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Should Hot Rod really be blamed for Optimus Prime's death in TF: TM?

Was it his fault

  • Yes

    Votes: 293 81.2%

  • No

    Votes: 68 18.8%
  • Total voters
    361
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,817


I mean, Optimus has Megatron at gun point, if Hot Rod doesn't interfere, there's only two ways this goes down.

1. Optimus doesn't fire, Megatron shoots Optimus anyway, not making Optimus look good.

2. Optimus does take the shot and executes Megatron right then and there.

I suppose Hot Rod interfering was their way of not doing either of the two options.
 
WyLD iNk

WyLD iNk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,253
Here, duh.
Yes. Not only was he sticking his nose into the fight, he deliberately ignored Kup. Kup's been there and done that. He's the old guy with the experience. If Kup didn't think Prime needed the help, why the hell should Hot Rod, an... ahem, hot shot, know more?

That being said, I don't hate Rodimus like some people do.
 
Rendering...

Rendering...

Member
Oct 30, 2017
19,089
Optimus had the situation locked down until Hot Rod gave Megatron a way out. Hot Rod was a dumb kid who got his leader killed.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 25, 2017
42,622
Yes, it's his fault. If you have someone at gunpoint, and they still have to reach for a weapon, you can blow them away before they even grab it. When Hot Rod got involved, it blocked Optimus from having a clear shot and gave time for Megatron to grab his weapon. Also, Megatron knew Optimus wouldn't dare shoot at him if he were holding a fellow Autobot hostage. Instead of jumping in like an idiot, all Hot Rod had to do was say "Watch out Optimus! He still has his weapon close by!" But instead he jumped in because he wanted to play hero.

As a kid, that made me hate Hot Rod. But I still wanted his toy.
 
PanzerKraken

PanzerKraken

Member
Nov 1, 2017
15,159
Yea it's Hot Rod's fault.

Then he gets the Matrix of Leadership... and then in S3 proceeds to be an absent leader the entire time as Ultra Magnus is shown to constantly be out in front leading the autobots. Matrix chose poorly
 
Kadzork

Kadzork

Has got mad skills!!
Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,632
Totally his fault - but if what happened didn't happen then we would have been denied this moment.




I still don't like him all that much - and I wasn't the only one as they brought Optimus back after not too long.
 
OP
OP
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,817
PanzerKraken said:
Yea it's Hot Rod's fault.

Then he gets the Matrix of Leadership... and then in S3 proceeds to be an absent leader the entire time as Ultra Magnus is shown to constantly be out in front leading the autobots. Matrix chose poorly
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Y'know... when the Matrix glowed when Hot Rod touched it... that should've been like "Oh, that means something."
 
tuffy

tuffy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,543
The whole situation could've been avoided if Optimus Prime hadn't spilled his whole plan in front of an exterior window for Laserbeak to see. If the Decepticons hadn't hijacked the shuttle, Optimus Prime wouldn't have had to come to Earth and bail everyone out in the first place.

Having a proper Autobots Secret Conference Room would've saved lives.
 
Kadzork

Kadzork

Has got mad skills!!
Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,632
There is actually a comic that explores what would have happened if Prime had killed Megatron.

Newsarama | GamesRadar+

www.newsarama.com www.newsarama.com

aHR0cDovL3d3dy5uZXdzYXJhbWEuY29tL2ltYWdlcy9pLzAwMC8xNjYvNTY1L2kwMi9UcmFuc2Zvcm1lcnNfRGV2aWF0aW9uc18wNi5qcGc=
 
MechaX

MechaX

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,119
Hell, Hot Rod could have been like "Optimus he's up to something" and held up Megatron with HIS gun. That way he's getting blasted by Optimus or Hot Rod regardless.

instead, he decides to football tackle Megatron and gives him an out of that entire situation.

It was 100% Hot Rod's fault
 
Tobor

Tobor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,390
Richmond, VA
The writers needed a reason for Optimus to lose the fight while still being Optimus.

Hot Rod gets in the way so he can be redeemed at the end. Screenwriting 101 stuff.
 
MechaMarmaset

MechaMarmaset

Member
Nov 20, 2017
3,649
It clear that's what the writers wanted, but I don't think he should be blamed. Optimus is a dolt sitting there hero monologing against a threat instead of killing him. The gun is also visibly in Megatron's hands before Hot Rod even starts talking. Prime's slow ass should have been able to shoot him then.
 
bwahhhhh

bwahhhhh

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
3,205
tuffy said:
The whole situation could've been avoided if Optimus Prime hadn't spilled his whole plan in front of an exterior window for Laserbeak to see. If the Decepticons hadn't hijacked the shuttle, Optimus Prime wouldn't have had to come to Earth and bail everyone out in the first place.

