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Serpent's Eye: CITY OF STEELReview by RakshaIt's notable right near the start how Megatron calls a stop to the Constructicons' bickering among themselves, which is nicely characteristic: Decepticons are to put their energy into building the future, not into fighting among themselves. We see a glimpse of Long Haul's desire to be a warrior rather than just a construction worker, which is a nice insight into him. More specifically, he's got the most significant line of the episode: "I didn't join this outfit to be a dump truck." He specifically says he joined the Decepticons, which corroborates my views on "Secret of Omega Supreme," that by no means were the Constructicons forced or brainwashed into becoming Decepticons and taking on the Decepticon ideology. The word join indicates a conscious, willing choice - and more so, Long Haul's line shows that not only did he join up, but he did so with specific expectations of good things to come. One must wonder why such a normally close-knit team like the Constructicons are so gripey near the beginning of this episode. I think we find out a bit later. I like Mixmaster's enthusiasm: "Right right right - Mega Mega Megatron!" :) When the Autobots find out about the disappearance of the Empire State Building, Prime pins the event on Megatron without even stopping to investigate. Never mind that it was in fact Megatron's work - he didn't even do any research to be sure. I very much had the impression that Prime was just dying for an excuse to go attack Decepticons, and was very eager to get out there into the fray. One of many many examples of the Decepticons being off somewhere minding their own business, and the Autobots insisting on taking the battle to them. Laserbeak's "Lassie scene" raises some interesting speculation - you know, where Laserbeak gives an animalistic screech and Megatron flawlessly interprets it to mean the Autobots are nearby and trying to endanger the operation. Well, several things could have happened there. We didn't in fact see the beginning of that scene, when Laserbeak first re-joined the others; it cut in during the middle of the interaction. So Laserbeak could have told Soundwave telepathically what was going on, Soundwave relayed it verbally to Megatron, and the scene cut in where Laserbeak was underscoring Soundwave's words with a screech for emphasis. Another possibility is that Laserbeak, like Ravage, can speak when he chooses, and relayed the news verbally, then finished with the bird-screech for emphasis. A more far-fetched idea is that perhaps Laserbeak relayed the information telepathically to Megatron. We saw Megatron's eyes flash bright for a moment as he was paying attention to Laserbeak. Now, I don't personally ascribe any telepathic abilities to Megatron, but it's an interesting bit of speculation none the less. I recently read a fanfic that presented Megatron and Soundwave as sharing a telepathic link, which was an interesting take; and I do think Soundwave can get through to Megatron telepathically in moments of extreme duress. But that speaks for Soundwave's abilities, not for Megatron's. Still, I liked the "flashing eyes" effect and wish it had been used more often in the series, because it's somehow a very appropriate gesture for Megatron; it's a shame that the rest of the artwork was so awful and the effect was essentially wasted here. The Central Park scene with Rumble, Frenzy, and Soundwave is great - I love the coordination. While on the subject of telepathy, it seems very likely that all three of them were in mental communication there, since they're all finishing each others' sentences. While the same effect could be achieved by individuals who simply know each other very well (parents and siblings, in this instance), I think that maintaining a telepathic link is something that comes very naturally to Soundwave and his creations. It's also nice to see Frenzy in one of his rare appearances, and makes me wonder why we see him so seldom. Then again, I've always considered Frenzy to be the youngest of the tapes in the pre-Movie universe, so it kind-of makes sense - maybe Soundwave keeps him back more often than the others simply out of a protective instinct. Megatron's flight over the surface after Prime is captured is, momentarily, not as bad of a drawing of him as the rest of the episode, which is a nice surprise ... but the quality deteriorates again almost immediately thereafter. What ugly artwork. Yes, I'm going to keep bitching about it. I find it interesting that when Soundwave radios Megatron, he addresses him as "Mighty Megatron" - something that's actually very uncharacteristic of the way Megatron is usually addressed, in general, and uncharacteristic of Soundwave and Megatron's friendly interaction, in particular. Megatron is in fact a pretty informal leader, and the only one that usually addresses him by some title is Starscream, who does so sarcastically - perhaps in the full knowledge that this isn't something Megatron places a lot of stock in. So why would Soundwave, of all individuals, use the honorific "Mighty Megatron" at this particular moment? Well, consider the circumstances. Prime has just been captured, shorted out, and is going to be dismantled - in other words, at that moment it seems as though Megatron has finally achieved victory over the Decepticons' greatest enemy. That's certainly cause enough for Soundwave to call attention to that fact by adding a respectful adjective