#and i think it’s an interesting foil of rodimus and megatron as well

[official-sonic-team]

love how op and megatron were brothers. does Optimus ever look at hot rod and bumblebee and feel sad

oh my god yes all the time. i think it makes optimus so sad to see how happy they are and wonder either when the shoe will drop (when will one betray the other) or wonder why he and megatron couldn’t keep this. i think he’s ever so slightly jealous, too, in a way that makes him often avoid watching them interact.

something that i think is fun is that optimus sees a lot of megatron in hot rod. stubborn and charismatic and loud. but hot rod is a foil of megatron AND optimus- at first because he’s unwilling to change (like optimus) before embracing change (like galvatron). so i think optimus sees a lot in bumblebee and hot rod that makes him on the verge of self reflection but ultimately just leaves him uncomfortable with the knowledge that maybe they could have been like this, maybe they could have had this life, this relationship, if he had meant something to megatron, or at least something more than the promise of power.

[fivzen]

Okay, Choice Reasonings

Optimus and Megatron- Kind of the obvious choices, y'know? It's Op's and Meg's. Biggest change is how Megatron doesn't much mind Organic life. Earth isn't Cybertron, he doesn't care about it much other than the energon there, but neither leaders want to drag humans in if they can help it (Optimus to protect the humans, Megatron to protect the Cybertronians). Other than that it's Old Men as always.

Hot Rod- Listen Bee, I love you, but I want something else in my life. And Hot Rod has always been among my favorites, and having a show to explore who he is beyond Rodimus is nice. (Hi Cyberverse, yes your influence is here in both Hot Rod and Soundwave.) He's the hot shot (not that one) of the group with something to prove and lessons to learn.

Soundwave- Another favorite, Soundwave is also inspired by his Cyberverse incarnation, with his relationship with Hot Rod, and his sound powers. In this show he'd also be a Triple Changer! Allowing for Vehicle and Music Player/Smartphone mode.

Arcee- Became a much more prominent character to me after seeing Rise of the Beasts, but I also want to take some other inspirations for her. Taking a little bit from Animated, I'd say she's an ex-teacher who picked up a sword and hasn't looked back. She still has a habit of going into educator mode, but she doesn't hate it.

Airachnid- Would more likely be closer to Black Arachnia Animated in a way by having her be an ex-autobot mutated to have more Spider-Like features, while still keeping a little hint of "cruelty" in a way, as well as a Helicopter alt-mode. She has a past with Arcee neither really like to talk about.

Springer- Resident friendly, goofy, jock guy, Springer retains his Wrecker membership despite being assigned to Op's team. He stays a triple changer with his Car and Copter modes. He's the big green guy that everyone loves, probably because he also has anxiety.

Thundercracker- A decepticon team needs a Seeker, and I would have other plans for Starscream if I were to use him. My first choice was Skywarp, but I remembered Thundercracker's love of cinema from the comics and thought that would be more interesting in the TV setting. Imagine Thundercracker getting into vlogs.

Red Alert- The team needs a medic, and while I love Ratchet (old man Ratchet especially) I want Red Alert to be a student of the old field medic doing his best to live up to a Legacy that he doesn't really Need to live up to at all. Plus how often is Red Alert actually used? He'd be an ex-fighter like his Unicorn Trilogy self, missing hand and all.

Knockout- Because the team needs a medic, and Knockout is loved. Would love to see him outside of the Aligned universe too. He and Soundwave get along well, both having Ground modes.

Windblade- Beloved city speaker, she's done well in the shows she's shown up in, but I haven't really seen her in a full team I feel. I think she'd be a bit of a loner at first, but start warming up to everyone.

SteelJaw- SteelJaw? Really? Yeah, really. Starscream isn't here, so we need a treacherous role to be filled, and why not give him a second chance at the villain? He'd retain his wolf-like features of course, but he'd be given a new flight based vehicle mode. He'd be far more sneaky in his efforts to undermine Megatron, but still have some attempts foiled. Unlike the leader he outright despises the humans, and the Decepticon Human Ally kind of hates him too.

You know I've been doing something and I believe I've got down pat my own cast of who's who in a Transformers show if I were to make one. I'd love to talk more about these choices later (and the traits unique to them in this series), but for now-

Autobots- Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, Arcee, Red Alert, Springer, Windblade, and a Human Friend.

