The Energon Pub

I know they officially put the Cybertron games as part of the TF Prime continuity. However, averyone and their mothers can see it was forced as hell. Some consider the games as events prior to G1.

Well, by my supreme God-like Authority, I declare that Hasbro and the fans are WRONG!

It can't be G1 mostly because of the huge differences in aestetics and obviously, the events of Episode 1 of the Cartoon. As for Prime making these events as the "beginning" of TF Prime, it's like shoving the thootpaste back into the rolled-up tube. It just dosent work.

And I have proof. Because of ONE bot.

Who?

*Drumroll please*


rumble rumble


rumble rumble


rumble rumble


rumble rumble


rumble rumble


GRIMLOCK!



It destroy any G1 continuity because Wheeljack was the one who created the Dinobots on Earth, millions of years after the events of the games.

As for Prime, are you telling me that THIS guy:



...is the same bot as in the games? Impossible.

................
.....................................
So, what do you think? What would be the next chapter in the game's continuity if all the Transformers go to Earth? Any other theories?

Virtually no one thinks that those two are same guy.

Yeah.... you're saying it's not G1, but what you mean is it's not G1 toon. And it's not. But the writers did make it (wfc at least) to be G1. They never sepcified which G1, it's more like it's its own subset of G1. So under G1, you have:


Cartoon.
Marvel comics.
IDW Comics.
DW Comics.
WFC games.
Devastation game.


All fall under G1, but are all their own continuities. Obviously, the WFC is officially not part of G1, but you know what I'm saying.

For me, there is only ONE TRUE G1. Meaning the original show.
Even still...... It does split with the last American season and the japanese series.

Man, TF verses are so

It's all a matter of opinion. I saw the TV show when I was younger, and I liked it back then. Now? I couldn't sit through 22 minutes. The animated movie I could watch over and over, but the episodes of the TV show are horrendous. The Marvel comics, on the other hand, hold up very well creative wise, even to the stuff being churned out by IDW currently. Especially after Furman took it over. Simon Furman in his prime is unbeatable. Too bad he sucks now. James Roberts is good, but if I was forced to choose, I would choose the Marvel comics over any other continuity. The WFC story can be fit into that continuity, with a little imagination. In the comics, the Ark simply awakened the Dinobots and configured them to look like Earth dinosaurs, it's not stated that they didn't have beast alt modes before. Even though I think War Within Grimlock is awesome. But War Within could have come even before WFC. So it's all about personal views and how creative you are.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The WFC story can be fit into that continuity, with a little imagination. In the comics, the Ark simply awakened the Dinobots and configured them to look like Earth dinosaurs, it's not stated that they didn't have beast alt modes before.

We did, at least, see Swoop's pre-Earth jet altmode once, though:



Back when he was known as "Divebomb" and a member of the Elite Flying Corps.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:The WFC story can be fit into that continuity, with a little imagination. In the comics, the Ark simply awakened the Dinobots and configured them to look like Earth dinosaurs, it's not stated that they didn't have beast alt modes before.

We did, at least, see Swoop's pre-Earth jet altmode once, though:



Back when he was known as "Divebomb" and a member of the Elite Flying Corps.

Is that from the UK comics?

Rodimus Prime wrote:Is that from the UK comics?

Yep. The awesome UK comics.

In the spirit of the thread, here's my own (kinda crappy and likely a bit wrong, but that's ok) order of events for the "aligned" continuity:

1. Covenant of Primus, with the caveat that it ends up spanning most of this timeline by the end chapters. Starts here though, at any rate.
2. War for Cybertron comic, parts of Exodus novel
3. War for Cybertron game, parts of Exodus novel
4. Parts of the Rise of the Dark Spark game
5. Fall of Cybertron, parts of Exodus novel
6. Exiles novel
7. Retribution novel
8. Prime one-shot comic
9. Prime Season 1 and I guess Rescue Bots starts somewhere in here
10. Prime Season 2 and the Prime videogame
11. Rage of the Dinobots comic
12. Prime Season 3
13. Beast Hunters comic issues 1-4
14. Predacons Rising
15. Beast Hunters comic issues 5-8
16. Robots in Disguise Season 1 and comic

It doesn't really work at all, but it can if you ignore a whole lot of details.

