I mean... in Double Jeopardy, Tarantulas says "Oh be still, my spinner ets." which would seem to suggest Tarantulas had an ulterior motive for choosing her black widow spider form. (Obviously to save money on models) and obviously their relationship didn't take that turn, but I seem to wonder if they had the idea of pairing them up before deciding to do BA with Silverbolt. (and how Tarantulas and Black Arachnia's relationship developed)

 

I doubt it. It was always pretty clear to me it was a one-sided creepy thing of him. Beast Wars was better than to ever try and pair them.

 

No, they didn't.

Tarantulas made Blackarachnia into another spider because he's an egotistical creep and tried to do the same later on with Inferno. His comments are just him oogling what is basically a hot lady version of himself, hence Megatron's dismissal of his leering and calling out his intentions with her beats mode. She even visibly sighs at his flattery of her later on. This becomes especially obvious at how short-tempered Tarantulas almost always is with Blackarachnia, as she's pretty much the opposite of what he wanted: someone like himself whom he could boss around. She's arguably more independent and manipulative than he was, which probably doesn't help.

It's almost humourous how understated Blackarachnia's introduction is. She's arguably one of the most influential characters in the show yet all she really does is pose a bit, beat up Cheetor, then vanish at the end. (setting up her secretive ways) Considering every other new addition got a bombastic first outing, it's clear they knew all along where they wanted her character to go, and it was never with Tarantulas.

 

And once he figures this out, his relationship with her becomes really creepy and actually kind of reminiscent of a stalker or an abusive boyfriend. Brr.

 

You know Tarantulus did also try to make another spider which got screwed up when he scanned an fire ant instead. He was just obsessed with Spiders and any time he found a stasis pod he tried to make it a Spider. Blackarachnia was just the only one he succeeded in actually forcing the spider mode onto.

 

Mmmm... not so much. He hates her because she threatens his plans and meddles, and because next to him and Megatron she's the only Pred with a brain. He keeps tabs on her just like he keeps tabs on Megs, because he's a scheming egomaniac. Not once in the show did I ever get the intention that he valued Blackarachnia for anything besides the Golden Disk information.

 

Fair enough. Maybe I'm reading too much into it due to the gender difference.

 

I think that's it. Replace Blackarachnia with, say, an unreasonably cunning Terrorsaur and suddenly his infatuation seems much less extant.

 

You're right. If she was male, the (perceived) undertones wouldn't be there.
It's like if you made Starscream female. Even if you kept the relationship with Megatron exactly the same, it would be very difficult not to perceive it as an abusive romantic relationship, which would in turn make reasonably amusing bad guy traitor punishments into something really, REALLY uncomfortable. Granted, in some issues and episodes, the uncomfortable overtones are actually still present, but having Starscream as a female would make them much stronger. It's amazing what gender does to perceptions of character relationships, probably because it's so rare to have male/female relationships without even a hint of romance in fiction.

 

Outside the initial introduction when he's eyeing her up, the only other time he even remotely makes comments like that is in, I think Aftermath, when he starts taking over and says "I'm inside your pretty little head, controlling your pretty little thoughts." and that was more mocking than anything else. He was never interested in her romantically, just wanted her as a plot device. More like he owned her, and she shouldn't be behaving against him, and he hated that (reminded of Crossing the Rubicon when he makes a comment about the Maximals wanting to undo his work or something when he's learnt they're trying to tamper with the shell program).

 

For me this relates to the other thread about TR hating the Vok. Meddlers that are naturally "less" than him shouldn't have the audacity to do so.

Going with the "Unicron Spawn" thing, Tarantuals is the equivalent of a demon: walking amongst creations he despises so that he may corrupt (if not destroy) them. He wouldn't have any kind of healthy relationship inklings for BA. His only kind of potential interest resembling romantic would be an indulgence of his beast mode's instincts... and his inherent sadism.
It's akin to when he had Cheetor trapped in "The Web": "My filters will adjust. Besides, it's the act I enjoy more than the nourishment." (May be inaccurate in my quote there)

 

...I'm pretty sure the "Unicron spawn" line was just an offhanded insult from Megatron using the Transformer equivalent of "spawn of the devil," and was not meant to be taken literally.

 

Hence the 2 words before it, "going with".

It's pretty well known your assertion is correct under the writer's intentions.

However, something created is not something limited in its potential. "Animal Farm" is supposed to be this great allegory about the Russian Revolution; but does that mean you "can't" read it and think it symbolizes the people at your job? If it applies, it applies. Interpretation outside of the intent, even when the intent is known, is still valid.

And it isn't like this concept has no (interpretive) support elsewhere in the series.
Togerhawk: "The time storm from such an act would wipe out your entire race."
Tarantulas: "Only those descended from Autobot and Decepticon. But I and the Tripredacus Council are of different origin."
So while there's never a 100% official stated fact on what TR's non-cybertronian lineage was, that in-show assertion does a lot more to support the literal interpretation of "unicron's spawn" than refute it.

