Transformers War for Cybertron: Siege Review

And welcome to All Things Transformers. Is that

right? Yes. I think so. We don't even know what

podcast we're on. I'm not sure which segment

that Mike is putting this in. It's been so long

since I've done a podcast, and Amy's done a podcast.

We're out of practice. We're winging it today.

Anyways, I'm Nicole. That's Amy. I'm Halestorm.

That's Lady Rek. Hello. And we're going to wreck

this really bad. I'm not kidding. My mind is

like mush. The other day I could not remember

my next door neighbor's name that I've lived

next to for 22 years. Oh no. Yeah. Um, that,

that happens to everybody. Especially now that

we're social distancing so much, like if we don't

see each other and I don't get reminded of your

name often, I might forget it. Sorry. It's true.

I have COVID brain. Yeah, there you go. COVID

brain. We'll just name it. It's COVID's fault.

It's all COVID's fault. I'll blame it on that.

Anyways, Amy and I are here to review and give

our opinions as the fan bots or a fan con like

I am about the new Siege movie, War for Cybertron

Siege series, which is actually a movie split

up into six different parts. That's basically

how I look at it. The Netflix series. And it's

got the longest name ever. It's Transformers

War for Cybertron Siege. It's just like, okay,

I wasn't quite sure what to call it. Do I call

it War for Cybertron? Do I call it Siege? I mean,

it's just like, I guess you have to throw it

all together because it is kind of all together.

So does that mean it has two colons? Maybe? Transformers

colon War for Cybertron colon Siege colon episode

one. Cola episode. Yeah. This tells you I'm so

out of it. I'm just like, we're just ramble,

ramble, ramble. Yeah. Anyways, Amy has been so

kind to put down some talking points for us to

go over. Yep. Cause again, COVID brain. These

are very broad. So my first topic that I wanted

to put in here, the first off was characters,

obviously. Cause like without them, this story

wouldn't even be possible and we wouldn't care.

So. um tell me about your favorite character

oh you want i'm not the one that's that stood

out to me the most is probably a little one because

um she really didn't have a big huge role in

g1 and so she actually and she's totally different

in the comics we will that's yes absolutely she

is not anything like what we expected in the

comics, which is probably why we loved her so

much in the comics as well. Yeah, that's true.

But I liked her view. I liked that she wasn't

there just to fit the female agenda. She actually

took charge and she wasn't afraid to show emotion.

When she was upset with Optimus, like, why aren't

you doing this? Why are you acting this way?

I mean, I hate to say that she was a nagging

wife, but she really wasn't that bad. It was

nice to see that someone was actually standing

up to Optimus just because as much as I like

Optimus Prime, it seems like no one really stood

up to him in a lot of different areas. But Alita's

like, why are you doing this? Why don't you get

your crap together and move on? And I really

appreciated Alita for that. My impression of

Alita was that she was mom and Optimus was dad.

That's basically it, yeah. A bunch of rambunctious

kids. They talk, all of the autobots are the

rambunctious kids. It's like, like, throughout

the show, I mean, I can't unsee it. It's like,

he's, he's dad, she's mom, and she's got to point

things out. And he's just like, ah, and it's

like, you know, they have these, these private

conversations. And it's like, Okay. It's mom

and dad. And then when they - Exactly. Like everybody

gets silent and mom and dad have a conversation

right in front of everybody. I'm like going,

guys, guys, you're, you're, you're, you're disagreeing

in front of the children. I know. Mom and dad

are fighting again. So who would you say is your

favorite? Um, well, I really liked all, I have

to say, I don't, this is hard because it's like,

I like - All of the, the amount of characters,

everybody, like they, they really just kind of

did good at giving us such a broad cast. So like

we got Autobots, we got Decepticons, we got characters

that we has, that have never had anything on

an animated anything before, which was great.

And so just seeing the amount of cast that they

put into it was great. Oh, I know I loved it.

There were some downsides to that but also at

the same time I like because the characters like

some of them I and this has been pointed out

on other people have mentioned this because I've

been looking online and seeing other opinions

and stuff The fact that ratchet red alert and

wheel jack were all jumbled up Yeah, that was

the downside is that they kind of moved their

heads around and like okay, so now ratchets an

engineer instead of a doctor. It was just like,

it was really convoluted to kind of figure out,

well, what is everybody's role? Because it just,

I kind of felt like - That threw me off seeing

Ratchet as not our friendly doctor that we medic

that we've known for decades, literally. Yes.

He was just like the grump. Well, he's still

grumpy, but - he was like, okay, so he fixes

people, so he is a medic, but he's supposed to

be this super cool engineer that he's even renown

on Kamenous. And I thought, okay, wait a second,

isn't that Wheeljack? Yeah, that'd be wheeljack

and then red alert is doing ratchets job with

the Autobots and I thought you know It'd be different

if they said well, I'm just a field I just started

some classes and I was slightly a field medic

and so I've got the job because I can kind of

help people but not have not really That would

have made sense. But no he was he was like the

dude in charge of all their medics and I was

like About you know help fixing everybody that

was him and I thought It's just, it was so weird

that it was just like, but that's not his role.