ScottyP wrote:In the spirit of the thread, here's my own (kinda crappy and likely a bit wrong, but that's ok) order of events for the "aligned" continuity:

1. Covenant of Primus, with the caveat that it ends up spanning most of this timeline by the end chapters. Starts here though, at any rate.
2. War for Cybertron comic, parts of Exodus novel
3. War for Cybertron game, parts of Exodus novel
4. Parts of the Rise of the Dark Spark game
5. Fall of Cybertron, parts of Exodus novel
6. Exiles novel
7. Retribution novel
8. Prime one-shot comic
9. Prime Season 1 and I guess Rescue Bots starts somewhere in here
10. Prime Season 2 and the Prime videogame
11. Rage of the Dinobots comic
12. Prime Season 3
13. Beast Hunters comic issues 1-4
14. Predacons Rising
15. Beast Hunters comic issues 5-8
16. Robots in Disguise Season 1 and comic

It doesn't really work at all, but it can if you ignore a whole lot of details.

The only thing I'd rearrange is putting Rage of the Dinobots higher up between Retribution and the Prime graphic novel since it opens with the final wave of the evacuation of Cybertron. Sure, that would mean Magnus took forever to get to Earth, but whatevs.

-Kanrabat- wrote:For me, there is only ONE TRUE G1. Meaning the original show.

the one you call the TRUE G1 isint even thew first g1 to be released

Even still...... It does split with the last American season and the japanese series.

actually it splits before that, with Scramble city

Insurgent wrote:Yeah.... you're saying it's not G1, but what you mean is it's not G1 toon. And it's not. But the writers did make it (wfc at least) to be G1. They never sepcified which G1, it's more like it's its own subset of G1. So under G1, you have:


Cartoon.
Marvel comics.
IDW Comics.
DW Comics.
WFC games.
Devastation game.


All fall under G1, but are all their own continuities. Obviously, the WFC is officially not part of G1, but you know what I'm saying.

you forgot a few buddy

I was just listing the main ones that came to my head. I had no intention of going into classics/tfcc/wings of honour/ the other 50 bazillion iterations of G1 out there.

Insurgent wrote:I was just listing the main ones that came to my head. I had no intention of going into classics/tfcc/wings of honour/ the other 50 bazillion iterations of G1 out there.

Sabrblade wrote:The only thing I'd rearrange is putting Rage of the Dinobots higher up between Retribution and the Prime graphic novel since it opens with the final wave of the evacuation of Cybertron. Sure, that would mean Magnus took forever to get to Earth, but whatevs.

Heh, yeah I guess it could go either place. The only thing I really remembered well from it was Magnus leaving at the end. One of the rare, super well timed points of "alignment" for this continuity that's just about anything but!

-Kanrabat- wrote:I know they officially put the Cybertron games as part of the TF Prime continuity.

Which is ridiculous, as the games and Prime are clearly not the same continuity at all, not even in the way G1 comic and G1 cartoon sort of but not exactly were. Grimlock's hardly the only character who's completely different in WFC/FOC from Prime/RID15.

There might be a few similarities in there, as all Transformers continuities have some similarities if you look hard enough, but that whole "aligned" nonsense just doesn't hold water.

I honestly have to wonder, if the games and the Prime cartoon had both been rendered in a similar visual aesthetic art style (rather than the games having a G1-inspired look and the show having a movie/Animated hybrid inspired look), but keeping the voice casts, character rosters, and stories completely the same as they were, and with all the characters in each medium still having distinct-looking body forms (but now rendered in a similar art style despite the game/Cybertronian and show/Earth body designs being different), would the idea of the two mediums having a connection still feel so jarring?

Sabrblade wrote:I honestly have to wonder, if the games and the Prime cartoon had both been rendered in a similar visual aesthetic art style (rather than the games having a G1-inspired look and the show having a movie/Animated hybrid inspired look), but keeping the voice casts, character rosters, and stories completely the same as they were, and with all the characters in each medium still having distinct-looking body forms (but now rendered in a similar art style despite the game/Cybertronian and show/Earth body designs being different), would the idea of the two mediums having a connection still feel so jarring?

A little less, obviously. Still, too many things does not add up story-wise.

