Beast Wars Episode Dissection: 'Beast Wars Part 2'
X-posted to beast_wars
It’s a plot device that’s been around for hundreds of years if not longer: The hero has to cross a bridge but finds his way blocked by an adversary or a monster of some sort, and the hero has to face down his opponent in single combat. Sometimes it’s more of a test of willpower than a straight-forward fight and sometimes the struggle isn’t even a physical one but the basic pattern is always the same. The hero has to prove himself unaided against an adversary.
That’s exactly the situation Optimus Primal finds himself in when he’s challenged to a duel to the death by Dinobot - for leadership of the Maximals. Given Dinobot’s taste for classic Earth literature you have to wonder if he chose it that way deliberately. ;) But there’s more going on with Dinobot than just a simple desire to kill Primal, he wants control of the Maximals so he can use them to attack and subdue Megatron and fix the perceived mistakes his former superior has made. It’s an audacious plan - like Rhinox says: "This guy's got bearings of chrome steel." XD
So the boys duke it out ‘the old fashioned way’ as Dinobot puts it (yay, sword fight!) and as they duel it’s revealed that Dinobot, despite his savagery, is also a highly principled individual. He has a sense of honor, although maybe not always in the sense the Maximals might appreciate. If you think about it you also get a sense of what Megatron has lost by alienating Dinobot. He wouldn’t have to spend half as much time looking over his shoulder for one thing since it’s clearly not in Dinobot’s nature to sneak around in the shadows and stab a rival in the back - which is more than I can say for most (if not all) of the other Predicons. Not to mention he also isn’t around to enforce discipline among Megatron’s crew (a task that’s usually a 2IC’s responsibility) which he probably did quite effectively in the past given that he’s harsh enough that no one would be willing to cross him but at the same time he’s not overly cruel.
It’s also here that Optimus Primal’s unwillingness to take a life is shown to be a disadvantage, which almost ends in him losing his own life. Not that I really blame Primal, odds are good he’s never killed anyone before in his life. After all, he’s not a battle-hardened soldier like his namesake.
Interestingly enough, in the end neither of them ‘wins’ because Megatron and the Preds arrive and try to shoot them both to pieces. It does leave a question mark over which of them is stronger and while they never physically battle again I’m willing to bet that they’ve both wondered from time to time how it might have gone.
I have to admit, the animation when the Preds blow up the bridge is just….bad. The Predicons’ missiles have to be the slowest missiles in existence - but I suppose they have to be given how freakin’ slowly Optimus transformed and tackled Dinobot out of the way! Not to mention there’s the fact that the missiles hit the mountainside with enough force up unbury the giant, (apparently) highly unstable energon crystals, but somehow didn’t set them off. The laws of physics get played fast and loose here, mostly for visual gags (Optimus swinging Megatron around his head by the tail, anyone?) which is something that the producers thankfully tone down later in the series.
Anyways, Dinobot ends up tagging along with the Maximals out of mutual interest, in this case stopping Megatron from accessing such a huge energon stockpile. He doesn’t seem to care much for the Maximals nor believe in what they stand for, but he doesn’t exactly have anywhere else to go so he’s effectively stuck with them. This episode also marks the start of the Dinobot/Rattrap bitchfight. I bet the other Maximals quickly ended up wishing that they’d just chucked both of them off the cliff while they still had the chance. ;)
It’s also in this episode that we get the first hint that the Cybertronians may not be alone on the planet when the Maximals notice an artificially created stone circle (though they don’t have time to investigate - yet). Said stone circle doesn’t look at all familiar….yep not familiar at all…. *le cough*
I also can’t decide if Megatron sounds totally sexy or like a total fruitcake; in these two episodes at least, I’m leaning towards the fruitcake side of things. I do think he like that energon a bit too much. ;) So all in all a decent first episode and while it’s a bit clumsy and kiddish in some parts, it does a good job of introducing the characters and setting the stage for the rest of the series. What are your guy's opinions?