The Anime That Explored The Dark Dilemma Of Optimus Prime & Megatron
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- čas přidán 20. 12. 2021
- I explore into to deep psychology of Optimus Prime & Megatron from Transformers Armada anime cartoon series, the start of the Unicron Trilogy. - Thoughts On Twitter ► / cameronjohnh
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#transformers #optimusprime #megatron - Zábava
Want more? Check out my next video the anime that made Starsceam a tragic hero! czcams.com/video/vaLVMej8PgQ/video.html
Thank you all for your warm reception on this video it means so much especially considering armada is my childhood.
can you talk about how energon slagged it all up?
Armada was the greatest Teansformers of All time I don’t care.
The one after on the other planet was knock off idc
It was my childhood too.
I hope you make a video about Skybyte from 2001's RID Transformers.
The sad thing is, while Optimus hates war, he thrives in it. Heck in g1 he was quite literally rebuilt for war.
And yet with the new incarnation shattered glass the roles are reversed Megatron and the decepticons are the heros fighting for peace and optimus prime and the autobots are the evil villians wanting conquest with prime being so evil hed kill anyone who dont follow him.
@@robertharrison1058 Schattered glass might not be an inversion but just a change in perspective
@@universalflamethrower6342 well everyone from star trek to dc comics has done the mirror universe so why not transformers.
@@robertharrison1058 I am not saying I don't like shattered glass, but TF has a lot of different incarnations and viewpoints, in TF lore SG might just well be happening in the normal TF universe but told from Megatrons perspective
@@universalflamethrower6342 they say the villain is the hero of their own story.
Peter Cullen and Frank Welker are legends, but Garry Chalk and David Kaye did an excellent job with the characters.
Big facts
Yesss.
Funny that Kaye would then voice Optimus in Animated
I agree their voices are just as good. Yes different but good nonetheless
@THECOMMENTMASTER 7 given that we might see Primal And BW Megatron make a comeback, it's a possibility again.
I personally think that a lot of Megatron's self-reflection stems from Starscream's death. In it, Megatron realizes the reason why Starscream left him: Optimus had integrity where Megatron had none; Megatron respected only strength, not character. This ultimately causes Megatron to question if he really is a good person, or a legitimately evil one, after he begins to question his own beliefs on power and dominance, as well as the value of his beliefs. His sacrifice in the end showed that he did somewhat resent his evil, and wanted a final fight with Optimus to see if he really was worthy of anything or if his ideals were worth anything. In his final moment, Megatron accepts that ultimately, he isn't a good man, but is thankful that he can see that, and hopefully make amends to that by silencing himself within Unicron's jaws, begging Optimus to look after his men, as Megatron himself failed to see what really mattered until it was too late.
This explanation is too true
Then comes Energon XD
And then comes Cybertron
unfortunately, this kinda means that, since the localization links Armada, Energon, and Cybertron together, he ended up wholeheartedly embracing villainy later on. In accepting he wasn't a good man, he dove full-on into evil.
@@LordTyph Yes though if you think about it more it’s actually more tragic. Because the way it’s written, is like this Megatron go through this whole emotional roller coaster about war at and then when we get the final the final happens. But afterwards after falling into unicorn Megatron then ultimately gets stuck to unicorns body and it’s starting to get poison from being inside the Chaos bringer and because he’s nothing but pure evil and seeks to have send the universe into an unending era of war… it infects Megatron upon being connected to Unicrons power transforming and reviving him into a new evil a new darkness. A power hungry tryant out to conquer the universe… which is tragic. Optimus probably doesn’t even see the energon and cybetron portions of the character to be his own enemy anymore but a shell of his former self.
4:24 In particular since Starscream isn't "supposed" to sacrifice himself, he's not supposed to care about anything than himself, the Starscream of this universe, BROKE THE RULES, no wonder it left Megatron in shock.
So, it's basically the "wait, that's illegal!" meme.
X X • to be honest I don’t mind having new incarnations being different from their G1 Self, it’s nice having a new take on a beloved character. That’s just my personal opinion.
UT is about as shattered glass as you can get without *actually* being shattered glass
And then he got resurrected into a mindless servant and later became a more successful version of his classic self
As much as the Gen1 Starscream is the true embodiment of Starscream, the Armada one is absolutely unforgettable.
The brilliance here is that they show this through Optimus's and Megatron/Galvatron's color palette "upgrade". Megatron/Galvatron becoming whiter while at the same time, begins to show a more lenient side to his team and the Autobots (ex. the scene where he allows Hotshot to finish his message for an alliance) shows that he had good intentions, or at least was aware of how much of a scumbag he was and didn't actually like it, but still had the dark greys and purples to show his refusal to change.
Optimus however, gets a more sinister looking palette, with dark greys, darker blues, and blood red colors, complete with his eyes changing from a soft yellow to the same deep blood red. The fact that he didn't get this "upgrade" until right after Unicron/Sideways speaks of his hidden emotions, on top of killing Sideways instantly with no hesitation right after, is when he started to realize the truth to Unicron's words (the same can be said of Hotshot and Starscream but for different reasons).
In a nutshell, the Minicon upgrade brought out their true colors, both literally and metaphorically.
