#and at that point orion is already shown as super devoted

[lord-squiggletits]

Zeta's influence on the course of OP's life is so, so fucking important, but then the actual screen time he gets is of him being Obvious Bad Guy and the only way characters ever talk about him is "Zeta acted like he was progressive but he was really just the same as the rest" so the effect is that the narrative TELLS US that Zeta was Orion's mentor and made him who he is, but doesn't actually show us why that would be the case or HOW he made Orion the way he is. In fact it basically says that everyone knew Zeta sucked leaving us wondering what the hell Orion even saw in him to follow him for so long.

It really sucks considering that IDW already had a well written mentor/student relationship that also only had a few pages dedicated to it: Megatron and Terminus. All the flashbacks with Megatron and Terminus makes it very clear the person he was before Terminus (believed in collective action and didn't believe he should hold power as The One Leader), it shows what Terminus taught Megatron (that people need strong leaders in order to stay on course, and if Megatron truly wants revolution he needs to seize control), it shows us that Terminus had a vital hand in Megatron's life (by disseminating his writings via the corpses of miners). Then, the rest of the story of Megatron's life makes it clear that his change from the shy pacifist miner to the tyrannical and controlling warlord was partially informed by the ideas Terminus gave him. It shows us a CHANGE in Megatron's mindset that happened AS A DIRECT RESULT OF TERMINUS in a way that shows Megatron didn't see himself as the One Leader of the Revolution until Terminus suggested it to him!

(Using Megatron is sheerly for the sake of a convenient example of a similar character, not me saying that they were intentionally connected or that Megatron's characterization came at the price of Optimus'.)

Meanwhile, all we know about Orion and Zeta was that Zeta helped Orion while he was on the run from the Senate, Zeta somehow became Prime (we literally don't know how), and made Orion his security enforcer. And then we go from Orion saying "I'll always follow you" as Zeta acts normal in one flashback to Zeta basically saying "fascist propaganda is good actually, btw I might entrust you with the Primacy one day" while Orion looks away from him in obvious doubt.

Where is the Zeta Orion was supposed to look up to? Was Zeta being honest when he said the Primacy could be his one day, or was he just trying to manipulate Orion? But how would the latter make sense when Orion has never coveted the Primacy in his life and was clearly more content with being a follower than a leader? What did Zeta do to make Orion trust him so much??? Why are we told that Zeta "made [OP] who he is" when the only change OP seemed to undergo due to Zeta was going from happy to doubtful to serve? How did this change Orion's behavior at all? He was already a good leader, he was already a good fighter. What the fuck did Zeta do to make him who he is? What mentorship did he give him??? Why did the story never fucking tell us any of this??? Why did they decide to write Zeta as the most obviously evil bastard ever and think it would make sense for the virtuous Orion to follow him??? Why was one of the principal characters of the entire franchise given a "mentor" who "made him who he is" yet said character's relationship with OP is almost entirely based on OP doubting him most of the time? WHY IS THE STORY TELLING ME THESE THINGS INSTEAD OF SHOWING THEM???

#squiggposting #that's it???? #it actually makes me mad lmao #it seems like 90% of the scenes zeta and OP were together Zeta basically had red flags waving all over him #and the other 10% of times were one scene where he basically just said 'hi i'm zeta' #plus a scene where he's just giving orion a mission #and at that point orion is already shown as super devoted #why. fucking why. tell me #except then all the story gives me is barber going #'well zeta was openly telling orion about how propaganda and lying to the people is good and OP didnt like it' #wow maybe if the story had actually explained what he did to earn orion's trust #it wouldnt have been one of the dumbest scenes ive read in idw #like. no matter what OP's other flaws were he very much had morals and a conscience #you have to give me a fucking reason why he trusted this guy SO MUCH that he was willing to #turn a blind eye or at least stay silent to his doubts #oh and also in the metzen books zeta spends most of the time calling OP a failure or a tool #so even the one story that had zeta as a main antagonist didnt explain it #i'm so frustrated lol you CANNOT tell me that zeta was one of the most important people in OP's life #and then give almost no explanation for how #you cant call him OP's mentor who made him who he is #and then show that OP barely believed half of what he said #and that zeta as a person had almost no convincing leadership qualities to make people in general teust him