TRANSFORMERS: THE BASICS on THE GREAT WAR
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2022
- The Autobot/Decepticon war is one of the most "basic" things there is in the world of Transformers - but how did it start, and why are these two factions of 'bots duking it out? Get the answers with this bumper-length look at the origins and motives behind THE GREAT WAR!
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This episode has been re-edited and reuploaded due to a copyright claim. It's *NOT* one of the upcoming *updated episodes* promised in last week's video - the first of those will be coming next week! In the meantime, this is one of my favourite videos from last year, so enjoy re-watching it, and hey, leave a comment for the algorithm!
Ok
Damn copyright
Darn you copyright
What was changed, exactly?
Thanks you for clear it up because I was confuse
imagine working so hard at a video about explaining the lore of war and then offlined by a cosmically powerd CZcams strike
they were the real decepticons all along...
Welcome to the club we got matching jackets. I've worked on a 4 hour yulog and TAKEN DOWN
Did he get striked? Why?
@@novustalks7525 he got a copyright strike a month or so ago on the original version of this video because of some of the background footage
@@simplynotthere4726 wat was it?
It’s so interesting how the war started with Megatron’s desire for an equal Cybertron but devolved into a pointless conflict
That could be the summary of many wars on earth
@@agustinriquelme4786 fiction does often reflect on our reality doesn’t it
@@2bdaqueen268 In a twisted way, yes.
Path to hell is paved with good intentions
I thought that idea was stupid. I'm quite tired of these sympathetic and "relatable" villians with good intentioned motives in modern media. Its lame and unrealistic.
"They say 'war never changes,' but In the world of Transformers. Change is constant."
*Old Snake smirks a bit*
I like the idea of the Decepticons wanting power, as in the energy.
Like instead of taking over a country and enslaving their people, they raid the battery store.
G1 be like:
Like what I do everytime my brother gets a new RC car
or a nuclear power plant
Megatron: THE BATTERY STORE HAS 50% OFF! DECEPTICONS!, TRANSFORM AND BRING YOUR WALLETS
or their, get this... oil. Now tell me whos the real villain in our world.
Optimus as Professor Xavier and Megatron as Magneto seems to be the backstory that's most popular these days.
That or considering they are taking from Russian History, the Mencheviks and the Bolshiviks
Funny enough, in Brazilian Dub Megatron and Magneto sometimes share the same voice actor.
Something i liked about the backstory of the war in the G1 cartoon that is rarely used today is the idea that Optimus and Megatron weren't the founders of their respective factions, but merely the latest in a long line of leaders that preceded them. I feel that adds a lot more history and significance to the war.
We've had the whole "Optimus and Megatron were old friends who had a falling out" backstory many times now, it's getting tired and played out. I'd like for the next iteration of Transformers to try something new again.
It also explains why so much of Cybertron’s history is a mystery to current Cybertronians. So many leaders and soldiers have died in it, and the war has impacted life itself, that it’s rare to find a bot that has had the time to catalog any historical data of the planets history or understand the importance of some of the planet’s landmarks.
Honestly, same, it’s one of the reasons Transformers Animated is one of my favourite Transformers series. (Megatron might have been the original leader but Optimus definitely wasn’t, he wasn’t even the leader of the entire autobot side)
I agree. I loved the exploration of Cybertron's history, and the various former leaders, that we saw in "Five Faces of Darkness".
@@apileofcandy1244 Even Megatron wasn't the original leader of the Decepticons, he killed the previous one!
@@8ball180 thx for clearing that up!
I have an idea where the Decepticons were a military created to protect Cybertron from external threats (possibly from the old "military hardware" bots), but mistreatment and abandonment by the government as the threats never materialized led to Megatron taking charge of them, using their anger and frustration to build a cult of personality, which he used to try and seize power.
I also had a similar idea for my Decepticons
That sounds very similiar to how the decepticons were portrayed in the Bayverse prequel comics. It's not 100% the same but very close
It is kind of interesting to see how the war has transformed over the decades to be less this eternal conflict with a nebulous beginning and no true end in sight to basically being a relatively recent proxy war for Optimus and Megatron's shattered bromance.
Shattered Bromance was my favorite BotCon story.
My favorite moment was when Optimus hacked off Megatron's legs and left him slipping into a smelter full of molten steel and mournfully agonized about the situation. Telling Megatron he was his brother and he loved him but he had to destroy him after his fall into darkness and Megatron spitefully spat back that he hated Optimus as Prime walked away.
@@glenngriffon8032 yea i also like that after that it was revealed megatron survived and with his master unicron he was rebuilt as galvatron where he eventually struck down optimus
@@glenngriffon8032 Optimus had the high ground.
@@pearsegallagher9832 Was this the same continuity where it was revealed that Hot Rod was related to Galvatron? One of the biggest twists I've ever seen.
Personally i always like the ideas of why the war started and how they parallel from real life
from resources, to politics of unfair rights. Even when Megatron see's himself as a hero who is willing to use force, but really is just a power-hungry tyrant that sees his ideology of peace through tyranny.