Decepticons- Megatron, Soundwave (Laserbeak and Ravage included), Thundercracker, Knockout, Airachnid, SteelJaw... And their own Human Friend.

[decepti-thots]

You ship rodimags a bit different than usual you say 👀 please do expand I love your headcanons

haha, well i kind of did that "meta" ages ago actually! (i say "meta" in quotes because it's extremely rambling and messy. i wrote it to distract myself at like 3am when i had about 20 followers and if i'd known people would keep finding and reading it, i might have put more effort into being coherent. still, it captures the gist of my feelings i think.)

i find a lot of stuff for these two leans on some baseline assumptions about their dynamic which... idk, i don't think are reflected in at least early canon, where they function much more as full on foils than they do in later stuff (when megatron fills that role for rodimus a lot of the time). and honestly, i think a lot of it is almost... this might sound odd but too. generous? to magnus? what really appealed to me about their dynamic right from my first readthrough, in any context, is the way that they're both big fuck ups when their stories start, and i think fandom sometimes smooths out some of that for him in the interest of pushing a more conventional "opposites attract" dynamic, which is valid if it's what you like in your ships ofc but isn't really the draw for me personally!

[verdigrisprowl]

Dec 15 Odothon Part 4 - DS9 S3E21 S3E22

At this point finding out what’s happening with the poor alien stuck in the same position as Prowl is basically the only thing that Prowl cares about. He comes over as soon as Soundwave invites him.

Prowl is nearly convinced that, at some point, said alien is going to have to accept that, for the greater good of the galaxy, he needs to fight for the destruction of his own home world. After all, at this point, the only arguments in favor of not doing so is “how might this allow other conquering empires to expand?” and “sentimentality.” And sentimentality is no argument at all.

Odo took his first life in this episode. It prompted a conversation on having to take lives in the line of duty; it didn’t end well, but it was truncated in the middle. Perhaps next meeting they can finish it properly.

{{S3E21}}

ItsyBitsySpyers 10:37 pm *Soundwave's pretty sure all he has to do at this point is ping Prowl with an all-clear, so he does.* FakeProwl 10:38 pm *There isn't even a delay. One second after the ping, Prowl is there and taking his seat.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:39 pm *Well! It pleases him to see that Prowl is taking an extremely active interest in this story. And the company's great.*

[[Shall we?]] FakeProwl 10:40 pm Let's. FakeProwl 10:43 pm ((bashir is clearly missing his boyfriend)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:43 pm ((so very badly)) FakeProwl 10:43 pm ((... ARE they boyfriends at this point or is bashir still in the course of being wooed? I can't tell if his 😕 last episode was genuine annoyance or just being tsundere)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:44 pm ((i will explain on skype)) FakeProwl 10:44 pm ((o7)) ItsyBitsySpyers 10:48 pm *What skill. Had a few good interrogations that way himself.* FakeProwl 10:48 pm *oh, look at that. spymaster and his spy.* FakeProwl 10:50 pm *prowl hasn't had an excellent interrogator since... hm. never mind him.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:51 pm *Steeples his fingers.* FakeProwl 10:52 pm *... garak's just been told to interrogate odo.* *now. prowl does not believe that garak has switched sides.* *but he also does not believe that garak would stop short of doing the worst things at his disposal to odo in order to maintain his act.* ItsyBitsySpyers 10:54 pm [[Hm. Withdrawal. Painful way to go.]] FakeProwl 10:55 pm ... Garak's right, though. It /will/ improve the security of the universe to eliminate the Dominion. FakeProwl 10:56 pm Odo has to be intelligent enough to see that. ItsyBitsySpyers 10:58 pm [[Most people would not wish to see their entire species eradicated. Especially if it would leave them alone so soon after rediscovery.]] FakeProwl 11:00 pm I know. But even after his recent reunion, he still views them as the enemies of true order and justice in the universe, and a threat. FakeProwl 11:02 pm Odo is intelligent enough to recognize that the galaxy would be better without them—but there are more factors than that playing into this. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:03 pm [[Such as?]] ItsyBitsySpyers 11:05 pm *He dripped so much sarcasm they're lucky he's not already in a puddle.* FakeProwl 11:05 pm For instance, if he doesn't assist them, there's a chance that the Cardassian-Romulan union and the Founder world will cripple each other before one ultimately wins, rather than the Cardassian-Romulan union easily crushing the Founder world. Whichever one wins, it will take out two potential threats to the galaxy.

