So I was thinking about Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. You know, as one does with an OTP.
In the first part of The Agenda, when they have their little forbidden liaison, Blackarachnia tries to fabricate an “evil Predacon steals graviton generator from heroic Maximal at gunpoint” scenario. When Silverbolt disarms her and asks why she thought this was necessary, she sighs and says, “I thought this might make it easier for you”.
Which if you think about it is kind of sweet??? I know, I know, putting a gun to someone’s head isn’t sweet in any capacity, but hear me out.
Blackarachnia spends most of the Beast Wars looking out for number one and is loyal to no one but herself. If she’s acting nice to anyone, you can bet it’s 100% insincere, and she will backstab them the moment they’re no longer useful. She doesn’t care who gets hurt as long as she’s the one coming out on top. Living in a nest of vipers like the Darksyde will do that to you.
And then Bad Spark happens and she gets a front seat to the full Silverbolt experience - pure, fair, and pretty much unconditionally kind. Even when she tries to betray him, he still goes out of his way to save her life, and doesn’t even hold it against her. This is the first time in Blackarachnia’s life anyone has shown her true kindness. And it changes something in her.
So here she is three episodes later, knowing full well that Silverbolt is having a rough time with their little arrangement, since it’s essentially a betrayal of his comrades and a corruption of his moral code. So she tries to make up a scenario that would absolve him of some of the responsibility and maybe help him with that guilt. (Of course, she goes about it in the most Predacon way possible, with intimidation and violence, but this is literally all she knows…) The thing is, she’s not getting anything out of it - Silverbolt is a perfectly willing participant even if it’s eating him inside, so she’s getting that graviton generator either way. The only one who may benefit from that little show is Silverbolt.
She’s doing this because, for once in her life, Blackarachnia cares for someone other than Blackarachnia.
Beast Wars is so good, guys.