Just like Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from star wars, they both are power hungry characters
Megatron is basically a communist
This is one of the reasons why Transformers has remained consistently timeless. They can tell whatever story that reflects of the times they're in. You could make up why they're continuously fighting and it would still makes sense
And Multiverse Theory
@@matthewbrune5490 true and again with the simplicity of the characters, it would be in character for all.
Yeah that's true, like it was about democracy vs communism (essentially) in the beginning, now its oppression and revolution.
There was also an "end of the war" story in a UK annual. Set 500 years into the future, Rodimus Prime's Autobots defeated (killed) all the Decepticons. Rodimus then handed over leadership to Springer. But some Autobots disagreed and the war restarted, now with Autobot against Autobot!
That sounds....really stupid.
@@darwinxavier3516 If I recall correctly this conflict arose from the last living Decepticon going undercover to infiltrate the Autobots. Rodimus was dying, I think, and has chosen his successor. This agent made another suggestion and rallied the whole thing, which I think gave an escalation between Wreckers and co vs Technobots and co and so successfully prevented the Autobots from ever having peace and effectively started the first Autobot Civil War. By the way, our Decepticon agent died in the battle itself, but I think that was a fair tradeoff for him.
@@HerrLokiZockt Now that I've gained some context....that still sounds really stupid. Like, TF Combiner Wars type of stupid contrived conflict.
@@darwinxavier3516 the concept of a civil war? what about it specifically is stupid?
@@darwinxavier3516 Not really. People will always find a reason to go to war. Not all Autobots are good either.
It is no secret that teh Great War is one of my favorite aspects of the Transformers franchise (would be crazy if it wasnt given how its the whole foundation of it) and I love how it has become more complex over the years. Specially when the story focuses on the post-war rebuilding
I love the Aligned Megatron and the Great War in the Aligned Continuity because like real life its more of a grey morality and at some point neither side was wholly right. I like how Megatron starts out a revolutionary hero who even Orion Pax really agrees with but throughout the horrors of war and corruption Megatron lives long enough to see himself become the villain.
As my favorite adage goes “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Note to self: Don't absorb or consume a evil god's blood.
@@jonathanathor117
No matter how sweet it is
@@Man_Aslume yes.
Honestly, what surprises me is that they've never done a series that takes place on Cybertron during the war (unless you count the Netflix series). Seems like that would be a really interesting series or movie, and there'd be no human characters for fans to complain about.
Basically Cyberverse
My first exposure to the aligned continuity was in the WFC/FOC games. Those games really brought the lore to life.
At times it made you feel like your actually participating in the war
One of the very few POSITIVE things the Bayverse actually give to the TF franchise that was really good was established Megatron and Optimus as friends before the war, and as always IDW and the Aligned continuity perfected. I personally prefer this version of Megatron starting as a Gladiator and rally the lower class cybertronians who where put in the mines and less favorite conditions of live by the corrupted senate and this origins founded the Decepticons and eventually the Autobots, having Orion been friend with Megatron and only their different ideologies keep them in different sides but still work together to bring equality to Cybertron until that meeting that grant Optimus his Prime status......I love this and of course been the Prime version of the origin have become the most influential for TF media. I always love how always TF evolves their own concepts in multiple media and shows, is so fascinating, the only other franchise that reinvented constantly in this cool way without making their own fanbase be angry about is the Ghost in the Shell universe (ironically also robots and technology is heavily involve in the Ghost in the Shell stories XD).
I love how in Cyberverse, when the Autobots were in stasis on Earth, the Decepticons…just waited around.
Like what *were* they doing in that 65 million year timegap? 😭
Letting Soundwave make memes and plug the back of the moon full of rocket engines to pull a Majora’s Mask if they had to
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho
Lol
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho they had plenty of time to do that, so I wouldn’t put it past them. I wonder what other failsafes they made?
Taking the human history itself as a reference and the idea that any all-out war decimates entire civilizations, made me consider the 65 million year time gap an absolute nonsense, not to mention the capacity of mutual assured destruction of a civilization so advanced as the Cybertronian one.
@@jordi6795 4 Million years is already a stretch but 65 ,come one writers
I loved what IDW did post-War. Imperial Optimus Prime and repentant pacifist Megatron were an amazing take on the characters. I wish the Lost Light never ended.
Generally feel a bit empty after Lost Light. Just finished it and it is now my benchmark for all Transformers media.
@@GizmoDuck_1860 I felt that way too. A lot of people did. The IDW reboot suffered for it because it was just not on the same level we were used to.
I like the idea of "military hardware VS builders" concept, but as a transversal thing. no autobot or decepticons, but warriors both good and evil and workers pretty much the same way
warpath is an autobot, but autobot code aside, the guys a triggerhappy brute which first response is shooting, the costructicons are builders, pretty much every targetmaster partnership is a mental yard waiting to happen regardless of side, the monsterbot are borderline new menbers of the terrorcon, but on the other side, pretty much al version of soundwave and team are an happy and respecting family
naturally, like all ideologies, a side would attract some common denominators, with the decepticon ruthlesness being more conductive to psycho and empathy-less individuals, but there's a reason there are multiple decepticon with canonical repairing and healing abilities and know-how beside the need for plot reason, and autobot that are barelly restained balls of fury too
well the constructocons used to be autobots according to the gen 1 cartoon.