FakeProwl 11:08 pm But, on the other hand, if they DON'T quickly and easily crush each other, it might erupt into war—which, while ultimately taking out one or both threats, will also undoubtedly cause massive casualties, military and civilian both. FakeProwl 11:09 pm *... that looks like a mech flaking apart from a rust virus.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:10 pm [[Given the might of both the Cardassian and Romulan empires, and the antagonistic histories with both, he is certain the Federation wouldn't mind if both sides did crush each other.]]

[[Still. If what Odo says is true - wanting to go home - he can't see Odo supporting it. As he said.]] [[Not yet, at least.]] FakeProwl 11:10 pm *hold on, Prowl's watching Odo suffer.* FakeProwl 11:12 pm ... I didn't finish listing the other factors playing into this. Odo's emotions are among them. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:12 pm [[Ah. Go on, if you have more.]] FakeProwl 11:13 pm Even if he knows that the universe would be better without them, that does not mean he does not still care about them. FakeProwl 11:15 pm At some point, he may reach the point he can put those emotions aside for the greater good. But for now, he's... /terribly/ emotion-driven. ((garak like "we're about to die, i'm gonna quote my boyfriend")) ItsyBitsySpyers 11:16 pm ((LOL)) ItsyBitsySpyers 11:17 pm [[Then you still stand on the side of eliminating them all?]] FakeProwl 11:20 pm ... Well, with Cardassia and the Romulans no longer threats. That leaves no one to battle them into a stalemate. FakeProwl 11:21 pm I'd need to know more about the other major political actors in this galaxy—any larger threats the /Dominion/ might be holding at bay, for instance. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:22 pm [[That would be his other concern. They have always said they were persecuted and hunted. He expects they've destroyed all such enemies since, but... one never knows.]] FakeProwl 11:24 pm ... The fact that they have been "persecuted and hunted" does not necessarily mean those people were /universal/ threats. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:25 pm [[This attack was rash. They know little of how the quadrant's dynamics would change, had not developed appropriate shields against potential infiltration, and have pushed the Founders somewhere they are now unlikely to be rediscovered.]]

[[It was also too egotistical. They brought twenty ships to counter a force that controls an entire quadrant. That was beyond stupid.]] FakeProwl 11:25 pm For one thing, it may have been exaggeration to give them an excuse to eliminate these enemies. For another, their own actions may have /invited/ that persecution and hunt. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:25 pm ((do you want one more before sleep or nah?)) FakeProwl 11:25 pm ((sure)) ItsyBitsySpyers 11:27 pm [[He doubts it's an exaggeration. The Rakharian said they were persecuted, and he would have no interest in protecting them.]]

[[As for your second point... it is a fair one. He cannot argue that without knowing what was done then, and he does not know.]]

[[Are you prepared to continue?]] FakeProwl 11:27 pm I am.

{{S3E22}}

ItsyBitsySpyers 11:28 pm [[Good. First, a continuation of Kai Winn Adami's actions.]]

[[Following the death of a vital government figure, Kai Winn is temporarily appointed in his place. She attempts to permanently seize it to control both sides of Bajor and is foiled, forcing her to remain the spiritual leader only.]]

[[He trusts you are beginning to understand more of her flaws as he mentions her progress.]] FakeProwl 11:30 pm Power-lust, cruelty and ruthlessness toward political rivals, a willingness to make scapegoats of anyone necessary to consolidate her power. *mumbles* Megatron if he'd landed in a temple instead of a gladiatorial ring. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:32 pm [[And some of your Primes, from what he's heard. But... he is amused. Yes.]] FakeProwl 11:38 pm Mm... *thinks about that.* Nova, definitely. Zeta. I wasn't paying close enough attention to politics during Nominus's rule, but he wouldn't surprise me. Sentinel... don't think so, but I also think two WOULD have applied if he'd reigned long enough to apply them. I'll reserve judgment on Optimus and Rodimus until they're done reigning. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:40 pm [[Hm. He questions Optimus clinging to the title despite the presence of a successor. It is... worrisome.]] FakeProwl 11:40 pm ... That, personally, doesn't concern me. FakeProwl 11:43 pm Rodimus was never supposed to be a "successor." He accidentally bonded with the Matrix while trying to steal it back for Optimus. And there is no historical precedent of a Prime's title passing onto a successor outside of death, defeat in combat, or voluntary surrender of the title. Unless we choose to believe that a Matrix bonding to someone is indeed a declaration of a choice being made by a divinity, rather than a mechanical reaction made by a sophisticated machine in the presence of correct circumstances, the Matrix "choosing" someone doesn't mean the title MUST pass on. FakeProwl 11:45 pm However, what DOES concern me is the fact that he fully surrendered his title and rank voluntarily—then came back and immediately started behaving as though he still carries the same authority he always did. FakeProwl 11:48 pm *points at screen* That's a changeling. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:48 pm [[Mm. Why not place it in every mech's chest for a few minutes and have as many changed as possible, if simultaneous holding matters so little?]]

