about Animated).

End of the Line
written by Steven Melching

Ghost Hunters is on tonight. I love that show. It's on in an hour and I've only just started typing up my retrospective for this, the final episode of Beast Machines' 1st season. I'll just say that even all these years later, the season finale still holds up. Okay, so here's how it all goes down:

We begin in Megatron's citadel where Cheetor and Rattrap have apparently sneaked right in without detection. Just incredible. Rattrap is hacking into the database trying to find out if Megatron really had tampered with the Oracle. No luck there, but he does find something else of importance. What is it, you might wonder? Keep wondering, because they've finally been spotted by some tank drones. They take off running and it's really cute how Rattrap holds onto Cheetor's tail and rolls right along with him. They come to a hub in the hallway but every direction is blocked by more tank drones. Just about then Rattrap tosses some hand-made grenades that completely... choke the drones in vines. A combination of seeds, organic goo, and that catalyst program from last episode. Okay, that's cute. I think it's taking the whole organic vs. technology theme of the show a bit too literally seeing as how Rattrap could've easily scrounged up the materials to make a whole variety of explosive grenades earlier. Something like Vehicon power cell + detonator = delicous explosion.   Hmm... for that matter, I seem to recall that he did throw a time bomb in Tankor's face once. Whatever happened to those grenades? Okay, okay- I'm off on a tangent. They get away clean and retreat back underground.

Elsewhere D.D. is checking in with Tankor. Seems that Megatron has uploaded the Key to Vector Sigma into all his tank drones. He's played right into Tankor's hands. Tankor attempts to activate all the drones via voice command but they don't respond. Oooh. Maybe Megatron suspects something afterall. No matter. Tankor hatches a backup plan on the spot. Have I mentioned that he's really good as a bad guy?

In the caverns Primal is suddenly broadsided upside the face with a vision from the Oracle. It instructs him to, "tip the balance or face extinction." The vision is nearly identical to his original vision from the first episode and it's a nice play on words, replacing, "seek the balance," with "tip the balance."

Primal wakes up from his vision just as Cheetor and Rattrap return. It seems that important info that Rattrap had discovered was a massive doomsday weapon that Megatron had built to harness all the power of the Key to Vector Sigma. All his tank drones would fire on the device and it would create a wave of energy that would ripple across the entire planet and transform any and all organic elements into pure techno matter. Silly bit from Cheetor here:

Primal: "He's gone too far this time."
Cheetor: "We're all behind you, Optimus. With Rattrap's new weapons Megatron doesn't stand a chance."

*shakes head slowly*
Oh, Cheetor. You might as well try filling up a glass with a firehose. Planet-wide doomsday machine vs. tiny little plant bombs. Just a tad disproportionate. Not to worry though. It seems Primal's vision from the Oracle has provided just the counter-measure they need; a weapon of their own to rival Megatron's.

And over at the Oracle, D.D. exits from the glowing light of the mysterious artifact. It seems that he was able to interface with Vector Sigma and send Primal a fake vision. On a side note here- I like that everyone else regards the Key to Vector Sigma, the Oracle, the Allspark, and all these things as myths and legends and mystical, mysterious things. Meanwhile it's just another computer to Tankor. Albeit an incredibly sophisticated computer but a computer all the same. I mean, Vector Sigma a.k.a. The Oracle is supposed to be all knowing and all wise, but it doesn't stop Tankor or D.D. from tinkering with it to suit their own ends.

