[G1] Astrotrain, Hierarchy and Honour
Synwraith
This might contain some spoilers for those who haven't seen the G1
episodes "The Gambler", "God Gambit", "Starscream's Ghost" and "Triple
Takeover", so i've left the appropriate space.
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Right. Astrotrain.
Its pretty much taken for granted that Starscream was Megatron's second in
command. However, i was wondering where Astrotrain fit into the Decepticon
hierarchy.
My first example is "God Gambit". In that episode, Astrotrain became the
self-proclaimed god of a planet (i forget its name). Now, he was accompanied
by Starscream and Thrust. I would have thought that if the Decepticons were
going to take control of that planet, the highest ranking Decep, Starscream,
would have assumed control. But instead he was carrying out orders from
Astrotrain. So does that make Astrotrain a Lieutenant? Lieutenant Commander?
Megatron's Left hand man?
Another example of his rank and power was in "The Gambler" . IIRC, towards
the end of that episode, Ramjet and Dirge (or was it Thrust?) were under
attack by Devcon and Smokescreen and were getting wiped until they pleaded
for help from Astrotrain and the tide was somewhat turned.
Next example. The Movie. Wasn't Astrotrain the one who was crowning
Starscream at his coronation? Wouldn't that be Soundwave's job? Or whoever
else was second to Starscream?
"Triple Takeover" has some good examples of his ability and cunning also
IIRC.
A word about his loyalty and honour though: As above, his loyalty would be
thrown into question when considering the events of "Triple Takeover". But
at the start of FFOD, he delivers Energon to the rest of the Deceps. Now he
could easily have used it all up himself when he found it. But instead he
attempted to make it back with the somewhat limited supply and help the
others. The other triple-changer Blitzwing also showed some honourable
traits in that ep.
And with Cyclonus being the honourable warrior that he is, in general the
decepticons seemed to me to be more duty bound warriors in post-movie
episodes. Octane even sided with Autobots, although the circumstances were
slightly questionable. But just on another note, Octane joined up with
Sandstorm. All the above i have mentioned have been triple-changers.
Possibly once all from the same batch of transformers that may have been a
clan? Unlikely, but interesting nonetheless. (to me anyhow).
I hope i'm not covering trodden ground with my above observations and i also
hope that my recollections of the episodes are correct Sorry if they aren't
.. I'd like to hear what the rest of you think of this =)
All the best
Synwraith