[[That concerns him, too. It does not surprise him, however. He has observed too many timelines.]] *Soundwave taps his fingers against his thigh.* [[There are extended continuations of our own where he delivers leadership to Bumblebee, only to fight and undermine at every turn.]] FakeProwl 11:50 pm For one thing, the symbolism of it. Religion holds no /official/ legal power, but it holds enough popular power that there would be an outrage. For another... we're not entirely sure yet what... hold on. *there's FORENSIC INVESTIGATION going on.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:51 pm *Soundwave nods, equally interested in this changeling hunt.* FakeProwl 11:52 pm *what are tetryon particles? Prowl wants to know about this test. can he use it on people* FakeProwl 11:53 pm ... Okay, well, i thought the device instead of the person was the changeling, but I get partial credit. And the Bashir in the vents was my top suspect, so. ItsyBitsySpyers 11:55 pm [[The credit is granted.]] FakeProwl 11:55 pm Thank you. FakeProwl 11:56 pm Right. So. We're not entirely sure yet what exactly triggers the Matrix to upgrade someone. FakeProwl 11:58 pm *... in all Odo's time as security, he's never fired a weapon or taken a life; and Prowl respects him a little bit more.* ItsyBitsySpyers 11:59 pm [[He doubts it has anything to do with patience and calm temperaments.]] Yesterday FakeProwl 11:59 pm By their own reports, both Orion and Hot Rod were near-fatally damaged when the Matrix upgraded them; and in fact Hot Rod had been running around with the Matrix a bit BEFORE his damage and it didn't upgrade him then. FakeProwl 12:01 am Thunderclash, whose Matrix affinity levels are off the charts, has carried the Matrix for extended periods of time. It liked him so much that it welded itself into his chest at least once. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:03 am *Shudder. Parasitic little bauble.* FakeProwl 12:03 am And yet it never upgraded him. Maybe it's because he didn't nearly die while carrying it. Or, for all we know, maybe it's because he's already wearing the very apex of what his body has the potential to be, and so there's nothing to upgrade. We just don't know. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:04 am [[He doesn't suppose Thunderclash would volunteer to be brought near death by skilled doctors to find out.]] FakeProwl 12:04 am We can't risk that with him. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:05 am [[Why?]] ItsyBitsySpyers 12:08 am [[Good timing.]] FakeProwl 12:08 am He's too important to risk losing to a failed experiment and a doctor who pressed slightly too hard. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:09 am [[He hears sentiments like that a lot. One day, when we have more time, he will ask you to explain that to him.]] FakeProwl 12:10 am ... Think of all the things that Optimus's most fervent worshippers say about him. About Thunderclash, they're true. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:10 am [[...You exaggerate.]] FakeProwl 12:11 am Well. His behavior is still bound by the laws of what's physically possible. ... Usually. But, aside from that, it's all true. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:11 am *He has heard Some Things, Prowl. Smokescreen's book repeatedly claims Optimus was one of the original 13, for Pit's sake. You can't convince him THAT'S true about Thunderclash. He can't be convinced of that about anyone except Alpha Trion.* [[Hm. He'll want stories, when we discuss this mech. Be sure to have your best ready by then.]] FakeProwl 12:13 am I don't need to share stories. After all—HE adequately fills out his paperwork. He writes thorough reports. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:14 am [[Thorough reports he doubts he will be allowed to read.]]

