#aelyxiae thoughts

[aelyxiae]

Thinking about this moment in Transformers One again. Particularly, the symbolism behind B’s mask — how it is a literal barrier between him and the rest of the world, distorting both his voice and appearance and representative of the isolation of sub-level 50. And then how this mask is so quickly discarded and forgotten as soon as Orion and D arrive and B actually has others to talk to. He drops the mask onto the conveyor belt with the other garbage to be smelted. Not only discarded, but completely destroyed, just as the idea that B will be forever alone down there has been.

[aelyxiae]

Seeing this scene, I can’t help but think about the parallels between how Sentinel is proposing to execute the high guard, B-127, and D-16 and how he already killed Megatronus Prime and Alpha Trion. And I wonder, did the thought occur to D-16 — that if he stayed on his knees he would die exactly the same way his idol, Megatronus, had?

[aelyxiae]

The surface. A sight so novel to Elita-1, Orion, D-16, and B-127 that they can't help but stop and stare. Elita comments that "It's beautiful". B however, notes that "I am speechless". The full impact of this line isn’t clear right at the start. But as the movie goes on, it’s made clear that B never stops talking.

Elite-1: “Even when he was unconscious?”

Shockwave: “Especially when he was unconscious.”

The sight of the surface though? That’s enough to leave B at a loss for words to even describe what he’s seeing and feeling. And how much more impactful must that first sight of proof that there is a world above and that world is beautiful have been after being stuck in sub-level 50 — a dark, lonely, enclosed space that stays the same cycle after cycle — “somewhere between a long time and forever”? Because the surface is the opposite of all of that — a constantly moving and changing landscape that seems to go on forever under a bright sky dancing with colorful lights.

(Side note: As I was putting this post together, I also realized this likely was the first time any of them would have seen a sunrise too!)

[aelyxiae]

TF One Spoilers

On plans, adaptation, and improvisation

I've been thinking about how, at the pivotal point in the movie where the main cast finds out about Sentinel's betrayal, D-16 comments to the effect of "Oh, great.  Another, Orion Pax master plan".  And it is true that throughout the course of the movie, we see a lot of Orion's 'plans' – from the archive to the Iacon 5000 to the ultimate reveal of Sentinel's betrayal.  But, are they really plans? 

Starting with the opening chase out of the archive, Orion is very clearly setup to have extensive knowledge and an ability to quickly make decisions and execute actions based on that knowledge.  However, within this opening sequence, it is not clear that he has a preset plan, as much as adapting his actions to the circumstances and events surrounding him. 

At the very beginning of the chase scene, as Orion runs through the archive, he is muttering about finding "something that flies".  The route that he takes to escape does not appear to be pre-planned in details as much as it is a general idea of getting away.  This is evident in how getting knocked from the air, sliding across building tops, and falling into the middle of an ongoing party doesn't seem in anyway disruptive or give Orion pause in his course of action.  Further, the moment before Orion jumps on the train full of miners, he is shown to look in that direction, suggesting that the idea occurs because he sees the train and not necessarily because he always knew it was going to be there.

A similar kind of thinking comes into play only a short while later, in the scene of the collapsing mining tunnel, wherein Orion only thinks to use the jetpack to help provide the leverage to free Jazz after Jazz's comment that they should just take their packs and go. 

Similarly in the Iacon 5000, both Orion and D display similar adaptive thinking skills to keep themselves in the race and look out for each other in constantly changing and treacherous circumstances.  Perhaps the most notable example though from this sequence is the moment when they use the exhaust vent system to jump from far behind to the lead of the race, which calls back to their journey past a similar vent on their way to the start of the Iacon 5000 and Orion's comment about being careful because of the vents' ability to shoot one halfway across the city.

This same adaptation to circumstance is also what ultimately allows the group to still expose Sentinel Prime after losing the proof provided by Alpha Trion.  It fits in the same pattern of behavior as previous adaptations and improvisations of Orion's throughout the movie that when Airachnid mentions seeing everything, he immediately takes this information and factors it into a way for them all to move forwards towards their original goal.

To a lesser extent, the same can be noted about Elita-1 and D-16 as well in certain scenes.  For example, during the train sequence leading up to them first reaching the surface, Elita at one point uses unlocking one of the locked-down crates as a method for getting ahead of D-16, Orion, and B below here.  Again, it is not clear that this is necessarily a pre-planned action as much as her taking advantage of the position in which she found herself and knowledge about the environment to move towards her goals.  D-16 displays these same capabilities, as mentioned earlier, in the Iacon 5000 race sequence.  But also, there is a similarity between the kick motion that he uses to throw off Starscream during their fight and a similar kicking motion that he would have witnessed earlier in the Iacon 5000 used to dislodge Orion from one of the other racers that he was clinging on to to get ahead in the tunnel portion of the race.

