🕷️ The Problem with Tarantulas as Nightshade’s Mentor in EarthSpark
Let’s talk about one of the most quietly disturbing choices in Transformers: EarthSpark: giving Nightshade — a kind, curious, non-binary Terran — a mentor in the form of Tarantulas, a Decepticon war criminal.
❝ I just wanted to survive. ❞
That’s what Tarantulas says to Nightshade.
But let’s be clear: this is revisionism.
In most Transformers continuities — especially IDW and Beast Wars — Tarantulas is not just a victim of war.
He’s a torturer, a mad scientist, and a predator.
In IDW, he ran psychological operations, manipulated minds, and dissected identities.
He never truly defected. He stayed Decepticon by choice, driven by obsession with control, not freedom.
His “survival” always came at the cost of others’ autonomy.
🎭 The Hypocrisy of the Self-Expression Speech
In EarthSpark, Tarantulas gives a speech about self-expression and “not hiding who you are,” meant to resonate with Nightshade’s non-binary identity.
But this is a profound contradiction:
🕷️ Tarantulas didn’t honor self-expression — he stole it from others.
His experiments erased individuality. He extracted, dissected, and violated the very concept of personhood.
In any deeper disagreement, he would not celebrate Nightshade’s uniqueness — he would try to reprogram or reshape it. His “tolerance” is conditional, not compassionate.
Let’s be honest:
If Nightshade truly challenged him — ethically, emotionally, philosophically — Tarantulas would turn on them like he always has with anyone who threatened his control.
⚠️ Why This Is So Dangerous
Giving Nightshade a mentor like Tarantulas sends these messages:
That predators can be safe if they sound gentle for five minutes.
That a child's identity is safe in the hands of a war criminal.
That representation overrides accountability — as long as someone says the “right” thing about identity.
Nightshade is a child. They deserve protection, not grooming masked as mentorship.
If EarthSpark wanted a nuanced, affirming mentor for Nightshade, they could’ve chosen:
Wheeljack – eccentric and harmless.
Knock Out (reformed) – flamboyant, formerly Decepticon, now self-aware.
Perceptor – quiet, scientific, gentle.
Arcee – a warrior who’s wrestled with her own identity. (In other continuities)
All of them could talk about selfhood without carrying the moral rot of Tarantulas’ legacy.
Tarantulas is not a symbol of “self-expression.”
He is a symbol of identity theft, domination, and conditional acceptance.
Letting him deliver a speech on freedom of identity — without any reckoning — is narrative betrayal.
And worst of all, it sets Nightshade up for subtle harm:
The kind of harm that wears a soft voice and says “I see you” — but only if you don’t say no.
Disclaimer: This post was written with the help of ChatGPT.