@@cadenbarrett9903 and also newly constructer on earth, a group of 9, the ones that built megatron, and hauler was on the ark before it left cybertron.
Lets be honest, the G1 cartoon never cared for internal continuity
It should be noted that although Orion's speech was most likely a motivational and inspiring one, thats like his whole thing, the High Council most likely chose him because it would mean that although Cybertron no longer ran under a Caste System, their government would still be in power. In truth, they don't care that much about the lower Cybertronians. Theres a comic that depicts the Aligned version of this scene and we can clearly see that most of the Higher ups were corrupt and total jerks especially towards Megatron.
If that speech even briefly touched the hearts of the council’s corrupt members, it must’ve been really dang inspiring. I gotta find that speech sometime.
Like Ratbat, lol.
@@benc.delacruz1813 The full speech is in Transformers Exodus, a novel by Alex Irvine
There is. It's a War For Cybertron (game) prequel comic published by IDW. It's not hard to find.
u think they want kids to know autobots dark origin@@benc.delacruz1813
as a fan of the wfc trilogy,this is probably one of the best concepts in the franchise,i love how most of it was from the soviet wars,which is cool as hell
There's a Trilogy?
@@revengxnce what ?
@@revengxnce not the games, the Netflix series _War for Cybertron_ and it’s three parts: _Siege_ , _Earthrise_ , and _Kingdom_
You forgot a key part about the councils meeting with Megatron in the aligned series. The council hardly gave Megatron a voice, spatting down to him since he was a lower class, which simply pissed him off worse and made the war even more reasonable to start, according to Exodus.
Megatron didn't get a say hardly, but Orion got to say his peace fully.
That makes Megatron's anger and feeling of betrayal more sympathetic.
to be fair, Megatron didn't do himself too many favors in his presentation.
@@metal_fusionprime follows same lore megatron didnt get chance there too
Megatron jealous make him lose the trust that Optimus can change the world@@Meteorknite
"in the world of transformers, change is constant"
Would honestly love a comic or video game, taking inspirations from real life wars and militaries and focusing on mostly unknown decepticon and autobot grunts on the frontline of Cybertron.
I always feel pretty sad for the auto troopers who basically get completely ignored
This war never changes. It transforms.
I would like a version where Megatrons gladiator back story was just a made up propaganda by him that became legend over time, and only the oldest few autobots know the truth.
That's a really good idea, Megatron is always trying to get good PR on his side
War may never change, but the reasons for it certain do. Honestly I'm not sure which Origin of the war I like best, the Decepticons being a downtrodden working class whose rebellion got out of hand and led to the corruption of their original ideals, or the Autobots being a scrappy resistance movement to the Decepticon's imperialist rule. I think it would be cool for a series to use both origins, with the Autobot as resistance following the Decepticon's takeover and corruption. What I like most about both is that they show how at their core the two sides really believe the same thing, that they are fighting for their freedom against oppression, but that the key difference is how they go about it. One thing not mentioned I think, is the two factions' views on organic life, as the Decepticons viewing it as lesser really goes to show how, even when they have a sympathetic reason for fighting they are ultimately hypocrites, wanting "freedom" only for themselves as opposed to the Autobots wanting it for all.
Love the ending tag line on how ‘war never changes’ and the spin ya put on it. Clever
Another great video from Chris McFeely that gives "The Basics" and lore from the history of Cybertron. Your videos are one of the few channels that I look forward to weekly and watch as soon as I can. They're actually a bonding moment for my son and I because we sit and watch them together. Thanks for all of the hard work and dedication.
I actually like the idea of the Ascenditicons and him already being a politician. I feel like that makes more sense. This gives more opportunities to explain and explore the war in more depth.
Even if the Netflix WFC isn't a great show, I still loved how they potrayed Megatron. He wasn't entirely evil, just tired of fighting. I feel like if Magnus had convinced Megatron to sit and talk with Prime, they could've actually ended the war. Megatron only became truly evil after he killed Magnus.
I think you mean _portrayed_ not betrayed.
@Oturan20 My phone doesn't autocorrect anymore, so now some words have different letters than they're supposed to.
And sometimes numbers
Pain
I Love the concept established by the bayverse, that the war started by Megatronus prime A.K.A. The Fallen. It's give him much more character and backstory rather than just a prime who was fallen million years before the war, I hope that concept will re-established by a future storyline
Agreed, still the best version of the character, IMO.
