Questions that need Answering

[Verno]

As some of you may be aware, I'm writing spotlight-esk stories to help bridge the gap between the end of G1 and the start of Beast Wars some 300 years later; a continuity of my own that has come to be known as Vernoverse.

I'm staring at pages of notes and going round in circles and losing sight of the big picture by going off on tangents that don't really add anything to the over-all story. So I need your help.

What are the big questions that really need answering in such a universe, besides the big one of course: 'How did the Great War end?'

Things like 'What are the origins of the Maximals and Predacons?' or 'What is the role of The Matrix in this downsized future?'

Canon has given us snippets of information about things, but we have nowhere near a full picture. What are the questions you've always wanted answers to?

[loophole]

The origins of the Maximals and Predacons would be a good one as would be the origins of the Tripedecus council and the Maximal alliance

[GoktimusPrime]

The origins of the Maximal/Predacon upgrade is fundamentally a continuation of G1 Micromaster technology - remember that in G1 Micromasters were created as a means to conserve fuel, and that's also what the Maximals/Predacons do better than full-sized Autobots and Decepticons (in "The Agenda" when BW Megatron enters the Ark and beholds the Autobots and Decepticons lying in stasis, he calls them "Archaic Energon guzzlers.")

At the end of the Great War around the time that the Pax Cybertronia was signed Transformers were given the option to undergo the Maximal/Predacon Upgrade. Some chose to do so (e.g. Prowl, Prowl II, Silverbolt (non-Fuzor), Ironhide, Grimlock, Arcee, Ravage, Optimus Prime, Megatron (G1) etc.) whilst others chose not to (e.g. Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker etc.) - pretty ironic of Trailbreaker not to undergo the upgrade considering that he's the most fuel inefficient Autobot and it's something that had always bugged him. :/

As for the Creation Matrix itself, I'm not sure if we know what happened to it... perhaps it merged with Vector Sigma - which may explain why Vector Sigma became a self-proclaimed god in Beast Wars (and was explicitly targeted by Unicron who possessed Vector Sigma to control Cybertron)... in many ways, Vector Sigma kinda behaved like Primus, so perhaps she was imbued with Primus' essence through the Matrix. Another thing to keep in mind is that many Maximal captains and commanders carry around Matrices with them as well. Optimus Primal has one (he once used it to transform himself to Burning Convoy), Lio Convoy has one (he used it to transform himself into Flash Lio Convoy) and Big Convoy has one (which he frequently used to commune with Vector Sigma) -- also, Lio Convoy and Big Convoy combined the power of their Matrices to defeat Unicron... so perhaps these Matrices were forged from the original Creation Matrix itself ?<shrug>?

[Hursticon]

For me, I've always wondered what happened to those who chose not to downsize/upgrade and join the protoform based factions? - Did they chose self imposed exile?, were they found uses/jobs in this new era?, is there really a giant retirement home?...

Obviously those closest to the heartbeats of the Autobot/Decepticon Wars would largely remain involved in some sort of Military, Political or Advisory role with the new Maximal/Predacon feuds but I'm curious as to what happened to the innocent bystanders, civilians and those who had simply had enough.

I think it'd be really interesting to see how these "Guzzlers" would assimilate into this new world or maybe even how they didn't fit into it? - How their cultures grew and assimilated or if one simply gave way to the other?
(A parallel of sorts to Australia's own Imagrational history in a way )

[GoktimusPrime]

For me, I've always wondered what happened to those who chose not to downsize/upgrade and join the protoform based factions? - Did they chose self imposed exile?, were they found uses/jobs in this new era?, is there really a giant retirement home?...

Guys like Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Shadow Striker, Roulette etc. who never downsized　went off world and later returned to Cybertron after the events of Beast　Machines.

"Welcome home, your planet's a garden now!"
"Uhh... I think it's time we left again."

