Yes, but in giving Thrust, Tankor and Jetstorm free will, he took away the free will of Waspinator, Rhinox and Silverbolt.
Well, yeah. But, his generals. (the ones he would to spend time on about), had free well. And, it was said somewhere (I think mid season one, during that 3 parter), that the generals were actually the same guys, just tweaked. The idea was that Megatron brought out different aspects of their personality.
For example, Tankor's embracing of the Vehicon plank would have been an out-growth of Rhinox's pacifism. Silverbot said, (not long after being restored), that he liked being Jetstorm. Waspinator was perfectly happy as Thrust.
The restrictions Megatron placed on them were more physical. Tankor, (in "Mercenary Pursuits") was capable of wanting to hurt Megatron based on a decision. Thrust had to think about his loyalties during that 3 parter. Stryka and Obsidian were able to make decisions to the point of going back and forth.
Tankor, (during the end of season 1) was even able to set Megatron up and directly lie to him in an attempt to convince Megatron to slit his own throat.
The fail-safe shown in ""Mercenary Pursuits", (and one could argue again at the end of seaoon 1 was physcial. Tankor did not sieze up until he movied to physically attack Megaton. And, even then, Megatron had ceiling mounted and free-floating restraints on hand.
The seizure mechanism did not hinder Tankor's will in the sense of restricting his thoughts. It hindered his ability to physically act on those thoughts, not unlike a leash does with a rambunctious dog. There is a really nasty dog around the corner from me. He does not listen to his owner at all. But, the owner has a firm grip on the leash. The dog can dream of ripping me to shreds, (free will), but he cannot actually do anything, (practical ability).
Again, why would anyone accuse the Oracle of anything?
YOu misunderstand. I mean that nobody ever said, "Wow, the Oracle really is nice and very concerned with the everyday transformer.
Your still missing the point that those sparks still existed (on some level) and could be separated from Megatron spark, as happened on two occasions. It's not quite the same thing as genocide as those sparks are still essentially alive.
Genocide is the wiping out of a culture as much as of a population. Megatron keeping them prison would have done that. And, if I recall, he was trying to set himself up as a new Oracle, which looked to be based on a Eastern dynamic of cyclical death and life, effectively making a return to the source a "death".
Evolution really is not a matter of choice and is far from the same thing as forcing someone to have an "epiphany" in order to direct their decisions.
The Oracle presumably wanted the change. Evolution is pretty rough for those living through it. The Oracle's plan had a place for Megatron has well, meaning the Oracle was pretty okay with what happened to the planet and its inhabitants under Megatron.
Rhinox was shown to resent both Primal and Megatron after becoming Tankor.
Remember why he resented Megatron though. (Megatron was not techno enough.)
Legality had nothing to do with it. They simply served 'Cybertron', and Megatron for what ever reason, they considered to *be* Cybertron.
They served who was in charge. Megatron was in charge. If Stryka and Obsidian were alive, if off-screen, during G1, they would have been Decepticons until season 3. Then, they would have been Autobots and later Maximals. Had Megatron tried a conventional take-over, they would have fought against him. But, when they were revived after the virus knocked them out, Megatron was in charge. How that happened was less important than the fact he was at all.
This is the same idea as somebody who happens to live in a country where the goverment turns over, (through election or revolution). They work for who they work for. Low enough level guys can usually survive the change-over, so long as they do their jobs and keep their noses clean. The idea is to serve the institution, not the man/mech.
Dom
-this idea also turned up during the "Energon" comic and cartoon.
