It's time again to turn our critical eye toward the Machinima Power of the Primes series, as it winds down in the final episodes of both the show and the trilogy as a whole. We've got quite a good bit of material to cover over the three days in anticipation of the final episode, as I've been on a small hiatus for a couple weeks. We'll start our catch up and start again where I left you a few weeks ago, with a look back at Episode 7!
(Note: The following review contains spoilers for Power of the Primes and the Prime Wars Trilogy. Proceed at your own risk!)
We pick right up where 6 left off, with Megatron blowing Overlord to bits using the Requiem Blaster, which has created a giant divot in the side of Cybertron, amounting to a frickin' 8th of the planet.
"You just murdered several million Cybertronians" "YEAH, but...I got that one guy!" "Several MILLION." They also launched a beam of hyper-powerful energy into space. I'm sure that won't cause any problems. The main cast starts to regroup in the wake of their large battle inside the sanctorum against Overlord and Rodimus Cron. They finally get their moment to morn Victorion, and make sure everyone else is alright. Windblade makes a comment about the Torchbearers, the group name of the robots that make up Victorion (similar the Protectobots or the Constructicons), further murking this series' view/adaptation of Combiners. It can't make up it's mind if it wants Combiner members to have their own identity or not, and it seems to be a case by case basis.
Now he's the Extra Crispy ColonelWindblade thanks Optimus Primal for sticking with them, when it looked like he was just going to desert them in the previous episode, as Grimlock also makes amends with Megatron. The majority of the data banks inside the Sanctorum had all been destroyed, but Perceptor was able to download the documents they need on Megatronus and the Requiem Blaster. They talk about what the potential plan of Megatronus is, and realize he intends to fuse the blaster, Matrix of Leadership, and the Enigma of Combination into a mega device. Megatron says that this is to drain the sparks from every Transformer on Cybertron, though it's not established how he knows this. Speak of the devil, Megatronus arrives on the scene to reclaim the blaster. It's the first time we've seen him in a few episodes, as the story has buckled town and focused on the main cast of characters. The split narrative that detracted from the first couple of episodes is totally gone.
"Is it genocide? Or an act of love?" Yeah, genocide. Definitely genocide.As Megatronus arrives, Megatron knows, somehow again, that Megatronus plans to steal the sparks from all Cybertronians (all 20 of them, apparently) to supposedly bring Solus Prime back from the dead. Megatronus says that he is correct, and that they should be proud to be going to such a noble cause. That's quite an intricate plan to guess right in one fell swoop on Megatron's part, is it not? This deus-ex-machina moment of knowledge from Megatron is, again, confusing, and reminds me of a moment from a badly dubbed anime. I find it hard to believe that the writers couldn't find a more natural way to write Megatron solving Megatronus' plan into the script.
Alright, I have to hand it to them, this shot is AWESOME. Seriously, seriously cool. Looks like a paintingAfter Megatron and Windblade are tossed aside by Megatronus with some really cool imagery, Optimus Primal steps in the way of Megatronus' path to the Requiem Blaster. Megatronus makes a snide remark, and tosses him aside. He's only stopped from finishing Primal off by Rodimus Cron, who still functions. He tells Megatronus he must destroy the Matrix, not use it, which, as an agent of Unicron, is his primary function. Rodimus turns on Megatronus, giving the heroes new hope. Megatronus doesn't care, as he already has the blaster he came for. He disappears into the night, and soon Rodimus Cron takes off after him, driving through the large crater. Windblade protests that they can't just let the two now-enemies kill each other, believing that there's still a bit of Hot Rod left in Cron. Megatron knows that they must go to the well of sparks, another tidbit of info he inexplicably knows.
I'm starting to think Megatron might be in on this whole thing...And so, as they embark on the next, and most likely final leg of their journey, and without Victorion for the first time in the entire Trilogy, the episode ends.
This episode was uneventful, especially considering the action packed one preceding it. Though I understand why, as it's purpose was simply to give Megatronus the Requiem Blaster, and little else. It felt quick, and, on the whole, painless. I'm enjoying the focused narrative I touched on earlier in the review more than I enjoyed the several plot lines with several characters in several settings. The story being more narrowed in is doing the series a great service, in my opinion, and it feels like it is finally in some form of a groove. The slow motion/still shots are beautiful, and I'd love to see more like them. I've always liked these character models, so seeing them in shots like that is awesome. It's a big positive for the series for those to be included. Ultimately, though, it felt like an episode back in the swamp again, with little forward movement except for basically one plot point in the second half.
Thanks for reading my review of the 7th episode of Power of the Primes. Catch me again tomorrow when I cover episode 8. Check out the episode for yourself, then come back and tell me how you thought I did in the Energon pub forums below. Did you agree with me? Did you disagree? Please let me know!
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