So! The Maximals head to an old abandoned sector and come right up to a giant steel wall. Cheetor says, "What do you know; another dead end." Gee, real supportive there, especially coming from the guy who was all about supporting Primal a second ago. He starts to walk away and all the other Maximals are with him, when Primal uses his connection to the Oracle to unlock the door. YES!! The giant wall is in fact a giant door!!! Now that... is big. There's an elevator there and they all head down- and it's just a cool shot. It's postcard worthy! So good that I took a little picture of it. They get to the bottom and find there the Plasma Energy Chamber. I could explain what it is, but I dare anyone that doesn't know to watch "The Rebirth" trilogy from G1. I'll wait.
.
.
.
.
Okay, that would be cruel. Suffice to say, the Plasma Energy Chamber can overload and vaporize anything technological. This whole time they've been in robot mode hoping to attract a vehicon and sure enough- a mole drone busts in. Primal activates the chamber and the drone is gone in moments. No explosion, no debris. It's just gone. Behold the power of plasma energy. Scared yet? And now for the big question:

Nightscream: "So... what are you gonna' do with it?"
Primal: "Shut down Megatron for good. Along with everything technological on the entire planet right down to the last diode."

*slight insane chuckle* Scared now? Heh. Hehehe. Mwahahaaha!! Cheetor steps up to reign Primal's suddenly fanatical mindset in, reminding him that he himself suspected the Oracle had been tampered with. Now this is the part I like and it's why I don't think Primal is crazy insane. His eyes stop glowing green. The Plasma Energy Chamber closes. And Primal asks Cheetor what he would do. Cheetor comes up with a quick 'n' dirty plan; it stands a chance of working, and Primal agrees to it. They all walk away. Rather than blindly doing what he thinks the Oracle wants, he's going to do everything else in his power first to avoid worldwide armageddon. I still think it's a bit odd that no one mentioned Silverbolt in all of this seeing as how he'd be wiped out too if they did unleash the plasma energy.

Tankor and D.D. are watching all of this, of course, through a hidden camera. Tankor's not worried though. He knows Primal and knows that he doesn't have the stomach for genocide (against what? sparkless Vehicons?). He also knows that Megtron won't take that chance. Score one for Tankor. He's just so cool. And you know what- he's cool despite having mainly dialogue driven scenes. He's so busy trying to stay in the shadows that he doesn't see a lot of action. I like that. They make it work.

Back at the citadel- D.D. reports the news to Megatron and he flips out as you might guess. Knowing that Primal has the power to eradicate the "Cyber" in "Cybertron", it seems time to make preparations to unleash the power of the Key. Waves of tank drones converge on the site of Megatron's ultimate weapon and await their next orders.

The Maximals are on the scene shortly and tossing vine bombs all over the place. The tank drones are caught tangled up in no time. Meanwhile Rattrap has again snuck inside the citadel and begins hacking his way into the database. He's on his way to shutting down the program that allows Megatron to copy the Key and we get this awesome, jawesome moment:

Rattrap: Ehh, a little control, alt, delete and Megatron can kiss his doomsday-
Tankor: Good-bye, Rattrap.

Rattrap spins around in shock and we can see Tankor's reflection in his visor. Oh. My. Frickin. Gawd. He blasts Rattrap with the original Key to VS that he acquired a couple eps back, but ooooh! I had forgotten about this little moment until watching it again. It's just so sinister and evil.

Outside- Primal can sense that something's happened to Rattrap. More drones! More skirmishes! Cute bit where Blackarachnia spots Jetstorm flying around and attacks him. She's definitely working the "black widow" angle of her personality today. Silverbolt? Who cares. She messes him up good. Awesome bit where Cheetor tackles Thrust and Thrust, being the badass that he is, just powers his way up off the ground like an arm-wrestler that's centimeters away from defeat that suddenly turns the tables! Thrust be strong!

Inside the citadel D.D. keeps pestering Megatron to unleash his doomsday device. Megatron replies, "Patience. The battle goes well." Patience? Incredible. You'd never hear any other Megatron invoke the use of patience. Hehe. The game is up though. Megatron finally reveals that he's aware D.D. is working for Tankor and destroys the little diagnostic drone. Poor D.D. He was one of my favorite characters without a soul. *sniff* He'll be missed. Tankor is equally mad. Not so much for the loss of D.D., I suspect, but still very mad.

