In part one we took a look at the new scenario. Instead of the glowy orbs possessing vehicles (an idea that somehow popped up in some mediocre works like Vanpires and Robo Wheels) we finally connected to the original miniseries. Set five years later, somehow the Decepticons won, because Saturday morning needed a new in medias res to drop the audience into. It’s a strange obsession. Now the Autobots are rebels, with the Decepticons allowing for wacky real world hijinks so long as they get their slave workers working on being slaves. They really didn’t want to give up on the original idea. Did they really hate “More Than Meets The Eye”?
In this section of the draft we’ll be looking at the Autobot files. Like in the first section, the Autobot character bios are done in the style of a computer report printout from the 1980s. Whoever our researcher is has asked for Autobot details and the computer that the Autobots don’t need according to CBS delivers. In the original draft only Optimus was close to his traditional depiction. Sideswipe was the furthest since they made him a girl, part of CBS’s quota of female characters even in a show targeting boys despite the belief that kids don’t like girl characters and therefore don’t buy the toys of girl characters. I just don’t know why it had to be the Autobots. The show we got just gave us human girls until season three. I’m not against the idea of female Autobots (just keep Simon Furman away from them). It’s a question of how important it was to have the Transformers have girl characters. Anyway, the solution of original characters was a much better one than turning Sideswipe into a girl. Now he’s a boy again…and nowhere in the show.
Look on the bright side, Sideswipe. At least you aren’t getting the treatment Bumblebee is. They’re still doing my bot dirty, but I don’t have to cover that until next week. The profiles are kind of long in this format so I have to split them up. This installment we’ll see Optimus, Jazz, and a new character. Except one has the wrong name and I swear somebody ripped somebody off when making these. You’ll see what I mean.
AUTOBOT PERSONNEL ARCHIVES
SUBJECT: CURRENT AUTOBOT OPERATIONS AND PERSONNEL
TIME FRAME: APROX- 1988
BW Media Spotlight 
BW’s Saturday Article Link> Evil Has Become Good
In a fictional sense that’s what we’re getting, as the villains of fiction are just given sympathetic backstories anymore. Their tales are being rewritten entirely so that the Wicked Witch, Maleficent, and Cruella DeVille (a name that speaks to her role in the story) are only some of the characters who were actually the heroes all along and the heroes are actually evil. It’s a form of propaganda I haven’t seen since a small group of Transformers fans back in my newsgroup days insisted the Decepticons were the actual heroes and the stories we grew up with were propaganda. Yes, this actually happened and I don’t know how serious…most of them were. One I know was way too serious, but that’s another conversation.
The Literature Devil, usually known for videos and his Morning Nonsense podcast, has started a Substack version of his old The First Edition YouTube channel and for his second article he looks at Maleficent and Elphaba specifically and how their stories compare with a fallen to darkness take on the wicked Queen from Snow White in the retexualized fairy tale series Once Upon A Time. In the article he goes over how you can have a villain fall to darkness and still be the villain while seeing the tragic events that corrupted him or her. There’s a difference between the fallen character and just changing the entire story. Plus, as I’ve gone over before while defending pure evil characters, villains serve a role in the narrative and taking them out of that role ruins the story.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on January 17, 2026 in Book Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged commentary, Maleficent, Villain, Wicked, Wicked Queen (Snow White), Wicked Witch Of The West.
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