Bayverse is and was garbage
@@BKSExperience The human conflict was garbage, The Action, The CGI, The Scoring was Amazing. I know bayverse was not good, but you shouldn't hating it blindly. If it's wasn't for the bayverse, Transformers was not gonna be as popular as today. We also would never get Transformers animated and The Whole Aligned Continuity if it wasn't for the bayverse, so at least give it some respect
Naw it's still trash🗑️studios he ruined my childhood. The CGI was Meh 😑 the character designs were 💩💩💩💩 some of them had blenders and garbage disposals for mouths... He just ignored the history and lineage of The Transformers and everything you said he has helped since is a disregards to all previous works of Transformers that were spot on or paid appropriate honor to past iterations.
@@BKSExperience Alright man, whatever. I don't what your standard of good CGI, or good character design. Also, it's funny you say every previous transformers works were spot on or paid appropriate honor to past iterations, I guess you never heard of the 2001 RID or the Unicron trilogy who was completely different from the past iterations. Just because G1 was the first transformers story, doesn't mean that every next transformers works needs to be the same with it. That's why transformers still popular an loved today, inovation and something new. If transformers just stick with the G1 plot & character design, this franchise would be dead since a long time ago.
Now that I think about it Chris, you are right: IDW2 finally allowed us to get over the "revolutionary" excuse of the war, and it's a shame that, since the comic was axed, this way may be forgotten.
Taking in consideration all the information and "conflicting" sources it amazes how easy you make it to understand the origin of the war. Thank you Chris. here's to many more years of the Basics!
I loved the Ascenticons story. One last issue to go and one last War's End also. Its been really good and was an interesting take on something that has been done to death now. Last Bot Standing will be interesting to see how everything ends for the Transformers. Moon was a surprise character to be in it as well which was great. Bit of BW 2 thrown into the mix!
It all started because Rung wanted that curly straw
Megatrons distaste against the class systems was a admirable goal, imo he went about it the right way. He was willing to bare the burden for the greater goal.
I'm going to disagree that starting a war because your friend was chosen to oversee the transition rather than you is the right way to go about things.
@@bobagorof He was betrayed towards the originators of the source problem, basically a complete disregard to loyalty and trust.
The track record would be assumed to be a repetition and continuation of the current norm.
Imo measures had to be taken to illicit change and a war falls under within the logical choice given the combat experience background.
@@DpzLuna Logical and right aren't always the same. At best it shows that he was shortsighted and impatient.
@@darwinxavier3516 I disagree, his logic was rational as amusing change after not being fairly included would be optimistic at best, and down right drone-like in the assumption of accepting that change would happen just of being told so given the broken trust basis now provided.
Choosing to start a war/revolution is hardly shortsighted as planning, coordination and macro level management of forces against established opposing forces. Alongside the marketing of the ideals and goals of the movement, in which is relatable plus inhabits the progression in change many Cybertronians were after in a tangible manner.
If shortsighted, the idea would of never gained or sustained traction nor gotten of the ground to begin with.
@@DpzLuna But what trust was broken? Megatron already knew Orion didn't fully subscribe to his methods. Unless I missed the part where Megs hid the plan do things violently from Orion. Sounds more like Megatron expected his friend to be someone he wasn't ever going to be. Its not like Orion stole Meg's opportunity because it didn't sound like the council was going to listen to Meg's demands anyway. People cry out for war and revolution all the time without a single thought to the ramifications or even how to get there. It sounds way more like Megs was salty that he wasn't the instrument of change. Like he was more upset with his spotlight being stolen than anything ideological.
"Both the Autobots and the Decepticons fight in the hope that one day it will end."
Gonna have to disagree, there has been many many instances of Decepticon (and some Autobots) who just wanted the fighting to go on forever.
Yes but most want it to end
@@8ball180 Yeah and I never stated otherwise
I personally like the modern depiction of the great War. In previous storyline the great War only happened because of simply the good vs evil trope. Which was fine but not very deep. In modern series they actually give a much better reasons behind it.
It really wasn't just a matter of good vs evil. It was just a matter of extremely different programming, if I recall correctly the Decepticons were exclusively the military "hardware" for the quintessons to use; which is why they have alternative forms that are always guns, jets, tanks, ect. Which isnt a good explanation but it makes sense as the Decepticons were literally programmed to be violent so it makes sense they have issues maintaining peace.
It was actually more like imperialism/colonialism (Decepticons) vs pacifism and unity for technological advancement (Autobots).
Technically, when Ron Perlman said the famous hallmark of the fallout series the words before were “Blood has been spilled in the name of everything from
God, to Justice, to Simple Psychotic rage.” In a broader sense The Great War can still be put under that umbrella, it’s not listing the individual reasons why war happens, but more the major reasons
I think it would be pretty neat narrative if the Autobots were the ones to start the war in a Decepticon-ruled Cybertron. The Bumblebee movie did allude this with it's "Autobot Resistance" line and since then I've been obsessed with the idea of the Autobot philosophy of "freedom is the right of every sentient being" being brought to life in a Decepticon environment.
Yeah, that would be a great idea to explore.