The way I always sum up my feelings on RiD 2015 is that it's a great show, but a terrible sequel.

Transformers Prime... kind of worked as being in the same continuity of War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron, despite the difference in demographic of TFP being a cartoon and WfC/FoC being an adult gamer-aimed series meaning they couldn't have certain... things the latter did.
However, they came with similar themes, plot points and the same general feel. A very serious TF universe inspired by all that came before - but with the Movieverse and various iterations of G1 being the main inspirations - with the same anchor plot points of Dark Energon being very present in both and Cybetron being destroyed. There were a few nagging points like the characters suddenly having wildly different designs, but it's not anything too new to Transformers and you could sort of reconcile the two. It required a bit of effort, but it wasn't impossible to see the two as connected.

RiD 2015 is wholly different. It has a completely different feel to it, a completely different aesthetic, it really doesn't feel like what came before it... which is fine.
For a new universe.
That's the problem. It's great for what it goes for. It's fun in what it does and there is a lot to enjoy about it; it's definitely up there with the likes of Beast Wars, Animated and TFP in terms of a good Transformers show (though I do prefer the former three). But it just does not work as a sequel. Just about every episode something happens that contradicts the serious theming of the games and Prime. They wouldn't have had Buffalocons or whatever, they certainly wouldn't have had something like Bisk, and there's things that straight-out seem to contradict things rather than just being difficult to see as the same universe - every criminal is a Decepticon? Like... sorry, but I'm pretty sure the previous fiction - within the same universe - established Decepticons as an organized faction and to an extent a political party. And now Grimlock gets called one because he caused a bit of property damage? Chop Shop is a Decepticon because he's a thief? Unless this is hinting at something about Cybertron's corruption already said to be in the ending of Season 2 - and if it was, you think someone would have mentioned something about the definition of Decepticons being a bit different - this isn't compatible in the slightest.
And, yes, then there's the whole Grimlock thing. Unless he decided to reformat his body and get a lobotomy after the war - which, again, you think someone would have said something - it's really not compatible as the same guy.

All in all RiD 2015, while certainly very good and leagues above the likes of Armada we were getting years ago, simply doesn't work as a sequel to TFP and I believe it would have benefited extremely if it was established as a new universe. It certainly doesn't benefit in any way from being a sequel other than "omg ratchet's back!"
And then he barely does anything the two episodes
And then he leaves
Bye Ratchet it was nice seeing you I think

Kurona wrote:RiD 2015 is wholly different. It has a completely different feel to it, a completely different aesthetic, it really doesn't feel like what came before it...

The thing is, both WFC/FOC and Prime heavily focused on something that RID has superseded: Misery. RID feels so different since it's after all the turmoil and tragedy of war has finally come to an end. The games and Prime both centered all around warfare and combat dread. When you bring those to a formal end, things are allowed to become happier again.

Imagine if we were to get another new story set in this timeline, but during the Golden Age, long before the Great War and also prior to the coming of the Rust Plague. Set during an era of prosperity and exploration, chances are the story would have a more cheerful and happy tone compared to the games and Prime, as that would befit such a peaceful pre-war time in Cybertron's history. Likewise, RID's uplifting tone befits its own post-war time and setting.

Kurona wrote:That's the problem. It's great for what it goes for. It's fun in what it does and there is a lot to enjoy about it; it's definitely up there with the likes of Beast Wars, Animated and TFP in terms of a good Transformers show (though I do prefer the former three). But it just does not work as a sequel. Just about every episode something happens that contradicts the serious theming of the games and Prime. They wouldn't have had Buffalocons or whatever, they certainly wouldn't have had something like Bisk, and there's things that straight-out seem to contradict things rather than just being difficult to see as the same universe

The Covenant of Primus revealed that the Well of All Sparks gave birth to all kinds of Cybertronian fauna. It's not too far of a stretch to think that some could have evolved over the course of several eons to become on the same level as the humanoid bipedal Cybertronians.