One could easily say that BOTH parties here are worthy of the Matrix of Leadership but for Optimus' hatred and Megatron's absolutism.
To me it looked like a reference to their bw colors but that’s actually *way* cooler
Also, Optimus' color change are Nemesis', and this came from the Minicons, not Unicron, which makes the symbolism more terrifying.
I’m so glad that someone here on CZcams is talking about the subtle greatness of Transformers Armada despite the majority of people overlooking it.
Armada is what got me into buying a bunch of Transformer toys back then. Wouldn’t mind another show based on that universe
@VenomX987 I'm almost 40 years old , and grew up watching G1 Transformers back in the day. But I liked Transformers Armada.
@VenomX987 The Unicron trilogy doesn't get enough love. I may be biased since it was my childhood, but I actually like it better than G1 Transformers.
Such a shame the english dub we got was poor and didn't really follow the original script as well as it should have. We still got something decent to think about, but I'd say we missed out on even more
@VenomX987 Fortunately it seems to be happening now. Armada is now the same age as G1 was when MP-03 came out, and the 3P MPs are so far selling extremely well (to the point we're getting an MP Tidal Wave by the end of this year). I call it "The Prequel effect".
"Thrust if you DARE to have dreams of power, you WILL be consumed by them!"
Megatron with the knowledge👏🏾👏🏾
As a TF fan who his father is also a TF fan,this is a certified micro legends classic
Wdym?! Please reply to me!
I've always felt Armada was underrated. A shaky start, but it got REALLY better as time went on. Thanks for taking a look at one of the better Optimus/Megatron dynamics.
Armada is popular
Armada is what got me into Transformers
Armada is great but it suffered badly from localization, animation and budget issues, so theres a whole lot of reused/incorrect animation and dialogue in the dubs that make it look a bit cheap (at least in the first quarter to half of the series)
Funny thing is this is the only Transformers series that actually showed Optimus and Megatron act like friends or brothers. Transformers Prime has a flash back of Megatron with blue eyes and him talking but the next scene he was angry at him and the plot point was never mentioned again.
The dynamic between the hero and the villain is always a important part of any such story. Too bad many movies take the cheap route and just give the villain the exact same power set as the hero and call it a day. Their powers being similar isn't the point.
In Joker's ever twisting mess of a mind, Bats is the one consistency, the one clear thing from that night at Ace Chemicals. Joker has come to define himself by his opposition to Batman.
Lex Luthor on the other hand, can't stand the idea of living in a world where the people love Superman more than him. HE needs to be humanity's savior, not this outsider, and he'll murder Superman and anyone like him to get humanity stand on their own two feet... and they worship the ground Lex walks on.
Bats and Joker are both broken men, but where Bruce chose to say "No" to a world gone mad, Joker decided there was no point in even trying even to hurry things along.
Clark and Lex are both exceptionally men, both could destroy the world in five minutes if they wanted, but both want to save the world. But where Clark just wants to be accepted as part of humanity, Lex can't get enough of being told how great he is and can't stand the idea of anyone being more loved than him.
Captain America and Red Skull are the embodiments of their respective ideals, Cap of everything his ideals SHOULD BE, while Red Skull is the final hideous conclusion of his. Cap sees he's not in a neat world of black and white, and chooses to adapt. Red Skull refuses to change, he just dresses it under different names.
It's always interesting to see what the hero and the villain views the world and how well they handle them, especially if done right.
You ruined it with the last one😅, red skull and cap do have the same power. They are both super soldiers made even by the same man. Sure, one version is better than the other, but it's basically the same power.
@@fernandozenomiranda9470 You missed the point
@@fernandozenomiranda9470 You missed the point, fool.
Fantastic analysis.
The Optimus/Megatron relationship might've been a driving factor in Armada's success, but let's be real, Starscream was the real MVP of the show
imo, the whole show Megatron has been acting like some jerk but in the end he opened up his eyes and learned things he didn't care about before (he understood importance of freeing the minicons and teamwork). He's started to change in good way. That's why I believe he challenged Optimus. To lose actually. Since Unicron feeds up with hatreds and only one of them should remain it'd better be Optimus. (Megatron still can give in to hatred).Megatron understood that, so he realized this gonna be this last battle. To end war; to fight Unicron. (same way Starscream did). And Megatron wanted to fell in great battle as a good warrior. I remember at least one moment when Megatron actaully had a chance to finish Optimus and win but he didn't. And final only prooves it.
I feel that, whether intentional or not, Optimus's arc in the Unicron Trilogy went like this.
Armada: Acceptance. Optimus originally was trying to hold his battlelust deep inside him and drown it, but since his battlelust kept being inside him, the war kept on going. The first step to properly solve a problem is to accept its existense. By the end of Armada, Optimus had accepted his battlelust and that helped him to truly overcome it. When he threw down with Galvatron during the episode "Mortal Combat", he was fighting like how he truly wanted to fight; like a true hero fighting for peace. He was fighting Galvatron just with his fists, his wits and his determination, he received the one devastating blow after the other, he was getting more and more damaged, Galvatron was throwing at him the one weapon and trick after the other, but Optimus didn't give up and ultimately triumphed. Unicron was defeated thanks to Galvatron's sacrifice, but also thanks to Optimus making the first major step to truly becoming the Optimus Prime we know and love.