Overall, these scenes seem to suggest that the miners in general may have a greater capacity for and reliance on adaptability – something that could be necessary, considering they are shown to work in a hazardous and constantly shifting environment.  And further, that Orion in particular through out the course of the movie is shown to rely on this ability in order to continue moving forwards in the face of uncertainty and difficult circumstances.

[aelyxiae]

I've been reading through MTMTE for the first time and I just went back to issue #5 and it caught my attention that Pharma, after his involvement with the red rust is discovered, disappears into a fake floor below one of the cryogenic regeneration (C.R.) chambers. Initially, I hadn't thought much of this, but really, why would there be a false room (seemingly with rooftop access as well) built into a medical base? And how did it get there?

So far I've thought of the following possible explanations:

Delphi was constructed as more than just a medical station and considering it's strategic positioning within DJD territory, this secret area was constructed to support the possibility of more covert operations.

Pharma created the space or disguised an existing area of the base to be harder to find and access in order to hide his dealings with Tarn. However, if this was the case, why then would he have stated that he "intended to hide in a C.R. chamber, but they were all occupied" when explaining his choice of the quarantine room for soundproofing? Because if he created the secret space under the C.R. chamber surely he could have soundproofed it and hidden there? Unless the point was to be able to be found somewhere more public to increase the plausible deniability that Pharma was in any way involved with the events shutting down Delphi (in which case, the room full of what appears to be t-cogs for the DJD would obviously not be an option).

[aelyxiae]

Thinking about Sentinel Prime....

(potential spoilers ahead)

...and the entourage that he brings to the surface. Now, the design clearly seems to reference the TFP vehicons, which would be an external factor motivating that design. In terms of internal reasoning, they all have flight modes. There is one other group seen in the movie that also has a close connection to the leaders of Cybertron/Iacon and that is the High Guard -- seemingly also composed entirely of fliers. It seems reasonable in the context of the movie that these are the bots that regularly act as Sentinel's personal guard and, given their uniformity, that he may have had some direct say/influence on their design/configuration. Was Sentinel in some ways deliberately mimicking the High Guard in choosing his own guard and inner circle (worth noting Airachnid is also flight capable)?

[aelyxiae]

Probably should make one of these at this point.

I go by Alyx, Lexi, or Aelyxiae (if you really want to type the whole thing out for some reason).

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Media (mostly Transformers) Thoughts, Theories, & Analysis

**Everything else is me reblogging whatever interests me at the moment**

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[aelyxiae]

Revisiting this now that I know more, because I can’t help wondering about what was really going on at Delphi and whether it was just what it seems or whether there’s more to it than that.

The timeline as far as I understand it:

Delphi is constructed

Pharma is assigned there (I'm assuming this happens first)

First aid joins

Ambulon joins

Sometime later Springer recruits Aid to look for messages from agent 113 in autobot badges (source: Bullets)

LSoTW

Agent 113 discovered

Records of patient deaths increasing begin 2 years prior to start of MTMTE (MTMTE #4)

First Aid demoted (flashback shown in MTMTE #4, but exact timing unclear)

MTMTE #4-5

Everything from here on out is purely speculation on my part based on the information above.

It seems reasonable that to set up an operation like agent 113's infiltration of the DJD is something that would take a considerable amount of time and resources. And it's known that First Aid was later recruited and became directly involved in that operation. Also, Pharma was directly recruited/assigned to Delphi by Prowl (MTMTE #40) who managed covert operations for the autobots. Considering all this, it then seems possible that Delphi's unusual design was indeed because it was never intended to be just a medical base or mining outpost, but to be a station within the DJD's territory that could support agent 113's activities if needed. Further, there is no clear explanation within MTMTE for why exactly Tarn takes an interest in Delphi. However, if the time that Tarn first took an interest in the facility is around the same time as the start of the death logs First Aid broadcasts, then this would be somewhere around the same time that agent 113 is implied to be discovered. And therefore, that Tarn started looking around Delphi at that specific time because an autobot traitor had just been found within the DJD and the autobot base conspicuously on DJD territory would suddenly be a lot more interesting for the potential it had to be connected to the traitor within the DJD.

