Earthspark May Have The Best Decepticons Ever

[@GrimSqueaker]

Earthspark has been a wonderful breath of fresh air - it is incredible that after 40 years of stories there are still so many interesting nooks to be explored - just needing a brave and compotent writting team. Long live Earthspark. Genuinely excited for Season 2

[@BoisegangGaming]

Yeah, it's very good (for a kid's show) and pretty decent for any other type of show. I don't get why people are expecting prime levels of complexity. It's a show for kids primarily, but it still has merits.

[@GrimSqueaker]

@@BoisegangGaming I think they've used the fact that it's a kids show to their advantage. By using a child's POV they have explored some of the deeper post war topics without getting too dark or brooding

[@fegreninja7197]

@@BoisegangGamingI think people also just put Prime on a pedestal and/or let their nostalgia blind their judgement. I still love Prime, always will, but it wasn’t perfect.

[@SwiftpawWolffox]

Earthspark has done a great job of the Decepticons not just being 'bad guys', most of them have much more defined characterizations beyond that.

[@Zer0sLegion]

Even with Shockwave wanting to continue the war, he still joins up with the Terrans after they rescue him towards the end of the show. That could easily be a scene where the all have to fight and subdue him but he doesn't show any hostility towards then and immediately starts working with them. It's kinda wholesome in a weird way that even Shockwave isn't a 100% sadistic, evil villain in this show,

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

I mean he kinda has to and he was betrayed by croft

[@samurexatlas7373]

10:16 Of all the decepticons we've seen, I think I like Tarantulas the most. He's not evil, he's just a scientist/technician? I loved how he and Nightshade just clicked together, two brilliants finding kinship at last.

[@gyrrakavian]

Very different from his Beast Wars counterpart in the morality department.

[@samurexatlas7373]

@@gyrrakavian Eh, he was still willing to erase the memories of the Maltos. Just has a different focus for his goals.

[@screamingbean7509]

@@gyrrakavianyeah this version of him is a bit more of the IDW comic version, even down to his design is almost exactly like the IDW version of him with, which makes his character in the show all the more interesting and fun to see😌

[@xenith8286]

I never quite thought about Soundwave being betrayed to the point of vengeance in this, and it makes a lot of sense! And maybe when Frenzy says they don't have to follow him anymore, it could be thought of the she and Laserbeak are hust tired of the grudge and want to live now. I loved Tarantulas and Breakdown in their debut episodes. Tarantulas for his thoughts on expressing oneself through alt mode, which deepened Cybertronian culture, and Breakdown for hus charm and friendship with Bumblebee. I haven't got to Starscream yet, but from what I hear he sounds like an excellent twist on the classic character. A story about him wanting to take power from Megatron to end his cruel reign would be fascinating. Also, Steve Blum is back YAY!

[@elviejomonca4719]

RID 2015 was also a in post-war setting

[@tonyjackson4078]

Yeah, the main Decepticons were escaped prisoners.

[@Majinhero]

beast wars too

[@twistedgaming9185]

@@Majinhero And Animated.

[@blimbam]

And combiner wars

[@elviejomonca4719]

@@Majinhero Yeah, but BW was it's own "war" if you know what I mean

[@nolarit6975]

Dziękujemy.

[@funbus7678]

Even with Swindle, the epitome of the self-serving deception. He DOES have loyalty he completely sticks too. His entire mini story arch is just trying to jailbreak his brother

[@BoisegangGaming]

Yeah, family is definitely a recurring theme in this series. Not just blood family, but also found family. And that's an important lesson to teach children (the target audience).

[@moonwhooper]

​@BoisegangGaming yes I think found family is a powerful thing

[@IcyKali]

I'm really happy to hear you talking about what makes this show really unique and complex! I feel like the setting and new takes on the characters and motivations and how it explores them makes this the best show storytelling-wise since Beast Wars.

[@rioplayz2003]

I love earthspark showing how everyone is after the war and how it affects then kinda like idw 1.0 but less depressing

[@awesomeguy9513]

(Spoilers for the show that’s been out for a bit) I will say Earthsparks S1 final took me by surprise with a death, tone of it, and mandroids final design. I do hope in season 2 we get a mandroid travel cause when he entered the portal he was a guy with 2 transformer arms but when he came back he looked like something eldrich with a creepy human head long neck inner part and seeing how he went from point A to B in an episode would be cool. The decepticons are really solid representations of the characters with good voice acting behind them as well like hearing prime starscream again in a new show was a nice treat, to that the post war starscream was also done well we got to see a lot of his emotions and a more soft/rational side of him. Tarantulas was really cool in his episode wish we could’ve seen more of him though but he needs a good figure like a deluxe.

