Review: Transformers: War For Cyberton: Siege: Episode 1

CONTAINS SPOILERS

I have been a Transformers fan since my first comic in 1984 (Issue 4).  I own all the DVDs of the G1 cartoon series, and all the movies (including the original, which I once owned on VHS).  I have been an on-and-off fan, as I grew too mature for 'toys', then rediscovered them, then got too busy, and then realised that transforming robots are great for leisure time.

I have therefore been waiting for the new Netflix series War For Cybertron Trilogy for months (since it was first announced).

It opens with a series of Decepticon flyers ("Seekers") strafing their way around Cybertron, while on the ground below them, Bumblebee and Wheeljack are sneaking around trying to find energon.  I like this - right from the outset, this mirrors the start of the original series .  However, this is not the spritely and perky Bumblebee (thank goodness) from G1, this is a cynical mercenary.  This initial mission uncovers a cache of energon and a space bridge (think of the Transformers Prime version, not the G1 comic version), and, unfortunately, a group of Decepticons led by Jetfire and Starscream (who sounds so much like the G1 character it's uncanny). 

The characterisation is excellent:  Starscream is manipulative; Megatron is full of plans; Jetfire is loyal; Wheeljack is principled. And Optimus?  Heroic, as you would expect, but not a warrior.

And the visuals?  Outstanding.  These bots are not shiny and new, not even the Decepticons are fresh and clean; they're battle-scarred.  The bots have the perfect blend of tough metal and flexing steel to enable them to move without looking like disjointed steel boxes. 

Elita One:  "What exactly are you?" 

Bumblebee:  "What?  Don't you mean 'who'?"

Wheeljack: "He's a pain in the ass, that's who he is."

Jumping for joy at this clear statement of Bumblebee's annoying history.

The touches of history are fantastic - there are references to the original series (including Alpha Trion) throughout, and especially half-way through when we meet the Ark.  I wasn't expecting to see this ship so early in the series - after all, the flight on the Ark marks the end of the war for Cybertron as we move into the G1 era.  

This episode makes a great start:  the focus is on a limited number of characters, but only until we reach the interior of the Ark, at which point the cast list explodes into a crowd of G1 favourites:  I spotted Hound, Mirage, Sunstreaker (and later Sideswipe); Ultra Magnus and Red Alert are name-checked.  In a development which is consistent with the G1 comic, the Autobots are low on energon, and can't function properly without it.  

The Ark is the gathering point for the energy-depleted Autobots, as they face a war that they aren't winning.  They aren't gathering enough energon, and they are facing extinction at the hands of the Decepticons.  This is truly a no-win situation, and Magnus and Prime discuss this at length while the returning Autobots are directed to Red Alert for medical attention.  Random question:  where's Ratchet?

Optimus asks Bumblebee to join the ranks of the Autobots, but cynical Bumblebee declines the offer.  It seems that all the Autobots have is their principles, and Optimus is going to hold on to them, no matter the cost.  Things look grim for the Autobots, and this is an excellent first episode, setting the scene and bringing a good-sized cast into play.

Megatron, on the other hand, is winning.  He's manipulating events, and presenting his version of them to the Decepticons:  there can be no peace with the Autobots, so the Decepticons must arm themselves to end the conflict.  As Megatron explains, in the final scene: "We must forge weapons from his weaknesses: honour, brotherhood, love.  That's how we'll defeat Prime and win this war."