TF Beast Hunters episode 11 - Persuasion

[GoktimusPrime]

#OccupyAntHill.

IMHO Beast Machines Megatron was the best embodiment of G1 Megatron's motto "peace through tyranny." I found he was actually a really interesting character in his own right -- the problem was that he was also an entirely different character from Beast Wars Megatron, even though he wasn't meant to be. But if we disregard Beast Wars, BM Megatron is a fairly interesting character IMO.

BM Megatron never saw himself as a villain (unlike BW Megs who revelled in it), but as Cybertron's salvation. He saw that Cybertron was plagued with endless millenia of conflict because people had differing opinions and independent free will. By removing free will and individuality, he would thus remove disagreeing opinions, and in doing so also remove the source of conflict and thus establish peace. Of course this peace came at the cost of liberty, replacing it with an absolute brutal singular dictatorship; but it's exactly what G1 Megatron claimed to believe in, "peace through tyranny."

[Gasaraki]

BM Megatron never saw himself as a villain (unlike BW Megs who revelled in it), but as Cybertron's salvation. He saw that Cybertron was plagued with endless millenia of conflict because people had differing opinions and independent free will. By removing free will and individuality, he would thus remove disagreeing opinions, and in doing so also remove the source of conflict and thus establish peace. Of course this peace came at the cost of liberty, replacing it with an absolute brutal singular dictatorship; but it's exactly what G1 Megatron claimed to believe in, "peace through tyranny."

I'm going to try to catch Beast Machines someday... I think the most interesting antagonists are often the ones who truly cannot see themselves as evil, but have some motive which they deem to be good. Frequently, the complexity then arrives at how such motives/ends are achieved, cf. Magneto.

This description of BM Megatron comes very close to Palpatine I think. One of the few moments in the new trilogy that gave me a spine-tingle was when he said 'At last, the Sith will rule the galaxy... and we shall have peace!'. It was like, whoa, this guy really thinks, in some ways, he's the good guy! Villains like this have it so screwed up in there it becomes fascinating!