I think this end to the Optimus vs Sentinel fight is far superior to the one in the movie. For instance, OPTIMUS DOESN'T EXECUTE A WOUNDED AND DEFENSELESS BOT WHO IS PLEADING FOR MERCY! And killing Sentinel with the weapon he used to kill Ironhide just feels...karmic.
Sentinel and Optimus both broke the Prime rules. Although, Otpimus killed Sentinel on his own defense - if he let him live, Sentinel wouldn't have been merciful either.
Yes, spraying down Sentinel with a highly corrosive agent and letting him be eaten alive by rust until he crumbles away to nothing is much more humane than shooting him in the head.
I would've like to have seen the Cosmic Rust be used again. It was used once and just vanished. I *think* Lester was calling Megatron defenseless.
No, I like the Movie ending better And to me Sentinel wasn't pleading for mercy he was Just trying to get Optimus to see that he was Right for wanting to Enslave and Destroy our Planet and Ironhide had to be killed for the Greater good, Optimus saw that sentinel was not changing his mind and he did what had to be done. Just my Opinion though
My ideal ending - after being beaten down by Megatron, Sentinel crawls towards Optimus, explaining his actions and pleading for mercy. Optimus, filled with both revulsion and pity, hesitates, reflecting aloud on his past with Sentinel and how Sentinel could betray both their bond and the Autobot cause... giving Sentinel time to pull a gun. Optimus kills Sentinel before he can get off a shot. He then silently drops the gun, his body language indicating absolute sadness.
After the Pillar is destroyed, Optimus and Megatron stare at each other, and Megatron wonders "Cybertron falls away, out of my grasp. But, what of us Optimus? Is there hope for a truce? For us to work side-by-side, as we once did. Would you trust me, my brother? Or are you prepared to answer the question, who would you be without me?"
This ending works in the comic and novel because of the internal narration that Megatron gives to the reader, a luxury the film wasn't able to provide. With the way Megatron was presented in the actual film, the event unfolding this way wouldn't have made sense there.