Energon: Help. Optimus truly wants to do the right thing, but he feels that he has to do it himself. In a way, we could say that this happened due to him wanting to truly overcome his past mistakes. Optimus's arc in Energon is about him learning that, whether the current problem is your fault or nor, asking for help doesn't mean that you're any less of a good person or leader, it just means you know your limitations and you trust your comrades. Out of the good things in Armada that Energon ruined, Optimus was not one of them.
Cybertron: Aftermath. Optimus's arc here is complete. He truly is the Optimus Prime we know and love from our childhood. During his final battle with Galvatron, he proves it. He fights to end all the madness and destruction like a true hero who fights for peace should (as a result of his arc in Transformers: Armada) and he has complete trust to his team to succeed if he fails (as he learned in Transformers: Energon), and like that he manages to come triumphant, this time permanently.
It's also important to note how Optimus says that "Galvatron and I are two sides of the same coin". During the Unicron Trilogy, Optimus and Megatron are polar opposites. They both started as two battlelusted war leaders, but they both followed opposite paths. Optimus first tried to hide his battlelust inside him, and later he faced his battlelust head-on, all in his attempt to end the war once and for all and all because he wanted to be loyal to his cause and ideals of peace and freedom. Megatron/Galvatron didn't hide his battlelust nor did he face it and he wanted the war to continue as long as possible. Optimus started showing his dark side, while Megatron started showing his good side. Optimus overcame his inner darkness and embraced the light, whereas Megatron was consumed by the darkness. I'm not a big fan of how Megatron's/Galvatron's development in Armada ended up being meaningless in the sequels, but I love the reverse parallel he has with Optimus's development. Optimus became a better person and leader as the Trilogy went on and by the end he was more loyal to his cause and ideals than ever with everyone standing with him ready to back him up and ultimatrly triumphing, whereas Megatron/Galvatron ended up as a worse person and leader than before, alone, fighting a losing battle and ultimately being put down.
Comodin, that was a fantastic analysis. I'm also glad I'm not the only one who noticed the war allegory in Transformers. Whether it is the main or a secondary message (depends on each installment), that allegory exists in the franchise. Even back at G1, both the cartoons and the comics. The franchise started with the Transformers being forced to leave their own home, because the civil war that broke out made it uninhabitable. This would be how most Transformers continuities would start. Then, the story would be about Earth getting trapped in a conflict it had nothing to do with. All these are things that actually happen in wars and we see their consequences. For a series about giant robots beating each other up, the Transformers might just have one of the most interesting and well-developed anti-war and anti-violence messages in fiction.
On a final note, to everyone reading this, Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!
i always felt because galvatron came back on unicron it twisted him in a way, along with the fact that he is back and his death was meaningless pushing him back towards the dark
@@spencerwilliams1881 It can be argued that Megatron/Galvatron becoming a worse person as the series progressed makes sense, but it still is not what I consider good writing, at least when taking into consideration what Armada had established for the character (but to be fair to Transformers: Cybertron, it originally wasn't meant to be a continuation of Armada and Energon, so I can forgive some characters acting differently than before). Still, if there is something I like about Megatron/Galvatron becoming a worse person, then it's that his story parallels Optimus's story as 2 sides of the same coin.
@@spencerwilliams1881 it’s kinda implied in words in the Optimus Prime Vs Megatron The Ultimate Battle DVD that used the Unicron Trilogy as a backdrop where Optimus says that Megatron as he changes forms and colors he gets worse and worse as a person and with most coming from unicron powers or his influence it makes sense
I agree. But I think since Energon, Megatron was slowly being further corrupted by Unicron and even further in the third show Cybertron in which I feel that Megatron's personality was being influenced by Unicron's personality yet at that the same Unicron was influenced by Megatron's personality.
@@virtualpellot933 In other words, the Megatron/Galvatron we see in the sequels is nothing but a shell of his former self
The Armada characterizations of Megatron, Prime, and Starscream remain my favorite incarnations of them to this day. Instead of the "good versus evil" and "backstabbing cowardly sidekick" we usually see, Armada did the unthinkable and made its characters so... human. Understandable. Relatable. I remember being so invested in the series and characters as a kid because of that ability to relate, not simply because they are giant, transforming alien war machines. Exploring the hidden reasons for Prime accepting Megatron's wish to fight at the end of all things, Megatron being too proud to live in peace when he could die in glory, Starscream's journey from spurned lieutenant to martyr, these felt believable, not contrived, for a kid's cartoon show about toys. You can feel Prime's faith in peace reeling in the face of the excitement of final victory. You recognize in Megatron the spirit of the last samurai, who rode to death rather than be forced into a life of peace they couldn't understand after a lifetime of war. You cheer for Starscream when he appears to confront Galvatron, all his doubts long gone, knowing what he must do, knowing what's at stake. It's so 'human'. Try watching the new movies and getting invested in any of the bots? Practically impossible. They've become cardboard cutouts of stereotypes and story roles, dancing to a tune with one note. Armada nailed the characterization aspect, better than any other Transformers media I've seen, outside of perhaps the comics.