Kurona wrote:every criminal is a Decepticon? Like... sorry, but I'm pretty sure the previous fiction - within the same universe - established Decepticons as an organized faction and to an extent a political party. And now Grimlock gets called one because he caused a bit of property damage? Chop Shop is a Decepticon because he's a thief? Unless this is hinting at something about Cybertron's corruption already said to be in the ending of Season 2 - and if it was, you think someone would have mentioned something about the definition of Decepticons being a bit different - this isn't compatible in the slightest.

Megatron did end the Decepticon faction, so now that the term is being used to refer to criminals does raise some questions. But rather than writing that off as a blatant contradiction of what came before, shouldn't we instead wait and see what, if anything, happens about this further down the road? After all, you said so yourself that Season 2's finale hinted at corruption within Cybertron's authorities. Maybe whoever's now in charge has taken to branding criminals as Decepticons and Optimus is gonna look into that. Right now, we're stuck at a point of "wait and see".

Kurona wrote:And, yes, then there's the whole Grimlock thing. Unless he decided to reformat his body and get a lobotomy after the war - which, again, you think someone would have said something - it's really not compatible as the same guy.

Sideswipe and Kickback are just as different from their Great War namesakes. The makers of the show have stated that they view this Grimlock as a new guy, so it could stand to reason that now only are Sideswipe and Kickback new guys as well, but that they could have all been birthed from the Well after Optimus revived it in his sacrifice.

Two characters sharing a name would be acceptable if they weren't explicitly based on the same character archetype. I mean, it's already a fairly big coincidence to find two Transformers with the same name, given how their naming convention is totally different from ours, but then to find to find they both have the same alt mode, the same personality, and belong to the same faction? Yeaaaah.... not buying it.


And I don't see the show actually doing something with the whole branding regular criminals as , with how the show just doesn't want to do anything. It's a terrifyingly loaded concept, the equivalent of modern America branding every petty thug with the Confederate Flag... but the show only wants to deal in the most simplistic terms possible. Steeljaw, Fracture, and Soundwave are all the same because they're Decepticons; no difference at all (ignore the different origins), nope none at all.

Or the writers just wanted to dumb down the show to make it more... kid friendly.

Sabrblade wrote:

Kurona wrote:RiD 2015 is wholly different. It has a completely different feel to it, a completely different aesthetic, it really doesn't feel like what came before it...

The thing is, both WFC/FOC and Prime heavily focused on something that RID has superseded: Misery. RID feels so different since it's after all the turmoil and tragedy of war has finally come to an end. The games and Prime both centered all around warfare and combat dread. When you bring those to a formal end, things are allowed to become happier again.

Imagine if we were to get another new story set in this timeline, but during the Golden Age, long before the Great War and also prior to the coming of the Rust Plague. Set during an era of prosperity and exploration, chances are the story would have a more cheerful and happy tone compared to the games and Prime, as that would befit such a peaceful pre-war time in Cybertron's history. Likewise, RID's uplifting tone befits its own post-war time and setting.

Kurona wrote:That's the problem. It's great for what it goes for. It's fun in what it does and there is a lot to enjoy about it; it's definitely up there with the likes of Beast Wars, Animated and TFP in terms of a good Transformers show (though I do prefer the former three). But it just does not work as a sequel. Just about every episode something happens that contradicts the serious theming of the games and Prime. They wouldn't have had Buffalocons or whatever, they certainly wouldn't have had something like Bisk, and there's things that straight-out seem to contradict things rather than just being difficult to see as the same universe

The Covenant of Primus revealed that the Well of All Sparks gave birth to all kinds of Cybertronian fauna. It's not too far of a stretch to think that some could have evolved over the course of several eons to become on the same level as the humanoid bipedal Cybertronians.

Kurona wrote:every criminal is a Decepticon? Like... sorry, but I'm pretty sure the previous fiction - within the same universe - established Decepticons as an organized faction and to an extent a political party. And now Grimlock gets called one because he caused a bit of property damage? Chop Shop is a Decepticon because he's a thief? Unless this is hinting at something about Cybertron's corruption already said to be in the ending of Season 2 - and if it was, you think someone would have mentioned something about the definition of Decepticons being a bit different - this isn't compatible in the slightest.