 

I always thought he and the council were Straxian Decepticon Descendants because if the Ark stayed stranded then the Autobots resistance would have been worn down and THOSE Decepticons would rule without ever hearing a peep from Megs or Prime. Controlling the fate of Cybertron itself!

The shows' clunky "nor Autobot or Decepticon" line from TA may have been another case of Beast Wars misinterpreting certain things from G1 definition wise, like the exact meaning of "The Great War" or the Matrix/Spark thing.

"Decepticons" referred to the Ark group only when TA was speaking, but the TriPred Council speaking privately about their Decepticon ancestors would still make sense if it was the Straxus/Megatron faction split. Maybe TA isn't as well informed/clear on the subject as his leaders are or he just personally only views Megatron's original Cons to be Decepticons like a cultural pride kinda thing. Straxus and his many cohorts wanted Megatron out of the picture as soon as he returned and demonstrated his newly worsened maddness (UK Continuity) and of course none of them want Optimus back. So, based on all the info in the show and the Marvel canon it's about 50% based on, that's my best guess on Tarantulas' motivations/affiliations. Especially since we know they were aware of and making references to comic material during the same time they wrote this mystery, and we know that the "Unicrons Spawn" line isn't meant to be taken literally.

 

There’s 2 things that kill it outright though.

1. In “Other Visits part 1” Blackarachnia reveals that the psychic link she shared with Tarantulus gave her access to his mind as well. She says “you’d be surprised the things I know about you.”
Being a descendant of Decepticons other than the ones that slept for 4 million years in a volcano wouldn’t be of much surprise or interest. But being linked to Unicron would be a big deal. The fact that she never says a word about it would indicate he’s just a regular TF.

2. How would Megatron suddenly know? For such a big reveal, he says it as an off-handed insult. And all the other preds treat it the same way, paying no mind to the comment.

I think the writers would get a good chuckle seeing us all still debating a throwaway line 24 years after the fact.  

 

On your 1st point: BA is all about secrets and knowledge being power. She wouldn't just use everything she knew all at one time. The threat that she had just proven she knows things TR thinks she shouldn't would be enough to register the threat and still keep the reveal of his origin in her pocket as blackmail. It could also be said that him being Unicronian would be such a big deal that she would want to hold on to it as a trump card for as long as possible. That she didn't tell anyone "everything" has absolutely 0 bearing on what those secrets would be. Not telling a seceret doesn't mean you don't know it or that it isn't true.

She didn't tell Megatron she took the Ark codes before destroying his backups but Megatron is also smart, and he figured that out on his own.

Which comes to your second point: He didn't "suddenly" know... he figured it out after TR tried to kill him and G1 Megs at the same time using OPOP via QS. The trial of QS when he chuckled "dang spider"... he was actually amused because he realized that not only was TR a mole for the Predacon Secret Police, he was a mole for someone out to destroy them all. It was an actual recognition of just how deep TR had things twisted.

As far as the other predacons, it could easily be that they were already aware this happened in their era of Cybertron: Unicronians walking amongst them. That plus manybsimply dont believe it... But even if it was taken by the others as an off-hand insult, with no literal implications, that in no way precludes it from being true.

Like I said already, it's well-established that the writer's intent was for it to be off-hand. That alone doesn't make it impossible. But how far does "writer intended" really matter? Does the painter get to dictate how their painting makes someone feel, or if it matters at all? No, and it's the same with writers. What people take from it is just as valid if not moreso than what was intended.
Creator trumps writer as an authority on a character, and Laird never intended for there to be a fifth turtle... has there ever been more than 4 turtles in any TMNT series? I bet nobody can name any turtle-character from TMNT that is NOT one of the original four brothers.

 

Reflects life on occasion too. I've had plenty moments where I'm talking to girls who are attached and then some friend has to comments that there's a romantic interest even though it's platonic. Just human nature.

Slash
Rahzar
Venus

 

Those characters have never existed because they were not intended by my chosen authority figure in that franchise. I heard him say he never wanted a fifth turtle, so there never has and never will be one. Good, bad, alien, former human, male, female, robot, alternate universes... none of them can be accepted because literally he said he literally didnt want a literal 5th turtle to literally be literal.

 

Got another moment to add. In Spiders Game there's the "hey, tall, dark and grousome" line. Tarantulas even shuddered when she touched his chest, sort of playing the role of a seduced mark. By the end of that episode his plan is ruined and the scope of her medlsomness is apparent, we don't see him drop his guard around her after that.

 

Not really, or at least not in any genuine or serious fashion. I think it's pretty clear that Tarantulas views her as his creation, his pawn and not much else.

I was gonna make a joke here about shippers / fujoshi but given how it's a male character being predatory towards a female character they'd probably mostly find that rightfully creepy and bad while at the same time fetishizing any kind of love between male characters and to hell with any context or nuance.