Unpopular opinion: Megatron didn’t seem inclined to do anything about the DJD until they were after him personally; and he sure didn’t want to extend to Tarn any bit of the redemption/understanding he hoped to earn himself.
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YES YES YES YES YES.
Apart from that slightly Stepford-y “I’m happier like this” conversation that seemed to freak Tarn out more than anything (and that was apparently more about provoking Tarn to attack him), Megatron didn’t really make any attempt to connect with him or convince him. He basically punished Tarn for not coming around in a matter of hours on his own to the position Megatron had built up to for almost a year through his interactions with an entire crew.
It bugged me throughout MTMTE Season 2 how easily Megatron seemed to discard his own troops once his philosophy changed, but it was definitely at its worst with the DJD. He didn’t feel any responsibility for the Decepticons’ wellbeing, but he also never showed any concern about demobilising/decommissioning them safely. I ended up walking away with the uncomfortable sense that Megatron executing them was as much about himself – anger at Tarn for being an upstart, wiping out reminders of his past “mistakes” – as it was about Skids or the Rod Squad or the galaxy at large.
And I don’t know why this didn’t bother me more before, but you’re absolutely right! Why in the pluperfect fuck didn’t Megatron bother doing anything about the DJD before they caught up with him? He found the LL2 more than six months before that, and he was just like, “Yup, this is the DJD, that’s what they do,” barely even fazed. He was pretty well on board with the Autobot cause by the end of the Slaughterhouse arc, and hadn’t yet taken a vow of pacifism. And for all he knew, at that point, one phone call to Tarn’s very special phone that he always had on him could have stopped the DJD from committing any further atrocities! And Megatron didn’t call, didn’t discuss it with Magnus or Roddy, doesn’t even seem to have started making any kind of plan for what to do about his murder squad? Gahhhhh.
I’m totally on board with the idea that Megatron in 55 was Megatron at his worst; that he made Tarn into an effigy of all his personal sins, and by slaying the scapegoat, destroyed his guilt.
But I definitely see a hypocrisy in Megatron – you make the murder squad and set them loose, but you don’t clean up your own mess until Tarn’s knocking on your door.
Maybe Megatron was betting that Tarn really would kill himself when he found out, but that’s cold comfort to Trailbreaker.
Mind you, Deathsaurus saw hypocrisy long ago and split, soooo…
Absolutely. And I think it’s the biggest problem with the DJD, but it’s not just the DJD.
Like, did Megatron sit down and figure, okay, Deathsaurus will probably keep on doing his thing, Starscream’s clearly found a niche and he’s not likely to be rallying the Decepticons anytime soon, Soundwave will probably take this opportunity to found a peaceful colony and won’t be attempting to continue the war in my place, the lower-ranking Decepticons will probably just fall in line…
… or did he not really think about it? Or figure any uprisings were the Autobots’ problem?
That’s something that bothered me in general about Megatron’s decision to join the Autobots rather than reform the Decepticons. Megatron came to believe that he’d led the Decepticons into the dark, but when he realized that, he made no effort to turn around and lead them back out; he just snuffed out the lantern he’d used to guide them, made a mad dash for the light by himself, and left the rest of the Decepticons to flounder in the darkness.
It’s a big reason why I couldn’t personally get invested in the Autobot Megatron character arc.
THIS.
Totally agree. MTMTE lost a great story potential. This should be the main theme of Season 2. But instead of actually addressing these issues (Megatron discussed his loose canonn and how to clean up his own mess), precious time was wasted on “funnies” and “how many Dr. Who tropes I can put in a single issue”
A Force Sensitive Phasesixer 