Having a proper Autobots Secret Conference Room would've saved lives.
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this. Prime was just naive.

Megatron had just slaughtered a whole shuttle and probably most of Autobot City. Optimus should have shot him right away. Hot Rod should have just shot him, too, but he may have been low on energon by that point.

Comic Rodimus knew what do, at least

Galvatron%2B038.jpg
 
StallionDan

StallionDan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,705
Yes. He was clearly marketed as some cool, young new leader for the kids to buy into but everyone I knew loathed Hot Rod for this moment. Complete backfire.
 
BebopCola

BebopCola

Member
Jul 17, 2019
2,110
Fuck Hot Rod AND Judd Nelson! Prime may have reservations about killing, but he also knows that it is duty as a soldier and leader to eliminate the enemy in order to save lives.

And I am very intrigued to read that "Deviation" comic.
 
WGMBY

WGMBY

Member
Oct 27, 2017
515
Boston, MA
Of course it was Hot Rod's fault, Cupp even told him to stay back and let Prime deal with it. God, almost 3 decades later and I'm still mad about it.
 
MechDX

MechDX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,688
Pilgrimzero said:
I believe there was a swarm of them in that fight not just the original 3.
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I dont remember a swarm but if there was a swarm they are just mindless drones controlled by Bombshell via his Cerebro Shells. So it isnt really killing

If we are discussing murder let's discuss Megatron going full gangsta on Iron Hide in the Autobot shuttle. For that alone Prime should have wasted Megatron right off the bat but Prime didnt know that happened yet
 
Tobor

Tobor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,390
Richmond, VA
Uzumaki Goku said:
I mean... Optimus still delivered the final blow.
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My point is that they wanted Optimus to die without it being his fault, and figured they could wrap it into Hot Rod's redemptions arc. I'm not saying it was a great idea, because...

StallionDan said:
Yes. He was clearly marketed as some cool, young new leader for the kids to buy into but everyone I knew loathed Hot Rod for this moment. Complete backfire.
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...we all blamed Hot Rod for Optimus death and subsequently he was never redeemed by the audience.
 
MechDX

MechDX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,688
Tobor said:
My point is that they wanted Optimus to die without it being his fault, and figured they could wrap it into Hot Rod's redemptions arc. I'm not saying it was a great idea, because...

Yeah, but


...we all blamed Hot Rod for Optimus death and subsequently he was never redeemed by the audience.
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Didnt help in Season 3 that Rodimus was a whiny, emo punk

"I'm not as good as Optimus....blah blah blah...."
 
OP
OP
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,817
Tobor said:
My point is that they wanted Optimus to die without it being his fault, and figured they could wrap it into Hot Rod's redemptions arc. I'm not saying it was a great idea, because...

Yeah, but


...we all blamed Hot Rod for Optimus death and subsequently he was never redeemed by the audience.
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I'm going to be honest, I think the comic telling of the Unicron battle is superior to the movie version.
 
Tobor

Tobor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,390
Richmond, VA
MechDX said:
Didnt help in Season 3 that Rodimus was a whiny, emo punk

"I'm not as good as Optimus....blah blah blah...."
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I believe by this point they had already given up on Rodimus and were committed to bringing Optimus back. The backlash over the movie was real. Kids were devastated.

Uzumaki Goku said:
I'm going to be honest, I think the comic telling of the Unicron battle is superior to the movie version.
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Never read it. What is different?
 
OP
OP
Uzumaki Goku

Uzumaki Goku

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,817
Tobor said:
I believe by this point they had already given up on Rodimus and were committed to bringing Optimus back. The backlash over the movie was real. Kids were devastated.



Never read it. What is different?
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Well, it involves the Transformers creator Primus bringing them to Cybertron for Unicron's coming.... and it ends with Optimus Prime forcing the Matrix down Unicron's throat.
 
Tobor

Tobor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,390
Richmond, VA
Uzumaki Goku said:
Well, it involves the Transformers creator Primus bringing them to Cybertron for Unicron's coming.... and it ends with Optimus Prime forcing the Matrix down Unicron's throat.
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Yeah, that's definitely better.

I also think there was a way to have Optimus die and Rodimus take over that could have worked...maybe in a sequel. Movie #1 should have been all Optimus for sure.

But we all know what happened. They needed to sell new toys and botched it.
 
MechDX

MechDX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,688
Uzumaki Goku said:
Well, it involves the Transformers creator Primus bringing them to Cybertron for Unicron's coming.... and it ends with Optimus Prime forcing the Matrix down Unicron's throat.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Which one is this? I have the IDW version and the only "major" difference is they have some panels showing Superion and Omega Supreme in a final stand at the Autobots volcano base while fighting Menasor and Bruticus at the same time that the fight at Autobot city is going on
 
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