So, I've been going down a rabbit hole lately watching the original Space Battleship Yamato anime and movies from the 1970s, and having watched the second movie awhile back, it makes TFTM killing off Optimus and other 1984 Autobots in the first act of the movie... look tame.
This movie, titled Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love, was meant to be the definitive finale to the series, following the conclusion of the first 26-episode series and its compilation movie, closing out the story with the Yamato and her crew going out in one last blaze of glory to save the Earth from a new enemy force that was so absurdly powerful that made it feel impossible to defeat.
Over the course of the movie, more and more familiar characters get killed off both in heroic sacrifices and even pointless casualties, all just to show the sheer might of the enemy and the complete hopelessness of the heroes' situation. By the end of the movie, most of the known good guys all give their lives in the line of duty, the Yamato herself is sacrificed to blow up the final enemy warship, and only a small handful of the Yamato crew make it out alive in the end (with even fewer of those being main characters). The main lead doesn't even make it out alive, piloting the Yamato by himself into the ship's final demise, saving the Earth at the cost of his own life. It was a fully unadulterated, unabashed tragedy.
Needless to say, audiences did not take well to this movie. I even looked up viewer reception from some Japanese people on Facebook who first saw this movie back in 1978, and they described how the whole theater was in tears, even all the teenagers in the room. If you thought TFTM killing off Optimus was bad, this movie was downright relentless in how many beloved characters it sacrificed to save humanity.
In fact, the backlash to this movie was so great that they immediately greenlit production on a sequel series to the first 26 episodes, retelling the same basic story of the second movie but in expanded form and without all the good-guy deaths, essentially retconning that movie out of continuity altogether and repositioning it as an alternate "what if" timeline (gosh, can you imagine if the G1 cartoon went that route and just started up Season 3 with Optimus and everyone alive again like the movie never happened?).
So, this got my sadistically twisted little mind thinking... What if TFTM had actually gone the audacious route of Yamato's second movie and tried to be the tragic finale of the G1 cartoon by killing off even more characters than it actually did? Well, let's find out!
Boy, it could have been so much worse, couldn't it?
This movie, titled Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love, was meant to be the definitive finale to the series, following the conclusion of the first 26-episode series and its compilation movie, closing out the story with the Yamato and her crew going out in one last blaze of glory to save the Earth from a new enemy force that was so absurdly powerful that made it feel impossible to defeat.
Over the course of the movie, more and more familiar characters get killed off both in heroic sacrifices and even pointless casualties, all just to show the sheer might of the enemy and the complete hopelessness of the heroes' situation. By the end of the movie, most of the known good guys all give their lives in the line of duty, the Yamato herself is sacrificed to blow up the final enemy warship, and only a small handful of the Yamato crew make it out alive in the end (with even fewer of those being main characters). The main lead doesn't even make it out alive, piloting the Yamato by himself into the ship's final demise, saving the Earth at the cost of his own life. It was a fully unadulterated, unabashed tragedy.
Needless to say, audiences did not take well to this movie. I even looked up viewer reception from some Japanese people on Facebook who first saw this movie back in 1978, and they described how the whole theater was in tears, even all the teenagers in the room. If you thought TFTM killing off Optimus was bad, this movie was downright relentless in how many beloved characters it sacrificed to save humanity.
In fact, the backlash to this movie was so great that they immediately greenlit production on a sequel series to the first 26 episodes, retelling the same basic story of the second movie but in expanded form and without all the good-guy deaths, essentially retconning that movie out of continuity altogether and repositioning it as an alternate "what if" timeline (gosh, can you imagine if the G1 cartoon went that route and just started up Season 3 with Optimus and everyone alive again like the movie never happened?).
So, this got my sadistically twisted little mind thinking... What if TFTM had actually gone the audacious route of Yamato's second movie and tried to be the tragic finale of the G1 cartoon by killing off even more characters than it actually did? Well, let's find out!
We'll start the movie off the same up until the Decepticons' second attack on Autobot City, where the Autobots escape aboard two shuttles. But, keen observers might have noticed that Blaster was the only main Autobot from the first act who did not board either shuttle during this scene. Let's say he was busy operating what few functional defenses the city had left, in order to provide cover for the others to escape. He mans some cannons and even shoots down a Conehead or two, bringing down the jets in a smoldering heap (I'll let you choose whether these are Dirge, Thrust, or Ramjet, specifically). Soundwave spots Blaster's cannonfire and orders Devastator to combine and bring down Blaster's resistance. Devastator starts trashing the place and Blaster decides that the only thing he can do to stop Devastator now is to put Autobot City on self-destruct.
As he wearily enters the command codes, Soundwave enters and tries to stop him by tackling him to the ground. The two roll around wrestling each other until Soundwave powers up his shoulder cannon to shoot Blaster at pointblank range, but the desperate Blaster jams his fist into Soundwave's shoulder cannon just as it's about to fire. The cannon explodes from this and, because it was right next to his head, Soundwave is instantly decapitated. Blaster's whole arm was also blown off. With his dying efforts, Blaster hits the final button command for detonation. Autobot City explodes, taking out Blaster, Devastator, and any other remaining Decepticons (mostly 1984/1985 ones, for good measure) along with it, all while the other Autobots escape aboard their shuttles into space.