Megatron did end the Decepticon faction, so now that the term is being used to refer to criminals does raise some questions. But rather than writing that off as a blatant contradiction of what came before, shouldn't we instead wait and see what, if anything, happens about this further down the road? After all, you said so yourself that Season 2's finale hinted at corruption within Cybertron's authorities. Maybe whoever's now in charge has taken to branding criminals as Decepticons and Optimus is gonna look into that. Right now, we're stuck at a point of "wait and see".

Kurona wrote:And, yes, then there's the whole Grimlock thing. Unless he decided to reformat his body and get a lobotomy after the war - which, again, you think someone would have said something - it's really not compatible as the same guy.

Sideswipe and Kickback are just as different from their Great War namesakes. The makers of the show have stated that they view this Grimlock as a new guy, so it could stand to reason that now only are Sideswipe and Kickback new guys as well, but that they could have all been birthed from the Well after Optimus revived it in his sacrifice.

The thing is, I'm not asking for an explanation pieced together from a lot of speculation and looking at every single piece of fiction related to the universe - and honestly, who's read the covenant of Primus? - I'm asking for the show to make sense of itself so it doesn't raise questions for it's viewers.
I understand that with all the pieces laid out, maybe it could make sense. Maybe this Grimlock and this Sideswipe and this Kickback are completely different people. Maybe all these weirdass Cybertronian creatures now exist... because well of allsparks, which seems a bit like a "we can do anything now" excuse machine. MAYBE Decepticons are now just branded criminals, which is quite a bit dickish.
But the show does not try to explain any of this. If all this was the case, do you not think Bumblebee would have mentioned he had a friend called Sideswipe during the war? One throwaway line, that's all it takes. Just a little nod to the people who played the games and are still holding onto the thin thread the Aligned continuity is also hanging on by. Wouldn't he have said something about Grimlock and Kickback as well? Hell, they could have even made a whole thing about that! Have him learn about a guy called Kickback, have him approach dangerously because he thinks it's the Kickback he knew about during the war, and then have him find out it's a totally different dude. That would connect continuity, not be a really distracting and contrived reference for the sake of reference and would form a comedic center for the story. Wouldn't Optimus have commented on the Decepticons now being criminals? He's been dead all this time, the last time he heard of the Decepticons Megatron broke up the band. So he's not the tiniest bit curious why there's a bunch of guys calling themselves Decepticons running around that are, in concept and purpose, completely different from the Decepticons he knew before? It doesn't take much effort - RiD has shown this sort of willingness to disambiguate before by having the guys ask Fixit if Megatronus is the Megatron they knew from TFP, so what's the big problem?
In addition to all that, your arguments don't exactly work for the universe itself. All this Fauna could have been created after TFP, okay. Bit weird and it doesn't make much sense beyond the Allspark being a **** plot device, but okay.
But then we get to Season 2 Episode 11 - spoilers upcoming by the way, sorry - where we meet a Decepticon called Stockade. Who seems to be based on some sort of rodent or armadillo or something, no-one seems to know really - but the point he's as animal-based as most of the Decepticons in the series. And Fixit specifically calls him out as being one of Megatron's generals during the war. Hence, he can't have come from the Well of Allsparks like you're saying, he was literally around during the previous series.
Which... which is really hard to take seriously. This guy was running around as one of the best generals during the War for Cybertron. This guy. This really bad cartoonish general stereotype weirdly based on a rodent/armadillo/whatever animal. It's... just a little bit hard to imagine him within the same context as WfC/FoC. Just a little bit.

And as for your first paragraph, I get where you're coming from, but I'm not exactly asking for it to be all misery guts and depressing either. When I say it's not as serious as what came before, I'm not literally asking for Sideswipe and Quillfire to be revealed to have really depressing, dark backstories that causes them to listen to Linkin Park and write Poetry every two days. I'm just saying that if you're making a sequel to one of if not the most serious-minded Transformers cartoons to date, and you're marketing it to people who were a really big fan of that, do not completely change it to be probably the most childish Transformers cartoon to date, going out of your way to bring in ridiculous things that work for a new show, but only serve to detract people coming off of Prime.
Especially since there were a shitton of unresolved things in Prime! Where's Predaking? What's happening with Airachnid on the moon? What are the remaining Decepticons going to do when Megatron's officially disbanded and Starscream very much implied to have been killed? Where did Shockwave go? What are all the Autobots going to turn their efforts to? Will Ratchet follow on with his plan to join up with his friends on Earth? How will Knock Out deal with being on the Autobots' side now? How will Cybertron develop?
If you're gonna make a sequel to something so open-ended and with so many things unanswered... make a goddamn sequel that deals with some of these questions, instead of making a completely new show with a completely different tone which might happen to take place in the same universe, but it's really **** hard to accept that it does when there's so many contradictory things.
A good sequel has something very new, but also ties in with what we saw before. There has to be some sort of anchor point other than "focus is now on a side character who is different in just about every way to how we saw him before". To say TFP is getting a sequel and do nothing that makes said sequel work as a sequel, it might as well not be a goddamn sequel. At the end of the day, ask - Does TFP benefit from having RiD 2015 as a sequel, and does RiD 2015 benefit from being a sequel to TFP? For the record, my answer to both is a very large No.

