#maximal elders

[trashcanalienist]

Like remember when the Maximals had to de-Predify Blackarachnia's spark so she wouldn't fuсking die and she very nearly chose death instead because she didn't want to stop being who she was, but then after the procedure she was...pretty much entirely unchanged? If everything Dinobot has ever done wasn't proof enough that the pseudoscientific nonsense about "Predacon" vs "Maximal" sparks is just that - pseudoscience planted as fact within the education of both Predacons and Maximals - then this confirmed that beyond a shadow of a doubt

Silverbolt, for all his talk of Blackarachnia's Maximal spark, fails to realize that her spark can have no allegiance. Her programming is Predacon, and her actions that don't quite align with Predacon beliefs as understood by a very naive Maximal are due very simply to the fact that at some point, she starts to get attached to this dumb Maximal puppy with a hero complex. Predacons aren't overly loyal - except for when they are, like Scorponok and Inferno. Predacons don't bother with honor and returning favors - except for when they do, like Dinobot with his strong sense of warrior nobility and Megatron who sticks to his word. Predacons are every bit as complex and individual as Maximals, because there is no difference between the two besides the primal instinct limitation coding of Cybertronian Maximals and the general underhandedness of Predacon politics.

And that's just 'Con politics in general. Being descended from the Decepticons they kept the tendency for treachery and ambition, and while they have never been actively involved in an actual war (as part of the agreement with the Maximal Elders that allowed them to continue existing at all) some of them are extensively dedicated to the study of military history, and all focus on strategy and development of new weapons and modes of warfare should they ever have chance to take back their true freedom (and then conquer the galaxy, probably (that is likely what the Tripredacus Council proclaims, anyways, though it be not the truth)). It is a very well-designed and cutthroat way to build ultimate military power, as soldiers will strive to be stronger to achieve greater ambitions and a truly great leader will be strong enough and cunning enough to keep treachery in line.

The Autobots meanwhile...likely imbued the original Maximals with the most freedom possible, and unfortunately the Maximal Elders who took power after the extinction of the original Transformers decided that they wanted to use their free will to become cruel, inhumane fascists. That's the problem with free will - it leaves an entity open to ALL potential actions and choices. In any case not all Maximals are like that - not even most of them, hopefully. None of the Maximals we see really believe in the ideology of the Maximal Elders, but they've never had reason to question it before.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, are there any ideologies that prevent the Maximals from being just Autobots, and similarly, Predacons from Decepticons?

Dear Factional Friend,

In many universes, yes, although there do exist a number of realities where the Maximals and Predacons are indeed mere subsets of the Autobots and Decepticons. One that comes to mind is the world in which Thunder Mayhem's rampage resulted in the destruction of Cybertron. For the rest, in which the Maximals and Predacons grow to completely supplant their forebears, their ideologies are quite distinct—both from each other's, and from those of their precursors.

The Maximals arose from the Great War in a strong position—in complete control of Cybertron and those colonial worlds who had survived the war more-or-less unscathed—but the final battle reduced their once-proud homeworld to a ruined husk. As the Maximals worked to rebuild their world, the new High Council oversaw a new wave of colonization and industrialization, establishing a belt of offworld mines and foundries that would accelerate the process by funnelling raw materials back to their ailing homeworld. Although Cybertron once again glimmers with cities, starports, space elevators, and monorail lines, these early efforts laid the foundations for an expansionist, industrial culture of commerce underpinned by a series of robust economic policies aimed at expanding their off-world presence via a burgeoning fleet of transwarp-capable warships—quite unlike the pacifist Autobot regime from which the Maximals arose. And, of course, Maximal culture is one built upon personal sacrifice and censorship—the Elders made the early decision to hide public records of the Great War by stripping names, dates, and locations from the archives, burning all information relating to the conflict down to its most abstract, detached form in an effort to maintain the peace that had come at such a cost.

