#i think it s just the pet names for driller

[skittlesking]

I've been mixing up some of the scales no- :[

[shadows-and-science-gone-mad]

Overthinking The Transformers Movies: Part II

Part 2 of ???: The Two Who Are One

While I could very easily jump headfirst into the nitty-gritty of the deeper themes within these movies, I think I’m going to start by easing you in. Just do a quick little bit of character analysis on one of the few Decepticons lucky enough to be named onscreen. A bot who only appeared in one movie, and who everyone has bemoaned was “wasted” in said movie.

A bot who is far more interesting and complex than anyone is willing to give him credit for.

Gathered friends, let’s talk about Shockwave:

Spoilers for Dark of the Moon ahead.

In Dark of the Moon’s initial marketing push, Shockwave was given the central focus. He got a bunch of toys (of varying quality), he appeared in all the trailers, and he was billed as the hot new villain for the series. Everything about the marketing indicated that Ol’ Shockie would be the primary antagonist, either supplanting Megatron or giving the Decepticons the fresh energy they needed after their defeat in Revenge. 

Now, obviously, this was all a red herring to cover up the reveal that the true villain was Sentinel Prime. Now, while I thought Sentinel was a great villain, the Shockwave fanboy in me was kind of miffed that my favorite ‘con was reduced to an “Advertised Extra.” To clarify, Shockwave is my second favorite Transformer, after Tankor from Beast Machines. A school friend lending me his copy of Spotlight: Shockwave was my first-ever introduction to the franchise, and he is one of the only G1 character designs that I still think looks really cool.* So, naturally, I was hyped to finally see him on the big screen, and was a bit underwhelmed by how little he actually did.

And, I was not alone in this disappointment. The “wasting” of such an iconic character is, to this day, listed amongst the live-action movies’ greatest sins. It’s almost impossible to find a Transformers fan who doesn’t think that Shockwave should have been in the movie more. Indeed, ask around, and anyone will tell you that he was barely in the movie for five minutes.

And they would be wrong.

Shockwave has a significantly larger screen presence in Dark of the Moon than anyone seems willing to acknowledge. Because they are willingly ignoring much of his onscreen action, and completely disregarding his most significant component.

I mean, to be fair, it is a fairly easy component to overlook. It’s a pretty small detail; the sort of thing a casual viewer might miss on their first or second viewing.

I can already see some of the notes now. “That’s not Shockwave. Supplementary material confirmed that’s a separate organism called a Driller. That’s his pet, not a part of himself.” Except that supplementary material directly contradicts what is explicitly stated within the text of the film itself. And, I’m sorry, but the text of the movie supersedes all supplementary material. I don’t care what the comics or novelizations say, because what they say does not match what the actual movie says.

To understand what I mean, one simply needs to look at the following exchange, which occurs right after the Driller’s first attack on the NEST forces. (1:35 in the below video)

— Lennox: What the hell was that thing?

— Optimus: That is Shockwave.

Now, the scene does make it rather unclear as to whether Optimus is referring to the humanoid Decepticon that emerged from the worm or the worm itself. The comic and novelization authors took this ambiguity to mean that he was referring to the humanoid, but this interpretation is not supported by the context of the exchange.

Yes, Shockwave is not the most normal-looking guy, even by Cybertronian standards. He’s got a giant gun in place of his right arm, he’s got a weird vertical mouth, he’s only got one eye, etc. But, the person asking “What the hell was that thing?” was Lennox. Lennox has been a main character for three movies at this point. He was in Egypt during Operation Firestorm. He’s met freaks like Rampage and Demolishor, who are far stranger than Shockwave. The point is, Lennox would easily be able to recognize Shockwave as a Decepticon. If he were asking about the guy, the question would start with “who,” not “what.” A humanoid Decepticon is a known quantity for him; he’s seen them before.

I think we can safely assume that he has never seen anything like that worm before.

So, when Lennox asks “What the hell was that thing?” the obvious implication is that he was talking about the worm. Optimus may not completely understand Earth customs or human mannerisms, but he seems smart enough to understand the context of the situation. Immediately after a giant worm attack, if he were asked what something was, he would reasonably assume that they were inquiring about the worm.

And he answers “That is Shockwave.”

Not “That is a Cybertronian Driller Worm controlled by Shockwave.”

That.

Is.

Shockwave.

Optimus Prime, the narrator of these films, explicitly states that the worm is Shockwave in the dialogue following its introductory scene.

But, if the worm is Shockwave, then who is the guy? Why are all the toys of this cyclops guy labelled ‘Shockwave,’ if the thing called Shockwave in the movie is a giant worm? Who is the humanoid Decepticon?

He’s Shockwave, too.

They’re both Shockwave.

Two organisms sharing a consciousness. A massive worm and a powerful cyclopean humanoid, both controlled by one mind. The logical end result of the Constructicon’s experiments in combination; a true fusion of two sparks into a single entity.

The two who are one.

Viewed in this light, Dark of the Moon wasted Shockwave only insofar as they did not explore this relationship further onscreen. One needs to view the movie multiple times to truly see the intricacies of their link, and something this potentially fascinating should not be relegated to mere subtext.

However, with his status as a dual being in mind, one cannot truly say that Shockwave did nothing in the movie. His worm component is (quite literally) the most powerful destructive force within the film, and the core component of its two largest set-pieces. It does not directly contribute to the narrative, but you can’t reasonably say that it left no impact on the movie. Even people who hate Dark of the Moon like the skyscraper scene.

Shockwave’s literal duality is his most interesting feature as a character, and it is an utter tragedy that so many writers seem to completely discount its presence.

*To clarify, I don’t hate the G1 character designs, I just think they look a bit silly and overly blocky. The Cybertron games perfected them in my eyes.