Other Thoughts:

In addition to First Aid being directly contacted by Springer (and therefore by extension the Wreckers), Pharma is shown in flashbacks to have worked around the Wreckers (SotW) and with the new institute (MTMTE #14). All of which could make sense in relation to a facility that might be used covertly, as opposed to assigning an unknown medic or someone like Ratchet to that position.

There's also a potential explanation for Ambulon's presence in this scenario beyond just hoping that he'd be overlooked. Because why have a Decepticon defector stationed in close proximity to the group infamous for hunting down Decepticon traitors? Maybe for the same reason that Shockwave was travelling around with a ship full of others that were on the list (Lost Light #14). Maybe because the hope was that if Tarn did look at Delphi, he would see Ambulon and not see anything else that might be going on.

I've been reading through MTMTE for the first time and I just went back to issue #5 and it caught my attention that Pharma, after his involvement with the red rust is discovered, disappears into a fake floor below one of the cryogenic regeneration (C.R.) chambers. Initially, I hadn't thought much of this, but really, why would there be a false room (seemingly with rooftop access as well) built into a medical base? And how did it get there?

So far I've thought of the following possible explanations:

Delphi was constructed as more than just a medical station and considering it's strategic positioning within DJD territory, this secret area was constructed to support the possibility of more covert operations.

Pharma created the space or disguised an existing area of the base to be harder to find and access in order to hide his dealings with Tarn. However, if this was the case, why then would he have stated that he "intended to hide in a C.R. chamber, but they were all occupied" when explaining his choice of the quarantine room for soundproofing? Because if he created the secret space under the C.R. chamber surely he could have soundproofed it and hidden there? Unless the point was to be able to be found somewhere more public to increase the plausible deniability that Pharma was in any way involved with the events shutting down Delphi (in which case, the room full of what appears to be t-cogs for the DJD would obviously not be an option).

[aelyxiae]

Even more spoilers -- because I clearly have too many thoughts about this movie

Agreed, that Orion's plans being more improvisations than actual plans was absolutely D's point.  And to me, the way that the initial dialogue line I cited about "Orion Pax master plans" comes across very much as sarcasm on D's part.

There are a lot of good examples here of D doing his own improvising in the latter half of the movie and I agree, finding out that everything he's known for his entire life is a lie is absolutely a breaking point for D.  I would even go further to say there's evidence D can retain information and improvise even prior to this breaking point and I tried to touch on this a bit in my initial post (though I will admit I did not have as many examples for D).  There is one point I think I could further clarify in regards to how I presented discussion of the Iacon 5000, which is the decision to use the vents.  I embedded this event as part of a series or events mainly presented from Orion's perspective in the initial post.  However, in terms of the staging of the scene in the movie, both Orion and D turn to the vent simultaneously when it fires – suggesting that both may be getting the same idea at the same time.  Therefore, it would extend to D-16 as well that in this moment, he is taking the information that Orion had shared earlier and using it to make a quick decision about how to move forward from their current circumstances.  I would also add to the examples mentioned the final "Decepticons, rise up," scene in the end credits where D-16, now Megatron" takes Sentinel's words from earlier that were intended to taunt him, and makes them his own rallying cry.

More broadly, a lot of the evidence presented here also demonstrates an interesting point about how D and Orion's perspectives differ throughout the movie – something that influences both how they regard events that occur and how they reach decisions and take action.  Because from Orion's perspective, he's not getting Elita fired, he's saving Jazz.  He's not getting D punched in the face, he's speaking up against an injustice.  He's not getting them dropped down to sublevel 50, he's showing everyone miners' potential.  From that perspective, Orion doesn't seem to have a strong regard for authority and even in some cases self-preservation  -- most notably the scene where D gets punched in the face and the opening archive scene where D directly asks Orion afterwards if a bunch of records are worth dying over.   And yes, all those actions have consequences that may not always be what Orion hoped.  And in the previous examples on self-preservation, it is only D-16's intervention that prevents Orion from suffering even worse consequences of his actions. 

