Nightstrike's Reviews: Transformers Exodus Trilogy (Revisited)

While I have reviewed this series before, I feel like it's worth revisiting as I deeply enjoyed it at the time, but now have a few little nitpicks I'd like to address. First off, this trilogy is the first of its kind in a way, as there never was much effort taken to address what led up to the war. That being said, it's a lot of stuff we already know, including the bits about Halogen, the High Council, and Alpha Trion. What sets this apart from the standard origins of the conflict is what takes place immediately after. Once the factions were firmly established, and the Council building was demolished, Megatron began to plan out several things he thought would aid in his victory.

Now, I'm not one to shy away from creative Transformers books, but Exodus had me scratching my head a little. It attempted to shoehorn a very pseudo-G1 plotline into the Prime continuity, which is known for its distinctly smaller cast. So the question is, at the end of the trilogy, what happened between then and 'now,' to result in a crew of 80(?) being slimmed down to less than a handful?

With that one detail out of the way, as a separate continuity all to itself, the Exodus series works quite well, but I can't really go in depth without spoiling, so...

Warning: Mildly Spoiler-Heavy Ahead!

After the Council's decision to declare Orion Pax a Prime, Megatron stages a coup, and with his elites, guns down most of the Council, with Starscream and Ratbat making their loyalties known. Interestingly enough Starscream's treachery stems from a different source in this version of events: He became disillusioned by Megatron's drastic actions, and realized this was no longer the same revolutionary he pledged loyalty towards. During the beginning course of events, Megatron acquired Dark Energon, which for him became a sort of nightmare drug. Starscream opted to not take the Dark Energon due to the cognitive effects. Megatron had no such issues, as he was more concerned with being able to outlast Optimus, than outwit him, which turns out to be a grave mistake. By using the substance, he compromises his own 'health,' replacing the normal Energon in his system with the rapidly deteriorating, rage-inducing dark stuff that Transformers Prime was centered around.

I'm going to be honest here. The first reads like Autobot propaganda. The second and third, are an improvement, but you can tell the writers weren't deeply familiar with the brand, hence the blatant references to various macguffins of the time, such as the now ever-present Allspark and the Artifacts of the Primes. If there was one thing I enjoyed, though, it was the influx of new characters, particularly the Quintessons and the supplemental Constructicons. Curiously enough, when I was much younger, I had done a sketch of a general I dubbed Tyrannitron, only to see the name and an oddly familiar description appear several years after the fact.

Overall, the series is interesting despite its flaws. If you tune out the blatant 'Autobots are good despite their war crimes' mentality, then it makes for an interesting story, almost as an alternative to the brief travel shown at the beginning of G1. When it comes down to it, though, the only real villain outside of the Quintessons turns out to be Megatron, with any others just being scared for their lives.

I'd probably rate it now a 6.5/10, as the trilogy makes for an interesting read, but can be difficult due to the way it tries to present multi-faceted characters through a one-sided lens.