If we are talking strictly the G1 cartoon, I would say that’s not the case.I never felt the cartoon did a good job of establishing a 3rd chair when it came to the Decepticons chain of command, not even on season 3

In the first 2 seasons of the cartoon Shockwave wasn’t much more then a glorified security guard, sure being named Guardian of Cybertron showed he had a position of trust but that’s not the same as a position of command

Skywarp and Thundercracker were grunts.....seems they were only ever given some Authority when the situation called for their particular skills......such as the the episode you cited

In season 3, I never felt Scourge filled the bill of a 3rd, he was more “commander of the royal guard” then the 3rd commander of an army, and truth he told he wasn’t much of a leader to those directly under his command.The sweeps had no respect for him.

The way I see it, if it wasn’t for the Hasbro mandate to “sell new toys” Soundwave would have never been reduced to a second rate character

 

Yes, in several ways Cyclonus assumed that role, well except being the communications specialist.

 

Soundwave probably lost his shit and after seeing galvatron's... (noises of workplace abuse) , he just took a back seat.

 

What about the Japanese continuity? What was Soundblaster's role?

 

Even worse. Took a back seat not only to Cyclonus and Scourge, but to Scorponok, Snapdragon, Apeface, and Sixshot.

Glorified security guard?? Shockwave ruled Cybertron for FOUR MILLION YEARS. He was still leading Cybertron's defense in the battle with Unicron. In The Ultimate Doom, when Soundwave comes to Cybertron, Shockwave leads him into battle.

Shockwave was arguably the best leader the Decepticons ever had.

 

Shockwave lead Soundwave into battle in “the ultimate doom”?....you’re kidding me right?They were both giving orders to the other decepticons...there was no clear leader in that scene

And yes he was a glorified security guard, and not even a very good one since On 2 different occasions small groups of autobot “invaders” were able to sneak into his base of operations and escaped too , not to mention the time 2 human teenagers pulled the same thing off

4million years running the planet and he didn’t even know the female autobots were still alive......or Alpha Trion.....no wonder he was still desperate to find Megatron

He was arguably as inept a “leader” as he was a security guard

 

Great video, lol!

However, you can't judge the full scope of Shockwave's performance based on a few intruder incidents over FOUR MILLION YEARS where the plot dictates that the good dies don't die or fail. You have to look at the whole scope of his performance.

Since Megatron left Shockwave in charge, Cybertron remained as Megatron left it, just as he promised.

Of course he didn't know the female Autobots were still alive. Under his command, there were no cities lost, no omgoing war, only a handful of females Autobots living in hiding. I'd call that a very successful regime.

But when the reigns passed back to Megatron, the Decepticons lost everything in just 21 years. They even lost control of Cybertron and were exiled. Their remaining warriors left to starve on Chaar.

Do you think Megatron would leave Cybertron to anyone but his most capable and loyal lieutenant?

 

Yeah I love that guys videos

sure you can....because it’s all we saw lol.
Just a joke but in a serious lets Look at the scope of his performance

You just can’t assume he had a better track record over those 4million years, you also have to look at what those failures in such a short time suggests about his over all abilities to lead.In less then 2 years security of his headquarters on Cybertron was broken more then 3 times, Valued property stolen and tech he developed Commandeered by the enemy quite a few Occasions.......so many fails in such a short time implies that the same could have been taking place over the 4 million years gap

You are assuming there were no cities lost or war during those years, And Optimus said there were more lives on Cybertron in “the ultimate doom” , and he didn’t know the remakes were still alive, so it was more then just a handful of females Autobots living in hiding.If there was no cities lost....no ongoing warfare in those 4 million years, then what was he doing all those years?Why was Cybertron still just as Megatron left it?Why wasn’t the planet in better shape?There must have been continued fighting those years, otherwise he should have been able to find or develop some new sources of energy over those 4 million years.

