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Matrix · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:25 pm Post subject: IDW's buggered-up timeline

It needs a thread, I think - just to highlight it. I'd be happy with retcons here and there, but this is an issue that needs sorting properly. As I began my re-read of the ongoings starting from Death of Optimus, it's a glaringly obvious flaw that you can't help but notice.

12 Million Years Ago - First Cybertronians Learn to Transform. More than likely something to do with Adaptus - a legend that people find hard to believe.
10 Million Years Ago - Knights of Cybertron create Cybertron as we know it. They sod off.
6 Million Years Ago - Ancient Nova Prime - someone only ancient people like Omega Supreme remembers - goes off exploring the Benzuli expanse. Rung would appear to be a famous psychiatrist.
4 Million Years Ago - War starts. By which point Bumblebee - 'the young one' - and Ironhide - 'the old one' - are already referring to each other as such.

So... what suddenly happened that caused Transformers to start living incredibly long lives? The current cast have currently lived at least a third of their species' existence.* Did they only develop space travel with Nova Prime? If not, and they weren't primitive beforehand, how does an advanced robotic society conveniently forget to document the creation of their cities and infrastructure? It's the equivalent of us claiming that Victorian England and the Queen were legendary, with no-one knowing if they're superstition or not. It's mind-bogglingly stupid.

Furman's intent was more than likely that IDW TFs would live a lot shorter time spans, but all those unchecked cartoon references began to mess things up. Bah.

* 'Species' here is referring to them becoming transformable beings. We can probably assume that before they developed this technology, they were around for a considerably longer amount of time.
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Zeph101 · Slayer Joined: 11 Sep 2008 Posts: 64

I think it can be summed up with one simple sentence:

The IDW TF writers didn't collaborate.

In less cynical discussion though, I personally believe that while Furman may have intended the Transformers to live for a certain time, McCarthy and Costa saw and wrote them to be as immortal robots.

DanielW · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:04 am Post subject:

I think it can be summed up with "meh who cares as long as the story is good" IMO.
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ignus · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 2:30 am Post subject:

Am I missing something here?

Didn't they have a 4 million (or 6 million if you read the newer issues) war or something like that? And you are wondering why lots of knowledge are lost?

About the lack of ancient cybertronians: Fatal accidents. Only takes one and unless they live in a impregnable bubble somewhere, it will happen sooner or later (most likely sooner). If you want to complain about something, complain about the fact that the current cast didn't die millions of years ago because that's pretty silly. Laughing

Kirjava · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:40 am Post subject:

Ignus, Matrix's point is that the timeframe itself doesn't make sense. Nova Prime becomes legend in 2 million years but Bumblebee is still "kid" after 4 million years of war? Lolwhut? Sure, the war will have caused some infrastructural damage and loss of detail, but Megatron remembers when he first met Prime in Chaos Rising #1- again, over 4 million years ago. How is it that a famous Prime and a famous expedition can be lost to the recesses of Omega Supreme's memory, but everyone can remember when the war started like it were yesterday?
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Duo Maxwell · Transforumer Joined: 08 Mar 2007 Posts: 1349

Matrix · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:20 am Post subject:

ignus · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:42 am Post subject:

The Rev · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:31 pm Post subject:

The mind warbles.
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Cattleprod · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject:

Matrix · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:19 pm Post subject:

The damage that man sewed...

I wouldn't have that much of a problem if it wasn't for the fact that one of the ongoings is currently running its plot based on these dates.
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The Rev · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:15 pm Post subject:

Don't da time fly?

Weren't it just 'bout 16 million years ago I got my first Megacamelus. Now dat dere is a REAL CAMEL. Ain't like these new fruity tooty Llama's ya hook a damn subwoofer to and call yourself a bad ass.
No sir, this thing got humps dat'll bounce ya like a cow's rubber arsehole in a all ya take meatgrindin' contest set on don't give a Ficopsis' ass if it lives!
Make ya tough.

An' the girls?
Sheeeeit dere was some ugly ones back den.
Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm weren't dey ugly.
Easy to amuse though. Got ma first Hominidae babe knocked up jus' afta we had us a poop throwing contest. Sweet girl.

Now look at these kids, as if Homo Erectus weren't stuck up enough, along come these Sapien hippies with dere damn developed brains and idears. Make an' ol' man wanna smack sumbody!

Where i' all go?

I'm tellin' ya ... 16 million years?
Might as well be 4 million years it goes by so fast.

Sheeeeeeit!
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Verno · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:05 pm Post subject:

So what you guys are saying is that of the two competing timelines that restarted from scratch, only one of them now is logically coherent? And that one belongs to... Hasbro?! Question

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The Rev · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:30 pm Post subject:

Verno · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:16 pm Post subject:

Sadly it is. And perhaps more so is that the Tasmanian Devil is heading down the same path.
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