soursoppi:

primus-why:

Please compare the last time they see each other to the first time they had seen each other in a while… :’)

Megatron is more reserved, currently in a bit of a shock since his whole philosophy and perspective has been rocked. I think he also knows what Optimus has done, and is somewhat floored by the sacrifice his old enemy has made. He 100% looks ready to split, I think in part because he can’t shoulder the idea of Optimus saving his ass and paying the ultimate price; that things wouldn’t have gone this far if they just managed to talk things out. Now he realizes Optimus isn’t the worst thing ever in his life, and that his former-friend will have to die soon because of his life choices.

Gone is the unbridled hatred, seething rage, and the exhilarating rush of the next battle to come. He can’t bear it, this new sense of closure and peace, the ultimate results of his actions, so he flies off to dissociate in a cave or something. (For a transforming alien he doesn’t adapt to emotional change all that well…)

Optimus though… he’s always had a determination about him. When Megatron is back for their first “”“final stand”“” in TFP, the Prime looks a bit haggard. He’s been standing sentry over Earth for the last 3 years; he knew Megatron would come back and today is that day. He always looks like he is 200% aware of the weight on his shoulders. Steadfast and resigned, Optimus takes his stance and mentally prepares for what is ahead.

But in the end, he is also a bunch of other things. He’s a bit saddened by his fate and how it will affect others. He’s disappointed by Megatron’s life choices, but is relieved by his final declaration. And that determination is there, ever-present. He’s going to die, and he knows it, but he’s going to do it with his chin held high. I see someone who *does* want to live, who would like to see Cybertron and it’s citizens make it through to the next chapter– to see his friends, Decepticons, and neutral stragglers come together as one people again– but he knows that in order for that to start, life must be reignited.

This is the last time he’ll ever see Megatron. This is the last time, it would seem, anyone would see Megatron. He can’t be a part of that next chapter, and the once-warlord knows it too. So they go their separate ways to fade into the history records. So much about them will be lost to time– songs of Optimus will elevate him to something akin to untarnished sainthood, but gloss over his personality and past; Megatron will be lauded as a having only ever been a violent beast, forged by Unicron themself, and his revolutionary uprising and humble beginnings will be forgotten. They will be boiled down into what the second group of photos represent– a war between good and evil, paralleling Primus and Unicron, but on a mortal plane.

But in the reality, they were more than that. They should be represented in part by those final moments too. Megatron’s vulnerability and sadness, Optimus’ sadness too, and that fierce determination despite the known outcome… they will have been forgotten. The tragedy of their particular story will be sterilized into something to tell sparklings, spun into political messages, and ignored in over-embellished art pieces or sermons.

I love that these two god-like being were able to just be individual mechs– if only for one fleeting moment– together, by the end.

(ಥ﹏ಥ) Guhhhh thank you fuzz for stabbing me right in the MegOP feels.