What I like most is in the end Megatron/Galvatron was the real hero of the Unicron Battles. Throughtout the final fight it is clear that Megatron lived for the war and the battle. It was his one motivation that keeps him going and without a strong rival like Optimus Prime he would have no purpose, no real reason to do what he does since it would be nothing more than trampling over a stop sign. Optimus on the other hand has pride and is idealistic to a fault, he fights in the name of justice and peace between the Autobots and Decepticons. But deep down he knows Unicron was right, at some point it wasn't about protecting others and ending the war anymore, it was all about fueling his battle lust as it's the only thing keeping him alive. As a result of this he has grown to resent Megatron for the war that has spanned eons but knows that if he admits to this it would go against his own ideals and prove Unicron's point that he is a hypocrite shielding himself behind the Matrix to justify his actions (The latter was mentioned only in the Micron Legends version).
This all gets brought to a head once the fight is over, Unicron regains his strength and resumes eating Cybertron. Megatron was willing to sacrifice himself, even if both he and Optimus finds a way to stop Unicron it will only lead to peace. Megatron could never see himself live in an era of peace without war and would rather die an honorable warrior's death in a battle, however Optimus for all his flaws has true conviction and will never look past his dreams of an era of peace between the Autobots and Decepticons and still commits to saving his rival. Megatron knows that if neither of them perish then the whole war and Armada would all be for nothing, it was either him or the death of all Transformers and potentially the universe at the hands of Unicron. So he cuts his treads off and sacrifices himself descending into the Maw of Unicron, doing the one thing Optimus could never do and that was to end Unicron.
Optimus in the end drifts away in the emptiness of space, the Matrix flies past him but Optimus declines. Ironically the one who brought peace to the universe was the warmongering Megatron, not the Optimus Prime who spent almost his entire life until that point fighting in the name of peace. And thus he flies away in a self-imposed exile as a reflection of his actions.
Armada is fucking underrated and underappreciated despite its flaws. It is probably one of the few if not the only Transformer anime/show that shows a double face to almost every characters, that the Autobot and Decepticon war was not done because good vs evil but a conflict in ideals and vision. And unlike IDW where they tried to attempt the same but falls flat by going for the lazy Autobots are actually kind of evil and the Decepticons has really good points that makes them right route, Armada treated both sides as being 2 sides of a coin. 2 military branches with similar code of conduct that is executed differently as implied by Starscream, Megatron the more stern and strict leader who shows tough love for his men in order to make them better men versus Optimus who believes in his men and acts more like a dad looking after his family. I hate that Armada's reputation will forever be tarnished thanks to Cartoon Network trying to rush it out before it was even considered done. We'll never get another Transformer show with a message as hard as Armada.
Armada was great and if only it got the time it needed but at least it started at least what I consider a great trilogy, Energon for all it's faults explored a post war period the best in television with dissatisfied soldiers and mistrust between the 2 sides seemingly at peace leading to skirmishes and once opportunity arrives those who aren't satisfied return to the battlefield once more... execution however could've used some work after that portion but I will still stand it's one of the better portrayals of such a concept. Cybertron no matter what people try and say about tearing it away from the stories it was meant to continue is an overall solid show only hurt by the studio cutting it off from the rest though couldn't cut every connection... but back on track. Cybertron expanded the whole universe by journeying to see transformers who lived away from the civil war and bringing them all together to save their ancestral homeworld threatened by Unicron's parting gift with Megatron back needing to be put down once and for all being a shell of his former self corrupted by all the unicron stuff he's been exposed to throughout the 3 series ending in quite the climactic battle allowing a new beginning to Planet Cybertron to properly begin
I really hope that we get stories of the world after that ending since it's open to dozens of different ideas that could be tried
@@Xeno-The-Wanderer Cybertron doesn't fit very well into Armada/Energon mythos, and works best as its own separate continuity.
Do you know where to watch Arms Micron subbed. Your comment really drives the point home that is the intended version of the show.
@@pepperedash4424 not exactly, many story beats rely on Energon to really be understood, Primus used up all remaining energy he had thus Omega Lock required to get him back up and running, Black Hole that threatens to swallow the multiverse so it must be unicron from within the energon sun, autobots combining not being around anymore likely due to exhausting all combination sparks in the final battle however those who can still had a hand from Primus in a way such as Leobreaker taking energy from the jungle planet cyber planet key or wing saber rebuilt by primus himself. Heck using this one can surmise the Star Saber might've been used to sink the Atlantis star ship as it was referenced when learning of the story behind the star saber thus giving valid reason for almost every ancient earth transformer being hostile to humans thus captured and put into stasis by Crosswise.
A lot of major story beats really do call back to the other 2 and yet the fandom just cannot accept that for some reason when both Hasbro AND Takara now have cybertron as a continuation thus the blame likely falls to the studio itself despite many returning characters in Cybertron having design cues from their armada and energon selves
@@Xeno-The-Wanderer The tidbits involving Energon were added to the dub. Cybertron couldn't have carried off from Energon since we see the transformers arrive on Earth in that show for the first time and Humanity knows next to nothing about them. While in Energon the Transformers had a city on Earth and there were humans on Cybertron.
