Spoiler warning. This thread will contain spoilers. SPOOOOIL

By it's nature this thread contains huge spoilers do not read further until you have read #38


















So.

As you know, #38 reveals that the original Megatron was a thawed CC/Matrix-siphoned spark that was murdered by Rewind in an attempt to save the universe from the Cybertronian war. The Megatron we know and love was a POP spark born in modern times then transported back in time and place in the original's now empty body. This made Megatron unique for his era as he was the first hybrid, a forged spark and a CC body. (It's likely that given the HUGE casualty rate in the war, that more forged sparks existed in partial or completely CC bodies as if a forged was so heavily injured his body was unsavable even if his spark survived then he'd have to be transferred to a new body. We know explicitly that any replacement parts on a forged are CC).

What I want to ask is if you think that being a "natural" hybrid is the reason, or one of the reasons, Megatron turned on functionism and lead towards revolution? It's plausible that the functionists weren't aware Megatron was a POP (when he was arrested Springarm was very surprised by how bright his spark was) which means they would have no idea how valuable he might be (again, in Origins people are surprised by how powerful he seemed to be). Presumably, a POP was so rare that regardless of their alt mode, they would be place in military or law enforcement positions in order to take the advantage of the powers they offer (of the power house POPS we know of and know for certain what their alt mode was in the senate/functionist days, only Shockwave wasn't either in an armed position or clearly capable of functioning in such a position). So Megatron, despite being one of the strongest Cybertronians alive, is forced into a menial position based on the utility of his form. All the while he is an extremely intelligent person who wants to be involved in the medical profession. With nowhere to direct his intelligence, he starts musing on the demands of functionism. Eventually, perhaps during his gladiator days or not long after the Decepticons become an active force, he discovers he is in fact a POP percenter. But he knows he has a CC body. Megatron now thinks he has absolute proof of the fallacy of mode-based taxonomy and the bipartisan nature of Cybertronian society between forged and CC. A CC spark can't be "special" but he is living proof that this is a fallacy spread by people who would implant false ideologies into people. You could perhaps see him viewing his nature as proof that he can lead the planet and the universe to where it needs to be as he is proof. Undeniable proof, that everyone else is wrong.

Skip ahead to today. Megatron finds out that the only thing special about him is that the universe really wouldn't miss him. One planet would burn, millions would be spared his expansion. Not only is he presented with the fact that the gentlest Autobot would kill him and might very well be right to, but he's not evidence that the various forms of Cybertronian racism are false, he's an unhappy accident, replacing the "real" Megatron and owing his existence to people who hate him. What is he musing about staring at the Rodimus medal? That the universe doesn't want him or that he has NEVER been who he thought he was?

Opinions as always welcome.

 

He hasnt been what he thought he was

 

You raise lots of good points though I'd like to diverge from the topic for a bit and commend Roberts on what he has done. Not only has he woven a highly complicated web of stories arcs that tie together almost flawlessly, he does it while staying in nigh-perfect continuity with everything that has been shown while at the same time truly making you think twice about Megatron.

He has added such beautiful nuance to Megatron; making him arguably the most complex Transformer in the entire history of the franchise and he did it in a believable manner.

I have a god and his name is James Roberts.

 

I think Megatron always had been in IDW a equal rights person. The fact the Universe really does not need him is a shock but I suspect if that is true. That the universe space-time and even reality will collapse under decay because Megatron is a catalyst. If he did not exist Orion Pax will be enforcer may not be a Prime at all and Sentinel will be in charge. The stratified society will exist and nothing would have change on Cybertron.

 

Yeah, for Cybertronians it might not be good. But for the billions who died by Transformers and their cyberforming of worlds, etc. it is better if Megatron had not revolted and the functionists won.

 

I think the fact that he isn't exactly who he was is the least of his concerns. I think he's more depressed at he would literally be better off if he was never born.

 

I think Megatron is dealing with his knowledge of the circumstances of his birth. I think it would be akin to finding out you're adopted and that your origins are not what you thought them to be. Megatron literally had no idea where he came from because Brainstorm wiped out that data and I that lack of knowledge may have influenced his early thinking. To find out you're the result of a series of accidents and coincidences (i.e. Brainstorm picking up the POP spark, Rewind 2 being discovered alive leading to him having knowledge of the Functionist Universe and shooting Megatron, Rung at the bar) only adds to the other psychological trauma of finding out the universe is spared if your existence isn't . That is a LOT of info to chew over and with Rung and possibly Ravage as his only possible outlets for venting, who knows how much it could stir and stew in him.

 

Yeah that was a pretty interesting thought that had been brought up. The Transformers war caused so much destruction across the universe, if Cybertron had stayed being a shithole....the universe would have been off for it.

 

He´s old and full of regrets, another regret is this one. "Had I died billions would be saved..." or "Maybe the other guy that died would be a better man that I was."