That's Ratchet's role. And then I thought, okay,

so we get Ratchet. And then I was like, well,

wait a second. Shouldn't that be Wheeljack? And

I thought, wait a second, why don't we just move

Red Alert to Wheeljack's job, Wheeljack to Ratchet's

job and Ratchet back to where he should be. It

was odd. I got used to it by the end. Yeah, I

got used to it by the end, but that was what

really threw me out of the story is trying to

figure out, well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait Amy's loving

this right now. I was like, impact or cool. Oh,

he's a Decepticon. Okay. We'll see how long that

lasts. That was the other thing that kind of

bothered me is the fact that we have this Clark

Kent glasses effect. Okay. There, there are a

couple of things that just didn't work for me.

Um, just the fact that like, oh, we were going

to put a, you know, we, we changed their eye

color and that means that they're a good guy

or a bad guy, right? But that was the problem

is that Fire's eyes were blue. So I knew he was

going to be, he was going to double cross. And

Impactor, just because I know his, it's just

like, they didn't do anything new with them.

They put in some of the characters that in other

iterations of stuff where they've started out

one way and they switched over to another group

or. You know, it was just, they, they played

off of the, the history of the character already.

So it was very easily predictable. And I didn't

like the predictability of some of those characters.

Well, I didn't know what was going on with Ratchet,

Wheeljack and Red Alert. I did absolutely knew

what was going to go on with Ratchet, uh, with,

um, with Impactor and Jeffire. So it was like,

uh, okay. I love the fact that we have a lot

of characters. But I don't like the fact that

some of them were a little too predictable and

you could see it coming from a mile away. Like

I knew Jetfire by the end of this was, I called

it. The first thing I saw him on there. Oh, he's

going to go, he's going to go to the Autobots

before the end of this. And with Impactor is

like, he's either going to die or he's going

to be an Autobot by the end of this as well.

And I called it. I was like, damn. It's like,

I hate being right, but dang. The only thing

that surprised me with Jetfire, spoiler alert,

is when he cut off Starscream's arm. I was like,

whoa! I wasn't expecting that! You know what?

There were no consequences to that because the

next episode it was back on. You think Starscream,

being the proud person he is, wouldn't get that

repaired right away? Yes, but like you didn't

even see anything on his arm. It was like, it

was as if it hadn't even been cut off. There

was no cut mark. There was no welding around

it. There was nothing and his arm had no problem

functioning exactly like it was. I was like,

okay. I did like the fact that Jetfire had one

of those energon swords. That was really bad

ass. But again, it was just like, okay. If you

get cut by him, you just, you're fine. Um, there

were, there was other things too that were just

kind of like, okay, like if you got shot, sometimes

you died and sometimes you didn't. Jetfire, he

shoots one of the seekers who supposedly dies,

who, you know, it shows that he's betrayed Megatron

because he's killed one of the, uh, one of the,

one of the Decepticons. That guy died from a

little bullet wound. but Kog, who got blown in,

like, big old hole, he survives, but the seeker

that got shot didn't. I just thought, what is

going on? Maybe the seekers have a lighter alloy

that they have to use. Yes, but Jeff got shot

too and he didn't die. It just, it was really

hard to tell, well, who's going to die and who

isn't, because like I said, Kog getting this

big old hole blasted through the middle of him.

I thought, dude, he's gone. Why are you even

taking him back? Why is, why is, why is Optimus

bringing his body back to the, you know, it's

like, just let him die in peace, right? Cause

he is in pieces. But they still found a way to

bring him back. And I thought, what is going

on with that? It was up for grabs on whether

or not a little shot in the back would hurt you

or something big. I don't know. Well, talking

about character, I thought it was a nice homage,

the very beginning of the episode one. It was

like an homage to episode one of Gene One and

to see Bumblebee and Will Jack, but it is weird

to think that Bumblebee wasn't aligned yet. And

he had his voice. I'm so used to not having a

talking mumblebee for the longest time. I'm really

happy that he had a voice, and I'm glad that

they didn't stick to that gimmick by the end

of the show, because I was a little worried there

for a little bit. I thought, oh no. I'm like,

are they going to take his voice away? Please

just let him have a voice. He's gone through

too many iterations of stories throughout the

years where he has had no voice. Just stop. Stop

with it. Stop with it. I will admit, I'm very

grateful for that. Yeah. But he had like a little

attitude. I'm like, Bumblebee, what's with the

dude, man? I kind of liked the attitude, to be

honest. I kind of did too, but it kind of threw

me off at first. I'm like, this isn't the Bumble.