Outside- Primal spots an opening and flies his way into the citadel where he confronts Megatron. Great stand-off between these two. Great line from Megs too:

Megatron: "No planet is alive- merely infested!"

Hehe. Makes me smile. Another great moment.

Primal: "Looks like your organic side is getting the better of you."
Megatron: "My technological side is getting the better of you."

And he proceeds to show Primal all his Maximals being defeated and transformed by the power of the Key outisde. This little moment just reminds me of Luke and the Emperor at the end of "Return of the Jedi". You know, the scene where he says:

Luke: "Your overconfidence is your weakness."
Emperor: "Your faith in your friends is yours."

Like, just one of those cool moments where the heroes' moment of smug triumph is swatted down like it was nothing. Heheh. By this point Primal is super mad and grabs Megs by the collar, bringing him down to eye-level. Super grapple!! He attempts to reformat Megatron when suddenly he's hit from behind by a blast. Primal collapses to the floor as his body slowly turns purely technological. Primal and Megatron look up and see... Tankor.

Tankor: "Reformatting an unwilling subject, Optimus? How low have you sunk?"

Love that line. Notice how he's surprised by how far Primal's willing to go. I'll bet it's not the last time he gets a surprise today. He's done working behind the scenes and attempts to shoot Megatron with the Key as well, but his internal programming prevents him from doing so.

Megatron congratulates him on his scheming, saying that it was beneficial to have someone running around planning and scheming with their own free-will. Just a touch of irony there, don't you think? He must realize what he's saying goes against his ideals, but what the hey. Primal hobbles back to his feet making threats about using the Plasma Energy Chamber. Megatron scoffs and calls his bluff, but it's not a bluff... not this time.

Primal activates the chamber. Megatron and Tankor look on in horror. He just crossed the line they never thought he'd never dare cross. Megatron activates his own weapon as a desperate last move and the cascading energies from both super-weapons tear through the planet. Primal has enough life left in him to see his hand disintegrate before his eyes and we fade to black...

until season 2.  
Now I have to say for all those that still think Optimus Primal is crazy fanatical I'm going to stick up for him. For a moment there, yeah, he was really over the line, but Cheetor reigned him in and brought him back to reality. In the moment that he chose to do things Cheetor's way he was thinking clearly again. It wasn't until he saw all his friends beaten and realized that he was the only one left that he got desperate, and even then he attempted to reformat Megatron first rather than unleash the plasma energy. Surely if Megatron were technorganic he wouldn't dare use the Key to Vector Sigma for fear of killing himself. That way Primal would still have won without having to unleash armageddon. When even that fails and there are no other options left, he chooses to play his last card. This episode had that epic feel to it despite only a few scant action scenes. Proof that solid dialogue and plotting can make up for the lack of explosions. Verdict: Superb.

It's the end of the season and Primal has communed with the Oracle...

The Reformatting: 1 time
Master of the House: 0 times
Fires of the Past: 0 times
Mercenary Pursuits: 0 times
Forbidden Fruit: 0 times
The Weak Component: 0 times
Revelations 1: Discovery: 0 times
Revelations 2: Descent: 1 time
Revelations 3: Apocalypse: 1 time
Survivor: 0 times
The Key: 0 times
The Catalyst: 0 times
End of the Line: 1 time

... Four times.

And now for a little something extra:












http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL1.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL2.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL4.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL6.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL10.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL11.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL13.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/EotL14.jpg

 

Fallout
written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg

The conflicting energy storms continue to tear apart the planet as Optimus Primal disintegrates into nothing. Good way to kick off the season. He’s dead but his journey continues through the Allspark as his spark wanders aimlessly through space. He’s confronted by visions of Megatron, a doppelganger of himself and the voices of his troops; each of them imparting upon him the knowledge that the destruction of Cybertron was his fault. Only after accepting the truth that he wasn’t tricked or forced into unleashing the plasma energy, does Rhinox finally appear. It seems to be the real Rhinox this time, finally free of the Tankor program. He implores Primal to embrace the true nature of his spark or face the same fate as him. Now here’s the part that I like; Primal transforms into robot mode but it’s completely silent. No, “I am transformed,” catchphrase or transforming sound effects. Just complete silence in the emptiness of space. It’s not a lot of cartoons that know how to use silence effectively but this scene really works.

