yeah absolutely agree that the way they handled autobot megatron was just... bad. an interesting concept that utterly squandered and ignored who the character IS.
Exactly that! Megatron seeking redemption wasn't a bad idea, but it felt disingenuous. He spent so long on war and destruction, and then he abandons it all on what seems like a whim?
I think the worst part of it for me was that... it had all the right elements in there to make it work, as a background story. Something that happens off-screen and that our protagonist(s) have to deal with after it has happened.
Megatron has been through so many stories, events, backstories, and writers, that a successful redemption can only be done as the focus of the entire story. I'm not sure anything less than an overhaul on the entire verse and all it's characters could have worked.
Megatron being an Autobot was also useless to the ongoing plot(s), aside from justifying that he was on the Lost Light to begin with, and justifying that he always waffled around whenever a genuine threat showed up.
Is there a universe where Galvatron doesn’t die in Headmasters but still Prime does? He would he have to deal with a powerstruggle with Devil Z, Deathsaurus, Viloen Jigger and Dark Nova? Would they pledge their allegiance to Galvatron or try to oppose him or work alongside him?
Again, the multiverse is infinite, so there most certainly are several universes where Galvatron doesn't get trapped in the ice by the headmasters (technically still alive until he was upgraded by Dark Nova)
But Masterforce and on would be vastly different for the simple reason that the main autobot decepticon conflict never ends up leaving Earth, Galvatron is the sort of tyrant who will NEVER give up on a prospective conquest and so he continues to scheme and attempt to claim Earth even more feverently after Cybertron explodes. While Scorpinok manages to survive, scheming to over throw Galvatron yet another day, the conflict ends up burning for so long that eventually, the God Master's start to uncover their destined transtectors amidst the conflict, and Devil Z arrives on Earth. In the timeline proper, Devil Z, a vok like ascended being, took advantage of the Decepticon forces in their absence of a emperor of destruction to lead them, but here to get his work done, he instead has to make a deal with the existing one to get the man power he needs.
Now Galvatron in all of his insanity craves one thing above all else, Power, it's the one thing he has left from his former Megatron personae due to the way those acid pools damage his brain module, so not considering the potential foul play afoot, he of course takes Devil Z up on his offer. However in doing so, Devil Z takes the Mad Tyrant as his host and reformats him, much in the way he had with Scorpinok/Majin Zarak, and so Galvatron becomes the black armored MEGATRON X.
Ironically restoring his sanity circuits, only to have his autonomy stripped from him by playing host to the entity that is Devil Z. As the conflict rages, harder than in the main timeline as Devil Z has the full Decepticon Empire at his disposal, the Autobots call re-enforcements to Earth from their colonization projects, including Rodimus Prime's protégé and personal choice for next Supreme Commander, Star Saber. To combat these higher forces, Overlord gets re-engineered to combine with Megatron X into MAOU MEGATRON X.
Ultimately, the Masterforce conflicts come to a close in an all out brawl between God Ginrai, with a few upgrades to God Bomber thanks to Star Saber's engineering expertise, and Maou Megatron X, ultimately purging Devil Z from Megatron's body. After the experience of having his autonomy torn from him, Megatron...reconsiders his position, and with Scorpinok and Deathsaurus leading various coup attempts...
Megatron and a small group of Decepticons, including Soundblaster, make the choice to defect to the autobots. Megatron knows there's no way to truly atone for what he's done, but the least he can do now is fight to stop anyone from doing what he once had with whatever life he has left. He altered his body again, now that he was truly himself once more, and Megatron's aid during Victory ultimately results in Ginrai's survival against Deathsaurus.
everything here is so classically g1. jokes that arent sure if theyre jokes. starscream declaring himself leader because megatron mispronounced a word. [takes off and immediately crashes]. the awful lip sync. optimus putting ravage in the trash. megatron and starscream bitching match. "i never miss at this range" [misses]. megatrons dance and flail. im so serious g1 is awful and one of the funniest shows ive ever seen