But that's the thing. It's just like, I'm like,

I am not my eight -year -old self in the 80s

watching this. This is an adult. And I'm just

like, I've got to learn that characters are going

to change. And so I'm like, it just threw me

off at first. And by the end, I'm like, I kind

of like this, but that's how I picture Bumblebee,

like in the IDW comics, you know, when he became

leader, I can picture him with this kind of attitude

and this way of thinking. So. Yeah, I absolutely

agree. I like sassy Bumblebee. Just saying. I

do too. He's just like, yeah. But I also kind

of. I'm like, what's with the toot Bumblebee?

Yeah. But then when you see where it goes, because

the whole point was to give him the attitude

so he gets the whole Alpha Trion protocols and

so he doesn't fit the mold, but he's definitely

not an Ultra Magnus, I would say that. Oh, definitely

not. Ultra Magnus needs to learn how to be...

learn better disguises, first of all. Yes. I'm

like, Ultraman goodness, you're not cool enough

like lockdown to get away with the cape. Okay?

The show. Yeah. That being said, I was kind of

surprised because if he, they made him out to

be like this battle hardened warrior, just like

Optimus Prime and Megatron. In fact, They worked,

Megatron and Ultra Magnus worked together in

the past, which I liked that connection between

the two of them. It gave, especially since there

are parts in there where he's pleading with Megatron

to not be what, you know, what, what got us to

where we are, which were really great moments.

But like the downside is, is that why in the

heck did you think that showing up and. turning

yourself over to him was not going to end in

any other way than this. You can't be that battle

hardened of a person and see that you're on opposite

sides, ideal. I think, you know, politically

and I think even in your thinking and think,

okay, Megatron, I'll just appeal to his good

side, right? It just kind of like, it's like,

dude. How are you not surprised that you show

up, he puts you in jail, and things just get

worse and worse and worse from there on in? Megatron

has a reputation. He got that reputation for

a reason. And not only that, is that if he did

exactly what Optimus Prime is accusing him of,

why would you trust that? Exactly. Why would

you trust that? It's like, if he killed Alpha

Trion... The way that Optimus Prime accuses Megatron

of doing, and you've been with Optimus Prime,

you can't tell me that you haven't had that conversation.

He hasn't said, dude, we can't trust him anymore.

He murdered our mentor. I just, it just blew

my mind. But of course it was convenient because

they had to have somebody, right? Yeah. It'd

be different if it was like Bumblebee, that guy

that was like, Hey, why can't we all get along?

No. Yeah. Somebody had to be that guy and it

was all that's true. So, um, I was quite happy

to see on the con side. One, I liked the fact

that they had Jeff iron it, even if he was extremely

predictable. Um, I liked the fact that we also

had some moments of other con characters that

we haven't seen. Should I just go ahead and spoil

it? Go for it. So Sound Blaster. If you're listening

to this, we're hoping that you've seen it. Yeah.

Don't watch this. Yeah. Don't listen to this

if you haven't seen it. If you haven't seen it,

you know, we can't be responsible. You clicked

the go button and all of that. So yeah. It's

really, you can watch these three episodes in

less time than a full length movie. Yeah, true.

Yeah. So Sound Blaster. Yay or nay? What's about

the coolest thing I'm so glad you mentioned.

Okay, so I was kind of, I had a yes moment and

a no moment at the same time. It was just like,

when I got the vibe that that bumblebee was going

to be a smuggler. I was like, Oh, crap, they

put swindle in this. I was super excited. And

then of course, It was Sound Blaster and I looked

at the screen when he came on there and just

said, who the hell is that? Now granted, there

are, it took me just a couple of moments because

my brain was swindle, swindle, swindle, swindle,

swindle. And so of course, yeah. Um, and then

I went to Sound Blaster. I was like, Oh, okay.

Oh, it's Sound Blaster. And I just went, Oh,

I'm half happy and half not because I was like,

Swindle would have been awesome. Oh, who wouldn't

love Swindle? Swindle, yeah. But no, I was so

happy to see Sound Blaster. I'm like, I was happy

because that was one of those moments. I was

like, I did not see that coming. And I love it

when a show or a movie could literally surprise

me because I was not expecting that whatsoever

because I didn't read. I knew this show was coming

on. I did not read anything about it. I didn't

read any reviews until I watched it because I

wanted to enjoy it. for my enjoyment. I didn't

want anyone else's opinion. So when I saw Sound

Blaster, I was like, that is cool. I was not

expecting that. I was not expecting it either.

And of course my expectation, even while the

show was running was it's going to be Swindle

and it wasn't. So that being said, I did actually

like him better than Soundwave, to be honest.

Oh, I did too. I did too. I mean, we haven't

started talking about the voice acting just yet,

but - Oh, we'll get there. Trust me. I actually

liked sound blasters voice better than the actual

sound wave. And I felt bad about that. I thought

I was like, I, I legitimately feel bad. I think

that opinion is probably the majority. Yeah.