Awesome video man. I guess that's one thing to note too about Armada: That it also explorace the psychological analysis for both leaders and why do they fight each other. In the modern times, the dispute is more often personal to one another (Prime being an example). It's a nice bit of fresh air to see some of the ideas of old still being relevant today
This was a very insightful comment for me to read. I’ll remember you and your words when I begin watching Armada 👍
Can you elaborate a bit? I don't think its any more personal on prime timeline. Yes it starts out as envy on Megatron's part, but after the civil war, it seems that Megatron is the one having purely the interests of cybertronians as priority, while Optimus wants to protect all life. Sure he gets mad at decepticons who try to kill Optimus but when the autobot base is located he doesn't seem too interested in taking on Optimus personally, (yes he is missing his arm but there is plenty of time for Knockout to reattach his original arm) he just uses his military to annihilate it. Furthermore in the movie, after Unicron is sealed, he just peace out's without even knowing that Optimus kinda has to sacrifice himself.
As the old saying goes,
"If you want Peace, Preapre for War."
Megatron's last line to Thrust has always stuck with me, above everything else in Armada. That line and the score.
In a way thrust had it coming when he tried to set him up the last min when he sided with unicorn which that his a big mistake in his behalf
The Armada score is impeccable
One line from that episode I'll never forget:
"Throughout the eons all your proclamations of peace have seemed pointless. You must admit you've always loved the smell of battle" (Unicron to Optimus)
With the Fans Hobby Naval Commander figure (Armada Optimus Prime), I hope they make a color variant of how Optimus look at the end of the series. Seeing Prime with reddish orange eyes is so unique, I definitely want a figure of that coloration.
Him and Megatron (Galvatron) having similar color eyes is a very nice touch
The name of that war-paint Optimus is "Powerlinx" (in case you were wondering)
I'm referring to the Takara version, The Final Battle TRU Optimus Prime where he looks exactly like the animation model in colors rather than the Hasbro Powerlinx with that greyish blue legs and head.
I remember from the IDW G1 version, Optimus admits he hates Megatron, sort of. Hate sound to little or simple, not even Optimus can describe.
I like how you describe Megatron’s self-sacrifice. Megatron is selfish, he would save the entire Universe just to prove he’s better than Optimus.
This was MY Transformers as a kid in the early 2000s. It was sad for me to not know of g1. I was born in 1993. So the 2000s as a kid was the Armada and Minicon toys. Which is just...awesome for me lol. And i was able to see the 80s g1 later. But something about the story of Armada made more since of war and character development. And how Starscream really saw the sides and knew war was bad and changed ways. That was epic to me as a kid then what g1 offered i feel. That and megatron and optimus understanding each other for once
I'm the same generation as you. This was my intro to transformers as well and the whole thing about starscream and war made you think especially since the iraq war was going on at the time we watched this.
I was also born on 1993 but I have seen G1 first. however I've only seen a few episode of it. While Armada, I was able to watch it from the begging to end. So I love this more than G1
A very close counterpart of Armada Starscream is Beast Wars Dinobot, he has much of the same courage and integrity without the inferiority complex. I saw Beast Wars much later in life( it was a little before my time) and assumed Dinobot WAS that universes Starscream untill the "real" Starscream showed up. I think Armada has to be my fav interpretation of the character.
“Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence."
I remember Armada Megaton coming across as a strict mum. Always referring to his soldiers as boys or men.
Strict dad*
@@GeorgioArmoni no, I meant mum. He reminded me of my mum with the way he spoke.
Who could imagine that ANIME version of giants robots will be the one of the most intresting version with some most intresting version of characters as well?
anime giant robots tend to go very deep. stuff like gundam might look like a kids' show, but once you watch it you'll see the character conflicts and politics are the main focus while the robots are secondary (especially with the Universal Century timeline)
@@xpcube it could be, but i meant more about transformers. Armada still one of the deepest for me.
Ah yes, Universal Century, the "Don't get attached to any character you see" timeline.
I personally like this variation of their rivalry more than the origin where they were once friends before the war dividing the two. It looks at their rivalry in a more psychological way rather than the nuance way of modern stories.
Always thought this show was treated a bit too harshly. Maybe I'm biased, because I watched it as a kid, but while it's definitely not perfect and its flaws can be *very* apparent, it also tried to do interesting character drama, especially with traditionally very one-dimensional characters like Starscream, Megatron and Optimus. Starscream went from a groveling traitorous coward to an honorable warrior torn between loyalties (not unlike another sword-wielding Transformer), Megatron became a warlord who wasn't completely evil but also firmly not good, and instead viewed his actions as a means to an end, while still respecting his ultimate foe, and Optimus, while still very much the wise mentor figure we all love, is also a warrior who reluctantly admits to enjoying fighting and won't hesitate to kill a foe if he thinks it's the only way to end a conflict. Maybe it wasn't always executed the best, but just like Beast Wars, Armada at least tried to do more interesting story-telling than a lot of the Transformers shows that came before it. Besides, as we saw with Energon, it could have been... _so_ much worse.
Also, Garry Chalk and David Kaye are almost as legendary as Peter Cullen and Frank Welker.
Armada made me a Starscream fan.
You mean Peter Cullen and Frank Welker
@@kidprime6863 Yeah you're right, that's a typo on my part, my bad.
