CONVOY COUNCIL Alternate Modes:Undetermined Allegiance: Cybertron Series: Fight! Super Life Form Transformers Beast Wars NEO. Alias: "Maximal Elders" Profile: (Note: To avoid confusion, I'm going to use Western terminologies here, thus Sabretron will be uniformly called Cybertron and Cybertrons will be called Maximals etc.) In many instances during Beast Wars (Canadian), there have been references to a political party known as the Maximal Elders. Because the Autobots ultimately victored in the Great War, their ancestors, the Maximals, now rule Cybertron. During the Great War, the Transformers (Autobot and Decepticon) were led by military leaders... soldiers. Some evidence suggests that it has not always been this way, particularly during times of peace. In the *UK comics, the Autobots were intially ruled by the Autobot Council of Elders, which included great Autobots such as Emirate Xaaron, Traachon and Tomaandi. Shortly after the Great War commenced, the Autobot Council soon found themselves ill-prepared to lead a military campaign. As the Decepticons seiged the Autobot capital of Iacon, the Autobot Council stepped down and allowed a young, but promising warrior assume leadership. This soldier's name was Optimus Prime. Of course, the UK Comics is on a different continuity, but then again, Beast Wars has often "borrowed" elements from different continuities anyway, so there's no point in assuming that it only belongs to one single continuity. Now I'm going to make some speculations here... After the Great War,
the Transformers became heavily demilitarised. The Pact Cybertronia treaty
was signed by both the Maximals and Predacons. However, even in times of
peace, leadership is still needed. The Predacons went and established the
Predacon Alliance, headed by the Tripedacus
Council. Respectively, the Maximals established a political body known
as the Maximal Elders. In Beast Wars Neo (which is part of the Japanese
animé continuity), a governing body known as the Convoy Council
(note: Convoy is Japanese for Optimus) commissions Big Convoy to train
a team of new recruits. Although the exact relationship between the Convoy
Council and Maximal Elders has never been officially stated, many fans
have taken the liberty to assume that they are one in the same... at least
until there is further canonical evidence to disprove this. Now, according
to sources such as Beast Wars The Movie and several references in Beast
Wars II and a few in Beast Wars Neo, the Japanese and Canadian Beast Wars
continuities are supposed to be the same. In the Japanese show, it was
said that all Maximal leaders are created from the "Convoy mould," which
explains why all Maximal leaders look so similar (headwise, anyway, as
demonstrated below).
*As seen in "And There Shall Come A Leader"
(Annual #1) and "Cybertron: The Middle Years" (issue #83)
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF CYBERTRON (Autobot/Maximal) BUREAUCRACY1. The Autobot Council of Elders (Left): High
Councillor Traachon was head of the Autobot Council of Elders.
The Autobots were originally led by a party of Bureaucrats known as the Autobot Council of Elders, which included Councillors Traachon, Tomaandi and Emirate Xaaron. This Council was ill-prepared for the initial Decepticon onslaught and under their leadership, many Autobot territories and lives were claimed by the Decepticons. As Megatron laid seige upon Iacon, the Council prepared to surrender to the Decepticons. However, Xaaron suggested that High Councillor Traachon step down and allow a military officer to take over leadership of the Autobots. Traachon used his powers of veto to stop the surrender and effectively elected himself out of office. After Optimus Prime left Cybertron with his crew aboard the Ark, the Council was reinstated as the ruling Autobot body. Under their new leadership, the Autobots on Cybertron were decimated by the Decepticons, then led by the warlord, Trannis. Each Autobot city-state was systematically annihilated and Iacon itself was eventually conquered. The Council surrendered itself to the Decepticons. Each Councillor was executed, except for Emirate Xaaron who fled and went on to lead several Autobot resistance forces, including the mighty Wreckers! 2. The Military Commanders (Left): Optimus
Prime became the first Autobot leader from the military.
After High Councillor Traachon stepped out of office, Optimus Prime became the first military Autobot leader. In a time of war against the Decepticons, military leadership proved to be just what the Autobots needed. Where the politicians had failed, the military succeeded. Optimus Prime pushed back Megatron's invasion of Iacon. Optimus Prime soon became the greatest Autobot leader of all time and set an example to all those who would follow (military or otherwise). Optimus Prime also led the fateful expedition which brought the Transformers to Earth. Other military leaders include Ultra Magnus, Rodimus Prime, Fortress
Maximus, Star Sabre and Dai Atlas.
3. The Militia (Left): Godmaster
Jinrai led an Autobot (Cybertron) militia in Choujin Masterforce.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. The first Autobot militias started on Cybertron with resistance forces led by Autobots without formal military training, such as Emirate Xaaron. Another militia was led by Jinrai. His team consisted of a combination of professional Autobot soldiers (such as the Pretenders) as well as regular civilians (such as himself and the other Godmasters and Junior Headmasters). In Beast Wars, a group of Maximal explorers led by Optimus Primal reorganised themselves into a makeshift militia in order to combat Megatron's band of Predacon outlaws.
4. The Police
Lio Convoy was the commander of the Maximal Galactic Patrol. Although not trained for the rigors of war, the Galactic Patrol acts as peacekeepers throughout the galaxy (among Cybertronian colonies, one would assume). Lio Convoy and his Maximals soon found themselves pitted against a group of Predacons led by Galvatron. 5. The Maximal Elders (aka The Convoy Council) (Left):
Hyper Convoy is the head of the Maximal Elders.
As stated above, many fans, including myself, have taken the libery to speculate that the Maximal Elders and Convoy Council are merely different names for the same political party. After the Great War ended, peace resumed and military bodies were dissolved... blah blah blah... Pact Cybertronia... blah blah blah... I don't wanna reiterate what's already been stated above.:p Due to the fact that I have yet to see the Beast Wars Neo animé, I'm going to make a lot of speculations here. Beast Wars Neo takes place after Beast Wars II, which supposedly occurs concurrently with the Canadian Beast Wars CGI series. Now, I would assume that after both Beast Wars (all three seasons) and Beast Wars II have finished, the Maximal Elders would have to be aware that the Predacons are plotting betrayal. The news of this would have reached them either through Lio Convoy or Optimus Primal, depending on who came back to Cybertron first. Since the Predacon Alliance is still bound by the Pact Cybertronia treaty, the Predacons would vehemently deny any accusations from the Maximals. Optimus Primal's accusations would be countered by the argument that Megatron and his Predacons were rogues, and any claim about Ravage's involvement is hearsay (since both Ravage and his ship were destroyed, not to mention that Ravage's existence was merely a rumour in the first place). Lio Convoy's accusations would be countered by an argument that Galvatron was also a rogue, since he was under the control of Unicron. So there's really nothing the Maximal Elders can do against the Predacon Alliance. However, not being complete idiots (and possibly not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the Autobot Council of Elders), the Maximal Elders probably decided that it would be a good idea to form a new military party... just in case. I really don't know how this would affect the Pact Cybertronia treatise though. One would assume that the possession of any formidable military might would be a violation of that treaty. Perhaps the Maximals are establishing something similar to Japan's Self Defense Forces; a military army incapable of attack, only defense. 6. Military Commanders Once More...
In the animé, Beast Wars Neo, the Maximal Elders appointed Supreme Commander Big Convoy to lead and train a team of new Maximal recruits. Although I have yet to see the Beast Wars Neo animé, it seems that the Maximals are forming some kind of new military force to combat a possible Military threat. This threat manifests itself soon enough as Big Convoy and his Maximal recruits find themselves fighting against a new breed of Predacons under the command of Magmatron. |