*Soundwave abruptly points at the screen.* FakeProwl 12:14 am *he's watching.* *The first time Odo's had to harm someone in the line of duty. The first changeling to ever harm another changeling.* FakeProwl 12:18 am *and after that, he's very quiet.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:19 am *...Isn't quite sure why. He has ideas, but he's not going to voice them. That'll be up to Prowl to do, if he wants.*

*Instead, he'll just offer a hand and tilt his helm to the side.* FakeProwl 12:19 am *he'll take it.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:20 am *Soundwave will squeeze it in those skinny fingers of his and wait for Prowl to work out what he wants to do now.* FakeProwl 12:22 am *he's still putting words together. and still deciding if he actually wants to share any of them.* ItsyBitsySpyers 12:24 am *Then there they'll sit for the moment, Soundwave twisting to lightly bump Prowl's shoulder with his forehead before resting his chin on the highest part of its armor.* FakeProwl 12:26 am ... That's the worst day of any law enforcer's career. FakeProwl 12:27 am The ones who are driven to protect, anyway. The ones who are driven by the fear of a gun turned against them and the thrill of the thought of turning a gun against someone else—I'm sure they looked forward to that day. And there were too many of those, I know. But... for most—that's the worst day. ... Or the second worst day, if it takes a while for the shock to blow over and the horror to set in. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:30 am [[...You sound like you still remember yours.]] FakeProwl 12:31 am His name. His city. His taxonomy. His entire police file. Even his batch number. FakeProwl 12:34 am ... Until your first one, it's so easy to—to believe you're some kind of supercop. If you've never killed someone when so many other enforcers have, then it's because they're all failing at their job; and you're more wise, more just, more skilled, more merciful. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:36 am [[That is an expensive dose of humility.]] FakeProwl 12:36 am Until the day comes when someone is pointing a gun at someone who doesn't deserve it and the only way to stop him from pulling the trigger is by pulling yours. FakeProwl 12:37 am And you're not a supercop anymore. You're just—another enforcer who killed someone. You aren't better than the others, you were just never pushed to the same point as them. So does that mean sometimes it IS necessary? Or does it mean you're failing at your job, too. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:39 am [[Which do you yourself think?]] FakeProwl 12:41 am ... It's a question I've asked myself. Would the /perfect/ cop never have to take a life, no matter the situation? FakeProwl 12:42 am I've run simulations in my sleep. Made up unwinnable scenarios for this hypothetical perfect cop, where he'd be forced to pull a trigger. FakeProwl 12:44 am Given a week or two of scenario time, he always manages to squeeze out a nonfatal solution. The longest I kept rerunning a scenario was five months. But he succeeded. Four million years—and I still don't have an answer. ItsyBitsySpyers 12:47 am *Long, slow vent.* [[May he speak plainly?]] FakeProwl 12:48 am Of course. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:03 am [[You look too far for what is obvious.]]

[[You - *you* - required five months to find a solution for your toughest scenario. Five months of sleep simulations. Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Perhaps more.]]

[[So, then. One mech in many thousands will find the perfect solution. Expecting that same mech to manage it over and over, every time, forever...]]

[[Perfection is an unattainable state. No mech can reach it. No existence can uphold it. The scientists, the police, the artists, the construction mechs... all will stumble. Those who strive for it anyway - who fight for it and grieve for their failures - are the ones to be admired.]]

[[You spoke of enforcers driven by fear and the thrill of murdering others. They are not to be permitted. He would strike them down.]]

[[One who worries as much as you have and do, and who fights for true protection? They would likely be worthy. Imperfect. But worthy.]] FakeProwl 1:05 am When a law enforcer stumbles, someone dies who shouldn't have and didn't have to. That's /never/ acceptable. FakeProwl 1:06 am Anyway, that's not the point of my thought exercise. It's to invent the worst-worst ever possible scenarios and see if they can be defeated anyway, not to explore hypothetical normal situations that actual officers actually face. I'm throwing unstoppable swords at unbreakable shields to see which one cracks. It's—a mathematical problem I'm trying to solve. Not a practical one. No. Normal situations, like the one I faced? It took me seven seconds to figure out how I could have avoided killing him. I didn't need to be perfect. I just needed to be seven seconds better. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:21 am [[That IS the point of it. It is mathematical AND practical. You will not always be seven seconds better. Six seconds. Three seconds. Zero. And that may eventually make it a necessity and a failure, but that eventuality exists because existence itself cannot be perfected. Not without turning to projects like your Shockwave created, and those do not protect others either.]]