Basically to Megatron having Optimus prime as his enemy is the closest thing to ever having a friend
I always liked the implications in the finale that deep down Optimus was just as violent and brutal as Megatron, like it blurs the line between him and Megs a bit.
I actually miss this portrayal of the relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron. It's a dynamic that works so well and it keeps true to who the characters are while taking them into a much darker, more serious, and realistic territory, without turning Optimus into a brutal face-ripping psychopath who actually enjoys making his enemies suffer or Megatron into a pathetic second banana to another throw-away nothing Villain who barely does anything like the Michael Bay sequels did. It's a dynamic between the characters that I wish we'd see again. And hey, it doesn't have to be between Optimus and Megatron. It could work for other rival Transformer leaders. Maybe Rodimus Prime vs Galvatron or Star Saber vs Deathsaurus.
Yeah, and these days it's just a sibling rivalry between the two
This was a pretty neat analysis video.
I've still never seen any of the Unicron Trilogy in full...
Armada stopped airing on normal TV in the UK after Sideways betrayed Hot Shot.
Energon & Cybertron i've seen a decent amount of but never the whole thing.
Damn, that was when the show was REALLY kicking into high gear!
The cell animation still holds up to this day im glad ppl still talk about anime from the 90s and early 2000s.
Armada and Beasties were my Transformer cartoons. I didn't grow up on G1 like my mom and uncle did, so when I explained Starscream in this universe was one of my favourites, they were legitimately confused lol. Seeing Armada get some discussion time makes me feel warm on the inside.
This show's voice for Unicron is fantastic, 2nd best after Orson Welles. David Kaye is my favorite Megatron.
FINALLY! I have been waiting for someone to make a video like this on Armada for a while. The show may have had problems, but it had some really interesting elements.
One thing I thought should be talked about more is the darker side of Optimus in Armada. He denies it at first, but he grows to love fighting in the war just as much as Megatron does. When he finally accepts this, and sees Megatron's sacrifice, he abandons the Matrix and his leadership of the Autobots to go into exile. It was such a fascinating development of the character that Energon never followed up on, and I wish it was talked about more.
I think that the reason why Energon never followed up with this was because they needed Optimus to be a hero, given he's the leader of the Autobots and all. Because of this, they were too afraid to have him become something that he typically is not, ultimately deciding to play it safer because they knew that there would be people who either wouldn't be able to understand or otherwise were worried that such a portrayal of Optimus would tarnish his reputation
I love Armada Optimus. It's really something when you see a geniunely good character turns out to be more rotten than the bad guys. Wish we had more of this version of Prime
I really enjoyed this little breakdown of Armada. It gives my childhood show some meaning to me other than just COOL ROBOTS. This was touching to me, it helped give me an understanding and I really appreciate it :)
Armada is a Transformers show that my memory keeps going back to the most fondly for many reasons. More so than even Beast Wars or the like. It just felt different and hit harder in ways that many of the other shows don’t. In some ways even doing better than others.
This was a great video! I remember this series fondly, and I don't hear it brought up often. I honestly thought that the writers of The Last Knight would take inspiration from Armada's Unicron/Optimus/Megatron dynamic. I particularly enjoyed Unicron's goading lines, "You crave war like a human craves oxygen" and "You must admit, you love the smell of battle." Great stuff! Very Star Wars. Or, more accurately... very mythological in general!
Hell in the Japanese version prime LITERALLY ADMITS he loves to fight, he just uses the matrix as an excuse to ignore it. That's why he throws it out of his chest cavity before he fights megatron at the end of the show, hes tired of suppressing his real self and WANTS to beat the shit both in to and back out of megatron.
Yo you hit so much of my own views about Optimus here. I really LOVE this take on Optimus so much. And Megatron here is such a delightful and interesting take on him.
Armada is super special to me for the way these two are towards eachother. I don't have all the words to explain it. I'm just so glad finding more people who notice things around the hidden nature of Armada Optimus.
Woah this show was a blast from the past, I only could find this on DVD back in the day so I had no clue it had such a long run time, maybe it’s worth a rewatch
This show used to be my childhood. Never thought it was this deep.
Amazing stuff.
Megatron was once possessed by Unicron. After being freed Starscream was pushing him to continue to the fight against the Autobots. Megatron simply said " I've had a taste of tyranny and no longer wish to inflict it. " and walked off. It took Unicron controlling his body to wake him up and show him what he's been doing over the years. Since they're so much like us the problem isn't that Megatron has to continue the fight, even though he may want to 99% of the time. It's that even if he stops and steps down from the role of Decepticon leader there will always be others who are eager to take up the mantle. Starscream chief among them. Even if it isn't the Decepticons it'll be a new group with a new tyrannical leader. It's why Optimus wants to protect the human race. He sees their potential for change and in turn sees the potential for their own kind to change, that and he's a stickler for protecting life.
Is actually shocking Hearing this when first watched Armada when prime say he Enjoys the battle that part got me
Prime Wars Trilogy is still my fav interpretation on Megs, but I believe that's all built on past Transformers media, well, the animated and comics anyways.
This was the first TF series i ever saw and i still love it to this day
glad to see people still talk of it :D
10:00 armada had a lot of interesting takes on characters. My personal favorite (and many other's) was Starscream. This is the starscream I grew up on but somehow, I also love the classic starscream's personality even though its so wildly different. Though out of all the incarnations of starscream I do think that TFP did it best.
