Transformers Season 3 And Headmasters Are A Downward Spiral From G1's Greatness

Transformers is a series dear to a lot of 80s to 90s children. Having been born in the 1990s meant I've watched a lot of them. There were Transformers Season 1 and Season 2 followed up by the controversial Season 3. So what are these 

Transformers Season 3

Transformers Season 3 was a continuation of the movie. It's a rather daring departure. Remember when the death of Optimus Prime caused children to cry? I admit I cried THAT HARD when I saw Transformers: The Movie on Philippine television when I was only a child. It was a really, really hard thing to take. But I was told that heroes die and it was a war. It's a very realistic scene though there's also the controversial and perhaps rather UNFAIR hatred for Hotrod -- not especially when he became Rodimus Prime! Rodimus' doubts as a leader are because he didn't want to become one. Yet he had plenty of interesting character development. 

IMHO, I thought that Transformers Season 3 had some interesting concepts. For instance, I think that the arrival of the Quintessons which were pretty much the Cobra-La of Transformers. Cobra-La in the G.I.Joe movie seeks to reclaim what they believe was originally theirs -- namely the Earth. Both groups were also indulging in mock trials. The Quintessons were the creators of the Transformers race but were driven out for their own cruelty. Both the Quintessons and  The introductory arc called "The Five Faces of Darkness" was also pure nightmare fuel. 

However, there was one controversial thing that I thought may have helped ruin Transformers...

It's the controversial decay of Galvatron in one way or another. In the movie, Galvatron still kept the very cunning and dangerous leader that Megatron was. However, the series turned him into something more insane than Starscream or Cobra Commander. Starscream started off as that whiny, immature moron of a Deception. Now, Megatron as Galvatron may be more powerful now (and his alternate mode is a self-firing cannon is cool) but he's gone so crazy it's either scary or laughable. But usually laughable considering how Galvatron is even more immature than Starscream. Heck, he even reminds me of why Serpentor is even more stupid than Cobra Commander. Galvatron is high on crack after he spent too much time getting immersed in lava. In fact, a lot of episodes highlight just how stupidly destructive Galvatron is. Don't believe me? Watch the episode "Web World" and you'll practically find out just how incredibly stupid yet dangerous Galvatron can get. 

Then we have the "Rebirth" arc which really didn't kick off the fourth season. So, one can't decide which is worse between G.I.Joe's DIC episodes (which focused too much on slapstick and had inferior graphics) or "Rebirth" arc.

Transformers Headmasters

Okay, it's not as atrociously stupid as Transformers: Masterforce but I could still agree this is yet another decline for the series. Did the declining quality of Transformers Season 3 just predict this? This season kicks off from the arc concerning the resurrection of Optimus Prime and conveniently ignores the Rebirth arc. This is where Takara (the original company who produced the toyline before giving Hasbro its license) wasn't done with Transformers yet. I wonder why Hasbro even agreed to their Japanese partner (though the animated series was BY Hasbro) to have an alternate continuity for Season 3?!

For me, this series is pretty much a throwaway yet successful enough to spawn the even more stupid Transformers Masterforce. The series does feature some new characters and some rather pointless plots. Like, what's the point of reviving Optimus Prime if you're just going to kill him again in Season 3 in favor of Rodimus Prime? Though you have to admit that Optimus Prime's second death did save the good guys AGAIN so it's not that pointless. Rodimus Prime resumes command yet leaves midseason in favor of Fortress Maximus.

Maybe the most controversial midseason change has episodes 24-25. Ultra Magnus dies in episode 24 at the hands of Sixshot -- which makes his later change of heart to be rather, weird. Galvatron's death buried in ice is just stupid. Like how many times has Galvatron survived being blown up yet being buried in ice kills him? Like, shouldn't they have given him a more grand midseason death? Did he even forget he could fly? Maybe he had brain damage but still, it was a lame way to go. At least the executives of Toei had a better way of writing off the Demon Generals Trio in Turboranger. Zimba at least got destroyed by the Turbo Builder, Jarmin had one final badass battle, and Rehda is tasked with releasing the Chomajin Bouma with an ultimatum attached to it by Ragorn himself. No, Galvatron just got written off in the worst way possible. I think they could have had Scorponok betray him to his death or just give him a grand battle before the midseason change!

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What are your thoughts on these two seasons of Transformers?