And in a brilliant flash of light, Primal is standing back in the heart of the energy storms. He channels the two energies through his own body and fires all of it into the Oracle itself (it went straight through all the layers of the planet).

Sometime later… the Maximals all regroup, now restored to their technocratic bodies. The entire planet has gone quiet, so the first order of business is to investigate Megatron’s citadel. They find there the lifeless bodies of Megatron and Tankor. Oh yeah, and Primal is little more than a smear on the floor now. He was liquefied by all that energy!

Nightscream makes the comment that he thought Cheetor wanted the boss monkey gone. *sigh* You stupid kid. Cheetor smacks him around a little for that one and it just reinforces why Nightscream is so hated. So they’re outside and the next order of business is to find all the sparks of the missing population. What?? Hello? Guys, hello!?! Helloo!!! You were just inside the citadel!! Go back! Go back, what are you doing?!? Oh great, well whatever. Go look for the sparks somewhere else, I’m sure they’re in a much less secure area.

They run into Jetstorm and Thrust and we get a montage of poses and speed-lines that apparently represent a fight, but it’s kinda’ weak. Blackarachnia breaks it up and points out that there’s no reason for them to keep fighting anymore with Megatron gone and all. Cheetor offers them the chance to join up with them but they’re not really into that idea. More posing! More speed lines! Even more … sorta’… fighting. Blackarachnia breaks it up again and they all basically go their separate ways. Well that was… actually a decent scene if it weren’t for the high concept fight scene garbage.

Cheetor decides that they must carry on Optimus’ dream of restoring the organic to Cybertron, but first they must head back underground to try and talk with the Oracle. We get the coolest music as they descend through a montage of the different layers of built-over cities. Good beat to it.   They get to the Oracle and pass through the wall of fire hologram. It dissipates and reveals… a gigantic image of Primal trapped inside the Oracle!!

Cheetor tries to breach the Oracle but it’s no use. Primal isn’t here to be rescued. He asks only for their forgiveness, saying that it was his fanaticism (there’s that word again) that destroyed Cybertron. No one else sees it that way. In fact, Cheetor says the only thing he can’t forgive is seeing Primal give up. Primal seems resigned to his fate though, and despite Cheetor’s pleas, he descends deeper into the Oracle.

Interesting image of Primal floating through space amidst a backdrop of hundreds of Optimus Primals. I almost wonder if each one doesn’t represent an alternate timeline but that’s a topic for another time. Each of the Primals turns into a spark and creates a swirling funnel of sparks that the real Primal begins to cross into. At that moment he sees a technocratic flower and snaps into focus. It all seems so perfectly simple and clear now. He understands that the Oracle wants a balance between organics and technology, not one dominating the other. With that he flies away from the funnel of sparks and crashes through an invisible wall in the darkness…

… and returns to reality with his friends. The Oracle proclaims that he’s ‘passed his greatest test by asserting his own free will.” Yeah!!! *shoots down all those theories of Quintessons controlling the Oracle* The room fills with technorganic trees and their mission is clear.

First thing’s first though! Gotta’ find those sparks! They all head topside to the citadel. It’s a nice sunny day. No Vehicons around. It’s not often they get to enjoy a stroll like this. And then the rumbling begins… and a massive shadow drapes over the entire city block as a gigantic head vaguely resembling Megatron rises out of the citadel. Cliffhanger anyone? You know it!