Sounds like a failure of a regime to me

Do you really think Megatron would leave Cybertron to anyone that could be a more capable leader then himself? No, he would leave the planet to someone that could, at best, keep the status quo and not make matters worse, to someone that had no ambition of his own and was just a loyal kiss ass

lol

 

In that scene, I imagine that Soundwave knows that Skywarp is pretty useless (even so, big fan of Skywarp) so Skywarp is doing the most basic of duties and Soundwave knows that Thundercracker is not that committed to the cause (from memory makes a remark that Thundercracker is not providing much help), as such, Soundwave is just taking if you want something done, better do it yourself, so I do not take it that Soundwave is ranked below Thundercracker.

Would really like to see a G1 cartoon mini-series that takes place in the 4M year gap where Autobots and Decepticons have to be really resourceful living on a planet which is virtually out of fuel, to see how good Shockwave's leadership was (this assumes there were say at least 20 to 30 transformers remaining on Cybertron (as per Optimus dialog and actions in The Ultimate Doom where Optimus alludes that there are more Autobots left on Cybertron) after Optimus and Megatron left Cybertron on the lookout for places with more abundant fuel reserves).

Bit harsh, I feel (not really arguing, just offering a different point of view) Shockwave may not have a great leader but in the absence of Megatron and Starscream, the perhaps the best alternative 4M years ago.

Onscreen Megatron may look like a failure, but when you take events of screen into account, he took the Decepticons from 2nd class citizens to solely occupying Cybertron.

In the same way given dialog that Autobots still lived on Cybertron in the Ultimate Doom and in Child's Play, by the time of Revenge of Bruticus (if not before) that Cybertron is devoid of Autobots living on Cybertron (no Autobots who lived on Cybertron helped Alpha Trion in the Key to Vector Sigma and no Autobots who lived on Cybertron helped defeat the Combaticons in Revenge of Bruticus). This could be because Shockwave was really important in reducing the Autobot population on Cybertron. Personally, I like to think that in the beginning of Starscream's Brigade (when Starscream is complaining about the praise Megatron is giving to Shockwave) is that shortly before the episode takes place Shockwave plays an important role in eliminating the Autobot population on Cybertron.

 

do you really think so?
If the 4million year gap was as uneventful ,akano ongoing war, as DarkStarScream suggest then I think my assessment was Gracious not harsh

with no war Shockwave should have been able to revitalize Cybertron inside of a few decades.....and much more then that in 4 million

These are all assumptions as well, it’s not like any Autobots still on Cybertron helped in the Ultimate Doom and yet they were there according to the dialog

Where was Skyfire during events of the film, where was he during most of season 2......this kind of thing happens in stories of all fictions not just transformers,you can’t assume that there were no autobots left in the planet solely based on the absence of their not appearing

Sure Shockwave May have been instrumental in removing the autobots from cybertron, and maybe he wasn’t able to get the job done and Megatron did it himself

we don’t know

 

I think there were ongoing skirmishes but maybe the war eased off as I believe that both sides were more worried about essentially avoiding starvation. I think that both sides would send fuel back to Cybertron but the cost of transporting would be very high that there would not be much fuel left to fight a full-scale war. Just my headcanon.

I can imagine some Decepticons virtually deserting the Decepticon cause and living the good life off Cybertron if they ever found a rich energy source elsewhere (why struggle on Cybertron, essentially they could live like space pirates). Thus, I think that Shockwave had his hand full, just trying to keep Decepticons on Cybertron alive. Shockwave could also have faced leadership challenges. I just think without more information on what happened during the missing years, it is a bit hard to say if Shockwave was an effective leader or not.

If Shockwave had finalized the Space Bridge before he found out about Megatron perhaps he could have accomplished more without the help of Megatron.

I know, I can imagine the creators of the show did not have toys in mind when those lines were written, I just wish in episodes that were set in part on Cybertron that you could hear some fighting in the background to show that Autobots were still living on Cybertron.

Just wish a series 2.5 can be made to answer these questions. If so, I would hope it would be a bit like Empire Strikes Back to show the Decepticons getting the upper hand.