Coming off the largely lackluster Prime Wars Trilogy, Transformers: War for Cybertron – Siege looks to take things back to the time before the original series and focus on the last days of the war on Cybertron that set everything else in motion.
At the start of the series, to say things look bad for the Autobots is an understatement. Barely a dozen remain and their Energon supplies are so low they don’t even have enough to launch a ship into orbit. Worse yet, the Decepticons number in the hundreds–perhaps thousands–and rule the skies of Cybertron with an iron fist.
The six-episode series is largely centered around three characters, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee–each of whom represent a different side in the war.
Image source: NX on Twitter
Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, is facing a no-win situation. He has neither the manpower nor material to do any meaningful damage to the Decepticons. In fact, he lacks the ability to even escape with his remaining forces into exile. However, he is determined to continue the fight.
And this is the big problem with Optimus Prime in this series: he is a deeply flawed leader. He is so focused on the end goal that he is unable to be pragmatic when it comes to his current circumstances. The situation is so dire that his own general and friend, Ultra Magnus, goes behind his back to ask Megatron for peace–and things only go downhill from there.
After receiving what could be a compromised message from Ultra Magnus, claiming that Megatron is searching for the Allspark so as to end the war by reprogramming the remaining Autobots into Decepticons, Optimus Prime diverts nearly all resources to finding this mythical item. This includes even the meager energy stores they have at base–i.e., the energy that keeps them invisible to the Decepticons.
But it’s not just his choices that are bad, it’s his leadership style as well. He implores those beneath his command to be strong and believe in him but he never addresses their very real and practical concerns. Of course they believe in the cause and want to believe in him, but he keeps leading them into traps and is making it all but impossible for them to continue the fight. It’s only by luck and the interference of a literal Deus Ex Machina that they don’t all end up dead.
Image source: NX on Twitter
Megatron is, oddly enough, a far more likable–though tragic–character. Starting as basically a slave in the Autobot-ruled cast system, he became the leader of a rebellion that eventually locked in on the goal of survival of the fittest—i.e., the strong rule. However, now, he is no longer the scrappy underdog attacking from the shadows: he is the legitimate government and is dealing with the reversal in roles.
What Megatron wants, more than anything, is peace so he can get on with rebuilding the devastated planet. Unfortunately, the Autobots refuse to give up. At the start, he has offered a peace treaty–but it is Optimus Prime who refuses to accept. With Optimus Prime’s determination to fight to the last man, it seems that genocide is the only option–no matter how much Megatron doesn’t want that.
So Megatron finds himself on a slippery slope. Each time he is faced with the evil path he rejects it. Torture his old friend? Use the Allspark to reprogram the Autobots? Destroy the planetary communications network? Give the order to hunt down and kill his (formerly) most loyal advisor? These things seem unthinkable at first. However, as his need to end the war grows, he throws away his old morals–to the point where, in the end, he has none at all.
It’s fantastic character development from what could have been a one-note villain that honestly makes him more sympathetic than Optimus Prime. It hurts to see his fall into darkness because his original goal was freedom for the downtrodden. Now he is just a despot.
The final main character in this series is Bumblebee. Neither Autobot nor Decepticon, he represents all those just hoping to keep their heads down and survive this seemingly endless war. He cares for neither cause and will help either side if the price is right.
To Bumblebee, both Autobots and Decepticons are zealots. It doesn’t matter who is just and who isn’t when the entire planet has been turned into a wasteland–and he is far from the only one to feel this way.
Former Autobot Ratchet basically runs a pro-bono hospital for anyone who needs help–be they Autobot or Decepticon. And it’s quite clear that those who end up in his care soon come to be like-minded. It’s hard to claim that the fighting is necessary when both sides are living together in peace, working to help each other.
But unfortunately for both Bumblebee and Ratchet, they are dragged into the conflict on the Autobot side when the threat of the Allspark reprogramming them into being Decepticons is put into the equation. Neither are able to stay neutral when their very free will is at stake. They have to fight the good fight–not for the Autobot cause but for all those like themselves.
In the end, through Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee, we get an in-depth look at the war on Cybertron and how the remaining transformers view it. Rather than a battle of good versus evil, it is a war where both sides started with the best of intentions, only for them to be twisted as the years went on–leaving the planet dead and many just trying to survive.
It’s a brilliant way of adding depth to the story and making both the heroes and villains far more nuanced.
…I just wish that the creators’ way of showing this didn’t turn Optimus Prime into such a terrible leader.
Transformers: War for Cybertron – Siege can be seen on Netflix.
I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this review with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick anything up to an including a 13ish episode series to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) So thanks again!
Top image source: Netflix on YouTube.
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