Man, I gotta watch armada again sometime, though I don't think I could tollerate the humans enough.
I remember watching this final fight as a kid usually in the other episodes they fight to win but in this fight you can tell they’re fighting to kill as much as Optimus doesn’t want to.
Optimus Prime and Master Chief 2 fictional characters who fight not for themselves but for the greater good and are forever entwined in this never ending cycle of battle.
Beast Wars and Armada were the best Transformers we have ever had.
I love how you put this video together & explored the psychology of these two since they have always seemed different in from other incarnations (the other I can sort of think of is IDW with how they show the duality parts of the two), I would love to see other videos like this!
Hopefully Hasbro will pick this series up as Armada's anniversary comes up (this upcoming year I believe).
Well we hope (because armada was great) at least if the leak are true we will have at least an Armada starscream...
@@principeweek2147 That was always my favorite iteration because he has the phase ability. Starscreams voice from Armada is always the one I use when repeating quotes, its more raspy and lower at the same time. Like snake that smoked for a long time lol
@@SeviathTheHumanDrago yeah ! Every starscream are great but this one was fire ! But i wish for Armada birthday that we will not only have starscream i mean... i personaly want an Hot shot, sideways and scavenger more the two leader ? And more than only some cool figure...
Well having the 20th anniversary of this series this year... I do hope that we see a new version or rather this type of Optimus, Galvatron/Megatron and Starscream..
The characters( especially the development of each robot in the series) , the toys and more Armada contents..
When it came to the transformers trilogy.
Armada, Energon and Cybertron.
The first two I thought we’re good.
The third one however infuriated me.
There were so many parts and pieces in the beginning that hinted that it was connected to the other two, but they all acted like it was the first time that ever went to earth.
Making it seem like it was a big deal that they were going to be robots in disguise.
When earth already knew about them, and had advanced pretty far in technology because of it.
But the third one made it seem like they weren’t connected.
And through most of that series I watched it just brushing all the stuff at the beginning off thinking it must just be its own thing.
And then the final episode happened.
At which point they made a point of showing all of the human allies that the transformers had in the previous two series as well as alluding to the fact that they were all connected.
I am a big fan of continuity so the third one seem to be so confusing in weather it had continuity with the other ones or not just aggravated the hell out of me.
Yeah it really felt like it was constantly between different writers
In Japan it is a reboot and own universe but the English dubbers or hasbro wanted to connect to the two shows that’s why the characters act different then they used to be.
@@caden141 Fairly certain the animation studios are the ones that intended them to be more linked but after production started outside interference made it mesh weirdly
i quite like this message, there are certainly some relationships in life id love to have fixed but after years of resenting someone, you cant just accept them like nothing ever happened, and in time most things do become pattern so hating someone long enough will cement that hatred in place. its quite sad the same cant be said for good emotions.
You didn't mention an important detail of that battle, the fact Optimus throws the Matrix away before they throw down.
To show this is not as leaders, not as the commander and general of their respective sides, but as the Cybertronians Optimus Prime and Megatron.
@@boxtank5288 If i recall ( i havent seen a single Armada episode in nigh on 15 years) whle throwing away the Matrix optimus actually exclaims ''I will fight you, not as the leader of the autobots, but as the leader of all cybertronians!''
@@CallicoJackracham The actual translation was meant to be him saying he'll fight Megatron as Orion Pax. In other words making their final clash personal.
@@boxtank5288 I see, what i quoted was what he said in my language's dub.
@@CallicoJackracham Right, in ours it was 'As the leader of all Transformers' another dubism.
I loved this show. It was my favorite Transformers show ever. I'm so glad other people loved this show just as much as me.
Its nice to see that people are still talking about Armada. Great video man!
The moment when Optimus sacrifices himself to save earth. That was awesome and tragic at the same time. Great anime.
On this episode of Optimus acting like a tsundere toward Megatron ...
Great video man. I have always loved armada and it is one of my favorite transformers shows. The dynamic between optimus and Megatron was great and the episode where he thought prime was dead always stuck with me.
AAAAAAAAA!!! Thank you so much for this!! Armada was such a great sow and the final arc was very monumental and different compared to the other shows
Pretty fantastic video mate you put a lot into perspective and revealed stuff to me that I had kinda missed.
Plz make more Amanda videos like this, idk if it was the music or just remembering my childhood but I was crying during this not even joking I’d love to see this show make a return to tv
Daaaamn, an anime Transformers. So many people said back in the day that Energon could have been way better if they went with anime style and now I really understand why
This show was really good looking, way nicer than the follow up shows
In the Japanese version of Armada (Micron Densetsu) Megatron doesn’t change his name till the Japanese version of Energon (Superlink)
Just stumbled upon your channel, this vid is Awesome. Will be looking forward to the next one.