The Predacons, meanwhile, took longer to truly coalesce as a modern faction. Years after the ratification of the Pax Cybertronia, rogue Predacon elements maintained crumbling rump states on the galactic rim, little more than jumped-up interstellar pirates seeking to maintain some twisted parody of the old Decepticon Empire. But once the Tripredacus Council seized power, its agents either brought these holdouts into the fold or simply eliminated those who did not cooperate. Modern Predacon culture venerates the Decepticons as much is socially acceptable: its members respect martial prowess, ambition, and the value of the individual. Most Predacons, however grudgingly, honor the sacrifices of past warriors like Optimus Prime and Fortress Maximus, legendary figures who brought the war to the end… but those Predacons better acquainted with their heritage also venerate forbidden figures from the past, whispering tales of Megatron and Galvatron. Loosely regulated Predacon black markets specialize in contraband Decepticon imagery and relics—bits of old armor plating, rusted blades or copies of Megatron’s old manifestos—and the Tripredacus Council keeps a close eye on collectors of such memorabilia. The Council freely encourages sedition against the Maximals—indeed, its intelligence division gleefully abets and foils would-be coups and political schemes seemingly at random—but its news services, political pundits, and public faces are united in fomenting distrust and dissent towards the Maximals they share the planet with.

[trashcanalienist]

*thinks about the blatantly eugenicist ideology of the Maximal Elders in Beast Wars and how even though Optimus and his team doesn't avidly believe in that stuff it still effects the way they perceive the Predacons and especially Dinobot at the beginning until they realize that their society is built on hateful, racist beliefs, but they can't do anything about it because they're just a handful of random civilians and an ex-Predacon who will be executed on sight just for being born a Predacon if they ever try to return to Cybertron with him*

*thinks about Megs's "technologically pure" ideal Cybertron in Beast Machines and how even though he never showed any distaste for beast modes before, and actually was quite fond of his, he suddenly loathes even the slightest trace of organic material now, and the diagnostic drone - which he most likely did not build - is equally contemptuous* *thinks in addition about the fact that Beastformers didn't HAVE beast modes until they came to Earth or, in Botanica's case, that other unnamed distant planet*

So either Beast Machines fuсked up in their efforts to have a big fascist villain and yet not make things too government-toppling for kids' TV, or...the Maximal Elders got to Megatron in the decades before the Axalon arrived back - because remember, he tore his way free and fell through the middle of the time stream - and...say, convinced him a little too well. This is far more likely, as it would be near impossible for a lone Predacon, even Megs, to gain any sort of power on Cybertron if he weren't...forced into it with Maximal intentions in mind. Perhaps they meant to turn him against the Tripredacus Council but failed to realize that his hatred for those with even the possibility of organic material in their forms targeted them as well - targeted everyone and everything, including himself, and he is very conflicted physically but mentally more certain of his single goal and his means to achieve it than perhaps ever before.

I wouldn't put it past them. They're - somehow they're worse in their actions than the Tripredacus Council, who are literally the spawn of Unicron conspiring to destroy ALL Transformers. Knowing the circumstances of poor Rampage's creation, existence, escape, and recapture...they've done this kind of thing before, and it has worked out just as well for them in the past. And they'll face no more consequence for their actions - they'll likely deny any knowledge of it, now that their sparks are all returned to their bodies and Optimus and Megatron are both destroyed. Cheetor's a good kid but he's too trusting. He won't recognize anything wrong, and again...the Maximal Elders have covered up this kind of thing before.

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, What became of Rodimus Prime during the age of Maximals and Predacons? Was he one of the Maximal elders? Was he on the Maximal high council? Did he even survive to see that point in time?

Dear Turbo-Revving Trooper,

Though it varies from universe to universe, Rodimus has traditionally been an early adopter of the Maximal upgrade and downsizing as a whole, perhaps a reflection of his own past metamorphosis. In the OG World he was one of the first full-sized bots to become a Micromaster, and would retain this form during the Pax Cybertronia. On the Builder-ruled Cybertron, he was one of the first to downsize as an alternative to adopting titanic life support systems, at the cost of a grim decline in social standing. Another Rodimus rejected downsizing altogether before joining a multi-faction incarnation of the Wreckers.

Some incarnations of Rodimus have taken on beast forms as part of their Maximal upgrade, often reflecting their social standing. One in his old age took on the diminutive form of Rodimouse, while the Maximal Elder and Mistress of Flame became a mighty phoenix as Rodimus Primal.

You must understand that the Pax Cybertronia resulted in a great cultural shift, and many Autobots and Decepticons felt they no longer fit in this new world. Alongside the ones I have mentioned here many Rodimii decided to simply vanish into the annals of history, whether it be through a lonely final voyage to the stars, immersance within Cybertron, or eternal half-life within the J'nwan.