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[Archanubis]

Peter Cullen apparently became a little upset while first reading the script, not yet knowing at the time if Optimus would survive. He’s still worried about making kids upset and sad over losing Optimus like what happened back in G1, and doesn’t want to let that happen again…

Here that, guys? Cullen's a strong advocate of keeping Optimus alive. So if ya'll ever want an Optimus who dies and stays dead, ya'll likely wanna not have Cullen voice him.

Well, that leaves Gary Chalk, Neil Ross, and David Kaye.

The silver Seekers are an offscreen gift from Megatron to Starscream in celebration of his return

So... they were always there? Were they just, what, kept in storage in the Nemesis for all of seasons 1-2? Or did Megs order a ton a Jet Vehicons be given extreme makeovers for the occasion?

I can see it now, the Decepticons raiding a local hardware store for silver paint.

[Sabrblade]

Peter Cullen apparently became a little upset while first reading the script, not yet knowing at the time if Optimus would survive. He’s still worried about making kids upset and sad over losing Optimus like what happened back in G1, and doesn’t want to let that happen again…

Here that, guys? Cullen's a strong advocate of keeping Optimus alive. So if ya'll ever want an Optimus who dies and stays dead, ya'll likely wanna not have Cullen voice him.

Well, that leaves Gary Chalk, Neil Ross, and David Kaye.

Neil Ross?

[kaijuguy19]

I'd like to see Kevin Conroy who does Batman in the DCAU and the Arkham games try out Optimus Prime. He has a voice that's both nobel and down to Earth which fits with Optimus's personalty.

[Archanubis]

Peter Cullen apparently became a little upset while first reading the script, not yet knowing at the time if Optimus would survive. He’s still worried about making kids upset and sad over losing Optimus like what happened back in G1, and doesn’t want to let that happen again…

Here that, guys? Cullen's a strong advocate of keeping Optimus alive. So if ya'll ever want an Optimus who dies and stays dead, ya'll likely wanna not have Cullen voice him.

Well, that leaves Gary Chalk, Neil Ross, and David Kaye.

Neil Ross?

I meant Neil Kaplan, my apologies.

[kaijuguy19]

I've found this interview on Tumblr that scanned a page from the TFCC magazine.

http://comradewodka.tumblr.com/post/715 ... so-furious

It talks about why Breakdown's death on the show happened the way it did. For those who are still ticked about how he died you're certainly not going to like what you'll read about here at all.

[Sabrblade]

I saw that in my mag.

In other words, they just gave up of the character and didn't want to bother exploring either his present or past relationships with Bulkhead, sacrificing opportunity for shock fodder.

The interview also talks about Airachnid's fate, in which they purposely chose not to give her story closure, leaving it up in the air and unresolved for the foreseeable future.

[kaijuguy19]

I saw that in my mag.

In other words, they just gave up of the character and didn't want to bother exploring either his present or past relationships with Bulkhead, sacrificing opportunity for shock fodder.

The interview also talks about Airachnid's fate, in which they purposely chose not to give her story closure, leaving it up in the air and unresolved for the foreseeable future.

Yeah I don't get why they talked about Breakdown being some type of despicable oppurnunist when on the show it was clear that he was far from it? It's like they either really didn't know what they were doing with him or that it was only one writer that thinks Breakdown's like that. Either way it stinks.

At least Predaking,Shockwave,and for better for worse for some airachnid weren't killed off in the end.

[Dead Metal]

I saw that in my mag.

In other words, they just gave up of the character and didn't want to bother exploring either his present or past relationships with Bulkhead, sacrificing opportunity for shock fodder.

Still it was good, the character arch they hinted at for him was so cliche and done to death that I rolled my eyes every time they hinted at him redeeming himself.
So him dying just like that came as a huge shock and surprise and is actually kinda refreshing. And one of the things I like about Prime, that it mixed stuff up a little.

The interview also talks about Airachnid's fate, in which they purposely chose not to give her story closure, leaving it up in the air and unresolved for the foreseeable future.