The one thing that really annoyed me about the ending of Armada, was the fact that after Megatron sacrificed himself; Optimus decided that he was no longer fit to being a leader. I think the reason why this annoyed me so much was because it belittled Megatron’s sacrifice. Sure there was the kind of selfish side to it, of not wanting to be out done… but I felt like Megatron knew that if HE didn’t sacrifice himself, Unicron would stay active and neither the Autobots or Decepticons would win; because he was always looking for a fight while Optimus was looking for peace. So Megatron’s hope was that with his death,Optimus could lead the Transformers in a final push against Unicron and put an end to it all. But instead we got a depressed Optimus… in a way it’s similar to how Megatron felt, but I feel like Optimus would have found away to move on past it in some capacity.
Similarly to how Megatron finally decided to stop fighting after becoming Unicron’s puppet in Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters
I know this is 5 months late comment but I couldn't resist but to reply my own interpretation of the ending.
For me as a kid, my interpretation on why Optimus Prime didn't return because it might tear apart the Autobots and Decepticons again after finally achieving peace since one side might think there's a backstabbing shenanigans happen that's why only one leader came back alive to rule the entire race... So for me as a kid I thought Optimus Prime choose to remain to be dead to everyone like Megatron to preserve peace through the action of Autobots and Decepticons leaders sacrificing their lives to defeat Unicron
Those words about the nature of war and conflict have never rang more true in recent memory than now in 2022, kudos Comodin 👍👍
It’s fascinating how Transformers as a franchise in certain cases became less of a cut and dry war story that it started as and became something of a deconstruction of war stories in cases like this
damn i never realied that armada was an anime. I grew up watching this and I think energon? Defeintely loved armada and that the trasnformers could combine.
Yep it is an anime, i mean we have the brave series which is basically made up with un used transformer design
This is also something that gets exploded in the IDW comics as well.
Or it did until we got news of Transformers comic rights going to Image.
@@smb-c3po I take it they changed the dynamic of their relationship and kept it pretty basic and not as deep?
@@SapphireStar23 IDW is losing the comic rights to Transformers and we'll get an Image continuity.
Apart from maybe TF Prime, TF Armada definitely has the best chemistry between Optimus and Megatron...something that was lacking in the movies and especially in TF Animated, which is my favorite TF series, despite this flaw.
A great and informative retrospective look at the rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron during Transformers armada.
Thank you so much for talking about Armada, please make moaaaaar videos :D
It would be interesting if you did a video on Starscream and Hot Shot and what things would've been like if they had actually became the next Autobot and Decepticon leaders.
Great video. I also grew up on Armada and am always happy to find more reasons to love Transformers!!
I loved this video you explored the depth of these characters and their dicotamy I would love to see more videos like this armada is a shamefully underrated show
Thanks for liking my comment comodin cam and thanks to the six people who gave me a thumbs up as well
This is the show that got me into Transformers.
Nice breakdown of this show. As a G1 fan I enjoyed this cause I didn’t get to watch this.
Well done
Are we not gonna talk about how brutal Trusts death was? The dude was crushed alive.
This the Megatron I'd respect. He literally couldn't handle the fact of losing a brilliant man the same as him. And at the end of it all, a victory would taste fruitless...
One thing that stood out to me is before Optimus fought Megatron in "Mortal Combat", he took out the Matrix of Leadership--saying that he didn't want to corrupt it(which told me that OP was planning to kill Megatron once and for all)--then after Megatron's sacrifice we see the Matrix floating by as Optimus says "I'm no longer worthy". Though he didn't directly kill Megatron, he did let him fall to his death. This struck me as interesting. Optimus has fought in numerous wars, killed hundreds (if not thousands) of soldiers, and yet he finds himself unworthy of the Matrix after he failed to prevent Megatron's death. I think this goes along with what was said in the video and how Optimus hoped to maintain peace without resorting to this kind of battle. Wonderful video! God bless and have a great day all!
Armada was such a perfect show because it showed a more realistic and different side of the transformers not just auto it’s vs deceptions it actually had meaning of the conflict and that for once it ended in peace it’s one of the reason I hate energon so much because it deletes the perfection and beauty of armada for example besides disrupting peace, bringing back Starscream from the dead, instead of letting his soul that battled as long as he can remember Rest In Peace, bring him back into a mindless personage with no memory, only to be driven to a power obsessed maniac in cybertron, it was cool to see him a power obsessed maniac in cybertron but the idea that it’s actually linked to the calm and kind hearted armada starscream makes me cry
This is such a good breakdown! Well done!
Nice insight! Great video!
I never got why everyone calls Galvatron a different bot he is still Megatron just with a power up.
Man, there is some philosophical dialog here. I like how you link this to real life too.
That fight was like One of my favorites !
I can't believe good Starscream overshadows this dynamic, because I just realised it does at least in my memory.
Same with me, but then again maybe the appreciation for it comes more naturally, as I dont have any other transformers shows to compare it to (outside of the unicorn trilogy). I watched/rewatched armada the most, so I guess I kind of psychology explored here as a natural dimension of their rivalry.
I liked the dynamic between the two. It really worked especially with character development.
Nice video!
5:29 the music really goes well in this scene
Anyone else feel that that the 2 both became darker as the series went on?
Megatron not so much but prime definently changed
As a TF armada fan I loved your video!👍
Fantastic insight. Even though at the end of the day Armada is a Toy Commercial, there's more depth to its characters than you'd otherwise think. Things aren't as black and white as your typical Saturday Morning Cartoon would be.
This was my introduction to Transformers as a small child. I loved the final battle