[@bennewbury2572]

Wait a death? Who died?

[@JigarjitJohal-nm7dx]

@@bennewbury2572 Every Cybertronian on Earth after being in contact with Mandroid's Spacebridge wave!(Until Robby and Mo revived them all with there Prime Power)

[@BoisegangGaming]

​@@bennewbury2572spoilers. Agent Croft gets brutally murdered by Mandroid. In a kid's show. Yeah.

[@sinking9058]

this show is the perfect place to have a portrayal of tarn acting as a main antagonist

[@BoisegangGaming]

Honestly Tarn or Jhiaxus as sort of "neo-decepticons" could work, since the show has gone to some dark extremes before with its antagonists.

[@ashuraomega1000]

​@@BoisegangGamingmaybe they could have guys like Nemesis prime and the quintessons show up too

[@moonwhooper]

​@@BoisegangGamingthat sounds great

[@brettwood1351]

@@moonwhooper I would have gone with someone like Deathsaurus myself for running Cybertron. For Tarn, well he'd hit some the same beats that Soundwave does, being the true believer who'd feel betrayed by Megatron. There's two things I'd say you could play hard with him. 1-Brutality. Tarn's the sort who'd do the worst possible things, and be convinced that it was the right thing as long as it was for the cause. Smelting pits, forced reprograming, doomsday weapons, whatever. He'd do it. 2- He'd at first I think try to convince Megatron to come back, or think Megatron's been controlled somehow. Then once it finally sinks in that Megatron no longer wants to lead the Decepticons, and is horrified by the things Tarn has done. Tarn really I think works best as an embodiement of the very worst things about Decepticons.

[@BoisegangGaming]

@@brettwood1351 Tarn could definitely be a commentary on fanaticism and sliding down the slippery slope.

[@robrice7246]

11:25/11:26 Mae Catt has said that his work on IDW's: Sins of the Wreckers was also used as inspiration for his episode. Something my headcannon does continue.

[@thecuriousone6878]

To think, Earthspark has just finished its first season. There's so much shake ups going on and has been one of the freshest takes in the entire almost 40 year history of the franchise. Decepticons are treated as people trying to find their own path, with the Autobots also trying to really live up to their promise of keeping things free. Especially in relation to the whole "Hunt the Decepticons down" plot that's been through the whole season. Without spoilers, it's been one hell of an emotional ride to see what the whole mentality of "Decepticons are always evil" can do to others. I hope that Season 2 will continue onward in developing the other Decepticons. This show is great for any fan of any age, and I REALLY hope that it inspires the next generation of Transformers fans to enjoy the bots they want, be it Autobot, Decepticion, or Terran.

[@Karlos1234ify]

When you end up as the losing side of a war. You’ll have to deal with ptsd, reparations, shame, disorganization & etc

[@RodimusMinor1987]

Breakdown is friends with Bumblebee, he calls him brother, they are also rivals

[@danielmedela8725]

2:19: "We have never had this concept before, the war is over, what happens next." Excuse me. IDW Phase 2 and 3 are calling, they want you to start reading. So does Beast Wars.

[@robrice7246]

22:09/22:10 I know that for my headcannon, if its Steve Blum: Starscream, it's Prime: Starscream.

[@charperalta9489]

thats like saying nitro zeus got isekied to become jake from adventure time

[@RialVestro]

I don't think any of these are really that different... Except for Tarantulus. There are traditional aspects of the characters we've seen before. It's just that this series explores these characters from a different perspective we haven't seen before. Tarantulus being the one character who actually is different, I understand why they changed him since his Beast Wars personality really wouldn't work in this series. I will say, we were teased Starscream earlier in the series and I was expecting some big threat to come from him... instead we got a look into PSTD and other trauma related issues that I really wasn't expecting from this show. It's also interesting that it's Steve Blum as Starscream again but he seems to be playing the role a bit differently than Prime and RID2015. There's more sencerity to what he says, it's not as manipulative. I also find it interesting how this Starscream still has traits of typical Starscreams even if it is from a different perspective while movie Starscream had non of his traits. Movie Starscream in design and personality is never recognizable as the character but this Starscream is immediatly recognozable not just in design but also his personality. It's also very different seeing his relationship with a Megatron who's reformed and regrets his past actions. Starscream clearly still holds some trauma but Megatron also seems to genuinly want to help Starscream. There's a lot of interesting ways they could take these characters. Although it's also really hard to imagine what these Decepticons would have been like durring the war. I hope we get more flashbacks so we can see the contrast between the Megatron he was and the Megatron he is now.

