Saturday, July 25, 2015

G1 Cartoon Continuity Clean Up #2

The Story of the Constructicons:

A faction of Cybertronians that had no allegiance to Autobot or Decepticon, construct bots focused on invention, building and repair planet wide. At the time, there was no true faction designation, they were mostly Consumer Goods descendants that did construction, repair and invention.

Megtron was born!
One group of like minded "construct bots" had taken a liking to the legendary gladiatorial games. One of the star players was difficult to beat in the arena, and had actually employed the bots to perform many of his upgrades. In a calculated move to undermine and destroy the charismatic fighter, a number of his enemies rigged a competition that led to critical failure of most of his systems. The construct bots spirited him away. Knowing he was close to oblivion, they performed experimental procedures that resulted in a total reformatting of the being. Upon his reactivation, the former gladiator designated himself as "Megatron", and vowed revenge.

The Robo Smasher and a hapless victim
Megatron was successful in methodically wiping out those who sought to destroy him. Having galvanized numerous allies in carrying out his goal, and realizing the power and influence that leadership brought him, Megatron turned his energy towards other campaigns. The construct bots that had repaired him had splintered in number - some remained close, the others distancing themselves. Having lost a number of his construction allies in territorial skirmishes, Megatron sought out the "defectors". He used a mind/spark bending device that was nicknamed the "robo smasher", a device that was actually invented by one of the more sinister construct bots, and augmented by Shockwave - a staunch supporter of Megatron's evolving cause. The robo smasher changed the defectors forever, making them resemble the military hardware genetic make-up, and thus more inclined to follow Megatron's rising Decepticon cause.

Working with Shockwave to improve a new experimental process, the Constructicons hunted down similar construct bots. Many died during the experiments, but the aggressive combiner process was perfected enough for Scrapper to finally apply it to his team. Devastator was born, and eventually destroyed the famed Crystal City - ultimately disgracing Omega Supreme and severely undermining the giant's participation in Autobot resistance.

Devastator...
The Constructicons performed the combiner process on thousands of bots - with mostly dismal results. The ability to combine would remain unique to Devastator for ages. The process was not perfect within the Constructicons themselves, and so Devastator was not a regular on the battlefield.

When Megatron elected to follow Optimus Prime on an energy searching mission in deep space, the Constructicons remained on Cybertron with Shockwave. Numerous weapons were worked on, along with bot-augmenting technologies like triple changing, smaller combining techniques, faster transforming configurations and more.

The Great Shutdown left the population of Cybertron in stasis for a greater part of 4 million years. Upon its reawakening, Shockwave sought out enemies to assassinate before they could awaken to resist him. Quickly moving drones into place, Shockwave immediately took control of the planet. Autobot pockets of resistance struck back viciously - the Constructicons were amongst the first of the casualties. Shockwave, detetmined to spare one of the greatest Decepticon assets, placed the Constructicons in stasis until a solution could be found.

From left to right: Scavenger, Mixmaster, Long Haul,
Bonecrusher, Hook and Scrapper
When Megatron reestablished contact with Cybertron with the space bridge, he silently sent large shipments of energon to his facilities on the home world, and brought warriors, equipment and weapons to Earth to stave off Optimus Prime and his army. In a secluded subterranean facility - far away from the prying optics of the Autobots, Megatron brought the disembodied laser cores of the Constructicons to Earth, and rebuilt them all in new bodies. They experienced a period of "shell shock", but the resurrection process was successful. Devastator was improved, and became a true and consistent threat to the Autobots from that point forward.


G1 Cartoon Continuity Clean Up #1

In an effort to hide himself from Unicron (both are psychically linked in their pure forms), Primus separates himself into 5 forms.


The Allspark - a typically cubical to trapezoidal construct that exists on an inter-dimensional plane. The Allspark is the purest fragment of Primus, able to create new life, and "collect" all fragments of Primus no matter where they are in space, time or dimension.





Vector Sigma - the sentient core of a metallic planetoid. It carries out the will of Primus, allowing life and civilization to flourish on the evolving planet. It has direct access to the Allspark.





The Matrix - a device that records the events as experienced by its bearer. The Matrix has the ability to enhance and protect its bearer, and acts as a conduit to the Allspark. It thus has the ability to create life, and influences the bearer and his followers to inadvertently carry out the Will of Primus. There are multiple Matrices across space and dimensions - they often take different forms and names.




Primon - the corporeal mechanoid sent into the world to experience life in the corporeal plane. Primon was the first Matrix bearer, and acted as a distant, cryptic advisor to the Thirteen Children of Primus - Prima in particular. He is unaware of his true nature and identity. Upon Unicron's defeat and exile, Primon ventured into the black hole to find Unicron. He was accompanied by Primacron. Together they found the remains of Unicron. But the Fallen, who had been banished with Unicron, corrupted Primacron, who then betrayed Primon. Primon was sequentially reformatted. The reformatting process split Primon's spark in two - one portion would join the Matrix; the other portion was fashioned into Primacron's Assistant, which eventually evolved into...




The Oracle - an inter-dimensional being of energy that observes the unfoldings of past, present and future in the interest of staving Unicron's progress. It influences Primus's progeny to work against the Unicronian Agenda.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

New Adventures of He-Man: Season 1 Episode 10

The Festival of Lights
Written by Jack Olesker

Adam, Mara, Drissi and Caz set up the Festival of Lights, an event that celebrates the eclipse of the suns. Mara hints more suspicion of Adam's relation to He-Man. Skeletor plans to attack He-Man at Weststar - a known Western-style attraction in the Tri-Solar System.

Drissi and He-Man visit the owner - Buck Weststar, only to find that Skeletor has already arrived to win his favor with a bull-like beast. The beast is controlled by Skeletor in an attempt to destroy He-Man. He-Man struggles with the creature in the show ring, showing off his strength and skill. He-Man defeats the mechanical bull in front of a cheering audience. Weststar's owner compliments He-Man, and introduces his daughter Ferl - who Caz takes a liking to.

Skeletor takes control of the Weststar show, which is scheduled to be an attraction at the Festival of Lights on Primus - he has taken Ferl hostage. Sagitar and Drissi tour Westar. Drissi's powers alert her that something is terribly wrong, and Staghorn loses his cool - blowing his cover. Skeletor is forced to launch his attack, taking the Galactic Guardians prisoner. He-Man rides Sagitar into battle against the Mutants, and Mr. Westar retaliates as well. With Primus soldiers joining the battle, Skeletor is forced to retreat.

Review:
This was a good episode. Staghorn steps out of the background, and Sagitar gets some character development. We learn of the rivalry between Staghorn and Sagitar. Drissi's ability to communicate with animals is put to good use. One of the coolest things about this episode is seeing He-Man ride Sagitar into battle - reflecting the package art on Sagitar's vintage toy box!

Appearing Characters:

Galactic Guardians
Adam/He-Man
Mara
Drissi
Caz
Sagitar
Master Sebrian
Meldoc
Gepple
Alcon
Krex
Spinwit
Artilla
Hydron
Flipshot
Tuskador
Clawber

Evil Mutants
Skeletor
Flogg
Slush Head
Staghorn