The movie then resumes as normal up until the shuttle carrying Kup, Hot Rod, and the Dinobots crash-lands on Quintessa. As Hot Rod tries to save Kup from the giant mechanical squid, instead of mumbling "Fix me," Kup is unable to get any words out. Hot Rod picks up his pieces and carries him out of the sea, but before he can begin any repair work, Kup succumbs to his injuries and dies right then and there in Hot Rod's arms. The mournful Hot Rod vows to keep going and not give up. Later, Hot Rod is instantly captured by Allicons and taken to jail where only he meets Kranix and learns about Unicron.
The movie continues normally again up until Hot Rod's trial with the Quintessons. Like in the actual movie, he tries to fight off the Sharkticons, but since it's just him alone without Kup, he has a much more difficult time, upping the tension to make audiences wonder if his death might be next (by this point, Ultra Magnus has likewise already been killed by the Sweeps on Junk). The Dinobots and Wheelie then burst in to rescue him, but instead of having Grimlock merely assert his dominance and turn the Sharkitcons on the Quintessons, the Dinobots join the fight against the Sharkticons and the whole scene turns into a big slaughter-fest, with the Dinobots initially dominating the Sharkticons until the sheer numbers soon overwhelm them and all five of them are taken out one by one, until Grimlock is the only one left. He hollers for Hot Rod and Wheelie to escape while he holds off the last of the Sharkticon horde. He then shoots his gun up at the ledge beneath the Quintesson judge, prosecutor, and executioner, causing all of them to fall into the pit where the hungry Sharkticons then pounce on them. Hot Rod tries to run back to help Grimlock, but Wheelie holds him back, urging Hot Rod to not let Grimlock's brave efforts go to waste. As Grimlock is consumed by the Sharkticons, Hot Rod begrudgingly leaves, silently thanking the Dinobots for their sacrifice.
On the Planet of Junk, the movie has now reached the point where the Junkions attack the Autobots in the wake of Ultra Magnus having been destroyed. Wreck-Gar leads the charge on the Autobots and, rather than the whimsy of "Dare to be Stupid" making this fight feel like a silly romp, the situation is much graver. Blurr and Perceptor are both taken out by the Junkions' chaotic savagery, leaving only Springer, Arcee, and Daniel left to fight them off. The battle is interrupted by the arrival of Hot Rod and Wheelie aboard the Quintesson ship they stole. Hot Rod emerges and sees the dead remains of Ultra Magnus, Blurr, and Perceptor, as well as the battle-worn Springer, the weary Arcee, and the frightened Daniel. Enraged and sick of losing so many comrades all at once (on top of having never learned the Universal Greeting from Kup), Hot Rod goes straight for Wreck-Gar while Wheelie mans the Quint ship's guns to fend off the other Junkions. Hot Rod manages to beat Wreck-Gar to a pulp and is only stopped by Springer and Arcee holding him back, telling him it's over (and this means Magnus remains dead since the Junkions were never befriended in this version). The three Autobots and Daniel comfort each other, get themselves up to speed on everything, and Hot Rod introduces the others to Wheelie. They then take off in their ship to head to Cybertron, aiming to find Galvatron, get back the Matrix, and stop Unicron once and for all.
During Unicron's attack on Cybertron, Shockwave is actually shown being crushed by Unicron, and many more familiar Decepticons are seen getting blown up, crushed, and eaten by planet-eater. After witnessing Galvatron getting swallowed by Unicron, Cyclonus and Scourge decide that they don't want to share the same fate and begin fighting off the other Decepticons on Unicron's behalf. The other Decepticons label them as traitors and start attacking them too. Astrotrain is shot down in shuttle mode by the two, but he decides that if he's going down, he's taking them with him. His enlarged shuttle mode comes crashing down on the two in a massive, burning fireball, exploding on impact and killing the two right then and there.
The rest of the movie proceeds pretty normally (only minus all the other characters who died before this point) until Hot Rod opens the Matrix and becomes Rodimus Prime. Instead of throwing Galvatron out of Unicron and into space, he simply beats Galvatron down. Rodimus then uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron, but Galvatron (who isn't dead yet) gets up and tries to stop him by grabbing onto Rodimus. The Matrix creates a massive explosion that takes out Unicron from within. Springer, Arcee, Daniel, Wheelie, and the rescued Spike, Bumblebee, Jazz, and Cliffjumper all get themselves out of Unicron in time, but right as they realize Hot Rod is still missing, Unicron goes up in smoke, indicating that Rodimus (and Galvatron) never made it out.
The movie ends with the eight survivors back on Cybertron memorializing their fallen comrades, saluting the brave souls lost in the conflict, and Springer declaring this to be the end of the Cybertronian wars.