This was actually a really good segue to just

go straight into voice acting at this point.

So let's just go ahead and do it. If we have

to maybe like, you know, scatter a few more little

character things in there. Actually, I will say

one last thing about characters. I liked it when

it was a character that had a gimmick that was

legitimately kind of cool. Like, it was great

to see Mirage. I liked the fact that he was there

for a reason and he actually did some pretty

cool stuff through it. And I also liked Kog.

Amazingly enough, I was like in all of his repaints.

The fact that he literally turns into a weapon

that sits on people's shoulders. I was like -

Did he get that from Rung? I don't know. I don't

know, but whatever person thought that that was

a great idea was bang on right there because

like so many times, it was really - funny when

they were scanning for weapons and I was like,

why do you scan for weapons? They are weapons,

especially Kog. I mean, because, you know, he

transforms into a big thing that just sits on

everybody's shoulders and shoots things. Oh,

I agree with you there. That was awesome. That

was, I mean, like I said, those were good moments

because it was like, I did not expect Kog to

- transform into that. But the minute I saw it,

I was like, I like that. I like that a lot. Why

can't you do more of that? See again, that was

one of those surprises as like, wow, this is

doing good. Yep. I agree. Okay. So switching

to voice actors, voice acting wise, what was

your opinion? Okay. I have nothing wrong with

the voice actors. It was the direction that as

you could tell I'm doing. the same thing that

they did through the whole show. Oh, the William

Shatner -isms. It's just like, just Jetfire was

the absolute worst. Anytime he started to speak,

I'm like, oh my gosh, where is that one and a

half speed that Netflix was going to have? I'm

like, I can use that right now when Jetfire is

talking. It did get really monotonous. And then

this isn't just this show, but Pretty much every

show that's out there right now when you have

two characters in a room by themselves When you

can have just a conversation everyone talks like

this like Even if it's nothing truly important

it yeah the spring There's not like I said the

voice acting. I have no problem with any of the

voice sound wave There's something up with his

dilation The sound effect with it it kind of

threw me off at first, but the voice acting I

had no problem with, it was the direction of

the voice acting. That's a good point. Because

I, there was a point when I was in the middle

of watching it that I thought, everybody sounds

the same. And actually it's, it's less about

them sounding the same and more about the fact

that they pause too much, like a, like a Shatner,

like, you know, it's like Kirk and Spock, what

are we doing to do? It's the, like you said,

it's the intonation of like, they're both whispering

or talking very grumbly. They all sounded like

that. And that's what happened to the variety

of voices. It's just, I think that the actors

that they had probably didn't like, like giving

them a chance to just be unique. And how would

you handle that if you were that person and you

know, in that situation and You're right. I think

it's just the direction of where it went. That

being said, there were a few of the characters

that did stand out better than others. I mean,

like I said, this goes back to the good and the

bad of having a big cast is the fact that now

you have character voices that you can compare

to one another. And if they all sound very similar,

now none of them stand out except the ones that

don't do what you expect. Like Megatron was a

big standout for me. Starscream was a big standout

for me. Starscream was awesome. I think, and

Sound Blaster, I did mention Sound Blaster and

Wheeljack. Wheeljack was a good one too. Yeah.

Um, Bollaby was all right, but again, I think

he suffers from the same thing that a lot of

the other characters do where they sound so similar.

Um, Alita was fine, but again, I, if you go back

and you look at other animated series of Transformers,

you have such a broad range of, even the broad

range of characters that they have, sometimes

they're just so different that, and we have gotten

into ruts with certain characters too, like Optimus

Prime and Starscream can sometimes be that rut

as well. But in this, he was so brilliantly what

I expected Starscream to be that it just, it

didn't fall flat at all to me. It was like, okay.

Starscream's still doing his slimy stuff that

he always does. Um, it works for me and I had

no complaints. That being said, I did not really

like the half -colon, half -not Optimus Prime.

Yeah, yeah. I gotta admit, going back to Starscream,

I gotta give kudos to the guy who... Oh, I wish

I had the list of... It's Frank. My computer's

about, I dropped my computer so I don't dare

open or close anything. But he did a great job

of doing a Starscream voice without mimicking

G1 Starscream. Like everyone pretty much has

done before. He gave it an own twist knowing

if you close your eyes you know that Starscream

but it's not an impersonation. It was his own

thing. It's Frank Todaro. I'm probably saying

that wrong, but I think that's how you say his

last name. Yeah. He did a good job. And I also

really liked, like I said, I've mentioned the

Megatron. He was absolutely like go -to, like

the minute he opened his mouth and it was the

Jason, Jason Marnuca. I will say, yeah, that

sounds good. I apologize. I know I always really

try hard to make sure that I've sang the names

right. But I just, he's the same guy that voiced

Megatron in that other trilogy that we will not

mention because I think it's terrible. I'm not

going to even say what it is. Don't go look it

up. He was the best thing in that trilogy. He

was the best thing in that trilogy. Yes. And

Sassy Megatron was awesome. But it was definitely,

what is it, four hours of my life that it will

never get back because it was that terrible.