to Megatron's name. New Cybertron is a great name for a city, and nicely emphasizes the upgrading of a human habitation (New York) into a Decepticon one. Back in 1992 when I was first starting up Con-Quest, one of the alternate names for the magazine that I considered, was New Cybertron - drawn from this episode and the image of Megatron building a future for the Decepticons. Ultimately I think Con-Quest was the better choice of title, because like BotCon it has a double meaning, but for a moment there it might have gone another way. And a quick trivia question: anyone recall the name of the other city that Megatron built on Earth? You'll notice that Megatron gives liberal compliments to his troops for work well done throughout this episode, as he tends to do ("Excellent work, Hook - you're an artist!"). While he also snaps at them in impatience at times ("Dig, you fool, dig!"), no one seems particularly offended by it. I'm amused to see Spike planning strategy for the Autobots in the absence of Prime. It really isn't a good thing to be without a clearly designated second-in-command, and shows once again that the 'Bots just kind-of blindly blunder around without someone to tell them what to do. Another example of Megatron's excellent leadership qualities: he demands a lot from the Constructicons, but he also lets them have their fun and exercise their creativity. ("...Dispose of (Prime's) parts any way you choose. But the head is mine.") That seems to make them happy, and we go from the bickering Constructicons at the beginning, to the companionably chatting team-mates who are finding better uses for Prime parts than enclosing all the Autobot leader's hot air. Which gets back to my earlier question - why were the Constructs so irritable at the start? Obviously they want the chance to be creative now and again too, rather than just performing menial labor - and it's clear that Megatron sensed this and used the given opportunity to re-align the balance. What are Megatron's plans for Prime's head? I can well imagine that he'd enjoy amusing himself by keeping the head alive as long as it still has power, in order for Prime to witness the Decepticons' triumph. Much like in "Prime Problem," I can well relate to such desire for poetic justice, and if anyone has earned the right to it, it's Megatron. A nice, brief Starscream scene ... I'd always figured Starscream to be someone who was fairly unhappy on Earth and very much missed Cybertron, and his compliment of Megatron's efforts, in spite of himself, bears this out. He even feels strongly enough about it to express the sentiment to someone else, which is saying a lot, IMO. "Reptilicon" ... now there's a good name.... :) I notice that the Autobots don't seem to have nearly as high a regard for their homeworld as the Decepticons do. They seem disappointed/disgusted that "this isn't little old New York anymore." Did anyone else expect Astrotrain to show up at the mention of "the A-train"? The scene where Frenzy almost runs down the Autobots with the subway train indicates that the Transformers' weapons are powered by their own power supply, rather than from external ammo - at least for weapons like energy bolts. Though we don't know how long of a time-frame is taken up by the events, it's impressive, really, how fast Megatron and the Constructicons re-built a whole section of the city - complete with a legion of "battle taxi" defenders. I kind-of liked the "Devastator as King Kong" effect. If I were to request a screen capture that summarized this episode, that would be it: Devastator scaling the tower and swatting away the helicopters while holding a captured Prime. (Up for it, Vindicator? :) After that excellent "Prime Problem" screen capture, I figured I'd ask....) A few good quotes throughout this episode, really. "Devastator says, Surrender or perish. Devastator wants vengeance!" Again with the vengeance - for Autobot crimes against the Decepticons. "Vengeance" is a very specific term - not just the desire to destroy, but the desire to right a wrong and get even for past harm. (That is, incidentally, what makes Colossus such an intriguing character too; "his whole being is dedicated to vengeance." What horrible crime did the Autobots commit against him, above and beyond the violence of warfare?) Nice to see Buzzsaw, another rarely-seen Decepticon. I like the way Soundwave attentively watches Megatron at the end, as the Decepticon leader re-affirms his indomitable intent to keep fighting in the face of any and all setbacks, promising eventual victory. "I have not been defeated - I shall return!" A damn shame about the ugly artwork, once again. That would have been a great scene..... Summary: This was one of a number of second-season episodes that came down somewhat on the negative side of overwhelming mediocrity. The ugly artwork certainly didn't help. None the less, there were still a few snippets here and there that made the episode worthwhile - some great quotes, and some really nice moments of insight for characters who are too often overlooked (individual Constructicons). And also for those who aren't (Starscream). Megatron, while obviously more driven and impatient in the midst of this project, still displays his grand vision and natural leadership skill, as witnessed by the expert way he addressed the Constructicons' minor dissatisfactions. And the notion of using Prime's head as a doorstop is always a pleasant one, of course. Back to the Serpent's Eye Index Back to The Serpent's Lair |