And that is a bad thing? All it means is that once the sequel series comes out, they'll have an opportunity to bind them closer together by bringing it back up.

[Sabrblade]

And that is a bad thing? All it means is that once the sequel series comes out, they'll have an opportunity to bind them closer together by bringing it back up.

If there is a sequel series.

With all that's happened as a late, I'm starting to wonder if the Aligned Continuity might be coming to end after AOE or so, since the next series is going to rely on how AOE turns out rather than on any plans that were laid out by previous parties, and said parties who were responsible for the Aligned continuity (Aaron Archer, Rik Alvarez, the whole department Alvarez work for, etc.) are all gone from Hasbro, Rescue Bots season 2's airing keeps getting pushed back, and the release of the Covenant of Primus feels like it was done to give everyone all of the continuity up to the present in one go instead of gradually over time like it seemed like it was originally.


But the point I was trying to get at was that these guys created plot-threads that they implied to be important to these characters, but ultimately decided not to follow through with them and gave them no real development or closure.

It's like if the Beast Wars guys decided to kill off Dinobot immediately after "Maximal No More" instead of guiding his story to its proper conclusion in "Code of Hero".

[PrymeStriker]

I saw that in my mag.

In other words, they just gave up of the character and didn't want to bother exploring either his present or past relationships with Bulkhead, sacrificing opportunity for shock fodder.

Well, there is one thing I kind of agreed with from that article. Exploring it the way they did with Arcee and Airachnid would have seemed redundant.

HOWEVER, not alluding to it or covering it at all is where they fell short. Hell, just one quick little line from Bulkhead as to what sparked their rivalry would have satisfied me more than "we have a history."

The interview also talks about Airachnid's fate, in which they purposely chose not to give her story closure, leaving it up in the air and unresolved for the foreseeable future.

Airachnid's story closure was kind of half-assed if you ask me. I mean, Airachnid and Arcee's rivalry was closed when she shoved her into that stasis pod back in Armada. However, there was no explanation as to why she could control the Insecticons and was only left to plot convenience.

I suppose this is something that the next show can touch upon to merge the two stories like Dead Metal suggested.

[Dead Metal]

And that is a bad thing? All it means is that once the sequel series comes out, they'll have an opportunity to bind them closer together by bringing it back up.

If there is a sequel series.

With all that's happened as a late, I'm starting to wonder if the Aligned Continuity might be coming to end after AOE or so, since the next series is going to rely on how AOE turns out rather than on any plans that were laid out by previous parties, and said parties who were responsible for the Aligned continuity (Aaron Archer, Rik Alvarez, the whole department Alvarez work for, etc.) are all gone from Hasbro, Rescue Bots season 2's airing keeps getting pushed back, and the release of the Covenant of Primus feels like it was done to give everyone all of the continuity up to the present in one go instead of gradually over time like it seemed like it was originally.

I believe we'll get a sequel series, they're already making decisions about it, with tone and violence levels, and Prime was pretty well received.
Then there is the whole thing with the Dinobots, High Moon was the force behind bringing them into the Aligned universe, the Prime team wanted to bring them into the show but couldn't.
Bay hated the concept and stated he wouldn't ever put them in one of his movies, and yet AOE seems to focus heavily on Dinobots.
So I believe the sequel series is going to have Dinobots in it, and be set on both Cybertron and Earth. It doesn't matter that most of the team behind the Aligned Universe is gone now, the work they did, the binder and the notes are still with Hasbro, and I believe Hasbro has put too much work and money into this project to simply let it die and start over.

But the point I was trying to get at was that these guys created plot-threads that they implied to be important to these characters, but ultimately decided not to follow through with them and gave them no real development or closure.

It's like if the Beast Wars guys decided to kill off Dinobot immediately after "Maximal No More" instead of guiding his story to its proper conclusion in "Code of Hero".

Stuff like this happens all the times in real life. Besides, A Song of Ice and Fire does that on a regular basis, and so far I haven't heard anyone claim that was crap or lazy for doing it.