The autobot resistance always existed it meant decepticons won as resistance fighters collapsing govt which makes autobot faction to get decepticons
I’d love a series that returns to the “biologically different” origin perspective, if only to explore how it isn’t true and gives a deeper character study on both the bots and cons that explores the greyer areas of the war.
On the other hand, that sounds like an allegory for racial profiling. Which would be an interesting route to explore through the Transformers.
I think that's a tricky road to go down, as the original cartoon was basically just racism, but exploring the falseness of it and maybe bringing in the rank of prime/elite guard being corrupted would be a great way to bring in modern issues.
It's rather close to racial divides that make people feel like people of different ethnicities are inherently warlike and aggressive because of... whatever.
But you could use it to explore the fallacy of the idea. Autobots who believe that the Decepticons are incapable of living in peace because they don't value loyalty and friendship and love, they're war machines who only know how to fight. And then show the Decepticons in downtime, caring for their wounded, Megatron acting like a leader who sincerely cares about his troops and makes sacrifices of his own personal interests and needs to make things better for them. Explore his friendship with Soundwave, parallel it with Prime's friendship with Bumblebee.
Show Autobots who are unhinged and a little psychotic.
Have the two teams state their beliefs that their differences are just down to how they're built but immediately turn that on it's head by showing that no, Autobots are inherently weaker or meek or timid, they're not naturally more intelligent than Decepticons. Decepticons are not naturally more capable of killing or inherently better at fighting.
Eventually you have the two factions come face to face with the truth that they can't hide behind their discrimination anymore and must accept that those beliefs are wrong.
"Let's drop the moral posturing shall we?" -- "Revenge is motivation enough, at least it's honest. Hate me, but do it honestly." -Kain (paraphrased from Soul Reaver 2)
@@glenngriffon8032 Early IDW made the point that after millions of years of entrenched conflict, there is no real difference between the two factions. They are both equally unhinged/aggressive/psychotic. Because that is what they have had to become to survive. Which has led to a protracted stalemate. The flipside of that being, to the universe at large. Autobot and Decepticon have no distinction between them. The Cybertronians, as a race, are viewed as a threat.
Onscreen, this can't really be depicted however. Since that would show neither side in an outright good/evil position. Which is why the original show premise is the most widely accepted. Although inaccurate.
I'm working on a script myself, I'm a barrow that idea
Evolution of the great war & the transformers:
0:03-0:28-4:43-5:36-8:25-9:18-10:03-12:14
Marvel comics 1:52
G1 continuity family 3:33
IDW comics 6:02-8:52-10:34-11:10
R.I.P. Brian golder/aligned continuity family 6:45
Frank welker/Megatron/galvatron/nbe1/d-16: "we were brothers once!"
Peter Cullen/Optimus/nemesis Prime/Orion pax: "once." *growling/yells*
5:54
I love the idea of the cybertronians being part of different factions and for different reasons the dominant factions would end up being the autobots and decepticons whether other factions were destroyed, switched sides, or were absorbed. I really need to look into the fan favorite comics. Also, I love how megaton is robot Spartacus.
my favourite concept of the great war lore has to be the alliegend contunity and armada,it did a great job on making it more darker instead of being (kinda) kid friendly like g1
Exodus, the first half of it, is a really solid sci-fi read. Unfortunately the second half reads as though written by a different author. It becomes complete childish idiocy. However I still recommend it for that first half. You have great world building and characterization of the Optimus/Megatron relationship.
How bad did the second half become
@@8ball180 there's a switch to maguffins/treasure hunt, a big time jump that's not well indicated, and just plain errors regarding constructicons and minicons. You can just close the book after the big climax in the middle and be happy with a strong origin story. None of the rest matters.
The war started when a young Orion Pax stepped on Megatron's new sneakers.
The war started when Orion Pax forgot who's instant Energon was who's and had Megatron's Insant Energon
So you're saying that Megatron...
Is a Tankie.
I've been slowly working on my own fan universe with its own origin for the Great War.
Much like the Aligned Continuity Cybertron had a caste system which had Megatron as a lower caste labourer, with gladiator being one of the few forms of recreation available to that caste... and also one of the only ways to gain more freedom. Freedom enough to have time to consider more then merely surviving. He used his growing fame as a gladiator to lay the foundations for his ideals, for wanting to abolish the caste system. Though he didn't fully begin to grasp the idea of it as an ideology until he was visited by Orion Pax, who was inspired by Megatron's post-match speeches.
When the two gathered enough of a movement for the Council to take notice they where invited to speak before the Council. Accepting the invitation the two friends presented their arguments, all well prepared and researched to show that not only was it possible, but beneficial to the Cybertronian people as a whole. The Council deliberated, out of ear shot of the pair, and eventually offered a seat on the council to Pax. Megatron was disappointed the seat wasn't his, but figured Pax, being of a higher caste, was more paletteable to the traditionalists, and also figured that with Pax on the Council at least change could begin. He was stunned when Pax refused, instead calling out the Council for offering a token seat, with no real power, to appease them with no intention of allowing change since they could just out vote him.
