Code of Hero

For those in Canada, getting YTV, was anyone else here able to see “Code of Hero” on “Beasties” earlier this morning? For those who didn’t know it was on, it comes on again at 2:30pm.

Anyway, to my greatest regret, I had not seen this episode before, due to either circumstance, YTV pulling and restarting the run, or my own clumsiness. I’d seen the ones before, and the ones after(save maybe one or two), but never this one highly-acclaimed episode.

In any case, today, my wife and I FINALLY caught the episode…

Was it good? Hells yeah. I have to admit, though… it had a certain amount of hype piled onto it over the years that I felt would make it fall short of expectations. And to an extent… it did not.

There was an awkward feeling about the episode, mostly in that I knew so much about it before ever laying eyes on it… don’t know how to describe it.

Nonetheless, Dinobot’s ultimate sacrifice did still have the desired impact. It’s funny how something you can be totally expecting can still take you by surprise. And by that, I feel that the writers did a tremendous job. Maybe it’s because I saw it only for the first time today(save for the very ending at one of my missed attempts), but Dinobot’s death somehow impacted me in a way greater than that of Optimus Prime in the movie. Of course, that could be for any number of reasons… having seen that one so many times, or just knowing that Optimus is the TransFormers’ version of Jesus, times ten.

All in all, it was as good as people have said. But as a person with a great fondness and appreciation for the art of storytelling, I only wish I could have seen it the way it was meant to be seen, the first time it was aired, with no preconceptions, no knowledge of what was to come… if there is anything I regret of this episode, that is it.

Nonetheless, however tainted by knowledge of what was yet to come that the episode may have been, it still stood out in a way few eps of Beast Wars can, and fewer episodes of TransFormers on the whole. The combination of character, personality and emotion shown in this episode has yet to be anywhere near duplicated in my eyes by any subsequent series. Those among others is the Beast Wars true legacy. Not a matter of old TransFormers vs. new, or tRuKk vs. mUnKy, or cel vs. traditional animation, but the power of the stories told, and what one can only imagine as the passion that went into the work from all involved.

Interestingly enough, Dinobot’s true death came at the hands of Hasbro’s demand, I hear… I’d love to hear some oldschool TransFans’ recollections and anecdotes about that… I even heard this ep was made in such a way as to spite them.

Since some of you have been around the online fandom for longer than I have(because I’ve practically been a fan since before Prime put the Ark into a tailspin), I’m interested in knowing more about the politics of this episode, the less-than-common-knowledge aspects of it.

LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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