[@robrice7246]

13:14 I see him in my headcannon as the same Breakdown from Prime, after his little trip in the Unite Warriors manga.

[@robrice7246]

9:03 My headcannon treats him as the same Soundwave from Prime. He got what he wanted (Megatron will return), but not what he expected.

[@krizilid]

Yes I think the depictions of the decepticons here was sooo much better than the typical villainous goons.

[@robrice7246]

14:50 Aren't many of them in R.I.D. 15 alot like that?

[@haydenreviewscustomcombos]

I really hope we get more of the combiner teams in season two.

[@robrice7246]

17:17 In my headcannon, I see him as Prime: Megs returning from his second exile in space (hence Soundwave's want), to begin his redemption arc

[@connor52201]

Strangely, Watching this on Skywarp's and Novastorm's section, is making me like them even more

[@TheDataByteChannel]

I apologize for this comment, but I really was wanting to ask if this would be an interesting topic for a video or response to you. With this show's tone; do you think this series would adapt Tarn? Given on how some of the Decepticons have felt betrayed, Tarn could work as a major villain where he hunts Megatron down and threatens to destroy earth or harm the Maltos would be motivation for Megs & the Terrans to stop Tarn(as I doubt they’d have all the members adapted, since they’re based on torture devices). Or do you think Shockwave(or even Magnificus really, since the creators and writers put so much love into sharing different continuities with new fans) would work better? I love these types of commentary videos a lot & I'm very happy to see so many people giving you love on Patreon.💖

[@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho]

The Cyberverse team proved Tarn could work in a more kid-friendly setting. Why not go a step further and include a toned-down-enough-for-kids version of the DJD so we can get something equivalent to Megatron taking down the worst fruits of his original labors? I’m still hoping something like that happens in animated form, especially with this show’s storyboarders and IDW alumni on board.

[@angelriverasantana7755]

They got Keith David in the show, so Alex Milne's headcanon can happen if he DID show up

[@robrice7246]

18:33/19:52/21:20 Cue Prime flashbacks. Hence why for me, he wants to plan his personal revenge (like he said in R.I.D 15).

[@Decepticoncause]

I find it ironic that Breakdown does exactly what Knockout wants todo in his spare time. Maybe they’ll reconnect in the future?

[@robrice7246]

I know im my expanded headcannon, Shockwave & Tarantulas have secret projects of their own (the former has a Dark Cybertron based invasion planned with Nova Prime).

[@masterfarr8265]

so what show do you think has the worst decepticons?

[@triciagenett3334]

Maybe g1, they are just faces to fight. Or the movies, they are literally just things to murder.

[@WingRocka]

I second the movie Decepticons. Bayverse of them, to be specific. Most of the time, they’re just poor targets for Bayverse Optimus to brutally tear apart into scrap heaps for almost no reason at all.

[@cheesier5153]

Beast wars, hehehehe

[@raderfelumlee3999]

Transformers Cybertron with the exception of Starscream

[@krizilid]

Yeah in my opinion the movie verse had some of the worst depictions of the decepticons, and I'm not even trying to bash ppl who love the movies but they mostly was just bland and monstrous things to slaughter in between human dialogue. It could come to movies don't have the time to make good characters out of anyone but maybe the main villain. But for me the movies had the least amount of standout decepticons.

[@jackofallclaws6672]

Anyone else wanna see this series take a shot at Thundercracker?

[@Majinhero]

i live to see the day where tj bullies me into getting a streaming subscription.

[@TheEternal-zr5op]

Lovely vid Omega! It’s a shame how one year later this concept sadly went down hill. Cuz, well, you know. The whole thing with the second season kind of setting up the decepticons back to a “typical bad guy” sort of thing

[@samurexatlas7373]

2:46 I thought Animated was post-war too? Or am I gaslighting myself?

[@blueraccoon1088]

No your right but it was like this Say in example your parents had enemies and when they lose they think they won but the enemy returns but now after you. Magness is old as Megatron but megs is after Magness he sees prime as a big he can swat anytime but prime buzz Megatron until he swings that swat.

[@robrice7246]

22:17/22:55 Aren't there people who might say that they're too sympathetic and not enough like Overlord? And what about bots like Getaway who don't excuse them for their war crimes? And don't even get me started on the DJD.

[@robrice7246]

I know Commander Radix did a video called "Stop Writing Villains Like This" that really affects me.

[@robrice7246]

I also know that people in real life don't have that kind of sentiment over someone who hurt or murdered others for various reasons.

