Review: Transformers Combiner Wars “Homecoming”

Starring Zendaya as Starscream!

I think it’s worth mentioning that Machinima recently posted a Top 10 list sponsored by Hasbro regarding characters for this series. What they probably didn’t count on was that it barely has enough characters to warrant a Top 10. Going down the list, #10-8 are Maxima, Computron, and Menasor. The main things these three bots have in common is that they appear only in the first episode before being unceremoniously killed one after another. Following this were Victorion at #7 (who hasn’t even shown up yet outside of the preludes), Rodimus at #6 (who makes no impact or presence whatsoever despite being a political leader), Devastator at #5 (same issue as Victorion, only I have next to no idea who he is), and Starscream at #4 (who would fall in the same camp as Rod if not for better notoriety). Concluding the list in the top 3 are Windblade (an easy pick as a fan favorite) and, of course, Megatron and Optimus. Now, I’m not saying that the company and distributing Youtube channel shouldn’t promote its shows in this sort of way. It just sends a mixed message when a video with the intent to draw interest and hype for an “adult Transformers series” only draws further attention to the barren cast list and how steeped in kids show nostalgia it really is. And before you ask, this episode didn’t help.

SPOILERS AHEAD

We check back in with the council, as Starscream paces regretfully over the corpses of Computron and Menasor. How they got them, I don’t know, but they’re there. What you would THINK would be there is extra security, seeing how Starscream was shot in the arm not too long ago which led to alarms and panic. I guess Starscream just walked it off or something and everyone forgot about the very clear threat posed to them by a supposed assassin…and the bare section of their building that is an open invitation to anyone who actually WANTS to kill them from afar.

Speaking of which, Optimus, Windblade, and Megatron begin traversing the tower in their quest to destroy the Enigma of Combination, thus making sure no future Combiners can be created. At least, that’s Optimus’s plan, as Megatron just wants to kick Starscream’s ass for old time’s sake, and Windblade could go either way at this point. A bit less committed than one might expect from someone who started this mission of vengeance because a couple guys landed in an unpopulated area and killed all of one person, and then blamed her local government when the big guy representing them actually died stopping the other one. Although while Optimus might seem like the Only Sane Bot here, let’s not forget that his getting in the way of Windblade’s shot is what got Starscream injured and put the council on high alert. And decided to listen only to a blood thirsty lunatic like Windblade instead of a former ally like Rodimus, who actually had influence in the council and would be able to provide perspective. And then decided the best course of action was to recruit HIS ARCH ENEMY in order to complete a mission to preserve peace. All in all, the guys who seem to be this story’s heroes are looking quite a bit like destructive assholes.

Meanwhile the council, while not too smart in not adding more guards to keep them from being attacked again, have looked pretty good, all things considered. Well okay, not so much good as passable, but they’re certainly not as bad as the other three. They all seem genuinely concerned about preserving peace between the Autobot and Decepticon factions after centuries of war, and seem to be doing what they can to remedy things…short of actually trying to keep themselves alive, but I digress. As far as we know, they’ve used the Enigma pretty much only when necessary. Heck, the only thing we DO know they did was have Starscream send Computron to stop Menasor, and even if that failed, it still shows they were trying to stop a potentially major threat with appropriate force. Given his reputation in the franchise, Starscream is actually handling this pretty much exactly as someone burdened with the responsibility of billions of lives, and not the conniving backstabber he’s written is in nearly other continuity. The Mistress of Flame even shows doubt for further use of Combiners for fear they will “unravel everything”…until Optimus, his bipolar murderous sidekick, and a legendary war criminal show up and they start shitting their pants in fear. If they could injure one of them accidentally, who knows what could happen if they actually try this time! So basically, if Optimus had just left things alone, things would probably have gone exactly the way they wanted. Tragic misunderstanding or bad writing? YOU MAKE THE CALL.

After cornering them with mounted wall turrets, the council tries to talk Optimus, Megatron, and Windblade down…without any back up or barriers to protect them from being killed. Now, to Optimus’s credit, he does try to initiate a peaceful dialogue. However, seeing how his last visit led to one of them being shot, the Mistress is wary that they didn’t come to just kill them and take over. This isn’t helped by how each of them is covered in weaponry, being walking action figures and all. This leads to Windblade barking at her for leaving her people behind on Caminus, which then has Megatron mocking Starscream like an ex-lover that can’t get over the other, then Starscream responds basically with “hey man I’m trying to move on with my life, don’t judge me”, which naturally leads to getting shot again. It’s kinda Starscream’s lot in life in this series: Say perfectly rational things and then get shot. At least this time it wasn’t by accident?

This puts a pause in negotiations, and the battle starts back up again. While fighting for their lives, Windblade notices the tower defenses acting wonky while an ominous voice tells her: “don’t let this happen.” Either she’s a telepath or this is just confirmation that she is completely insane. As the council tries to regroup and come up with a plan, the ground opens up beneath them and swallows up Rodimus. He comes up again in the grasp of Devastator, who yanks off his arm like a wishbone and cackles. And thank god for that Top 10 video or I would be completely lost!

We are in full nosedive here, people. What started as a promising extension to previously unexplored are of animated Transformers stories has been twisted into assholes and idiots fighting useless politicians for no reason at all. I’ve long since forgiven the animation limitations, but they do not help. The voice acting is stilted in almost every case and dialogue is hardly any better. This series is spiraling in pretty much every way and we’re almost certainly due for a crash by the end.