[kaijuguy19]

I saw that in my mag.

In other words, they just gave up of the character and didn't want to bother exploring either his present or past relationships with Bulkhead, sacrificing opportunity for shock fodder.

Still it was good, the character arch they hinted at for him was so cliche and done to death that I rolled my eyes every time they hinted at him redeeming himself.
So him dying just like that came as a huge shock and surprise and is actually kinda refreshing. And one of the things I like about Prime, that it mixed stuff up a little.

The interview also talks about Airachnid's fate, in which they purposely chose not to give her story closure, leaving it up in the air and unresolved for the foreseeable future.

And that is a bad thing? All it means is that once the sequel series comes out, they'll have an opportunity to bind them closer together by bringing it back up.

But the problem is that we didn't see enough backstory with Breakdown to get a full conclusion with why Bulkhead and he aren't friends anymore that's what people are upset about and for good reason. If we had enough backstory with him and perhaps him being more helpful to Bulkhead it would've been a little different but no that never happened. There's still a lot to be down with him and his story was cut short before it even began. As much as I like the show this is something I can't ignore.

I don't know if the guy who explained it was the only one who thought Breakdown was that much of an A-Hole despite you know the show showing that he's far from being truely evil or all of the writers think that way but either way just leaving the backstory up to the imagination for kids is not a good idea. They're not stupid and I really hope they don't view kids as being simple minded to accept a more fleashed out backstory. I've asked Miss Scott about this on Tumblr if it's true or not and if she does she agree. So far she hasn't answered back yet.

All the same I'm glad that Shockwave and Predaking aren't killed off along with Darksteel,Sky Lynx and Airachnid so that there's a least a chance for them to have larger roles in a possible sequel.

[Sodan-1]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

[Sabrblade]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

It's faker than fake can get. Some yahoo made it up on Wikipedia and IMDB.

[Sodan-1]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

It's faker than fake can get. Some yahoo made it up on Wikipedia and IMDB.

Nuts.

[Sabrblade]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

It's faker than fake can get. Some yahoo made it up on Wikipedia and IMDB.

Nuts.

There's also the note that it was never reported here as news despite the Seibertron News Team being so on top of things.

[Sodan-1]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

It's faker than fake can get. Some yahoo made it up on Wikipedia and IMDB.

Nuts.

There's also the note that it was never reported here as news despite the Seibertron News Team being so on top of things.

Alright. There's no need to be caustic. Jesus I was only asking a question. I'm so sorry I stepped into your elitist circle.

[Sabrblade]

What's everyone's thoughts on Powerful Alliances? I'm loving to initial plot but looking at the rumoured names of characters and corresponding cast my initial reaction would have to be that it's too good to be true.

It's faker than fake can get. Some yahoo made it up on Wikipedia and IMDB.

Nuts.

There's also the note that it was never reported here as news despite the Seibertron News Team being so on top of things.

Alright. There's no need to be caustic. Jesus I was only asking a question. I'm so sorry I stepped into your elitist circle.

Cursed Internet's inability to properly convey emotion.

That wasn't meant to caustic (nice word, btw), just an unopinionated, neutral observation.

[Sabrblade]

But my issue with their treatment of Breakdown is how they introduced him as this guy who was strongly implied to bring with him something substantial to the story, and yet ultimately brought nothing of the sort.

We're introduced to him in episode 10 as Bulkhead's rival, which at first seems kinda cool and promising. We're left to wonder "Why do they hate each other?" And within this same episode Bulkhead gives us the first piece of the puzzle: "[They] have a history."

So now we're left thinking, "Oh neat, let's see where they go with this."

He next appears in episode 11, buffing Megatron's body. A nice little moment of humor and charm that could be a our first look at a less destructive side of him. After all, he is Knock Out's best friend and assistant, so he's gotta have some experience in areas outside of combat, right?

Well, then comes the fight scene where he does just that: Fight. No progression here, but there is still potential.