The start of the war was a joint decision made by both Orion Pax and Megatron, rallying their follower as the Autocons to overthrow the corrupt Council and their Loyalists. It was Pax's willingness to take up arms, and wisdom to refuse the Council's offer that caused the Matrix of Leadership to choose him to be the next Prime. Even no Megatron didn't feel denied anything, He was still half of the leadership of the Autocons, the rallying figure of the lower castes, and actually held the lion's share of military power in the rebel forces. Optimus Prime was the political leader, Megatron was the military leader, and the two got on like a house on fire.
It wasn't until the Loyalist forces broke and the final attack on the Council itself that the Schism happened. With power about to fall into their grasp the differences between the two become great enough they couldn't ignore it. Prime advocated for leniency on the former Council, allowing them to live but never hold a seat of power again, while also establishing a democratic government where not only where all Cybertronians equal, but equally able to come to power. Megatron wanted to publicly execute the former Council and their Loyalists while establishing a Duarchy with himself and Prime ruling absolutely over all others. Neither was willing to budge, tempers flared and they came to blows in the Council champers, unleashing their full power against one another for the first time, reducing the chamber to ruins... thus starting the Autobot/Decepticon civil war.
Shame you had to re-edit & re-upload this video, but it's still an excellent video to watch. I love how you link together TransFormers who have had the same name in your videos, instead of going universe by universe. Makes things easier and less frantic, you know? You had mentioned about going into Optimus's story again in future videos. I'd love to see that sometime.
As George Lucas had done in Star Wars, I’d like to design a Transformers series that takes common elements from wars throughout history.
Who was right ? Megatron or Optimus Prime. Megatron wanted to overthrow the corrupt with action but Optimus Prime wanted a peaceful transition.
Firmly a megatron follower here . Without Megatron nothing would have changed for good and for ill. Prime would not have changed a thing if Megatron did not force it. Megatron went mad with power true and caused trillions of deaths but he did spur the change that was needed for good and for ill.
Optimus wasnt leader nor gave orders to govt or autobots until megatron killed council and leaders one by one leaving optimus in charge
Idk
Violence will just create more
Peace will not always work
I always like the stories where Optimus and Megatron have to work together, you really see their old friendship break through. Even though they're now enemies and struggle to trust eachother.
Change is constant! So true!👍🙏
Thanks 🙏
hmm, no verbal mention of Energon and Cybertron. one was a post war story which early on showed the dissatisfaction of the decepticons during peacetime bringing the remnants to retaliate with their new force of terrorcons granted by Alpha Q for their own ends... till Megatron usurped control and broke out decepticon war criminals to bolster his forces. Cybertron meanwhile saw the end of any major conflict leading to an interplanetary council whose task it was to connect the worlds together with an intergalactic space bridge. personally I found these to be some of the more interesting takes on the end of the cybertronian war
I always kind of preferred the idea of the original G1 cartoon where Optimus, or rather Orion Pax, was just a simple dock worker;
The right man at the wrong time getting shot and rebuilt as a Super Soldier and to eventually becoming the Autobot Leader we all know and love.
Nowadays, people either depict him, before donning the Matrix and becoming Prime, as a Copper, a Librarian with great knowledge of Cybertron's past, The CHOSEN ONE, or even the 13th Prime reincarnated, (And while it is great to see different takes of the character), something about the Great Leader of the Autobots, whose just pretty much your Giant Robot Dad, was once just a simple Average Joe just gravitates towards me.
Megatron, on the other hand, I absolutely LOVE his modern portrayals/backstories.
The whole elevation of "The Primes" into divine figures really cheapened the lore of the whole series. The only one chosen by the Matrix was Rodimus and that was enough.
IDW really did a great job of giving depth and nuance to Megatron with Origins. The retcon stuff that came later was inferior. But that opening story gave him better characterisation and understandable motives than he ever had before.
While Alinged Optimus being a former librarian was cool to me, I agree that him being a former average Joe is more appealing than being a reincarnated Prime.
I also like the idea that Megatron's faction originally called themselves the Ascenticons before the Autobots gave them the moniker Deceptions for their treachery.
@@pious83 Well it was pretty mystical ever since the introduction of the Matrix, but I agree, the original Primes being essentially robot versions of Greek or Norse Gods is silly.
@@ltb1345 Added to that, whenever you read something about the Thirteen Primes it sounds like bad Fanfic. You could cut it from the lore and nothing would be lost.
The whole reasoning being his name in the G1 show was self explanatory - Orion Pax was reformatted into the _Prime_ Autobot. The _Optimal_ version of himself. The latter was humanised into a phonetically pleasing forename. But it got the point across. He wasn't envisioned to be one of some great dynasty.
God I loved that IDW ended the War in 2011, it was SUCH a fresh take and, honestly, I rather liked the whole politics angle with trying to create this new Council of World. I really wanted to see more of how humanity could influence that council, maybe a conflict with the Galactic Council, instead of Unicron, being the inciting incident for the end of that version of the universe.
Animated has to be my Favourite take on the show, I Like the idea of post war universe.