[[Being unable to change that doesn't mean giving up on getting as close as one can to perfect anyway. It doesn't mean leaving it to the willing murderers. Life and work can't stop at imperfection. That is death. Dwelling without doing is nothing.]] FakeProwl 1:22 am ... I didn't say it does mean giving up, much less leaving it to the murderers. I think you're confusing this discussion for a different one you'd rather be having. And I ought to be preparing for work. ItsyBitsySpyers 1:23 am [[No. Not entirely.]]

[[But you should.]] FakeProwl 1:25 am *in the end, maybe he shouldn't have said something.* *a farewell ping, and he disappears.* ItsyBitsySpyers 1:34 am *Soundwave rubs his temples, frustrated, and heads upstairs to rest.*

[decepti-thots]

i made a post a while back like "i'm not gonna bore you with the details but i really think a version of DotL where Megatron had refused to take Rodimus' hand and Rodimus had saved him against his will when he was fucking up Tarn would rule" and guess what i have Bad Brain TM today and need a distraction, so now i am going to bore everyone with the details.

anyway, i think it makes a lot of sense thematically and while typically i try not to be like "god i WISH this had happened in canon instead" rather than like, oh this is an interesting alternative, or oh, this is what i feel about what is actually there in canon... i can't stop thinking about this one partly because i was thinking about what it is in canon that made the idea so appealing to me for both of these characters. so... here we are. this is not quite me trying to ponder out an AU concept but it's also not quite an analysis of canon. (i guess maybe the front half is before I get to the AU stuff?)

one of the issues i've always had with DotL, an arc that has a lot of individual bits i like and a lot of potential in its core concept for me, is that i don't think it goes far enough with a compare/contrast on Megatron and Rodimus for my taste. in general, i think the back part of MTMTE with these two winds up often feeling like it has a much clearer idea of what it wants to do with Megatron than it does with Rodimus while still wanting Megatron and Rodimus to be foils in a way that I think could often stand to have more balance between the two.

(Rodimus' arc begins to come back into focus and recover a lot once Megatron winds up stranded in the FU, IMO, though I think this is something a lot of people feel differently about. to me it feels like he loses a lot of forward momentum in the name of making them more obvious foils which stalls his development for a bit and leaves the narrative floundering slightly with what to do with him. YMMV.)

and you can argue that this is because the core concept is actually one which revolves around Megatron and Tarn, and the way tarn acts as a stand in for something broader about the Decepticons for Megatron, but... well, I already wrote about why I unfortunately don't think that really has time to become anything because of how MTMTE was written, namely due to Megatron being a much later addition to the cast than Tarn was.

ANYWAY. i think one untapped vein for those two that could have stood to be better utilized is that albeit within very different contexts and scopes, both Megatron and Rodimus have arcs by that point in the comic that are deeply concerned with ideas of accountability and growth, how those can be measured, how you can achieve them, etc. Rodimus' goes back to the climax of Remain in Light, for me; the core turning point of the first part of his arc across the comic is, IMO, his insistence that he doesn't want to die because he thinks it's cheap, and going out in a blaze of glory to make up for his mistakes is an easy way out versus the need to actually do something about it once they get back.

Megatron is quite tricky to get a handle on the actual motivations of until this point in the comic. the degree to which he's sincere about what he says he wants to do, and how much he fully grasps what it entails, is... not ambiguous to the point that like, the reader is expected to assume there's a twist it was All A Ruse coming along or anything, but definitely something that can be debated. we get moments in e.g. Elegant Chaos where juuuust enough doubt is cast on his capacity to be selfless about it that just how much he has committed to it is in question.

I say until "this point in the comic" because that's what I've feel, on reflection, the narrative utility of the scene with flowers is supposed to be* in conjunction with the way Megatron acts later where he clearly considers just dying alongside Tarn, which seems a pretty big reversal from how we've seen him act previously. if the pivotal point here for Megatron where the change from self-preservation we've seen before and the willingness to be self-destructive in this arc takes place is the scene with the flowers, that gives us some possible answers to "what is Megatron's goal in trying to defect and seemingly make 'amends'?"

