David Willis writes about BW

[138 Scourge]

Y'know, not a problem with the comic or the show here as such, but...

Did it ever bother anyone else that time-travel seemed really easy for the Cybertronians by Beast Wars? Like, at first, it was sort of a gamble, the Trans-warp drive could travel in time, but it didn't seem like the Predacons had, like, a TARDIS or DeLorean or like that. It seemed more of like, time travel might be a side effect, but who knows where you'll end up. More "Heart of Gold" than Bill & Ted Phonebooth, if you dig me.

So Megatron and his boys make it to prehistoric Earth, more by sheer luck and (perhaps literal) brass balls than by design, and the Maximals get there by following 'em. Okay, so far, so good. And both sides are cut off, they've got their ships, but neither one was in that great of condition. Megatron couldn't call for reinforcements, being a criminal even by Pred standards, but you'd think that if they could, the small crew of the science ship would have said "Hey, we're gonna need some actual fighters to give us a hand, here." But since they didn't, I gotta assume it wasn't an option. Okay, so far, so good.

But then Starscream makes it there, then Ravage, and in both cases it seemed pretty easy for 'em. Okay, Starscream was bodiless, so normal rules of travel don't apply, besides, his episode was awesome. And Ravage had a prototype Transwarp ship, and was following the quantum surge signal, so that probably helps him get there. But then, like, Depthcharge makes it down there on his own, and without the prototype ship that anyone else had, and without the quantum surge signal leading him (I think, it's been awhile since I've seen his debut episode). Then the Maximals make it back to Cybertron at roughly the right time using (again, I think) an old-ass shuttle from the Ark. Now, I know a race of effectively immortal robots probably won't have that hard a time getting forward in time, but still.

Okay, I know that ultimately, things are gonna happen to serve the story more than the continuity (because this is good fiction, if you dig), and if they need time travel to get some new characters in and some stories done, then by golly, that's what gonna happen. But it seems like it got awfully easy by "The Gathering". I guess they could still be following the same signal, but just having the know-how to pull off the time displacement thing seems like a huge stretch for a race that just barely had a dangerous and untested form of time travel at the beginning of the show. Of course, I couldn't tell you how much time had gone by since the beginning of "Beast Wars" and the beginning of "The Gathering", so maybe they'd nailed it down by then, but it still seems like a huge leap to me.


I dunno, just having some thoughts.

[Sparky Prime]

Did it ever bother anyone else that time-travel seemed really easy for the Cybertronians by Beast Wars?

Can't say that it bothered me... I mean, it wouldn't have been Beast Wars as we know it if they didn't have a reliable method of time travel.

Like, at first, it was sort of a gamble, the Trans-warp drive could travel in time, but it didn't seem like the Predacons had, like, a TARDIS or DeLorean or like that. It seemed more of like, time travel might be a side effect, but who knows where you'll end up. More "Heart of Gold" than Bill & Ted Phonebooth, if you dig me.

What makes you think the time travel at the start of the show was a gamble/side effect? Rhinox mentioned shortly after the crash that the Transwarp Drive can travel through both space and time. It's a normal function of the drive.

But then, like, Depthcharge makes it down there on his own, and without the prototype ship that anyone else had, and without the quantum surge signal leading him (I think, it's been awhile since I've seen his debut episode)

Depthcharge had tracked the signal from Protoform X's spark to their modern day Earth when a temporal anomaly suddenly opened up right in front of his starhopper, transporting him into the past. Given this anomaly also mutated him into a Transmetal, most seem to think it was some sort of residual effect from the quantum surge, or possibly from the time storm, or maybe even a combination of the two...

Then the Maximals make it back to Cybertron at roughly the right time using (again, I think) an old-ass shuttle from the Ark. Now, I know a race of effectively immortal robots probably won't have that hard a time getting forward in time, but still.

Tarantulas had added a Transwarp Cell to the Nemesis. A deleted scene from the final episode shows Optimus grabbing it just before he asks Dinobot 2 to save himself as the Nemesis starts to go down. It's then shown the Maximal's had attached it to the shuttle's systems so they could quickly return to their modern day Cybertron.

[Onslaught Six]

The Darkside is always described as an "experimental Transwarp ship" which seems to imply the technology is in its infancy.

[andersonh1]

The Darkside is always described as an "experimental Transwarp ship" which seems to imply the technology is in its infancy.

Technically the Predacon ship is never given a name. That aside, in what episode is it referred to as experimental? I seem to remember that Ravage's ship was secret and possibly experimental as well, but I don't remember Megatron's ship being described as such.

[Shockwave]

Terrorsaur says "Welcome to the dark side" in one episode, but that could be just as much of a Star Wars referrence as it is the name of the ship. I do recall that at some point a comment was made about it being stolen.

[andersonh1]

Terrorsaur says "Welcome to the dark side" in one episode, but that could be just as much of a Star Wars referrence as it is the name of the ship.

Terrorsaur's not naming the ship. He's just trying to be creepy and theatrical and freak Cheetor out. Hence he puts his face behind his wing as though he's Bela Lugosi's Dracula or something. But he's such a poser that it's not very effective.

[138 Scourge]

Terrorsaur's not naming the ship. He's just trying to be creepy and theatrical and freak Cheetor out. Hence he puts his face behind his wing as though he's Bela Lugosi's Dracula or something. But he's such a poser that it's not very effective.

Yeah, that is a hundred percent what was going on in the episode. But fans sort of took that as an unofficial ship name, and it's been retroactively made the official name of the ship. Though, according to the BotCon '06 stuff, it's spelled Darksyde. But yeah, never officially named in the show or anything, just the DVD stuff and the "Transmetals" video game.

[andersonh1]

Terrorsaur's not naming the ship. He's just trying to be creepy and theatrical and freak Cheetor out. Hence he puts his face behind his wing as though he's Bela Lugosi's Dracula or something. But he's such a poser that it's not very effective.

Yeah, that is a hundred percent what was going on in the episode. But fans sort of took that as an unofficial ship name, and it's been retroactively made the official name of the ship. Though, according to the BotCon '06 stuff, it's spelled Darksyde. But yeah, never officially named in the show or anything, just the DVD stuff and the "Transmetals" video game.

Well if it's since been adopted as the name of the ship in other materials, that's fair enough. It's not the first time a fan term has made its way into official usage. It's like the "seeker" term for the 84-85 Decepticon jets being adopted by official fiction in the last few years.

[Onslaught Six]

Seekers originated in a JC Penny's catalogue, mind.

Anyway, yeah, it's the Darkside/Darksyde now. Officially! Whatever.

And I've heard it referred to as experimental before because I didn't just conjure that shit up in my kooky brain.

[Sparky Prime]

I don't remember the Darksyde (or what ever you want to call it) ever being called an experimental ship. The only background I recall/find on that ship is simply that it was stolen by Megatron.

Ravage's ship the Tripredacus Council refers to as a "secretly developed Transwarp cruiser". I can see that as possibly being an experimental ship given that context, but the impression I get is that they just don't want the Maximals to know about it.