11:38 I like this. I think that each continuity should have their own unique version of the war’s origins. Like the one of the corrupt Cybertron and Megatron being a miner turned gladiator should stay unique to the Aligned Continuity. IDW’s 2019 reboot sounds like a good modern origin for the G1 war, etc.
I loved the Animated version, where there were still fierce conflicts on the periphery but Cybertron itself was full of lazy and borderline corrupt bourgeois Autobots who were infiltrated by both Decepticon spies and narcissistic leaders.
I think IDW's reboot of the war corrected a flawed concept of the evil Decepticons in a brilliant and much needed way, rather than Megatron and being a relatably sympathetic leader of the downtrodden. I do prefer overall the original G1 cartoon explanation of the Quintessons building the war and power-hungry military robot Decepticons and the consumer goods Autobots, but I am a die-hard G1-er
Not gonna lie, I really like the "Populist Megatron" concept from IDW2. While the "revolutionary" motive was interesting, I feel it's more realistic that conflict is deliberately generated by those with political power.
Am I the only one who thinks the IDW 2019 Continuity is basically all the previous versions of the war put together? Like in most continuities, the Autobots are the dominant faction in pre-war Cybertron. Like in 21st century continuities, their government is far from perfect. However they are still pretty benevolent like in 20th century continuities. The Nominus Edict is unpopular and stifles Cybertron, but given how their age of colonialism and expansion lead to a brutal war on their homeworld and how even in modern times there are Cybertronians who want to exploit the organic inhabitants of colonies for energy and resources, the Edict has many good points. It probably just had to be amended in some areas to match the current times given how basically the production rate of Transformers was pretty low by design when it no longer had to be, not to mention how the colonies that did exist were basically left on their own. It’s kind of like how things were in the Star Wars galaxy before the Clone Wars. As for the Decepticons, they start our as a legitimate political force, quite like in modern continuities. However they are mostly made up of former soldiers and gladiators who all miss the old days. This can be seen in Megatron who like his 21st century version does still believe in politics, but like his 20th century version, he believes in militarism because Cybertronians are a powerful race, not because it is a means to an end. And the lineage of Primes come off as more sympathetic. Like in modern continuities they aren’t too popular in the modern age on Cybertron, though like in the 20th century, they at least tried their best. Hence, the combination of material from both G1 and the modern age.
It's always nice to revisit this videos!
The Og Lore was that the Quintozenes discovered Cybertron some centuries after Primus locked himself and Unicron away, the Quins then augmented the internal machinery of Cybertron and forged the first Autobot and Decepticon units, the Autobots were designed for custodial work, helping the quins maintain cybertron and their Decepticon weapons. The Decepticons were used entirely for warfare, serving the Quins as foot soldiers and transport until Megatron rebelled and instead of freeing his autobot brothers he enslaved them just as the Quins did. The Autobots discovered they too could be weapons then rebelled against the Decepticons.
What I like about the cyberfirst origin of the war is that what's a year optimism megatron would have a ceasefire and try to be diplomatic and talk about ending the war. But the war has corrupted megatron so much that he couldn't See a way to end the war peacefully And still be in charge.
The "ascenticons" sounds like a call alternate name for decepticons because they're known for flying. Really nice. Who ever came up with that, good on ya.
Not to mention their battle cry from Animated, "Transform and rise up!"
Megatron being against the Caste System is why i think He should have a Gun Alt Mode
~What? A Gun can't be a Leader? Guess what? That's what's the Caste System was based on~
then changing it to a New Alt Mode (like a Tank) when He need to have a Stronger form for keep the ever more Violents and Power-Hungry Decepticons under his Command
I was wondering the other day while waiting for this episode
What would your personal version or idea for a transformers story or origin story would you want to see?
I'm still working out my own thoughts and I really enjoy your videos!
Always a pleasure to rewatch one of your videos, and this is a favourite of mine so I was glad to have another reason to watch it again
I may be remembering wrong, but didn't Marvel's comic have an end to "the great war" in its story line. I think the Autobots and Decepticons united when they were forced to face unicron.
That would be one of temporary lulls I referred to. Yes, they united for that fight... but soon after, the Decepticons betrayed the Autobots and they were fighting again. A few issues after the Unicron story, the series ended with the Decepticons defeated and banished, indicating another possible end to the war - but they returned to keep the fighting going in "Generation 2." That series ended with ANOTHER truce and the end of hostilities between the two factions, but also openly implied it wouldn't last. In the unofficial continuation of the story, "Alignment," published in 2001, they did indeed go to war again, ending only, finally, with the peace treaty established in "Beast Wars."
Wow! I feel the "fan-documentary" has been done to death on CZcams at this point, but yours was able to breath new life into the concept, with tight editing skills, good quality narration and a good choice of clips/images in GOOD resolution, which is a great differential.
I like Transformers, but I'm far from being a super-fan with lots of knowledge, so I'll definitely be checking all the other entries in this series to educate myself. Other than that, keep up the good work!
Great job, as always.
Another absolutely amazing video!