Again, RiD is a fine show on it's own, but as a sequel I think it works even worse than Cybertron connecting to the Unicron Trilogy. Which... is not an easy thing to say.

Noideaforaname wrote:Two characters sharing a name would be acceptable if they weren't explicitly based on the same character archetype. I mean, it's already a fairly big coincidence to find two Transformers with the same name, given how their naming convention is totally different from ours, but then to find to find they both have the same alt mode, the same personality, and belong to the same faction? Yeaaaah.... not buying it.

Grimlock and Grimlock don't have the same personality, though. One's a brooding, ill-tempered, borderline savage leader with a dark past and a need to keep himself under control, the other's a happy-go-lucky, simpleminded goofball with a heart of gold and a penchant for punching things.

And RID Sideswipe is way more rebellious and self-absorbed than WFC Sideswipe ever was. I'd say the former has way more personality than the latter, as the latter's personality mostly consisted a making jokey comments and sarcastic quips, while RID Sideswipe has many more sides to himself than that.

And, well, RID Sideswipe never served in the war like WFC Sideswipe did, and never met or knew Jazz when WFC Sideswipe was Jazz's contemporary.

Two characters being based on the same past character has happened before in the past. Armada Tidal Wave and Energon Shockblast were both based on G1 Shockwave despite the two of them coexisting in the same universe.

Kurona wrote:and honestly, who's read the covenant of Primus?

Many people on this and other boards? There was a whole thread for it.

Kurona wrote:But the show does not try to explain any of this. If all this was the case, do you not think Bumblebee would have mentioned he had a friend called Sideswipe during the war? One throwaway line, that's all it takes. Just a little nod to the people who played the games and are still holding onto the thin thread the Aligned continuity is also hanging on by. Wouldn't he have said something about Grimlock and Kickback as well? Hell, they could have even made a whole thing about that! Have him learn about a guy called Kickback, have him approach dangerously because he thinks it's the Kickback he knew about during the war, and then have him find out it's a totally different dude. That would connect continuity, not be a really distracting and contrived reference for the sake of reference and would form a comedic center for the story. Wouldn't Optimus have commented on the Decepticons now being criminals? He's been dead all this time, the last time he heard of the Decepticons Megatron broke up the band. So he's not the tiniest bit curious why there's a bunch of guys calling themselves Decepticons running around that are, in concept and purpose, completely different from the Decepticons he knew before? It doesn't take much effort - RiD has shown this sort of willingness to disambiguate before by having the guys ask Fixit if Megatronus is the Megatron they knew from TFP, so what's the big problem?

I guess the makers don't want to feel bogged down by what all came before and/or alienate new viewers by referencing things they haven't seen.

As sad as that is.

Kurona wrote:In addition to all that, your arguments don't exactly work for the universe itself. All this Fauna could have been created after TFP, okay. Bit weird and it doesn't make much sense beyond the Allspark being a **** plot device, but okay.

Wait, I didn't say that. Or didn't mean to make it sound that way. When I mentioned the Well creating Cybertronian fauna that could have evolved later, I meant that it created it back during the Age of Evolution in the distant past, not when the Well was revived by Optimus nearer to the present.

