It's Once Again A Nighttime And I'm Once Again Here With Scene/character Analysis.

It's once again a nighttime and I'm once again here with scene/character analysis.

As it's prominent from the last few post I'm a quite Ultra Magnus enjoyer, and I'm very upset at how people see him as heartless nerd. I see him as a person very damaged by the war. So here's some of my thoughts.

Ultra Magnus has a great problems with fitting in, because he forgot how to be in this kind of relationship and it's just depressing. For at least a century he has been in a war that took all his time for friends and especially family. And part of me thinks it is because Ultra Magnus is used to communication with orders. In "Evolution" we can see how he really tries to start a conversation, but all he knows now is orders and missions. And the next problem with him is he doesn't belong. He doesn't know what a family is, Wheeljack sends very clear messages that he is not welcomed to the Wreckers. Magnus felt completely isolated and this inability to make deeper connections than commander-soldier doesn't let him comprehend familial relationships. And I have some proofs.

The most important one is this line.

"The members of team prime are not cogs in a machine."

Why would Optimus use this particular line? It felt very meaningful and even as a non-english speaker, I felt it was very important for Ultra Magnus' character. So I went to Internet for the answer and I found this..

This one line opened a lot abt my boy. UM considers himself and team Prime through this war prism. "You are important,but we know how war is. Everyone can't survive. Sometimes you have to sacrifice something for a better outcome. Magnus doesn't think he's better than the rest of Team Prime, quite contrary, he holds himself by the same standards. I think Ultra Magnus sees himself as this metaphorical cog in a machine. He is important now, but if he isn't important in great scheme of things. This sounds like a very army type of mentality. He's prepared to die for a mission and sees little value in himself apart from weaponry and missions. So when Predaking had him and Wheeljack cornered he accepted it fairly quickly, yet was saddened with a thought of joining the allspark, especially with Wheeljack, whom he is to protect as his subordinate.

After Ultra Magnus wakes up, he's met with a lot of pleasant developments. Now he is fully accepted, Team Prime is by his side, and even Wheeljack drops this very meaningful line "Magnus fought like a wrecker"(=you're accepted in our group). And after finally asking OP about what was a Team Prime, he found out about a new concept, that basically breaks all his perceptions.

Family.

It isn't the army, or the elite guard where you are easily replaceable and aren't important. Now Ultra Magnus is family. And, forgive me for cliché, but you can't replace a family. They all are accepting each other and won't willingy leave someone behind for a brighter future.

I think if Ultra Magnus had more screen time his arc would be about relearning to care/connect in a deeper way and finding your own and others' importance, showcasing hardships of a soldier, trying to become more relaxed and closer to a people he knows and loves.

Or mb I just overanalyze one line¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Also UM and OP have this so sweet bond. Former is, being as socially awkward as he is, still being honest about his feelings and asking smt he doesn't understand. And Optimus completely trusts his lieutenant with the team family and is able to see when the other's uncomfortable/sad. I dunno, they're so brothers/friends. They're very close without having much interactions on screen.)

Bumblebee (beeping): They were training me. Turning me into a weapon. For justice they said. They got their weapon, I got cheated out of my childhood.

Ultra Magnus: I know what that's like.

Bumblebee: You too, don't you?

Headcanon time.

Sometimes Bee gets very sad because he never had a time in his life where he wouldn't be afraid of death. He was born during the war and since then he didn't have what others did. Bee never saw Cybertron in all its glory and only sometimes heard some stories from Ratchet and Bulkhead about how great their home was. His life is in constant danger and he gets tired of it. Bee never got the chance to live peacefully. All of his life is a war.

Ultra Magnus has a bit different problem. He saw Cybertron, he was there. And he even was a high class, being a military bot. Yet he also never had the chance to live peacefully. From the moment he came out of the allspark he was assigned to the battalion, trained. Yes, everyone respected him, but for the cost of little to no weekends off, no time on yourself and constant battles. When the war came, caste system fell, yet it didn't help UM. Now he was fighting for the death and was responsable for thousands lifes. Half of his life is a war.

It's just, I feel like they both are child soldiers, who never had the idea of what it's like to live normally. So when Raf or Miko ask them about some childhood memories, Bee and UM would have the least pleasant answers.

But! Optimus prime and other Autobots really tried to give Bee something normal. Like, playing some Cybertronian games, reading some tales and ect. Bee really appreciated that.

Ummmm

Ummm.....?? They hold their relics in a similar manner and Alpha Trion's fin (??) looks very similar to Athena's helm. Idk if it was intentional but it looks like designers really took inspiration from the Greek goddess. She is associated with wisdom, warface and handicraft. AT is pretty much (demi)God of History and wisdom.... Interesting..

I really like your post about Ultra Magnus and wanted to add this, Optimus calls family a human concept. Maybe that means that a relationship like that is rare for cybertronians. It’s not unheard of as we saw with Dreadwing and Skyquake, but maybe it’s something that few cybertonians find. That would make sense why Ultra Magnus didn’t understand as he is new to Earth.

You're right!

Probably it's like with spouse, super rare, yet not impossible.

Dreadwing and Skyquack are a bit different, since they're sharing a spark, but I've got your point. Mb brother/sisters rare, but familial relationship with more than one person is super rare. Especially for a soldier who spent decades in an active war/all alone at space.

I like your idea!!

(Btw thank you very much❤ I tried to make my thoughts straight for this analysis)

Straight for the tits, Dreadwing, aren't we?

But in all seriousness, I really like Dreadwing's character & this episode (Crossfire) is one of my absolute favorites.

Dunno, just like that KO's doctor duties took over the fear. Like, he would never put himself in danger, but when he sees a wounded vehicon he immediately goes to check him out. Just love this small details.