I'm just saying, don't go look it up. If you

know what I'm talking about, don't even say the

name. It cannot be said ever again. It's like

Beetlejuice. You don't want to say it. Don't

say it three times in a row because yeah, it

might've been, you know, done by some, you know,

production company called Macanama. But that's

all I'm going to say. Don't go look it up. It's

not worth it. It's not worth it. Four hours of

your life is not worth it. If you want a suggestion

on what to do for four hours of your life, go

pick up the IDW. comics and read that for four

hours straight yeah exactly yeah I mean just

just just drop right in to the very beginning

start with the death of optimus prime and just

just glide on through oh the records are great

too go look at the saga of the records that's

awesome as well four hours never heard this from

you before you like the records yes yes I do

like them. Well, talking about Optimus Prime,

again, I think it was the way that he was directed,

again, because I could see a point, I'm like,

this is a good voice, but then like in the next

scene, I'm like, this doesn't seem like the same

character. This doesn't seem like the same Optimus

as it was just in the scene before. Yeah, it

was like he was having an identity crisis, like

always. Half the time he was a different voice.

And then the other time it was like, I'm trying

to be Peter Cullen. And McQuain, stop. I want

Peter Cullen to be Peter Cullen. And I want everybody

else to stop trying to be Peter Cullen because

- There you go. That's not good. Only Peter Cullen

can do Peter Cullen. We don't want bad impressions

of Peter Cullen. And we've had other Optimus

Primes when you give them - the voice actor,

the ability to just be the character on your

own terms, not what has come before, just be

you, just be what you think. Well, let's take

animated, Transformers animated. Oh, David Kane

was awesome. Totally different prime, totally

different voice, but you know exactly who that

was. You knew the character, you knew the voice,

that was Optimus. And again, not impersonating

Peter Cullen, but I think that was like the one

chance we had like, Not someone trying that,

you know? Yeah. It was a different, he was completely

different character in that. And it worked really

well because he was that innocent guy that could

make mistakes. In fact, had made lots of mistakes.

And that's where he was when we, when we found

him is that he'd, you know, been demoted and,

you know, he had some, you know, bad friends

that were not really great for him either. So,

um, It was just, it was, it worked so brilliantly,

but he's not the only, like, you know, Gary Chalk

did a really, really great, you know, leader

of the Autobots or whatever. Maximals, you know,

he did a really great job not trying to be Peter

Cullen either, because of course he wasn't playing

Peter Cullen. I was, you know, it was a different

character, but now that I've gone through all

of cyber verse and I've had the opportunity to

see that version of Optimus Prime. Um, yeah,

like you don't need to have the Cullen voice

be the everything that there is because it just

doesn't, it just let, let there be other voices

to do that because it just, like I said, identity

crisis through the whole thing. Sometimes he

sounded like him and sometimes he didn't and

you could definitely tell at the times when he

was trying to be him that he was actually trying

to sound like Peter Cullen and I was just like

So half the time we're gonna have him and half

the time we're not and I was just like I don't

like it I'm I I don't dislike I don't hate it,

but I was just like it doesn't work. It's not

working I wish that they would stop And we got

that for you know, that's that's what we're gonna

have with siege It's probably what they're gonna

continue to do through the next two I'm guessing

is because they've already set the precedent

It'd be weird to I mean I would already be weird

But I guess if they changed it they could change

it. I don't know. Do you think that they could

change it Nicole? You want I mean just start

Earthrise and Kingdom and just like why not because

characters mature I mean if it was a human character

when you ever see a human character their voices

change when they mature Why not? Or they can

even write it in saying, I got a different voice

cog or I got, you know, keep the, keep the same

actor. Cause I think he would have done an okay

job. You just got to get the direction right.

I guess we'll have to find out when they get

to there. Anything else you want to say about

voice acting? Um, the only other one was shockwave

kind of threw me off a little bit because I'm

used to that stoic monotone voice. That was really

creepy. And so to see him like as a groveler,

it's kind of like, oh, I wasn't expecting that.

Again, it was one of those surprises. Yeah. There

were a few times because I started re -watching

it earlier today and where I was like not paying

attention, like I was grabbing something and

there was a conversation going on between Megatron,

Shockwave, Jetfire, and I think there was somebody

else in the room. And I was like, I heard a voice

and I thought, is that Jetfire? And I went and

looked down. So I was like, again, it's that

whole thing where it's like, if, if I'm not looking

at the screen, if I can't tell who the actor

or the voice is, maybe it's a little too identical

to each other because I was having a, if I wasn't

paying attention, sometimes it kind of just like,

I was just like, oh, I'm not sure if that's,

that doesn't sound like something that Jetfire

would say. And I was, of course it wasn't, it

was, it was shockwave. So yeah. Alright, so things

you want to say about the story itself? The story,

I enjoy the story overall. Again, it wasn't anything

that I don't come to not expect from Transformers.