[@zboltx305]

I think he has an Armada Hotshot shrine

[@tinibuilds3398]

Animated was post ear aswell

[@haydenreviewscustomcombos]

I kind of hope that all characters featured in season one that didn’t get deluxe class figures in the first year of EarthSpark toy line, I really hope that they get deluxe class figures either during season two or a potential season three toy line.

[@GrarrlbrownVT]

A box of shame of Armada Hotshots? Sounds like a shrine to me~

[@creepywombat3254]

I liked how armada did starscream more honestly but I grew up with that show so that might have something to do with it lol

[@Flare_IA]

If you don’t have a shrine, who’s the shoutout from, huh?🤨 Also congrats everyone on 200 shoutouts in a row!🥳

[@fegreninja7197]

Well, post-war Transformers content isn’t that uncommon. RID 2015, IDW 2005, Cyberverse, and funnily enough even Rescue Bots Academy covers post war topics

[@AnArmyOfBees]

Having a shrine for a character would be kinda cringe, ngl

[@tchristensen81]

I love the writing on this show.

[@Ranma_Leopard]

Box of shame lol

[@Dunks_Aquarium]

Didn’t Animated take place in a post-war setting?

[@blueraccoon1088]

6:27 I'll say to nova it's not to late because i made an oc who was an autobot turned decepticon then reformed bot. Also i may have a skywarp x stormstriker/starknight fanfic (name of my oc bc love this skywarp and frenzy)

[@norbertfenz3506]

nice shirt very evil^^

[@jamesscheurich6006]

I like the Post-War aspect and the showing of the prejadices that arise. With the help of the terrenbots I think they are more closer to Optimus Prime's dream of "Till All are One."

[@thelicensednerd1626]

Well that title bullshit. No knockout , lugnut, blitzwing, tarn

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

Bro how does that mean the title is bull they nailed the decepticons and making them sympathetic

[@spudthespudgungamer7112]

The season finisher was disappointing. I wanted to see Megatron and Starscream go at it, and Twitch needed to go apeshit on Mandroid.

[@Hamandcheeseshandwich]

I can’t wait for season 2

[@LordVanOskuro]

Actually they'd be the worst Decepticons. Like the ever popular Scavengers who suck at their job so much that they saved the universe.

[@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho]

Where are the Decepticon-allied Terrans? That’s the question I’m asking as someone whose only familiarity with EarthSpark is reading TFWiki summaries. I get that the Terrans are supposed to be the bridge between both factions (hence why Nightshade and Hashtag have bonded with tired old man scientist Tarantulas and Steve Blum Starscream 2), but it’s annoying that they’re all basically Autobot juniors. From what I’ve heard, Season 1 ends with an Emberstone-empowered energy wave being set off. So imagine, if you will, a scenario where a group of Terrans is born far from Witwicky. Unlike the main quintet, they’re not bonded to any humans… and they’re subject to anti-Transformer prejudice. And they respond in a way not that dissimilar to a certain miner did- the same way that started this whole mess. These troubled Terrans fall in with a group of dissident Decepticons (Barricade, Swift, Smolder, and Sledge; think an evil version of the Rescue Bots cast) who are impressed by their outburst and bring them into their ranks. They’re indoctrinated and basically turned into Decepticons in all but name. Some time later, these “Deceptiterrans” go to Witwicky. They trick the Malto Terrans into trusting them, with some of them building genuine bonds with them. And then the truth is revealed and OH GOSH THE ANGST. Their members would HAVE to be foils to the Maltobots. Both Twitch and the Deceptiterrans’ leader are competitive, but the Deceptiterran commander is a self-aggrandizing control freak who won’t let anyone but themselves be on top. Thrash’s Deceptiterran rival is a nihilistic, hedonistic sniper: the Dropkick to Deceptiterran Twitch’s Shatter. Hashtag’s Deceptiterran rival is a focused, precise ferrokinetic. Jawbreaker’s Deceptiterran rival is a big softie forced to play the part of a mean brute by their leader. And Nightshade’s equivalent is a chaotic evil mad scientist who likes picking apart their enemies (and sometimes their allies) a bit too much- a dark mirror of Nightshade’s curiosity and tinkering.

[@BoisegangGaming]

I like the idea of having a foil to the Terrans as a plot point (and perhaps a season-long arc).

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

It's the first season let them build the world out more

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

I mean they did ally with decepticons like thrash and swindle and turantulas with night shade with the terrans with shockwave and the terrans with decepticons

[@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho]

UPDATE: If Spitfire and the implied existence of other “Chaos Terrans” means anything, then I might’ve been right on the money.

