Exactly. Like the G1 TFU profile says, Optimus Prime's greatest strength and his greatest weakness is his great sense of compassion.
It's good that at least they're _leaving_ the kids back at base instead of instantly bringing them along for the ride like so many other TF series! And the kids got themselves involved because they wanted to help. Raf was momentarily useful in tracking the coordinates of the train -- and yeah, Miko and Jack wouldn't have been able to do... jack... but it's an act of courage (re: stupidityOriginally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy
) or last act of defiance making a stand against evil (much like say, when G1 Scorponok tried to attack Unicron with his bare claws).