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Help me out here fellas, I'm a bit confused about the arrival of the TF's on Earth in the movie timeline.

I've read all of the prequel comics and its looking like Megatron arrived on Earth several hundred years ago (they find him in 1897 but it seems he's been frozen for quite some time). Just for arguments sake say he came here in 1800. Then Bumblebee arrives in 2003, but it seems like he left Cybertron not that long after Megatron. Bumblebee signals the other autobots in 2007 and they arrive very quickly. So, if it took Bumblebee around 200 years to travel from Cybertron to Earth how the heck did the other transformers get here so quick?

You asked, here's your answer.

First off, you can't assume that Megs arrived on earth in 1800. The reason for this is that the only event that could flash freeze anything is a comet dumping its ice on the poles (If you want the science behind it, pm me). That event probably occurred around 7200-10800 years ago. So Megs was in deep freeze for quite a while.

Was there a clock that showed when Megs left and when BB left? If not, you're assuming that it was immediate. TF's lifespans are so great that taking their time could take eons... But they were in a hurry, so it could of been decades between Megs and BB's departure

The Bots didn't have a locater beacon on Megs, so they had to find him the hard way, on accident. They weren't looking for Megs, they were looking for the Allspark.

BB eventually comes across the world that holds the Allspark and notifies Prime and the others. At that time the Bots make their way to our Solar System. They maintain perfect camouflage by not even landing, just hanging out in high orbit.

When Bumblebee signals the Bots to land, its just a short flight to Earth.

Bottom line: It's a flick, the details are not that important.

Handbanana wrote:Bottom line: It's a flick, the details are not that important.

Well, it's a story. And Transformer fans loves their stories of how things came to be, so slightly important to some!

Are you getting your information from the prequel comics and novel? Just wondering, I have not finished either yet, but have already forgotten the time lines shown in the comics.. lol

Handbanana wrote:First off, you can't assume that Megs arrived on earth in 1800. The reason for this is that the only event that could flash freeze anything is a comet dumping its ice on the poles (If you want the science behind it, pm me). That event probably occurred around 7200-10800 years ago. So Megs was in deep freeze for quite a while.

Hrm, I'm not sure about that. In the comic it shows Megs melting through the ice as soon as he lands due to his body temperature being so high from his entry through the atmosphere and immediately afterwards he shuts down due to lack of energon. So, he's already under the ice, you don't think he could have frozen under there in 100 years or less? I'm not saying he wasn't frozen for thousands of years, I really don't know and haven't read anything that says how long he was under there, I'm just saying it could have been a shorter amount of time.

Was there a clock that showed when Megs left and when BB left? If not, you're assuming that it was immediate. TF's lifespans are so great that taking their time could take eons... But they were in a hurry, so it could of been decades between Megs and BB's departure

That's true, but I doubt it would even have been decades, they knew how important it was to keep the Allspark from him and they would have moved as quickly as possible. Maybe days or weeks at the most. The thing that irritates me about the prequel comic is that Bumblebee says, "I learn to communicate in different ways" but I'm pretty sure I read that in the movie novel he can basically text-message the other Autobots. That's not really an ability you have to learn, they make it sound like it was a long time before he could communicate with them. At the least couldn't he just write?

The Bots didn't have a locater beacon on Megs, so they had to find him the hard way, on accident. They weren't looking for Megs, they were looking for the Allspark.

So Bumblebee has to fly around the universe looking for the Allspark? I guess that explains why Megatron was on Earth for so long before BB caught up w/ him.

BB eventually comes across the world that holds the Allspark and notifies Prime and the others. At that time the Bots make their way to our Solar System. They maintain perfect camouflage by not even landing, just hanging out in high orbit.

When Bumblebee signals the Bots to land, its just a short flight to Earth.

Ah, I haven't read the movie novel so I didn't know they were hanging out in high orbit. Thanks for the reply.

^ have you read the prequel novel?

decepticonjon wrote:^ have you read the prequel novel?

I've read the prequel comics, I've not read the prequel novel or movie adaptation novel. However the prequel novel directly contradicts the film by having the Autobots arrive in The Ark so it cannot be considered canonical.

no it doesn't..
the travel in the ark, they don't come to earth in it anywhere in the prequel book.

decepticonjon wrote:no it doesn't..
the travel in the ark, they don't come to earth in it anywhere in the prequel book.