Basically pretty simple. Megatron's trying to

get something. Optimus doesn't like that idea

because Megatron's gonna take over. And it's

good versus bad. People are gonna switch teams.

People are gonna die. It wasn't anything... I

didn't expect, but some reason I still enjoyed

it. Yeah. It was just, it's just that. So I,

like I said, I, I'm glad they integrated the

fem bots in a little more. Oh yes. I was really

happy with how much representation, at least

gender wise there was. And they, they weren't

stupid. They didn't just make accidents. Like,

um, they made some, like Elita saved Optimus

Prime's backside in the first episode, but like.

She wasn't the only one. Chromia somehow has

the super secret awesome ability to take one

shot and shoot two cons out of the sky. I did

like Chromia, but I was just like, okay, when

is she gonna go rogue here? Yeah, and they even

allowed one of the Fembots to die too, so...

I was like, well, how long were you on screen?

You kind of expected her to be a little bit of

a red shirt because she didn't say much. She

was in red too. Optimus sends Alita and a group

to go do one thing and he takes a small group

with, what was it, Moon Racer to go another place.

I was like, oh, she's going to die. I was right.

I was like, shoot. I hate it when I'm right.

I hate it. It wasn't, it was a really bad death

too. It was like, when you died in this, it wasn't

the hole that you had to worry about. It was

- I gotta admit, that, that, that, that, that,

it was an upgrade. It's definitely more of a

step up from what we're used to seeing. I mean

- It was like, the, the hole getting blown in,

in COG was, was mild compared to what happened

to Moon Racer. Oh goodness. So story wise for

me, it felt a lot like at least the first three

episodes, there wasn't anything new and it felt

a lot like another show that I've seen or another

something that I've read or there were a few

real important points I think that stood out

that I liked but I think needed to be developed

a little bit better. Like I really liked the

idea of the Alpha Trion protocols, but I kind

of felt like It was, we were, it was kind of

confusing to say, well, why add another thing

to the Holy Trinity of the All Spark, the Matrix?

I mean, it just, it was weird to me to see, like,

what's the difference between the three of them?

And I know that there was a part, I think in

episode four, where they started, like, Bumblebee

gets the protocols and he gets a visit from the

Alpha Trion himself. But it just was like, okay.

One, I was sad that it wasn't, um, George Takai.

Yeah. Um, the other was it would just, you know,

I, I'm still kind of confused as to why add another

thing like that. I mean, I always, I kept on

forgetting. Oh yeah. I'm like, Alpha Trion has

to make an appearance someone. And his appearance

was a little bit lackluster. Yeah, just a little

bit. Again, I was really hoping for George Takei.

That would be, that would have been awesome.

Just make him Alpha Trion forever. I mean, they

got him before, again, animated. They got him

in animated. They did. Didn't they also have

him in Prime as well? Yeah. Yeah, he played Alpha

Trion in Prime as well. For the few times that

we see Alpha Trion, I guess that's just why I'm

like, well, we are saying we do want a different

Optimus Prime, but it's okay to keep some things

similar because, you know, when it's done really

well, like Starscream, we can do that. But there

have been other Starscreams that we've liked

as well. So it's, it's crazy. Yes. Yes. Do this.

No, don't do that. Listen to us. Listen to us.

Yes. We want to have an elf, the same Alpha Trion.

This is nothing but contradiction right here,

right? Yes. Keep Alpha Trion the same, but don't

with Optimus Prime. I don't know. Go figure.

What's your flavor, right? Other story points.

I liked the fact that they were trying to make

this really close parallel of Optimus Prime and

Megatron. Like that they are like the two...

the same coin, just two different sides. They're

both stubborn. They both, they both are trying

to work for what they wanted to work for, but

they're so, we will not like give any quarter

against each other that they just repel each

other. Um, I kind of, and they were trying to

make it like this whole idea that Megatron started

the war and Optimus Prime is going to destroy

the planet. who's the bigger destructive power

here? And I've seen other stuff do that better,

so I kind of thought, it doesn't have enough,

there's not enough space to make that really

shine the way that it should in a story where

you're comparing two characters like that. That

I kind of thought, I like what you're trying

to do, but... I kind of wish that they had given

it more space to breathe before they actually

try to make those sweeping story points, but

it was definitely in there and it's kind of,

it suffers a bit because you're taking a six

episode thing that already has so much character

development and stuff tacked onto it that's not

based on what we're actually getting right now,

but based on getting all of the information and

backstory of other stories. And that was why

I was like, this is why it's not going to pull

off very strongly. And it was very weak. And

I don't think that they could really pull it

off in there. And I was like, ah, face palming

just a little bit as they were trying to make

some of those parallels, especially when they

actually had conversations where you're just

like Megatron in the first episode where Ultra

Magnus is saying you're just like Megatron. I

thought, Ooh, okay, let's see where that goes.

