[8.6/10] Dinobot is my favorite character in Beast Wars and episodes like this show exactly why that is. There’s a depth to him that’s missing in most other characters beyond Tigatron. He has a code of honor, one that drives him to cross the lines of the Beast Wars in a way no one else has. But it also causes him to mentally torture himself with what the right choice is, what’s at stake, and most importantly, whether his choices matter at all.
That’s the really interesting thing about this episode. As much as it is a swan song for Dinobot and a big firefight as is all but legally required for the show, it’s also a story about destiny and free will. Dinobot openly wonders if he had his moment of destiny and ignored it. He wonders if his future is set and that none of the decisions he makes can really change that.
But when Megatron uses the golden disk, which depicts the future, to show that destiny can, in fact, be changed by our actions in the present, it changes things for Dinobot. He realizes that he is in control, that by correcting his mistakes and giving his life, he can make a difference. The future is not set in stone, but malleable at the hands of man (or robot as the case may be).
So after some harsh words from Rattrap (who seemed OK with him at the end of “Maximal No More”), and even a failed effort toward what looked like seppuku, Dinobot resolves to right what went wrong. He wants to destroy the golden disk that he handed over to Megatron. It’s an act of contrition and redemption, meant to undo any harm he inflicted during his brief turncoat experience and wipe his slate clean.
There’s an extra wrinkle to the proceedings here though, with the introduction of a tribe of (weirdly textured) hominids that will one day evolve into humans. Megatron wants to destroy them, since it will prevent the advent of humanity and thus prevent people from helping the Autobots during the big war from (what I gather is) the prior Transformers series. That creates a set of innocent victims who Dinobot must defend and some unique stakes to the showdown.
That showdown does have more at stake than the usual weightless skirmish on this show. Maybe it’s just because it’s clear that DInobot is going on a suicide run, or maybe it’s the series of warnings that Dinobot’s risking loss of spark if he continues, but it’s much more meaningful and risky when we see Dinobot finding clever or hard-fought ways to defeat each of the Predacons in turn.
Those scenes are not only fun -- watching him commandeer Tarantulas as a vehicle or jam Waspinator into Rampage’s cannon -- but you can feel Dinobot’s earnest and desperation here. He’s ready to give his all to thwart Megatron and protect these innocents, which makes his victories all the more inspiring. The same goes for his final showdown with Megatron, as dinobot’s on his last legs and fights on despite that, managing to “improvise” a primitive weapon and destroy the golden disk in the process, thereby correcting his past mistakes.
It comes with a sacrifice. Dinobot is too far gone to be saved, and it’s the first meaningful death in Beast Wars. (So long Scorponok and Terrorsaur! We hardly knew ye!). Dinobot doesn’t just disappear from the show. He proves that he lives by his code of honor in dying for it, seizing his own destiny and making up for the red in his ledger, even if it requires paying the ultimate cost. His dying words quote Shakespeare once more, one of his trademarks, and his comrades, even Rattrap, mourn him and respect him. He unwittingly even manages to pass on his warrior’s ways, with his primitive implement giving one of the hominids the ability to defend themselves, leaving him as the person who helped insure humanity’s future, rather than destroy it.
It’s a beautiful thing, the perfect send off to the character, and the reason he’s my favorite. There’s a complexity to him, mixed with a distinctive worldview that informs his character choices, which made him stand out in a world of characters who can, ironically, often be more one-dimensional. I’m sad that we won’t have him on the show anymore, but I’m glad that this is how the series chose to give him his exit.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-07-14T21:24:59Z
[8.6/10] Dinobot is my favorite character in Beast Wars and episodes like this show exactly why that is. There’s a depth to him that’s missing in most other characters beyond Tigatron. He has a code of honor, one that drives him to cross the lines of the Beast Wars in a way no one else has. But it also causes him to mentally torture himself with what the right choice is, what’s at stake, and most importantly, whether his choices matter at all.
That’s the really interesting thing about this episode. As much as it is a swan song for Dinobot and a big firefight as is all but legally required for the show, it’s also a story about destiny and free will. Dinobot openly wonders if he had his moment of destiny and ignored it. He wonders if his future is set and that none of the decisions he makes can really change that.
But when Megatron uses the golden disk, which depicts the future, to show that destiny can, in fact, be changed by our actions in the present, it changes things for Dinobot. He realizes that he is in control, that by correcting his mistakes and giving his life, he can make a difference. The future is not set in stone, but malleable at the hands of man (or robot as the case may be).
So after some harsh words from Rattrap (who seemed OK with him at the end of “Maximal No More”), and even a failed effort toward what looked like seppuku, Dinobot resolves to right what went wrong. He wants to destroy the golden disk that he handed over to Megatron. It’s an act of contrition and redemption, meant to undo any harm he inflicted during his brief turncoat experience and wipe his slate clean.
There’s an extra wrinkle to the proceedings here though, with the introduction of a tribe of (weirdly textured) hominids that will one day evolve into humans. Megatron wants to destroy them, since it will prevent the advent of humanity and thus prevent people from helping the Autobots during the big war from (what I gather is) the prior Transformers series. That creates a set of innocent victims who Dinobot must defend and some unique stakes to the showdown.
That showdown does have more at stake than the usual weightless skirmish on this show. Maybe it’s just because it’s clear that DInobot is going on a suicide run, or maybe it’s the series of warnings that Dinobot’s risking loss of spark if he continues, but it’s much more meaningful and risky when we see Dinobot finding clever or hard-fought ways to defeat each of the Predacons in turn.
Those scenes are not only fun -- watching him commandeer Tarantulas as a vehicle or jam Waspinator into Rampage’s cannon -- but you can feel Dinobot’s earnest and desperation here. He’s ready to give his all to thwart Megatron and protect these innocents, which makes his victories all the more inspiring. The same goes for his final showdown with Megatron, as dinobot’s on his last legs and fights on despite that, managing to “improvise” a primitive weapon and destroy the golden disk in the process, thereby correcting his past mistakes.
It comes with a sacrifice. Dinobot is too far gone to be saved, and it’s the first meaningful death in Beast Wars. (So long Scorponok and Terrorsaur! We hardly knew ye!). Dinobot doesn’t just disappear from the show. He proves that he lives by his code of honor in dying for it, seizing his own destiny and making up for the red in his ledger, even if it requires paying the ultimate cost. His dying words quote Shakespeare once more, one of his trademarks, and his comrades, even Rattrap, mourn him and respect him. He unwittingly even manages to pass on his warrior’s ways, with his primitive implement giving one of the hominids the ability to defend themselves, leaving him as the person who helped insure humanity’s future, rather than destroy it.
It’s a beautiful thing, the perfect send off to the character, and the reason he’s my favorite. There’s a complexity to him, mixed with a distinctive worldview that informs his character choices, which made him stand out in a world of characters who can, ironically, often be more one-dimensional. I’m sad that we won’t have him on the show anymore, but I’m glad that this is how the series chose to give him his exit.