[@Ranma_Leopard]

Very enjoyable video

[@blueraccoon1088]

You know i may not have a patreon but there's something that catches my point of something 🤔 If a bot/ con can scan altmodes why can't they triple change of they're beast bots? They can keep both beast and vehicle. I mean no disrespect to jawbreaker but he was not into vehicles. I wonder 🤔like grimlock is a trex but can he be a crane?

[@samurexatlas7373]

I think bots have a hard limit of 1, unless designed otherwise. This rings true in a lot of cases, RotB Mirage is a special case, pretty sure he's a super transformer.

[@blueraccoon1088]

​@@samurexatlas7373I think that title belongs to 6 shot 😆

[@samurexatlas7373]

@@blueraccoon1088 Yeah no Mirage has Porsche, Lambo, something offscreen, Indie, Trash Truck cab, and mechsuit for his KNOWN alts.

[@LesbianCacodemon]

Can someone explain the hotshot and tj omega lore to me I haven’t been watching the channel very long

[@MikeD974]

Series is OK but I like my transformer war that's why I watch not big fan of the bad guys basically being humans

[@blossom9510]

Personally I find Earthspark Starscream way too sappy for me, although I suppose I'll have to wait and see if that changes. I like that they're giving him more depth but at the same time I wish they preserved his treacherous personality more. It's interesting to show that there is good within him, but only if it CONTRASTS against the evil within him. IDW1 did that really well, having him do both horrific and heroic deeds and wrestling with himself over it. But so far Earthspark is just him being a nice guy from start to finish. A slightly grouchy nice guy, but a nice guy nonetheless. One of my problems with Earthspark is that it does a lot of telling instead of showing... telling us Starscream is a shady character, telling us Megatron used to rule with an iron fist, but not actually showing that. I think they swung so far in the direction of trying to give the Cons redemptive qualities that they downplayed their negative qualities into near non-existence.

[@Spike-Prime]

Honestly, I think it's way to early to say this for sure. I've seen too many good shows tank themselves into absolute garbage before after a season or two of greatness. Everyone thought Transformers: Prime was the best. Then Predacons Rising happened and killed the entire show with one of the worst finales of all time.

[@flame1245]

I really despise beast wars tarantulus but earthspark’s version I love and could best describe as Alfred Marino’s doctor octavious from the Spider-Man movies

[@flame1245]

With starscream in earthspark he’s the one of the best out of the g1 formula characters Love which is rare for me to love a starscream cause he’s so much of the traditional formula it bugs me armada was the only one I truly deemed the best out of character starscream until earthspark gave us this starscream it is now these two versions I deem the best versions of starscream out there in terms of out of the g1 formula

[@theStridingRebel]

This show ruined so many decepticons by turning them into "le wholesome and heccin misunderstood" how do you possibly make Tarantulas, one of the most twisted and despicable villains in Transformers history into "i'm just misunderstood". It just comes down to executives not understanding that kids need to be shown what real evil is, not "everyone can be good and nobody is really evil" It's all watered down nonsense

[@starscream_earth_spark66]

Why not? It develops the fandom, we can't do the same thing all the time. There are evil characters in earth spark that haven't changed.

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

So it develops them as characters instead of evil robots want to kill humans

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

You wanna know what real evil is BOOM CROFT AND MANDROID

[@TotallyNormalUK]

Personally, I don't like it when Decepticons don't act like Decepticons. What's even the point of giving them that symbol and not making them the bad guy!? I honestly can't wait for the next show to come along and just be traditional. No shades of grey, just heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons, that's something I feel like is over due. As we keep getting the Autobots, we're actually more evil than the f***king Decepticons story for a while (at least since Prime ended). What was a novelty has become very tiresome personally. So, if it wasn't clear already. I don't like how some of the Decepticons are characterised in EarthSpark.

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

Their still evil bro we got swindle being a manipulative bastard we got soundwave with his revenge arc and shockwave i personally like these decepticons it makes them sympathetic and gives humanity to them and its them basically trying to survive now that megs turned good and it gives that feeling like not all decepticons wanted to become decepticons and gives the message not all the people in evil factions are bad it gives a good message to kids like even tho they are in a bad faction from their perspective the autobots are the bad people and they think they are right so seeing them lost and scared just trying to survive and are tired of war and turantulas is a good example of just being tired of war and the decepticons and just wanted to live life without hunted and not in fear

[@ILovedarkspeakerman]

The war has ended their is no reason to fight