 

My 2c.

Megatron was literally born at the wrong place at the wrong time. This would have made accepting his lot in life difficult, even at a subconscious level. That led him to question the status quo and the rest is history.

I think like King Starscream says, he's now getting to know himself and trying to digest what that knowledge means. Understanding yourself and your past and recognising the effect circumstances have had on you is key to overcoming psychological trauma. Megatron has plenty of trauma he may have found difficult to process and deal with.

His 'remonstrating'. He feels vulnerable and that leads him to exaggerated bursts of violence he sees as justified and necessary. We know it's to be expected given the lengthy prosecution, physical violence and mental rape he's endured, but it's hard to say how much of it he himself can see has directly led to his Decepticon policies.

We're seeing him during a difficult time, where he's physically fragile and mentally unsure and that exaggerates his reactions, leaving him open for us to observe. I guess if he can overcome this fear of being defenceless he may be able to move forward and not feel the need to assert himself through violence.

What he's learned has also put a different spin on things. Does he want to do right by Cybertron, which is what this quest is about, or by the universe? Because according to this, he's already done right by Cybertron. Is he thinking that, you know, after all that, I did the right thing, because I care about Cybertronians more than others? Is he pondering the conversation he had with Skids about what being an Autobot means? He still, as of the beginning of this issue, thinks in terms of 'me' and 'you lot'. I think when that changes will be the turning point.

 

I think Megatron literally never knew what he was. There was no record. He couldn't direct anger that he had at either CCs or Forged, his experiences being 'neither' taught him it was just a perception thing, so he rejected the whole thing.

I don't think his spark being from the future mattered- he was just a spark, after all- but the not knowing helped make him.

 

I agree.

If anything, waking up where he was probably led him to assume he was CC. But it seem slike he intentionally never made it a point. When he was locked up he outright says to the guard "no-one should know another's method of creation."

He was against prejudice. It's not hard to be against that.

 

One Problem. Megatron knows to the day when he was born. So he must have woken up in the CC factory. He can't have missed that. And in a society where spark type is important, it's almost impossible that everyone wasn't made aware of who and what they were

 

In the factor, yes, but with the records of his activation wiped, and his spark installed and online, in a side-room off the factory floor, with an unusually colored spark.

Maybe there was a mix-up, or an experiment, or something. He likely thinks he is *probably* Cold Constructed but there is obviously something odd.

 

Huh in a way, the War Megatron himself started resulted in his own creation/birth, gotta love these time loop stories.

 

Thinking about this stuff it just....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Lnz64vXB8

and that's why I love MTMTE.  

 

It's actually one of the very few elements of the comic I'm not sold on. The entire concept of timeloops annoys me, as they defy traditional logic.

The loop relies on the concept of the effect catalyzing the cause. Things simply don't work that way. Where did the loop start? How..? I-.....

It makes my head explode in a BAD way. That said, Roberts manages to execute it well enough that I can only grumble and be vaguely displeased.

 

Oh my god.

It's basically the exact same thing from the G1 Sunbow cartoon impossibility loop regarding Megatron's creation; Constructicons create Megatron, Megatron later turns them evil, then millions of years later Megatron builds the Constructicons on Earth.

And time travel was a thing, too, in both "A Decepticon in King Arthur's Court" and more importantly "War Dawn."

In IDW, it appears the only changes are essentially Brainstorm for the Constructicons and the flow is reversed: Brainstorm takes the POP spark and goes back in time to build his Megatron (in place of the Constructicons building Megatron outright), Megatron goes on to create the anti-functionalist Decepticons around the same time Brainstorm is created (in place of Megatron building the Constructicons, loosely), then Brainstorm joins the Decepticons (in place of Megatron turning the Constructicons evil through mind control) and ultimately invents time travel for the sole purpose of building Megatron.

However, what I think is going to be revealed in the end is that this loop only even occurs because the timeline self-corrects. Brainstorm hasn't prevented the civil war from happening at all, he's merely delayed it. Nothing will change, if not simply end up being even worse.

Oddly enough, this is basically the Kill Hitler by Time Travel paradox where, as horrible a man as Hitler was, the obvious idea of simply killing him before 1939 would only make everything worse off because his subordanates were even worse and in the position of furher would have made Hitler look downright reasonable in his actions. With Megatron, he simply does get killed but Brainstorm has to go back and circumvent this, as without Megatron, the anti-functionalist movement/later Decepticons will never get off the ground. Only difference is that Megatron is actually more likable right now as a character than Hitler ever was.

 

I think he's asking himself if the ends justified the means. If you think about it, the wars kind of cooled down at least in his mind and hearing someone outright say sure, we're better off but what about the billions of others. He's probably looking at the badge as a "did I really change" type of thing.

 

So no matter which spark Megatron has he still gonna make his war right?So ultimately it never mattered.He would become that same person no matter which spark he had on his chest