(* disclaimer: this scene really doesn't land great for me like it does for some, execution wise, so I had to think hard about what it was trying to do and like. read generously, y'know. shrug. i do try to do that, though, when i do these things, haha.)

to me, the answer that makes the most sense is that beforehand, Megatron was indeed trying to make amends, but he was doing it in a particular way that the flowers made seem impossible. namely, he wanted to try and balance the scales. this is a very natural way a lot of people will jump to thinking about what making amends means, after all. you did this or that bad thing. you can't change the bad thing you did. you need to do something good to make up for it. the good thing needs to be in proportion to the bad thing you did, crucially, in this kind of bargaining. making amends is like, I broke your favourite trinket, I gotta get you something that can make up for it to apologise, in the smallest, most basic terms.

what the field does is make that something Megatron now realises is absolutely impossible. like, the scope of it makes it very clear what a blatantly ludicrous idea that is; the only possible way to do a crude tit-for-tat atonement of that kind for all those deaths would be to somehow stop an event as cataclysmic and long-reaching as the one Megatron himself was responsible for, something so vanishingly unlikely to ever be possible that it can be disregarded immediately. any possibility for atonement that is understood under that system is now inherently out of reach to the point even considering it is absurd.

which is why it makes sense to me that there would be that change in behaviour. you can read his willingness to stay and die with Tarn as him essentially letting go of the idea there is a way to get out of the moral hole he's gradually dug himself into over the millenia that isn't just subjecting himself to whatever punishment gets meted out to him.

to jump back to Rodimus now, that's not how I'd argue we see Rodimus understand these concepts. again, these characters' deeds exist on a pretty different scale, but thematically, I think the parallel is interesting enough that it still warrants examining. the thing that really interests me about Rodimus' approach to these things is that they feel internally, rather than externally, motivated. what I mean is that in MTMTE, it never really feels like anyone expects Rodimus to do better. he has successfully convinced people of the partial front he puts up as something of a defense mechanism, and to people like, say, Ultra Magnus, that's Just How He Is. people try and deal with Rodimus when he makes rash decisions or whatever. they don't try to get him to improve himself. so when Rodimus does just that, try to be better, he does it under his own steam, basically because he realises he ought to.

or, to put it another way, Rodimus doesn't tell everyone about Overlord and put his captaincy to a vote because people told him he could be better than this and he thought it was gonna make the crew chill with him again. sure, he's very unhappy with the results. but he seems to basically do that because he thinks he should and if he should, he will, whether or not it actually makes anything better for him. hell, that's really why it winds up so hard for him with e.g. him looking at the (fake) list, right- doing something you know just isn't going to make anything better for you purely on principle is the harder option, always.

he's not 100% there with it immediately, and this is something I think Rodimus' arc comes up against several more times in the series because the lesson isn't a one-and-done thing. (Drift comes to mind as a particular failure on his part there, one the comic addresses as such down the line.) but when he starts to develop that self awareness about the need to make amends, he develops it in that direction, IMO.

so I think these are two very different ideas these characters are developing in their own arcs about what, exactly, accountability and justice mean. and if you have Megatron fully accept his original concept, and therefore, after the field of flowers, really just commit to going "well fuck it" and dying instead, you can then have him come up against Rodimus whose entire perspective stems from his insistence way back that that's cheap. if you have Rodimus save him against his will, suddenly these characters now represent an argument about which one of them is right, and their being foils represents a kind of ideological argument.

the clearest way I can think to articulate the argument I'm thinking of is: if there isn't any atonement or amends to be had after what you did, are you still going to do good things just because they are good? if there aren't any scales to be balanced because it turns out that's an unworkable way to go about it, are you still motivated to do the things that you originally did in the hopes it was part of some calculation doing just that?

of course, one can argue that this is what canon does when it has Megatron accept Rodimus' hand- but I dunno man, something about the idea of it being an argument, like an actual argument these characters are having, appeals to me. because Rodimus would be pissed at Megatron because he sees it as shirking responsibility, and Megatron would be pissed because jesus christ do these people want to execute him or not, make up your minds, and you still have in the middle of all that the developing like, camaraderie that's coming much more into focus at that point in the narrative. because as well as being representative of an ideological argument, it's also literally a character being told that actually no, someone doesn't want you to die, and that character having to prove it, and that's a whole thing in itself.

anyway. like I said, I'm not really a "they should have done THIS instead" person, I prefer to look at canon as it is and judge that and leave alternative ideas more in the realm of AU and fanfic rather than bring it in. but thinking about why this particular AU scenario appealed to me just clarified a lot of my thoughts about this arc as it does exist in canon so I couldn't really extricate the two in this instance.