Oh, well that's what I read on the Transformers Wiki. That's kind of stupid though, if they have the Ark and use it to travel through space why wouldn't they bring it to Earth? Where'd they leave it?

honestly, at this point from the trailers, maybe it's sitting somewhere around mars (the autobots know that we have technology to travel in space, and i'm sure they know of our satellites and all that), so they park the ark outa earth's view.. maybe even on the dark side of the moon and then use their planetl entry mode protoforms to land on earth. thta's my take

Phenotype wrote:Hrm, I'm not sure about that. In the comic it shows Megs melting through the ice as soon as he lands due to his body temperature being so high from his entry through the atmosphere and immediately afterwards he shuts down due to lack of energon. So, he's already under the ice, you don't think he could have frozen under there in 100 years or less? I'm not saying he wasn't frozen for thousands of years, I really don't know and haven't read anything that says how long he was under there, I'm just saying it could have been a shorter amount of time.

It's quite possible; people have found aircraft frozen in ice after only 50-60 years passed. It's a bit of a leap from a B-17 to a giant alien machine, but it's possible. Just depends on the reader's perception of events.

That's true, but I doubt it would even have been decades, they knew how important it was to keep the Allspark from him and they would have moved as quickly as possible. Maybe days or weeks at the most. The thing that irritates me about the prequel comic is that Bumblebee says, "I learn to communicate in different ways" but I'm pretty sure I read that in the movie novel he can basically text-message the other Autobots. That's not really an ability you have to learn, they make it sound like it was a long time before he could communicate with them. At the least couldn't he just write?

It would be no different than if an English speaker had to learn Spanish, or a seeing person had to learn Brail because they lost their eyesight. It's a different means of communication, which needs to be learned and takes time. Bumblebee probably has a shorter learning curve by comparison, but he would still need some time. He also underwent what could be considered a very tramatic experience, physically and psychologically, and probably would need time to recover from those as well. So him flying off after Megatron immediately probably didn't happen; besides, it's possible other units were sent before him.

So Bumblebee has to fly around the universe looking for the Allspark? I guess that explains why Megatron was on Earth for so long before BB caught up w/ him.

Megatron also has the ability to track the Allspark no matter where it went, so he had a direct path to it (still took him eons). The Autobots and other Decepticons don't have his perceptivness and have to guess everytime they occassionally "hear" the Allspark calling. The events in the prequel novel probably accelerates things, but I haven't read it yet so don't really know. And again, the Autobots probably have more units than Bumblebee wandering about looking for the Allspark.

^ yeah agreed.

The decepticons leave for earth from mars so its probably transformer procedure to park the big transports out of sight from alien planets before going down to the surface.

I did a thread on this...its pretty comprehensive..

Phenotype wrote:

decepticonjon wrote:no it doesn't..
the travel in the ark, they don't come to earth in it anywhere in the prequel book.

Oh, well that's what I read on the Transformers Wiki. That's kind of stupid though, if they have the Ark and use it to travel through space why wouldn't they bring it to Earth? Where'd they leave it?

BE WARNED: NOTHING YOU READ HERE IS FOR CERTAIN, IT MAY ALSO BE A SPOILER OR TWO.

If I remember right, Mars.

Bumblebee landed there anyway, so we can assume that they used it very briefly as a base of operations.

I've also heard that they only use ships like the Ark for long-distance travel, like through TransWarp (Do they even call it that?) or between systems. Hence where the comet/protoform modes come in. (Also, to hide as alien rocks rather than alien jets/cars/trucks.)

Shadowman wrote:I've also heard that they only use ships like the Ark for long-distance travel, like through TransWarp (Do they even call it that?) or between systems. Hence where the comet/protoform modes come in. (Also, to hide as alien rocks rather than alien jets/cars/trucks.)

yea, you're spot on sm.

Thanks for all the replies guys! This whole timeline definitely makes lot more sense to me now.

One last thing about Bumblebee:

Thunderscream wrote:It would be no different than if an English speaker had to learn Spanish, or a seeing person had to learn Brail because they lost their eyesight. It's a different means of communication, which needs to be learned and takes time. Bumblebee probably has a shorter learning curve by comparison, but he would still need some time. He also underwent what could be considered a very tramatic experience, physically and psychologically, and probably would need time to recover from those as well. So him flying off after Megatron immediately probably didn't happen; besides, it's possible other units were sent before him.

I'm not trying to be rude but that doesn't really make sense to me. It's no different than if you or I lost the ability to speak, we'd still be able to type and write. The Autobot messaging system he uses is something they all know how to do already isn't it? I don't know much about it but even if it's a skill he has to learn they must have a written language. Or at least you'd think they would...