Episode 14 was his next appearance, in which he just fought the Autobots again. Though, it was Bulkhead that he primarily fought here, so could there be some more bits to their story seen here? Nadda.

Come episode 16 and we finally get some decent exploration into the guy's personality. Or rather, into the surface of it since the most depth we get is when he's shocked to learn that Autobots (rather than Decepticons) were trying to save him, then when he first teams up with Bulkhead against MECH and then backstabs him when Starscream shows up. And there's also the other side of the conflict with Bulkhead being reluctant to save him and only doing so after some misguided encouragement from Miko. While it's all a step in the right direction, we're ultimately given no more about their history or their rivalry than when we first met Breakdown.

Episode 18 was next for Breakdown, in which he was just a typical Decepticon wanting to redeem himself in the eyes of his leader (as any Con would want in his case) and then once more as Bulkhead's dance partner combat counterpart, with anything between the two still going unexplored and undeveloped.

Likewise, episode 21 had him fighting Bulkhead again, and that's it. By now, it's starting to feel like any chances of this guy actually having the implied story arc between him and Bulkhead being looked into beyond "We have a history" are slim to none.

Episode 22 had him once more as ground fodder with a name, though he did at least get one scene in which he admitted having taken an interest in Airachnid. Could this be something to explore with him?

Episodes 26, 27, 28, 30, and 31 had him as nobody special, though he did get a cute gag scene in episode 28. But, let's face it, it was Fowler, not Breakdown, who made that scene fun with his Star Wars reference.

And then finally came his last living appearance in episode 33, in which he was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb for MECH to happen upon. He was killed off before his story could even be told, as all of his previous appearances kept wasting their time getting on it.

And what's more is that it was Airachnid who killed him, and did so because he was trying to kill her. Trying to kill the very same fembot he had previously mentioned having taken an interest in, as though he had never said that at all.

We spent 13 out of 24 episodes with this guy, in which he started off promising but ultimately ended up as wasted material. He came into this show with the seeds for something interesting, only for said seeds to instead keep delaying their growth until they were dug up, cut apart, and burned to ash after having only sprout nothing beyond their roots.

TL:DR - He came in as Bulkhead's rival. We ask "What's the story of their rivalry?" Bulkhead says "We have a history." We say "Alright, so what's their history? And how will their story play out?" Show says "Stay tuned." We stay tuned. He keeps appearing, we keep asking. Show doesn't answer, so we wait and see. Still no answers. Episode 33 happens. We are bummed, for Breakdown turned out to be nothing more than a tease.



And the same could be said about their deciding not to properly conclude Airachnid's story. Her story with Arcee was similarly mistreated.

Episode 12 - Airachnid appears, ticks off Arcee, they fight, Airachnid retreats.

Episode 17 - Airachnid returns, ticks off Arcee, they fight, Airachnid retreats.

Episode 18 - Airachnid returns again, ticks off Arcee again, they fight again, Airachnid retreats again (though, this time is due to her being stuck to Breakdown)

Episode 20 - Airachnid manipulates Starscream, ticks off Arcee, they fight briefly, Airachnid retreats to go after the Immobilizer, she fights the other Autobots, Bumblebee beats her, and she retreats for real this time.

Episodes 23, 24, and 25 - she only briefly appears here and doesn't really do anything

Episode 26 - she tries to overthrow Megatron, but is beaten by Soundwave. None of her story with Arcee here

Episode 33 - Megatron orders her to be killed, but she escapes death and pits Megatron against an Insecticon. Arcee fights her again, Airachnid is shot by Starscream, and Airachnid retreats, this time to an Insecticon hive (how it got there is yet another thing that received no explanation either).

Episode 36 - she sents her Insecticons to attack everybody, Arcee fights her, and then she's put on ice in a stasis pod.

Episodes 44, 49, 53, 55 - she's a nice piece of furniture

Episode 60 - she's freed from her pod, turned into a vampire, dumped on a moon, and never looked into again.