This disregard for authority is something that is clearly shown to have associated dangers under a regime like Sentinel's and while Orion can absolutely choose to take those risks himself, it is not always clear that how mitigating the negative impacts of those risks on others around him is considered (beyond the belief that ultimately what he's doing will lead to a better outcome for everyone in the end).  D-16, as the self-professed best friend of Orion, does often end up getting dragged into these schemes and their consequences (intended and otherwise) throughout the course of the movie.  And D's willingness to be a participant can be somewhat questionable.  For example, with going to the surface, Orion does talk D around to willingly, if initially reluctantly, going along with his plan.  However, with the Iacon 5000, D pretty clearly says "No" to participating in the race and Orion just goes ahead and does it for both of them anyways -- dropping D into the middle of the race where he really has no choice but to participate without bothering to address any of D's expressed concerns or change his mind before just doing it.  Overtime, I absolutely see all of this wearing on D, because he's the one that time and again has to consider the negative consequences for both of them – leading to him feeling like he's constantly paying for having to save Orion from situations Orion got himself into.  And ultimately, this all culminates in what is arguably D's second breaking point and transition from D-16 to Megatron, where he lets go of Orion and states he is "done saving him".

As a final note, it also seems worth mentioning that it's likely that when D first conceived of the goal of wanting to kill Sentinel, he was not necessarily considering the outcome being dropping Orion or fighting him as the newly arisen Optimus Prime.  So, it's a case where D's improvisations also may not work out to the best case or what he was hoping for.

TF One Spoilers

On plans, adaptation, and improvisation

I've been thinking about how, at the pivotal point in the movie where the main cast finds out about Sentinel's betrayal, D-16 comments to the effect of "Oh, great.  Another, Orion Pax master plan".  And it is true that throughout the course of the movie, we see a lot of Orion's 'plans' – from the archive to the Iacon 5000 to the ultimate reveal of Sentinel's betrayal.  But, are they really plans? 

Starting with the opening chase out of the archive, Orion is very clearly setup to have extensive knowledge and an ability to quickly make decisions and execute actions based on that knowledge.  However, within this opening sequence, it is not clear that he has a preset plan, as much as adapting his actions to the circumstances and events surrounding him. 

At the very beginning of the chase scene, as Orion runs through the archive, he is muttering about finding "something that flies".  The route that he takes to escape does not appear to be pre-planned in details as much as it is a general idea of getting away.  This is evident in how getting knocked from the air, sliding across building tops, and falling into the middle of an ongoing party doesn't seem in anyway disruptive or give Orion pause in his course of action.  Further, the moment before Orion jumps on the train full of miners, he is shown to look in that direction, suggesting that the idea occurs because he sees the train and not necessarily because he always knew it was going to be there.

A similar kind of thinking comes into play only a short while later, in the scene of the collapsing mining tunnel, wherein Orion only thinks to use the jetpack to help provide the leverage to free Jazz after Jazz's comment that they should just take their packs and go. 

Similarly in the Iacon 5000, both Orion and D display similar adaptive thinking skills to keep themselves in the race and look out for each other in constantly changing and treacherous circumstances.  Perhaps the most notable example though from this sequence is the moment when they use the exhaust vent system to jump from far behind to the lead of the race, which calls back to their journey past a similar vent on their way to the start of the Iacon 5000 and Orion's comment about being careful because of the vents' ability to shoot one halfway across the city.

This same adaptation to circumstance is also what ultimately allows the group to still expose Sentinel Prime after losing the proof provided by Alpha Trion.  It fits in the same pattern of behavior as previous adaptations and improvisations of Orion's throughout the movie that when Airachnid mentions seeing everything, he immediately takes this information and factors it into a way for them all to move forwards towards their original goal.

To a lesser extent, the same can be noted about Elita-1 and D-16 as well in certain scenes.  For example, during the train sequence leading up to them first reaching the surface, Elita at one point uses unlocking one of the locked-down crates as a method for getting ahead of D-16, Orion, and B below here.  Again, it is not clear that this is necessarily a pre-planned action as much as her taking advantage of the position in which she found herself and knowledge about the environment to move towards her goals.  D-16 displays these same capabilities, as mentioned earlier, in the Iacon 5000 race sequence.  But also, there is a similarity between the kick motion that he uses to throw off Starscream during their fight and a similar kicking motion that he would have witnessed earlier in the Iacon 5000 used to dislodge Orion from one of the other racers that he was clinging on to to get ahead in the tunnel portion of the race.

Overall, these scenes seem to suggest that the miners in general may have a greater capacity for and reliance on adaptability – something that could be necessary, considering they are shown to work in a hazardous and constantly shifting environment.  And further, that Orion in particular through out the course of the movie is shown to rely on this ability in order to continue moving forwards in the face of uncertainty and difficult circumstances.