So I'm rewatching TFP and I noticed some really interesting things in episode 6, named Masters and Students. It's the episode right after the Darkness Rising five-parter; everyone thinks Megatron is 'dead', and Starscream awakens Skyquake (it's kinda implied that he was sent with the Predacons who were killed in the astroid that destroyed the dinosaur) - Optimus and Bumblebee fight Skyquake, and Bumblebee kills him by ripping wiring (that probably dealt with Skyquake's navigation/turning systems) out of his body, making Skyquake crash into the sides of a valley and killing him. This is also the episode where Ratchet takes over the kids' science projects, showing how he misses Cybertron and projects that onto everyone else. And Arcee asks Jack if he can build a small intestine, lol.
But I want to focus on Bumblebee and Optimus here.
I remember making a post saying that Optimus is can be very hypocritical and have inconsistent morals at times, and I was mostly thinking of TFP Optimus when I made it. He gives Megatron so many different chances, no matter how many horrible things Megatron does; he's constantly grieving the death of his best friend, and, every time Megatron does something slightly good, Optimus clings to it. It gives him hope that maybe, just maybe, Megatron will change if he gives him the chance to.
Now, in this episode, it starts out with Optimus and Ratchet talking to each other; Optimus seems to be grieving Megatron, or, at least, grieving the person he thought Megatron was. He says that he wished he had the chance to change his mind, to prove that there was still some good in him. This is really interesting to me because he never does this with any of the other Decepticons - obviously, him and Megatron were close (whether you view them as platonic or romantic doesn't rlly matter rn). He gives Starscream a chance to back down and he tries to convince Skyquake to stop fighting and both of them turn him down, but with Megatron, Optimus gives him more than just one chance - Now, I do understand that Optimus tried killing him in the s1 finale, but he fails to and never tries again; I’m pretty sure that’s because Megatron helped the Autobots kill Unicron, and that gave Optimus was once again given hope that he could change.
And, at the end of the episode, Optimus says, “If Skyquake chose to stray from his master’s path, we might not be burying him today,” which is so interesting! Looking at this quote in the short term, Optimus thought he was dead, but looking at this in the long term? Megatron never really strays from his path. He does everything for his own selfish gain and never truly changes until Predacons Rising (and, even then, you could argue that he changes due to selfishness), yet Prime only tries to kill him once and then proceeds to give Megatron more leeway.
This kinda becomes a dichotomy when you include Bumblebee in this.
Now, Bumblebee was born into the war. He never learned who Megatron was before he was thrust into becoming a scout for the Autobots, so he doesn’t hold himself back when it comes to trying to kill Megatron (or any Decepticon), unlike Optimus. This is what leads Bumblebee to kill both Skyquake and Megatron, which adds a really interesting parallel to both of these situations. It also gives the episode name, Masters and Students, a really interesting meaning. Optimus, the master, wants to give Megatron, a genocidal dictator, unlimited chances to change because of his clouded and positive view of the world, while an argument can be made that Bumblebee, the student, has a much more negative outlook due to his upbringing in the war and he’s not really willing to give the Decepticon higher-ups second chances.
There’s also more interesting stuff that foreshadows what happens at the end of the show! Near the beginning of this episode, Bumblebee and Raf are talking, and Raf asks Bumblebee why he isn’t a warrior yet. Optimus then steps in, saying something that he thinks Bumblebee deserves the warrior title, but Bee has a lot to learn, which sets up him becoming a warrior later. And then, at the end of the episode, Optimus says, “Bumblebee, putting yourself at risk wasn’t the wisest of strategies, but you performed admirably,” setting up how Bumblebee ‘dies’, gets brought back to life, and then kills Megatron, effectively ending the war, at the end of s3. This line also subtly adds an interesting character flaw to Bee; he’s extremely self sacrificial, especially when it comes to protecting/helping the Autobot cause. This is heavily implied/basically confirmed in later episodes (Sick Mind, Operation: Bumblebee), and this is most likely due to Bumblebee only seeing himself as a soldier and basing his self-worth on what he can do for others/the war.
Anyways, I just thought this episode added a lot of interesting stuff to Optimus and Bumblebee’s characters to be built upon, and added some cool implications to their relationship - like, have these two ever fought over the fact that Optimus continuously gives Megatron chances when he’s done horrible things, like destroy Bumblebee’s voice box? Idk…much to think about.