Ahh, what to say? This show does a lot of things really well like using silence as part of the soundtrack and as a method to build the drama. It pulls off episodes like this one where the major conflict comes from the characters themselves and not mindless drones or enemies out to kill them. Primal vs. Primal is what this one was all about. The doppelganger at the beginning just confirms it. I’m always impressed seeing episodes that are just as or more entertaining despite a near-total lack of conflict with the bad guys. Nightscream can shut up though. Ugh. Stupid kid. I was almost starting to like him during the last half of season 1 and then he comes up and says something so completely stupid, that it boggles the mind. Anyway, that’s all for this one.

Let's keep that tally going!

Optimus communes with the Oracle:
1st season: 4 times
Fallout: 1 time

And as always, a little something extra:













http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/fallout2.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/fallout3.jpg
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/fallout4.jpg
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http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd160/MakoCrab/fallout14.jpg

 

Man, I loved Beast Machines so much. Beast Wars may be the best Transformers action show, but Beast Machines was hands down the best show show related to Transformers.

I find it curious, you keep saying Primal only spoke with the Oracle four times in season one, yet you list five examples.

I'm almost tempted to watch Beast Machines now aswell, but I'm currently watching Beast Wars and am just finishing season 2.

 

Beast Machines had great potential and very bad handling. The characters we're nothing like they were supposed to be except Megatron (hatred of Organics not withstanding), the plotline sucked (sorry, Cybertron is not, nor ever was organic in any origin), and don't get me started on Nightscreech.


Out

 

Wrong. It had great handling, just not what Transformers fans wanted. However as a stand-alone cartoon 9as I recommend everyone view it as) it was incredible for it's time.

Wrong again. It's called character development. The characters all matured in their own way when exposed to this new enviroment that used to be so familiar. The Beast Wars, Megatron Conquering Cybertron, the difficulties mastering their new transformations. It was great to finally see the good guys at a clear disadvantage, and watch as they slowly took back what was theirs.

Example: Rattrap. First, he's all tough gun-slinger rambo, then he's trapped for so long as a rat. This is a major blow to his self esteem. Not to mention his horrors upon discovering his Robot mode, after long last, had no offensive weapons. Plus his "friends" treated him like dirt. Though gradualy he gains back respect, toughens up and stops focusing on what he can't do and recognizes what he can do. And by the end, he's a new rat.

Megatron's hate for organics was also very appropriate. Think, being on a technological planet for millions of years and being trapped in an organic animalistic body must wreak havoc on one's sanity.

The plotline may have not been the greatest, and I do admit that the ending could've been explained much better and done up much better (probably blew most of the budget for effects on that bitchin' ass final battle! DAMN that was awesome) but it was decent closure but one of the main reasons I regard BM as a totally seperate continuity from any Transformers series. (Though it is nice that Megatron won the Beast Wars) Still, half plant/machine Cybertron wasn't all-tooo visualy appealing, and wasn't as technological as I would've though a techno-organic planet would be.

He sucked. No argument here.

You come, you post, you leave without saying gooodbye and never call? You're a horrible person! 

(j/k) 

 

Hm? That can't be right.

The Reformatting: 1 time
Master of the House: 0 times
Fires of the Past: 0 times
Mercenary Pursuits: 0 times
Forbidden Fruit: 0 times
The Weak Component: 0 times
Revelations 1: Discovery: 0 times
Revelations 2: Descent: 1 time
Revelations 3: Apocalypse: 1 time
Survivor: 0 times
The Key: 0 times
The Catalyst: 0 times
End of the Line: 1 time

 

Ah, I see. My mistake, too many numbers so close together confused my morning eyes.>_<

 

I'd have to disagree with you on a couple points... BM could have been handled better for one thing. The writers really should have done more research on the continuity they were following. The same goes for the "character development". For several of the characters it seemed like a sudden jump in their personalities where as it should have been more of a gradual change, such as with Rattrap did as he went through the process of learning to transform.

 

Are you kidding? Vector Sigma? Plasma Energy Chamber? Iacon? I think the Writers did more than enough research. The Writers did many things but there is no way you can say the didn't do their research.

