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Date Posted: 15/12/02 14:20:10 GMT+10
Author: Goktimus Prime
Subject: Transformers Armada Discrimination (ethical discussion)

I'm sure that many other fans have realised one rather dark hidden curriculum within Transformers Armada, and that is the subjugation of the Mini-Cons.

The Transformers, like all good scifi aliens, stand as a reflection of humanity. In the Dreamwave Comics, the Mini-Cons are portrayed as being a fully rational race of sentient beings -- and as rational beings, would hence be fundamentally entitled to the same rights and liberties that one would expect for all rational agents. Yet they are an underclass. An almost untouchable class. They seem to have existed on Cybertron for just as long as any other Transformer race, yet until the advent of the "Armada" war between Autobots and Decepticons, they seem to have been largely ignored and even driven out to the point where they exist as fringe dwellers, living in remote villages rather than amongst other Transformers in their great city-states.

They are a people who were looked upon as being rather insignificant in the greater scheme. Let's compare the races of Transformers Armada with one of Earth's caste societies: feudal Japan. Yes, I know there are many more caste societies out there (e.g.: India), but I've decided to use feudal Japan for the purposes of this comparison.
Non-allied Transformers, such as those we see inhabiting Cyber City, seem to be your run of the mill merchant/artisan class. More or less a feudal middle-class. The Mini-Cons on the other hand are definitely a lower class -- comparable to the peasant class of feudal Japan, or arguably even the "eta" untouchable class. In either case, they seem to be on the lowest rung of the ladder. The Decepticons are a rogue fighter class, much like the ninja. Before they augmented themselves with Mini-Cons, I suspect that the Decepticons would've primarily employed guerilla tactics, lacking the resources to take the Autobots head on in direct warfare (which is why Cybertron was still a reasonably peaceful planet at the beginning of the Armada tale). They would've kept in check and put in their place by the Autobots, who would be comparable to the Samurai class. They are by far an upper noble class of warriors. They are the defenders of the peace -- but only to the merchant/artisan class. The Autobots only responded to the attack on Mini-Con villages after Hot Shot relayed an SOS from Leader-1. Until then, it was clear that the Autobots weren't terribly concerned with Mini-Con welfare.

So not only do we see a caste society emerging on Cybertron, but we also see some forms of caste (and arguably racial -- if we consider Mini-Cons to be a separate race of Transformers from Autobots and Decepticons) discrimination. This doesn't necessarily mean persecution, but certainly there was distinction/discrimination between the castes. The Autobots probably never bothered experimenting with Mini-Cons to augment their own power because they probably never even looked twice at Mini-Cons. But the Decepticons, not being bound by any real code of honour, and lacking in as many resources as the Autobots, were more inclined to make such experimentations. They were Decepticon rebels. There was no shame in handling Mini-Cons. This is my personal theory as to why the Autobots never bothered to exploit the Mini-Cons before, even on a basis of mutual allegiance (as opposed to parasitic exploitation).

And clearly we see that the Mini-Cons are being captured and enslaved by the Decepticons. It was interesting to see that even Leader-1 was not happy about his subservience to Megatron, and the main reason that they served the Decepticons was because slavery seemed to be a better option than death.
re: "Please... don't hurt us. We'll do whatever you want us to do.."-- or something like that (Armada#2).
And we also see the Mini-Cons' underground struggle to free themselves from bondage (resistance led by the Air Defence Team), hence the Mini-Cons having left Cybertron in an attempt to flee from Decepticon persecution.

In the cartoon it is also said that the Mini-Cons have been mindwiped and enslaved by the Decepticons -- that they are not willingly following the Decepticons' will, whereas the Mini-Cons who assist the Autobots have done so through mutual allegiance and hence are fighting alongside the Autobots by choice. Optimus Prime points out that the Autobots regard their Mini-Cons as equals, whereas the Decepticons regard them as slaves. The Decepticons are portrayed as seeking Mini-Cons to enslave, whereas the Autobots are shown as seeking Mini-Cons to ally with and save from Decepticon enslavement. We can guess that the Autobot Mini-Cons are more or less happy to be serving the Autobots, but it's hard to tell for sure, since they don't talk.

So this leaves two questions that I would like to present.

The first question is, is this underlying form of racial/caste discrimination in Transformers Armada a good or a bad thing?

The second question is, are the Mini-Cons in the cartoon series, fully rational agents? Because they cannot talk, it is difficult to tell how rational they are. They are certainly sentient and have some level of high order intelligence, but are they rational? Because if one can argue that the cartoon Mini-Cons are not rational, then their fundamental rights and liberties would be instantly abolished. If they are not fully rational, then they would be at best, very intelligent and sentient beings, much like a very smart animal such as apes -- but they are not fully rational agents, and hence would not be fully entitled to fundamental liberties (this is why Abovos aren't allowed to vote, ya see).

Please provide reasons for your answers. Thank you.

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