But then it just didn't develop the way that

I expected it to. So I was like, it was trying

so hard to do so many things all at once and

pack everything into there that it just didn't

work. It was like, Oh, we're going to introduce

this thing, but not have it pay off. So those

little story plot points that were just like,

I like what you're trying to do, but other iterations

of this have done it better. It just kind of

like frustration. Exactly. Alright, let's talk

about the animation really quick. Did you like

it? Was it too gritty? I actually enjoyed it

for the most part. I know a lot of people had

a problem with Megatron's lips, but I'm just

like, those are the same lips you see in IDW.

I just lost his name. Impactor? No, no, no, no.

Overlord. Overlord. I'm like, those are just

Overlord lips. The other guy! I'm like, I don't

see a problem with it. No, I enjoyed it overall.

I love the color. Oh, yes. Let's just say this.

There was a lot of detail in places where it

needed to be, but then sometimes there were places

where there wasn't any detail that I thought,

okay, that's just kind of lazy. I don't like

the glowy chest of Optimus Prime with his windows

being glowy green because they don't want to

show the reflective material. It's just like,

okay, that just seemed a little, it just doesn't,

it's It bothered me at first, but the more I

see the character, the more I went back and reviewed

the show again. I was like, and I've done this

a total of about three times now at this point,

and it's been out for two weeks, I think. It

just, it starts to really look like this blaring

thing that I was like, eh, I don't like it. It

really just looks like they didn't finish. Yeah,

again, I got used to it, so... I liked the Wheeljack's

Blinky Lights things that he had on his head,

which is, that's what he should be, because that's

with Jack, right? Mm -hmm. I didn't mind about

the lips. I thought that it would bother me more

the more I saw Megatron when I first saw the

lips, but it... actually kind of didn't. I actually

liked it because there were times where he grimaced,

where, you know, his lips, you know, curled on

one side and I was like, I really liked that.

And I thought, okay, that totally works for me.

And so it didn't bother me. I also liked Bumblebee's

lips too, but they weren't as, as, as extreme

as, as Megatrons were. His just kind of, they

were a little boyish. They were a little more

boyish and they were like, you know, they looked...

They looked good on him and I was like, okay,

but not everybody had that problem. It was just

If everybody had the same lips, I guess I would

have really cared more about it But I was like

at first when I first saw it I was like, okay,

he's got lips But after a while of watching the

show, you're right. It just kind of just you

know, didn't bother me. It just plays in so I

Will say this if anybody's played the High Moon

games from The the transformer games they had

war for Cybertron Oddly enough same name not

associated with this this TV show War for Cybertron

and fall for Cybertron if you played any one

of those high high moon games that were on the

Xbox 360 And I think the the the PlayStation

I don't remember if it was three or four and

then they also had it for PC as well If you played

any of those games and you got the art book it's

like the aesthetic is very much acknowledged

I think in quite a bit. I saw a lot of that in

like the backgrounds, places that they were like

flying through, just like it felt so much to

me like that game in some way or form. It had

to be an inspiration in the background. I've

tried to look around to see if anybody has said

anything about it. I haven't seen anything yet,

but for me I was like after I got done watching

the show, I had to go play the game. So I booted

it up and I was like, yeah, I liked that. The

animation worked for me. They all kind of had

a swagger as well. I don't know if you noticed

that everybody had a swagger. Oh, I love that.

That's one of my favorite things. Their hip movements

and the females look different from the males.

It was really good to see that the characters,

they looked like they moved like they should,

so it was kind of cool. I mean, I don't know.

Moved like they should? They all had the same

swagger, so sometimes it was like, oh, it would

have been good if a little less swagger on some

of them, a little more on others. I don't know.

Oh no, I like, it kind of reminded me when I

saw shockwave in the live action movies, I'm

like, that guy's got some swagger. I like it.

And they put it into the show. I enjoyed it for

sure. Cool. And I can't really think of anything

else about the animation that, like I said, it

just, some things really worked because they

were really well done. And then others, they

kind of fudged a little bit. Maybe, I don't know,

there was, I read somebody online saying that

they didn't like the smokiness and it didn't

bother me as much as I guess it maybe it should

have. Did you watch it by chance on a big screen

or on a small screen? Just curious for that big

screen, okay. Big screen. I didn't really notice

the smokiness that much, I guess. Maybe because

my eyes are bad. I watched it at night. I binged

it one night on my big screen. And every time

after that, I've pretty much watched it on a

small screen because I'm distracted constantly

by kids. I didn't put this in my notes, but I'm

going to bring it up now because I really, really

liked it. The soundtrack. I liked the background

music. Oh, yes, for sure. They did a really good

job with that. I really, really liked how well

and I'm going to look up the name right now because

I don't remember what the guy that's like Bernstein

something. Alexander Bornstein. Yes. I was almost

half right. Okay. Okay. So Alexander Borenstein.