8:00 kinda messed up that the corrupt system gets to chose who will fix it.
Somehow Megatron has never _felt_ working class to me. Prime seems more like a better fit for such an origin.
Yeah or at least someone who pretends to believe in the cause and just wants power
That seems more like it.
Instead of #4, 5, and 6 they should have started a 2-3 movie series focused on the War for Cybertron with no humans involved.
Great video! Thank you! Love those IDW comics, but I still haven't got caught up with their first run, and can't even think of getting the rebboted stuff yet . . . .
tbh I'm glad IDW's rebooted comics tried a new take on how the Great War started. For as fascinating as the Aligned version's story is and of all the similar stories, the big critical flaw with them IMO is that they paint the Decepticons as rebels against a brutal, unfair, oppressive system- and then make them into a horde of brutal psychopaths out to conquer and oppress anyway, and make the Autobots, who were part of and enabled that original oppressive system, into the heroes. IDW did a lot to smooth over the _really_ rough implications of this in their original universe, but there's still that uncomfortable disconnect that I'm glad got sidestepped entirely. If the Decepticons _must_ be the villainous faction, they need a straightforward, villainous motivation, because any noble intentions they get given are painted in a bad light by being associated with them.
I love the Transformers franchise.
Appreciate the work you put in!
I'm a subscriber, but usually don't comment or "like" videos, but I have 2 say this was an especially superlative 1; well done Chris!
The rivalry between Megatron and Optimus in the Aligned continuity sounds like rivalry between Professor X and Magneto
Honestly, it sounds more applicable to the IDW Reboot.
I think there should be a movie/game where we can witness a Cybertron before the war,the rise of the Decepticons and eventually ends with the war beginning.
There's a reason why I love Season 4 of the G1 Cartoon. I like how expansive the universe is. Frankly I'd like to see a story where the Deceptions conquer the universe and the Autobots Earthlings and Nebulonians take em down.
The great war has lasted almost from the dawn of time, when Unicron and Primus were created. They came to opposite conclusions about life in the universe, Unicron wanted no life and Primus wanted life to exist everywhere.
This conflict lead to the creation of the 13 Primes, Megatronus Prime's betrayal and being transformed into The Fallen, the first Decepticon, which lead to a power struggle between the Autobots and Decepticons lasting billions of years until the conflict finally left Cybertron and arrived on Earth in 1984 following the great energy crisis during the time when Optimus Prime and Megatron had become the latest Transformers commanders.
The war continued until the start of the Beast Wars when the Predacons and Maximals time traveled to see if changing history was one possibility of rewriting the ending of the Great War.
This has been my favorite version of the Great War, since it started with Primus and Unicron, and there is no end in sight, with the war continuing in the present with the opponents now being Optimus Prime and Megatron/Galvatron.
My favorite, fan made, ending of the war has ALL the Transformers: Autobots, Maximals, Predacons, and Decepticons fighting against Unicron in an all or nothing final ultimate battle that threatens to bring about the extinction of the Transformers.
Man! What amazing video! Thanks for all the explanation 🤩
Modern TF media depecting Megatron as having a morally correct reason for starting the war, only to fall victim to the old "absolute power corrupts absolutely" adage, is the best thing about modern TF stories, but then I'm a sucker for a good villain redemption so it's nice there's something there to be redeemed. I'm glad the franchise has managed to grow and change to become more nuanced.
@Chris McFreely,
I still wanna see a Tfp and Bay-Verse rendention, of the Great War. 😔
It's okay Chris great stuff as per usual
I remember the Great War, the battle of Kalis, Fall of Kalis ,Siege of Protihex...the sound of the conflict haunts me to this day. Ammunition sounding like wardrums, bots falling one after another. Don't go there trooper, it's a trap !!!!!!!! Falll back ,fall back !!!!!!!!!!!!............
NGL I’d like for a new origin for the war to come around. I find the “Megs fighting a revolution for freedom” idea to be a bit repetitive at this point.
Thx for your awesome work!
Thanks for this, Chris.
I’ve always been interested in the origins of the Cybertronian Great War and consider the death of The Overlord as the most significant point despite it being just a few panels in Marvel UK. He was the literal ‘governor’ for the social machine; when his age meant he began to break down, things got out of kilter and, when he died, catastrophic failure followed.
Clearly as times change, so do social standards and sensitivity, back in the 80s, a war origin like the Aligned Continuity's version might have been completely unacceptable, so the went the classic cartoon hero's and villains route, now it's corrupt governments, inequality, revolutionaries and peaceful reformers. It's more believable, and actually makes you feel for the characters.
I loved how IDW handled it, it's my favorite backstory for Megs.
Amazing video
Great work!
The essential summary guide to the deep lore of the Transformer War. You can't help but notice that, as is always the case in sci-fi, Megatron always wears the face of humanity's worst fears and Prime that of its greatest hopes.
Well Optimus prime was based primarly on Abrham Linclon (with touches of george washington and MLK) and Megatron was based on Hitler and stalin.