Watch it again, and bear in mind it is still a cartoon that was aired weekly. What seems like a "jump" now wasn't back then. Plus, some of their elements never changed. Notice how Rattrap acts exactly the same in his trapped beast mode as he did when he was in rat mode in Beast Wars. He is completely dependant on his robot mode, and the Oracle knew that, and gave him a wakeup call. I know as great as BM is from a cartoon standpoint it's easy to forget certain aspects, like it is a cartoon and has to do certain things to fit the criteria.

Cheetor acted just as he did at the end of BW at the beginning, but as Optimus became more in twine with teh Oracle, Cheetor felt he had to make up for his withdrawl from the Commander position.

Primals was sudden compared to the rest, but considering what happened to him, it fit. Before hand he was ready to shred, but of course, was locked in beast mode. It's noteworthy that Prime almost had dual personalities. he was calm, collected and wise in Beast mode, and take-charge and strategic (not to mention powerful) in robot mode.

Beast Machines was a fantastic cartoon, unfortunately that's all it was. In order to make it a real show and not a commercial they had to sacrifice a lot to do so. (Ties to past certain Transformers aspects. The early toys, while cool, were hardly accurate to most of their representations on the show, etc.)

 

I said they needed to do MORE research. The Plasma Energy Chamber for example required a key to access in G1, not a mental connection to the Oracle. Also it was used to destroy the planet Mars in the Headmasters cartoon. It was foolish for Primal to believe it wouldn't effect organics. Either way it'd still destroy the planet. With Vector Sigma, really they only put it in the show to pull out the key to use as a weapon against organics. Also it really didn't make sense to me why it was in the center of the Oracle when in G1 it was it's own independent super computer, not part of another thing.

I remember when I initially saw the show it felt like that's what was going on and that's how I still feel about it. Megatron I can excuse because he arrived back at Cybertron who knows how long before the Maximals, but the rest just didn't quite match up with their personalities in BW to me. It just should have been a little more gradual IMO.

 

I actually did enjoy Beast Machines. The CGI, story line and battles were good, but I just couldn't get used to how Primal became spiritual(no helmet/faceplate head bothered me also) and how thier emotion affected thier transformations. I'm also not to fond of the way the maximals new bodies or Cybertron look when they were reformatted, but all in all a good series i would reccomend.

 

Remember, primal was being Deceived. He wasn't just doing it for shits 'n' giggles, he was led to beleive that the Oracle could control the Chamber entirely. And it wasn't foolish of Primal to belive the Chamber couldn't harm organics, because it was the exact same thing in G1 with the head/targetmasters haveing to deactivate the chamber themselves. Besides, the Primal explained that the key was only one way to control the Chamber, and that the Key wasn't nessesary.

The Oracle over 300 years of inactivity had merged with Vector sigma after the events of the Rebirth. (Presumably around the same time as Cybertron's Golden age was wearing off) Vector sigma in BM was more like a backup or replacement of Vector sigma, which is why they needed to use the code for the key instead of the key itself.

Rember, a lot of the characters were being decieved, and so their actions were mis quided. It takes some going over to see how it's all explained but it is.

They didn't have time to mature gradually. They knewthat under those circustances Megatron wouldn't give them time to compose themselves and gradulally mature over time. Which is what led to a lot of conflict between them, conflict Megatron sought to use against them more than once.

I think it was a good thing. His wisdom added a lot to teh plot without being to overbearing. (Thanks to his sense of combat he retained fromthe Beast Wars)

Yeah, me too. IMO, Primal's best form was his original form he took in the Beast Wars.

I actually like this. It made for great character development, having to deal with their robot havels and beast halves. Primal especially, like I said, had the sensei beast mode and borderline rambo robot mode. (though with less weapons)

The best part of Beast Machines hands down was the end battle. That was frickin' EPIC. Just goes to show how Op Op held back in Beast Wars due to his docile nature as a commander and Maximal.