Borenstein? Yeah. Borenstein or Borenstein. I'm

not sure which way he says it. He has an Instagram

account online. I should probably put it in either

the show notes and send it to Mike or put it

out on my Twitter or something like that. I really

liked it. I thought they did a good job with

it. Like it just, if I just want to, I need to

go look on YouTube and see if I can just find

just the soundtrack in the background playing

or even look at the, the Instagram. But he's,

he's been putting out notes and stuff and commentary

on what, what he tried to do on some of the different,

um, you know, sweets and stuff that he was doing

for different characters. And so I thought I

really liked that. Um, and that was, that was

pretty much it. So if you're listening to this,

go find it online. It's great. Give a little

bit of love to the music because we would have

a very silent show if we didn't have that. It's

those things that we have to appreciate that

are in the background that make the whole that

much more enjoyable. Any standout moment that

you haven't said yet to wrap up for our opinion

of this? Like I said, the thing that struck me

the most is when Starscream's arm got cut off.

But no, overall, I say it was a very enjoyable

series and I look forward to the next one. They

just need to get the direction of the voices

correct and it'd be perfect. I agree. I agree.

For me, I kind of split it up into two parts.

The first three and the last three. The last

three by far are much more, they just feel like

they're going someplace. Like the first three

just felt like set up. this the last three I

felt like actual things started happening and

then I just kind of ramped up and went toward

a direction like based on what had been set up

at that point so I liked the the last three better

than the first three um nothing really huge stood

out for me um like I said it felt like so many

other things I think the only thing that really

I was like oh that's kind of interesting the

whole alpha try on protocols I think were that

was like, okay, I kind of like the fact that

you're doing that. Um, everything else just felt

like we'd seen zombies before, so that wasn't

new, but it also made me go, okay, so if the

AllSpark makes zombies, why do you want the AllSpark?

Exactly. So it was kind of like, what is its

powers again? Yeah, the animation was fun and

of course it made a really creepy moment really

scary because, you know, so I had to, my five

-year -old didn't see that. I, that's the time

when I pulled him out and went, went to go put

him to bed because we watched it together with

the kids later. But he didn't see the zombies.

I was all right with, you know, all of the other

stuff, but not the hole in cog. I'm all right

with that. That was awesome. But not the zombies

and oh, I guess that would also mean that the

last three episodes Oh, he also didn't see the

the the torture scene of ultra Magnus either

or the fact that they used him to corrupt the

The code of the Autobots so that they could try

and take it anyhow And I got a little crazy But

yeah, I think I would definitely here's why I

would recommend it. It's light years better than

That other thing that will not be named for sure

that came before this that being said if I was

to compare it between The cyber verse I'd say

it's still lacking I really liked cyber verse

cyber verse did a whole lot more different things

than I think siege did so I'm kind of having

half on it. I'm like I didn't hate it, but it

didn't Super love it either so you know I would

watch it again. Oh, yeah, I've watched it three

times since then yes In total three times. I've

watched it two times. I look forward to the next

two movements of it Yeah, I'll see where it goes.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to say no I won't watch

it at this point because I Want to watch more

I want to see what they do with it But I don't

think that we're gonna get the the things that

I wanted better done in this I think they're

just going to keep moving forward, but it's fine.

But they need to, I think you're right. I think

the voice acting, if they just got the direction

a little bit better, maybe that would improve.

It absolutely wouldn't make it worse. So. All

right. Well, that's us. Thank you for listening

in. Yeah, that's it. So thanks for listening

to us ramble. Sorry. We did have fun watching

it. So yeah, where could the good people get

ahold of you, Nicole? Oh, I don't know. I don't

know if I would be on social media much longer.

Hey, if you want to find me, just Google Beatles

Diva. That's Beatles with the, like the bug,

or like the band, not the bug. I've been out

of practice and you'll find me. How did they

find you, Jamie? I'm mostly on Twitter. That's

my stomping ground. It's Lady of Rec on Twitter.

So thanks for tuning in. She likes the records.

I, and I love, yes, that's why I'm called lady

of rec. You can hear all of the adventures of

myself and the reclets, um, on Twitter. Yeah.

Well, thanks for listening to us guys. Yep. And

hopefully Mike doesn't give us the, you know,

message that he hates us after this. You took

all the talking points. I have nothing to talk

about now. We left the last three episodes of

all of the the storyline for you to talk about

so go for it man have fun