As he wearily enters the command codes, Soundwave enters and tries to stop him by tackling him to the ground. The two roll around wrestling each other until Soundwave powers up his shoulder cannon to shoot Blaster at pointblank range, but the desperate Blaster jams his fist into Soundwave's shoulder cannon just as it's about to fire. The cannon explodes from this and, because it was right next to his head, Soundwave is instantly decapitated. Blaster's whole arm was also blown off. With his dying efforts, Blaster hits the final button command for detonation. Autobot City explodes, taking out Blaster, Devastator, and any other remaining Decepticons (mostly 1984/1985 ones, for good measure) along with it, all while the other Autobots escape aboard their shuttles into space.
The movie then resumes as normal up until the shuttle carrying Kup, Hot Rod, and the Dinobots crash-lands on Quintessa. As Hot Rod tries to save Kup from the giant mechanical squid, instead of mumbling "Fix me," Kup is unable to get any words out. Hot Rod picks up his pieces and carries him out of the sea, but before he can begin any repair work, Kup succumbs to his injuries and dies right then and there in Hot Rod's arms. The mournful Hot Rod vows to keep going and not give up. Later, Hot Rod is instantly captured by Allicons and taken to jail where only he meets Kranix and learns about Unicron.
The movie continues normally again up until Hot Rod's trial with the Quintessons. Like in the actual movie, he tries to fight off the Sharkticons, but since it's just him alone without Kup, he has a much more difficult time, upping the tension to make audiences wonder if his death might be next (by this point, Ultra Magnus has likewise already been killed by the Sweeps on Junk). The Dinobots and Wheelie then burst in to rescue him, but instead of having Grimlock merely assert his dominance and turn the Sharkitcons on the Quintessons, the Dinobots join the fight against the Sharkticons and the whole scene turns into a big slaughter-fest, with the Dinobots initially dominating the Sharkticons until the sheer numbers soon overwhelm them and all five of them are taken out one by one, until Grimlock is the only one left. He hollers for Hot Rod and Wheelie to escape while he holds off the last of the Sharkticon horde. He then shoots his gun up at the ledge beneath the Quintesson judge, prosecutor, and executioner, causing all of them to fall into the pit where the hungry Sharkticons then pounce on them. Hot Rod tries to run back to help Grimlock, but Wheelie holds him back, urging Hot Rod to not let Grimlock's brave efforts go to waste. As Grimlock is consumed by the Sharkticons, Hot Rod begrudgingly leaves, silently thanking the Dinobots for their sacrifice.
On the Planet of Junk, the movie has now reached the point where the Junkions attack the Autobots in the wake of Ultra Magnus having been destroyed. Wreck-Gar leads the charge on the Autobots and, rather than the whimsy of "Dare to be Stupid" making this fight feel like a silly romp, the situation is much graver. Blurr and Perceptor are both taken out by the Junkions' chaotic savagery, leaving only Springer, Arcee, and Daniel left to fight them off. The battle is interrupted by the arrival of Hot Rod and Wheelie aboard the Quintesson ship they stole. Hot Rod emerges and sees the dead remains of Ultra Magnus, Blurr, and Perceptor, as well as the battle-worn Springer, the weary Arcee, and the frightened Daniel. Enraged and sick of losing so many comrades all at once (on top of having never learned the Universal Greeting from Kup), Hot Rod goes straight for Wreck-Gar while Wheelie mans the Quint ship's guns to fend off the other Junkions. Hot Rod manages to beat Wreck-Gar to a pulp and is only stopped by Springer and Arcee holding him back, telling him it's over (and this means Magnus remains dead since the Junkions were never befriended in this version). The three Autobots and Daniel comfort each other, get themselves up to speed on everything, and Hot Rod introduces the others to Wheelie. They then take off in their ship to head to Cybertron, aiming to find Galvatron, get back the Matrix, and stop Unicron once and for all.
During Unicron's attack on Cybertron, Shockwave is actually shown being crushed by Unicron, and many more familiar Decepticons are seen getting blown up, crushed, and eaten by planet-eater. After witnessing Galvatron getting swallowed by Unicron, Cyclonus and Scourge decide that they don't want to share the same fate and begin fighting off the other Decepticons on Unicron's behalf. The other Decepticons label them as traitors and start attacking them too. Astrotrain is shot down in shuttle mode by the two, but he decides that if he's going down, he's taking them with him. His enlarged shuttle mode comes crashing down on the two in a massive, burning fireball, exploding on impact and killing the two right then and there.
The rest of the movie proceeds pretty normally (only minus all the other characters who died before this point) until Hot Rod opens the Matrix and becomes Rodimus Prime. Instead of throwing Galvatron out of Unicron and into space, he simply beats Galvatron down. Rodimus then uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron, but Galvatron (who isn't dead yet) gets up and tries to stop him by grabbing onto Rodimus. The Matrix creates a massive explosion that takes out Unicron from within. Springer, Arcee, Daniel, Wheelie, and the rescued Spike, Bumblebee, Jazz, and Cliffjumper all get themselves out of Unicron in time, but right as they realize Hot Rod is still missing, Unicron goes up in smoke, indicating that Rodimus (and Galvatron) never made it out.
The movie ends with the eight survivors back on Cybertron memorializing their fallen comrades, saluting the brave souls lost in the conflict, and Springer declaring this to be the end of the Cybertronian wars.
Boy, it could have been so much worse, couldn't it?
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