Kurona wrote:But then we get to Season 2 Episode 11 - spoilers upcoming by the way, sorry - where we meet a Decepticon called Stockade. Who seems to be based on some sort of rodent or armadillo or something, no-one seems to know really - but the point he's as animal-based as most of the Decepticons in the series. And Fixit specifically calls him out as being one of Megatron's generals during the war. Hence, he can't have come from the Well of Allsparks like you're saying, he was literally around during the previous series.

See previous response.

Kurona wrote:Which... which is really hard to take seriously. This guy was running around as one of the best generals during the War for Cybertron. This guy. This really bad cartoonish general stereotype weirdly based on a rodent/armadillo/whatever animal. It's... just a little bit hard to imagine him within the same context as WfC/FoC. Just a little bit.

I guess, but at the same time, WFC had Trypticon's robot mode resemble a dinosaur for seemingly no reason. Why didn't Megatron have him reconfigured into a normal-looking humanoid biped instead of an animal-based form? Even Trypticon's same-sized Autobot counterpart Omega Supreme got to have a normal looking robot mode. Even the gigantic Metroplex, who towered over both of them, got to look normal too. Why would Trypticon get singled out with an animal-based robot mode?

Kurona wrote:And as for your first paragraph, I get where you're coming from, but I'm not exactly asking for it to be all misery guts and depressing either. When I say it's not as serious as what came before, I'm not literally asking for Sideswipe and Quillfire to be revealed to have really depressing, dark backstories that causes them to listen to Linkin Park and write Poetry every two days. I'm just saying that if you're making a sequel to one of if not the most serious-minded Transformers cartoons to date, and you're marketing it to people who were a really big fan of that, do not completely change it to be probably the most childish Transformers cartoon to date, going out of your way to bring in ridiculous things that work for a new show, but only serve to detract people coming off of Prime.

Pretty sure that they were trying to market it to new viewers first and foremost before the older fans of Prime, as it's new fans that keep the brand alive and make it thrive.

Kurona wrote:Especially since there were a shitton of unresolved things in Prime! Where's Predaking? What's happening with Airachnid on the moon? What are the remaining Decepticons going to do when Megatron's officially disbanded and Starscream very much implied to have been killed? Where did Shockwave go? What are all the Autobots going to turn their efforts to? Will Ratchet follow on with his plan to join up with his friends on Earth? How will Knock Out deal with being on the Autobots' side now? How will Cybertron develop?

Some of these were dealt with in the RID tie-in comics from IDW that came out before season 2 started.

Kurona wrote:If you're gonna make a sequel to something so open-ended and with so many things unanswered... make a goddamn sequel that deals with some of these questions, instead of making a completely new show with a completely different tone which might happen to take place in the same universe, but it's really **** hard to accept that it does when there's so many contradictory things.
A good sequel has something very new, but also ties in with what we saw before. There has to be some sort of anchor point other than "focus is now on a side character who is different in just about every way to how we saw him before". To say TFP is getting a sequel and do nothing that makes said sequel work as a sequel, it might as well not be a goddamn sequel. At the end of the day, ask - Does TFP benefit from having RiD 2015 as a sequel, and does RiD 2015 benefit from being a sequel to TFP? For the record, my answer to both is a very large No.

Again, RiD is a fine show on it's own, but as a sequel I think it works even worse than Cybertron connecting to the Unicron Trilogy. Which... is not an easy thing to say.

I get ya, but at this point, this kind of soft reboot sequel format is par for the course for Transformers cartoon sequels. Beast Machines was like this for Beast Wars, Energon was like this for Armada, Cybertron was drastically more like this for both (and that was Japan's fault for not adhering to Hasbro's intended plans conceived for the show)... Even FOC has some inconsistencies with WFC, such as Optimus suddenly having a new body with no explanation yet Megatron's getting his new body was integrated into that game's narrative. And let's not forget the movies' barely connecting with each previous one. And of course there was the fiasco of All Hail Megatron barely working with the Furman era of IDW's comics. To knock on the loose continuity of Transformers sequel media is pretty much beating a dead horse at this point, unfortunately.

Well, for anyone who still cares (or not), the Wiki has finally gone through with considering RID 2015 Grimlock, RID 2015 Sideswipe, and RID 2015 Kickback to be separate characters from WFC/FOC Grimlock, WFC/FOC Sideswipe, and FOC Kickback, and I'm all for it.