No character growth for her, no resolution for Arcee's thirst for vengeance, no proper send off to Airachnid whatsoever. Just a complete and utter surrender by the writers.

[spongedude93]

We spent 13 out of 24 episodes with this guy, in which he started off promising but ultimately ended up as wasted material. He came into this show with the seeds for something interesting, only for said seeds to instead keep delaying their growth until they were dug up, cut apart, and burned to ash after having only sprout nothing beyond their roots.

Well at least he got a cool toy? Even if it is only available in japan

And the same could be said about their deciding not to properly conclude Airachnid's story. Her story with Arcee was similarly mistreated.

At least she got... hmm

[kaijuguy19]

I wonder if they planned this same way of stupid plot handeling on the rest of the arcs in Prime the same way they did Breakdown's or were they planned out longer at first but then were made to cut short by Hasbro? I wouldn't be too shocked if it was but all the same I'd like to know.

[VirusCarnage]

I wonder if they planned this same way of stupid plot handeling on the rest of the arcs in Prime the same way they did Breakdown's or were they planned out longer at first but then were made to cut short by Hasbro? I wouldn't be too shocked if it was but all the same I'd like to know.

Didn't they say in the S3 audio commentaries that some stuff like Breakdowns story and mech got cut short because beast hunters was dumped upon them?

[Sabrblade]

I wonder if they planned this same way of stupid plot handeling on the rest of the arcs in Prime the same way they did Breakdown's or were they planned out longer at first but then were made to cut short by Hasbro? I wouldn't be too shocked if it was but all the same I'd like to know.

Well, they did mention that the reason season 2 itself was put on fast forward was because Hasbro sprung the Predacons on them at the eleventh hour, forcing them to wrap up or cut short all of their three-to-four years of story material by that season's end, to make room for the Predacons in season 3.

EDIT: Ninja'd by viruscarnage.

[PrymeStriker]

I'm happy with what they did with Breakdown after death, but they didn't handle him very well before. Regardless, Breakdown is still my favorite character and I'm glad I paid for his toy's import.

Airachnid's ability to control the Insecticons is the one thing I didn't like about the show as a whole. Sure, things like Bulkhead's recovery irked me, but Airachnid was a really big waste. It's a shame too. She was a really cool character.

Is it considered weird how I can complain about quite a few things on this show yet I still think it's the best show we've gotten from Transformers?

P.S: Congratulations! This post is the third time my keyboard has froze on me at a Transformers site today!

[Dead Metal]

So they teased us with something they never meant to follow up on, that's what I feel is so cool about it. It made us expect the tired old clishe of bad guy who isn't that bad and will redeem himself, and then it kills those expectations by well killing him.
Just like they did with Cliffjumper.
Killed him in the first 5 minutes, then in the second episode they bring in the whole "Dark Energon may bring people back to life" line, and then they bring in his corpse so we'Re all like "yay, he'll be a show character after all!"
And then it turns out it turns corpses into zombies.


Same goes for A Song of Ice and Fire, "One day I'll tell you my terrible secrete and who your mother is Jon!"
"Oh noes, they capturds me and tried me for treason!"
"Well grant you mercy Ned Stark and spare your life!"
"Oh noes, they're chopping of my head!"

It's called a fake out.

I mean, did you really want to see the same old villain redeems himself story after seeing it in like half of all cartoons, and every single anime ever again?

Part of the history is likely the reason for Breakdown's brawler Prime body, I read somewhere (actually I think it was one of your posts) that Bulkhead f**ked him up, after which Breakdown adopted this larger more powerful body to be able to defend himself against him, loosing the paranoia he had during WFC in the process. So they hated each other because, well revenge.

Besides, if they see how we care for it, they can still have flashbacks to it in the sequel series.

And again, the whole Airachnid thing is likely done so they have something to reference and bring back up for a sequel. I mean we all want a sequel and we all want it to be tied in as much as possible, so having a plot thread from a previous show is perfect.

And yes, I think we're getting one, not next year, it will likely be around 2015, but we'll get one.