Random Thoughts: Airazor Would've Saved Optimus and His Arc in Animated, Prime, or Both
I will preface this with two things. One, I'm not that familiar with Animated, and I tried last night to watch it, but couldn't get more than seven minutes in before boredom and frustration made me quit. Two, I will forever ship Optimus and Elita, as they are one of the healthiest pairings in fiction and compliment each other perfectly in every way.
However, given that Animated chose to character assassinate Elita One while grossly merging her with a wholly different character (Blackarachnia) and gut said character of her perfect arc from Beast Wars, my shipping brain cannot help but seek an alternative for Optimus. Yes, that's not "my" Optimus, but I'll always love Optimus and fight for him. And while Prime ultimately backtracked on the decision to kill Elita, the fact that she plays so little a role in the Aligned Continuity that she may as well be dead, never mind how Optimus is practically isolated from any meaningful connection with anyone in Prime, my mind can't help but realize that Airazor's inclusion in either of these shows would have greatly benefited Optimus and his arc.
If you're curious, allow me to explain myself.
From what I recall/understand, Optimus in Animated suffers from a multitude of things. He has PTSD from the events of Archa Seven, and I know Optimus well enough to know that he blames himself for what happened to Elita, even though Sentinel shirked all of the blame on to Optimus when it wasn't his fault to begin with. As a result, Optimus holds himself accountable for things he had no control over, and is additionally stuck in a thankless position while fighting for every inch of good/ideals larger than himself that he can in order to find meaning in his life. This starts to turn around in a way when he lands on Earth, and starts protecting the planet from the Decepticons.
Then Blackarachnia walks into his life following all of this, and all the insecurities he's been slowly overcoming rear and buck him back to square one.
Because of Blackarachnia's refusal to accept her part in the Archa Seven fiasco, she blames Optimus for "leaving" her, for her mutation, and all that's happened to her. Because of her pettiness and spitefulness against Optimus, Blackarachnia and her return serves as a reminder of Optimus' "failure" to save her, and only increase his doubts about his capabilities and double his fears as he has to witness the consequences of Sentinel's stupidity in going to Archa Seven reappear in his life. All this really does is serve to break down Optimus and put him through the emotional wringer as he struggles to move past his doubts, fears, and the weight of that day at Archa Seven.
And Airazor? She's special, and given the type of femme she is, she could help him past this.
Airazor is a recon expert, talented combatant, and an ace pilot. All of this, combined with her boundless confidence, intelligence, and dry wit would make her the ideal girlfriend for Animated Optimus. She could probably appear in the role of a spy/infiltrator, or some secret agent, and I can see her hitting it off with Optimus. She'd definitely find him interesting, and would take any opportunity to talk things out with him about his fears and past. Airazor is a firm believer in not being a loner to the point of getting oneself killed, and given how Tigatron benefited from her doggedness, Optimus would receive similarly from her friendship. Additionally, if you wanted to have them bond over similar experiences, you could lift Airazor's past from the Beast Wars/Timelines continuity. Therefore, no matter how you slice it, they'd be a good, healthy pair, and rather than having Optimus solely beaten down by his toxic/adversarial relationship with Blackarachnia, you'd have Optimus and Airazor building each other up and strengthening the other.
As for Prime, if you choose to imagine that Elita is dead (or just reuse the deleted dialogue of her death being confirmed by Ratchet during the events of "Stronger, Faster"), then Airazor would still be a valid candidate for romancing Optimus. As I've said elsewhere and many a time, Optimus is often swallowing his own wants, needs, and feelings for the sake of the others. He buries his own trauma of losing Megatron to evil in favor of helping Arcee with hers, with her and the team's lack of consideration for Optimus' well-being shockingly forgotten and even outright disregarded by Ratchet throughout the series. His orders are rarely carried out, with Arcee constantly ignoring him to satisfy her own lust for revenge, Bulkhead throwing conniption fits like a toddler in order to have Optimus take pity on him and leave him at base, Bumblebee paying no attention to anything that doesn't make him personally happy, and Ratchet feeding in to Optimus' doubts and worries by actively pushing for Megatron and the Decepticons' demise when Optimus is conflicted over this (Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Ultra Magnus are the only ones not exacerbating his struggles simply because the writers refuse to allow him to have any meaningful interactions with them.)
Literally no one, especially not the kids, helps Optimus with his struggles and silent drowning in his own inner conflict.
Had Airazor been in the series, however, Optimus would have received a lessening of his burdens.
Airazor would actively reach out to him when he's holed up in his work, even helping him in said work while trying to speak with him. She would have gone out on patrol with him, or otherwise tag teamed him on the occasional jaunts in the field, all the while trying to get him to lower his walls and address the fact that Optimus himself requires emotional and mental attention. Unlike the others on Team Prime, Airazor would have smiled or chuckled at his attempts at self-isolation and kept up with Optimus, stayed around him, and kept an optic on his emotional and mental states to ensure he didn't lose himself to the needs of those around him. Likewise, Optimus would have given attention to her needs, whether lifted from the above link or from the fact that she could be a native being to Earth or a lost warrior sent to the planet to secure whatever MacGuffin you desire. For myself, I think it would be cool if she ended up staying in Egypt, as falcons and hawks are quite popular in the nation and in its ancient past. There would be mutual communication and understanding, as well as attempts to aid the other in any struggle, whether it be emotional, mental, or in a combat situation.
This isn't me dogging on Tigatron/Airazor, or even saying that Optimus/Elita is a bad thing. As many of you I'm sure know, I'm a devoted Oplita shipper, and would in any other circumstances ship him with Elita in these situations - and I still do in the case of Prime. I just felt like entertaining an idea I had recently, and felt like explaining it, along with giving deserved attention to the forgotten Airazor.
At least before the plot bunnies encourage me to do a oneshot or three based off this thought.
That's all for now readers, and I thank you for reading all the way to the end. I hope you have a pleasant week!