[liegeprime]

At the end of the Great War around the time that the Pax Cybertronia was signed Transformers were given the option to undergo the Maximal/Predacon Upgrade. Some chose to do so (e.g. Prowl, Prowl II, Silverbolt (non-Fuzor), Ironhide, Grimlock, Arcee, Ravage, Optimus Prime, Megatron (G1) etc.) whilst others chose not to (e.g. Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker etc.) - pretty ironic of Trailbreaker not to undergo the upgrade considering that he's the most fuel inefficient Autobot and it's something that had always bugged him. :/

This kinda raises other Questions though Goki - Optimus and Megatron chose to undergo the Upgrade...Bat/croc. So with this in mind this follows what continuity? Comics I guess? - certainly not the movie /toons verse otherwise this just denies Galvatrons/Rodimus P existence.
G2 comics perhaps? coz at the t end the Autobots and Decpticons were allies then... would it have continued on to the Pax Cybertronia? and if so... why then is there a message in a bottle from G1 megs to "carry on" the fight if he himself chose to be upgraded in the time of Pax?

[Demonac]

At the end of the Great War ... Transformers were given the option to undergo the Maximal/Predacon Upgrade. Some chose to do so (e.g. Prowl, Prowl II, Silverbolt (non-Fuzor), Ironhide, Grimlock, Arcee, Ravage, Optimus Prime, Megatron (G1) etc.) whilst others chose not to (e.g. Trailbreaker, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker etc.)

Why was Prowl good enough to get a sequel?

[Cat]

Why was Prowl good enough to get a sequel?

He's kinda mashed everything into one, which IMO, just isn't feasible given all the inconsistencies between tech specs and toy bios, comics, cartoons, etc.

Prowl 2 was a silly way to explain an already convuluted situation by their own making. Ick.

Edit: IIRC, in the 3H Universe comic, Trailbreaker was included in the cast because he was originally planned as an exclusive along with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, as a repainted X-Brawn. Plans changed and thus Trailbreaker never changed from his G1 form for that reason, and the lagtime it takes to produce comic work.

[Sky Shadow]

Why was Prowl good enough to get a sequel?

I don't know, but I found it hilarious when he actually got released under that name that as a toy:

[GoktimusPrime]

This kinda raises other Questions though Goki - Optimus and Megatron chose to undergo the Upgrade...Bat/croc. So with this in mind this follows what continuity? Comics I guess? - certainly not the movie /toons verse otherwise this just denies Galvatrons/Rodimus P existence.
G2 comics perhaps? coz at the t end the Autobots and Decpticons were allies then... would it have continued on to the Pax Cybertronia? and if so... why then is there a message in a bottle from G1 megs to "carry on" the fight if he himself chose to be upgraded in the time of Pax?

Remember that Beast Wars never followed on from any one G1 continuity, but rather fits into the overall G1 continuity-family. This is really because Larry DiTillio and Bob Forward knew almost nothing about Transformers when they were employed to write the show and they went and looked at various different sources and implemented them into the world of Beast Wars. Some elements of BW draws from the G1 cartoon (e.g. Starscream's ghost and how he became a ghost), the Marvel comics (e.g. Covenant of Primus, the intended and now　retconned connection between the Vok and the Swarm etc.), the tech specs (e.g. Ravage's appearance and portrayal in BW was based on his G1 tech specs profile) etc etc.

Vector Sigma (G1 cartoon) also exists in BW and BM, but in BW it behaves like Primus (even to the point that Unicron perceives it as a divine rival); yet in BM we see that they still have the Key to Vector Sigma, which apparently is a program and not just a physical key (as the original key was destroyed by Silverbolt). We see images of the Golden Age and the Hate Plague which also comes from the G1 cartoon, but yet Cybertron still has a moon which contradicts the G1 cartoon.

Why was Prowl good enough to get a sequel?

Cos he's that awesome.

He's kinda mashed everything into one, which IMO, just isn't feasible given all the inconsistencies between tech specs and toy bios, comics, cartoons, etc.

That's how Beast Wars was written - see comments above. It's best to think of Beast Wars as fitting into the G1 continuity family rather than into any single continuity.

Prowl 2 was a silly way to explain an already convuluted situation by their own making. Ick.

That wasn't Mainframe's fault ... blame Kaneda Masumi/Toei. But then again, it was an understandable mistake. Remember that Transformers The Movie didn't come out in Japan until much later, so at the time they wrote The Headmasters TFTM wasn't available to the Japanese market... so it's understandable that they didn't realise that Prowl had been killed in TFTM and thus inserted him into the Headmasters. Now of course, since TFTM came out in the JP market　it's created a continuity headache which Binaltech has since retconned with the character of Prowl II.